What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 The last 10 months my life has been consumed by a new job which while not earth shattering has been super fun.  And my studio has sat empty.  I work all day creatively problem solving my way through customer service.  And my studio sits empty.   I wake up in the morning, thinking of ways to be more productive at my desk.  And my studio still sits empty.

It's been very fulfilling, and a pleasure and the months have flown by.  The work week is filled with one challenge after another.  The weekends are time for sleep and recharging.  It ...

 So now that JoAnn's is no longer, where does one shop?  So glad you asked!!  I've always liked technology... although for the record...my favorite saying is "Technology is the new Alchemy" 

Thank you all for joining in on a very interesting conversation about the demise of JoAnn Fabrics.  I felt a bit vindicated once I was reading your thoughtful comments.  Also, I almost did bring up the decoration part of JoAnn's but ours in this area did less and less of that over the last 10 years.  Ours truly became more of a Michael's with a bit more fabric.  

That all said, I'm sure you heard by now but they decided to close 800 stores.  How did that happen?  So here is the nitty gritty I didn't ...

So last May I started a new job in a nearby city (Meadville, PA) that I had never really ventured into often.  We live 30 minutes from 3 midsize cities and 1-2 hrs from 3 big cities so you can see how you might get into the habit of doing your shopping mostly in one or two of them.  One of the big draws though of Meadville was they had this really nice Joann's less than a half a mile from work.  I mean what more could I ask for right?  Until I walked in and saw that the ...

YOU TELL 'EM, SALLY!

But...my pile of last year's Art Page-A-Day calendar paintings were sitting there just ...

Wonderland, Miriam Schapiro, 1983

 Over the years, I've written posts ranting about how nobody gets what we really do.  I'm mean sure people might understand what a quilt is.  What they don't get is the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a quilt.  Okay, so that's a little dramatic...but really have you met me?  Realistically though, it's that extra "something" that makes quilt making much more than a simple craft.  It's definitely an art form no matter if you do

detail, The Bitter Nest, Part II

Scenes from American Life, Beach, Gertrude Goodrich, 1914 (Treasury Dept, From the Cafeteria, Section of Fines Arts Mural!)

Our recent trip to Washington DC also included our first visit to The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.  It is better known as the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  To tell you the truth, until I got home and read the Wikipedia article, I didn't quite understand where one museum started and one ended.  Apparently, the way it's laid out now, it just flows together seamlessly, which is what I observed ...

The Crosses II, Nina-Marie Sayre

This week I was reminded by Jenny Lyon that I used to a write a  Word of the Year the first post of January.  The ritual started on our Art Quilt email list of the 2000's. (Sigh, I miss that list.  Reddit is just not the same...just sayin')  The members of the list would choose a word and write their meaning why.  It was inspiring to hear the different words from so many diverse voices chiming in from around the country and world.  

Mine always were normally words that represented an aim or ...

One of the First Rooms of the Paris:1874 exhibit

 Okay, show of hands...who here when you think of art history, think immediately of impressionist paintings?  I wouldn't doubt that out of all art movements, impressionism is by far the most known and beloved.  I know, that's where I started my art history journey. It's still one of my favorites.  I think it's partly due to the fact that it's representational (which also makes it approachable) without being too stuffy.  Plus, the colors and the subjects just capture moments in everyday life that let ...

The Renwick Gallery, The National Museum of Craft

 So this past week, I got spontaneous.  Yep, you read that right...the princess of plan decided at the last minute to take a quick trip to Washington DC.  Two of our favorite art museums, the National Gallery and the Renwick Gallery had some great exhibitions that are going to close in the beginning of January.  We've been trying to make time to see them, but with our early winter here on Lake Erie, it's been hard to find a few good weather days.  I saw that it was going ...

So today the sun shone in my part of the county while our lakefront once again got pelted with snow. 

Anyways...

Over the years I've done a series of posts about Christmas gifts I thought were what every quilter needed but might not be ...

Presque Isle, Lake Erie, PA

Living on the shores of Lake Erie is always an adventure in the winter.  You never know what the weather is going to do.  Last year, we got 25" of snow all year.  This year, we doubled that in 3 days.  Yes, there are parts of the county that got 50" or more of snow this last week.  

But we live in Erie County so we take it all in stride right?  Well you would think, but when your authorities  declare a state of emergency and have all non essential workers to shelter in ...