My favorite picture of the day…the boys warm up for the Class B (Maine) Eastern Regional Cross Country Championship… notice the muddy handprint? This was BEFORE the race…. competitors were, by the end, covered head to toe in mud!

Or make that RACE!  Today was an incredibly sodden day for the Maine High School Eastern Regional Cross Country Championships, held at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine.  It might just as well have been called Mudfest 2012!  When driving home from dropping Eli off at the bus this morning, it was raining so hard that even though I had my wiper on “whip”, I could barely see.  The road surface was not visible…the rain was coming down so hard it was bouncing up and the top of the road was a gray haze.  That meant MUD!  But the kids were AMAZING!  The Girls Team WON Class B Eastern Regionals and for the first time in memory the Boys Team qualified for States!  The top 8 of 15 teams get in, and the boys placed 6th!  Awesome job!

After the meet, a VERY happy Camden Hills Regional High School (Maine) Cross Country team!

From the boys team, Junior Ben Trapani put in an amazing run coming in second in Class B!  Eli Smith and best friend since first grade Ben Winchenbach both turned in amazing times–if the boys team had not qualified as a team, they each would have qualified for States by placing in the top 30:  Eli was 19th and Ben 26th!!!! As FRESHMEN?!!!!!!   The rest of the boys also exceeded their previous bests for a combined performance that earned the entire team a trip to the State Championships for the first time in memory…. at least 7 or more years since a Camden Boys team has qualified.  WELL DONE, gentlemen!

The Girls Team has been a local powerhouse for quite some time, and thrillingly, they won with Brittany Bowman coming in third in the Class B girls, and with three of the girls in the top ten, six in the top thirty.  That’s why they won!

Looking across the field to the starting line for the boys’ race

And they’re off…. Ben Trapani is just to the left of Eli (who has a red arrow pointing at him…yes, Mama is proud!)

A little blurry photo, but that is Eli running in the red, about halfway through the race at 20th! We knew he needed to make 30th or better if the team didn’t make the cut–which it hadn’t in years! Paul and I were dumbfounded that he was so far up in the pack! THEN, Ben W. comes along seven runners later!!!! He could make it too!

Eli is nothing if not determined. Here you see the boys coming down the hill into the straightaway into the chute (and BIG HUGE puddles)…Maybe 200 yards to go?

Then Eli gets this look of determination on his face and you know you are about to witness his “final kick”…. here the legs and arms start churning, puddle or no! Notice how he has closed the gap from the previous photo.

And into overdrive…this is what makes Eli a winner! Not just physical ability, but mental fitness and determination and drive! (Yeah… I’m totally, deliriously biased!) We did not know it at the time, but just before the last uphill, he twisted an ankle a little bit and fell behind the kid to his left in this photo.  Without the slip, he might even have overtaken the boy in dark blue.  As it was, he finished 19th!  as a FRESHMAN!

After the race…can you say MUDDY? This is before Eli went for his chest-slide. The mud was so slick in places you could have put a sled on it and gone downhill!

L to R: Forest P., Ben W., Ben T. and Eli…well done!

And now, the GIRLS are off! I didn’t get many photos of the girls…somehow I wasn’t “on” with the camera today and many of my photos were blurry.

In the stands…notice the change in color in Eli’s shirt? This one is AFTER sliding on his chest in the mud!

The Girls Class B Eastern Regional Champions! WOOT!!!! Well done to one and all!

And lest you think I forgot about quilting, nope. Wondering: would this photo of the mud turn into a good Thermofax screen?

And last and best, teenagers being teenagers!

Having fun at the end of the day…great job to everyone!

And I am happy to report, as soon as Eli got home he went out to the hose, in the rain, to hose down his running spikes, then came in and peeled off all the grimy muddy muck into the washing machine and himself into the shower.  What a wonderful day!   And yes, I am REALLY GLAD I wore my Bogs boots…rubber up past the ankles!

Prepare to be amazed….

The Camden-Rockport Middle School mosaic mural, in the cafeteria, Camden, Maine. In the style of (and with the permission of) Eric Hopkins.

This post is frightfully late…. I only took these photos in June 2011!  Yes, more than a year ago at the unveiling!   But the mosaic in the cafeteria at Camden-Rockport Middle School (Maine) is so stunningly beautiful and wonderful a public art project, that I decided I still needed to share it with you all.  It all began with Kristen Andersen, the CRMS art teacher.  Kristen is the kind of art teacher you dream of having–after having kids in CRMS for 8 years, I STILL want to go back to middle school and be in her class–alas, I’m a bit too old!  As Kristen put it when she approached world-famous artist Eric Hopkins with the idea, it takes a great deal of faith on the part of the artist to grant permission to a group of children to make a work in his own style.  I’d add that it takes a great bit of courage and creativity to come up with and execute the idea–Well Done, Kristen!

What you see in the photo above is eight 2 x 4 foot (24 by 48 inch) panels of glass mosaic, MADE BY the KIDS of the middle school!

The project began with a detailed proposal. On the storyboard, you can see some of the original sketches, inspiration art by Mr. Hopkins, some of the glass tiles and tile nippers used in the project.  The photo (printed on 4 sheets) on the table is the view from Mt. Battie, which overlooks Camden Harbor.  The mosaic is this view, with the top of the old stone tower on the left of the mosaic and the harbor and view beyond.

A closer view of the sketches

A closer view of the photo-montage and tools used in making the mosaic

The Youth Arts program helped fund this large undertaking…thank you Youth Arts! On the easel at right you can see a mock-up block for what Kristen envisioned. The pictures on the left are of Eric Hopkins’ art.  He has his own gallery in Rockland, Maine; if you’re ever in the mid-coast, DO take a detour down winter street to go visit…it’s just a stone’s throw from Main Street.

The mosaics were made in eight sections that fit into the VERY sturdy frame.  Should the piece ever have to be moved, that can happen because of how this was assembled!  Way too wonderful and too much work not to plan for the inevitable changes down the line.

And here is the official unveiling! Gasps of delight all around!

CRMS Art teacher Kristen Andersen–the multi-tasking mom– tells the assembled students, staff, important folks, parents and onlookers how the project happened.

While Kristen explains the project, (from left to right) Principal Maria Libby, Asst. to the Principal Matt Smith, a Youth Arts representative, and Eric Hopkins listen.

Kristen and assorted students and volunteers (THANK YOU volunteers) met once a week after school to work on the project.  Early on, Mr. Hopkins came to one session and helped fine-tune the drawing on the plywood panels to give it that Hopkins-sweeping-view.

After the unveiling, we all got to go up close. Here is my friend Kathy on the left, then Kristen and her son on her hip, and Mr. Hopkins. It was SO totally COOL…he kept going up to the mosaic touching it in wonder…the way you see folks walk up and want to touch a quilt. Neat!

Another shot of the mosaic, with a Youth Arts representative, Principal Maria Libby, and Eric Hopkins.

And back to where we began… on the tower at Mt. Battie, a close-up of the left end of the mosaic.

THANK YOU Mr. Hopkins for saying yes.  Thank you Kristen for being such a wonderful teacher and inspiration.  Thank you to Maria Libby and the school system for being a place that encourages such wonderfulness in the school.  Thank you to the kids and the volunteers and Youth Arts for making this wonderful piece. Goosebumps, all over again.  WONDERFUL!

SAQA-The Maine Event 2012 dinner at the Capt. A.V. Nickels Inn, Searsport, Maine

What a lovely place to have an art quilt meeting!   I must say that this regional SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates, main site here) was the first time I’ve been around this many really top notch art quilters outside of the ginormous International Quilt Festival in Houston!  Thank you to coordinators Beth Berman, Sarah Carpenter and Margaret Sheehan for bringing this together for a third consecutive year.  I’ve already got the third weekend in September reserved for next year!

During the break after the last workshop/demo and supper, I sat outside on a breezy (and increasingly nippy) deck enjoying the view and sketching.

Earlier in the day I had spotted a beautiful old spoon amongst the assorted styles near the coffee.  I picked it up and decided it was so lovely that a mere photograph wasn’t enough, so I sketched it!  I then added a quick watercolor of that view (I believe that is the far north side of Penobscot Bay in the distance) and journaled a tiny bit on the page:

My sketch page of the day. The tiny writing that scrolls around reads: As the sun goes in and out behind the couds the shadows shift and move dancing over the page (upper line) and In the late afternoon we had a break after the last session and before dinner, so I painted the view. The spoon needs to be a bit darker at the tip of the bowl, but otherwise I’m happy with it.

After dinner was the best part…seeing what others are doing! Alas, I do NOT know everyone’s name, so I apologize to artists and readers alike for not having attribution on many of these.  If you know who did what, please let me know so I may update the blogpost!

Sandra Betts (on left) shared this portrait of her mother, using Mary Pal’s technique using cheesecloth. Very effective…. when Sandra first held it up I thought it looked like her, but not quite. When she said it was her mother that explained it!

Isn’t this FABULOUS? Someone please tell me who made it!

Michelle Goldsmith (on left) told us about taking Lisa Call’s working in a series online workshop. This was one of many large pieces, wholecloth and painted. I loved the joyousness of the color in this one. Plus it was fun to see Michelle again–she was program chair for her guild and they hired me to come teach there in May 2011, and it was so much fun!  I blogged about that visit here and here.

Beth Berman, our lead coordinator for this event, has a thing for crows. Her art quilting skills have just blossomed since I first met her. This is one of her two pieces.

This Maine quilter (on right) loves color and dyes her own fabrics and creates her own embroideries (in this case the seagulls). I just want to dive headfirst into that color!

As you might gather, it was a WONDERFUL day!  Thanks Beth, Margaret, Sarah and everyone who traveled from near and far.

This past weekend was the third annual SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) The Maine Event… a weekend of folks from upper New England and far eastern Canada. This past weekend was the third annual SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) The Maine Event… a weekend of folks from upper New England and far eastern Canada.  This year organizer Beth Berman chose the Capt. A.V. Nickels Inn, and boy do we want to return!  It is under new management, is gorgeous, has good food, and was a great place for a weekend workshop.  Folks arrived from hither and yon on Friday, had a reception Friday evening, then a full day of workshops led by various SAQA members Saturday, dinner for everyone Saturday evening at the Inn (a B&B), Show and tell, and another workshop on Sunday morning.

The Capt. A.V. Nickels Inn, just north of downtown Searsport on U.S. Route 1

This was the first year I got to stay for supper and sharing, and am so glad I did!  Since I live locally (about 35 minute away) I can’t rationalize staying at the inn or one of the nearby B&Bs or motels, but maybe next year I’ll go back for the Sunday session, too.

Sandra Betts from New Brunswick gave the first session on Free-motion Zendoodling–basically the same as with pen and paper (with which we began) but then done on the machine.  This is the same idea as how I noodle around with various fill patterns for free-motion.  I took photos of the doodling by various folks, but alas didn’t get names to go with sketchbooks.  If one of these is yours (or you know whose it is) let me know and I’ll attribution!  (PS–the (c) is just for the photo..the works in the photos are copyrighted by the artists.)

Zendoodle…she later filled the entire page

LOVE the house and antler-tree! I quilted some “antler coral” in the quilt that is on the cover of my book that looks just like her tree!

Michele O’Neil Kincaid (website here) gave the next segment on texture in quilts.

Michelle O’Neill Kincaid’s textured quilt (detail)

Next was Beth Berman’s turn, showing us her method for framing pieces using rigid foam insulation board and painted wood slats…nifty!

Then we had a break before supper and sharing.  I took some pictures:

The Inn was lovely…the first thing I saw as I entered is this sideboard…loved the candelabra!

Sweet creamer and sugar pot in the dining room

And the chandelier

The regular view

and a couple alternate views (that I much prefer):

Close up

And my favorite view, from underneath looking up at the ceiling

The internet is being hideously slow at our house today, so will stop here and will share the rest in a couple of days!

For the past two years (and the coming year) I’ve been the coordinator for our local quilt group’s challenge.  Last year, long time readers may recall, the quilts were to be 20 1/2 by 20 1/2 square and use an item from the grocery store as inspiration (see posts here and here).  THIS year we did the same size, but had to use a vintage block in the quilt.  This challenge was inspired by Mary Kerr’s Vintage Revisited exhibits which were shown at Maine Quilts.

The Coastal Quilters (Maine) 2012 Chapter Challenge

Mary graciously said of course we could do something similar!  So I went to troll eBay for Vintage blocks; no one set seemed to have enough for the usual 12-16 participants in our challenges, so I ended up buying two sets of blocks:  the red-green Ohio Star and the burgundy-cream Ocean Waves.

The results, once again, were STUPENDOUS!  We had the twelve completed quilts (several others wanted to make some, but life seriously got in the way…please send them comfort and healing).  From left to right across the two panels, the quilts are:

Top Row:

• Eleanor Greenwood — Vintage Ohio Star Medallion
• Jim Vander Noot –Three Sheets to the Wind and a Sail
• Sarah Ann Smith — Cardinal in the Pines
• Rebecca Hokkanen — Ocean Wave

Second Row:

• the Ohio Star block, description of the challenge, participants/quilt names, description of challenge Ocean Waves Block

Third Row:

• Prudy Netzorg — Waves of Fish
• Karen Martin (alas her black border disappeared on the black drape!) — Flight to the Past
• Mathea Daunheimer (sent all the way from New Zealand! where she now lives) — Progression:  Growth
• Gail Galloway-Nicholson (made with wool!) — Simply a Star

Fourth Row:

• Patty Courtney —  Leaving Ohio
• Maggie Schwamb — Railroad Colors
• Robinsunne — Expansion
• Barb Melchiskey — Block Swap (the blocks have velcro and you can move them like on a design wall!)

Here’s a close-up of the two blocks:

Our challenge blocks. The red-green blocks had some fading on the green but were meticulously hand-pieced. The Burgundy-cream were made from old-fashioned shirt ticking prints.

And on display at  Maine Quilts 2012 in the Chapter Challenge aisle:

The small Chapter Challenge aisle at Maine Quilts 2012 (www.MaineQuilts.org), put on by the Pine Tree Quilt Guild, Maine’s statewide guild

If your group would like to have a similar challenge, we had very brief requirements this time.  I wanted a consistent size as the quilts look better, more cohesive on display.  For our statewide show, Maine Quilts, the small challenges must be pinned to a backdrop.  A couple years ago I bought some plain black in an estate sale and use that for my drapes.  The consistent size also makes it much easier to arrange the quilts and estimate size of the final display (required on the Maine Quilts entry form). The rules were to use at least 40 percent of the original block on the front of the quilt  and that the fabrics must be recognizable.  As luck would have it, we ended up with almost an equal number of quilts from each block.  Barb was so inspired that the muse carried her away to a slightly larger sized piece (on the bottom right).

In my next post, I’ll share my quilt, Cardinal in the Pines.