Contemplating Direction

I went to another quilt show this weekend. At this one, they had raffle baskets, which is something I had never seen before. Each "basket" was themed and filled with items associated with the theme. Since there was quite a bit of interest, I suspect it is a good fundraiser for them. You can see more about their show and philanthropic work at their website: Pride of the Prairie Quilters.

To my surprise, I won one of the baskets. The theme was gardens and these are some of the things included.

Earlier in the week, I had the pleasure of seeing John Flynn present his trunk show at the local guild to which I belong. You can find out more about his work at Flynn Quilt Frame Company. His dry humor reminded me of one of my brothers, which made the presentation even more enjoyable. In addition, his quilts are impressive and inspirational.

I am finding it especially good to have the opportunity to view so many different kinds of quilts and styles. The Salt Creek Guild show always has a lot of art quilts. The Pride of the Prairie show seemed more focused on traditional quilts, with a lot of emphasis on reproduction fabrics. John Flynn's quilts, though traditional patterns, often have a twist to them that makes them just a little different.

Altogether, between the quilt shows, guild show & tell, trunk shows, and raffles, I am looking more closely at my own preferences in quilts and art, which I am sure will translate into new directions for my own artwork. Another thing that is affecting my direction is the weather and my concern for the environment. Though I live in what is called "Zone 5" by gardeners, we have been experiencing the warmth of May instead of the chill of late winter or early spring. Our daffodils are beginning to come up and our lilac bushes are beginning to bud. (By my recollections, this puts them about a month ahead of schedule.) I am caught by the fear that the weather will suddenly turn and freeze the young plants, we are in for more extreme weather (as in the tornadoes that devastated the country in the last couple of weeks), or that we will experience an extremely hot year. It also brings to mind questions about how we humans are influencing the weather and what can be done to reverse the damage we have done. All of this, no doubt, will continue to have an impact on my work.

I wish you good weather, enjoyable work, peace, and all good.