Exploring Ireland - Day 2

On the second day of our CIE - Irish Explorer tour we visited the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh in Northern Ireland. Here you get a sense of what life was like in bygone days in rural Ireland.

 

A photo taken in the rear of this cottage shows a better look at the roof thatching.

 

Perhaps my favorite cottage was this one with its farmyard chickens, geese, and docent who brought out fresh baked delicious bread for us to try.

 

 

This park is well worth a visit on your next trip to Ireland.  We all wished that we could have stayed longer there.

Among other things, there was a replica of a sailing ship which brought emigrants to America. It gives you pause when you see the cramped spaces allotted to each family down below. Passengers were seldom if ever allowed to come up on deck for safety reasons and so as to not interfere with the crew's work. One can only imagine the conditions below deck during the long voyage.

We next headed to Donegal for a two night stay. Upon arrival, we visited Donegal Castle in the heart of the city. The castle was built in the 15th century by a Donegal chieftain .

 

 A view from a castle window. . .

Exploring Ireland - Day 1

Where have I been since last I posted? I have been in the land of green fields, rainbows, thatched cottages, and sheep; the land of fairies, Connemara ponies, sweeping vistas, and sheep; the land of stone walls, cliffs, music, and sheep; the land of my ancestors . . . Ireland. My friend Marilyn and I along with members and friends of members of the South Shore Camera Club were on an Irish Explorer - CIE Tour.

 

Our first stop was the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel where we would spend the night. Since we were too early for check-in, we were taken on a tour of central Dublin with its elegant Georgian squares, public buildings, and monuments . . . at least that is what it said in the itinerary. It's a pity, but unfortunately, we were all so tired from the flight and lack of sleep that when I did manage a glance around the bus, at least eighty percent of the bus was snoozing. :-)

Eventually we arrived at Glasnevin Cemetery, the final resting place of Daniel O'Connor, Michael Collins, Charles Stewart Parnell, Brendan Behan, and many other prominent figures in Ireland's history. 

I was very glad that I had read Frank Delaney's Tipperary - A Novel of Ireland  prior to the trip to become familiar with Irish history. The protagonist of the novel interacts with many of the key figures of the time and witnesses the events that would shape Ireland's fight for independence.

We had an excellent young guide who was in the midst of giving us a tour of the cemetery when the storm clouds, winds and driving rain suddenly came. It happened in just a matter of minutes; one moment blue skies, the next, a mad dash back to the bus. (And we think New England weather is changeable . . . we've got nothing on Irish weather!!!)

One last photo . . . these mosaic shamrocks were embedded in the floor of Daniel O'Connor's tomb. I'm thinking they might make an interesting quilt design . . . time will tell.

Tomorrow: a visit to Ulster American Folk Park and a tour of Donegal Castle.

Busy Bee and Whale Themed Baby Quilt

I met my friend Laurel for lunch today, and this busy, busy bee was just outside the restaurant. 

Laurel wanted to show me this adorable quilt that she is working on for her any- day-now new grandson.

Here's what she did that was so clever. Look closely at the borders. She enlarged a section of that fabric with her computer to create patterns for all the creatures and items that she then machine appliqued in the center using fabric which was as close to the original as possible.  How cute is that!!!

Silk Fusion Fun

On a recent episode of The Quilt Show, guest Tamara Leberer demonstrated silk fusion.  I had never even heard of this, but I was fascinated when I watched the program. If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that I like to try all kinds of things so I purchased a kit from The Quilt Show to give it a try. 

I also consulted a number of tutorials online explaining the process. In addition to the kit, I purchased a set of silk hankies shown above. The package contains about twenty very sheer layers of absolutely gorgeous, rich color. I used a few of them in this first piece that I made.

 

Here is the other side.

 

I used the last of the silk in the kit in my second attempt in which I incorporated silk strands. Wow! I like how this piece turned out.

Here is the other side. You never know how the piece will turn out, and the other side is always different.

 

Tamara Leberer uses small pieces of silk fusion combined with other fabrics to create fabric art. She also uses it in some mosaic pieces. If interested, take a peek at her beautiful  Silk Fusion Artwork gallery.   She has also written a book on the process which is available on her website.

 

How will I use my two pieces? Well, I'm really not sure though I do have a couple of ideas. Time will tell.

Should you be tempted to try silk fusion, you can find supplies and a tutorial at Treenway Silks.

A Beautiful HRQG Quilt Show

The Herring Run Quilt Guild Show this weekend was a great success!  Visitors were excited to see over 200 quilts, a stage full of tuffets, and an exhibit of stunning quilts by featured quilter Mary Cannizzarro of Cannizzarro Creations. Folks remarked that voting was nearly impossible as all of the quilts were so beautiful.

Pictured above is my friend Edith with her gorgeous Glacier Star quilt which is a Judy Neimeyer design. I thanked Edith for wearing an outfit which coordinated so well with her quilt. Notice that she received not one, but two ribbons for this beauty.

The Patriot Ledger had a nice article about the show in tonight's paper and look whose quilt appears up next to the title.   :-)

Simpler Times - Photos from My Grandmother's Album

 

I am happy to report that my crazy quilt featuring photos from 1904 - 1907 is finished and ready to hang in the Herring Run Quilters' Guild show this coming weekend.  This project has truly been a labor of love for me. Though I never met my grandmother, I smile when I see the fun that she had as a young woman at the turn of the last century. The photos in her album were taken in Togus, Maine; Center Harbor, New Hampshire; and the Boston area.  [You my click on the photo to see a larger version.]

Once I had the twelve blocks arranged and stitched together I faced a dilemma. Crazy quilts don't call for regular batting, but rather a false back is applied. Though I have a small library of crazy quilting books, none seemed to address the steps to finishing a crazy quilt.  I was lucky to find just such a tutorial  on Allie Aller's blog Allie's in Stitches.  

At this point, you may or may not wish to continue reading as I want to record the steps that I took for future reference since I didn't exactly follow all of her directions.  The first step was to fuse a light weight stabilizer to the back of the top. (Whenever I did any pressing, I would put the quilt face down on a fluffy towel to prevent flattening out any of the embellishments; for example, the tiny satin ribbon roses.) Step two was to attach a "batting," or in this case a piece of drapery lining. I don't think I purchased the type that she talked about in her post as she mentioned it being "spongy" while the drapery lining I found was more like a thin flannel. Since I didn't want to use pins which might have created tiny holes in the satin pieces on the front, I simple cut long strips of misty fuse to temporarily hold the batting in place. Next, I did do the rows of hand basting all across the piece about an inch or more apart. This took some times, as per her note, it was important to check each individual stitch to be sure it didn't show on the front side. Whew! 

A layer of stabilizer was also applied to the backing piece. Then I sewed six tiny buttons on the back to help hold all the layers together making sure that the stitches were buried in the seams at the intersections on the front.

After sewing on the binding and the sleeve, I stitched a copy of my grandparents' marriage certificate onto the back. I also sewed three tiny enamel buttons from my grandmother's trousseau onto the label.

With all of the stabilizer used, the piece hangs very well, and I'm glad I thought to use the Misty Fuse instead of risking any pinholes on the front.

If you would like to see this piece in person, please come to the Herring Run Quilters' Guild  show this coming weekend, September 17 and 18th at the Norwell Middle School in Norwell, MA. There will be over 200 quilts on display along with a number of vendors.

Please do come; quilter or not,  I know you will enjoy it.

Common Egret

 

This morning after an early appointment I drove by Whitman's Pond to see how the water level is faring.  A meteorologist stated tonight that this summer we have had the lowest amount of rainfall since 1872. As I was driving by, this egret amongst the lily pads caught my eye. Though there was a bit of rain, I went home, grabbed my long lens, and returned to capture this image.