Sometimes, good stuff happens.  And sometimes, you get to say thank you in person.  And sometimes, things come full circle, and you keep on going and quilting and enjoying.  All that happened on Show and Tell night at the Vermont Quilt Festival this year.  (And yes, that was –gulp, hanging my very red face– two months ago!)

One of the most exciting and nerve-inducing moments for me at Vermont Quilt Festival  came Saturday night, at Show and Tell.

With Mary K. Ryan at VQF 2012. I ordered her pattern in 1990, finished it about a decade later, and 22 years after starting it, got to have my picture taken with Mary and “our” quilt! I’ve never shown this quilt at a big show before, and still have goosebumps from getting to tell the story and the thunderous applause when I unfurled it on the show and tell stage. PS–if anyone got pictures of me up on stage holding the quilt, please write..I’d love a jpeg!

Back when I was newly-booked to teach there, I was chatting with Missy Lackney, the education chair, and shared that one of my favorite quilt stories involved a Vermont quilt designer, Mary K. Ryan, and a quilt I made from one of her patterns (link is to a wholesaler…sorry, I couldn’t find an online source!).  Missy told me that Mary rarely teaches now, but would be teaching this year and I should share my quilt on the Saturday night event…. so for over a year, I looked forward to sharing my second-ever quilt top (tho it took another ten years to finish quilting it!).

To begin at the beginning, I learned to quilt in Bolivia (while assigned to the US Embassy) and then in Libreville, Gabon (on leave without pay while hubby was deputy Ambassador, so I wasn’t allowed to work under him in the chain of command–what a shame, I got to sit home and quilt!).  While on transfer in 1989 from Bolivia to Gabon, I learned there were quilting MAGAZINES…what a concept!  I promptly subscribed to Quilters Newsletter Magazine.  I then discovered I could order back issues, so I got every one they had, back to 1984!  I pored over EVERY issue, reading everything I could to learn.  On the back of many issues was the Polyfil advertisement with a large bed quilt featured with this note:  To order this pattern, write to us at XXXXXX.  I was in love with the quilt, and had no idea a Mariner’s Compass pattern was supposed to be difficult–not something to make for your second quilt!

So I promptly wrote away to order it.  Now–our mail came and went via Diplomatic Pouch:  secure but sssssllllllooooowwwww.  It took about six weeks for a letter to reach the US Mail system, and usually another 2 months to get a reply if someone answered promptly.  So 3-4 months after I sent away for the pattern, I get a letter back from PolyFil saying:  you can order a wall hanging version of this quilt by writing directly to the pattern designer, Mary K. Ryan.  {insert banging head on wall!}  So I wrote away again, saying I hoped so much it was a full-sized pattern as I wanted to make the big quilt.

Oceans Alive, my version of Mary K. Ryan’s Mariner’s Compass pattern. The published pattern is for the center medallion. Mary had made the quilt bed-sized, and I wanted to also. It took quite a while, but I did it, and I still love this quilt as much today as I did when I made it.

When the reply came, it was for a 28×28 inch wallhanging only, but to my UTTER astonishment and delight, Mary included a hand-written note!  Alas, the note is downstairs and I’m still on a walker and not able to go downstairs to find and photo the note…but I have it and the pattern! Mary told me how many yards I’d need, how many running inches of the fabric for the inner borders, how to enlarge the pattern by 125 percent to make the center medallion (I would NEVER have figured that one out on my own!).  I had also discovered Mary’s quilt was featured on the COVER of QNM in the mid 1980s and had back-ordered that issue.  So with Mary’s instructions by my side, and a ruler that measured in millimeters, I measured the known width (of the compass border) with inches, then figured out how wide that was in millimeters (the size on the photo on the cover), and did the math to figure out how large things should be!

I made cardboard templates from cereal boxes.  I started outlining onto the cloth with pencil, but soon discovered the pencil dulled quickly and I could see my sizes would be wrong.  So,  because I didn’t know better, used my rotary cutter to cut alongside the cardboard templates!   I soon discovered that I was cutting into the cardboard, so I put my plastic ruler on top to get a nice edge.  …And proceeded to cut out several hundred compass points!

Paul’s cat Brandy (dearly departed lo these many years) supervised cutting on the dining room table.  My cat Cassy (dearly departed lo these many more years) supervised the piecing and eventual sleep-worthiness of the quilt.  I got the entire top stitched while we were in central Africa.  I was SUCH a newbie to quilting, I didn’t even know the points were supposed to come to the edges of the circle!  Miraculously, when I learned this fact years later I went to look and most of them did!

Serendipity happened when an oceanographic / environmental group sent a “donate to us” mailing with a coloring book with dolphin and orca whales in it.  How perfect for quilting motifs!    But it was central Africa.  Even with the air conditioning on at full blast, I had to sit under the quilt with a lap hoop, and my hands would get sweaty with just 20 minutes of hand quilting.  So the quilt got set aside for almost ten years.  By then we lived on San Juan Island, Washington, (where we could see the orcas from our deck!) and I set myself the goal of finishing the quilt in time to enter into the County Fair, where it won Grand Champion that year!  I was so I excited I wrote to Mary to tell her of “our” win!

Detail of my quilt, Oceans Alive. Begun in 1990 in Gabon (West Africa), finished about 2000 in Friday Harbor, Washington. Pattern by Mary K. Ryan.

Fast forward another decade-plus.  My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty as I waited my turn to Show and Tell at VQF.  I’m OK with speaking to a large quilty crowd, but this was different:  I knew Mary would be in the audience!   Show founder Richard Cleveland was doing emcee duties, and I mentioned to him as I approached the microphone that I needed to tell the story first, then show the quilt.  I left out the details of which ad/company and what design—until I said “What a wonderful welcome to the wonderful world of quilting, that the designer should write  to me like that!  So with great thanks to Vermont’s own, Mary K. Ryan!”  and we unfurled my quilt to what sounded to me like thunderous applause and oohs and ahhhs and gasps….I was SHAKING!  But I made it through the story without crying or losing it….and I was thrilled!

At the end of the show and tell, I made a beeline for Mary moving against the tide of departing quilters (and I had never met or seen Mary….Richard C. pointed her out to me from the dais as we showed the quilt….turns out she is on the board of VQF!) and we got this picture of me with Mary and “our” quilt!  I’ve never shared this quilt before at a large regional or national show…just locally.  Since I’m now known for art quilting, I was so nervous and so happy at the reception and being able to surprise Mary with the story and the quilt.

I’ve got goosebumps all over again….thanks for reading this far and letting me tell all of this story.  I now know that such incredible generosity as hers happens in the quilt world quite regularly, but I didn’t then….and I’m so glad I had such a warm welcome to this world of ours that brings us all such joy.  Thank you, Mary K. Ryan!

Ooops…I didn’t realize it had been THIS long since I wrote!  That’s what happens when you’re busy!   We’ve had a wonderful summer, school begins next week, and I have about  a thousand things to share.  All I need is time to blog about them…heavens, I still have cool stuff from teaching at Vermont Quilt Festival back at the end of JUNE!   But to start with today and working backwards…..

My dear friend and Frayed Edge Kathy came to keep me company today (keep reading), and because her birthday is coming up soon (when she’ll be away) we celebrated today:

Birthday cream puff (thanks to hubby for picking these up for us!)

So why did Kath come to keep me company?  Well… I have/had arthritis in my big toes.  The had is because I had surgery this week on my right foot!  The plan for surgery was to have the arthritic bone growth removed, then the doc (a bunion / big toe specialist down in Portland) was going to break (EEEK) the metatarsal and shorten it so there would be enough room in the joint to prevent future /continued bone growth.  The great news is that when he got done scraping out the yucky stuff, there was plenty of flexibility in the joint that he didn’t need to break the bone!  That means faster healing.  On principle I took one of the pain pills just before going to bed the day I had the surgery (Weds.), and I haven’t needed any since!   I go back on Tuesday for a follow up, and the doc said I’ll be able to walk on that foot –just six days after surgery!  It was supposed to be 7-8 weeks until resuming exericise, but I’m hoping now it will be shorter.  WOOT!

Before

After, with ice-bag

I was so wobbly on the crutches (I have a terrible sense of balance) that the nurse sent me home with a walker, as I am on strict orders:  NO weight on the right foot until next week.  So just call me hopalong this week while I catch up with reading, an online class, and (ahem) blogging!

And speaking of the class… I’m taking a class at Joggles.com with Sondra Holtzman.  The watercolor style is much looser than our dear Jane LaFazio’s style, which I adore (which is why I’ve taken several of her classes).  I am a bit of a control freak at times and think I need to loosen up, so this class will be good for me.  If I don’t fall off the Blogging Wagon (again) I’ll share more pics in due time.  For now,

A basic color mixing chart with primaries, secondaries and and complementaries (and complementaries mixed)

and what I need even more, loosening up..this time dropping wet into wet!

wet into wet color play

We got home two days ago from a lovely trip to Florida.  While away I was able to post a few pics to Facebook, but I’ll make up for that here soon!  Just wanted to check in and let you know I’ve got lots coming–I just need to nail my seat to the chair and process photos and blog about it!  One of the nicest things about coming home is seeing the Camden Hills — once you spot them, you know you’re almost there!   Florida was hot and humid, and we were looking forward to a respite here in Maine.  The temps have been about 20 degrees cooler (in the 70s not 90+) but it has been mighty humid–the weather should change (PHEW) tomorrow!

This was my first flight coming in at dusk, with the lights of the coast visible. The town you see in the mid-ground is Rockland, a dozen miles or so south of our home. The Camden Hills are in the distance, and Camden town itself if off to the right of the photo. BEAUTIFUL!

One of the reasons I love flying in is seeing the familiar places from a bird’s-eye perspective.  And flying in at sunset gives you great pics of the sky…..

And as always, there is quilting inspiration.  As I was lolling in bed this morning, I was thinking about a quilt I want to make–something Quilt Modern-ish:  equilateral triangles in blues and aquas and spring greens, and how I would quilt it (bed size this one will be!).  I want the quilting to be easy and approachable (thinking ahead to a book on quilting design) for the beginner or the advanced-but-busy quilter, and was thinking about the patterns of the currents on the surface of the ocean:

Looking southwest over the peninsulas of mid-coast Maine as we approached Owl’s Head / Rockland airport at sunset.

Now I need to go get some exercise, run some errands, then get home before the next downpour adds to the already 100-percent humidity outside!

Finished (sort of) sketch–it looks a tad plain.  I think some understated/subtle journaling or words would help this page.

Remember about a thousand years ago I took an online sketching class with Jane LaFazio at Joggles.com?  Well, I’m getting back to posting some of the exercises.   This was the sketching from Life class…. despite living near the sea or ocean for a goodly part of my life, I had few seashell type things.   The spiral conch-type shell is quite small and actually came out of a scent-thingy ordered from somewhere, but the sea urchin shell we collected in Friday Harbor, Washington, where we lived before moving to Maine in 2004.

Here’s the sketch of the shell and original sea urchin:

The inked sketch. Miraculously, I remembered to take photocopies before adding watercolor.

I liked making each item look as if it were an old-timey photo with those deckle-edges that I love.  I then enlarged the inked sketch and traced onto tissue paper (a technique learned from Jane in an earlier online class).  I painted the page–I wanted it to look like the white foamy froth of the waves on the beach, but lacking such a photo and the skill to manage froth in watercolor, I just went for sand and curving edges….    Then I adhered the tissue to the page using Gel Medium (Matte) to blue it down…the tissue just disappears.  In this last photo, you can see the shell and sea urchin.  I loved the 5-sections on the urchin and how the dots repeat and echo in rhythmical patterns.

With the actual shell (small!) and sea urchin on the page

I had a few extra bits that I dyed at Think Silk, but that needed wash-out and ironing at home, so here they are:

OK…so Tyger isn’t really part of the class, but this was too cute not to share. Of course, I could say that his coat is a perfect inspiration for some shibori!  He was watching me as I was petting the samples…..

Two pieces of blue shibori, one that began wet, one that began dry. Don’t actually see much difference in these, tho there can be. These were wrapped too tightly for me…too much white. So I shall re-do, perhaps wrapping in the other direction, and overdye with a different blue. The piece on the right is that black. Too bad it was black. May be too dark to overdye, and I dislike discharge. Erk.

Silk noil is a fairly heavy cloth, about like Kona cotton, maybe a bit heavier. This was a stitched / gathered resist. Again, more white than I like. Overdye is my new middle name!

This is why it is good to practice on small pieces of cloth. Love the colors; love the chevron pleating/patterning. Hate the blotchiness. Can you say overdye? Or cut up into small bits!

Cotton (?) cord…LOVE these colors! It was the cord I used to tie the previous sample. Use EVERYthing!  I think this is synthetic cord, actually, but it took the color because we used an acid bath method…. nifty!

My favorite piece of the whole thing: silk organza, stitched in a leaf shape to create a tight resist, then dyed. I can see small pieces like this with either stitched or soy wax resist working their way into my quilts! This one is small, maybe 4 x 7 inches total.