Turtle Trax DiaryJanuary 7, 1998. Page #6
by Lucky Shie
Happy New Year....a Little Late!!!
This is the last holiday order I had, coming by email a week before Christmas!! Rick Drummond ordered it for his wife Carol, a very accomplished painter and quilt artist. They're really good friends of ours, and we enjoyed pretend whisper email message exchanges as the piece was being made. Carol had seen a similar "Mystery Lady" in the "Stuff to Buy" section of this site, and had hinted to Rick about wanting one for a while. We do so aim to please! It got to Sarasota in time, too! Oh, the "mystery" about this woman is partly that her left hand is a cat's paw.......
The holidays were good. We really didn't miss the snow, after the
tons of it we'd had, while teaching in Alfred, NY, in Nov. and Dec.! Jimmy
worked right up to Christmas Eve, finishing leather orders for a fly reel
case and a hummingbird handbag. We were both gratified by the appreciation
of both the givers and receivers of our orders. Gretchen and Mike were
here off and on. We helped host a huge family gathering of eighty, which
was a nice way to interact more with my cool brothers and sisters-in-law.
For a gift, I got a paper shredder I'd asked for, so now we can really
mulch the gardens heavily! We both got the flu right on New Year's Day.
(Yeah, we got flu shots. This was a special flu. And no, I don't mean hangovers!)
And just today, all the final boxes of quilts got shipped to LaCrosse,
for our solo show! What a relief!!! If you sent us a great holiday card
or letter, and you don't have email, we're sorry we haven't had time to
answer you yet! We'll try to catch up by Chinese New Year, my favorite
holiday anyway!
But you're saying, "Hey, cut the gab! I saw something about Michael Mrowka and Debra Lunn's December wedding, on the front page of this site. So what gives here??"
it's true, it's true! In case you don't know who these charming characters are, they're the artists who own Lunn Fabrics, a company that makes beautiful fabrics for the quilting crowd, or any crowd, for that matter. We're happy that we've gotten to know them a lot more since they moved to Lancaster, Ohio. We're all on the Weird Old Hippy Fringe of the art quilt world, right out there in orbit together! Anyway, they decided to get married back in October, I think, when Deb was in Houston for the quilt festival. They'd met on a Dec. 18, and had closed the deal on their new building on Dec. 18, 96. So they chose Dec. 18, 97, to get married. And they asked Jimmy and me to be their witnesses. Which of course, to ME meant I was the Maid of Honor, Flower Girl, Mother of the Bride (and of the Groom), lady who sings too loudly, lady in too bigga hat, maiden aunt who weeps and blows her nose, teenage cousin who knocks everybody else down to catch the bouquet, jealous old girlfriend of the groom (and of the bride), religious stuffshirt who criticizes the ceremony, etc, etc. I was busy! Jimmy did fine. He came as himself.
This was sortta like the Rehearsal Dinner.......
So the bridal party met at the White Castle Restaurant, across the street
from the apartment complex where the Wedding Chapel was, in Unit H. This
was in German Village, Columbus, Ohio. Had some coffee. Went over and met
June Breen, the Justice of the Peace, or Chaplain..... She looks kinda
like Jan Cabral, I think.
Deb and I are ready to march down the aisle. The bride is wearing an exquisite little blue and purple tie dye, and carrying a bouquet of matching purple brocade with buttons and Lucky Embroidery.
The service, with it's tape recorded "Here Comes the Bride" turned
out to be very nice, especially with the Apache Blessing June gave at the
end. I cried a teensy, as the maiden aunt/Mothers, and we were all really
happy. There was something special about the quiet and simplicity of this
little service, held at three in the afternoon, on a mild and springlike
day, with little Christmas decorations around the chapel, and the bride
and groom being so honestly themselves.
Michael and Debra repeat the vows of their marriage ceremony.
After the marriage license was all signed and wittnessed, we threw some
Lunnberg rice on the newlyweds, with the Rev. June using my camera this
time, in the little courtyard outside the chapel. It really was pretty
and peaceful there, and hard to believe it was right in the middle of the
city. After that, we were off. Stopped at the Big Bear grocery store in
German Village, to buy some champagne, and went out to dinner up by the
Josephinum.
Duck!
That night Deb flew to California, to seal a new fabric deal, and Michael
went home to fill orders! If, in your rapturous glee for Debra and Michael,
you wish to do something nice for them, why not zip over to Lunn
Fabrics' web site and place an order! You'll be amazed at the beautiful
new works they've been making!
This is the heart pillow I made for Deb to carry as her bouquet. I didn't know ahead of time that Deb and Michael would be wearing blue and purple tie dyes, so I felt nicely attuned! These cupids were in the courtyard by the Wedding Chapel.
Meanwhile, back at Turtle Moon, we've been back to work on quilts for some
deadlines, as usual. Just sent off our piece for Rachel Roggel's "The
Kiss" traveling show. It's called "Saint Quilta the Comforter
Kisses the Sore Hands of the Quilters, Who Are Suddenly and Miraculously
Healed." (aka: "The First Miracle of Saint Quilta: The Kiss."
I can't show it to you yet, since it has to be hot for Rachel's show, but
I will tell you that St. Q's first miracle mustta happened in New Orleans,
for in the vision, I saw her wearing a highly embroidered and sequined
moomoo.
I've finally made the next batch of St. Q. paintings to sell here.. I think I'm really getting St. Q's looks down, as I get to know her better......or else she really got carried away with overeating for the holidays. I wonder which holidays she celebrates? I suppose all of them, since she's such an eclectic saint, so global in thought.....and in moomoo size!! These new little icons are called "Saint Quilta the Comforter Blesses This Studio for 1998." There are six of them, averaging 14"h x 10"w, on unstretched cotton fabric. I used a lot of gold paint on these, and I think the sack dress has found its perfect figure enhancing lines for our ever-maternal holy one. As with all my St. Q. series, I made all six of these at once, but each is a bit unique. They're each $100. "as is," or you can hire me to quilt and embellish them.
This is one of the six new "Saint Quilta the Comforter Blesses This Studio for 1998" paintings. To see all of them, with buying instructions, go to Diary Spinoffs in the "Stuff to Buy" section of this site.
Oh, I want to add a big THANK YOU to David Walker, who kindly and sweetly
put a Featured Artist section on his web site this month, about Jimmy and
me. He didn't even get on me for writing too much stuff to describe the
images I sent him of our new work! I hope you have time to go see his January
edition. There's a lot more there than just us. David's site is THE BEST
AND MOST INFORMATIVE place to find out about the art quilt world. Plus
he's a wonderful person who makes outstanding work and is a supreme teacher!
So get over there to David's place!
That's it til the next time, when we celebrate Chinese New Year, a BIG DEAL around here every year, but this is the BIG ONE: Year of the TIGER!!! It starts January 28th, so sharpen your claws and lick yourself clean! RRRRRReeeooowwwwww!!
Turtle Moon Studios
Susan Shie and James Acord
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