Day: May 6, 2010

Turkey Tracks: Sunrise on Mount Desert, From Isle Au Haut

Turkey Tracks:  May 6, 2010

Sunrise on Mount Desert, From Isle Au Haut

I’ve been working on two small art quilts that will hang in our newly painted bedroom.  I’ve finished this one:  Mount Desert From Isle Au Haut. 

 

 

Mount Desert is Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine, and it is one of the most beautiful places on this earth.  The highest mountain is Cadillac Mountain.   Mount Desert is pronounced “dessert,” like a sweet.  The first time I heard this pronouncement I thought the person saying it was making a mistake.   Instead, I just didn’t know–which is not unusual.  I have always read so much that I know many words by sight, but have, often, not actually heard them pronounced.  They exist in my brain in an alternate universe.   

Isle Au Haut, or High Island, is where Linda Greenlaw lobsters.  You remember her, right?  She was the woman long-boat captain in THE PERFECT STORM.  She still lobsters I think.  But she also writes books.  Her mother is a famous cook on Isle Au Haut and in the region.  Linda and her mother wrote a cookbook together. 

John and I visited Isle Au Haut for our son Bryan’s 40th birthday celebration–a visit planned by his wife, Corinne.  One goes to the island on the mail boat, and we went out in a storm, which was quite exciting.  The only cars on the island are old ones, so everyone bikes and hikes around and, occasionally, get rides from local people with cars.  Berries grow wild, and the air smells so sweet.  It’s a magic place.  We stayed at the Inn at Isle Au Haut, and the view in the quilt is from the inn’s dock.      

The companion piece pictures the Blue Moon we had in December 2009.  The moon is rising over the Camden Hills and Megunticook Lake.  It is almost done.  But, with the early spring, I’ve been out in the yard a lot and have not quilted very much.   

Turkey Tracks: Seedlings

Turkey Tracks:  May 6, 2010

Seedlings

We are having the warmest spring.  I feel like plants are about a month early this year.  We put up our first pea trellis this year, and I planted peas in the garden in mid-April.  The peas are all up now.  So, I planted the second batch a few days ago.  I can only stay in the garden for a little while on cloudy days as the black flies are horrendous right now. 

It has been horribly dry too.  We’ve already had to water the garden and the strawberries.  For one day I thought we had lost the strawberries.  I just had not realized how dry it was.  And, it is not normal to have to water in Maine in April and early May.   

I planted seedlings inside about a month ago.  They are all up now, and seem to be growing well.  We enclosed the little porch upstairs.  It faces southeast and has no overhang, which is perfect for the seedlings .  Here’s what they looked like about 10 days ago. 

Outside the picture frame are about 70 sprouted leeks.  I’ve never planted leeks, so I’m quite excited about those too.  The seedlings are several kinds of tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.    

 

Turkey Tracks: Jeanne Marie Robinson

Turkey Tracks:  May 6, 2010

Jeanne Marie Robinson

Rest in Peace

A friend and I drove to a gallery in Topsham last week to pay homage to a selection of Jeanne Marie Robinson’s quilts.  Jeanne Marie, who died very recently of cancer, was an amazing quilter.  She created whole worlds out of cloth.  She loved applique, but she combined applique with traditional piecing and with art quilt techniques.  She had a unique vision that will be sorely missed by anyone who has ever seen one of her quilts.  

Here are two quilts that hung in this memorial show:

JMR 1

Jeanne Marie was also very generous with her work.  For the past three or four years she donated one of her pieces for the Coastal Quilters yearly auction fundraiser.  Of course, her donations always brought in the most money for any one single item.

In her youth, she was a nationally known ballet artist.  It was only in her later years that she turned her talents toward fiber art.  Boy are we who could see her ongoing work glad that she did!