Thursday, September 07, 2006

Inspiration.


What a day! Not only did I get to spend this past Friday with my bestest bud, Annie, have a killer lunch and generally goof around...I also got to finally see the Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. I've been dying to check it out for weeks. My primary motivation being the looming 100 Good Wishes Quilt project. I start my beginners quilting class Friday, September 9th.

You know, that Bai Jia Bei is not going to make itself. No siree bobbie....

Please, look at these beautiful quiltmakers of Gee's Bend. When I turned the corner at the exhibit and saw their pictures - I was so struck emotionally. I was inspired - by their faces and by their words. And, of course, by their works.

During the interactive exhibit/movie thing one of the ladies said:

"Someone asked me...what is this that you're working on...what is the pattern...?" (or some-such-sort-of-thing) and she responded "It's a quilt. A quilt. It is a QUILT. It is a quilt." Simple as that. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Nothing that necessitated a special form of graph paper or cutting tool. It was a quilt. Simple. Easy. And, it was very beautiful.

Yes! I am inspired.

This.Is.Something.That.I.Will.Not.F.Up.

Tomorrow is my very first class. Yes, it is at a fancy quilt-ish shop in Berkeley, CA. What will that be like? Will they let me be less-than-perfect?

I will do my best to "blog" the experience. I am excited and so anxious at the same time.

Let's see how it goes...............

7 comments:

C's Mom said...

Cool. I'm curious to know what you think of the class. I've been thinking lately that I should make Jadyn's quilt too. I have offers to make it for me/her but I'm just thinking I ought to do it. Then, I think, 'but I want it to look good!' I have never quilted a thing in my life.

Anonymous said...

Cool! I went and got 4 sheets of stamps today and said,"anything cute?" and she said,"PERFECT for YOU". I said," excuse me?" and she handed me Gees bend quilt stamps.

I had never heard of these quilts.
I would love to seen them.
Kathleen
LID May 15, 2006

Anonymous said...

Did you mention me so that I would finally leave a comment. Curse you wzgirl. I had fun too, not working, getting chased by the cel phone hating de Young staff. No, you're the bestest.
A

Anonymous said...

I saw the exibit of those quilts. There were funky cool. And the fact that they were sewn by hand. . . pretty nifty.

Special K said...

Very impressive. I have no desire to take on this task. Way too difficult for me. My grandmother, who has won competitions with her quilts, will be making Mia's.

walternatives said...

I'm enchanted with Crazy Quilts. I went through a phase where I would look for crazy quilts on ebay then save the photos posted with the listing, just to study the details. No pattern, purely decorative and spontaneous. I can certainly relate to the "It is a quilt. Just a quilt" line you included. Let us know how your class goes. take care, ALTDTC sista.

Polar Bear said...

I can't wait to hear about your class. I am sure you will love it, you are so crafty.

Sounds like a great day! We all need some days like that.