New York Black Doll and Craft Show

Last Saturday, my faithful assistant (also known as my daughter) and I were at the historic Riverside Church in New York City for the 2011 New York Black Doll and Craft Show.  This is my daughter standing at our table:

Our table at the Riverside Church

It was absolutely sweltering outside, but the hearty shoppers who made it to the beautiful air-conditioned church were rewarded by a fine array of unique African-American dolls and fabric art.  As always, we enjoyed meeting all of the people who stopped by our table.  Our thanks to Done Up! for organizing this showcase!

Word of the Year -- 6 Months In

There's been kind of a check-in on the QuiltArt list to see how the words we all chose at the beginning of the year were working out.  Some people had forgotten theirs, others had gone by the wayside.

My word was BUILD.  (I posted about it here.)  I am steadily building on what I started last year, but certainly not in the ways I imagined in January.  It's all good, though.  Let's see what the second half of the year brings!

The Auction Quilt, or Where Did All the Time Go?

My plan had been to document the auction quilt as it progressed.  Good intentions and all that.  There were other projects along the way, and once I finished this one I realized I had not taken any pictures while I worked.  So here is the completed quilt:

Auction quilt for Hearst Elementary School, May 2011

And a close-up showing some of the memories the children wanted to me include on their road through elementary school:

detail from 2011 auction quilt

The children (and their parents) were very pleased when they saw the finished product.  

There is more to this quilt, however.  Seven years ago, when my daughter was in pre-kindergarten, I had been making quilts for only two years.  With the encouragement of my husband and parents, I volunteered to make a quilt with the children for inclusion as their class project in that year's auction.  It was the first time that I showed my work to people who were not related to me.  I was certain that I would be exposed as a fraud, a pretender.  Surely, someone who had more experience would point out all of the flaws in my work.  But no, the parents and teachers thought I knew what I was doing.

The encouragement I got from the school community was both unexpected and precious.  And along the way, I made new friends -- other moms who I could go to lunch with or press into service as needed for cutting and ironing on these soon-to-be-annual school projects.

One mother in particular, a friend since our daughters were in that pre-K class together, offered to help assemble the quilt top this year, the last one for this group of kids at this school.  She was my sounding board for the quilt's concept and I relied on her input.  She was sick, though, newly diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer.  I kept her updated, especially since getting together to work on the quilt became...complex.  She was the first person (who didn't live in my house) that I showed it to when I was done, and I was rewarded with her radiant smile.

I didn't know then that the night of the auction would be the last time I saw her.  I didn't know then that the doctors had determined that there was nothing more they could do for her.  I didn't know then that, less than three weeks after the auction, she would be gone.

What started out as a chronicle of elementary school for the children became, for me, the story of a friendship forged on field trips, at bake sales and potlucks, and over countless cups of coffee.  I am grateful for that friendship, and miss her terribly.  I couldn't have done it without her.

For Romona

Grieving women stand
Alone together, silent.
Remembering her.

My New Favorite Quilt

I appointed myself family historian years ago, before I started quilting.  Once quilting entered the picture, I would occasionally think about making a family tree quilt.  And then I would think about something else.  Time passed.

Then, this winter, I was commissioned to make a family tree quilt for my client's grandmother's 80th birthday.  "Sure," went my mouth when she explained what she wanted.  "You've thought about this before, remember? You have avoided this," went my brain.

Fortunately, there were no leaves on the trees then.  Have you ever really looked at the branch structure of trees?  I hadn't.  It is easy not to notice, but different trees branch differently.  I drew this somewhat stylized version:

Which became this in fabric:

And the finished quilt, with the grandmother's favorite Bible verse as a border. 

Family tree quilt, 50x54

I should have done this for my family a long time ago.  It's my new favorite quilt. 

Displaying Small Works

There are many, many ways to display small fiber pieces.  I like this method because of its simplicity.  You will need:

a mat and backboard

paper hinging tape and water  (I use Lineco's gummed tape.  You can get it at art supply stores.  There are linen and self-adhesive varieties as well.  This works for me.)   

your artwork.  This piece is 5-1/2 x 7-1/2.  Make sure your piece is larger than the mat opening so that the edges will be covered.  This also gives you some room to shift the piece to show what you want.

1.  The mat will cover those unfinished edges, 

so don't worry about getting them perfectly squared.  Place your work on the backboard, then lay the mat over it to check your placement.

2.  Carefully flip the artwork up so you are looking at the back of your work and the top edge is exactly where you want it.  You will be making a T-hinge with the tape.  Moisten two pieces of tape and apply them long-ways to the top of the art and backboard.  Then take two more pieces of tape and apply them across the first pieces on the backboard to form a T.

Clearly, had I been thinking, I would have used something that would show some contrast, but the back of the work is beige, the mat is beige, the tape is beige.  I think you can still see the T, though.

3.  Flip your artwork back down.  See how that hinge works!  Now do the same thing to hinge the top of the mat to the top of the backboard.

4.  Let the tape dry, close it up, sign your name in the front right corner, and you're done!

Ok, so I hadn't signed this one before I took the picture, but you know what to do.  That's all there is to it. 

A Sewing Haiku for Poetry Month

Sewing machine hums.

Me, too, in the flow. Oh, shoot!

Bobbin's out of thread.

composed in the seconds before that became reality, April 14, 2011