Pin It Weekly #304

I've had some sad things going on--one of my sisters was just diagnosed with leukemia. She started her chemo over the weekend. She is 57. A very private person, she hasn't told many people. 

Doctors expect that she will begin losing her hair in about two weeks. Mention of it upsets her, so we're trying to help her deal with it slowly. In the meantime, I've begun looking for chemo hats and scarves that I can make for her. 

Seat belt protectors for those with chest ports

If all goes well, she will be finishing up her chemo at about the same time that she turns 58. The most recent news is wonderful: she may not need a bone marrow transplant.

Pinterest has many ideas for helping cancer/chemo patients. From scripture cards to mouth sore relief. 

 

I started out looking for patterns to make some hats or scarves for my sister but found oh-so-much more. 

I hope that you have found something useful in this post if you have a cancer patient in your life or if you just have an altruistic heart. Cancer hospitals and chemotherapy clinics are probably always happy to accept some of these for their patients. 

GSQA -- Go Lori!

My friend Lori Steib from Baton Rouge is the new president for the Gulf States Quilting Association (GSQA) and presided over her first meeting last Saturday. She's a natural! Here's a picture of her (on the left) presenting a quilt to the outgoing president.

The meeting was interesting and there are many happenings going on. The biennial quilt show is in early April and seminar will be early 2021. There are meetings, classes, Pursuit of Excellence events and so on. I've found a very active group of like-minded people. My goal is to attend as much of these events as possible. I'd really like to attend the meetings, despite that some are out-of-state. We'll see.

The speaker for this meeting was Teresa Duryea Wong, author of American Cotton: Farm to Quilt. You can find her website here. After hearing her speak, I want to find a copy of her book. It just seems interesting to find out more about the fiber that makes the fabric that we love. She also shared vintage and antique quilts to show and used them to explain how cotton and quilts were made before machines took over the world.

In addition to the business of the meeting, we saw quilts during show and share, heard several announcements about upcoming shows and events, and ate delicious goodies. Best (for me) were the door prizes. I won the grand door prize of a Bernina 125th Anniversary quilt kit. 

Cotton and I enjoyed opening the box and petting the new fabrics. These, I think, will be perfect for some zippered bags for the girls. There are several with metallic gold designs, which the girls seem to love. I'll leave you with pictures of a few quilts shown at the meeting.

 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: {artist} Beili Liu

I was looking through photos from the artist-in-residence open house at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans. I realized that there were a few artists that I wanted to introduce to you. One of those is Beili Liu. Her work speaks to me through color, shape and theory. It helps that her grandmother's crocheted bed spread (and hundreds of needles) are part of one of her exhibits. 

 You can't see it in this photo, though I did try to get relatively close, but every thread hanging from this tar-covered piece holds a needle. I did not even see the needles until someone pointed them out. But once I did, my brain kicked into gear. I walked away wondering how many needles a quilter threads. 

How many in the case of my grandmother, who hand-pieced and hand-quilted exclusive of machines? How many did for the women before her generation, who had large families? who needed several quilts on every bed. who had many beds? Oh so many needles! And I want little more than to thread a needle and pull it through layers of fabric and fiber.

 I'm not quite sure what to make of these pieces. The indigo color was all I needed to be drawn to them. The second piece is a series of six inch squares each dyed using some form of blueprint coloring that is activated in the sun. The shapes are of objects that the artist recovered from one particular area.

Pin It Weekly #303

Hey Pinners! Let's meet new followers:
Barbara Wilson has a board called "color palettes" that proved to be interesting.

 

Marcin Piesocki's board "Polubione," which means your likes, has pins of some of the most beautiful antiques, architectural examples, and machines.

Sandra Gentry  has 64 pins on rug hooking, something I don't think I've ever passed along to you, so here you are. 

CFAL on Sunday

Joyce, who I know from BRMQG

The Contemporary Fiber Artists of Louisiana (CFAL) meeting was a hoot. Other members had attended a fabric dye workshop and brought their pieces to the meeting. They did some fantastic work! 

Glen of Quilts and Dogs blog

 Even now, looking at the photos I wish I'd tagged along. Truthfully though, I do not need another piece of fabric, or another hobby, or even another project idea. The $150 is prohibitive on my new budget. I'll tell you about that on another post. 

In addition to meeting the new officers, I met a few new members. Some, like Stephanie, are folks I know from the Modern Guild, but there are a few other people whose work has peaked my interest.

Wendy Starn, an art quilter from Alexandria

Another of Wendy's pieces

The last two pieces are from someone whose face I did not manage to capture, but I do love the work. As they showed their pieces, each person explained how she created the pattern. Everyone attended the same workshop but the outcome from each is stunningly different.

Suzi gave a fun, quick workshop on Furoshiki, the Japanese art of folding fabric. She demonstrated how to fold large square pieces to create bags, boxes, and holders. 

 There were a few other things, I'm sure, but I was trying to take notes and listen, so I can learn a few things. The people on either side of me were most helpful in explaining things when I got lost. It's such fun to find new friends!

Cotton Quilters' Guild January Meeting

The Cotton Quilters' Guild meets on the first Monday of each month.

Mrs. Mary showed us how she makes these little catch-all boxes.

 Ingrid comes in with beautiful, traditional items every month.

Another stunner by Cleo.

Irma and Mary collect money, take notes, and other official duties. I'll admit, it was enjoyable to sit back and calmly be a member again.