Fundraising for a local landmark

A local landmark in New Hampshire near where we have our Quilt Camp, is Abenaki Tower.  In 2024 it will be a 100-year-old organization.  The current tower is the second one on the hill overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee and it is now time to fundraise for the third tower.  Nothing wooden lasts forever in the woods!  The tower is a non-profit supported by local families to Tuftonboro New Hampshire and was originally funded by small donations from bake sales, bridge nights, and other community events.  In light of helping maintain that tradition the committee is holding sales of small items and have some local artists involved in supporting the tower.  Elizabeth decided she could contribute by screening some images on cardstock and fabric and providing them as materials for the "makers" to do what they do best and make.

This is the second tower on the property and is made from telephone poles, the original tower was lumber and clapboard.  Soon an architect will come up for a design for tower number 3.

This is the logo of the organization.  It has been screened on a green hand dye and might make a great pillow front.

The center of the logo looks like it would make a nice small ornament and is currently being made into some notecards for the secretary to use as thank you notes.

The tower screened by itself on some blue and green hand dyed fabric.  What should we create with this image?

Here is one idea for an ornament.  The tower will have a decorated Christmas tree at the Festival of Trees in Wolfeboro this December.

The view of Melvin Bay from the tower is one of our favorite reasons for taking this easy 1/4 mile hike to the tower and climbing to the top.

 

Cyanotype in the Tropics

In December of 2021, Elizabeth, her husband and her sister went to Hawaii to attend the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Their father was aboard the USS Downes on December 7, 1941.

She decided to take along some pretreated cyanotype fabric along with pins, foam core board, and saran wrap.  Thinking it would be fun to get some of the tropical leaves and flowers in cyanotype as she had seen some lovely examples online.

Luckily, they stayed in Waikiki next to a park where she could pick up plenty of items to try.  Unluckily the weather was not very sunny that week, the hotel balcony got a lot of shade, and there was a lot of rain.  Thus, the results were less than satisfactory.  Here are a few pictures of the set up.

Fast forward to August of this year (2023), she had the chance to return but to Kauai this time.  She was sure that the results would be so much better in the summertime.  Boy, was she wrong.  She got Covid on the second day there and so most of her time was relegated to the house and yard, limiting the choices of plant materials and not giving much time for crafting or experimenting.

After both experiences, she has decided that should she return (there is the chance to go back next May), she would need to find some pieces of glass under which to flatten her items to keep them from blowing in the wind.

Have you ever tried to craft while on a vacation?

SAQA Benefit Auction

Each fall, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) holds an online benefit auction to raise money to support SAQA's exhibits, publications and educational programs.  This year's auction runs from September 14 to October 8.  over 380 pieces of quilt art, all 12" square, will be available for purchase.  This is a "reverse" auction.  Sept. 14 is diamond day, when all pieces are available for $1000.  The quilts are divided into 3 groups and the following Monday, the 1st group opens for a bid at $750. Prices drop at 2 PM each day until reaching a final price of $100 on Saturday.  The process repeats with the other 2 groups until Oct. 8.  

You can learn more about the auction here. You can view all the quilts online as well as register for Handbid which is the company handling the auction.  There are also Dream Collections available to view - groups of 8 quilts that members have chosen that have a common theme or color story.  

Sue has again contributed a quilt to the auction.  It is called "Filtered" and combines shibori/indigo dyed fabric, rusted fabric, and a cyanotype print done on a coffee filter.  It has both hand and machine stitching.  

Go to the website and check out the quilts.  Even if you choose not to bid, there's lots of inspiration and eye candy!