One ringers

I am thankful for my many friends. So many of you have given me support and inspiration.  I appreciate your wonderful blogs, Facebook posts, emails, and calls.

During my mom and dad's fifty year marriage, they went to Marriage Encounter.  This was a Christian program designed to make good marriages better.  One of the things they heard about was the "one-ringer."  Friends would encourage each other by calling on the phone and letting it ring once to let the person receiving the call know they were in the caller's thoughts and prayers.  Over the months following Marriage Encounter, there were lots of one ringers at our house.  Sure, it was corny.  And it really was kind of annoying at times. But it was kind of up-lifting too.  And during those times when I was down, it was kind of like a ray of sunshine to be at my parent's house and hear a one-ringer.

Life isn't easy.  Neither is quilting. It isn't easy when you are trying to take cloth and thread and dyes and batting and make it say what is in your heart and soul. There are lots of lonely hours. And lots of doubts. Quilter friends understand this about each other's work. Like some of you, I have chosen the very difficult path of putting my work in quilt shows to be judged. Of the awards that I have won nothing compares to the Viewer's Choice award. This award for me is like a whole bunch of one ringers coming in all at once. I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated them.

A solitary pursuit - Stitch by stitch

                                                                



Dear friends, please keep writing and posting on Facebook and emailing..........and maybe give me a one ringer once in awhile.  And I will do the same.  Just to let you know I am thinking about you too.

Poppy's Rainbow debuts later this year.  After spending hundreds......no thousands of hours on it, I don't know how it will do.  To my friend Beth Anderson, I say thanks so much for your visit to my house and studio last week.  Thanks for saying Poppy's Rainbow is beautiful and unlike anything I have ever done before. I don't know if it is any good.  I don't know if it is beautiful.  But I have sewed my soul into that quilt. I have told my dad, my kids' Poppy, that I loved him and that I honor his memory by making that quilt.

My dad and mom, Jack (Poppy) and Marti Sherman, dune buggying in Anza Borrega desert, California, 1985

Thanks Beth for the one ringer of your visit. It made my whole week. And thanks for the beautiful vase you gave me. Even though you were already a fantastic quilter, you have also become quite an artist with your pottery.  The shape and glazes are so beautiful. It has a place of my honor with my other prized possessions in my china cabinet.  It never ceases to amaze me how many talents my quilting friends have in other creative pursuits.

Beth Anderson's beautiful pottery

 Mark
www.remarkablequilts.com

Fancy

Fancy

I can’t help it.  I like things fancy.  I always have. My wife says I go way over the top with everything I do and “it really isn’t necessary. People won’t notice anyway.” She is probably right.  But I notice.  And I have always liked things fancy.

My daughter Sara was born in North Carolina in 1994.  Before she was born, I found her baptism dress.  It was an antique lace dress from the late 1800’s. At over five feet in length, the dress was made entirely by hand with over 50 small pearl buttons down the back.  We were almost late to the church because of how long it took my big old hands to get those little buttons buttoned. My wife said it wasn’t necessary. 

Sara, 3 months, in her baptism dress

 We had a big reception at our house afterward. It was fancy….very fancy.

Cake for the reception after the baptism

I bring this tendency to my quilts too.  After spending months and months working on Poppy's Rainbow with the turned edge appliques, quilting and fills, I spent more time applying Swarovski™ crystals to enhance the design.  I have developed a  glue (Remarkable Jeweler’s Glue – limited quantities available from my on line store at www.remarkablequilts.com) that is so strong the crystals stay on even after a quilt has been shipped and hung at shows around the country.

Putting Swarovski™ crystals on Poppy's Rainbow

Real fancy

I like things fancy. Do you?

Mark

© Mark Sherman and Remarkable Quilts Design Co.

Inspiration

People often ask where I get inspiration for my quilts and quilting patterns.  My garden is one source of inspiration. Over the last couple of years, I have planted and nurtured many bromeliads.  Bromeliads must have shade so they are planted on the north side of my house in a 10' by 10' raised bed. I built up an area with rich soil, shaded by palm trees and ferns.  Of course, living in South Florida is like being in a greenhouse, especially during our hot humid summers. 

My bromeliad garden

I have been hard at work now for over a year on my new quilt.  When I need a break from my long arm quilting machine, I go out to my garden.  I weed and trim and water and plant. Many of my bromeliads are now flowering and giving off “pups” that I will harvest and plant somewhere else or give to friends.

Spike on my bromeliad

The rich variegated colors and detail on the leaves and spikes inspire my quilting and background fills.

Quilting and fills on Poppy's Rainbow

What is in your garden?

Mark

 

copyright 2012 Mark Sherman and Remarkable Quilts

The stash

My newest quilt is called Poppy's Rainbow after my dad, Jack Sherman.  My dad always had a "stash."  He loved tools and would collect them in his basement. Dad must have had 25 hammers and over 100 power tools, most never used but all greatly cherished and fiercely protected from my mom's attempts to "clean up the place."   In 1997, we all moved away from North Carolina.  My mom and dad returned home to California.  My wife and I and our two kids moved to South Florida.  Dad's packing of his Ryder truck was a sight to behold.  He was bound and determined to get every last tool and piece of junk he had accumulated into that van.

 Jack packing the van to move to California and Sara, age 2.

  

 

 As a quilter, I have come to understand the value of a stash. Don't tell my wife this but I have over 250   pairs of scissors. And I plan to get more.  Why not? I quilt and I am passionate about it.  It tells my story. It is my soul. I sew and so I am. Without my stash, I couldn't have made Poppy's Rainbow.

Quilting in my studio on my A1 surrounded by my "stash."

What is in your stash?

Mark

copyright 2012 Mark Sherman and Remarkable Quilts
www.remarkablequilts.com

Poppy

I have been working for many months on my newest quilt, Poppy's Rainbow.  It is inspired by my dad who passed away in 2001 from prostate cancer. We lived in Lenoir, North Carolina from 1987 to 1997.  Both of my kids were born there.  My parents moved out from San Diego, California.  The kids loved growing up around their grandparents. Being Southern, they called my dad Poppy and my mom Mema.

Poppy in North Carolina with Sara, age 2 and Matthew, age 6.

There are so many stories about Poppy that I will tell you later that inspired Poppy's Rainbow. For the past two months, I have been quilting this on my Al longarm machine. I couldn't be happier with the machine or the results.

Using the A1 longarm quilting machine

Quilting Poppy's Rainbow

Have you been inspired by someone you love?

Mark

Braithwaite Gallery

I am honored to have been asked to participate in an exciting exhibition at Southern Utah University (SUU), Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery in Cedar City, Utah.  As the featured show for Fall 2012, this is an international invitational exhibit by some of the world's premiere art quilters and fabric workers. It is called "Everything in Between: Art Quilts, Fabric Collage and Embroidery."  Deborah K. Snider, Assistant Professor of Art Education at SUU, art quilter and curator has selected 48 artists to participate. The dates are from Thursday, September 27 through November 10.

 

I will be sending my award winning quilt Wings and Feathers to the exhibition.  In addition, I will be giving the keynote address and participating in a panel discussion called Man Quilter on November 3, 2012, 1-3PM MST.

 Ricky Tims, Hollis Chatelain, Caryl Bryer Fallert, Michael James, Katie Pasquini Masopust are among the many other accomplished artists featured in this exciting event.

For more information, go to: http://www.suu.edu/pva/artgallery/EverythinginBetweenArtQuiltsFabricCollageEmbroiderySpecialEventsSchedule.html

If you live in the area, don't miss this exciting exhibit.  I would love to see you at the gallery on November 3!

Mark

Wings And Feathers by Mark L Sherman copyright 2010