Donate to Help Guatemalan Women Learn to Sew and Help their Families

Sewing Classes in Guatemala

Traditionally, only men have been allowed to operate machinery in Guatemala. The job of the women has been to take care of the family and sew for them by hand. With a sewing machine and training, an Indigenous woman can better tend to the needs of her family, as well as have a marketable skill to help with the family income.

Mayan Families brings used sewing machines, training classes, and class materials to the poor communities. We have a skilled full time instructor on staff and a backlog of people waiting to get into new classes. New students are chosen through a lottery system.

Classes are made available based on donations which pay for machines and materials. They hold regular classes at our headquarters and in villages which have electricity. This Program has had wonderful success. Graduates now use machines to sew traditional clothing, purses, blouses, shorts, and other valued items.

A contribution of $65 will enable someone to improve their life by learning to use a sewing machine. It will support them for a three month course. Please go to their Donation page and enter "Sewing Program" in the box marked Other.

http://mayanfamilies.org/DonateNow

Off to Vietnam, Thailand and Laos

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. After a long...............series of flights and an overnight in the Bangkok Airport (I only have a six hour break between flights) I head for Hanoi, Vietnam, one of my favorite cities in Asia.

Air Asia has really inexpensive flights. And sometimes they even give away tickets if you can plan a year in advance. No such luck this trip.

After a day to recover at my hotel its off to Sapa, high in the mountains near the border of China.The Pumpkin Coach is part of a longer train and named for the Travel Agency which sells the seats.

It looks comfy but I hope they get rid of the flowers.

When the train arrives at 7 am there is an hour drive up the mountains to the village.

The area is famous for its treking and ethnic villages.

Market Day.

The Knitted Skeleton

The Knitted Skeleton


http://bencuevas.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/transcending-the-material/


This photo is from “Transcending the Material”, a mixed media piece that Ben Cuevas created and installed while in residence at the Wassaic Project (an arts collective and residency program located in New York state). The piece was exhibited at the Wassaic Project Summer Music and Arts Festival.

It features a knitted skeleton seated atop a pyramid of Borden’s condensed milk cans and a cloud of screen prints on Plexi glass suspended above it. The knitted skeleton is seated in the lotus position. The prints are of disembodied anatomical parts photographed in high resolution with diagrammatic illustrative overlays. Ben conceives of the piece as a reference to material culture and Wassaic’s local history (The Borden Company had a condensed milk factory in Wassaic) and a meditation on transcendence.”





Its fabulous. Take a look.

GVQC meeting, and more

Two member's sons playing with fabric during the meeting.

Whipping up enthusiasm for the December sale.

After the meeting I went to the Bobbin Case where I ran into a former student who modeled the jacket she made from my Take 12 Class.

She cleverly made it reversible. I had never seen it done that way before.

And Anne had taken one of the quilted saris which I sell and made a reversible jacket.

Another Day at Marcia's Studio

Our critique session today revolved around the series of small pieces which we made for the Exquisite Corpse display a couple of months ago.

Nancy brought in the double sided handmade quilt which she bought in Japan.

And modeled a pretty vest she bought.

Bev's gorgeous quilt which is left over ? from the Almighty Dollar challenge.

Project Iron Quilter, The Practice Session

Casey thought it would be fun to "warm up" for the upcoming Project Iron Quilter Contest. Since she was working on potholders her table mates gave her the challenge of finishing one in an hour based on the "theme" we selected...which was Octopus. She had to use the fabric on the left and a must was that she use a snowman and a dog fabric which we selected. The challenge was on.........


With pencil, paper and fabric in hand she sketched out her masterpiece.

And worked feverishly to complete it in the allotted time.

When it was over she said she loved it as it made her problem solve and do things differently than she would if she had had more time. And she really liked the results.

The finished piece. If you click on the photo it will enlarge.

Project Iron Quilter Contest Call for Applications

First Prize: A Bernette 82e Sewing machine made for Bernina. A retail $599 machine which is perfect for taking to your next quilting class.
There will be many other prizes as well.


Do you have what it takes to be a Project Iron Quilter? The Genesee Valley Quilt Club (GVQC) in Rochester, N.Y. is looking for a few quilters with a sense of adventure to participate in the Project Iron Quilter Contest to be held in conjunction with the Quilt Show on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at the Gordon Field House, R.I.T., Rochester, N.Y.. If you can sew and have a sense of humor we want you. The concept, developed by Ruth White of the Tompkins County Quilt Guild in Ithaca, N.Y. was successfully launched at their quilt show in October, 2009. Ruth has already signed on to be a contestant at the GVQC Show’s event.

Fifteen to twenty contestants will bring their own sewing machines, cutting mats, rulers and rotary cutters. They may bring as much thread as they like but only a small amount of one fabric. In addition they may bring a shoebox full of embellishments and trim if they so desire. At the “starting time” a theme will be announced and contestants will make a grab for fabric from a large “stash” table. They will then have 3 ½ hours (with a break in the middle ) to construct their “masterpiece”. At the end the quilts will be judged, prizes awarded, and the quilts auctioned off for charity.

Intrigued?

Please send in an application form and get ready for a fun day.

There will be a number of wonderful prizes in a variety of categories and lots of ribbons. These will be announced at a later date.

Tentative Schedule (subject to slight revisions)

Hours 10 am to 5 pm

10:00 am Theme is announced. Contestants introduced
10:30 am Fabric dash to table of assorted fabrics. Quilt design time
11:00 to 12:30 Sewing
12:30 to 1:00 pm Lunch. Contestants must leave area. Quilts in progress attached to design walls for show attendees to view progress
1:00 pm to 3 pm Sewing
3:00 Judges interview contestants and judge quilts
3:30 Judges convene and decide awards. Counting is completed for Viewer’s Choice Award
4:00 Grand Prize Winner and other awards and ribbons
4:15 Quilts auctioned with proceeds to Charity

Application forms will be available on the GVQC Quilt Show Web page (GVQC.org) or from:

Priscilla Kibbee

pkibbee@aol.com

Free Creativity Course

Free Online Course - The Creative Pathfinder



Mark McGuinness is a poet who also is a coach for creative professionals. Starting from the premise that "creativity isn't enough", he has developed a free course that offers "...an alternative take on professional development for creative people. It’s a practical education in the artistic and professional skills you need to thrive in the real world of the creative industries...while maintaining your integrity, peace of mind and enthusiasm for your work."


An email with a link to the lesson will be sent once a week for 6 months. Each lesson contains:

An article explaining the what, why and how of the topic
A practical worksheet for you to download and complete
Links to additional resources (articles, books, e-books etc — most of which are free)
You can register for the course on the following link which also will provide more detailed information about what the course covers and why he is offering it for free:

http://lateralaction.com/pathfinder/

Casowasco Part II

Maureen's quilt on the left is made from some of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics.

Casey's 9 patch finished.

Packing up on the last afternoon is always sad.

Another quilt made from the molas.

My quilt top is finished except for trimming but I'm not all that excited about it.

Casowasco I

Last weekend it was off again for another wonderful four days at Casowasco with the Tompkins Guild from Ithaca.

Shopping is always fun and Ruth White holds one of my molas...always popular.

An amazing number of quilts appear on the design walls.

Kristin was just back from Quilter's Market in Houston and was making a popcorn basket out of two Jelly Rolls and rope. She had to model one of them.

I wanted to try a small quilt with the small molas and wasn't all that pleased with it.

I thought Carol's quilt looked very 19th century.

Casey was making this from the Guild's 9 patch exchange.