Mancuso Quilt Show, Manchester, NH

Last Saturday I went to see the International Quilt Show in Manchester, NH. Here are some of the quilts from that show.

I spent most of the day in a class with Jennie Rayment learning her origami style of folded fabric pieces.

I loved this blue and white quilt which she showed in class.

All new techniques for me - now to finish it!

Portuguese Knitting

One would never have believed that Portugese Knitting could be so much fun and so quick: both to learn and to knit.

Friday night, Andrea Wong, who was visiting Harrisville, NH drove to Keene to teach of bunch of fiber enthusiasts this new technique. It was love at first, for all of us.

Andrea, who is dressed in black, is an excellent teacher. Her knitting history is also wonderful. Check her out at www.andreawong.com.

The class was at the LYS, The Knitting Knook, in Keene, NH.

Here are a few photos of our knitting' bunch as we perfect our new methods!

Isn't Jo's shawl lovely. I think it was a gift. Jo is the best beader in Keene! But she needs to be cause she owns Earth Treasures on Main Street - a shop full of beads!

Before I went to this class, I had to finish lesson 2 of dyeing for Quilt U. I am off to finish those samples so I can post them.

Lake Sunapee, NH

Last week-end my folks drove up from Lancaster, Pennslvania. Imagine being almost 90, buying a new car and driving to Southern NH. On top of that, they are going to WI in November.

We trekked north to tour Lake Sunapee by boat, after stopped at the Badger Balm tent sale.
(http://www.badgerbalm.com/). Lots of bargains for holiday gifts: Anti-bug balm, foot balm, hand creams, etc.

Arriving at the shore of Lake Sunapee, we had a delightful picnic. All the goodies from the Brattleboro, VT Farmers Market: VT cheese and bread, Gourd cherries, fresh picked cherry tomatoes, etc. Here are my folks sitting near a Gazebo on the hill overlooking Sunapee Harbor.

At 2:30 we boarded the MV Sunapee and road along the harbor and lake. The lake is 25 square miles; one of the few naturally fed spring water lakes with such clear, clean water; 140 deep in place; three public beaches, several boat clubs; interesting beautiful houses, three lighthouse, etc. The sun peaked through the cloud just for us.

Quilt U class

One way I have discovered to make more time for art is to take online classes. Quilt U has a wonderful selection and keeps me going. Here is a beginner dye class with Marjie McWilliams.

The first class was to vat dye 3 fat quarters. But I just can't follow directions! Here is a "vat" dyed pied which came out with lots of texture. It is a really deep "stormy blue" using Procion MX Dyes - what a joke. It is perfect for discharge! Stay tuned.

These are two more pieces which I just overdyed. The first was silkscreened before it was dyed. It too will be discharged, batiked and more. The lower one was dyed orange, discharged and overdyed. It is more more to my liking but it too needs more play.

Just from the first two lessons, where I only learned a thing or two, I created 12 fat quarters of fabric. The class is doing its job - forcing me to get into the studio! Hooray!

Surface Design Association Auction

As a board member of the Surface Design Association (http://www.surfacedesign.org/), I am chairing their first online auction. Hard work, learning a lot but the auction pieces are wonderful.

Here you can see a few of them. The auction opens for bidding on October 1. I will be in touch then!

The coast of Maine

Lobster and more Lobster! Perfect weather! Wonderful fibers! It all came together during our short vacation to coastal Maine.

I taught Art Cloth at the fiber college in Searsport, Maine on Friday, the 5th September. Such a lovely campground. Right on the Penosbscot Bay in Mid Coast. The fog rolls in and out. The oil tankers come and go. (The bench and woods are on the coast at the Searsport Campground.)

But the water is sooooooooo beautiful. Lots of sailboats, fisherman, interesting rocks, birds, etc.

Coastal Maine is always lovely. Here is a photo of Young's Lobster Pound from the harbor at Belfast, Maine. Belfast was an old mill town but is now filled with art galleries and artsy shops, good restaurants, etc. At Youngs', we ate a full Lobster Bake and it was fabulous. While we were there, several thousand pounds of lobster were loaded onto a truck bound for Canada to be processed for the lobster meat and sold off from there.

Coming home, the pancakes at Moody's Diner were terrific.

We stopped in Freeport to see if there any irresistible specials at LL Bean. Wow - that town has boomed in the last 15 years.

I found a winter parka for 30.00!

On to Portland. At the port, the best New England Chowder in America is at Gilbert's. They didn't let us down. We shopped for more lobster at the port, drove to York Harbor for a walk and came home. Hurricane Hanna was kind to us - she came through at night - we had perfect weather and a good time.

Fiber Art College

September promises to be a busy month. Upcoming for fun and fiber interaction will be my teaching at the Fiber Art College in Maine. http://www.fibercollege.org/

Imagine all the wonderful vendors with buttons, yarn, dyes? And learning new skills, enjoying old and new friendships as we look out at the Ocean and eat Lobster!

Yes I am teaching my art cloth techniques, including this monoprinting technique, but I think I will take a rug hooking class, too. Hopefully I will meet you there?