Beach Day

We haven't had too many beach days this summer.  I've been working a lot of overtime and on other weekends, the weather hasn't cooperated.  Today was Chamber of Commerce weather -- 80 degrees, low humidity and a slight breeze.  Usually if we get to the beach before 9:00, there are plenty of parking spaces.  Not today.  Everybody must have watched the weather and headed out early like us. The parking lot at Jenness was full, so we went back to the main drag.  We didn't have luck getting a place close enough.  That made us try a side street.  It looked like I had found a space -- Selim got out and directed me in.  "A bit more to the right...just a tad bit more...the back end is sticking out too much."  I'm a pretty good at parking, but not today.  Then we heard this lady calling us from her yard, "just park in my driveway.  It's OK.  I don't have a car today."

I got out and asked her if she was sure.  "You had such a nice young man helping you into the spot, and he was doing a great job.  I don't want you to get a ticket.  Please, use my driveway."

And we did.  It was a short walk to the beach and I was thankful for her generosity.  The beach was packed, at 9:00.  There were tents set up on the sand, piles of surfboards, huge beach umbrellas, and lots of people.  We staked out our small section of beach and went in the water.  Selim went in before I could finish my coffee.  And the water was cold.

We had such a good time.  We had three long swim and boogie board sessions with intermissions of snacks and walks along the tide line.  I  brought my camera and enjoyed taking pictures of all the surfboards.  While we weren't in Maui with other members of our family, we did our best to imitate their beach activity.

On our way back to the towels from our longest walk, I asked him if I could take a picture of his back.  He stood still, hunched his shoulders and dropped his head.

"Not that look.  Can you stand up straight, please?"  And he gave me this, a back with some attitude!

The waves were bigger than the last time we were there.  Selim rode some great waves that took him all the way in.  Epic and boss were adjectives he used to describe his rides.  On his last big ride, he stayed on his board and enjoyed the warmth of the sun and his success.

After four hours, we were ready to leave.  When we got back to our car, we thanked the lady for allowing us the use of her driveway.  "I love the beach and am happy that I live so close by.  There is no reason why others shouldn't get to enjoy it as much as I do.  And, if I had a granddaughter around your son's age, I would try to marry them off."  All righty then.

We left Jenness and continued south on Rt. 1.  Not too far down, we came across a large number of seagulls hanging out in the marshy area with all the lily pads.  We parked and watched them for a while.  They were so funny -- squawking at each other, wiggling their back sides, shaking their feathers.  We sat in the car and laughed.

We had a great day.  I am so thankful for these times when Selim wants to be with me and we can be together and so happy.

An evening at the Museum of Fine Arts

Yesterday, I took the 2:00pm bus to Boston yesterday so that I could see the Quilts and Color: The Pilgrim / Roy Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts.  I had planned on going after work on Wednesday, but by the afternoon, it was 92 degrees, humid and thunderstorms on the horizon.  I opted stay home in front of the A/C instead.  But I had to go this week, as the exhibit ends on Sunday. I made the right decision as yesterday was dry, in the upper 70's and just a gorgeous day to be out and about.

I think the last time I rode the T, the rate was 60 cents per token.  Now the tokens are gone, you buy tickets, and each ride is $2.65.  Times have changed.  I was happy to find that I still remembered the difference between in bound and out bound and that I had no trouble figuring out which train to get on.  It took me about 35 minutes to go from South Station to the MFA stop on the Green Line.

I loved the exhibit.  My favorite part of quilting is gazing at fabric -- so what could be better than rooms and rooms of beautiful quilts to look at?  I liked that these were functional quilts first and foremost.  They were made to keep people warm and be used.  It looked like some were made from old clothes, and there were blends of silk, wool, and cotton.  There were plaids, stripes, dots, solids, floral, all mixed and matched.  I didn't buy the program book as it was hard cover and heavy and I didn't want to be walking around with it; but if I had, I could better remember the statement underneath one of the quilts in the description plaque, somebody had said that the ladies that made these quilts would be so surprised to see their work in the museum because they weren't made to be art.  The exhibit was inspirational for me in that way.  These were regular people, making beautiful objects for real world use and we can appreciate them on so many levels.

I stayed in the exhibit for a long time.  A few things still linger in my mind and one is that I want to learn how to hand quilt.  I've always assumed that I wouldn't have the patience for it.  But maybe I have sold myself short.  I really liked the quilts that mixed solid fabrics with pattern and had intricate quilting stitches in the solid/empty spaces.  All my quilts have been machine quilted and there is a beauty there was well.  But to see how the quilt can change due to the quilting stitches was a revelation to me.

And all the Amish quilts reminded me of Grammy Louise and Aunt Mary.  I don't know what year it was the we went to Eli and Lizzy's farm.  My only memory was waking up early and finding out that I was the only one still abed.  Everybody else was out doing chores.  I think it was after that trip that I got a quilt.  It is a Log Cabin, with red centers.  Many of the Log Cabin quilts in the exhibit had red center squares.  I felt that connection.

There were many variations on the Log Cabin.  One was clearly a featured quilt -- big and bold with a lot of black.  It didn't appeal to me.  I didn't really like the heaviness of the black and I didn't plan on looking at it for long.  But as I walked closer, I saw that each center square had beautiful hand embroidered flowers on the inside.  I don't think any center square was exactly the same as any other. And then I couldn't walk away.  It so intriguing for me, like discovering hidden jewels.  There is a life lesson for me there that there can be hidden depths and treasure under an exterior that I don't find very pleasing.  At this particular moment in time, that was an interesting and beautiful way to be reminded of a stronger message, for me.

The other thing that I felt after the exhibit was that I think I have a pretty good sense of color.  I think I have a nice way of combining color and pattern for a very pleasing overall feel.  I think I might experiment with a little more plaid.  For some reason, I really liked the liberal use of very patterned fabrics, like stripes and plaid.  Going forward, that is something for me to keep in mind.

After the quilts, I wandered abound a bit.  I went into the American Wing.  I love how they have set up various rooms that are actual replicas of old colonial homes.  I like how paintings and furniture is set against wall paper and fabric draped walls, not just a solid paint color.  And of course, I had to take a picture of the big doors.

I wandered some more and found a corridor of Islamic Art.  Someday I'll have a house that has an archway inside.

It wasn't until I went through to the other side that I realized that the carving on the other side is what most people would be taking a picture of, not the back side that I liked so much.

I smiled when I went in to a gift shop and heard two couples speaking Turkish.  I couldn't understand most of what they said, but I think one of the ladies was speaking about the Turkish class that they have for kids at MIT on the weekends.  That is what I am extrapolating from being able to pick out a few words.  Selim and I need to get serious about learning the language.

And lastly, I like taking pictures of sculpture.

 There were two bronze dogs in the courtyard that caught my eye when I went out for a bit of fresh air.

As well as a lively blue jay that perched for me.

There is a large piece at the entrance that also had dogs.

I left the museum feeling satisfied, full, inspired, and happy.  A great way to spend a few hours.

Boat quilts

I started making two boat quilts for Nedim over the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I finished binding the second one today.  That is a pretty good turn around for me -- less than a year, start to finish.  I was going to make one, but it turns out that I had so much leftover fabric, that I ended up making two.

My mission today -- take half-way decent photographs of them so that Nedim could take them to the boat.  I have been reading on line about the best way to photograph quilts and came across a way that I thought might work.  I took two clothes hangars and Nedim found a ladder, and we used the gutters as the hanging place.  If I had better hangars, it would have been easier.  But we did manage to have them stay up long enough for me to take a few shots.

I think for the bigger, queen size quilts, I may look into having a professional photographer take some pictures.  I would love to have a record of good quality for the bed quilts that I have made, before they get too well loved.

I was in Portsmouth Fabric on Friday afternoon, buying binding fabric for the quilt that originated out of a fabric square that I found in Kew Gardens in the summer of 2011 when I was working in London.  I bought yardage for either a green or blue binding.  I was too tired to make a confident decision so I purchased both colors.  I also have leftover pink in two shades.  I'll have to put the quilt on a bed and drape the fabric yardage around to help me figure it out.  I set up the blocks so that the color moves from blue to red on the diagonal.  There are blocks also have green, yellow, and purple, in varying amounts.  The boarder fabric has blue, red, pink, and green.  For me, I can't decide which color binds the whole thing together the best.  I'm sure it will come to me.

It is odd, but after I bind that quilt, I only have one other going.  I often have a couple in various stages of completion or have bought fabric to start the next project.  And now, I have my sunset colors in the birdbath pattern, and that is it.  I don't even have my next project picked out or have an idea for another.  It feels odd not to have multiple projects in the pipeline.