Gail Garber Designs
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Travel

Into the City

Many, many thanks to Gayle Brown, the outstanding program chairwoman for the Connecticut Piecemakers, who offered to drive me into New York City so I could have dinner with my daughter, Christi!  What a treat!

Our first stop was The City Quilter !   I got to meet Cathy Izzo and her husband and learn about the history of this remarkable shop.  It is a must see if you are in NYC.

The gallery featured the art quilts of Lisa Call.  Below are just a few of the works on display.

The gallery even had the proverbial carpet dog lounging in the corner.

Imagine my surprise when I met fellow teacher, Emily Shuff Klainberg, who was setting up for a class that evening.

And the. . . .

My daughter, Christi Garber, arrived at the shop — to shop!!  She’s taking classes at the Fashion Institute nearby!

But, by far and away, the highlight of my day was getting to have dinner with Christi and friends.  It was the perfect day!

Good-bye New England!  It was fun!  Now, on to Memphis for a different kind of adventure.

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A Few Days in Connecticut, Chapter 4

It was a gorgeous afternoon at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Connecticut.  Gayle Brown, program chair for the Connecticut Piecemakers took me out there to see the 9/11 Memorial for victims that were residents of Connecticut.  It was very moving.

It was to this location that many CT residents came to watch the fires burning across Long Island Sound on that terrrible day.

The flowers that surround the name plates of those who perished are made from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

A juvenile Herring Gull basked in the sun that afternoon. . .

and someone had built a cairn from beach rocks on the picnic table . . .

and arranged rocks in a row, evidence left by others who had visited the site, possibly children.

God bless America

 

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A Few Days in Connecticut – Chapter Two

A Double Rainbow

Moving on down toward the southwestern corner of Connecticut, my day-hostess Gayle Brown, of Connecticut Piecemakers, took the time to show me some of the unique architecture of the area! Although it was a rainy afternoon, the highlight was this incredible double rainbow.

Chicken Florentine

They have some amazing Italian restaurants in this area.  Gayle, her husband Kent, and I dined at Mancuso’s Restaurant and Bar in Fairfield, my second stop on this trip.  It’s going to be hard to control my weight on this trip – for sure!  Yumm!

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A Few Days in Connecticut

Quilt by Mickey Lawler

My first trip to Connecticut has been marked by some real highlights!  First of all,  I discovered that one of my favorite artists, Mickey Lawler, of SkyDyes, lives right in Hartford.  Better yet, I got to visit with her on my first free day, after I taught a class for the Apple Valley Quilters in Southington.  Above is one of Mickey’s fabulous quits.  It hangs in her living room.

Mickey shows off her painting outdoor painting tables. Soon, it will be time to move everything indoors for the winter.

The painting table

Look at that gorgeous fabric, all stretched out in the autumn sun!

After checking out the outdoor painting area, we moved indoors to Mickey’s studio to look at her works in progress.

She’s currently working on a series of small quilts that will be framed for sale in a local gallery.  And lastly, after a cup of tea and a good chat, we got to touch and feel, and BUY some of her incredible hand-painted fabrics!

Gayle Brown, Connecticut Piecemakers, shows off one of the newer style painted fabrics – Sand Painting!

What a fun day that was!  I have a feeling that there are many fun adventures in store for me up here in New England!

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Summer Solstice Adventure

June 20 dawned hot and sunny!  What could possibly be better than heading off to southern New Mexico to camp overnight at the Journada del Muerto (a.k.a. journey of the dead)!  It’s a dry piece of land, no doubt about that, and hot too, with almost no shade anywhere.  There must have been something special that drew us to this location, Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch near T or C, New Mexico.   Hawks Aloft does monthly raptor surveys on the expansive ranch.  We are privileged to be able to visit one the premier wildlife viewing areas of our state.  Our trip began with a lovely look at our state flower in full bloom, the yucca!

Farther along the road we encountered the bison herd, complete with very young baby bison.

 

But, it was the bat caves that drew us to this location.  The Armendaris is home to the second largest colony of bats in North America.  Most are Mexican free-tailed bats, but there are up to 8 different species.

With no one else for miles and miles, we were able to get close up looks at these magnificent creatures as they emerged just before dusk.  A handful of Swainson’s Hawks also were on hand, but they weren’t there merely for the view.

The bat flight is nothing short of spectacular as wave after wave depart for their nightly foraging feast, bugalicious dinner on the wing.

Here, Sami Sanborn, checks out the bats up close and personal.  If you hold your hands in the air the bats will shift to avoid your hands.

The flight continued until well after dark.  After dinner we enjoyed this magnificent sunset, with the brilliant red due to all the smoke in the air from the fires raging in New Mexico.  I can’t think of a better or more inspirational place to be!

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Birthday Birdies

Mary's Apron

My friend Mary loves birds. While I was in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, I found an artist, Julian, who painted the design I wanted onto a canvas apron. The panting was great, but the apron was boring! So, I spiffed it up with special trim and some prairie points. Happy Bird-day Mary!

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Some Pretty Amazing Quilts!

The AQS quilt show in Paducah was just phenomenal. I’ve been to lots of wonderful quilt shows, but this one really did impress me. The quality of the quilts and the caliber of the competition – wow! Here’s a sampling of some quilts that caught my eye. It’s hard to choose – there were so many!

The quilts in the Machine Quilting Mastery Exhibit truly were masterful.

This one is called Beauty From Within” by Renae Haddadin.
Beauty From Within

Graffiti, Sunflowers and Bricks by Judy Woodworth, also in the Machine Quilting Mastery Exhibit.
Graffiti, Sunflowers and Bricks

Butterfly Migration by Judy Woodworth from the same exhibit.
Butterfly Migration

Cockatoos by Sue Patten, also from that exhibit. This was simply gorgeous.
Cockatoos

This beauty won Best of Show for Wall Quilts: Imagining India, by Pat Holly
Imagining India

Also from the Wall Quilt category: B.S. I Love You, by Janet Stone. Definitely a prize winner.
B.S. I Love You

This gorgeous quilt, Coral Sea, by Betty Busby, of Albuquerque New Mexico, won a third place ribbon in the show. Congratulations Betty!

Coral Sea

Tomorrow I’ll post some more photos of quilts that caught my eye at Paducah.

Click here to see a list of all the winners at Paducah.

And click here to see the full photo album on my Facebook page.

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AQS Show in Paducah – What a Trip!

AQS Show Entrance

This is the entrance to the AQS Show. I hope I win that car!

I’m on my way home from Paducah now, after a fabulous time at the AQS show. Paducah is like Mecca to quillters, we all want to go to this fabulous show at least once. It has all the wonderful home town flavor of a state fair in the lovely state of Kentucky! My classes and students were just incredible fun! AQS treated the teachers royally – I feel like a princess. Here’s some highlights I want to share with you:

The Sweatshop

A typical scene in the Garber/Paducah sweatshop! Ladies hard at work – oh did we have fun!

Color and Contrast
These are the first round exercises by my students in the Color and Contrast Class. The creativity of my students always impresses me.

Friends
At dinner last night at Flamingo Row, in Paducah, with old friends and new – Cindy Hagen, Dina Garland, and Bonnie Morton. Yours truly is second from left, of course. This was a fun restaurant. Can’t you tell just by the decor?
Flamingo Row

I’ll post some more about this wonderful trip later this week and show you some of the amazing prize winning quilts.
Click here to see the full photo album on my Facebook page.

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