As I got into my car at The Lakes parking lot, I saw this card by my foot.
The late afternoon light made the pavement and painted line come alive. The business card appeared to float.
Do I put the knitting down and begin to quilt?
Thought I should identify whose card I found…
Ben H at WordPress says “This week, share a photo of something that says “heritage” to you. It can be from your own family or culture — a library, a work of public art, a place of worship, an object passed down to you from previous generations.”
Mary Alta Kerr Hendricks my paternal grandmother. Farmersville, Illinois. She taught me to knit when I was four years old.
She knit the Afghan and made the quilt. She. Luke tat snd crochet, too. I held the quilt to the window so the light could show how beautifully it is pieced snd stitched.
My father Roy J. Hendricks is the boy standing on the left. Uncle Alan Hendricks is the baby on my grandmother’s lap. My grandfather is standing, Floyd Merle Hendricks.
Five years ago I received unexpected mail from quilter Colleen. Today I found it in my cloth napkin basket and pulled it out to set my hot lemonade and honey mug on top. Feeling festive! Added a couple of Nurnberger Lebkuchen. A hot drink helps when the temperature drops to single digits.
Thanks Colleen.
To say Art All Night in Lawrenceville is a happening, would be an understatement. Over a thousand pieces of art are hung and displayed for 24 hours.
No jury, any medium- just ONE piece per artist. No exceptions.
It takes a ton of volunteers to organize, create and support this community event. Check all the art in, check all the art out. Make sure the artists get back their artwork.
There’s lots of music, comedy, yoga, mosaic making, live art, children’s activities and T-shirts for sale to wear until next year which will be the twentieth year.
Here’s the great part- thousands of people attend the show. This year Steve and I went on the peaceful Sunday morning instead of the wild and crazy and heavily populated Saturday night. An artist friend had taken in my Mill at Night photograph along with his painting. He’d encouraged me to participate again this year.
When I saw the piece below on one of the panels, it spoke to me. I got the contact information off the tag and called the artist right away. This afternoon we met at the bookstore in the Waterfront and check out how she packaged her art.
Thanks Jill. I am thrilled to have your “Corona” in my home.
We exchanged email and contact information and hope to knit together sometime soon.
A gallery from Art All Night so you can get the feel for the event. Remember my visit was early Sunday morning so it was sparse as far as viewers go but there were plenty of volunteers.
What we saw when we left the exhibit
Austin, Texas is noted for live music and creative artists.
And stunning hand-dyed, uniquely-patterned fabrics, by Malka Dubrawsky. Touring her studio, I was reminded of my color theory class, studying Josef Albers.
In between wedding and celebrations, Colleen, who hails from Nova Scotia, made arrangements to meet Malka at her studio, A Stitch in Dye.
Colleen is an avid quilter and follows Malka’s blog.
The four of us piled in Joanne’s car and her son Chris, ferried us to A Stitch in Dye where Malka welcomed us and generously gave a tour of her studio.
Malka Dubrawsky – Fiber Artist
Malka explained the dye process. We learned about the addition of soda ash.
Lengths of fabric soak in dye. Wax in electric frying pans for making the designs on the fabric
Wax design drying, ready for a dye bath
Button jar
Joanne spotted these gloves on a shelf. Thanks J.
Custom designs available and international shipping! Click for her Etsy Store to see samples of her vibrant hand dyed fabrics. She has written two books.
Color Your Cloth: A Quilter’s Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric and Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration.
Left Handed Appliqué Scissors.
Stacks of fabric to be sewn into quilt designs
Thanks for a wonderful tour. Malka saw us out to the parking lot.
Glad Colleen had such a cool connection in Austin. The fabrics she bought were richly colored and fabulous designs. Can’t wait to see your quilt creation, Colleen. Send photos for upcoming blog post!
Intricate. Complicated or detailed.
Photographed by iPhone specifically for the challenge
A verb.
A noun.
Hopefully not my nerves or the rope
I hang onto with my best grip.
I sleep with the comfort of the worn red calico and
yellowed muslin quilt my grandmother stitched decades ago.
. I told my friend V what the photo challenge word of the week was and she said,
“Fray? That’s an easy one. You start school Monday.”
My son-in-law James and Penny the Golden Doodle, exhausted! James was happy with the results of two games (Ohio State and Auburn winning) and said he didn’t care much about the last one- USC and UCLA. He gave me permission to blog the two of them resting on the couch. Laura had already headed to bed.
I went down the street to photograph a crazy Christmasy house lit up full force but they’d flipped the off switch early and gone to bed. Thought that would have been good for the Let There Be Light challenge part two.
The pink afghan covering James has a label in it from my father’s mother Mary Alta Hendricks, who knit it in 1976 at age 84.
Born in 1892. That was a long time ago.
I’d been knitting all evening while the games were on. Earlier in the day, my granddaughter Anna and my daughter Laura had been knitting as we all sat on the same couch. Passed down four generations. There’s another afghan my grandmother knit from Bobbie, she sent it to Laura and James.
Tonight I am in the guest room at Laura and James’ sleeping under a quilt my grandmother stitched.
Thinking of family as the holiday weekend comes to a close. Grateful for all the love passed down.
Thinking of those nearby and those no longer with us on earth, just in our hearts.
James and Penny are exhausted
Quilt stitched by my grandmother Mary Alta Hendricks
A two hour drive from Pittsburgh. My book club had a fun and memorable getaway weekend trip. We stayed at the Historic Bedford Resort.
Sunday, Joan and I went to see the National Museum of the American Coverlet– housed in a beautiful Historic Common School. A coverlet is a woven bed cover, although there were some floor coverings, too. The coverlets display changes every four months. We learned a lot about the history of the coverlets with our knowledgeable guide explaining the differences. The last photos are of the gift shop where you can purchase reproductions of the antique designs and fabric for quilters.
from the National Museum of the American Coverlet
The Museum and Museum Shop are open daily, year round.
Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
Admission is $6 ($5 for age 60 and over). Kids under 12 are free. Group rates available.
If you have a coverlet, you can bring it to Melinda and Laszlo Zongor and they can help date it and identify the weaving method.
The Jacquard Loom
There are looms and spinning wheels on exhibit.
Home after being away for ten days. Steve bought a pizza for us. Found a pile of mail in the front hall; catalogs, bulk mail, a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon, a notice of a tangelos and grapefruit delivery, a bank statement and the water bill. A few Christmas cards and the Barbie scrubs I ordered for Christmas from Etsy. A nice card with a Starbucks giftcard from Cj. AND a “Mug Rug” with a Norfolk VA postmark from Colleen, a long time friend of Joanne in Omaha. Joanne insists that Colleen and I have met but we haven’t– yet! Colleen stitched a quilted “mug rug” and sent it to me with a lovely card. (Depending on when you are reading this, I am writing on the 9th Day of Christmas so it is 9 Ladies Dancing, 10 Lords-a-Leaping, Mary.) I love the numbers on the fabric. There were instructions for a cup of tea and room for two cookies on the side but I didn’t want to cover up the fabric for the photo. What a happy surprise to find a handmade gift in the sea of fliers and junkmail! And how fortunate Steve had some cookies to supply for the shot. What a great way to end the vacation. And Deb B I like the quote on your handmade card.
“How we choose to think,
Determines what we will see,
And so it is that we,
Create our reality.”
(a quote but no attribution, maybe someone will help find the source)
It is a happy 2011 already. Thanks friends.
*If you want to see the Blog Year in Review 2010 and the Top Posts- click here for late post 1/2/2011
