Ambling Holmes Forest

Today we did the 30th Anniversary walk with the Asheville Amblers in Holmes State Forest. We didn't even know that this forest park existed. It's near DuPont Forest, which is known for its waterfalls, and also not too far from Pisgah National Forest. But it is a separate series of trails, a picnic area, and contains lots of interpretive stations, including a loop that has talking trees!

We did the 11K (7 mile) walk and that took us up 500 feet (ugh!) of elevation and past many, many wildflowers.

The spring wildflowers are always a delight to see, and I have posted some photos of two types of trillium and the pink lady slippers.

In spite of the fact that I tripped on a twig and fell, got slapped (and bruised) on the left ankle by some growing thing on the trail, I grumbled every time the the trail took an upward turn, and a huge limb fell in the trail between us and just missed killing us, it was a great hike and I look forward to visiting there again!

Yummy Friday

Yesterday we went to the Biltmore Estate to see the Festival of Flowers and also to check out the new Antler Village which connects two of our favorite parts of the estate, the winery and the farm.

We had a great lunch at Cedric's Tavern and after checking out the historic barn, the kitchen garden, and the Legacy museum, we had to have a famous Winkie Bar Sundae. Notice the two spoons. We DID share!

Nada Nadiia

Yesterday I took a workshop with Aniko Feher on her technique for doing portraits out of fabric. She devised and uses this technique to make some very nice art quilts.

Aniko was well organized and had a nice down-to-earth approach as a teacher. I liked her personality a lot. She required us to use her kit called "Let's Face It Series: Nadiia," and prepared our work space in advance.

Remember doing "paint by number?" Well, this is sort of like that, only you are working with tiny pieces of fabric that you are fusing on in layers.

I realize from the photo, that my effort looks okay, but I can't say that I really liked the whole process, and I have absolutely no projects in mind where I can use her or this technique right now. So, I will probably not put hair on her, or dress her, or select a background fabric... at least not for a good long while. She will be in good company with my many other unfinished projects.

I did enjoy learning the technique and I can probably use some of Aniko's tips when doing other raw edge applique. I just found that I got very mentally tired by working so closely on such small details and I was at a frustrating point in my Nadiia when the workshop ended. Her face is quite smudged and some of her raw edges don't quite line up in spite of all my diligent marking. I came home a little discouraged and had to put her out of mind and sight for a while. This afternoon I did finish her right eye and gave her lips, so she's at a good point to be put away for a while.

I would have liked to know how Aniko made her "paint by number" pattern. How did she decide how many different shades of fabric she used? Does the fabric Nadiia actually resemble the real person? It's one thing to follow someone else's pattern, but quite another thing to develop one yourself. But, I guess that's another workshop!

Monkey Business

Early last week we spent a few days near Charleston with our friends. We were able to take some nice long walks on the beach at the Isle of Palms.

And we enjoyed the downtown market.

Here are two Charleston hat men!

My friend, her son, and I are certainly not up to any evil!

I am fond of the three "hear no, see no, speak no evil" monkeys and my friends often indulge me by posing this way.

Maybe I'll find some more of those photos to add to my blog some day.

A Little Hanky Panky

This is a 16 inch quilt that I made for the Alliance for American Quilts "New from Old" contest/fund-raiser.

It's made from five old, somewhat color-coordinated handkerchiefs that I had saved for a long time. I challenged myself to only use things I already had at home to make this. It is embellished with some embroidery, beads, sequins and buttons, and I used some gross-grain ribbon I had to cover up some edges and create a frame. To go along with the "old" theme, I even backed it with part of a used flour sack dish towel that my grandmother embroidered probably 50 years ago. I named it "Hanky Panky."

For being so small, it was a pretty time-consuming project. I was glad to submit it to AAQ last week, because I was getting tired of it!

My Blue Ridge Parkway Quilt block

The Asheville Quilt Guild is making a quilt to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway this fall. I volunteered to make a 16 x 20 inch block showing one of my favorite spring wildflowers, the lady slipper.

We were given one of the pale blue background fabrics as the common element to be used in all of the quilt blocks.

I adapted my design from a photo I found online and I used hand dyed silk organza and crepe for the ground, the leaves and the flowers. Since there was so much sky, I pieced a background of similar blues to add interest.

I dyed the silk fabrics at a class I took at John C. Campbell Folk School this spring.

The quilt, which will be made up of 17 various sized blocks created by 17 different people will be completed by September and will be displayed at the Folk Art Center at milepost 382 of the BRP.

I liked the idea of being part of a cooperative project, the challenge of designing and creating a block for this project, and I was especially pleased with the way the organza layers created the ground for the plant.