Quilts For Change

Friday I drove up to Cincinnati to see the "Quilts for Change" exhibit, (sponsored by the Zonta Club of Cincinnati), with my friend Bev. This is only the second time for this exhibit, the first being in 2004, and I think they're doing a good job with it. I hope they keep it up! In fact, I would very much like to have a quilt in it some time but I keep forgetting to enter. Aaaarrrggghhh! Both years I've downloaded the prospectus and entry form, and had full intentions of sending in an entry to the jury. And both years the deadline has flown right on past while I was busy twiddling my thumbs or chasing butterflies through a meadow or something, until suddenly quilters on various lists I belong to start talking about getting acceptance letters and I think, "oh, um, gee.....if they're sending acceptance letters, I guess the entry deadline is past, huh?" D'oh! Honestly, sometimes I think I need a keeper. But for those of you who were smart enough to keep track of dates and who got the Good Mail letter - Yay you!! I saw quilts by several people I know from email lists or the Artful Quilter web ring. Congrats in particular to Diane, Gerrie, Kristin, and Pamela for having quilts in either the main show or one of the special exhibits. Your quilts looked wonderful. (I emailed all four of you a photo of your quilt with me as a Quilt Stunt Double, so if you didn't get it and want to, let me know.) Also, Bev's daughter Denise entered a quilt she made as a gift for Bev and it got in and looked fabulous. Check it out: "Beverly's Poppy" by Denise Starck She did lots of wonderful beadwork toward the center. It doesn't show up much in the overall shot, but here's a close-up with the contrast exaggerated so you can see some of the bling: Pretty! Now that the exhibit is over the quilt is going to hang on a yellow wall beside Bev's breakfast table. Lucky Bev! It was fun seeing some quilts by artists I wasn't previously familiar with too. I really loved three quilts by Cincinnati artist Maria Rubingh. This one, in particular, was my favorite: "American Nymph" by Maria Rubingh Her artist's statement talks about how half the women in the US now wear a size 14 or larger, yet many of us are caught up in the idea that beauty and self-worth are tied to a number on the scale or a number on a clothing tag - the smaller the better - instead of celebrating finding beauty in all sizes and shapes. Shouldn't beauty be about being healthy and strong and comfortable in our own skin instead of striving for some airbrushed ideal that isn't even possible for some body types? I loved both the quilt itself and the sentiment behind it. You can see more of Ms. Rubingh's work here. Hopefully this exhibit will be returning in 2008 and if you get a chance to go, I recommend it. Maybe I'll even remember to enter something in that one. Ahem. Oh, I have to show you what I bought at one of the vendor booths too! I didn't go nuts at the vendors - the bulk of what little money I spent went for three fat quarters of fabric I bought as a gift for a friend. But when I saw some unique bookmarks in one booth, I just had to have this one: Hellooooo! Bookmark! Softly pettable red hair! It says Celebrate! It would have been a crime if I hadn't bought it, yes? This is my new VeryMostFavorite-est bookmark. Of course besides the show it was great to get a chance to visit with Bev. We had Mexican food for lunch and Vietnamese food for supper. We went for a nice long walk after the air cooled off Friday evening and then came back and watched What Not To Wear while adding our own snarky commentary. It was a lovely day. Speaking of walks, when J and I have been walking we've been noticing how loaded the oak trees are with acorns this year. So far the acorns are still very small, but there are massive amounts of them! According to hillbilly folk wisdom that's supposed to be a sign of a bad winter to come. We'll see... Whether it turns out to be true or not, those baby acorns inspired today's DAT. "Abundance"