Visiting Friends, Part 2

 

While in Knoxville, Tennessee I visited the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild and even though they weren’t having Show & Tell that evening, they wanted to see what I had brought along. The program that evening included a lesson on Zentangle drawing and its possibe applications for quilters. The teacher guided us through the creation of a small Zentangle “tile.” Here’s mine, nothing complicated:

However, all the tiles put together made an interesting ensemble. It can be seen that there is no right or wrong way to do it--variety makes this picture interesting.

Personally I’m not particularly sold on such methods. For example, while working on the tile, I kept thinking that quilters had been doing this for centuries, inventing designs to fill in their patchwork and hold together their quilts. And with the same meditative advantages that Zentanglers propose. I realize that artists need to make a living, but I found the commercial aspect somewhat annoying. You need a special pen and special (expensive) paper, and of course the books. My “make-do-with-what-you-have” side revolts. However, it was a good program and an enjoyable evening. 

         I attended “Thursday Bee” several times. This small, jovial group tends toward the artistic side. No particular structure or rules, just casual and fun. Rule-breaking allowed. Patty, whom I introduced in Part 1, worked on one of her circle quilts that includes some very interesting fabrics:

                                 Tone wore a lovely reversible felted vest.

                                 Deb had several projects going, all very fun.

                                Diane worked on her exotic bird appliqué.

                Allison's choice of batiks and warm colors plus a simple design 
                                            makes an elegant strip quilt.

    Sheila was doing a felt appliqué to commemorate her granddaughter's birth.

                                     Sandy sported a dragon fly purse

                                   Linda's bee quilt is a marvel of precision.

And so, my greetings and thanks go out to the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild and Thursday Bee. I shall return!

Go Relax at the Beach

Possibly, just possibly, I expressed too much negative sentiment concerning the beach and I consequently jinxed myself and all of Tunisia. Allow me to rectify. There exist several good things about the beach and one of them is that everyone spends days on end relaxing in the sun and swimming. In the past, things like increases in food or gas prices often occurred in the summer while everybody was basking. Sneaky, but effective.
           Recent events suggest that this pattern has been interrupted, and not for the better--the government ordered a curfew June 12th after mobs rampaged in several areas. The spark: an art exhibition in which several paintings were judged morally inappropriate by the vocal extreme right minority. What "morally inappropriate" means remains unclear. The last day of the exhibition several men requested that the gallery take down certain paintings done by a woman, or there would be consequences. The gallery refused and the police came, which did not deter aggressors, who also attacked several police stations and a courthouse later in the evening.  Rioting occurred in the Medina (Old CIty) of Tunis as well. And as if things weren't bad enough, we can now say good-by to the tourist trade for this summer, further aggravating unemployment. The head of the religious party in power maintains that all goes well in Tunisia. Maybe he's living in a parallel universe...
            On a lighter note, beaches provide possibilities for finding treasures, 
                                               notably seashells.

Seashells III (Dec. 1998, 40"x56"/1mx1m41) is machine appliquéd, pieced and quilted.

Seashells V (Dec. 1998, 38"x72"/96cmx1m79) is machine appliquéd, pieced, and quilted as well.

       The water effect is created by bits of fabric sewn down to a foundation fabric. 

                                      This piece brightens my living room.      

        And may I suggest that everybody head for the beach and cool off ???

Empty Cups

How many times have you heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? A plate of scrambled eggs (ok, no egg yolks [deep sigh]) with some cheese and turkey ham energizes me for the morning. And then the smell of that first cup of coffee fills the room—ah-h-h-h, yes.

         Lately in blogland, numerous artworks, quilts, and fabrics contain images of tea or coffee pots and cups that cheer us up. Here’s mine:

The shadows were created on the background fabric with thinned acrylic paint. The coffee pot and cups are machine pieced with mostly commercial fabrics from flea market clothing although there is at least one of my hand painted fabrics as well. Constructing the tablecloth with several of my grandmother’s doilies made this piece exciting for me

                                       despite it’s overall blah colors.

                                                   Here’s the back:

Can’t get more blah than that. I’m not sure if I’m jumping on the bandwagon of cheerfulness. Indeed, the central panel with coffee pot and cups was made over fourteen years ago in response to a French poem that French language teachers use to teach a past verb tense, the “passé composé.”  And so this art quilt is dedicated to a newcomer to the endangered species list: the French language teacher.

         French poet Jacques Prévert had a different take on breakfast : he spoiled it.  However, his poem serves to express feelings of abandonment in such a way as to make this the saddest poem I know. Written with simple words and short, direct sentences, it speaks of those terrible, deep feelings that we have all felt at some point in life when loved ones turn their backs on us with indifference. This is the poem in French [with my translation] that I stitched around the coffee pot.

Le Déjeuner du matin                                The Morning Meal

Il a mis le café                                            He put the coffee

Dans la tasse                                               In the cup

Il a mis le lait                                              He put the milk

Dans la tasse de café                                   In the cup of coffee

Avec la petite cuillère                                 With the coffee spoon

Il a tourné                                                   He stirred

Il a bu le café au lait                                    He drank the coffee

Et il a reposé la tasse                                   And he put down the cup

Sans me parler                                            Without speaking to me

Il a allumé                                                   He lit

Une cigarette                                               A cigarette

Il a fait des ronds                                         He made rings

Avec la fumée                                             With the smoke

Il a mis les cendres                                       He put the ashes

Dans le cendrier                                           In the ashtray

Sans me parler                                             Without speaking to me

Sans me regarder                                          Without looking at me

Il s’est levé                                                   He stood up

Il a mis                                                         He put

Son chapeau sur sa tête                                 His hat on his head

Il a mis                                                         He put on

Son manteau de pluie                                   His raincoat

Parce qu’il pleuvait                                       Because it was raining

Et il est parti                                                 And he left

Sous la pluie                                                 In the rain

Sans une parole                                            Without a word

Sans me regarder                                          Without looking at me

Et moi j’ai pris                                              And me, I took

Ma tête dans ma main                                   My head in my hand

Et j’ai pleuré.                                                And I wept.

--Jacques Prévert (from Paroles, 1946)

Such sad emotions affect us profoundly. We try to avoid them. Around the coffee pot, cups and table the vague form of a house takes shape, walls and a roof made with square pieces, apparently solid and orderly, nothing out of the ordinary. Protection. Neutral colors...

We try desperately to create order in our lives, filling them with routines and with objects like coffee pots and cups and linens. We build structures to keep out the wind and rain.

                      And then the foundations shake and the walls crack.

                                        Our world temporarily falls apart.

The two empty coffee cups represent two emptied people as well. The use of stained doilies and several satins and brocades (raw edges showing) to create the tablecloth suggests aging, fraying, and decay. A leaf pattern takes over the tablecloth, and dead leaves fall onto shaking foundations like teardrops. Empty Cups (June 2012, 43"x35"/110cmx89cm) is hand embroidered, appliquéd, and quilted, and machine pieced, appliquéd and quilted. 

I first stitched the white background with a running stitch, then embroidered the words with an outline stitch. Hand quilting was required in this part because of the serious buckling that happens when I attempt to do something that you're not supposed to do. The motto "It will all quilt out" serves me well.

           For the shaking foundations, I appliquéd beige fabric with tiny scraps, 

                added machine stitching in black, then sliced it to create turbulence. 

                 The black fabric contains machine stitching to add movement.

                                 Sometimes we must remember difficult moments 
                                to keep our perspective and to count our blessings.

Visiting Friends, Part 1

During the next few weeks, I would like to occasionally feature a few of the talented and generous people I met during my travels. I must begin with Patty who welcomed me in Knoxville, Tennessee. I had stumbled upon her blog (here) and had asked her about guilds and fabric shops in the area…and that’s all it took. She took me to the Thursday Bee and the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild. In addition, we did a tour of quilt shops and she took me to her home where she has a beautiful studio which was originally the living room of the house--this woman has her priorities straight! 

Not only is Patty a professional hand quilter, but she possesses quite a selection of quilted clothing. I particularly liked her coats of which these are a small sampling. 
A lovely evening coat of velvet.          A sassy blue coat and hat, taken in her studio.

On the outrageously fun side,                  

this coat complete with puffy sleeves

would be suitable for a Renaissance

Faire.                                                       And Patty collects dragons so, of course,

                                                 she made a dragon coat.

Here are a few of her beautiful quilts. Patty has a liking for Hawaiian motifs and everyone knows I have a fondness for appliqué. Hers is impeccable.

                            Patty is prolific. She must have a hundred quilts stored away. 

                                  My heart skips a beat when I look at this square quilt. 
                                    Her circle quilts are equally captivating.        

                                                                          And a closeup. 

                               

                                      This one is titled "3rd Day of the Universe." 
                                     Can you guess Patty's favorite color?

So thank you, Patty, for making my trip to the States memorable. 

Did I have a good time!

A Magical Happy Blog Birthday

Yes, one year ago today the tranquil Province of MulticoloredPieces came into existence.  Easier said than done—it took about forty years of work/play to get to this one year. When I hesitatingly started out, I calculated that I had enough material for about a year. However, it would appear that there still remains enough material to get through another year. 

     In my peregrinations, various blog birthday presents crossed my path.

Many useful items for future play and posts beckoned to me. Purses seem to be in the future so I purchased the hardware for straps and clasps. Old buttons showed up--notice the two round, yellowish buttons that look like eyes? Bizarre and irresistible. No idea what I'll do with them. The old watch faces are for a piece about time that has been simmering on the back burner for too long.
        And who could resist the fabric in those beautiful American quilt stores ?

I truly restrained myself, buying only with my pomegranate tree quilt in mind. OK, I threw in a few blacks because they're always useful. I may never use the pomegranate fabric, but, I knew that I would regret not buying it once home. 

What have I learned in this year? Probably like everyone else, I’ve enjoyed the making of new friends and having art/quilt shows available at my fingertips. I’m astounded by the creativity of artists/artisans around the globe and their generosity in sharing ideas, techniques, and information, in allowing visitors into their lives. In addition, the diversity is invigorating.

Of course, I didn’t realize the amount of work a blog would require, however, one post a week for three weeks, then a week off feels right to me. I find this blog keeps me on track and focused. For a long time I created my art quilts in a relative vacuum. Now a window on the world has opened and I can illustrate my blog with my artwork. Indeed, MulticoloredPieces has become an artistic endeavor, my form of an artistic chronicle. 

        

Looking back at that first post, I feel the need to revisit that monster of a quilt, Flowers for Abou Jihad (Nov. 1993, 79”x79”) maybe because the colors go well with the above watercolor painting and perhaps because it remains engrained in my soul due to its size and the three-year gestation period (worse than kids).

This piece moves on its own if you look at it long enough; it seems to generate energy as if it's going to swirl away to an exciting future, as I hope MulticoloredPieces will do as well.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all followers, readers, and visitors. You have made this birthday magical just by your virtual presence.

More Thoughts on Sand

I'm back. I returned to the tranquil province of MulticoloredPieces after six weeks in the States visiting family and meeting blogger friends (more on that in later posts). It was a blast, but, living out of a suitcase leaves much to be desired. Basta!
         I found a great deal of garden work as summer approaches, and so, I'll be busy outside for the next few weeks. For the moment, I'd like to return to my diatribe on the beach. Even though I'm thankful to be back in Tunisia, the beach remains as unappealing as ever. Probably because of the sand. Sand is useful for making glass, I suppose, or for adding to the clay in my garden. Beyond that…?

         Well, yes, beyond that: 

At the beach, the vistas are spectacular with the melting of the blues of the sea with the blues of the sky at the distant horizon. "Sea, Sand, and Sky" (March 1995, 56"x64"/1m40x1m62) reflects my attempt to capture that.

The irregular log cabin blocks of the background are constructed in brocades, satins, and other fancy fabrics along with some cottons, in order to give a bit of shimmer to this piece. The colored, raw-edged sections are cottons from used clothing. That uneven bottom edge presented all sorts of technical problems--a beast to do, but well worth it. Admittedly, then, the beach is good inspiration.