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Turkey Tracks: Pine Tree Quilting Guild Annual Show

Turkey Tracks: August 20, 2013

Pine Tree Quilting Guild Annual Show

The grandsons and I visited the annual state quilt show together.

The boys like art shows pretty much.

But this was A LOT of art for them to take in, so we more or less whipped through many of the aisles at lightening speed.

They were interested in the judged quilts and who got what ribbons.

So was I–since the judging this year seemed more incoherent than ever before.

For instance, here’s a terrific quilt.

The piecing is awesome. The quilting was quite good as well.

But, it’s a third???

A third? Really?

Has any one of this year’s judges ever pieced a quilt like this one?

I wish I had taken more pictures of what disturbed me so much, but…

I do remember that there was one large bed quilt with a first place ribbon–yet it was copied from someone else’s pattern and it had been long-armed quilted with what was clearly a computer program. Why would someone get 25 points for someone else’s design? And a computer did the quilting. What about people who can’t afford to have a computerized long-arm quilter quilt their tops? Where’s the human error or serendipity of human art then? Left out, I can tell you.

I loved this quilt:

No ribbon. But this design is an original work of art. Look at those cow expressions. Aren’t they wonderful? Not even an honorable mention…

Pine Tree’s judging is supposed to be about NOT comparing the quilts–but about judging each quilt on its own merits. In that system, theoretically, everyone could get a blue ribbon if the work merited it. But I saw so many really special, glorious quilts with no ribbon at all. That’s so discouraging for quilters who submit to judging.

Here’s my favorite quilt:

And here’s a close-up:

It did not win “best of show,” but did win an “Exceptional Merit.”

My apologies to the winner of the “Best in Show” quilt, but it looked just like the winners of the past two or three years: a small quilt with a geometric design and really, really good long-arm quilting. Lots of intensive long-arm quilting. But nothing outstanding in the quilt design really,

Surely a quilt is about more than the quilting? This Japanese scene is about much more than long-arm quilting, for instance.

And this little quilt surely deserved something more than “honorable mention”:

How many people could do such great collage work and combine colors so effectively. The quilting was pretty great too.

Here’s the grandsons’ favorite quilt:

This quilt, as I recall, was made as a thank-you for someone. What a fabulous thing to do. I know this quilt will be treasured forever. And maybe that’s what quilting is really all about too. At least in part.

In recent years I have not made quilts that I felt should be judged. As you know if you read this blog, I’ve been working on “Louisa’s Scrappy Project” to try to get my stash into some sort of intelligent order and to try not to waste fabric I already own. I’ve been making big quilts for the most part–with the goal of giving each one I finish to family and friends.

I think that quilting has always been about BOTH making beautiful objects and making functional objects. Sometimes both desires blend in one quilt. So it hurts my heart when I see really outstanding works of beauty not getting the full credit they deserve.

Come on, Pine Tree. The judging is ruining the show for many members.

Turkey Tracks: Monhegan Island with the Kiddos

Turkey Tracks: August 14, 2013

Monhegan Island with the Kiddos

Here’s one of my favorite pics of the summer visit with my four oldest grandchildren and my son Michael and his wife Tami.

We were on the dock at Monhegan Island, which is over an hour away from the coast and departure town of Port Clyde (where The Russians are Coming was filmed.) Monhegan Island is an artist colony and is a charming place to visit.

We spent two days and a night–and stayed at The Monhegan House, which has, also, a lovely dining room. (The chef made a delicious chocolate cake for Maryann’s birthday.)

We celebrated Maryann Enright’s 73rd birthday–and remembered John Enright’s August 12th birthday. John, Maryann, and I made this trip a few years back–before he got sick–with Bryan and Corinne Enright.

I sat on the porch and read and read and knitted and knitted–and watched folks come and go. The others hiked and explored. Monhegan has quite a few fairy houses–which enchants the children and their Great Aunt Maryann.

Interesting Information: Bacterium Resistance to Antibiotics in Meat

Interesting Information: August 14, 2013

Bacterium Resistance to Antibiotics in Meat

I don’t buy meat in supermarkets.

It’s too dangerous these days.

And I quit buying ground turkey or chicken when I noticed some years back that the packages had been flavor “enhanced” with commercial products. That’s a red flag for me that something is definitely wrong.

Here’s a little article that appeared in the Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener newsletter (June-August 2013, page 10).

The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, an FDA, USDA and CDC program, found that more than half the 480 samples each of ground turkey, pork chops and ground beef collected from supermarkets in 2011 tested positive for a bacterium resistant to antibiotics. The USDA says almost 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animal agriculture. (“Report on U.S. Meat Sounds Alarm on resistant Bacteria,” by Stephanie Strom, The New York Times, April 16, 2013; www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/business/report-on-us-meat-sounds-alarm-on-superbugs.html?_r=0).

The answer to this dilemma is NOT to quit eating meat in favor of a plant-based diet. I’m hoping that I’m showing that plants come with pretty strong chemical packages that need to be mediated (and isn’t by most folks) and that plants are not nutrient dense. AND, that appropriately raised meat is part of a holistic circuit on a farm and is good for us in that it contains all of the essential amino acids in the correct proportions that our body can use. A good diet blends the foods available to us and, hopefully, we eat these foods in their established seasons.

Resistance to antibiotics is a very serious condition. It means that we don’t have anything to stop the superbugs that we have created with our dirty meat farming practices.

I am encouraged with all the work being done on gut integrity–and the realization that wiping out all our gut flora and fauna with antibiotics creates even more serious illnesses–which occur in a cyclical way if antibiotic use is not curtailed.

It’s time to fall back on building strong immune systems folks…

As for meat–go out into the country surrounding your cities or suburbs and find some farmers who will raise clean, hopefully soy-free meat for you. In the end, this practice is cheaper as illness is very expensive.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of Linda and John Shepard

Turkey Tracks: August 14, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of LInda and John Shepard

The Shepard garden is spectacular–bursting with colorful beds, smooth green lawn paths, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. The fields leading to the garden are filled with wildflowers–which have been spectacular this summer.

Also important is the fact that Linda Shepard is a quilter with an established body of very fine work and a studio to showcase it. You can just see Giovanna inside Linda’s studio.

Linda’s quilts are featured and sold on her web site–and I encourage you to go there and take a look at her interesting, inventive body of work: www.linda-shepard.com.

Meanwhile, here are a few of her quilts–though my pictures of them are not great:

And one of my very favorites, a happy pig:

Linda and John started their garden in 1984–at which time the backyard was overgrown and wild except for four old apple trees. Artist LInda likes “the relaxed informality of country gardens” which includes contrasting heights and rampant color. Here are some views:

And this pic of a very pink hydrangea!

This garden is such a gift of beauty–it feels like the essence of summer with its riot of color, its buzzing bees, and its well-tended vegetables.

Turkey Tracks: Green Turtles Quilt

Turkey Tracks: August 13, 2013

“Green Turtles” Quilt

Just before Mike and my grandsons came in mid-July, I mailed my newest granddaughter, Cyanna Mel Enright, her baby quilt.

Called, “Green Turtles,” the pattern is from People, Places, and Quilts in Summerville, SC, which is just west of Charleston, SC. They call the pattern “Happy Turtles”–and they are.

I hand appliqued the turtles and used scrappy fabrics for the borders. I quilted with “Deb’s Swirls”–the medium version.

In choosing scraps from my stash, I was reminded of other quilting projects. Carrie and Fiona–you’ll see the pink plaid from Fiona’s baby quilt. The stripe is from a purse project with Karen Johnson of The Community School. Lucy Howser Stevens, one turtle is wearing the backing to your quilt of last year–the daisy floral on acid green. There’s a fabric in here from my very first quilt, which went to JJ Viarella, who is now entering high school!!! It’s the green on the bottom row, far right. There is a blueberry fabric from my oldest grandchild’s baby quilt–Bowen Enright, who will be 10 in a few weeks. And a green and pink floral/leaf that backed my niece’s quilt of last year–Mary Chandler Philpott. And on it goes…

Here are some of the blocks:

I love Bonnie Hunter’s method of putting on a label. If you haven’t yet found Bonnie’s web site and blog, it’s http://quiltville.com. She does a daily entry most days and highlights the work of her students all around the country–so sign up for her FB page as well.

The green turtle fabric came from People, Places, and Quilts on my April trip this year. It seemed really fitting to find this fabric at the store that made the pattern. The plain pink binding also came from my stash.

Here’s how the corner borders worked out. I love the green and blue polka dot border.

Here’s the backing and binding on the quilt top.

It’s a cute quilt, and I enjoyed the hand work.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Wateshed: Fernwood Nursery Gardens

Trukey Tracks: August 13, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: Fernwood Nursery Gardens

I’m starting my tenth year in Maine, and I’ve never been to the famous Fernwood Nursery until this garden tour, planned and hosted by The Georges River Land Trust. Fernwood is owned by Rick and Denise Sawyer, so the site is their home as well as their business.

Fernwood specializes in shade tolerant plants. yes, but in native and woodland plants that are hardy to this area of Maine. The Sawyers choose plants that do not need staking, spraying, or extra mulch to survive our climate. They also produce their own cultivars and bring in plants from around the world that are hardy in this area.

They recently relocated, and I really like their new digs. I found myself wishing that I had FLAT land where I could exhale and create beds and animal spaces like Rick and Denise Sawyer have created at Fernwood. I loved everything I saw–and then some. Such creativity, such delights for the eyes.

Again, Fernwood displays the Sawyers’ chosen life style: their beds illustrate how their plants fit into the ecosystem in which they live and have created by choosing the plants that will thrive in the ecosystem. They raise animals for food and fiber and organic vegetables. They are providing for themselves and demonstrating how to do that. Here’s a quote: “Whether it is the wood we burn, animals we raise, vegetables we grow, fiber we process, or soil we build, all contribute to our sense of connection to the earth.”

Here’s how the nursery is set up–this area lies at the entrance to the property.

And here are random shots as I moved deeper into this experience:

These kinds of wooden garden structures are a big thing in Maine:

Deep shade plants with garden sculptures–note the contrast of dark and light plants:

A stone garden sculpture:

Near the center of the property the Sawyer died wool is displayed:

Here’s a close-up–which makes my fingers itch to knit…

An arched trellis leads towards the house and the home gardens:

Here’s the surprise just inside the trellis:

A stand of Bee Balm sits before the house:

And a gate gives entrance to one of the vegetable gardens–I wish I had been taking pictures of beautiful old gates all along the way actually…

How’s this for a fabulous scarecrow?

Bird houses punctuated the whole homestead:

My pictures of the chickens did not come out–and the pigs went into their house just as I tried to capture them with my camera.

But here’s a picture I liked a lot:

These figures carved from tree sections are seen frequently in Maine and always make me smile.

Fernwood and the Sawyers were an inspiration for me.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: Hobbs Farm Greenery

Turkey Tracks: August 13, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: Hobbs Farm Greenery

Who knew that the largest grower of scented geraniums, or pelargoniums, is a stone throw from my house.

Hobbs Farm is a family owned business that has been in Hope, Maine, for 150 years. The family now raises 270 varieties of geraniums, many of which have scented leaves–as in peppermint, lemon, rose, and Lady Mary. Some repel mosquitoes. They also grow stellar geraniums with colorful foliage, notched leaves, star-shaped flowers, cactus flowers, rosebud, gold leaf, miniatures, and dwarfs.

I was astonished at the variety of the foliage and the flowers before I reread the farm’s description.

Here’s Giovanna standing in front of amazing tomato plants in raised beds.

Here’s the VERY long greenhouse:

And here’s some pics I snapped of unusual plants and flowers:

This one’s flowers look like fairy flowers…

Single flower that looks like an impatiens almost:

Wow!

Look at the unusual flower form here of the orange flower.

Geraniums now have a whole new meaning for me. It’s kind of like the problem with food, isn’t it? We’ve settled for a few potato, tomato, bean, etc., varieties, when there are actually so many other kinds, each with different attributes.

Thanks for the education, Hobbs Farm Greenery!

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: The Ames Garden

Turkey Tracks: August 12, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: The Ames Garden

I promised you a tour of the St. Georges River Land Trust annual garden tour and left you hanging when the kiddos came. The second garden Giovanna McCarthy and I toured was the gardens of Eileen and Leonard Ames.

This lovely garden sits across the road from Tina Marriner’s sunflower gardens. The gardens sit beneath tall trees and are primarily shade gardens–but are dappled with patches of sunshine.

Eileen Ames writes that she and Leonard started the garden in 2000 and spent many hours clearing the land of damaged trees and stumps. There are numerous whimsical and engaging garden fixtures mixed into the nooks and crannies of the garden.

Here’s a pretty fellow:

There were so many small, lovely moments–like finding this small stepping stone enbedded in the rock path.

I loved this idea of putting a solar lamp in a planter and wish I could see what it looks like at night.

This fellow moves in the slightest breeze–and catches your eye over and over.

The drive invites entry, don’t you think?

Turkey Tracks: Baby Robins

Turkey Tracks: August 12, 2013

Baby Robins

Remember my tale and pictures of the Robins who tried to build 14 or so nests on my front porch? And how they finally built two and started in to raise a family?

Mike got a picture of the three babies while he was here:

Aren’t they the sweetest little things?

I’ll take down the nest one of these days since they don’t seem to be trying to use it again.

It’s quite an elaborate next in that it is stuck together with mud and is so nicely formed.

Turkey Tracks: Back to the Blog

Turkey Tracks: August 12, 2013

Back to the Blog

Hi Folks!

I’ve missed you all and hope you have missed me!

My oldest son brought the two oldest grandchildren, Bo and Kelly, to Maine on July 20th and returned to Charleston to the rest of his family. The boys attended a sailing camp here in the mornings and “Camp Lovey” in the afternoons and evenings.

While Mike was here I showed him the way to Acadia. Here are the boys at the top of Cadillac Mountain–with its 360-degree views of the coast and land.

Here’s Kelly jumping fissures in the rocks:

During Camp Lovey I had a blast with them–and I think they had fun with me. We swam, kayaked, played games (they learned how to play Hearts with me), watched movies, and cooked a lot of good food. We were somewhat challenged by the weather as we’ve had a really cool and rainy summer.

We had one nice kayak trip on the river–during which Kelly ran into a bank of bushes and saw a wolf snarling at him. We determined that he’d seen either a coyote or a very large grey fox–the latter has been seen along that side of the river all summer. Kelly learned to paddle a whole lot better after that incident.

Mike returned with Tami and the girls (Talula and Mina), and they spent a little over a week. We went out to Monhegan Island to celebrate Great Aunt Maryann’s birthday–and to remember John’s. But that’s a tale for another day.

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