Photo Finish

This is finish #4 for 2014 - "1829" was a donation quilt for RIT's United Way campaign and was put into an online auction, with the proceeds going to the local United Way. I've been planning this quilt for a while.

 I had seen the pattern on the website All People Quilt, and had been visualizing it, collecting the "camera body" fabrics, and collaborating with a photographer friend for the photographs of RIT.  There are 20 different photos from well known sights on campus, different buildings, seasons, events and landmarks.

 

I used iron on transfers for the photos - as most of the other methods I have seen do not have the durability when washed, and I was not sure who would be receiving this quilt and what they would be using it for.  Nearly all the camera bodies are different fabrics, but each shutter button is the same, as are all the "flash cubes."

I wanted it to be hangable if the winning bidder wanted, or useable as a lap quilt -and as much as I don't like square quilts, this one ended up 58x59.  I widened the sashing from the pattern and unified it in color to make the cameras float. 

The orange is our school color, so I put in one orange camera and a narrow orange strip between the body and the border - and the tag on the back is a "Polariod" of my co-conspirator and I.

 

I was there - really!!!

Since I did not have a photo of myself from Sew in the Snow, I grabbed this great one that Shellie had taken. I was busy buzzing along on making flying geese but looked up just as she was snapping the shot.

Thorns

Since I was outside with the camera the other night I thought I would get some thorn shots to share. I did not take a good picture of the entire rosebush because there is a pile of topsoil in front of it, and that corner is looking generally ratty - I will wait until it is a bit prettier before I share those.

I never realized how hard it would be to get close-up thorn shots. I needed to focus in very close, and even with the macro setting on my camera it kept wanting to focus beyond the thorns, or to go on manual focus. With no safe place to brace my arm or hand to steady it without needing a transfusion, I was nearly ready to go inside and find the tripod, but then I managed to get these two shots. Shooting on the southwest corner of the house in the late afternoon around a pile of topsoil was also challenging, as I had to watch the position of the sun carefully. I do like how it shone through the thorns in the smaller picture above -they really can be quite pretty - at a distance!!!

And it's so hard to hate the thorns when I get even more pretties like this to make up for it...

Photos and Quilts - two of my favorite things...

One benefit of blogging some of my crafting adventures has been a good photo record of what I have made - and the chance to share that with more than just the recipient of a finished project.

And sometimes that sharing goes even further -like entering a photo of a project I am especially proud of into a photo contest - like the one going in through August at Quilting Gallery. Luckily for me the project does not need to be finished - as this one is still just a flimsie and there are a couple of other quilts in the queue before it to be finished.

The best part is that in the process of writing up my entry - I finally figured out a name for this Disappearing/Reappearing Nine Patch creation... The Cheshire Garden.

Now I have a feeling this will Disappear into my work basket for a while - lets just hope it reappears soon enough to be finished in time for Christmas.

A Little Vermouth...

...and a toast to my Grandfather, who would have been 100 yesterday.

These are the days that I wish I had my scanner and box of old photos right at my fingertips all the time - we have these great vintage photos of Grandpa as a young man - those old black and whites that seem to stop time when you look at them.

We don't have many pictures of him from when I was growing up. In fact a few years ago I scanned all of our family slides into the computer, and I could not find ONE of him in there at all. He owned a bakery and a grocery store - and we often only saw him when we stopped in there on our way in and out of town. He worked VERY long hours, and we lived more than 6 hours away. We tried to visit summers and Thanksgiving.

I remember Thanksgivings most of all - Grandpa would work in the morning and then come home for the big family dinner. We were usually sleeping on the living room or dining room floors somewhere - all us cousins stacked up like cord wood sometimes - and if you were lucky you woke up as he was leaving and got a quick hug. He was stealthy, though, and we slept pretty soundly.

I might have the details wrong, but one year I think one of his customers needed the turkey that he had set aside for us - so we had steak instead. His customers loved him - we all loved him.

Grandpa's chair was always the one at the living room end of the table - except for Thanksgiving when he sat where he could watch football through the door in to the sunroom where the TV was. He was so excited and proud when I went to Clemson - and watched all of their games! I remember telling him to watch for me in the stands when I went to two bowl games in Florida. I would be the one in orange, I would tell him.

When Grandpa finally would come home from work, Nana would usually have something like greens and beans or bean soup ready for him - that and a loaf of crusty bread. He was a butcher -but he did not eat meat. And he always got the heel of the loaf - unless you were really good and he gave it to you. That was always a special moment. I think of him every time I reach for the heel, and it is still my favorite piece of the loaf.

When he "retired" at 80'ish, he kept on working, moving to my uncle's vegetable farm and helping out on trips to the fresh market. I worked on that farm for a summer - Uncle Mike (pictured here at market) called me his "migrant worker" and worked me hard for the weeks I was there. Trips to market are not for the faint of heart - I don't remember what time we got up to load the truck, but it was not long after we went to bed, and market was at least an hours drive away - and we were usually set up and ready to sell by 7 or 8:00 AM.

The family picture to the right is from 1970. It is a rare photo of my grandmother, my mom and her siblings, and all us cousins. My dad took the photo - so he's not in it. And Grandpa was at work... (bonus points to non family members if you can figure out which one is me...)

Grandpa - this gang is your legacy... I hope we all continue to do you proud.

Happy Birthday!



PS - I think Grandpa is watching... one Halloween my Mom put on those "groucho glasses" and said "A Little Vermouth" and we cracked up saying she looked JUST LIKE Grandpa. Well, I just did a google image search on my grandfather's last name - and came up with THIS. Hmmm....

Love ya Grandpa!

What Vintage are you???

I am pondering what photo vintage I am. No -not vintage photos, though it was the handling of some old photos that brought on this musing - but photo vintage. Kind of like wine - different vintages for different periods.

Old sepia portraits, those great black and white square snapshots, early color prints all faded out, Polaroids, slides - or digital...

I am a slide vintage - compounded by being child #6. While there are photos of me from various years -many are buried in slide trays or old negatives.

My son is digital all the way - although I think there are a couple of traditional film shots of him, somewhere...Add that to him being an only child - and look out! I could have filled a room full of prints and negatives if we were still using film!

I tackled the digitizing of my family slides a couple of years ago - time consuming, but well well worth the effort.

Now to dive into another stack of prints and get them scanned in. I guess in the end I am taking us all digital.

But I still love those old sepia prints - mmmmmm. Even the ones where I have no idea who the people are.

(and yes, that is me - circa 1969 (I think) - with the chocolate chapstick I got for Christmas that year that lasted me MAYBE one day. Don't ya just love the mop cap?!! Thanks Lazy Sister Sue - I think I can blame that one on you!!!)