Transitions

Last week was a significant transition for me, and I did not intend to let an entire week go by without posting, but it did.  I have started a part time job, which will provide a little bit of predictable income.  After two years of working for myself, trying to make a go of this art and fabric business, I must do a little restructuring.  I'm not giving up on the business, I still want to keep it up, it just won't be on the scale that I had hoped for someday.  Although, who knows, sometimes amazing things have happened in my life, and I'm sure great things are still waiting for me.

Over the past weekend, I was a vendor at the current venue for the Inspired by the National Parks quilt show.  I was very impressed with the fabric interpretations of our National Parks, the exhibit is a excellent showcase of the versatility of the art quilt and the creativity of the artists.  If it is coming to a location near you, go see it.  I am now inspired to attempt my own pictorial art quilt over the winter.

Thank you to those of you who discovered me and made purchases at the Vendor's Weekend.  I will be at only two more shows this year.  Next up is the Town Square Quilt Lovers' Guild show, Saturday, October 8 (9-6) and Sunday October 9 (10-5) at the Caldwell Elementary School, Fairground Road, Caldwell, Ohio. Admission is $5.

The last show for me this year is the Mutton Hill Quilt Show, Saturday October 22 (10-6) and Sunday, October 23 (10-5) at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron Ohio.  Admission is $10, it is a fundraiser for the Summit County Historical Society.  This promises to be a fabulous show, with more than 200 quilts on display and great vendors (including Rags Paper Stitches!).  If you are in Ohio, don't miss it!  Please come out, visit and shop.  I'd always love to see what you've made from my fabric and embellishments.

I promise to have a creative post on Thursday.

Horses, farming and quilts

I had a short trip back home last week, more to take an art quilting class than to visit.  The trip ended up being an interesting illustration of the six degrees of separation theory, and tied together some significant interests in my life.

 

The class was held at Lake Farm Park, an educational working farm, but forty years ago, the land was Locust Farms, home to a nationally renowned Arabian horse breeding and training facility.  In the mid to late 1970s, the farm was undergoing some expansion as their herd of horses grew.  Many of their horses were imported from Poland, and the farm brought back not only the equines, but European methods of raising them.  Mares and foals in Europe were typically housed in large, open barns (without stalls), in small herds.  My father helped build those “Polish barns” at Locust Farms.  He was a fulltime firefighter in the city of Cleveland, and his battalion chief was the foreman of Locust Farms.  Since they worked a 24 hour-on, 48 hour-off shift, many firefighters took additional jobs.  The chief/foreman made a habit of hiring firefighters for building projects on the farm. 

A view of the Polish barns in the distance

 

There were a couple of occasions when my parents took my toddler self out to Locust Farms, and I am sure this was how my future horse craziness started.  I only have vague memories of the farm, just brief images in my mind… I do remember seeing the farm’s premier stallion, Gwalior.  He has his own huge 40’x20’ wood paneled stall, monitored 24/7 by overhead cameras.  These were not your average pleasure horses, the Arabian horse market in the 1970s and early 1980s was not far behind the Thoroughbred industry in terms of value.  Several influential people in the entertainment industry got into Arabian horses, there’s no telling which of them might have visited Locust Farms. 

 

The Gwalior memorial

My class ran all day, so I did not get to wander around the Farm Park to see how they are using the Polish barns now.  I would like to go back there to visit, as I have a strong interest in sustainable agriculture.  I’d like to see what the park has to offer in that regard.  Next year, I should have a quilt entered in their annual show, so that wish will likely be fulfilled.  I learned a few new design ideas from the class, more ways to use scraps, and ways to alter images for transformation into fabric creations.