Busy = No Blogs!

Today is the beginning of a small break in my week!! The first three days were spent at Marcia's on the Great Turquoise Jacket Challenge. This was initiated by Priscilla when Marcia and I were drooling over some macrame belts she got from Mexico many years ago. She wasn't willing to part with them at the time but challenged us to make turquoise jackets at some point (after the orange jacket challenge).

Monday I appeared at Marcia's house with a full bag of turquoise fabrics, ready to begin! Marcia, however, had to finish her Holy Mola Challenge quilt and Priscilla was finishing up a jacket she was calling a "turquoise" jacket. She had already begun it at a retreat the week before -- yes, it does have a couple of turquoise pieces but..... So looks like I may be the default winner of the 1st Turquoise Jacket Challenge. There is already talk of the 2nd Turquoise Jacket Challenge. Not to worry, as Priscilla would say, I have enough turquoise fabrics and there is always 1000's of Bolts.com if I run out!!

The above picture is Priscilla helping our guest for the first two days, Genie Barnes who is a quilt icon here in NY. I had met Genie before but had never sat and talked with her so looked forward to the opportunity! And I was right!! She is a fascinating woman with a wealth of information and enough energy for 10 people despite having some severe physical constraints. Within the first hour of talking to her, she told of her cousin Michaela Odone who was quite famous for researching and creating a treatment for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) despite having no medical or scientific background. At the time, there was no research being done for this rare condition and there was obviously no treatment. The treatment they developed was called Lorenzo's Oil and named for their son who was diagnosed with this inherited disease when he was only five or six for those who remember the movie made from this story back in the 90's with Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte. I thought it was a fascinating story when I saw the movie back then and it was even more interesting to hear of the "behind the scenes" . Genie said that Lorenzo only died recently but that his mother (her cousin) succumbed to a very fast moving lung cancer six or seven years ago (she didn't smoke).

This was the rank beginnings of the back of the jacket. I decided to go with simpler this time although this is nothing like what I had envisioned and nothing like what I wrote down!! It is turquoise though. The main print is a Philip Jacobs fabric that I love but I did include some of my hand dyeds and marbled fabric as well.

To the left is the winning Seminole strip to go with the Mexican belt in the front of the jacket. Below is the one that lost as it read too light when placed next to the Mexican belt (it is this intricate macrame and beautiful). Probably if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see it. The "losing" Seminole piece will be the centerpiece of each of the sleeves.

This is the back almost all put together.




This was the beginnings of Priscilla's jacket front on the first day when she was auditioning her fabrics and Seminole strips.

It is sometimes hard to start these jackets as you just have several pieces of white flannel staring at you as well as a pile of fabrics and no idea where to go!! Priscilla's suggestion for a good way to start is first to slim down your pallette to a manageable sized pile of fabrics that really complement each other. Another quick hint is to make some strips sets or to make some Seminole strips. It gets you moving and things then seem to fall into place. Priscilla asks well placed questions as you move along designed to help you make your fabric and design decisions. She is not shy about suggesting a change in fabric or design but is never insistent about it but often gets you to question what and why you are doing something. Sometimes you are doing it for the wrong reasons and that becomes evident when you say it out loud! However, it is our designs and she never violates that but just tells us not to whine later!!


This is the front of Priscilla's "turquoise" jacket number 1. There is some turquoise in it but......see for yourselves! She basically is making fabrics which she will then shape into her jacket sections.

This is the back section of the jacket almost complete.

This is of course both the "boys" on their new cat tree. George is the high man this day! He is no longer afraid to run all the way to the top!