Please Don't Feed the Bears-Arrowmont

 Last Sunday I drove up to Arrowmont for my much anticipated class with textile artist,  Helen Geglio.  The class "The Keeper's Quilt" was about using treasured textiles in a newly designed quilt.

This is my fifth visit to Arrowmont and it is something I look forward to each year.  My only disappointment year after year was never seeing first hand the much lauded black bear visit.  But during lunch one day, two bears ambled through.  They did not approach us even though we were eating about 30 to 40 yards away at the picnic tables outside.  What a treat!

The class was exactly what I hoped it would be, a relaxing yet deep dive into using old textiles and hand stitch.  Helen is a knowledgeable and generous instructor, both in sharing her design process and materials.

One of my favorite aspects of the class was seeing her work close up and working with an old quilt with fabrics from the turn of the century and the 30s and 40s.

There is a whole back story about the fictional Hesperia, the maker of the old quilt Helen brought for us to use.

The class was small, only six of us.  It was a really pleasant group of like minded people of all ages.

Helen had us do some small samplers to practice some techniques.  My first was titled "Night Watch" .

We all worked then on a primary project.  Here are some in progress shots of mine, "Three Sisters".

Here are some of the other projects from our class.

Delightful Dilemma

 Last year my annual trip to Arrowmont was canceled due to COVID.  That makes this year's trip all the more precious.  I am taking Cloth, Needle and Stitch: The Keeper's Quilt with Helen Geglio.  I have been collecting old pieces of quilts, lace and trim.  This weekend I did some natural dyeing.

Osage Orange

Logwood

It did not take long to dye my way through seven yards of linen and some commercial text print fabric.

My array of purples and gold

I also took some of the leftover dye stuff and steamed some wrapped bundles for some variations.

I threw some yarn into the pots for fun.

For the dilemma, do I approach the class with a plan...there are so many possibilities ?  Or do I pack up a bunch of odds and ends and see what happens. 

What a lovely problem to have.

No Victory March

 

My latest improvisational quilt, Love Is Not A Victory March.  This quilt is inspired by dishes.  My husband decided he wanted red dishes and started buying them every time he went grocery shopping.  Yes, grocery store dishes.

Unfortunately he did not appreciate my devotion to my white stoneware.  It was oh so versatile and we had the platters, cannisters, gravy boat and service for twelve.  It was from Belks not the grocery store.  The white stoneware was packed up in the garage and I struggled not to resent these damn red dishes.

It occurred to me that this was dear hubs house too.  I thought of my daughter's tattoo, a visible reminder of Leonard Cohen's song lyrics.  Love is not a victory march.  No winners or losers in the end.  Just red dishes.

I loved piecing this quilt and working out my tableware angst in such a tangible, tactile and textile way.  Quilt on friends.

A Handful of Dust

 This has been a good week off from work.  I did some spring cleaning, taking a carload of yarn to the Scrap Exchange and loads of household goods to the habitat resale store here in Sanford.

Believe it or not I kept enough yarn for future tapestry weaving and did not even touch the knitting stash!  I was overwhelmed by all my craft supplies and wanted to gain some emotional and physical space.  Quilting is what I am passionate about now.

Quilting, like tapestry is another way to communicate thoughts and feelings when words aren't sufficient.  Right now front of my mind is the ongoing police violence, the search for justice and the unrest when justice fails us.  Will there be justice for George Floyd when the verdict is rendered.  Will our cities burn in despair and rage?

Today I pulled my scraps from The Cary Quilting Company and started to improvise a small  quilt.  

It was easy to limit my colors to red, black and white.  I love these strips and tried to use them with minimal cutting.

I kept this quote by T.S. Eliot in mind.  "I will show you fear in a handful of dust."  His poem, The Wasteland speaks of brokenness and loss.  So the working title of the quilt is A Handful of Dust.

Burn, smoke and ash, these large words feature prominently .  The words silent and very sorry are smaller whispers.  Stitch on friends .

My Internal Debate

 Since December my weaving mojo has been missing in action.  I have been conflicted about blogging about quilting on my blog, The Weaving Song.  It felt all sorts of wrong!  Sitting quietly with a needle and thread feels like a homecoming of sorts.  I spent many happy hours as a little girl making Barbie clothes.

I love scraps.  Those bins are all my scraps, sorted by color.  I blogged about the wonderful scrap bin at The Cary Quilting Company. Normally I don't have scraps strewn across the floor but this was a spontaneous scrap pull.

I fell in love with this little scrap of flowers.  I am proud of this little improvisational and wonky log cabin.  The beginning quilt class at The Cary Quilting Company not only refreshed my sewing chops.  It also showed me how much more enjoyable quilting is with a cutting table at the right height and a design wall.

I am proud of this improvisation .  All scraps were chosen from the scrap bin at CQC  and pieced without a plan. I plan to practice my machine quilting and  hang in my studio as a reminder, it is never to late to become what you were meant to be.

I Am Too Old for Homework!

 It is Saturday night at 9:00 pm.  I just finished my quilt class homework, despite having two weeks to get it done.  We were to machine quilt our small quilts and make our bias binding.  I have been practicing free motion quilting but put off my homework until tonight.

 

My forty year old Pfaff machine is a champ and a workhouse.  The quilt class has been great fun, made even better by taking it with my friend Susan.  Cary Quilting Company has done a terrific job of making this class fun, effective and safe.  No easy task in this pandemic.  I have learned a lot from Kim.  She is a patient and flexible instructor.  Lord knows she has had to demonstrate both with me.  Apparently, I have difficulty with measuring accurately, straight lines and following directions in general.  This video shares some highlights.

I have been stitching and quilting since December and it reminds me of  learning to sew as a girl, making Barbie clothes and a truly awful purple pantsuit.  Murchel, the cat pictured was my best friend and an important part of my life from pre-school to  my first year of college.

I should probably apologize for those peeking in looking for weaving content.  The weaving muse is no where to be seen, perhaps on a long walk about.  That is partially why I haven't blogged in awhile.  Slowly hand stitching and quilting feel like coming home to myself.  Rather than stressing about the loss of weaving and knitting mojo I am just going to enjoy the learning and the making in whatever form it takes.

My Pandemic Secret Weapon- Cary Quilting

 I like many others have exhausted my usual arsenal of coping devices during this pandemic and political season.  The combination of increased work and life stress and limited opportunities to socialize and commiserate in person has been exhausting.  Top that with my long loved husband being a conservative Republican.  Oy Vey!

But this post is one of gratitude for the big and little things that get us through. Like Cary Quilting Company. As my interest in stitching developed, this store was a lovely distraction. In the worst of lockdown, you could order a bag of scraps, fat quarters or whatever and pick it up curbside.  This was such a treat to have a bag of surprises to grab and take home to play with.

Within this happy space is my primary destination.   Just digging through this bin during my lunch hour on a discouraging day at work was my remedy many days.

Scraps are sold by the ounce.  I found when too down or tired to craft, I found satisfaction just washing and ironing them.

This store has been a lifesaver for me. Both visiting and playing with my scrappy treasures.

Thankfully I  have moved beyond just ironing scraps.  The staff at the store helped me pick out fabric. I am making a quilt for Riley's birthday. 

This long ago pieced and forgotten throw has been hand quilted and bound.  Need to work on those mitered corners though.  Thank you Cary Quilting for getting this weaver through a season of despair.