The Last Two Days in Nantucket!

I left off my prior post some crucial events that took place on Thursday!  Tricia had arranged for us to take a wonderful tour of the island.  We began in 'Sconset, which I had just read about in the excellent novel set in Nantucket, AHAB'S WIFE., saw the lovely light house and then continued on to see many famous sites in historic Nantucket.

That evening we walked to a restaurant for our dinner and had an interesting encounter or two with some of the younger folk of Nantucket!  One young man asked us as we were leaving the restaurant if it was a "happening" place.  Tricia suggested that he go instead to Nautilus, and then we escorted him there.  Sure enough, it was just the sort of lively experience he was seeking.  We had an amusing encounter with an inebriated young woman, but I fear that recounting that here might be a bit risqué for this blog!

I have also failed to mention that every evening we had "show and tell" with various members showing the rest of us their work, especially the Material Maven quilts they had brought.  Before dinner for drinks and snacks and after dinner, there was much activity taking place, too, on iPhones and iPads!

On Friday morning Gail shared with us her methods of creating the wonderful quilted portraits that is a specialty of hers.  Each of the Mavens who "presented" did such a great job, and we all came away with exciting ideas to try and new products to use.  What a talented group the MM's are!

On Friday evening, after a delicious lobster dinner at Tricia's, we went to an art gallery where some 8 of our group had a few of their MM quilts on exhibit.  It was exciting to see the Mavens' work along with wonderful paintings and other art works by Nantucketers!

Lois had to leave us on Friday, and the rest of us left Saturday morning or noon.  Our gracious and accommodating hostess, Tricia, ran a taxi service back and forth from Union Street to the airport!  The Cape Air flight that Rita, Carolyn, and I took was quite different from the one which had been diverted to Hyannis on Monday!  It was a perfect day for flying, and seeing aerial views of Nantucket was fantastic!  Carolyn took some good shots with her camera.  Carolyn, if you would be so kind to add these photos to this blog post, we would all appreciate it greatly!

I have failed to mention the beautiful cherry trees in
bloom all over Nantucket.  This one, in Tricia's back yard!

View from the Widow's Walk at Tricia's house

Alice on the Widow's Walk

Side of Tricia's house.  We usually used this
kitchen door for our goings and returnings.

Examples of typical Nantucket architecture.  The consistency and faithfulness to the
historic Nantucket style was gratifying and exciting to behold!

Nedra applying the heat gun to her "puff painted" image.  I forgot to tell about
Tricia's demonstrating this paint and all of us getting to design a puff painted tree!

Lighthouse we visited on our tour of Nantucket and 'Sconset.

Taken from the tour bus--the oldest house in Nantucket.

Our lobster dinner!

This and the next few--the MM quilts on display at the art gallery.

Gail checking out Sara's quilt!

The gallery where our quilts were exhibited.

Our after-dinner gathering time.  Here, Andrea and Carolyn

Carolyn and Tricia

Nedra, Rita, and Sara

Jane

Gail

Tricia

The Cape Air plane that Rita, Carolyn, and I took back to Boston

HI. Karen Pulaski here!!

Hi Mavens. I'm happy to be part of your talented group.

  I've been sewing for most of my life. I started my career in the bridal field. For 13 years I made or altered bridal dresses.
   I made the move to teaching quilting 20+ years ago. I've added children's sewing classes to the mix as well.
   I enjoy all the aspects of the quilt. Machine applique is what I really love.

 I am however not a pro with the computer. I'm going to try to post some pictures for you to see. If they don't show up you can go to my Face Book page, Karen Pulaski Fiber Arts to see what I've posted so far.

I've enjoyed seeing the posts from Nantucket. I'm disappointed that I couldn't be there.

Thank you
K

Learning on The Third Day in Nantucket

Jane taught us about water soluble media, and all of us tried out hand at all of the many products she brought.  In the first of the photos below, you can see us gathered around the big table as we listen to Jane.  In the second photo, Sara, Jane, and Gail are working with some of this media.  After we got home, Jane sent us emails with the information she had shared in written form.  

Rita then showed us her "confetti art quilt" and demonstrated this technique.  She had a design planned for us to practice with, and all of us took turns adding confetti (tiny snippets of batik fabrics) to this art quilt.  The next day, Rita showed us how to cover the "confetti art" with tulle and how to apply pins all across the quilt to secure it.  Then Rita demonstrated that the tulle and the pins really DID keep the confetti in place!

All of us show some of what we did with Jane's media!
Back row:  Lois, Sara, Andrea.  Middle row:  Rita, Carolyn,Jane,
Kneeling in front:  Alice, Gail, and Nedra.

Jane, Gail, and Sara at work on the confetti quilt.

Alice and Nedra add some finishing touches.  Uh oh!  Where did those kitties
come from????  (This is my all -time favorite photo of the week!
Thanks to the "Cat  Bomb" app for iPhones and iPads!)

Gail and Sara at work

Rita about to pin the tulle to the confetti art quilt

So the confetti really does stay put!  Behind Rita
are Jane and Tricia, and then Nedra is sitting at the table.

Day Two in Nantucket

I confess that I am using our schedule of events from now on--the one that Tricia first sent to us--, and I realize that things had to be changed up.  So I might get the order of our presentations wrong!

Two others who "presented" and taught us exciting techniques and/or products to use in making art quilts were Andrea and Sara.  Andrea lugged her Thermofax machine via her car, to Nantucket, which was truly going "above and beyond"!  She demonstrated several different methods of screen printing.  All of us got to experiment with the first method, which involved making stencils from freezer paper.  Those (unlike me!) who had come prepared with something to be sent through the Thermofax machine got to try that method as well.

Sara had a thorough and fascinating demonstration of all the myriad apps on the iPad that can be used by art quilters.  I was so enthralled by her words that I failed to take any photos of her as she presented.  I know those who have iPads probably took notes hard and fast.  Not having one, I did not.  But I did come away longing for an iPad and planning to put that on my Wish List for Christmas, birthday, and Mother's Day!

Wednesday evening we had reservations at Nautilus, truly a "happening" place where all the beautiful, YOUNG folk of Nantucket hang out.  It is a tapas place, and we feasted on a variety of "little plates."  I want to hear from you Mavens out there who were there.....  Dare I share at least ONE of the funny stories about this evening--the one that involved my saying "tapas" and another misunderstanding?  Let me know.  If this is "legit", I will add it to this account of Wednesday!

Here are some photos from (I hope!) Wednesday of the wonderful five day retreat in Nantucket.  The captions explain; click to enlarge:

Chief and his cab--he picked us up daily and brought us back to Tricia's house

Mary's house--the studio's windows can be seen behind the fence.  A wonderfully big studio with plenty of work space!

Carolyn silk screening--arm and shoulder belong to our silk screening guru, Andrea!

The retreat group in front of Nautilus.  Left to right, front row: Tricia, Rita, Alice, Gail, Jane.
Back row:  you can barely see Carolyn, Andrea, and then Sara, Tricia, and Lois.

Nedra and Andrea

Rita and Carolyn

Tricia, Gail, Lois

Alice and Tricia

Andrea and Sara

Carolyn and Nedra

Material Mavens on Retreat in Nantucket--Our First Full Day!

After adventures too numerous to mention (thanks to heavy fog!), all nine of the Mavens who accepted Tricia's invitation to come to Nantucket for a five-day retreat arrived safely.  Our first full day there, Lois led off with the presenting/teaching, showing us examples of her outstanding thread painting and then teaching us how to achieve some interesting treatments for edging.  After lunch, Carolyn (with minor assistance from Alice) demonstrated the curved piecing technique that she and Alice learned at Quilting Adventures in March from the outstanding art quilter Sheila Frampton-Cooper.

Below are a sampling of photos from our two sessions.  See the captions for explanations!  As always, to enlarge and to see details, click on the photos.

One of Lois's beautiful thread paintings.

Lois talking to us and Carolyn listening attentively.

Gail, Carolyn, and Rita around the big table where we worked; Lois showing more of her thread painted examples.

Carolyn shows the edge treatment that she produced that first morning.

Here all of us are, showing our work.  Front row: Jane, Gail, Nedra.
Back row:  Sara, Alice, Rita, Carolyn, Andrea, and our wonderful hostess, Andrea.

Jane cutting out her sample of curved piecing.  Jane was one of several who normally is not comfortable piecing, but of course, these "uncomfortable" ones demonstrated much competence!  Behind Jane are Gail (at the ironing board), Rita, and Sara.

Lois that afternoon (another one not fond of piecing!) at work on her sample.  Sara is in the tie-dyed shirt.

Tricia and Andrea at work on the piecing.

At home at the kitchen door at Tricia's house.  Left to right, Alice, Sara, Rita, and Tricia.

The Neighbor Composite

I am back at home after our long driving trip and finally back on my computer.  At last, then, I can post Randy's wonderful composite of the Neighbor quilts.  As usual, I will let him explain the how's and why's of his arrangement

  So I’ll have to admit, I anticipate reveal day as much as does Rita.

To create the composite for each reveal, I download all your creative work into Photoshop. The only “tweaking” I do to each image is remove the distracting edges caused by a slight over-lap on whatever background the quilt was photographed against. It’s easy for me to do – often difficult to do in the camera.

Next I put all those beautiful quilts on one screen and lean back and try to visualize a layout theme. At first “Neighbors” created a bit of a challenge – and you are most welcome to disagree in the comment block. But just look: If you put colors together, the themes clashed; formats together rarely work; so next I study under-tone subjects and the light went on. By under-tone, I mean, is there a common theme of buildings or animals or patterns.

Row one
It just had to be – a row of buildings. Consider an urban aerial photo to our dream of a hidden nature retreat to “urban sprawl” – it’s all there. But in today’s crowded world, you have to work to get away from “neighbors.”

Row two
How can these two quilts NOT be together, even the bull’s eyes [all four are menacing red] said so. Both even share a grin, from the delightful “flower” [sorry Kathy, you said it was just a “blond touch”] on Jersey Girl’s head to that “feeder bird” on the water buffalo’s back. Strange fact, those birds often build a nest up there and raise their young. 

Row three
I was surprised to see five of you pick animals as your Neighbors theme and thus row 3. Yes, chickens are birds J and a barking dog who likes to dig help make the connection.

Row four
A quick glance would make you think this row was “patterns”, but then there is a heart-felt Neighbor story to remind us our obligation to each other. Then Alice and Sara’s beautiful colors and patterns turn our creative minds to what is important in…..

Row five
….people! Janet shared her life with us to show how important neighbors are to all of us. And what a finish/beginning with Judy and Carolyn’s quilts and their stories. WOW!

Thank you all for letting me briefly participate in your journey.

Randy

P. S. Carolyn, I’m going to sneak in a personal note. As  kid I remember the “ice man” making his rounds to our house because we ha a true “ice box.” He would deliver a block of ice ever so often. We always raided his truck on hot summer days in hopes of finding left-over ice chips that he would give us.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Jane’s “Neighbor” Quilt

My first thoughts about this challenge centered around Mr. Rogers’ television show. I still hear him singing about the beautiful day in the neighborhood. I tried to design a quilt with houses showing the diversity of our neighborhood. I just couldn’t come up with something I liked.

I also thought of discussions at church about Love Your Neighbor and Who Is Your Neighbor? That sent me off on images of a handshake.

Finally, I thought about “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”. I found out that it came from a poem by Robert Frost titled Mending Wall.

Our next door neighbors decided to raise chickens for the fresh eggs. I was a bit concerned thinking about roosters that crow, the smell and general mess chickens can make. I also worried about our dog and how she would react to having chickens beyond the fence. All has gone well. No roosters. We get fresh eggs sometimes. Patches doesn’t bark, but she has tried to dig under the fence…

Techniques:

The fence posts started as a screen print to which I added paint. I quilted it and added water soluble media (Inktense Blocks and crayons). The green background was a hand dye which I had texturized with Shiva paint sticks. The dog and chickens were various fabrics fused to the background with some dyed cheesecloth for the dirt. It was a lot of fun to make. The perspective was the hardest part for me.

Open letter to my Material Maven neighbors

I am still here and am finally getting to add my comments.  Our infant grandson was with us for a week until yesterday which explains why I posted at very late 30 and have not commented  until now. Here goes...............  Rita

My Nosy Neighbor - Mrs. P.

MRS. PICKERING AT HER WINDOW

CLOSE-UP OF MRS. P

When I was a small child in the 1940's, we lived next door to Mr. and Mrs. Pickering.  My quilt is in honor of Mrs. P. 

My mother called her “the nosy neighbor” because she was frequently seen peeking out the window to see what was going on with all the neighbors. The Pickerings seldom had visitors, and to my recollection, were childless.

The neighborhood children made fun of Mrs. P. and sometimes called her “Mrs. Pickle-nose”. But I confess that I had a special fondness for this frail, bent-over, old lady with gray hair wrapped up in a tight little bun. Although she and her husband were likely only in their 60’s, to me they appeared ancient! 

The Pickerings had an old-fashioned, oak ice-box which meant that ice was delivered regularly. On special occasions when I was invited inside, I was fascinated to watch the iceman place the frozen block of ice into this contraption that was so different from our “modern” refrigerator. 

As I remember my childhood, I think my love of flowers must have been born in Mrs. P.’s cottage garden. I especially loved her snapdragons.  It was she who taught me how to use my young fingers to pinch the blooms into “mouth formations” so that I could pretend they were “talking” to one another.

For this quilt, I drew a pattern for Mrs. P. and used colored pencils to create the features on her face. Using Wonder-Under 805 fusing, I appliqued the designs onto various fabrics - cotton, commercial hand-painted and batik. As all elderly women in those days, Mrs. P. was not complete without her daily apron and lace collar!  

Aurifil and 40 wt. thread in Studio Colors by Ricky Tims were used for construction and machine quilting. The valance was quilted using a design pattern on my Bernina 550QE. Ribbon for tie-backs completed the curtains.

Gail's Neighbors--The Good Samaritan

How did we get from a bible story to "Good Samaritan" laws?   A universal theme of neighbor interpreted in the style of Van Gogh.  I used ribbon to simulate the broad brush strokes of our master artist.  This was fun and the perfect venue for trying new techniques.