The fun began when Deborah arrived in Hope, Maine, at my house to spend the night on July 8th.  We had a WONDERFUL visit, during which I forgot to take pictures~!  In my last post about the visit, I shared with you the Coastal Quilters meeting and Artists’ Reception.  Then we got to relax!  Kathy and her husband are moving down to the coast and will be building a house in the coming months. For  a short while, they are staying  in Camden, and her hubby graciously volunteered to stay with a family member so we could have a girls-get-together-sleepover and yakking at their rental.  After the reception, we went to Kathy’s and decided to start things right….

When we got together a couple years ago, near Kate's, she fixed us mojitos and we sipped them under the pines, near the shores of Merrymeeting Bay (which has to have one of the coolest names in all of geography), with a bald eagle in the branches above us. We decided that we needed to do the mojitos again, so after the Artists' Reception, we decamped to Kathy's rental house...

Kate has mastered these drinks, and yes…we WERE all able to walk to dinner at Long Grain (an INCREDIBLE pan-Asian, Thai-inspired small restaurant in Camden..it opened almost a year ago, is frequently so full they have to turn diners away, and they don’t need more than the computer printed paper in the window…no sign…we all know where it is!).  Before dinner, though, we sat on the back porch and talked and took photos:

Me taking a picture of Deborah taking a picture

and

Kathy taking a picture of Deborah

and

Deborah looking happy

and

Kate with the perfect mojito looking happy

and

Kathy looking happy (and I was behind the camera looking happy)

and

Kate looking happy and laughing....ya think we were are having fun?????

In the spirit of “let someone else cook” we also ate breakfast out…at the Bagel Cafe.  I think we STILL look happy!

Bagels for breakfast!

Then we packed up from Kathy’s and headed west…just a little ways West….

On Sunday, after breakfast, we convoyed nine miles west to my house, where it was a glorious Maine summer's day. I had bought a Jacquard Indigo kit, and we mucked about with cloth and an indigo vat!

I later draped mine over a pine tree by the deck:

My indigo pieces on the nearby pine; a few of them washed out more than I had hoped, but I'll figure it out eventually

and

a late lunch....notice the circle necklaces? Those were a thoughtful gift made by Deborah for being "in her circle of friends." LOVELY!

We wrapped up the day with sandwiches from the grill press.  I discovered this AWESOME recipe in Daniel Leader’s Panini cookbook (here) that calls for goat cheese with chopped basil, marinated artichoke hearts (Kathy gets to eat the extra bits), sundried tomatoes (I made some using his other recipe but mistakenly put the oven to timer, not cook-time, so when the oven should have turned off at 1 a.m. it kept baking  until I woke up at 6 and realized what I had done…luckily nothing smoked, but they did look more than a bit black and dead! so we had to use from the jar!), and–my addition–caramelized onions.  I LOVE the sweet addition of the onions to the salty tang and tartness of the other ingredients.

After that Kathy headed home (with our HUGE thanks to her hubby for making the sleepover possible), Deborah followed Kate to her house an hour south, and I collapsed (briefly)!  I was so fried with stress from Mama’s passing and all the other STUFF, that I don’t know how I made it except that it was so wonderful to be together.  Nothing like being with friends and like-minded souls who love art and playing with cloth and color and having fun together!

WOW… what a whirlwind it has been, and what a lot of fun we had.

"Letters" quilts and the four Frayed Edges at the Picker Room, Camden Public Library, on July 9, 2011

Deborah Boschert, our “expat” member now living near Annapolis, Maryland (for those of you not in the US, that is near Washington, DC) flew up for the weekend to visit, so Deborah, Kathy Daniels, Kate Cutko and I had a glorious weekend.  The reason for the gathering was our second show (the first was in 2007, and is here and here and here) at the Picker Room of the Camden Public Library.  On July 1, Kate drove over an hour from her home to help me hang the show, and was I ever grateful for the help!  A week later, Deborah arrived and spent the night with me in Hope.  The next day, July 8, we gave a program on the show for the Coastal Quilters in the morning:

Deborah Boschert talks about her "long and skinny" piece which hangs over the glass display case in the Camden Public Library's Picker room; this is a first for the Coastal Quilters--rather than meet in the usual Lions' Club location, we met "on-site" in the library! Thanks to all who were able to come!

We had a short break on a glorious summer’s day , minus Kate who had to work her morning  job as Bowdoinham town librarian, and ate on the back deck at Marriner’s for lunch…astonishingly, we all look good in this photo! Clearly we are happy to be together!

 

Lunch at Marriner's, on the back deck over the Falls. L to R: Deborah Boschert, Kate (Kathy) Daniels, and me

Kate arrived in time for our 2-4 p.m. Artists’ Reception, which was well attended—I expect that is was almost all Kathy’s friends and relatives, and we so appreciate their coming!

Viewers at the Artists' Reception looking at our Letters pieces

Eighteen months ago, we starting noodling about the idea of a group challenge/themed pieces that would be new for the show.  I’ll blog more about the pieces in a later post, but the photo at the top of the post shows all the 12 pieces.  We each made two 12 x 12 inch pieces (inspired by Deborah’s participation in the Twelve by Twelve project, here) and a center piece that was 36 (or thereabouts) inches wide and anywhere between 16 to 42 inches tall.  I was inspired by the quilt exhibit by tACTile, a group of quilters from the Australia Capitol Territory (ACT), which you can see here.  But we decided since other groups have taken the idea of a line running through all the pieces, to not do that for our series.  Our theme was “Letters,” which we thought was a good one for a show in the Library and because each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, has used letters or words on our quilts.

At one point, Joshua drifted through (to see if I’d take some stuff home for  him, actually), but he kindly consented to let me take his picture with the portrait of him…he has grown up a bit!

Joshua playing air guitar in front of the quilt of Joshua playing guitar... I think I'm glad I didn't have to quilt the beard that he has had since shortly after the photos I took for the quilt! And isn't that a cool lion on his t-shirt?

We had lots of thoughtful visitors:

Kate chats with a gentleman who really seemed to enjoy the show and spent lots of time looking at the pieces.

and

Kate chatting with the architect, Deborah at the far end of the table, Kathy speaking with the artist who did the recent show with the colorful goldfish paintings

and

Deborah's three pieces on the left, Paul (hubby!) looking at Kate's graphic novel-inspired pieces

and

More of Kath's friends and family, plus a really nice couple who are part-time Maine residents and drove an hour just to come up for the show...way cool!

and

Kate and Deborah looking at the room and show

and

"Letters" quilts and the four Frayed Edges. We are standing in the same order as our quilts: Deborah's inspired by letters home, Kate's graphic novel-inspired pieces which will find a home at her Bowdoinham Library, me with pieces inspired by the Getty Museum, and Kathy's chicken who became Tillie of Tillie Lays an Egg (with permission of the author)

and that’s it for the day….  I’ll post again about the Frayed Edges FUN as well as our Letters Quilts.  Of course, I think I had better go take good pictures of the quilts…would make blogging about them a lot easier, eh?  That’s it for today…stay tuned!

No…I have not followed Mama into the great beyond, but instead have been busier than ever (what else is new?).  I am seriously looking forward to some down time in August, but in the meantime had to

• help hang and launch our Frayed Edges mini-group show at the Camden Public Library (will blog about that in a day or two I hope),
• with my fellow Frayed Edges, be the program for the monthly Coastal Quilters meeting and do the artists’ reception at the library
• complete my piece for the local Coastal Quilters Chapter Challenge and then (as project coordinator)
• make some new black drapes and
• pin all the quilts, print the photos, make the tags, etc., in time to deliver next weekend for Maine Quilts (which happens the last weekend in July),
• get son Eli off to a 2-week trip to Australia (SOB… wish I were there but elated as he comes home tonight),
• help get Joshua ready to move into his first-ever-on-his-own apartment (with girlfriend) in town,
• take care of the settling of Mama’s affairs,
• prepare things for teaching in Nebraska at QuiltNebraska 2011 (including ordering supplies and shipping boxes to arrive in time) and
• attempt not to implode!

The Coastal Quilters Grocery Challenge...in a nutshell, pick a food or beverage product, use at least 4 colors and at least one element from the packaging as a motif in your 20.5 by 20.5 inch quilt (since someone will ask, mine is the blue one, top-right)

So as a teaser, I will share with you the photo of the two panels of The Grocery Challenge, an idea I dreamed up for the Coastal Quilters.  The photo above is of the twelve pieces…astonishingly all 12 of the folks who signed up got their quilts done (mine was one of the last few done…no surprise there).   Soon I’ll share more about each of the 12 quilts, the grocery products from which we drew inspiration, and how.   But before that I need to tell you about our group show.  I can’t believe (well….yes, I can) that I managed to not even post a single word here before the show opened on July 1.  So if you’re in or near Camden, Maine, come back here in a couple days or click here to see a bit more.

Hi all…. just a quick note to say thank you for the many, MANY kind notes I have received here, through Facebook and privately.  Your support and friendship mean so much to me.

The real world continues–on Friday when I got the word about Mama I was hanging our Frayed Edges mini-group show at the Camden Public Library.  I hope to have a blogpost invitation to come, including for the artists’ reception (all four of us will be here, even Deborah who now lives in Maryland!) and more… stay tuned….

And again, your warm hugs still envelop me and give me comfort.  Thank you doesn’t begin to encompass the gratitute and friendship I feel, but it’s all the words that I have.  So……..Thank you.

This afternoon, on a sunny, summery first of July,  Mama’s spirit left this earth peacefully.  After deepening dementia over the past years and a more rapid decline since early February, her passing is a loss and a blessing.  I’m guessing about now she is in a joyful reunion with her Mama and sisters, whom she often asked about in recent years (tho long gone, she’d ask if I had heard from them and how they were doing) and then with my Papa and half-brothers (who better be telling hilariously funny stories about Daddy!). I miss them all.

This is the last photo I took of Mama, just two days before Mother’s day this year.  A print of it was on her windowsill in her line of sight from her bed.

Mama and me, May 2011, at the Courtyards dining room, Quarry Hill, Camden, Maine

Hospice had thought she might go some 10 days ago, but they didn’t count on mama’s strength of will.  For a frail 92 year old, she was still her determined self to the last.  On Monday, the man thought she might not last the night…. but I was able to visit her again every day since including this morning a few hours before she left.

I am so eternally grateful that a place in the dementia nursing care facility didn’t open and that she was able to breathe her last at Quarry Hill, the retirement community in Camden.  They have independent and assisted living, dementia care, and a small nursing wing.  She was able to die surrounded by her paintings and beautiful oriental rug and pretty things, but best of all was the kind, gracious and thoughtful care from the staff on 3rd floor (assisted living, 2008-2010) and in the Courtyards (dementia care) since last July.  I always used to be freaked out by such places, and now I know that goodness happens there and there are so many angels walking amongst us.

Mama was a pretty amazing woman, born back in 1918 in the tiny town of Powell, Wyoming.  Her mother was determined that her four daughters and one son–in the Depression mind you–would go to college.  And Gramma made that happen–in part by opening a kitchen to fix breakfasts and lunches for college students in Buckhannon, West Virginia, where all the girls attended college.  Mama finished her degree in three years, but her yen to travel was stymied by World War 2.

Mama, circa 1942/3, before she was my mama!

At the end of the war she entered the military and worked as an Air Control Tower Operator at Anacostia, near Washington, D.C.   Students got to pick assignments at the end of the war by class rank; she was second in her class, so she picked the farthest away spot on the list:  Tokyo!   So in 1946-47 Mama lived and worked in Japan with the Occupation Army.  She fell in love with the people and the country, and that stayed with her for the rest of her life, as did her love of travel.  For the next 20 years she lived overseas (and met my Dad working at the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador), and even after they returned to the States she still traveled when she could.

Mama used to say she wanted to travel by yak in Nepal, and we all laughed, trying to picture mom in her mink, pearls and Ferragamo shoes atop a yak!  So in honor of Mama, the next time you pass a jewelry store admire the fine jewelry.  And if you like shoes, enjoy browsing (Mama’s taste ran to the Ferragamo’s so my preference for Birkenstock’s, sneakers and Dansko’s was a keen disappointment to her).  Despite our many differences, Mama did what she thought best, she worked hard, and she always tried to get the best for me, her only child.  So hoist a glass of your favorite drink (white zin, hot tea with milk, whatever) to honor strong and smart women everywhere.  Here’s to my mama!  Now I’m going to find another kleenex and give thanks for a Mama who believed in me. And I in her….