Friday, December 31, 2021

Drawing on Blank Pages in the New Year

It is the end of 2021, New Year's Eve. We are in Belmont, rather than New York City because of the raging Omicron virus. In the new year, there are blank coloring pages on which to draw our lives.

Inspired by Ellen Katz and Jay Werb with their beekeeping and honey, Joe is talking about keeping a hive. I wish he would. As for me, I need to organize my life more. I could change the direction of my blog. A plan is not needed. One can just make the jump or find a better way.

For a start I want to shine a spotlight on the creative Sally Baker. In secret she made a lap quilt for her husband who is from Kentucky horse country, finishing just in time for Christmas. She said I could share the My Old KY Home with anyone I wanted. That lap quilt is so lovable, no wonder she is not tired of it after all her labor!

My heart beat to see horseshoes revealed in the quilting.The longarm quilting was done by Creative Longarm Partners in Marlboro MA. They have lots of patterns to choose from, so Sally was thrilled to see they had a horseshoe. I love her color choices and the horse variations in the blocks. The reverse or back side is clever with the roses placed after the finish line! The third photo shows how she "fussy cut" the horses from fabric.

People in Boston have been elated by the big quilt show at the MFA and the surprising history it reveals, not just technique. I recommend a visit. Pamela Reynolds in the Boston Globe wrote: "while many of the quilts on display are the traditional idealized rustic 'Americana,' many others are analytical, critical and socially aware. These are not your grandmother's quilts." She paraphrased quilter Mazloomi's saying "quilts can be a soft place for hard conversations." I must return to the show. I'd like to make a lap quilt.