Friend and Foe: Four-in-Art Challenge • Feb 2016

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 Elizabeth E.15 Comments

Friend & Foe
Quilt No. 156, February 2016
#1 in the Color Series: Microscope

We have a new year and new members (see below) and a new theme: Color.

And this quarter’s challenge was “microscope.” So of course, I started haunting microscopy sites, trying to find the right molecule to make for this challenge. And it had to be colorful, right?

I recently had two friends diagnosed with breast cancer, and one of my other friends, Heather, is a long-term survivor of Stage IV breast cancer. I knew Taxol was used to combat aggressive cancers; so wrote to my friend Heather (also a professor in biology) for her reaction to that drug. She went through all the sciencey stuff, but I kept asking “Friend, or, Foe?”

Finally she wrote: “Foe during the treatment. Friend for the result.”

For something that causes such horrible side effects in the treatment, the molecule is this lovely spherical shape, with the innermost parts looking like four petals of a daisy, or an airplane propeller:

Of course, I can use any color I want — right? — so I decided to use periwinkle as the background, with magenta and purple as the parts of the molecule.

I constructed the bit I wanted to by paper piecing, then plain-old-pieced the rest. I stitched it to a white square, then a chartreuse square, as the purple was just lost on the quilt, plus it imitated the circle around the molecule. I made different sizes of different fabrics, then finally, small circles. Then came the arranging:

Using a font like Simone used two challenges back, I printed it the words on freezer paper in my inkjet printer, then cut out each letter. I didn’t cut out the centers, but just free-handed that when it was time to quilt around them.

I first outlined the letters with small free-motion quilting stitches, then started stippling around them.

I mean, I had just taken a class with David Taylor and if I didn’t know how to stipple now, I never would. I decided to leave the edges raw on the white and chartreuse fabrics to bring a little organic texture to the process. All the while, I’m thinking about the women I’ve known who have breast cancer, and while I stippled I sent them –and continue to send them– good karma for a long and happy life.

The birdcage fabric reminded me of that upper drawing of the sphere of Taxol, plus I liked it.

I had originally planned to have the quilt go this way: with the “friend” part first, but then I remembered what Heather said, and I realized that the Foe was first, then Friend. So I switched it around (correct orientation is at the top of the post).

We went over to my husband’s work (he’s a professor at the local Big U) and I loved this picture of a real “science” hallway, with all the faculty’s posters of their results (shown at meetings) hanging along the hallway.

This is his office, and why he never cares if my sewing room at home is a mess. Thank you, dear.

Simone and I at church, holding our Four-in-Art quilts. I am happy to have found such a fine group of quilters to make art quilts with. Bet you are wondering what Simone made, right? Please visit the rest of our group, to see how they interpreted Color: Microscope. We also have a blog, Four-in-Art Quilts, where you can find us all.

Betty https://www.flickr.com/photos/toot2

Camilla http://faffling.blogspot.co.nz/

Catherine http://www.knottedcotton.com

Janine http://www.rainbowhare.com

Nancy http://www.patchworkbreeze.blogspot.com

Rachel http://www.rachel-thelifeofriley.blogspot.com

Simon http://quiltalicious.blogspot.com

Susan http://patchworknplay.blogspot.com

And Susan just announced next quarter’s challenge: Music. Reveal is on May 1st, 2016. Can’t wait to combine both music and color together.

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Chuck Nohara • January 2016 blocks finished

January 28, 2016January 27, 2016 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

Happy to report that I finished my January’s Chuck Nohara Blocks a few days early, even with totally redoing the house on the hill block (#cn968). (The upper left fabrics are from Sherri and Chelsi’s new line of fabrics, called Valley. Yes, that is a shameless plug for her two lines, as I love the colors and patterns.) By the way, that (#cn968) is how we tag them on Instagram if you are ever looking for a block, and want to see what others have done. After seeing what others put together, I switched out the house colors (previous version shown below):

Yeah. I didn’t like it much either, although I like all those fabrics.

Here they all are so far. No, I haven’t trimmed up all the blocks yet. Mine will measure 6″ when they are finished (6 1/2″ trimmed). Here’s February’s blocks, in case you want to think about them early:

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Quarterly Reveal on February 1st

See you on February 2nd to begin our Oh Christmas Tree QAL!

Quilt-A-Long

Reflections on Road to California 2016

January 25, 2016 Elizabeth E.28 Comments

It was a lovely ride.

Road to California began as a local quilt juried quilt show that over 20+ years has built itself up to be a nationally-ranked show with outstanding quilts in all categories. Unlike other popular national quilt shows, they limit their entries to three per person, so this year’s entries totaled just over 500. After jurying them, the field was narrowed to about 250 quilts. You can imagine my surprise to learn that I’d been awarded a ribbon in the Traditional, Wall, Pieced category, a high moment given this past year of sturm und drang (German, for “storm and stress”). When I found out about my ribbon Tuesday night after my guild meeting (they sent out emails), there was a lot of whooping and hollering and hugging my husband in excitement. He was as thrilled as I was, as he has been there every step of the way.

I was also happy that Colorwheel Blossom was accepted as well, shown here on the right in one of the bays at the quilt show, hanging among other fine entries. Overall, many of us were saying it was an outstanding quilt show, from top to bottom, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Ewe Are My Sunshine, by Janet Stone, won the Marie White Prize of $7500.

Silk Road Sampler, by Melissa Sobotka, won Best of Show (and a $10,000 prize). This was created with raw edge appliqué, and some use of paints for shading and tinting. Both of these quilts were so different, but so stunning.

All of the prize winners can be found on *this* page; above is a screen shot of how it looks–when you click on the photo it enlarges it to a nice size so you can see the details. I also put a lot of the quilts on my Instagram feed (button is to the right), along with their names and titles, if they were posted.

On Wednesday, I took EQ7 out of the Box, taught by Barbara Vlack, a terrific class where I learned a few tricks. After class I stayed for a while to help hang quilts, joining the incredible army of volunteers who had been at that all day long. On Thursday, I enjoyed David Taylor’s You, Too, Can Stipple. Even though I passed stippling long ago, I also learned a lot. If you ever get a chance to take a class from either of them, sign up immediately. Some famous quilters aren’t teachers, but Taylor’s class flowed well and was really fun (he’s also pretty funny with a dry sense of humor).

Thursday afternoon Sherri, a friend, joined me from out-of-town, and on Friday morning we met up with a large contingent of the Good Heart Quilters, a local group of quilters in my area. We carpooled in, then split up to ~~shop~~ see the quilts. At noon, we were joined by more Good Heart Quilters, and two more quilters from the LA area (Megan and Michelle), and we all went over to El Torito for lunch, enjoying a few minutes off-site to celebrate Simone’s birthday. Back in the cars for more quilt show, then home again.

Saturday, Sherri and Laurel (one of the Good Heart Quilters) and I did a mini shop-hop, hitting three stores in the Temecula area, and enjoying lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. We were buying wool for their Oh Christmas Tree QAL, which begins next week in earnest (so I hope you are all getting your supplies, too). If I look funny, it’s because I was standing on my tiptoes to see over the high rails of the antique bed I was posing in front of. Plus I’m really tired from ~~too much fun~~ seeing the quilts.

Sunday, Sherri flew home, and Dave (my husband) and I headed up to Road for one last blast of quilts, to pick up a flier so I could subscribe to both QuiltMania and Simply Moderne (it took me a while, but I’m finally going to do it) and pick up my quilts. We were back home by 5 p.m., the fun ride over.

After last year’s high of having three quilts accepted into Road, I didn’t think my quilting life could get any better. That year still remains a high, but this year was really amazing, too. In reviewing the year, I must also add in the lovely emails from all my readers, the relationships we’ve developed, as well as the quilting, the ups and downs, the travels, the successes and the failures you’ve shared with me. As I explained to one white-glove volunteer, who asked about my Pineapples and Crowns quilt, that quilt is really a collaboration, a celebration of community.

And so I celebrate us all, as we begin the year!

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Quarterly Reveal on February 1st

See you on February 2nd to begin our Oh Christmas Tree QAL!

Creating · Four-in-Art · Quilts · Something to Think About

Microscopy for Four-in-Art Feb 2016

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

This microscopic image is cocaine.

I found it while researching images for this quarter’s Four-in-Art challenge of “microscopic.” The overarching theme is color, so of course, I was drawn to this as an idea for a quilt, hating what I’d already started piecing a couple of days ago. As any good grad student knows, the best way to postpone the inevitable work on a deadline is to do more research.

The image of cocaine is from a website run by Michael Davidson, who recently passed away. But he would take the images from his laboratory’s microscope and use them to make neckties. I thought we could keep going and use them to make quilts.

This is nickel oxide on sodium chloride, an image from his website. After exploring his butterfly gallery, I moved on to the pharmaceutical section, and noticed that not only were Mr. Davidson and his team a whiz with microscopy, they also had a sense of humor, as witnessed by the last line in the description of caffeine:

To quote: “Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant most commonly found in the coffee we drink every morning….Symptoms of overdose include insomnia, restlessness, tremor, delirium, tachycardia, and running of the mouth.”

Taxol, a drug used in chemotherapy. I’ve pinned quite a few of these to my Pinterest Board Art Quilts, as they will become the inspiration for this quarter’s efforts.

Not only was wandering through the internets a way to spark my creativity for this month’s looming deadline (to be published on Feb. 1st), but also I allowed myself to ~~goof off~~ do the research because of an article recently published in the New York Times about Serendipity, or more specifically, “How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity,” by Pagan Kennedy. She talked first about the word’s origins, noting that we “think of serendipity as something like dumb luck.” But it was coined in 1754, when Horace Walpole noted that he “had been entranced by a Persian fairy tale about three princes from the Isle of Serendip who possess superpowers of observation.” In writing a letter to a friend, “Walpole suggested that this old tale contained a crucial idea about human genius: ‘As their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.’ And he proposed a new word — “serendipity” — to describe this princely talent for detective work.” So, as Kennedy notes, the word meant “a skill rather than a random stroke of good fortune.”

She quotes Sanda Erdelez, a University of Missouri information scientist, who divides serendipitsts into three groups: ” ‘non-encounterers’ ” or people who see “through a tight focus, a kind of chink hole, and they tended to stick to their to-do lists when searching for information rather than wandering off into the margins. Other people were “occasional encounterers,” who stumbled into moments of serendipity now and then. Most interesting were the “super-encounterers,” who reported that happy surprises popped up wherever they looked. The super-encounterers loved to spend an afternoon hunting through, say, a Victorian journal on cattle breeding, in part, because they counted on finding treasures in the oddest places. In fact, they were so addicted to prospecting that they would find information for friends and colleagues.”

So, maybe in “researching” my Four-in-Art quilt, I’m just really being a super-encounterer, finding that “happy surprises” pop up with each click of the mouse button.

Or maybe, I am just putting off the inevitable: getting the work done.

Four-in-Art Microscopy. Coming soon to a blog near you. Premiering February 1st, 2016.

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P.S. Pagan Kennedy has written a new book, titled Inventology. The blurb from her website says “Inventology is a must-read for anyone who is curious about creativity and imaginative leaps.”