Last weekend was the family wedding in the garden at my son's house nearby. DIL Kristi officiated, wearing the stole I made (see the post from April 2 for a photo); it was a real Texas celebration with crawfish boil and assorted sides for the reception, and lots of guests in boots and jeans. Weather cooperated, thank goodness. Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, but Kristi learned a lot about hosting weddings and what to do differently the next time.
Time now to work on a new piece (that I can't show yet), get my two quilts for Sacred Threads ready for shipping at the end of June, and plan some more small landscapes for the show in October. For the next two weeks family health considerations will take up much of my time--transporting various people to doctors, to hospitals for overnight surgery, and so forth. I am thinking of beginning some pieces with a lot of hand stitching, mostly unstructured. I've seen some very interesting work in journals and online recently; looks as though "slow work" is regaining interest. It will be good to have something to work on as I sit in waiting rooms.
Quilt National is going on in Ohio right now, and my friend Hope Wilmarth has a piece in it, so of course she's going up there to enjoy the show.. Suzan and I (the other members of Thread Songs) are so proud of her. I have not had the courage to submit anything to this exhibition so far--maybe in 2017. I keep reminding myself that "you'll never get in if you don't enter." We'll have another Thread Songs meeting soon; this always helps to encourage me. In the meantime, I have put my Pentecost hanging up in the studio as an example of people who went forth in courage.
This is a detail from "Nine O'Clock in the Morning," one of my quilts that remains a favorite. I had such a good time making it, and every one of the people on the piece seems to have his own personality.
I especially like the dancing man, and the little guy hanging on with one hand. Haven't we all had days like that?