Archive for July 27th, 2015
Turkey Tracks: Bonnie Hunter’s Quilts at Maine State Show
Turkey Tracks: July 27, 2015
Bonnie Hunter’s Quilts
At the Maine State Quilt Show
(Pine Tree Quilt Guild 2015)
It’s always fun to see Bonnie Hunter’s quilts at a quilt show.
Maine’s state quilt show, Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show 2015, is no exception. There were six that I saw.
(Bonnie’s web site is quiltville.com, and you can get to and sign up for her blog from this main site.)
There was one Grand Illusion, Bonnie’s 2014 Thanksgiving challenge quilt. It’s so interesting to me to see the color variations in quilts made with Bonnie’s patterns.
TWO “Celtic Solstice” quilts, Bonnie’s 2013 Thanksgiving mystery quilt.
First, one using Bonnie’s colors:
And one using red and green and creating an alternative block for some of the blocks in the center, by turning the green square pieces outward:
I love the use of wilder neutrals in this quilt. My version used fairly tame neutrals… I am slowly gaining courage.
You can see the two different blocks in this picture. Look inside the white diamond/star.
One Scrappy Trip Around the World:
Great use of the dark blocks to set off the edges. This quilt is much lighter than the one I made.
One Perkiomen Daydreams:
And one “Narrogansett Blues” with a fall colorway–which hung outside the show:
(Not a great picture here as this quilt is very vibrant.)
There is a Narragansett Blues in my future…
Turkey Tracks: Pine Tree Quilt Guild 2015 Show
Turkey Tracks: July 27, 2015
Pine Tree Quilt Guild 2015 Show
Yesterday was the final day of the Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show, the big state show in Maine.
I came off the windjammer J&E Riggin on Saturday and turned around by Sunday to get myself to Augusta to both see the show and to bring home our Coastal Quilters’ Challenge Quilts, which were hung in the show. (You can see those quilts on the Coastalquiltersmaine1 blog if you like.
My favorite quilt in the show as a quilt made by our own Sarah Ann Smith–which did win a blue ribbon. This winning quilt is a portrait of her son Eli, who is both a runner and a wrestler. You can see this quilt and one of her oldest son Josh on her terrific web site: www.sarahannsmith. Click on gallery, and then people. (Sarah is a nationally known quilter who teaches all over the country, including at Houston. She is one talented woman.)
But, not having Sarah’s artistic talent and being a scrappy quilter, this quilt by Kathy Boudreau drew my attention and is still singing around my head:
Look at the use of the selvages!!!
Here’s some close-ups of the birds:
Oh my goodness!
Interesting Information: Statin Drugs Video from the Bought Movie Website
Interesting Information: July 27, 2015
Statin Drugs Video
From the BOUGHT Movie Website
Here’s a little video (5 minutes I think) about statin drugs.
Statins are prescribed for inflammation, even though the drug harms your muscles.
Inflammation is caused by poor diet, especially eating too much sugar. (Remember that grains and white carbs turn into sugar–so eat them in moderation.)
Why not just change your diet?
It amazes me that in the face of all the evidence of the dangers statins pose that docs still prescribe them.
I think some docs are profitting, but I also think if docs don’t follow the “standards of care,” which include statins, they can be and are punished. So it is up to us to be informed consumers. As has been true from the beginning of medicine, there are some caring wonderful docs and some who are just leaches on society. And it’s harder than ever telling who is who.
There is a lot of info on statins on this blog, including the work of Dr. Stefanie Seneff, who runs a research team out of MIT.
Books: LEAVING BEFORE THE RAINS COME
Books: July 27, 2015
LEAVING BEFORE THE RAINS COME
ALEXANDRA FULLER
I am just back from six days on the windjammer J&E Riggin.
Six days comprised of glorious water views, fabulous Annie Mahle food and John Finger sailing, fun and enlightening Geoff Kauffman singing and storytelling, and island and town exploring.
Six days of reading/reading/reading, relaxing, visiting, and having a real vacation.
I’ve already signed up for this same trip next year. AND for the four-day quilting cruise September 2016. (Knitters, birdwatchers, readers, food appreciators, sailing lovers, and so for forth could come too.)
So, here’s a book I read on the Riggin:
And I loved, loved it.
Alexandra Fuller, raised in southern Africa, married Charlie Ross, from America (Philadelphia).
Fuller, in wise and wonderful ways, brings home the point that we are NOT all alike under the sun. Culture is a huge part of who we are–unless we have just all become consumers who live in “safe” places.
Here’s a short quote from a much longer, much richer passage where Fuller begins to get at the differences between being raised in southern Africa and most anywhere in America:
A pod of hippos snorted at us as we began our wobbling descent downstream. I closed my eyes and paddled as calmly as I could. Behind me, I could hear Charlie taking deliberate, sweeping strokes through the water. He was unafraid of what might happen, because he saw the hippos not as I did, as the most murderous of all African wildlife, but as fellow river dwellers. Charlie knew he was supposed to be here. I knew I was a trespasser. “Don’t panic,” Charlie said. We were wearing lifejackets, Charlie had a throw bag and a river runner’s knife. He knew CPR and had taught river rescue on rivers in Wyoming and Colorado as well as on the Zambezi. But I understood; it’s rarely the thing you prepare for that undoes you (43).
And a quote showing how connected we are in our culture while we are still in it:
And two weeks later, when I lay in bed coughing and fevered, I believed I could remember the woman who had made me sick, because however hard we work to isolate ourselves from one another and to shore ourselves up against discomfort, we are not immune from one another. There is no way to shut the doors against our contagions, to ward off the effects of our collective stupidity and greed and violence. Those who have an understanding of the mhondoro ceremony were correct when they told me that all beings in a community are connected, that the madness of one is the madness of everyone, that there is no separation of minds and bodies between people. It was true when they said the sickedness and carelessness and avarice of one would bring pestilence on the whole. Your sickness is mine. My sickness is yours (204).
How Fuller plays out these ideas, how she sees them in her own life, is so well done.
The book is about the breakup of a marriage of some standing, yes, but it’s also about so, so much more.
I highly recommend this one.
