QHOF Gallery of Ruth Quilts 07-19-14

The Quilters Hall of Fame weekend ended tonight at dinner with the presentation of the medal and praise for Ruth from many different people.  It was a tasty dinner and a happy, proud group of ladies.  And a few guys. 

 

Prior to the dinner there was a gallery walk through with Ruth which was very well attended - too much so, it got terribly warm with all the bodies and the lights.  And it was hard to hear.  But I think most everyone enjoyed seeing the quilts and hearing her comments about them.  The veggie quilt looks especially great with perfect lighting on it.

 

The quilt on the right is "Kin Can Can-Can" which was based on a picture taken at Leah's wedding rehearsal dinner.  It is permanently part of Ruth's collection.  I'm not sure I have her sister's correctly identified, but starting on the left (just as in the quilt) are Ruth, daughter Emily McDowell, daughter Leah Lofgren, sister Susie, sister Nancy, sister Marilyn.

 

Here are daughter Leah Lofgreen, Ruth, daughter Emily McDowell.

 

I'll be off tomorrow for points north and west and will try to keep you updated.  And as I have time I'll post a few of Ruth's quilts from the exhibit.

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QHOF - Luncheon, Lecture, Dinner 07-18-14

A very long and busy day for everyone.  I was too tired to compute last night, so here I am at 7:30am on Saturday trying to catch up with myself and get ready for another long day.  I'm going to have to fit a nap in somehow.  Heavy overcast this morning, wonder if we will have some rain - always makes it harder to get around. 

 

I missed Ruth's gallery walk yesterday afternoon.  We got involved in visiting the local quilt shop, Sew Biz, which is a rabbit's warren of fabric and goodies.  I purchased the rest of two bolts for the philanthropic projects at Surfside QGuild - $3/yard and bright colored, quality fabric.  One advantage of driving is one can find room for anything on the way home.  I also bought into the Row by Row "Shop Hop" - a row of hearts.  The  shop owner said the patterns and kits are flying off the shelves.  Check it out at http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/

 

Ruth McDowell ready to give her talk at the luncheon.

Ann Shaw ready to be the audio-visual assistant.

 

This is one of Ruth's latest quilts.  Granddaughter Pippi being pulled in the sled by the late/great Harvey.

  

 There is a small quilt show with both new and vintage quilts along with a few vendors.  I really enjoyed this yoyo quilt; beautifully done with perfect yoyos as you can see below.

This is what they are supposed to look like - flat with a small hole in the middle.  If you get a volcano in the middle your stitches are too small. 

 

Dinner at The Mill restaurant with Ruth and friends.  

They serve open face "gourmet hamburgers".  This is the "Goober" - hamburger patty on Texas Toast topped with bacon, peanut butter and mayo (on the side).  The diner thought it was good.

 I stuck to something I know.  The "California Burger" has Texas Toast, burger patty, mozzarella, tomato and avocado.  It was delicious but I ate it all and was uncomfortable.

 

Another of my table mates had a lovely salad and a quesadilla - also delicious.

 

Now, off to another busy day.....

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QHOF Gallery walk with Ruth McDowell 07-17-14

Ruth's quilts are hung in the Marion Public Library until Monday and then will be moved to the QHOF house one block over.  I don't know how they are going to squeeze all these quilts into the house.  In the library they look great and I was busy taking pictures when Ruth told the crowd that picture taking and sketching were not allowed.  So, this is all I have.  Somehow I will be in the room alone and will take pictures of all the quilts.  It will be accepted or I will take my quilts and go off in a huff!!  Not really, but I will take the pictures.

 

"A Rash of Flamingoes" above and "Sap Buckets" below.  Both are from TCQC.

Ruth explaining something about "Flamingoes".

The quilt in the lower left is the one with the lovely fairytale about Ruth's daughters when they were young.  It is in her personal collection. 

Showing the "Bison" quilt at lop left.  Below it are "Pumpkins" and "Baron von Ruffhausen" (Harvey), both part of TCQC.

As far as I know these are the people that came from the west coast to attend this event.  Left to Right:  Sherry (from Cotton Patch), Ann Shaw (who is also teaching here), Carolie Hensley (owner of Cotton Patch), Phebe Smith (volunteer at QHOF).  The lady on the right lives in Indiana, but once worked for Carolie at the Cotton Patch in Lafayette, CA.

 

Sherry (Cotton Patch), Nancy (Cotton Patch), Ann Shaw (teacher), Carolie Hensley (Cotton Patch).

"Mullein" one of Ruth's early quilts and one of my personal favorites - in the collection of one of Ruth's sisters.  On the right is "Miner's Lettuce" part of Ruth's collection.

The young lady who is videotaping the exhibit and Ruth's presentations. 

Quilters Hall of Fame reception 07-16-14

Between 6pm and 8pm there was a reception at the Quilters Hall of Fame Museum (QHOFM) in honor of Ruth -  a chance for people to get a little bit acquainted and, of course, to meet Ruth.

They had a table full of hats that attendees could wear if  they chose.  This is the one that Ruth picked.  Very un-Ruth, but pretty cute.  You will see other hats in the pictures below, I think I was the only "natural hat wearer". 

This is the marque they had erected on the front lawn to server the refreshments and to let people rest out of the sun.  We are very fortunate that the weather is unseasonably cool, only about 75F today.

Quilts from the The American Quilt Study Group 2012 Study of Early 20th Century Colonial Revival Quilts are currently on exhibit at the house.  They will come down on Monday and the Ruth McDowell quilts will be hung.  The Ruth quilts are on display for this week at the Marion Library, about two blocks down the street.

 

 The lovely and delicious cupcake "tree" which also held some extra yummy brownies.

 

We were entertained by a harpist and a violinist who played well together.  This little girl was there with one of the volunteers - does she have long legs, or what? 

Helen Carter, Phebe Smith, Debi Geyer (Museum Manager)

Ruth McDowell

Ruth McDowell with two fans.

Debi Shepler (Treasurer for the Marie Webster Guild), Mimi Dietrich, and Ann Shaw (who is teaching Ruth's techniques).

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Road Trip - Indiana Columbia, MO to Marion, IN 07-15-14

This was just a driving day - and drive - and drive - and drive!  I did stop along the way to take a 20 minute nap which did wonders for me.  It always does and it always surprises me how much difference it makes.  Today was a 454 mile day, but I arrived in Marion, IN, before dark.  Of  course, I'm further north than I usually am, so it gets dark much later than in CA.   No weather today - just blue skies and white clouds, some with black bottoms, but no rain.   

I  drove right through the middle of St Louis, MO, so that I could see the Arch again.  It is the most amazing structure, but has to be see with one's own eyes to believe it.  Awesome.
 

As I recall from previous trips the view from I-70 is better if one is driving west.

There were about six of these large flatbed trucks hauling bags of onions.  They are not Vidalia onions, which  grow only in Georgia, but I saw the trucks near Vandalia, Missouri, an odd juxtaposition. 

Mostly I saw corn today.  Miles and miles of it.  I thought maybe there is so much grown for Ethanol, but my friend Mary says it is because it is a subsidized crop.  Makes sense!

And I saw road construction.  Again, miles and miles of it.  Annoying at times, but not so bad on I-70East. 

 And I could not see the westbound traffic because of the trees planted between the two sides of the Interstate.

 But there wasn't a lot of traffic headed east.

 

 However, the westbound traffic when I could see it was mostly one lane and stretched for at least twenty miles!  I think I won't take this route when I head home - the construction will surely be continuing through next weekend - and probably all summer. 

 

Tomorrow I have a day of rest until the Welcoming event from 6 to 8pm.  Until that time I hope I will bump into some quilting ladies - that I already know or some new quilting friends!

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Monday Browsing (found it!) 07-14-14

Taking the idea of the Barn Blocks a little further:

http://www.vivianhelena.com/index_86FO.html

 

Hand making scissors:  http://vimeo.com/98953952

Going on a road trip?  I am on one and I think I will give this a try:

http://www.artisticartifacts.com/about_us/rowbyrowexperience.htm

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Monday Browsing + Road Trip 07-14-14

 

I have Monday Browsing to post, but my laptop won't let me into Word where I store the material.  The only one I can post is this one from Ami Simms newsletter.  Clever.

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/BISrGwN-yH4

 

I am in Columbia, Missouri, tonight  and will drive on to Marion, IN, tomorrow.  I have to go through, or around, St Lois and Indianapolis (which requires an ice cream stop at Brewer's) so it will be a traffic-y day and probably a long one.  I had hoped to have a whole day of rest when I arrived in Marion, but since I left late I don't have that luxury.  We'll see what transpires. 

 

A view of downtown Kansas City, Missouri from I-70.

 

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Road Trip - Indiana Albuquerque to Liberal, KS 07-13-14

I saw this on the back window of a SUV in Edgewood, NM.  Made me laugh.

 

Don't know what these white flowers are, but they are about the only wild flowers I have seen on this trip  with only a few sunflowers here and there. 

 

This looks like an oil paint, but it is just an over manipulated photo that I took.  I rather like this effect, wonder if I can ever do it again

 

The flowers are growing along the railroad tracks - see the solid dark line toward the top of the image.   Highway 54 is an oddity in Kansas because it isn't aligned north/south or east/west.  It travels on a sort of diagonal because it was constructed along the RR tracks which were laid out in the second half of the 1800s.  And RR tracks were plotted on the shortest distance between point A and point B - no excess rails needed. 

 

Just like last night I will have to quit the computer and get to bed.  More tomorrow.

 

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Road Trip - Indiana Additional pix New Mexico 07-12-14

I didn't get up in the middle of the night and am feeling pretty chipper this morning.  NOT  bright eyed and bushy tailed, but better than yesterday.  Here are some pictures  taken along I-40E yesterday.  All sky, clouds, highway and periods of rain.

I see a lot of this sort of thing along I-40 in New Mexico, especially in the Gallup area.  They all advertise as "Trading Posts", but few are.  Looking for your tourist dollars.

?

Ostrich?

 

The weather changes fast out here in the high desert.  There was this..  Accompanied by fierce lightning followed by almost instant thunder.  Too close for comfort.

 

 And a few miles further.

 

Then the road curves into the storm in the northwest.

Then, in an instance, the rain is pounding down. 

 

And just as suddenly the road curves back to the east and there is  blue sky.

 

Clear, until the next thunderstorm.

In the parking lot of the Hampton Inn in downtown Albuquerque, the sun is setting and another thunder storm is passing in the distance.

 

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