Dena Crain: Artist & Teacher in Kenya

You know what I mean.  You’re trundling along pretty well, moving from one day to the next, everything running pretty smoothly, quite a few up’s and the occasional down but never anything too serious.  Suddenly, and in a flash, something goes badly wrong.  Inside of yourself, you scream “why me? why now? why? why? why?” but there are no answers.  Life has laid its hand upon you in a seemingly random fashion and turned your whole world upside down.  That is what has been happening to me and to the person I love most in all the world.  That’s why you’ve not had any fresh posts here from me, and perhaps why you may not yet have received a reply to any email you may have sent to me in recent weeks.

Five weeks ago today I was spending my morning arranging for my husband and I to be flown out of our remote area of Kenya by the Flying Doctors.  My husband had fallen the evening before and was complaining of great pain in his chest.  Nearly unable to walk, he was in a bad way and when that kind of thing happens, Flying Doctors are the best way in Kenya to get to medical assistance as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Hospital x-rays revealed that my husband’s ribs were fractured, eight of them and some in more than one place.  We struggled with his condition for two weeks before he was released from hospital.  One week later, he went back into hospital again on an emergency basis.  His blood pressure had plummeted; he was bleeding internally.  He received eight units of blood (thank God for willing donors!) and major surgery for a bleeding duodenal ulcer.  We thought he was out of danger, but then his chest went bad again.  It seemed that handling during the procedures had dislodged the healing ribs, causing them to flail.  That’s a technical term that means that every time one takes a breath, the ribs bend inwards.  With the threat of pneumonia hanging over him, Jonny was still fighting for his life.  The lowest point was reached when he suffered a complete respiratory failure and had to be put onto a ventilator.  Fearing stroke or pulmonary embolism, it began to look as though we might lose him.  You can imagine my joyful surprise when I range the hospital at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to learn that he was sitting up and trying to speak!

Since then, the road to recovery has been painfully slow but always in an upward motion.  Jonny is finally out of ICU and remains in a private room in the hospital, attended by other family members and many friends.  I have returned to Baringo to check on our household and take care of some business matters.  I’m fighting some kind of post-trauma depression and exhaustion.  Today is Sunday, and I’m taking the day to as little or as much as I please.  Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be full of obligations, and I hope to be back in Nairobi with Jonathan before the end of the week.

Needless to say, this has all come as a shock to my quilting business.  Previously, making plans to travel and teach had ranked high on my list of priorities.  Those plans had to be canceled on very short notice, and I extend my apologies to all those who were negatively affected by those cancellations.  I cannot now imagine a time when I will again be free to travel and teach outside of Kenya.  I have classes scheduled at Quilt University; those will proceed as usual.  Teaching online, I expect, will become a godsend to help keep me in touch with my quilting friends and students in coming months.  I am optimistic that as things settle down and life returns to something approximating its usual routine, there will be time for me to finish writing True Quilts for Quilt University, and to design and prepare quilt patterns for sale here on my blog.  Perhaps I will even find time to write a book or two, something I have long wanted but never found time to do.  I shall continue my studies toward Judge’s Certification through the South African Quilt Guild, and will look forward to being in Stellenbosch next summer to complete that program and do a little teaching during the Good Hope Quilt Guild Festival in early July.  Spending the next few months mostly in Nairobi will enable me to participate more fully in the activities of the Kenya Quilt Guild, including hanging their annual exhibition set for mid-October at the Village Market in Gigiri.  I will also be able to judge the fine arts section of the East African Women’s League Homecrafts Exhibition in mid-September.

Life, I have learned, has its black moments, times when we feel the world falls apart and we are in danger of losing ourselves.  Keeping calm through spiritual faith and acting with forethought, rather than reacting thoughtlessly, can help us to weather the storm until things improve.  They will improve, you know!  Even though one era of your life may have closed, another one quickly opens before you and you can approach that new life without fear if you recognize the process for what it is.  Change is inevitable, and only acceptance of that change will permit you to move forward freely and without reserve.  Jonny and I will face many changes in the coming weeks and months, even after the immediate issues of health care are resolved.  I pray that we will both find the strength necessary to face those changes with open hearts and minds.  We’re among the lucky ones: we have been given a second chance!

Darned Quilts, a wonderful, fun way to learn about the importance of color and value contrast in quilt design while you make original quilt art, is now open for registration at Quilt University.  This online quilt design workshop presents raw edge piecing as a construction technique that makes it possible to create a composition from a single piece of cloth.  Learn more about the class here and find additional details at Quilt U.

"Bubbles III," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

Join me for this great chance to play with color and value contrasts in quilt design.  Sign up NOW!

By the way, see more Darned Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery, but whatever you do, don’t miss seeing the . . .

The most recent session of Designer Pinwheels at Quilt University has just closed.  Everyone worked really hard, and some lovely innovative quilts were made, all based on the concept of four-fold rotation of a tessellated right triangle.  I know that’s a mouthful, but the designing is easy and the students learned some new ways to think about how best to put a quilt together.

Tick Fever!

I’m sorry if you missed out on this super opportunity to study with me online, but the class will run again soon.  Check my class schedule and find more information at Quilt University to find out when the next session of Designer Pinwheels will be held.  Be sure to have a good look at the Quilt U Class Catalog while you’re there.  You may find other online quilt classes there that you would enjoy taking.

The most recent session of Crystal Quilts, my online innovative quilt design workshop based on symmetry and tessellation, on offer at Quilt University, has just closed.  The students were great, they worked hard and produced some amazing work.  We all had a great time making beautiful innovative quilts from scratch!

"All That Glitters," a Crystal Quilt by Dena Crain

I’m sorry if you missed out on this super opportunity to study with me online, but the class will run again soon.  Check my class schedule and find more information at Quilt University to find out when the next session of Crystal Quilts will be held.  Be sure to have a good look at the Quilt U Class Catalog while you’re there.  You may find other online quilt classes there that you would enjoy taking.

Did you know that you can obtain books about patchwork quilting for free over the Internet?  Project Gutenberg is an online library that makes available complete copies (yes, illustrations, too!) of a large number of books that are no longer, or never were, under copyright protection.

Project Gutenberg states the following:“Project Gutenberg is a free service open to all of you with no membership required.  If you paid anybody to get access to Project Gutenberg you should ask them for a refund.”

We all know, however, that accessing the Internet is not free!  You must have access to a computer with an Internet connection.  Some of the files can be quite large, as many as 20 or more megabytes.  If you do not have a good high-speed connection at home, you might visit a cybercafé and download the file to a flash stick for later reading at home on your own computer, or you can pay to have the book printed.  Be careful about the latter, as printing costs for a large book might be more expensive than what the book is worth to you.  To cut costs, why not team up with some of your quilting friends?  One download could put the book into the hands of several of you, not as a borrowed volume from our Library, but as your personal possession to keep and cherish for many years to come!

Project Gutenberg has a wonderful history of patchwork quilting called simply “Quilts” and written by Marie D. Webster.  At 17MB, it is a large download, but it is well worth the effort.  A few paragraphs taken from the text will suffice to give you an idea of what this classic work is about:

As known to-day, the quilt is the result of combining two kinds of needlework, both of very ancient origin, but widely different in character.  Patchwork—the art of piecing together fabrics of various kinds and colours or laying patches of one kind upon another, is a development of the primitive desire for adornment. Quilting—the method of fastening together layers of cloths in such a manner as to secure firmly the loose materials uniformly spread between them, has resulted from the need of adequate protection against rigorous climates. The piecing and patching provide the maker with a suitable field for the display of artistic ability, while the quilting calls for particular skill in handling the needle. The fusing of these two kinds of needlework into a harmonious combination is a task that requires great patience and calls for talent of no mean order.

The most ancient example of patchwork is a coloured gazelle hide presented in the Museum of Cairo. The colours of the different pieces of skin are bright pink, deep golden yellow, pale primrose, bluish green, and pale blue. This patchwork served as the canopy or pall of an Egyptian queen about the year 960 B. C.   She was the mother-in-law of Shishak, who besieged and captured Jerusalem shortly after the death of Solomon. On its upper border this interesting specimen has repeated scarabs, cartouches with inscriptions, discs, and serpents. The lower border has a central device of radiating lotus flowers; this is flanked by two narrow panels with cartouches; beyond these are two gazelles facing toward the lotus device. Next to the gazelles on each side is a curious detail consisting of two oddly shaped ducks, back to back; then come the two outer compartments of the border, each of which enclose a winged beetle, or scarabæus, bearing a disc or emblem of the sun. The other main division of the field is spotted in regular order with open blossom forms. There is decided  order in the repetition and arrangement of these details, which gives a rather stiff and formal look to the whole design.

Quilt designs from Marie D. Webster's book "Quilts"

Skill and speed in quilting can be acquired only through much practice. Perfect quilting cannot be turned out by a novice in the art, no matter how skilful she may be at other kinds of needlework. The patience and skill of the quilter are especially taxed when, in following the vagaries of some design, she is forced to quilt lines that extend away from her instead of toward her. As the result of many years spent over the quilting frame, some quilters acquire an unusual dexterity in handling the needle, and occasionally one is encountered who can quilt as well with one hand as with the other.

Another charming offering from Project Gutenberg is Anna Balmer Myers’ “Patchwork.”  A tale of life amongst the “Church of the Brethren” in Pennsylvania, this delightful love story is set during the early years of the 20th Century and encompasses the period of World War I.  Although it will not teach you how to make a quilt, it will entertain you and give some insight into the life and times of a young woman growing up in rural Amish country about 100 years ago!  A taste of the text includes:

Maria Metz was, at fifty, robust and comely, with black hair very slightly streaked with gray, cheeks that retained traces of the rosy coloring of her girlhood, and flashing black eyes meeting squarely the looks of all with whom she came in contact. She was a member of the Church of the Brethren and wore the quaint garb adopted by the women of that sect. Her dress of black calico was perfectly plain. The tight waist was half concealed by a long, pointed cape which fell over her shoulders and touched the waistline back and front, where a full apron of blue and white checked gingham was tied securely. Her dark hair was parted and smoothly drawn under a cap of white lawn. She was a picturesque figure but totally unconscious of it, for the section of Pennsylvania in which she lived has been for generations the home of a multitude of women similarly garbed—members of the plain sects, as the Mennonites, Amish, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren, are commonly called in the communities in which they flourish.

As the child appeared in the doorway her aunt turned.

“So,” the woman said pleasantly, “you worked vonderful quick to-day once, Phœbe. Why, you got your patches done soon—did you make little stitches like I told you?”

“I ain’t got ‘em done!” The child stood erect, a defiant little figure, her blue eyes grown dark with the moment’s tenseness. “I ain’t goin’ to sew no more when it’s so nice out! I want to be out in the yard, that’s what I want. I just hate this here patchin’ to-day, that’s what I do!”

Maria Metz carefully wiped the strawberry juice from her fingers, then she stood before the little girl like a veritable tower of amazement and strength.

“Phœbe,” she said after a moment’s struggle to control her wrath, “you ain’t big enough nor old enough yet to tell me what you ain’t goin’ to do! How many patches did you make?”

“Three.”

“And you know I said you shall make four every day still so you get the quilt done this summer yet and ready to quilt. You go and finish them.”

“I don’t want to.” Phœbe shook her head stubbornly. “I want to play out in the yard.”

“When you’re done with the patches, not before! You know you must learn to sew. Why, Phœbe,” the woman changed her tactics, “you used to like to sew still. When you was just five years old you cried for goods and needle and I pinned the patches on the little sewing-bird that belonged to Granny Metz still and screwed the bird on the table and you sewed that nice! And now you don’t want to do no more patches—how will you ever get your big chest full of nice quilts if you don’t patch?”

But the child was too thoroughly possessed with the desire to be outdoors to be won by any pleading or praise. She pulled savagely at the two long braids which hung over her shoulders and cried, “I don’t want no quilts! I don’t want no chests! I don’t like red and green quilts, anyhow—never, never! I wish my pop would come in; he wouldn’t make me sew patches, he”—she began to sob—”I wish, I just wish I had a mom! She wouldn’t make me sew calico when—when I want to play.”

Project Gutenberg can be found at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.  “Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them” by Marie D. Webster is at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/24682, and “Patchwork” by Anna Balmer Myers is at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/22827.

These eBooks are for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.   You may copy them, give them away or re-use them under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with each eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org.

Happy reading!

The most recent session of Goodbye to the Grid, my newest online art quilt design workshop at Quilt University, has just closed.  The students were great, they worked hard and produced some amazing work.  We all had a great time making art quilts from scratch!

I’m sorry if you missed out on this super opportunity to study with me online, but the class will run again soon.  Check my class schedule and find more information at Quilt University to find out when the next session of Goodbye to the Grid will be held.  Be sure to have a good look at the Quilt U Class Catalog while you’re there.  You may find other online quilt classes there that you would enjoy taking.

Glissando, art quilt by Dena Crain

Truly, even YOU can be an art quilter!  See you in class very soon!

By the way, see more art quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University students’ work.

Darned Quilts, a wonderful, fun way to learn about the importance of color and value contrast in quilt design while you make original quilt art, has been scheduled to open again at Quilt University on October 1, 2010.  Registrations open on August 27, 2010.

This online quilt design workshop presents raw edge piecing as a construction technique that makes it possible to create a composition from a single piece of cloth. Learn more about the class here and find additional details at Quilt U.

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

Join me for this great chance to play with color and value contrasts in quilt design. Mark your calendar now for May 1 so you will be among the first to register!

By the way, see more Darned Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery, but whatever you do, don’t miss seeing the . . .

The most recent session of Darned Quilts online quilt class at Quilt University has just ended.  This online quilt design workshop presents raw edge piecing as a construction technique that makes it possible to create a composition from a single piece of cloth.  Learn more about the class here and find additional details at Quilt U.

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

Join me for this great chance to play with color and value contrasts in quilt design.  Sign up NOW!

By the way, see more Darned Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery, but whatever you do, don’t miss seeing the . . .

Math for Quilters, an online quilt class I teach at Quilt University, has been scheduled to run again on October 29, 2010. Registrations for this session will open on September 24, 2010. Mark these dates on your calendar now, so you will be certain not to miss it!

Math Tools for Quilters

This is the kind of class everyone who quilts ought to take. In three lessons, one each week, you will learn how to draft an entire quilt plan from a set of blocks you already have, or by making new blocks to fit a bed of your choice the way YOU want it to fit, including optional sashing, cornerstones, borders and binding. You will learn how to:

• measure a bed properly to establish the size of a quilt,
• analyze the symmetry and structure of any quilt block,
• calculate how to resize a block to fit into your design,
• draw a block from a miniature sketch to its full size,
• turn your block drawing into a pattern and make templates,
• manage both straight and on point block settings with ease,
• figure the amount of each fabric you will need for your quilt – without wastage,
• determine how much money your quilt will cost to make, and
• examine strategies for setting a fair and reasonable price for your quilt before you sell it.

A bonus lesson introduces the connection between quilting and advanced mathematics like the Sacred Rectangle, Golden Mean and Fibonacci Series. What’s that? You say you already know how to do all these things? Fine. YOU may be excused from this excellent opportunity to grasp the mathematics of quilting and put them to use to your best advantage. But if you are one of the folks who:

• struggles with a calculator,
• wastes too many hours trying to figure out how to make that quilt you can visualize but cannot plan,
• cannot afford not to care how much fabric you purchase, or
• has some vague dream of one day selling a quilt or two, then -

This class is for YOU!  See you at Quilt U!

This is just in from one of my Quilt University students, quoted here with permission:

Regarding color….I have super color vision. It is a very rare occurrence (one in a few million) that only women can have. A pediatrician discovered mine as a teen when testing my color vision. I can literally see color nuances others can’t. In an ironic twist, one of the ways it can be diagnosed is “backwards”. Women with super color vision are likely to give birth to color blind sons. Three of my four sons are color blind. I’m also legally blind in one eye. It’s feast or famine in this house. LOL!

I used to be a sewing machine dealer and I carried EVERY color in EVERY line of thread we carried and we carried a lot of lines. Our selection and my help choosing colors were one of our trademarks as a sewing resource for our customers. We had thousands and thousands of colors even though we were a relatively small store. . . . . . I thought I’d [share] my concerns over color conversion charts and something I trained my customers to do when choosing colors that are tones in a range.

The most important difference in color relations is their interplay with each other. Nuances in tone-on-tone color groups are much tougher to do right than, say, complimentary colors where the contrast is high. But you can rely on the professionals who created any particular line of color. When you convert one brand’s colors to another via a chart you may be have been drawn to three colors (say, shades of green) that look beautiful together but when converted to another brand….even though they are indeed the closest match, are just OFF. So if you choose a set of yellow-y greens in one line and convert them, they may appear completely unrelated (or more likely, just not appealing) to each other in the new line because they literally could not translate.

In my experience it is best to pick three greens(continuing my example) in the new line that inter-relate to each other well even if they are, say, blue-er than the “originals” you are trying to convert from. Does that make sense? In other words, trust YOUR instincts and YOUR color sense and the professionals who designed any particular color palette for a line of fabrics or thread to have the range and interplay be the most important thing rather than the nuance of shade. Squinting to blur colors lets you get another perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Most projects will look richer when the interplay is spot on even if the color tone is tweaked slightly.

I particularly like my student’s remark about trusting your intuition and your personal sense of color.  Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we all handled color in exactly the same manner?

This student also said:

Thank you, Dena for your generosity, common sense and all around courtesy and friendliness. You teach a mean class!

I like that, too!

By the way, have you tried Aurifil threads yet?  If not, you should do!  They are gorgeous!!

Aurifil Thread Suitcase

Happy coloring!  Comments and feedback welcome below.