A Rainbow of Quilts, Encyclopedia Britannica, and the Weekly Photo Challenge: Roy G. Biv

I can’t resist sharing a few more quilts from the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show. These fit nicely into this week’s Roy G.Biv photo challenge —

The Way Out – Margaret Williams

The quilter based this work on a photograph she took when emerging from the Tottenham Court Road tube station in London, 2010, and made it for her guild’s “Inspired by Travel” challenge.

This next one’s called “Let Your Light Shine” …

And a detail shows just how much light there is. I’d never seen sequins or “sets” in quilts before this, and there were several examples in the show.

Quilt detail – Let Your Light Shine – Mary Mattimoe, quilted by Regina Carter. I love the sun-motifs with shining rays.

A closer look, quilt detail  (sunshine after the rain — I’m beginning to see the light)

One more, and this one’s more obviously rainbow-themed — an applique of colored strips in rainbow order applied to seven colors of gray fabric, adapted from a pattern published by Kansas City Star Quilts.

Rainbow Explosion – Jan Cunningham, quilted by Bella Bamert.

As for my downsizing projects, work goes on.  This week’s progress: selling a box full of books, a 29 volume set of vintage 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica I found in the basement. It’s always dangerous to sort though books, and the detailed articles, wonderful illustrations, and fold-out maps in this set were tempting me big time. I knew I couldn’t keep them though, so I listed them on eBay. I was feeling quite triumphant when they sold (who knew that anyone besides me would be attracted to vintage encyclopedias?) that is, until time came to pack and mail what turned out to be just over 87 pounds of books — but now it’s done and I’m glad they’re off to a new home.

Oh, and who is Roy G. Biv? He’s the acronym for the seven colors of the rainbow: Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue/Indigo/Violet. I’ll bet the encyclopedia knows about him.

 How long has it been since you’ve seen an encyclopedia?

For more on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Roy G Biv

And Encyclopedia Britannica

or to subscribe to their newsletters.

Advertisement

Celebrating Quilts (Weekly Photo Challenge: Off-Season)

At first I thought it oddly off-season to hold a quilt show in the heat of summer. Then I remembered the show I went to two years ago, and realized these are art quilts and may or may not be the kind that are meant to keep us warm in winter. Here’s a detail from one of my favorites at Georgia Celebrates Quilts, on view last weekend —

“Storm of Rebrith” – Ruth Ann Yax: Hand dyed silk, cotton, paint sticks on cotton. Beaded. Machine stitched dandelions and seeds.

I picked quilts with ecological themes for this post — a concept that’s never off-season. Here’s the complete picture of this one.

A theme of ruination and rebirth.

The next one appeals to me for the same reason that the quilts of previous generations do — making use of scraps of fabric that are otherwise unusable. Perhaps you can’t tell from a distance…

… but you can when you get closer. This quilt uses selvages — the edges of fabric that are usually discarded.

“Compost Piles /Selvage Quilt” – Lee Yarrell, quilted by Country Corner Quilts, Harison AR, Georgia Celebrates Quilts

 Here’s another favorite, though my photo doesn’t do it justice —

“The Note Said: Handmade by Gladys” – Betty Gay White and Gladys

After discovering the hand-pieced quilt top in a consignment booth, this quilter found a note pinned to the back saying “Handmade by Gladys”. She decided to honor Gladys by hand-quilting it herself.

I love the themes of rescue, reuse, and rebirth, particularly when it comes to quilts. I still have family comforters and quilts of my own whose fates are undecided. Meanwhile, I’m still unpacking boxes, and more than a little sorry I have to wait two years for the next quilt show.

Do you have a favorite family quilt?

More on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Off Season

East Cobb Quilters

The Modern Atlanta Homes Tour 2015, and the Weekly Photo Challenge: Vivid

Saturday afternoon, the “Design is Human” Modern Atlanta Architecture tour:  we walked out the door of yet another sleek and modern architectural wonder and saw something vivid shining out from behind the trees across the street, something we hadn’t noticed on the way in. Time to get close for a look–

I wish this house had been on the tour.

I didn’t notice there were strings of lights on this house until I saw my photo. Now I may have to drive by at night.

This is the third year we’ve been on the MA tour. I love it and look forward to it, still, in large doses modern design can be a little cold and neutral. Not this time — this tour had some vivid highlights punctuating those pristine gray and white interiors. I’ll share a few here, and if you’re reading in email, please click through to the website for a better view.

Sometimes the vivid color comes in from outdoors.

This house was recently completed, and staged for sale.

Staged for sale – I like how the red orange chair back echoes a sunrise (or set) in the picture.

This was the back deck from our favorite house on the tour.

Nearly all had their exquisite table top display set up.

Every homes tour needs an enterprising group of neighbor kids…

A wonderfully bright corner, staged for the tour.

This room looks out on my favorite back garden.

Same house as the last photo – this was a Saturday favorite.

Now that I’m home, my own place seems shabby but comfortable. On the bright side, I’m not afraid to walk around the house carrying my cup of coffee, like I would be in any of these.

Murphy’s Law reads “If something can go wrong it will,” so the Law of Viewing Houses must be something like “If something can be staged, it will.” Does all that perfection give me a deep need to perk up my space? — I have to admit, I did clean house today. Looking around, I see that all my effort to clear out  is helping in the long term, but in the short term, every time I drag out a box of stuff to sort through I make a big mess. I won’t be staging any time soon…

How about you?

For more on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Vivid

And more on the Modern Atlanta Architecture Tour

Furniture provided for some of the homes on tour came from Cantoni, City Issue, Roche Bobois, and the Besharat Gallery.

Houseplants, I Have Too Many (Part 2) and the Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Way

A couple of weeks ago Sam helped me load a pick-up full of houseplants. Here are Christmas cactus, Hoya, Dieffenbachia and more, all on the way to their new home.  These Christmas cactuses bloom like champs but got too big for their window and also too big for me to re-pot them.

How many houseplants is too many?

Here they are after unloading at their new residence — they’re just a few blocks away with a neighbor who has a greenhouse and a plant business. There’ll be lots of new baby cactuses in the neighborhood by this time next year.

I love having house plants but I do feel suddenly freer now that I’ve downsized. I’m planning to find homes for even more by the end of the summer, but I’ll still keep one Hoya and a few small Christmas cactuses.

One more example of a container full of plant material — I took this photo at the High Museum in February, on the way through the museum after the preview of “The Coca-Cola Bottle, an American Icon at 100.”

This was my favorite from a three-day exhibition called Art in Bloom. A little closer look —

Though they may look a little garish after the purity of the calla lilies, I’ll risk posting an older photo of some of my Christmas cactuses.

This photo was taken a few years ago, when they still fit in the window. I’m keeping the (slightly) smaller one on the tall plant stand.

The window seems a little empty now, but I keep reminding myself that empty is good when I’m downsizing, and extra anything, even plants, can be perceived as clutter.

How many houseplants is too many?

For more on the weekly photo challenge: On the Way