Sign of Summer

Not only are the little birds back, singing their hearts out every morning, I am noticing more and more butterflies in the garden as well.

Truly, it is summer.

Folk Art Quilts

Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once he grows up.
~ Pablo Picasso

There was a story in this morning's New York Times entitled
Handmade Alabama Quilts Find Fame and Controversy . The story is about the Gee's Bend Quilts , quilts I'd first read and heard about when I first began quilting, although at the time they were called Freedom Quilts.

These quilts remind of Henri Matisse's paper cut-outs . I was struck by this last month when I saw the Gee's Bend Exhibition at the Walter's Museum in Baltimore and then, the next day, went to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and saw an exhibition of Matisse's cut-outs .

The New York Times story describes the history of the quilts and the lawsuits filed by two of the quilters against Bill Arnett and his sons, claiming they had been cheated out of thousands of dollars in proceeds from their work and copyrights. This seems to be a fairly regular occurance when dealing with folk or outsider art, but it's unclear if that is the case here.

Blueberry Season

Blueberries are the first food I remember eating. I must have been about three and-a-half. We were living at Minnow Lake. I ate a bowl full of blueberries with brown sugar and milk. I'm sure that blueberries must exist in heaven. After all, what else would angels want to eat?

Flower Garden

I have a hexagon flower garden quilt on the long list of quilts I want to make, but in the meantime a flower garden with old fashioned flowers will have to do.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Jack! This photo is from your fifth birthday party with your grandpapa. I wish you love and happiness forever and that you always have that happy look in your eyes. Love ya, Jack.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Gavin!

I hope you had a great birthday, Gavin! I wish you love and happiness forever. And that you always keep your sense of fun, Mr. Oreo Eyes! Love ya, G-guy.

Longing for the Beach!

Library school is year around but I do get about two weeks off in December and two in August. I'm looking forward to my "time off" although, as usual for me, I will be spending some of that time on library school related projects. Still, I'd like one (or maybe even two) days at the beach, walking hand-in-hand with John, feeling the sand between my toes, and breathing the salt air. Well, we'll see.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

I've checked the weather reports and see that we are expected to get temperatures near 100 on Tuesday and Wednesday. I love summer, but I don't like it when it gets this hot. Perhaps I'll spend those days studying at the Oregon State University Library . They have air-conditioning!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Happy Independence Day!

We're going to have a quiet holiday at home. I'm fixing barbecued ribs, baked beans, cornbread, coleslaw,lemonade and iced tea with flag cake for dessert. This is one of my rare days of real vacation. I'm not going to work on assignments or study or do research. I'll knit a bit, read a chapter or two in a mystery novel, maybe take a nap, water my flower garden, feed the birds, go for a walk. Today I'm just going to play.

P.S. I've decided to start a new blog about my play-time. It's called Small Comforts .

And Best of All....

Better than going to the conference, better than the seafood, better than the trip to Washington, D.C., better than the quilts was seeing Jack.

The Wall

Going to the Wall was a very emotional experience for me, but I'm glad I went.

Washington, D.C.

After the conference was over, John and I took the train with Jack to visit Washington, D.C.

Quilts!!!

I discovered that the Walters Art Museum, only a few blocks from the hotel where we stayed, had an exhibition of the Gee's Bend Quilts . Click here to read more about them. They didn't allow photographs to be taken but I did buy a book of postcards, some small magnets, and best of all, a two-compact-disc compilation that was recorded over 60 years ago (but never released) and newly recorded music performed by quiltmakers who had never before been heard outside of Gee’s Bend, mainly gospel music. John put them on my i-Pod and I listened to them all night on the long flight from Chicago to Portland.

I also visited the Maryland Historical Society . They had an antique Sorrows Quilt for sale for $250. This is what the sign next to it said "Using fabric scraps from the clothing of loved ones,19th century quilters crafted quilts made to commemorate someone who had died. Usually blocked with black alternating pieces, these quilts are also known as sunshine and shadow."

The only other quilt on display was this one, a Baltimore Maryland quilt made almost 150 years ago.

Architectural Details