Art in Bloom

Every year MOFA, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, hosts an exhibit called “Art in Bloom”.  Various groups, garden clubs and floral designers create floral arrangements based on a piece of art that is on display in the museum.

My sister and I made a last minute decision to go yesterday and literally met up on the same speeding subway car. I took the commuter rail to Boston, texting my sister when I got to the subway, so she was able to leave her office within minutes of my train departing the station and meet up with me several stops later.

We were both excited to go to this event because it coincides with another exhibit at MOFA called “Quilts and Color” showcasing quilts from the Pilgrim and Roy Collection.  This turned out to be so much more than we expected.  We’ve all seen  antique and vintage quilts on display but seeing them at MOFA elevated the quilts from beautiful examples of needlework to fine art!  They looked as much at home hanging on the museums walls as the museum’s other art collection.  

 

Some of these quilts looked like they were illuminated from within.  My sister compared it to looking through a stained glass window. This is not all of the quilts from the exhibit. I started off taking pictures with my iPhone but it switched to video mode and I couldn’t get it switched back. 

View Full Album

We ran out of time before we could see all of the flower arrangements but what we did see was wonderful.  These are not your average florist bouquets.  These  really did match the artwork they represented.  From the quality and scale of the flowers that I saw, I’m sure the arrangements put a considerable dent in some budgets. 

So even though the “Blooms” part of the exhibit ended yesterday you can still see the quilts which will be on display through July 27th.  I hope my pictures will entice you to want to see the rest!  Here is the link to the museum’s website, if you’d like to learn more. 

Gail :)

Ducklings

I hope you all had a nice Easter.   I did.  This year, we also celebrated my little sister's 53rd birthday which fell during the week.   

It was great to have my dad with us. As I've mentioned before he usually makes excuses about holidays but this year he was eager to go when I picked him up and he really enjoyed himself.  My dad was very complimentary of my sister's wonderful cooking as we all were.  Of course, we overdid the dessert table but that's always been the case in our family.
God forbid we should run out!

 

My sister makes wonderful popovers for every holiday!  She always sets a beautiful table and "the ducklings" were a big hit as they marched around the center.  My brother-in-law colors eggs for each of us every year so that we can do the the traditional Polish "egg" cracking war-- the last egg left without a crack is the winner and brings luck to the owner.  After dinner, Calvin had fun hunting for eggs around their yard.  At almost four, he didn't need very much help finding them this year.

I've posted the instructions for the ducklings, if you'd like to get a start on next Easter, lol.   They would also be cute added to a spring wreath or for baby shower favors.  I know of several baby showers coming up this summer. 

I also created a "prim" version too.  My prim version was actually a happy mistake that I filled it with catnip and is now in Ernie's "toy box". 

Well, that's it for today.  I'm off to start some seeds and paint some flower pots!   Have a wonderful day!

Gail

Are your ducklings in a row?

It’s a bit chill here this Easter morning but should warm up enough for us to have an egg hunt for Calvin later this afternoon.  Hope the Easter Bunny is very polite this year when he drops off your basket and doesn’t nibble your tulips!
I feel like I have all my ducks or should I say “ducklings” in a row—well maybe there’s one non-conformist in the group,  but sometimes things don’t turn out the way you plan and sometimes they turn out even better.
Last year I saw these little Prim chicks and thought I could duplicate them.  I used to do a lot of soft-sculpture Prim dolls and these little chicks looked pretty simple. So I bought the materials I thought I needed to make them for Easter 2013.
I’ve been staring at the supplies in my sewing room for the past 12 months and several times  nearly discarded them because I don’t do a lot of these little craft projects.  Luckily, (maybe it was the influence of the spring equinox and the full moon) I got the inspiration and urge I needed to work on these and what do you know--chicks became ducklings! 

Aren’t they cute!   They sort of developed their own personality just like real baby ducks.  My sister and I raised six baby Peking ducks when we were children and each of them had a unique personality.  
These little ducklings will be marching in line across our Easter dinner table, but they’d be cute for baby shower favors too!  Each measures about 2 1/2 inches by 3 inches.   If you’d like the pattern and directions, click on the "Duckling Instructions" on the left side bar.

In the meantime, Happy Easter and I hope you have all of your ducklings in a row!


Gail :)