More Florida Beauty

The Florida Quilt Competition was the second largest show on exhibit, with 79 entries. It was open to any quilter who is a resident of Florida. The entries were varied and showed off the considerable talents of many fine Florida quilters. Sadly, I was not diligent in photographing the cards for the info on every quilt, so there are a few here with little info. I apologize for that, it is not fair to the quilters to show their work without giving them credit, but I do want you to enjoy the amazing work that I saw. Please forgive me, Florida quilters!!







The first place winner was Mozart by Barbara A. Stewart of Miami.














It was an original design, hand pieced, hand appliquéd and machine quilted on her own domestic sewing machine.

Second place went to Natalie Carlton of Palm City for Stuart 100 Year Anniversary. Stuart is known as the sailfish capital of the world. An original design, it was made for the town of Stuart which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.















A whole cloth quilt of teal dupioni silk, she added trapunto with wool, and it was machine quilted on her longarm machine. It was stunning, sadly the poor lighting did not do it any favours.

Affirmations by Pat Kumicich of Naples won the third place ribbon. It was an original design,  machine pieced and machine appliquéd, and quilted by hand and machine.

Out of The Loop was a collaboration between Eyvonne Smith and Karen Marchetti.  Eyvonne pieced the top and Karen worked her magic with the longarm quilting. Not surprisingly, they won a Judge's Choice ribbon!  It was an amazing quilt to see.
















Luckily we were in the right place at the right time as a white glove lady came along and "turned" the quilt so we could really appreciate the quilting. Look at the back side - it was as beautiful as the front!!

Bluebirds by Laura Ruiz won the Best Pictorial Quilt ribbon. This was one of my favourites- those little birds were so well done and looked so very real!












See what I mean???

A Taste of Sunshine  by Deb Crine was certainly worthy of the Best Machine Workmanship ribbon. The quilting was just amazing.






















Deb hand painted the design on cotton sateen with textile paints and colored pencils. Threadwork was done with polyester threads.

Bloom is another amazing piece by Deb Crine. It won the ribbon for Best Use of Embellishments. After attending an inspiring workshop with Cindy Needham, Deb applied her new skills and knowledge re. working with linen.














Detail shot: This is antique Madeira linen with an underlay of Dupioni silk. It is quilted with silk thread and although they are hard to see here, there are over 600 Swarovski crystals on this quilt. It was stunning!

Fish House: Pine Island, Florida  
by Carol Elrod was one of my favourites.
"In days gone by, fishermen brought their "catch of the day" to houses like this one to be weighed - and to receive their pay. Over the years, many houses, especially those surrounded by water, have been destroyed by hurricanes. Some have burned. This house, in Jug Creek on Pine Island, was built in a protected spot and has been converted into a residence."

Medallion by Loretta Sylvester. What an incredible amount of work! Both the piecing and the appliqué were exceptional.













Sweet Dreams by Pat Kumicich

















Sparkle Star by Natalie Carlton. Natalie is
another amazing long arm quilter and here's the proof!





























Milkweeds to Monarchs in My Mosaic Butterfly Garden by Charlotte Noll. Loved this one.

And loved this one too. Sadly I have no info on this quilt, name or the maker. So sorry. But I really wanted to include this just because it is so different. Took me right back to the 60's and my very first trip to Florida as a child. I still very clearly remember seeing and meeting several Seminole Indian women. Mum bought me a doll in traditional Seminole costume with very similar design and color to this...


Peace,
Linda

"Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly. Taste the relish to be found in competition - in having put forth the best within you." ~ Henry J. Kaiser

Here We Go - Hang On!

The World Quilt Show, West Palm Beach, Florida 2014 was quite an experience. Heck, just being in West Palm Beach after all the winter weather we had been having here, was a wonderful experience! Perhaps it was good (for my pale skin) that I was not plunged right into hot sunny weather, as I sure was anxious to spend time in the sun, and I would have come home with a sunburn no doubt. Mother Nature saw fit to dump an incredible amount of rain on that area the first two days I was there, but I wasn't unhappy with the timing, as we were inside all day anyway. (see previous post to read about the 22" of rain!) So - here we go. I'll take you on a whirlwind tour over the next few posts. Hang on to your (sun)hat!

There were 19 concurrent shows under the roof of the West Palm Beach Convention Center. In a prime spot, just outside the main entrance into the Show area, was the 2013 Guild Challenge by the Martin Co. Quilter's Guild, to which my friend Sandi belongs. So of course, that was the first show we "toured". Sandi won two ribbons in this 2013 Challenge, and one of her ribbon winners was clearly visible from the booth where we paid our entrance fee in the main lobby. How exciting for her!
The Challenge was "Black and White". Members were to make a black and white piece, with the option of adding up to two other colors, as long as their combined total did not exceed 25% of the surface of the quilt. Sandi entered two challenge pieces, did not add any additional color on either, and won ribbons on both of them!

Is This my Best Side? done in white bridal satin and black leather, won Best of Show in the Challenge. As well as the challenge of working with leather and slippery satin, she drew the zebra head, and machine quilted it. Upon close inspection you can identify other creatures in the quilting- an elephant, a hyena, flamingos and antelope. She hand painted a piece of glass for the eye- it was very realistic! Great work Sandi and very worthy of the Best of Show ribbon!!

Her other winner was  It Makes No Difference - Black or White which won Honorable Mention for Machine Appliqué. Sandi created the vertical striped fabric by strip-piecing, cut the figures and machine appliquéd them. It is her statement on the blending of cultures.












Following are some of the other Challenge entries and winners.





Denise Cargill won the Best Embellishments ribbon for her piece First Morning Light. She "used silk, tulle and satin as well as cotton to create the flowers and vines. The 3-D flowers, leaves and cardinals are machine embroidered and then appliquéd to the Montana Star background. The star was created with assorted black and white fabrics plus a textured black tulle layered over a solid white Kona fabric to create the gradation from light to dark."












Winter Light by Carol Cheek was one of my favorites. The brick-like background is a technique taught by Gloria Loughman in her book Radiant Landscapes. I thought it was very effective.













Here's a closer look at that background, because I can see you squinting, trying to see it better...

Peekaboo Houses - Renovated by Millie MacKenzie won an Honorable Mention ribbon for Hand Quilting. "Thanks to Betty Alderman for her original block design, Peekaboo Houses. I have taken liberties with the design of the quilt to bring it into the  21st century- replacing the vintage 1930's look with bold geometric elements and hand quilting with machine stitching. Details: hand embroidery, fusible appliqué, single and double prairie points, asymmetrical design and machine quilting."

Equus by Sandee Monk won Best Contemporary. "I've never done a quilt in black and white nor attempted thread painting before. So this challenge really took me out of my comfort zone. I first painted selected areas black and then stitched the whole cloth.Total time: approx. 120 hours." It also won Viewer's Choice.














Yes, you read that right. This piece began as a large piece of white fabric. She painted in the black areas, and then thread painted the entire piece. ie all that you see is thread!!!! It was awesome!

Birds and Birches by Jane Taylor won Honorable Mention for Hand Appliqué. "When I visited Russian countryside in 2012, so many groves of birch trees grew along the roads. They were straight and very angular. This quilt pattern reminded me of these beautiful trees. I added the green birds as my accent color. They reminded me of parakeets, but these birds are not native to Russia. I guess this is good use of poetic license!"

This is Cracks by Dori Hawks. "I have always loved Black and White quilts, especially their crisp clean lines. Instead of using a fabric that has both black and white, I used thread and machine quilting to add that element to this quilt."

Lady Montesco's Sunglasses by M. Luanne Carson took home an Honorable Mention Contemporary ribbon. "Inspiration came from learning to draw a beautifully proportioned cup (the Holy Grail?) and creating a diamond-shaped design from two layers of a sheer striped fabric. The negative space of the cup's curves became the dress neckline/shoulders and inspired the exaggerated hat style. Embellishments: a silver and black chain to outline the sunglasses and lips, plastic-coated wire coils for the necklace, ribbon, luminescent paint, rattail and buttons. Fabrics: cottons, rayon georgette, wool and synthetics."



These last two I don't have much info for, other than names (sometimes, in my excitement, I forgot to photograph the cards). Shame on me...



This is Still of the Night by Nancy Smith. I liked her use of fabrics.

This last one is by Barbara Uttormark and won Honorable Mention Modern.


You can see more pieces from this Show on our Guild Blog by clicking here. And if you click here, to go to the Martin Co. Guild's site, you will see more winners and their makers. There are several there which I missed getting photos of, so it's worth look. Also the lighting/coloring is better.

Peace,
Linda

"Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem." ~ Brian W. Aldiss

Helloooo, I'm back!

If' you're a regular here, you've likely been wondering where the heck I've been. Well, I've been to London to visit the Queen Florida to enjoy some warm weather!! AND to attend the World Quilt Show with my friend Sandi Mac. I'm not sure which was better, I think I'll declare it a tie! Sandi winters in South Florida (lucky lucky girl!) and she has been after me for a few years now to come down while the World Quilt Show is on. I gave in this year when she found me a fantastic deal on flights right out of Fredericton. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long! lol I was gone Wednesday to Wednesday (just got home last night) - I meant to tell you a bit about it before I went, but ran out of time. And although I had thought I might possibly blog a bit while there, it didn't happen! We were waaay too busy having fun - 3 full days at the Show in West Palm Beach, which was about a 40 minute drive each way, shopping, a bit of sight-seeing, etc. etc. The weather was great (well except for the very heavy rain the first two nights -the area just south of West

Hibiscus in Sandi's front yard

Palm Beach got 22 inches - yes you read that right - TWENTY TWO inches of rain in a 24 hour period!!! Severe flooding, several people trapped and drowned, the Interstate closed, etc. etc.) It cleared on Friday and thereafter the weather was wonderful- sunny and warm- not hot, just comfortable- 70's and low 80's F. We even spent one afternoon walking the beach, picking up shells and enjoying the sun, sand and surf - well okay,  the surf only to our knees, but it sure felt good!

The World Quilt Show was awesome- besides the World Show and the Hoffman Challenge, there were 16 other concurrent shows! Plus a huge Vendor Mall - you know we spent some quality time there!! I have a lot of photo editing to do - I took literally hundreds of photos (despite the poor lighting) so it will be at least tomorrow before I can start showing you Show photos, but I promise I'll do my best to blog daily for the next while to "make up" for my absence! Until I have those photos ready, I'll share a few favs I took of the wonderful Florida vegetation - I was surprised that there was so much in bloom in January. For all of you who are tiring of  winter already, maybe these pics will warm you up a bit...

Plumbago hedge in Sandi's front yard

Sandi showing their first banana "crop"

Beautiful bougainvillea  

Peace,
Linda

"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question." ~ Harun Yahya

Too Many Books, Not Enough Time...

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng is not an easy read, and I admit I almost gave up on it more than once. It was not quite what I expected and I found it hard to "get into". But I persevered (not sure why... just stubborn, I guess. lol)
Do you read the brief synopsis on the book jacket when you choose a book at the library? I do, and I base my decision on that, if I am unfamiliar with the book. I thought this one sounded good: "Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice "until the monsoon comes." Then she can design a garden for herself.
As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself ultimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?"
I know very little of the history of Asia, or of the complex political dynamics and the Japanese Occupation of Malaysia in the 40's, let alone the continued attacks by the Chinese Maoists, Chiang Kai-shek's troops, and an aboriginal culture, the Orang Asli throughout the 50's. A multi-layered story, which jumped forwards and backwards in three different time periods frequently (without clues or dates) made it difficult to follow. There are a number of characters, many with unusual names, which I found a challenge to keep straight. As well a number of Japanese words are used throughout the novel without benefit of a glossary. These all combined for tough sledding for this humble reader... The horrors of the Japanese prison camps and the cruelty and torture inflicted on the prisoners and Malayan citizens are balanced by the aesthetic beauty of Yugiri, the Japanese garden, a place of calm and serenity, reflection and spirituality. Yun Ling (and the reader) learn not only of  the formal Japanese principles of garden design and the importance of "shakkei", but also of ukiyo-e (wood block printing) and horimono ( traditional Japanese full body tattoos). I've had a fascination with anything Japanese since childhood (I had a Japanese penpal for about 5 years) and I'm glad, in the end, that I stuck with it, but, as I said, it was tough going. It's not a "light" read...

Peace,
Linda

"Books have been my classroom and my confidant. Books have widened my horizons. Books have comforted me in my hardest times. Books have changed my life." ~ Po Bronson.

Grow Your Blog!

You may have noticed a new button at the top of my sidebar - it's the second annual Grow Your Blog party, hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full. Vicki came up with this midwinter event to brighten our long winter days, and increase our readership. If you'd like to join in the fun and attract some new readers to your blog, you should sign up soon- the deadline to join in the fun is fast approaching- January 15th is the final day to sign up. Simply click on the button on my sidebar, or click here and it will take you to Vicki's  sign-up post. You can read all the guidelines and leave a comment to join in the fun. Who wouldn't like to attract some new readers, and possibly they will choose to become followers too! And of course, you will meet all sorts of new blogging friends, and find some new blogs to follow yourself! The party starts on January 25th, but signup closes on the 15th so hustle on over to see Vicki and sign up for Grow Your Blog. I can't wait for the party to begin!



Peace,
Linda

"A friend is one of the best things you can have, and one of the nicest things you can be." ~ Douglas Pagels

I've got a Book Hangover again....

It's time for another Book Review. I have been getting the odd comment that my readers like my reviews.. that's encouraging as I never know if I have told too much, or not enough, or just what. If you love reading like I do, you probably are always on the lookout for another good suggestion, as I am. So it's nice to have someone else's opinion or recommendation. And today I can heartily recommend this one: The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley. I discovered her last spring when I read The Winter Sea (click here for review) and then The Rose Garden (click here). I simply love Kearsley's style of writing. She develops her characters so well, you feel you really know them and she is a master at shifting back and forth between present and past. Like the two previous books mentioned and reviewed, this story too begins in the present as Nicola Marter who works for one of London's premier dealers of Russian art, prepares to journey to St. Petersburg for an art purchase for a client. But there'll be much more to her travels than the art deal. Nicola was born with the gift of psychometry - she gets detailed visions of the past when she holds an old object. When a prospective client comes in hoping to sell a very old carving of a bird that she claims was given to her ancestor by Peter the Great's widow Empress Catherine, Nicola knows her story is true. She can see a vision of two women speaking Russian. Who are they? Could one really be Empress Catherine? The woman is in dire  need of the money the sale would bring and Nicola feels compelled to help her.
She turns to a friend who also has psychic gifts and together they follow a young girl named Anna from Scotland through Belgium and on to Russia to unravel the story of The Firebird. "Nicola and Rob unearth a tale of love and sacrifice, of courage and redemption... an old story that seems personal and small, perhaps, against the greater backdrops of the  Jacobite and Russian courts, but one that will forever change their lives." ~ from the book jacket.
As I said in the previous two Kearlsey novel reviews, if you like historical fiction with a touch of romance, if you like Diana Gabaldon or Mary Stuart, you will love these books. The Firebird is "sort of" a sequel to The Winter Sea, with some of the same characters, and I'd suggest reading it first, although this could be read as a "stand alone".... It's engrossing, captivating, a page-turner.. consider yourself warned. 5 stars are not enough... Now I have another case of Book Hangover...

Peace,
Linda

I don't want to just read books, I want to climb inside them and live there...

Packing away Christmas...

January 1st. A new year. New beginnings. Another chance to get it right, as Oprah says! lol   Well I got off to a very lazy start. Haven't accomplished a great lot today, although, with the "night owl" hours I keep, there's still lots of time yet. I slept late this morning (it felt good  :) and I guess the most ambitious thing I've done is take down our big tree. The small Victorian one is still up. Maybe tomorrow... I did do some much needed tidying in my studio too, so I guess that counts for something... I guess you could say I'm "easing in" to the new year... haha  This blasted cold weather has me just wanting to do nothing but wrap up in a cozy quilt, eat chocolate and read... Yes, the scales today told the tale of the chocolate eating, but we won't go there, okay?
As I was removing tree ornaments this afternoon, I remembered I had planned to do a blog post on my Czech eggs. So although I'm just a tad late for talking about Christmas decorating, I thought you still might like to see the eggs. When Laura and I were in Prague this past summer, although there were many many "gift shops", I'd have to say that the majority of them all had the same junk "goods" for sale, most of it tacky mass-produced souvenirs, not even made in the Czech Republic. (We were told most of it comes from Russia.) Eventually I found

Manufaktura, which is a network of shops with traditional crafts hand-made in the Czech Republic. I was looking for things which were small and lightweight to pack and was thrilled to find a good selection of eggs. Even though these are considered  Easter eggs in the Czech Republic, they were also displayed as Christmas decorations (no doubt to appeal to the North American tourists.) I chose a variety and when I paid for them the friendly young clerk gave me a brochure which tells about each type of egg and which part of the country it is from. Each region has their own distinct design or style of egg, and there is considerable variety.

One of the more common styles I found is the figural egg, usually just two colors - often red and white or red and cream. Designs are usually small figures and churches.

The Vnorovske egg is named for the Moravian village where it originated. It is done by the typical batik method of waxing and dyeing in intricate patterns, usually geometric or floral patterns, in red, yellow and orange.















Relief eggs have wax applied to the surface  in patterns and they also are from Southern Moravia.

Eggs from Velká and Veličkou are decorated by batik methods in combinations of white, dark blue and black with very complex and sophisticated designs, often with a geometrical pattern around the circumference of the egg.















I think these two eggs must be from this region. (I can only guess at my pairing up of the eggs I have with the written descriptions in the brochure. I guess you'll have trust me on this!!)

I think the Drilled eggs were my favourite! Their designs were inspired by complex Madeira embroidery. Relief wax is applied around the drilled pattern. Production of this type of egg requires skill, patience and high quality tools. I can only imagine how many eggs I would smash while trying to learn this technique of drilling an egg!!










This egg has a design applied with straw. It is not mentioned at all in my brochure, but I remember asking the saleslady about it and she told me it was straw, cut and carefully applied to the surface of the egg. I assume the straw is glued on (?) and if so, it has been expertly done as there is not one tiny drop or smudge of excess glue anywhere. The surface is smooth and clean. I purchased this one in Český Krumlov in a small privately owned artist's shop, along with the one below which I think she told me is a duck egg (slightly larger). I am thinking it might be from the Velká area (see above) from the intricate pattern and the dark blue color...






The other type of egg which was interesting (but I didn't buy) was the wired egg. The egg itself was plain, but it was covered with fine wire, worked into intricate designs. These were more expensive than any of the others, so I passed. Silly me, should have got at least one. Next time!! I guess I was worrying about how I would get all these home without breaking them.. and no doubt you are wondering just how I did that. Well... they were placed in...   you guessed it - an egg carton. Actually because I bought them in several different shops, on different days, I had several egg cartons, cut in half (for 6 eggs), taped up. Very basic- nothing fancy at all. But it worked. Not one was broken when I got home, despite them being in my carry-on bag, and when we were seated on the Prague-Franfurt flight in an exit row, the flight attendant came along and grabbed my bag from under the seat and stuffed it in the overhead bin. Okay, I thought I'll just have to get it down carefully when we leave. (More carefully than she handled it, I was thinking...)Then a big burly German comes down the aisle and opens the overhead bin and shoves his large bag in front of mine, jamming mine back... Well there go the eggs, I thought...  but they were all okay!! I think I brought home 17 eggs in all.

This last egg is from Budapest- a gift from my friend Barb who was there this fall - the same Barb who gave me the advent card here. It is done by the same batik method of wax resist dyeing, she saw them being done. Just look at the intricate designs- if you have ever tried doing Pysanky, you know this is NOT easy!!

So now, added to my Christmas ornament collection, I have an egg carton, full of eggs, to remind me of the summer of 2013 and Prague. Pleasant memories...

Peace,
Linda

"Christmas is the keeping-place for memories..." ~ Joan Mills