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Threads of Meaning at The Salt Exchange |
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Written by Martha Marques
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Saturday, 02 January 2010 13:44 |
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I have been invited to do an exhibit of my quilts at The Salt Exchange at 245 Commercial Street in Portland. The opening will be Friday evening, January 15 and if you haven't been to The Salt Exchange yet now is your perfect excuse to check it out. If you have been to The Salt Exchange you don't need an excuse over and above the seductive food and the amazing wines. But possibly the quilts will enhance the experience for you. The Salt Exchange hours are 12:00-2:30 for lunch and 5:30-9:00 Tues-Thursday, 5:30-10:00 Friday and Saturday. February 5 we will be part of the First Friday Art Walk with wine and canapes for the Artist Reception from 5:30-8:00. You can also have Dinner with the Artist (me!) from 8:00-10:00. We recommend reservations for dinner, but the reception is free and everyone's welcome.
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These are sneak peeks of some of what you will be seeing. The one above is called Conversation and is 10 feet square. The birch trees are life sized.
And here is Le'ia which is the Hawaiian word for Abundance. Again Le'ia is 10 feet square and the leaves and fruit of the Ulu (breadfruit) are life sized. Ulu is the symbol of plentiful food, family and happiness in Hawaiian culture
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This image is of one of my earlier Hawaiian quilts and is entitled Li'i Li'i Ahi Pua o' Lehua (Little Flame Flowers of Ohia). It is a more modest 7 feet square and the fabrics are not hand dyed. I have a particular fondness for it because it has a faintly Celtic quality, in spite of being a Hawaiian quilt. Sharon Balai, one of my accomplished Hawaiian quilting friends from the Big Island called it "Irish Hawaiian Quilting" and thought it perfectly reasonable that my ancestors should be influencing my quilts in subtle and pervasive ways.
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And here is a close up of Cotton, again a 7 foot square quilt. You can read more about Cotton on this site.
The show Threads of Meaning will be running through April 3. I hope that you will find an opportunity to come by and see it and to enjoy the wonderful experience that The Salt Exchange has created for us in Portland.
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Last Updated on Monday, 11 January 2010 11:29 |
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Who Can Resist the Nupps? |
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Written by Martha Marques
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Thursday, 10 December 2009 08:36 |
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This shawl that is currently being stretched on my blocking board in the studio is not my own design. I took it exactly as it was written from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. It is the Leaf and Nupp shawl knitted up in KnitPicks alpaca/silk lace blend in a Yuletide evergreen color that has been discontinued (but they have other beautiful colors). It is being stretched using lace wires which you can see in the photo below. These are a lifesaver and I should have gotten them long ago. It saves putting a pin in each and every point of the lace, and then moving them all a bit, and then moving half of them again, and then tweaking that last 10% and then maybe these 5 pins over here could go a little to the middle....oops too far....back again....but that threw off these over here, etc., etc., until only strong drink (it could be tea people) will soothe your nerves. |
| What is a Nupp???? Do you see those lovely little bumps in pretty sets of three? Those are Nupps (which means knob or button in Estonian according to Nancy Bush). I am fascinated by them and I'm currently ogling the big lace shawl on the cover of the book which is the Crown Prince Square Shawl. This is a big ambitious project that will require a real committment of brain power so I am currently just ogling but it has many, many nupps. |
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And here is a close up of leaves and nupps stretched out in all their glory.
Those who know me have heard me say that I keep two kinds of knitting going at all times. Oatmeal knitting which can be done while watching a movie and Thinking Woman's knitting which requires close attention, a quiet room and lots of thinking. This shawl was a bit of both. It required close attention, a quiet room and lots of thinking for the beginning 10 inches or so whilst I learned the pattern. After that I could do it while watching movies but I kept the book with me at all times for reassurance (which I usually don't do). Also, when Joe (my husband) came over during commercial breaks to get some attention I sometimes yelled out desperately "Lace! Lace! Lace!" to give myself a few seconds to get the knitting out of the way so affection could ensue without dropping stitches. Dropping stitches while making lace is a disaster.....although I have heard of these things called Life Lines. I'll have to look into that.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 02 January 2010 14:34 |
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