The Mancuso Philadelphia Quilt Show

After looking at the garments it was time to take in the rest of the show. I thought this was an interesting quilt.

This was one of my favorites in the Kaffe Fassett display.

Another of Kaffe's quilts.

One of Marcia DeCamp's quilts.

Both Bev and Pat spent some time trying out the longarm machines in the vendor area.

Mancuso Philadelphia Quilt Show - Our Garments

Our display at the show. Our reason for the field trip (other than staying at the great hotel) My vest made from the Quilters Vest Pattern. I made it 8 years ago as a class sample displaying Seminole Patchwork and scrunched fabric.

Paula Schultz's ensemble and Janet Root's mola jacket.

Bev's mola jacket and one of Marcia DeCamp's jackets.

One of my Bernina outfits.

My Bernina Tiger outfit and Guatemalan coat in the center.

One of Marcia DeCamp's jackets, Pat Berardi's jacket in the front and my Bernina outfit behind it.

Barbara Ackley's jacket with my Mola Jacket behind it.

Two of Beth Brandkamp's garments in front and my green jacket behind them.

Claire Welch's travel jacket which she wore on a trip to Germany.

Bev looking at my Fairfield Fashion Show garment.

Two of Marcia's jackets.

Pat Pauly's blue and red coat in front, followed by Nancy Crouch's jacket, June Silberman's beautiful Mola jacket is next to it.

Field Trip!

Last weekend Pat Pauly, Bev Kondolf and I went on a field trip to the Mancuso Quilt Show outside Philadelphia. Luckily we were only staying one night or we would have been hard pressed to find room for all our "stuff" in Bev's big van.

We stayed in a newly refurbished Hyatt Place Hotel in King of Prussia, just outside Philadelphia and near the show. The dining area.

And the lounge. There was also a business office, a pool and a fitness center, none of which we had time to use.

I had the smaller room with a king size bed, a huge flat screen tv and sleeper sofa.

They even furnished toothpaste.

The other room with two queen beds. It was huge.

Both rooms had desks and plenty of internet connections

It was hard to pack up and leave the next day. We are looking for an excuse to stay here again.

New Jacket Progress

I am making progress. The fronts and backs have been cut out and sewn together. I added a strip of the jelly roll to the front.
And two strips with velveteen in the middle to the back. If you click on the photos you can see the hand stitches in the fabric. Now I have to make the sleeves and have only pieces left from the original scarf.

Beginning a New Jacket

The start of a new jacket. The main material is a two yard piece of silk from a sari, with another two yard piece of silk sari on the reverse and the entire thing is quilted with hand stitches in India. If you click on the photo you can see the stitches. It is designed to be a shawl and has a beautiful drape. The left side is one side of the piece and the right side is the other. In the middle is a strip of purple velveteen which I will use in the jacket and in the band. On the right is what I do with jelly rolls which I purchase in quilt shops. They are basically a few shades of cotton batiks cut into 2 1/2" strips the width of the bolt...about 42". I cut them in half as they are too big for my purposes, then cut them into 1 1/4" wide strips to insert in my garments and quilts. I will draft my own kimono jacket for this piece which will be based pretty much on my hip measurement and the length I want in the finished jacket.

6000 Toy Army Men Attack Wolcott

September 15th would have been my granddaughter Lisa's 23rd birthday. She died in February. She and her brother had long had a fantasy of having a "battle" of toy soldiers on the sidewalks of downtown Wolcott. So for her birthday her family decided to fulfill her wish. The crew of family and friends assembles in her parents living room at 3:00 am, a time picked to avoid curious onlookers.

Of course combat makeup was called for. Her sister Christine (the recent bride)

Most of us assembled our troops into mock battles.

Park benches made a good location.

Some of the troops begin work on the deserted main street.

No flat spot was safe from our endeavors.

Lots of soldiers were casualties.

My granddaughter Lisa. She had every gift except sobriety. We love you and miss you very much. Happy birthday.

The following appeared in the Wayne County Star Newspaper




WOLCOTT – When Lisa Lucas was a little girl, she and her brother Mark loved to play with plastic Army men, setting up war games all around their house.

Lisa passed away unexpected Feb. 6, at the age of 22. As her 23rd birthday approached last week, Mark and his wife, Christy, wanted to do something to commemorate the day. They wanted something that would be meaningful to Lisa’s memory, but also something that captured the fun side of the sister lost too soon.

The girl they remembered loved camping, traveling, flowers, music, her family, friends, shopping, shoes and clothes.

“When they were kids, they always thought it would be great to play with their Army men in downtown Wolcott,” said her father, Michael Lucas. “They never got to do it, but two years ago, Lisa gave Mark a bag of Army guys as a joke.”

Mark and Christy recalled that and thought Lisa would get a kick out of the fulfillment of the long ago desire to play Army around Main Street. So, nine members of the Lucas family, between 2:30 and 4:15 a.m. Sept. 16 with Lisa in mind, lined curbs and filled doorways with toy soldiers, tanks, forts and flags – 6,000 in all.

“They called it ‘Army-Geddon,’” Michael Lucas said.

Besides the line of small green and tan troops on the granite curbing, there were little battle scenes grouped on steps to businesses, on trash cans and even around the fountain at the corner of New Hartford Street.

Daphne Dudas, owner of Forget-Me-Not Tots, who found soldiers in her flowerboxes and on her steps, thought a group of teen-agers might have decorated the village as a prank. She thought the soldiers amusing.

Stacey Huff, who works at Village Restaurant and whose sister Diana Baker was Lisa’s best friend, thought the tribute was “a beautiful blessing,” and a fun way to remember a happy side of Lisa.

“She would have loved it; it was crazy and cute,” Huff said. The family, knowing that the Huffs would get the joke, also spread a slew of soldiers around the restaurant, even though it wasn’t on Main Street proper.

Michael Lucas said his family went to every dollar store and drug store between Wolcott and Camillus, looking for bags of Army soldiers and their accessories.

“We went all over the place,” he said. “We really wanted to do this. We didn’t know if there was an ordinance or anything against grown-ups playing Army in the night. We didn’t know if we would get into trouble or have to pay a fine, but we knew it would be worth it.”

Michael Lucas said he’s not sure if decorating the village in Lisa’s memory helped to give a sense of closure to her early death, but it was something that was important for his family to do. He said that anyone who wants to collect the soldiers and other items is welcome to them, something else that Lisa would have liked.

And even all these years later, he still finds reminders of his children’s love of the plastic figures around his house.

“Every once in awhile, there’ll be a solider on top of a picture frame or in a bookcase,” he said.

Finished Jacket

The jacket is finished and I am pleased with it. The leaf fabric came from my friend Nancy Board and is an Alexander Henry print from over 20 years ago and a favorite. I made a couple of bog coats with thei piece I had back then.

Its a made to measure kimono style. The band is purple velveteen. There's a bit of trim with hand dyed ribbon and beaded shisha mirrors.

Sewing Day at Marcia's Studio

Friday was a sewing day at Marcia's studio. Pat cuts out pieces for a leaf pattern. Bev's red/purple practice piece hangs on the left and Ren's collages are in the center. One of Pat's blocks is on the right.

More of Pat's blocks. She was using a beautiful drapery fabric full of ducks and leaves. The samples are for a class she will be teaching in New York City.

I put some of the finishing touches on a jacket which I started at Casowasco last fall. The band is purple velveteen.