My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Deux

June 18 2017,

** Note: This is the second section of a nine part blog **
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Kick off :: Part Uno
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Deux
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Trois
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Cuatro
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Cinq
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Six of One
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Six of Two
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Six of Three
My Summer Vacation 2017 :: Part Seven

I started the weekend going to Boston SOWA. Sowa is located a few blocks away from the major highways in downtown Boston. Parking is $10.00, but don't bother parking in lots, there are plenty of street parking if you are patient.

The day I went, the area was broken into four major parts. The open air food, open air craft, artist studio, shops, vintage shopping area.

Open air food area

Open air craft area

Vintage area in the basement of the artist studio building.

The Artist studio building contains four stories. The day I went, most of the studio were closed, but I did pop into two studios.

Artist studio building

In the perimeter of this area, there are also some galleries. Below is one that I went to. This was at the Miller / Yezerski Gallery. The artist is Susan Jane Belton.

The first picture is an actual installation of coffee cups.

This one below is a painting of coffee cups. It catches my eyes, and I love the colors in the piece.

It was an ok adventure - I don't know if I would make another special trip to it.  During one rainstorm, I ducked underneath a vendor who was selling bags that he had made. We ended up chatting about how he got into sewing bags. The price that he was selling them at was like he was practically giving it away for free. It may be his last attempt to sell bags.

The next weekend my guild put on a quilt show. Our quilt guild "Quilters' Connection" celebrated it's 40th anniversary. 

Believe it or not, I was so involve with the quilt show that I forgot to take pictures of my two quilts. Not a big deal - I know what it looks like.

Our guild members are also provided an opportunity to sell things that our members make. Below is the boutique area. Many hours of preparation went into this, and the way the boutique was displayed was absolutely beautiful. Ya know, it requires a special skill set to make everything look good. And I know, I don't have that skill set.

Below are a few of my favorite quilts, in no particular order.

Rosemary Bawn, "Ortiz Farewell"
A commemorative quilt highlighting the 2016 final season and career stats of Boston Red Sox superhero, David Ortiz.

Detail of "Ortiz Farewell"

Ellen Ackerman "Be Creative"
Colorful wall hanging (mixed media quilted) of a fairy inspiring people to be creative. Purples, yellows, pinks, etc.

Elain Hickey, "Village"
I used a monochromatic palette and limited details to depict the serenity and simple order I find in village scenes. Appliqued; indigo and other hand-dyed cottons, silks.

Betsy Abbott, "Afterglow"
The expanding glow from a mid-summer sunset envelops Wik-Wak cottage on Monhegan Island, ME, while lingering light shimmers among lengthening shadows: iconic plain air quietude.

Sandy Gregg, "Alphabet Soup"
Three letter abbreviations of federal agencies are sometimes referred to as alphabet soup.

Detail of "Alphabet Soup"

Jeri Riggs, "Breathing Space"
Art deco-inspired swirls of color exhaled into form.

For the quilt below, Kathleen and I took the "Fine Line Piecing" class together. After the class, she went on one direction, and I went on another direction, but taking the same concept learned from Kathleen Loomis' class.

Kathleen Walsh, "Four Shades of Gray"
This work was inspired by a fine line piecing workshop given by Kathleen Loomis. It is a gift for Carol, Jim and Molly, the best neighbors anyone could have

Detail of "Four Shades of Gray"

Tricia Deck, "Ellen's Lamb"
I walk by Ellen's lambs almost everyday. They are just beautiful. I decided I needed to photograph the sheep returning from the fields and crossing the bridge at the end of the day. This is the quilt from that photo. The wool is from those sheep.

Detail of "Ellen's Lamb"

Nancy Crasco, "Eelgrass Could Save the Planet"
Sea grasses provide 50% of ocean carbon storage. One acre equals 40 acres of forest. Conserving this resource could have a considerable impact on climate change.

Karen Swiech, "Here's to 60 Years of Memories"
Photo mosaic of 5,184 family photos that make up a picture of my parents, Shirley and Tony Swiech, on their wedding day, April 27, 1957.

Sandy Gregg, "Channeling Ernst Haeckel I"

Betsy Habich, "Honeysuckle"
Lush pink and orange honeysuckle, growing on a fence. My hand-dyes and commercial solids.

Detail of "Honeysuckle"

Detail of "Honeysuckle"

Mike (Mac) McNamara, "Kimono Quilt #2"
Cottons, silk, wool. I found this kimono in San Francisco's Japantown. I deconstructed it, and sewed it into the quilt. Machine pieced, machine quilted.

Judy Botsford, "Keukenhof 2016"
The tulips, inspired by a spring trip to Amsterdam's famous tulip garden. My Quilt began in a class with Betty Busby at Pro Chem in using non-woven materials in art quilts.

Aren't the quilts just beautiful?

Another adventure we (my niece and I) took was a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum. On exhibit was "Ocean Liner". It was a good exhibit, because it covered many things related to "Ocean Liner". Obviously, from the ships to Louis Vuitton luggage.

It was a fun exhibit to walk through.

Below are a few other things in the museum that was of interest.

Below is a sculpture by Russell Biles call "Seven Deadly Sins". The one I was attracted to was "Pride". Check out his work - his sense of humor is explained through his art.

I was attracted to the piece below. It was some kind of demon.

That's all folks for now.
Now - go live.

Quilt & Bitch