Shopping.....

Some special purchases:


Our friend, Priscilla, was able to find a few Shaman's Coats while on her trip to Vietnam. She has a connection with an antique dealer who has been successful in scouting down the coats. They are not old old, but definitely vintage. They are made of handwoven fabric and the figures are all hand embroidered.

The back of the Shaman's Coat.

I couldn't decide which of the saris from Priscilla's recent trip I liked best, so I bought three of them.

One of the vendors at the GardenScape show was True Blue TC Collection, selling blue and white cloth art. I bought four yards of their wonderful fabric. They also had several items for sale, such as tablecloths, purses, totebags, and jackets.
And for those interested who missed the show, this vendor will be back in our area for the Lilac Festival and the Park Avenue Festival.
http://www.trueblue-tc.com/

And, also at GardenScape for the 3rd year in a row, I managed to find lots of pottery I liked at the Nica-Art booth which offers handcrafted pottery from the village of San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua. These are the two pieces I selected this year.

Gardens of Eden - Part IV

The tropical dig display continues with the partial uncovering of a skull -- ape or human? -- only further examination will decide. We bet this display was the favorite of the pre-teen set!!


Here Bill studies the slate and wood fence display which we suspect was his favorite -- although we were all impressed with the professional design work in evidence throughout the show. All of this comes together in three days of furious construction activity.


This is another display for the "kids." The active mottled bunny attemps to rouse his sedentary and resting companion. He got no response!














Another rock with a small circular opening for a dripping water feature highlights the horizontal striations in this sliced rock. This type of careful craftmanship and design permeated the entire show. We were very impressed and suggest you attend -- if not this year, put it on your calendar for next March!

Gardens of Eden - Part III

The same display opens to an interior seating area of rectangular cubes of bound tree limbs and a corner slate seat. The table is also constructed of pieces of slate cut and joined.









Alfred State is represented with a wonderful cactus-based garden in sand and "old west" relics. The red rock slabs in the background add authenticity to the overall scene.

Another clever display featured dinosaur skeletons and digging tools amid rocks and growing tropicals.











A waterfall of a cascading 7-foot drop added variety to this jungle scene. There was real force to the water and the splash at the pool was noisy and kept the water plants well covered and moist.

Gardens of Eden - Part II

The huge white oak trunk yields seats and arm rests in another area of the same display. Circular cut outs from smaller limbs provide stepping "stones" along the path. The tree had died several years ago, but the wood had dried out and was well preserved.








An oriental fountain was nestled amid stone and cypress in the combined Japanese and Chinese garden displays. We have a gift certificate for this company and will make a spring visit soon.














An upright slate slab wall begins the most creative use of mixed materials in the open face of this company's display.










A reclaimed barnwood tongue and groove structure morphs into part of the stone and brick walk through the path into further pleasures.

Gardens of Eden - Part I

We attended the annual flower show at the Dome Arena in Henrietta with our friends, Pat and Lloyd Berardi. It is filled with wonderful exhibits from local landscaping companies. The entrance featured floral arrangements, with the first one being a lovely bird of paradise and orchid creation.





The Bonsai display is always well done and much appreciated. The gardeners working at the left on shaping and trimming are framed by the wonderful 50-year-old wisteria in full bloom and an emerging forsythia in the foreground.





Colorful collections of mass plantings were spaced throughout. Here tulips and daffodils are joined by azaleas and rhododendrums . How wonderful to see a preview of the coming season!








A huge white oak was featured at the Monroe County Parks display. The dead tree was harvested from an area farmer's field and is unusual in size and girth. The climbing snake is carved from the interior by staff with a chainsaw and sandpaper!

Priscilla's quilts

Our friend, Priscilla Kibbee, has just returned from her trip to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. See her blog for wonderful travel pictures... http://www.priscillakibbee.blogspot.com/

She brought several of these quilts back with her from Laos, which she selected for their excellent workmanship. Each is more beautiful than the other!

40 yards of fabric

Beth and I got together to dye fabric and each dyed 40 yards. For anyone who hasn't hand-dyed fabric, that's a LOT of work!!

We did 5-step gradations of 8 different colors, using zip-lock baggies.

These pails show 4 of the gradations being soaked/rinsed before being put in the washing machine.







Greens, dark browns, dark oranges, and oranges.









Light browns, grays, yellows, and golds.

More Show & Tell

A few of us gathered for some more Show & Tell with some in-depth look at work that any one wanted to share.

Pat, Ren, Nancy, and Bev are watching Jeanne put her work up on the wall.


Jeanne started this piece in a GVQC workshop, and we think the color choices are terrific. The discussion included reviewing fabric and designs for border options.







Jeanne also showed us this completed piece in which she used fabric she printed from her photograph and her hand-dyed fabrics.








And Pat showed us her completed shibori-fabric quilt. Her quilting really enhances the lines created by the shibori dyeing.

RAFA's March Meeting

Show and Tell is always the most popular part of our monthly meeting, and we have a few pictures to share.

Hiding behind her snow-dyed fabric is Anne Fischer. You can see by the tall stack of dyed fabrics, that she's been having a lot of fun with this process.









Barb Seils and Janet Root are watching Nancy Hicks show us the quilt she created from her painted piece.










Janet Root sold a jacket similar to this one at last year's Clothesline Festival, so she had to make another one for herself.












Janet also made this wonderful quilt, which was quilted by Val Schultz.

Sarah Terry finished the piece she started in a GVQC workshop.

Elaine Ross, who is a new RAFA member, is behind this piece she did for a challenge.

These little purses, made by Jeanne Simpson, got lots of attention when people opened them and inspected the lining fabrics.

Brenda D'Angelo says that making these ear-flap hats has become very addictive.

Pat Falkner has made a lot of progress on her lion quilt inspired by photos her husband took on his last trip.

Jeanne Beck showed us how she has attached one of her Notation pieces to foamcore and plans to frame it.

And this is Mary Rankin with her latest piece.