Family Visit

My brother, Ken, and sister-in-law, Patty, came for a visit. They're up here from Florida and are spending a few weeks in the Adirondacks. They flew in to spend the 4th of July weekend with us.





Did you know that Canadaigua has its own airport? It's not far from the north end of the city and is only about 20 minutes's drive from our house.




It was extremely windy Saturday afternoon, so Ken had to tie down the wings of the plane. He also put covers on the tips of the propellers and the exhaust vent, which are tied to prevent the propellers from spinning in the wind.






Ken brought his new Canon SLR camera and his new Mac portable, and we got some great pictures of some of my quilts.

RAFA meeting day

Today was the regular monthly meeting of the Rochester Area Fiber Artists. Priscilla brought her stash of molas and sold several to the members. (To see a sample of those still available, check her blog http://www.priscillakibbee.blogspot.com/.)




Janet Root showed us a piece of African mud cloth that she purchased recently. The piece is comprised of 6-inch woven strips that have been sewn together.










This is one of the several jackets Janet showed us that she has made to sell at this September's Clothesline sale. She's made them reversible, so buyers will get 2 for 1 !










Liz Cocuzzi finished the jacket she started in Priscilla's jacket class. It has great use of fabrics and colors, including some scrunched fabric that she made.

Pat Pauly brought in this wonderful piece of African Kuba cloth. She's stabilizing it by attaching it to a washed piece of muslin prior to framing it.

Pat Farrell has been making dolls and miniature quilts to go with them.

Diane Enerson completed this quilt, which Val quilted for her.

Diane also made this jacket based on the butterfly jacket pattern.

Mola Shopping

Priscilla returned recently from her trip to Panama and the San Blas Islands. She said it was harder this trip to accumulate her usual stash of high-quality molas, but she returned with many, many beautiful pieces.

These are the ones that I couldn't resist, even though I have amassed a pretty good collection from her previous trips!

Her molas sell out quickly, as evidenced by pieces being spoken for right from the pictures on her blog http://www.priscillakibbee.blogspot.com/.

They all wonderful and it's hard to choose, but I ended up with some of my favorite geometric patterns and some more traditional patterns.

I also selected a couple of the traditional bird designs, with thoughts of a turquoise jacket in mind....

New Jacket X 2

This is the newest jacket that I just completed, made in "kimono" style. The fabric came from a shop in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar that Priscilla and I visited on our trip to Turkey in 2002. It's a fairly heavy knit with lots of drape.

The jacket was made with no lining so that it is reversible, which you will see in the pictures below....

Summer flowers & visitors

We have no resident horses, but many deer visit during the day and night and have adopted the large fenced pasture as their own. Here a mother deer and fawn are close to the house and have come up to the fence line.

These delicate iris in the front of the house continue to expand and produce wonderful flowers. As previously mentioned, these plants were a gift from the Berardi's when they moved to their current residence. We enjoy them very much.




It has been a good year for roses. This bush adorns a pole at roadside and flourishes in a semi-shady spot and within 10 feet of road -- You never know!!









We have had this prickly pear cactus since the early '90s when our friend Dorothy gave us a small piece of her plant. It used to live outdoors year round, but lately we've kept it in a container and move it outside in the summer (very carefully!). It produces very pretty yellow flowers, and you can see the first few in bloom here.

Old friends, new friends .....

Some friends from Palmyra-Macedon High School, who graduated together just a few years ago, got together recently --- Judy, Caroline, Marnie, Marcia, Jim, Sharon, and Mary Ann. Some of us (but not all of us!) remembered that Schooner's Restaurant where we had lunch was a hot spot in the 60's known as Gingham Town or "G-Town".
Jeanne Simpson isn't in the picture, but she joined Nancy Hicks, Pat Pauly, Linda Bachman, and I for some studio time.









This is the cute kitty kat quilt top that our niece, Jenna, started last year at a workshop and recently completed. She'll be bringing it with her when she visits next month to work on the quilting.

Beth's Quilts

When Beth was here for sewing earlier this week, she brought four quilts that she acquired at an antique sale that were made by Lena Mae Cooke. Mrs. Cooke was the 2nd president of the Genesee Valley Quilt Club.

This twin-bed sized quilt and its mate have a Carolina Lily pattern with green swags. Neither of the quilts have dates.










This quilt has appliqued tulips and a blue ribbon swag. Click on the picture to see a close-up of the quilting. It has a date of 1941 on it.












Beth found a date of 1936 quilted in the corner of this scrappy basket quilt.















This is a detail picture of the basket pattern in the quilt above.

Sewing Day

Today was an "open" sewing day, with everyone working on their own projects.

Beth worked on aprons, a new purse pattern, and even baby hats!







Jeanne Simpson is creating fabric for a vest, using some wonderful Australian prints.













Linda Bachman is cutting into her stash of beautiful shibori fabrics. She made some of them last summer and bought more from Pat Pauly at last weekend's quilt show.








And Priscilla created this top from some terrific handwoven ikat fabric she found in her stash. She used two of her molas to embellish the front and back.

2009 GVQC Garden Tour - part 2

Carol and Keith Boas, across-the-street neighbors of the Dailor's, open their landscape to visitors. They have a beautiful enclosed porch and a deck over looking their backyard.









The deck leads to a stone stairs, which heads out to well-developed gardens. The quilt was a special display only for the day (we think!)











The front yard features a colorful border strip which contained many species whose blossoms are in full flower. The sale of tickets from this event helps the Club Scholarship fund, which offers help to needy club members who apply to attend guild workshops and classes.









The small water feature is complete with lovely water lillies and is one of many focal points in this lush collection of well-manicured gardens. The gardens are all fenced in to protect them from the resident deer. The property backs up to a 55-acre "forever green" area that is part of this development. The neighborhood residents all seem to appreciate the special nature of this area and well-developed lawns and plantings are evident throughout.

2009 GVQC Garden Tour - part 1

Nancy Hicks is this year's chairman for the quilt club's annual garden tour. Nancy worked hard and found four gardeners willing to open their gardens to tours for interested spectators. She was our hostess and gatekeeper for one of the stops in the Fairport area.






Mary Lou Dailor displays one of her beautiful pieces as part of her gracious hosting of the gardens at her house. She does wonderful hand quilting and applique.















She and her husband, Jim, have several small islands and a very nice arrangement of perennials on their "hilly" backyard.










A nicely-marked trail leads along a woodchip path interspersed with bench rest areas. Of course, a few quilts are added charms as one strolls the property.