I have been on the road for most of the past two weeks. The last weekend in September I went to my art quilt group retreat in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We arrived on Thursday and unloaded our gear into a wonderful space where we each had 2 work tables and plenty of space to spread out. We all had plenty of projects and spent many, many hours working diligently. Of course, we also had lots of time to chat and share stories and, of course, to eat the goodies that everybody insists on bringing. I'm sure we would be better off without all the chocolate, cookies, and cashews that were consumed. To be sure, there were some healthy food choices on the table but I think a lot of them went home with whoever brought them. At least I didn't eat any.
We went our separate ways on Sunday, home to do laundry, unpack, and get back into the normal routine. Except that I had to pack up again on Tuesday to travel to Chicago and then on to Missouri. This was a family visit and it was really terrific to be at the wedding of my great niece (omg how did I get to be this old?). The ceremony was held on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River with the light of the setting sun. It could not have been more beautiful.
Home again on Monday, unpack, then repack for a trip to Syracuse, New York. A year ago I posted an entry about my sister and her role as the
Chairman of the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital Capital Campaign. When they asked her what she wanted to commemorate this accomplishment, she said she wanted me to do a quilt in her honor. I was thrilled and excited and of course said that I would be pleased to do it. I visited the hospital last spring and we toured the area looking for possible places to hang the quilt. We decided that the Resource Library was the spot and chose a space above the fireplace. I returned home and began work on the quilt and it was mostly finished by August. That's when I received an email from the hospital saying that the fire marshal had an objection to our chosen location. Apparently all things must be hung at least 18" below the ceiling so that the sprinkler system spray is not blocked, and the size of this quilt did not allow that. Luckily, there were other walls that would be suitable, also in the Resource Library. But...the quilt had to be made fire retardant. No problem, I found a fire retardant spray made especially for fabrics and it is sold by
Dharma Trading Company.
I wanted to test this stuff before spraying the quilt and I had a piece of quilt scrap that I could use. First I tested the untreated scrap. Whoosh, it caught fire immediately and burned quite merrily. Then I tested the treated scrap. The flame scorched and charred the quilt, but it did not catch fire. I was quite impressed. And it didn't change the hand of the quilt. So I sprayed the entire quilt, front and back. It will not burst into flames, not even when everything else in the library is burning.
And then they decided it should be framed. I don't know who they chose to do the framing, but they did a superior job. They placed the quilt against a dark blue mat and recessed it slightly. The frame is green, and these colors pick up the colors in the quilt.
This is the quilt. It measures 35" L x 55" W.
A detail shot to show the various fabrics and quilting lines. The quilting echoes the rays.
Here we are at the presentation ceremony. The Board members of the hospital were present and there were some little speaches talking about how much they enjoyed working with my sister and what a wonderful job she did in raising the money for the hospital.
This is a picture of the hospital. It's actually built onto an existing hospital, but it extends out like a treehouse. The shapes of the windows of the hospital are echoed in the background of the quilt. It is a marvel of planning and thoughtfulness that really caters to the needs of both children and their parents during a hospital stay.
All in all it was a wonderful two, marred by only two events. First, I received my rejection email from Quilt National, boo. Second, on the drive up to Syracuse (5 hours) I left my purse in a sandwich shop in Pennsylvania and did not realize it until we had driven for 3 hours. Talk about frantic! We called the shop and they had found it and were trying to get in touch with us. Phew! They stored it in the safe and we picked it up on our drive home on Friday, everything was just as I left it. So that turned out okay. So I guess there was only one bad event. Since I didn't get into QN, I can post the pictures of the rejects. That will be my next post.
