This month was extra special:  Deborah came to visit from Texas!!!!!  So all five of us were together AND we got to have a sleepover AND we did a day workshop (on Monday) on Mandalas with Natasha Kempers-Cullen…Yippeee!  Here we are in the late afternoon…thanks to Kate’s hubby Andy for doing photographer duty…at one point he had five cameras dangling from neck and wrists!

Back row:  Sarah Smith, Kathy Daniels, Deborah Boschert

Seated in front:  Kate Cutko, Hannah Beattie

We were going to bunk over at Kate’s house like we did last year, but Kate had a brilliant idea that made it better for everyone (including her kids who had to get up and go to school Monday morning:  she asked her generous neighbors, who let lots of friends use their summer house, if we could too…so we did!  The house is at the very end of Browns Point, and juts into Merrymeeting Bay (isn’t that the most wonderful name?  Merrymeeting?  I love it….).  Kate showed us one of the secrets of the point…a bald eagle’s nest (look for the tangle of sticks on the branch at lower left):

As we gathered at the house, we took something to sip and something to munch on and went to sit under the trees, near the marsh and we heard this keening overhead.  We had apparently caused the two eagles some concern, so they took off from the nest, circled around the tip of the point, and settled in to some upper branches on a pine RIGHT OVER where we had our chairs!

Kathy’s birthday is at the end of August, so we celebrated and shared gifts…here’s Kath looking delighted at Kate’s gift:  rust-dyed fabrics, plus more fabric and some very rusty nails to do her own rust-dyeing….only art quilters can truly appreciate how wonderful LOL!

While we sat and talked, Hannah relaxed:

And Deborah helped Kate shuck some corn (which she picked from her garden THAT afternoon….YUM):

while I snapped pictures.

Deborah brought gifties as did Hannah…. but I was having so much fun relaxing at that point I forgot to take pictures…. you can see pics of the wonderful journal books Deborah made on her blog, here.

After our group photo, Kate took us to a spot where flotsam and jetsam…AND old shards of glass and pottery gather… Hannah found an old bottle (which of course I forgot to take a photo!).  This is a photo of the bay:

and walking down to the access path:

That’s Kate’s daughter on her back, a neighbor on the far right, and Kate’s son leading the troupe.

I’m always looking for patterns…for quilting, for design….so I got a nice shot of the water:

I’ll be back tomorrow with the evening fun, and the next day with our Mandala workshop!

One of the highlights of the trip was brief but memorable:

The Maid of the Mist first set float with tourists in 1846.  No, that is NOT a typo. Obviously it was a different boat, but there has been a boat taking folks into the mist of the falls for over 160 YEARS… amazing!  What else is totally cool is that the Ontario side park is ENTIRELY maintained (and beautifully, with wrought iron railings, gorgeous hanging baskets, etc) through proceeds from sales in the park and fees and whatnot…not a penny of tax money.  Cool.

And a warning….LOTS of water pics!

Waiting in line to board one of the boats you get a great glimpse:

Here’s the first view of the falls as you approach on the boat….and speaking of which, they give you mist ponchos…essentially garbage bags with hoods…good thing too as you get wet anyway!  It was a gas!

Here is a narrow section of the US falls–love how I got the bird in the photo:

And a closeup of the cascade hitting the rocks….

And a good wide shot of Niagara Falls:

Mist spraying out from the Horseshoe Falls:

I LOVED the power of the water as it plunges over the crest…this is as you have passed the American falls and approach Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian side), which is here it gets REALLY misty moisty wet.

And at the end of the half hour tour, happy and wet (we all gave up on the hoods I think….plus it was so hot that day the wetness felt good):

And the next morning, as we got into the car to leave, what should we see but one of the highlights of the trip for the boys (which Joshua had to take pics)…..a Ferrari and a Maserati.  No one should be this rich.  And they can’t even carry groceries in the trunk I’ll bet….yes, I know, that’s not the point.  But for the cost of those two cars you could buy a nice HOUSE……

Next on the trip:  Mt. Washington and finding inspiration wherever you are…..

We don’t usually do much in the way of vacations, as they are EXPENSIVE.  But we had promised Joshua, the wannabe rock star guitarist, to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  When I got a teaching offer for a five day workshop in West Virginia in August, that seemed the perfect opportunity to have the whole family come along, and travel home via Cleveland (for the R&Roll) and Niagara Falls (the requisite family visit).   Well…. as we all know the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  Especially when the economy tanks and fuel prices skyrocket.   Not enough students signed up for the workshop, so they had to cancel.  Bummers.  But we went on an abbreviated trip anyway. This photo, a teaser to get you to read on, was taken from our   room overlooking Niagara Falls (on the  Canadian side):

Here’s what I did in the car (an aside:  Paul and I have been married for 25+ years; after year 1, I refused to drive with him in the car, so now he drives and I read and knit)–if I can find time later in the month, I’ll do a couple brief reviews of some of these….:

And here is Joshua (under the “E” in Help) in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Alas, you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside.  I can see why though…lots of documents on cheap paper that will deteriorate with light, costumes, etc…..and many items are on loan from the artists.   All sorts of cool stuff… envelopes with the lyrics of totally famous songs as they were being scratched down for the first time, outfits worn by Tina Turner, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Elton John, John Lennon (his Sgt Pepper outfit among other things), David Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson (pre-freak era…SIGH…I do feel sorry for him…), Janis Joplin’s Porsche, Jim Morrisey’s Report of Death Abroad (death cert issued by the US Embassy in Paris), all sorts of neat things.

In some ways, I think it was more interesting for me and Paul than for Joshua.  He is really into hard rock and heavy metal, and the metal bands were not really represented there (even tho some have been inducted, there were really no artifacts)…it is mostly  the older folks and the musicians and singers and behind-the-scenes people who were represented.

So after an afternoon there, we headed to Niagara Falls the next morning.   We booked a Friday night, and Paul splurged on a room overlooking the falls.  When we arrived (before noon), our type of room wasn’t vacant, so (yippee!) the hotel upgraded us for free to a suite on a higher floor, with two rooms and a palatial bathroom (you could open frosted shutters and sit in the jacuzzi and enjoy the view!).  Here are some shots (don’t know who took these as Eli, Joshua and I all took a bunch) from the room:

Sunset:

And probably sunset, too…..

The US side of the falls, as seen from our room:

Looking down on one of the Maid of the mist boats:

And Horseshoe falls, the Canadian side, with Goat Island in the middle:

I was so tired after that day that I didn’t try to set up for night photos, but they illuminate the falls (spotlights) at night, and at 10 pm on some summer nights they have some fireworks over the falls.  We managed to stay awake until 10 pm for the fireworks, then crashed.  Thanks to a roll-away bed for Eli and a fold-out sofa for Joshua, there were NO sibling squabbles at bedtime!   A ride on Maid of the Mist $12.50 per adult, a fancy dinner for four about $150 (OUCH but good), no fighting kids, PRICELESS….

We went on Maid of the Mist, and I walked around town.  I think I’ll save the bazillion falls photos for next post, but here is one of the downtown which, alas, doesn’t have much to recommend it.   Kinda generic North-American over-touristed boardwalk type of stuff.  Blech.  Plus it was hot, steamy and expensive.

Paul and the boys rode the shuttle back to the hotel while I enjoyed a few blissful moments of solitude and walked home (dripping!).   We had a splendid, major treat for dinner at the steakhouse on the 9th floor, again overlooking the falls.   I don’t think we’ve EVER gone out to a dinner that nice as a family.  YUM.

Thanks to Deirdre Abbotts, I’ve been awarded the the

First the Rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.  It’s right up on top

2. Link to the person you received your award from.

You can find Dierdre at Deirdre’s Sloppy Studios

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

1. A perennial favorite is my friend Marie’s blog…her photography is just ONE of the many things she does wonderfully! Being a good friend is another one!
2. Dijanne Cevaal’s work and blog never cease to inspire me!
3. Elin Waterston has been exploring stamp-making this year on Love.Will.Logic, her blog….. I’ll admit to being just a tad jealous of the time she has to make things!
4. Blue Moon River is Susan Brubaker Knapp’s blog; I met her not too long ago online, and we’ve had a fun time writing back and forth.  I can see her background in graphic design in her work, and not only enjoy it but learn from her work!
5. Planet Textile Threads isn’t really one person’s blog, but a whole bunch of people (in the interest of complete disclosure, me included).  I love being able to travel the world in one blog, with so many points of view.
6. Judy Coates Perez makes wholecloth quilts…she paints, then she quilts.  They are amazing, there’s never a dud, and you can see them here.
7. Even though she was also on Deirdre’s list, I’m also going to name my friend Lisa Walton, in Sydney, Australia!  Her blog is here.  I LOVE that we can live half a world apart, meet on the internet, then meet in Houston (at Quilt Festival of course), and get to be good friends despite not being near each other in person.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

I’m off to do that now.  Hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do!

And then  I’m off to work…. I’ve been really busy quilting lately, then hope to be really busy working on the manuscript and samples for my oft-delayed book.  This weekend, tho, will be spectacular.  On Saturday Deborah flies in from Texas!   She is staying with Kate, and on Sunday we will all get to have a sleepover at Kate’s neighbor’s empty (summer) house, then go to a workshop with Natasha Kemper-Cullen on Monday.  Get ready for good eye candy… this is going to be SUCH a treat!

One of the most fun classes I taught was Hawaiian style applique by machine.  Normally, this applique is done by hand using the needle-turn method.  It is beautiful, meticulous, and time-consuming.  Some years ago I saw a quilt made by a New Zealand quilter, Donna Ward, that was stunning… similar to Hawaiian quilts in style, and satin stitched!  The stitching became a whole new design element, and I was hooked.  And I must repeat… I love google!  Here  is a link to Donna’s quilt Jewel of the Pacific–scroll down a bit to the blue quilt.

For my book, Unraveling Threadwork, (hopefully due out Fall 2009) I’ve designed a quilt with nine 18 inch blocks using five different designs, as one of the main pieces.  I’ve also designed two smaller “practice” blocks, one of the taro leaf, another of the turtle.  This class was the first time I offered the smaller practice blocks as an option, and it seems to have been a good decision.  Sally was the one person in the class who opted to start with the large block, in her case the pineapple.  Her combination of deep purple and mottled green (above and below) was wonderful. I also recognized her name from the quiltart list…way fun to meet someone you’ve “seen” on line!

A couple tricks to Hawaiian applique:  high contrast in your fabrics works well!  Variegated threads don’t always look so good…opt for a solid color. THEN you absolutely must:

MAKE VISUAL DECISIONS VISUALLY!

That means make a test, and try your threads to see how the look when stitched out.  Try adjusting width and length to see what looks best.  And if necessary (it probably will be) use a stabilizer under the background fabric to prevent unsightly puckers and uneven stitching.  Here is one student’s thread stitch-out sample.

Her print fabric actually didn’t contrast a lot from the background–UNTIL she used the bright yellow thread to outline the design, at which point the subtle change in fabrics became awesome.

Sally had brought a variegated that was PERFECT for quilting her pineapple, but when satin-stitched out, it really didn’t look so great, so a classmate lent her a perfect purple.

Another student opted for the traditional solid colors in very tropical aqua and yellow.  This simple choice is smashing!

One student brought some VERY bright fabrics which had a stripe, but they worked!  Here are her turtles (before stitching)

Since she hadn’t brought a varied enough thread selection, she opted to work on prepping a large block, also…talk about vibrant…wow!

When she uses a starkly contrasting thread, like a tangerine or orange-y yellow or turquoise, the bright line of satin stitching will help pop the busy fabric inside the pineapple motif…trust me, this one will work amazingly well!

Other students preferred softer colors.  We were all surprised that this taupe-cocoa brown thread was such a good choice on the soft colors of the applique–sometimes the least expected selection works best:

And here are her Taro blocks, in purple and soft lavender (which alas looks more white in these photos):

and the reverse applique:

Here’s what I learned from teaching my class:

• the small shapes on the turtles are a bit fiddly for beginners.  I need to make another, simply-shaped design, and have both turtles and taro leaf (or whatever) stitched out for students to see.
• I should say on the supply list that variegated threads generally don’t work so well for satin stitching—be sure to bring plenty of solid colors
• Also on the supply list, I should say to bring at least twice as many colors of thread as you think you will need!
• Using the black Misty Fuse (adhesive web…a heat-activated glue for fusing fabrics) for demonstrating is perfect, since it is easy to see the bits that get left behind on the fusing sheets or baking parchment
• I need to bring more Misty Fuse to sell….I ran out!

So it’s off to update my class supply lists!  Hope you enjoyed this vicarious tour around the classroom.  I sure had fun seeing my blocks interpreted in so many wonderful ways.  I hope the students had as much fun as I did…imagine, I get paid to do this!  WOOHOO!

PS:  I wanted to post a public thanks to the show organizers for the Lowell Quilt Festival.  The teachers were treated like royalty…. we had rooms to ourselves (weren’t required to share with another teacher), were presented with lovely welcome boxes with some snacks, little bottled waters, an a Lowell Quilt Festival badge holder in a color just for teachers…..   the hotel rooms were huge and comfortable, too.   It was a particularly nice experience, so thanks to all who were involved!