Teaser Tuesday – The Last Folk Hero

I said, “Carolyn, I don’t know how to say this, but I’ve got to.  Almost all of the porcelain out there is fake.”

From The Last Folk Hero: a True Story of Race and Art, Power and Profit, nonfiction novel by Andrew Dietz, 2006, Ellis Lane Press

 

This is a meme that anyone can do.  I found it  at Jeanne’s Blog, and the way it works is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Now I just need yet another tutorial on how to copy the badge to my blog.  Every time a badge comes along that I want to proudly display, it’s always a challenge to me for some reason.    And I need to find a pic of the cover perhaps on Amazon, is that how everyone does it?

the host is Miz B at Should be Reading so if you join in, go to her Teaser Tuesday post and post your link in the comments section!  If you aren’t actively blogging, just put the teaser itself into the comments section.

Although I may not do this every week, I’m usually reading something, so why not?

Grandmother to Grandmother Activism

Turning the Tide … One Ripple at a Time

is a fibre arts show at the Martin Bachelor Gallery

712 Cormorant St, Victoria

through March 10, Monday to Saturday 10 – 5.

More info from 43patgv@telus.net

The dozens of art quilts made by the North Island Quilters and Guest Artists in collaboration with the Glacier Grannies of the Comox Valley will be auctioned off at a Gala Dinner on March 12 (call 250 532-9038)

A gorgeous catalogue shows all of the quilts with comments explaining the issues which will be a permanent record of the show.  This is available for $30 from germel3@gmail.com or call Gerry at 250 598-7785

Proceeds from the book will go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which assists African grandmothers, women, and children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

On the back cover are quotes from women of the Kitambaa Sewing Project in Southern Uganda, started by Pippa Moore of Vancouver Island.  Reading  “I have been able to buy a door for my house” certainly put my life into perspective.

At our Quilt Guild we were privileged to be given a sneak peek of all the quilts, but seeing them properly hung was much better.  The volunteers from the Victoria Grannies who were staffing the gallery told me that earlier about 15 people were there at the same time, which for a commercial art gallery is really heavy traffic!

One Way to Nurture Creativity

… live in a completely different environment.

Jinny Beyer is famous in the quilting world for being the first person to design fabric specifically with quilters in mind.  When you go into a quilt store today it’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t have a wealth of gorgeous fabrics to drool over, but that’s thanks to this lady!

Jinny Beyer started quilting while living as a transplanted corporate wife in New Delhi, India. Older American ladies decided to make a quilt and she wanted to use the bright colours from the bazaars, while their concept was very traditional with lots of white background and tame calicoes from home. Of course back in the early 70s that’s what people had to quilt with.

Dena Crain is a quilter living in Kenya.  She teaches through Quilt University and has said that the colours of Africa and the wonderful African fabrics are a wonderful inspiration but on the other hand electricity is interrupted sometimes and you can’t just run out to a craft or fabric store every time you need something, plus some supplies are not available.

Wanting a photo to illustrate this post but not wanting to be tacky, here’s a photo of a piece I made in her Structured Fabric class which I took some time ago (some time ago as in don’t ask, ahem!) .   As you can see it’s a process piece and not quite finished.

Pippa Moore of Kitambaa is perhaps combining both worlds.  She travels to Uganda to train women raising AIDS orphans to make quilted items for sale at a fair trade price, but is based in Canada.  Check out her blog here.  And if you get a chance to hear her presentation Travels with my Treadle about her project, drop everything and go.  At the Victoria Sewing Show they had put her into one of the smaller rooms, and all of her presentations filled up (no one else’s did, by the way.)

She’s on my blogroll too as a fellow Island dweller and member of the Fibre Art Network, a Western Canadian art quilt group.

And Lucy is a newer quilter living in challenging but exciting circumstances in Sudan, and reading her blog I can see the same pioneer spirit shining through!

For myself although I’ve traveled a lot and lived in different places I’m not sure that I would have the patience to deal with the inconveniences of living outside North America.   After a couple of days in England I’m often tied in knots over how difficult it is to get things done.  What do you think?  Let us know!

A Calmer Chameleon!

This is an African linocut from Kitambaa fabrics. See http://www.kitambaa.blogspot.com, which is Pippa Moore’s blog. I heard her presentation at the Victoria Sewing Show last weekend (the room was filled!) and she is at the Westshore Quilters Guild Symphony of Quilts show this weekend, which is where I picked up this little critter. I plan to do something with him and perhaps have him on the front page of the blog when finished.

And a shout-out to “Dragon Lady” Laura for the ride yesterday! Thanks!

Distrust Straight Borders!

This is an imaginary colonized continent whose rulers have been busy ruling by drawing straight lines with no understanding of what is on the ground, where the rivers run, which groups live where, whether travel is possible. Maps with too many straight lines should not be trusted; those who ruled the lines are imposing themselves on the land.