Happy New Year

Well, we're about to move into another year and I would like to say how much I've enjoyed working with the group and what fun I've had.  The build-up to each unveiling and the support from everyone is wonderful.  I'm really looking forward to this coming year and more sharing of our talents and work.

Father Christmas very kindly arranged to have my finished embroidered icon framed and it is now proudly hanging on my bedroom wall watching over me as I sleep.  I have since discovered the image is of either St George or St Demetrius.  It is from an icon, probably a gift from Emperor Justinian, and is kept at the monastry of St Catharine in the Sinai desert.  How do I know all this? - Keith found a book by Sister Wendy (she's famous on BBC) on icons - perfect!

Anyway, here it is in the frame.

All the best everyone.

Hilary

Happy Holidays!

This is to wish you all a wonderful holiday, a wonderful break, safe travelling if you are going away and looking forward to a creative and fulfilling 2011 for all of us.

Happy holidays!

Hi All - the image you see is a small part of a quilt for a client who Helena referred to me a long while back. The client is a fan of the art of John William Baker, an engineer who lived in Quebec and made art in his free time. The client wanted me to interpret a piece of Baker's art into a king size bed quilt. The quilt is complete. It was superbly quilted by Colleen. Although I did not like the design at all, nor was I thrilled to embark on this project, I must say it has been exciting and creative and I have learned a fortune. The client and the artist's daughter are coming on Thursday to collect it - so do not breathe a word until then please Helena or anyone else who may know him.

Happy holidays to all of you. May you enjoy happy and safe times with your loved ones which will provide you with warm memories that will last for many years to come!

a few things...........

i have been following our blog and wanting to reply since phil posted her wire ornament. here goes......

those wire ornaments bring back feelings of nostalgia - thanks for posting that - also reminded me to buy Christmas gifts for my hairdresser, postman andnewspaper person. Thanks phil

i know heather's cards well - we saw them last year and this year and they do get better and better. read with warmth about rosemary and when i saw her photo, i thought that i had met her - maybe at helena's gallery? she looked so delighted at having bought a piece she loved (those pieces are easy to love). and now the caregiver has one as well - rewarding to have your work so treasured , heather. how wonderful for those who know her to be part of the life of someone so 'in it.' for sure she will be sorely missed, but it sounds as though she lived life to the full. may her family and friends be comforted by the special memories she created and the good name that she had.

Rosemary and Heather's Red Piece

I took this photo of Rosemary when she bought Heather's piece at the gallery two years ago. I am so happy to have this photo: Rosemary was a beautiful person and I am glad to have known her.

Xmas Greetings

Best wishes to you all for a Happy Holiday! Here is a photo of the fabric Christmas card I sent out this year. Maybe next year I will get around to making an actual card for each of you!

Christmas Gift

Almost two years ago, Helena held a group show at her gallery called "Red Alert". I submitted two pieces, and they both sold, one to a dear friend here in Hudson, Rosemary Lombardi. This was the third piece that Rosemary had bought from me and of course I was thrilled.

Rosemary was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago, at the age of 60. She lived life to the fullest in the last five years, traveling to Italy twice, going to fitness class, reveling in the company of two little grandchildren. About 5 weeks ago, she asked me to visit her to discuss a Christmas gift for one of her caregivers, Kate. We looked at some of my finished work, but in the end I offered to make her a smaller version of the Red Alert piece, which Kate had admired.

Rosemary passed away on December 11, and her funeral was yesterday. This morning I delivered the framed piece to her husband Peter. Right up until her last couple of days, Rosemary was busy planning holiday menus and gifts. Her family called her "The Little General". I hope that Kate will cherish this piece and that it will remind her of a wonderful lady.

XMAS GREETINGS

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2011

Movie Director Challange

South Africa was invited to join France and Japan in a Challenge, the theme being 'Movie Director's'. 30 people from each country were invited and then 5 Movie Directors from each country and 15 other's were chosen as the 'theme' directors. One person from each country was allocated the same movie director and had to create a 50cm x 50cm piece. Result - 90 quilts, 3 quilts on each Movie Director. My director was Alain Resnais who I knew nothing about. Turned out one of his more famous films was Hiroshima my love ( Hiroshima mon amour) which I thought was quite apt in linking the three countries together..... Japanese theme, French Director and SA Maker! The background is a whole cloth which I screen printed. Alain's face is a piece of handmade silk paper, machine embroidered and painted. the 'Dome' is applique and then stitched and painted. The quilting is 'pebbles' or 'pearls' .....not sure what it is called, representing the millions of broken pieces after the attack, buildings and people!

What annoys me horribly but I have to work thru it as it cannot be changed is the slant of the writing. I used freezer paper cut outs to stencil and thought I had it perfect , aggravated with the quilting and the slant of the building .... ouch!

Great fun and a little daunting as I have never participated in anything as big as this.

The first showing of the Challenge was at the IQW2010 Show in Japan and it won Best Group Exhibition. It now travels in Japan, then France plus other countries and we in SA only get to see the whole exhibit ( although we do have pics) sometime in 2011 or 2012.

I've just finished adding my latest journal quilts onto the Contemporary Group website, and thought you might be interested to see them all. They've not uploaded in quite the right order, the picture of myself was for January. This year I chose to use photographs I had taken personally, and then try a number of different techniques to portray them as mini quilts. I've used bonded applique, printing on fabric, printing on acetate (thanks Heather), using sticky-back plastic (thanks again Heather) and pure stitch. The December journal uses a technique you'll recognise from our own Reflections pieces, thanks to Dianne. I not only used the same technique, I used a photo of her dog as well.

Ammazulu African Palace

These should have come at the bottom ! Above are pictures of the interior of the hotel which includes graffiti on the walls!

This morning was spent at a boutique hotel called "Ammazulu African Palace" with my local quilt Guild. This is a vision that a local architect by the name of Peter Amm has carried for the last 40+ years. It finally came together over the last 5 years .... 2 years designing and 3 years building. The original idea was a museum to house his massive collection of african art, etc but it was scuppered by our local municipality as his property is on the edge of a magnificent gorge, Kloof Gorge, and is in a residential area, hence the boutique hotel. Above is the magnificent view over the gorge

This is the entrance to the hotel (actually running as a B&B at the moment). Below is the view thru the front door towards the pool and verandah. There are mezzanine levels on either side of the building which hold the 10 bedrooms, all with magnificent views.

This is just a taster of what's going on so if any of you find yourselves in my part of the world it is really worth a visit.

New Theme

I have doing some quilting - always a good time to let the mind wander around an idea for me.  With my background in architecture' structure' straight away said buildings to me, but I started to think about infra structures in our lives - utilities and transport for example.  Then I thought about the structure of our very being - our DNA.  Living on the beautiful Dorset coast with the Jurassic Coast and fossils nearby, I have often seen the structures of fossils - so what about a skeletal structure...?  What a fascinating theme - thanks, Heather.

Hilary

PS  there's always de-structure....wicked me!

New Dates

New suggested quarterly dates suite me. I would prefer to stick with quarterly as well.

Love the new theme! I am so happy that I have been able to and still will be able to follow my own 'african' theme.

Structure ???? This will probably be a dead give away but having had the Soccer World Cup this year .........................!!!!!!

Deadline for our future challenges

I vote we stick with this new rhythm and go for three months from now - February 28th, May 31st, August 31st, November 30th.  That is unless you would all like to up the heat and reduce the time to two months?


Hilary

Announcing the Next Theme

Congratulations, everyone, on the wonderful pieces produced for Frenzy.

Hilary has told me that it's my turn to choose the next theme.

Which is...

Structure. (Man-made or natural, interpreted as broadly as you wish.)

I hope you are excited by the possibilities.