An Awesome Day!

Has there ever been anything in your life that you didn't think you'd ever get to do, or to see, or to experience and then suddenly you get a chance to do or see or experience that thing?

I knew I wanted to be an artist since I was four years old. I was always looking at art and reading about it. When I was a teenager I would take the bus downtown and walk to the city library. I'd go up to the second floor where the Art room was located. I'd wander the stacks, picking up books at random, leafing through them. If they interested me, I'd keep looking, if not, I'd put them back and move on.

The most interesting books were "oversized" and stacked separately from the others. I learned about the artists, and basically taught myself the history of Art. I'd often end up sitting on the floor in the stacks, reading. In this way I discovered Albrecht Durer, Franz Hals, Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne, Georgia O'Keeffe, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Stanley Spencer, and later, Frank Stella. I also discovered the architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen.

I read about Saarinen's Gateway Arch, and read about how they built it. I was fascinated. I've always loved simple graphic geometric shapes. The Arch exemplifies that. It is a simple, elegant shape, and it's timeless. I loved it as soon as I saw a picture of it. I thought I'd love to see it, but it's in the middle of the country, 1200 miles away from where I live. There was literally no reason I'd ever get out there to see it. I had relatives out west, but I didn't know anybody who lived smack dab in the middle of the country.

So when I accepted the offer to speak and teach in St Louis where the Arch is located, I wondered if I'd get a chance to see it. When Julie and I were discussing our itinerary I mentioned I wanted to see it. I don't remember how we figured out when we'd get to see it, but on Sunday morning, after we had breakfast, we drove to it.

To say I was excited was an understatement.

It was an understatement of epic proportions!

I was more excited than a six year old at Christmas.

And it did not disappoint. 

I've been to Yosemite Valley and stood at the base of El Capitan and at the top of Yosemite Falls. I've stood on the continental divide, twelve thousand feet above sea level. I've been to the Washington Monument. I've been to the Eiffel Tower. I've climbed the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I've been to the New York City and the Empire State Building. I've been to the Guggenheim Museum. I've seen the Golden Gate Bridge, but nothing was like that blue morning in St Louis with the glimmering Arch.

I ran right up to it and leaned against it. I touched it as high as I could reach. In fact, I touched it, and walked all the way around one of the legs, dragging my fingers along as I did. The base of the arch was scratched with graffiti that had been scrubbed off as high as anyone could reach, but above that it was pristine and shiny, and where it was in the sun, it was warm.

It was utterly and completely glorious. I was thrilled and exhilarated. I couldn't stop looking at it. I walked around and around it. When the sun hit it, it reflected it like a mirror. 

 

It was stunning against the brilliant blue sky. I remembered a line from the movie Field of Dreams, "... a sky so blue it hurts to look at it." 

Due to political squabbling, the government was shut down, and the monument itself was closed, so there weren't that many people there and we pretty much had the space to ourselves. While I walked around gawking, Julie noticed that visitors would approach the arch and touch it as I had done.

The arch is as wide as it is tall - 630 feet. I was surprised how far I had to walk away to get a picture of the whole thing in one frame. I was just in awe of it, of the day. I was filled with so much joy. It was as if I was floating on air.

I volunteered to take a picture for a German tourist,

 Then he returned the favor and took this one of Julie and I.

That day, that morning, remains in my memory as one of the high points of my life. It was the most joyous event I had experienced in years and I don't think anything since has topped it. I've said it before, it was just exhilarating. I was glad I was able to share that experience with the person who has become my best friend, Julie.

In the last week, while we exchanged memories of this trip Julie wrote, "I was so happy to make you SO happy that day - it was awesome."

Yes it was awesome.

Julie & Me

My best pal Julie (that's her on the right) and I have known each other since August of 2008, and we have met each other in person twice. This photo, above, was taken the second (and last) time we ever got together. This was taken in June 2014 at the Zimmerman House in Manchester NH. Julie came up to New England that summer to see the Quilts in Color show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I was thinking last night that I should tell our story, since so much of it has happened online and behind the scenes.

Julie helped me to achieve one of the big goals on my bucket list, a visit to the Gateway Arch in St Louis MO. It was one of the highlights of my life, and I will never forget it.

A German tourist took this picture of us that day, in October 2013.

This is Julie with Glorious, the diamond quilt we designed together in 2018.

This is Julie (left) and Chris Ballard, who quilted my quilt Letters From Home, in 2009.

This is me in 2010 with Obsolescence, the quilt Julie made for me as part of a swap.

 Here is Julie in 2010 with No Rules for Julie, the quilt I made for her for the swap.


Way back when when she and I were discussing the idea of swapping quilts, Julie was very particular and very specific about what she wanted. What did I want? "That green quilt you are making. That's very you," I told her. "That's interesting" she replied, "as I am just coming to realize that green is a signature color for me."


So how did Julie and I first get connected? She wanted me to make a Gizzy quilt for her tuxedo cat, Angel (Julie is holding Angel in one of the pictures above.) What did I make?

Yeah, I knew what I was doing last year when I ordered the book GREEN, for her for Christmas.

Even though we have been together twice, and we live 1127 miles apart, we talk on the phone about once a month (in marathon 2 hour conversations we literally schedule in advance), we are now in contact quite frequently. We probably text two or three times a week, even if it's just to share pictures of our grandkids, but usually it's to comment on what we are doing in the quilt studio.

Julie and I have a long story, and it's pretty nifty. I will tell the story over the next few days. We have shared some of the same life experiences (we became grandmothers within months of each other). We have inspired each other, and we have helped each other. We get ideas from one another, and we give each other honest critiques. I always want to hear what Julie has to say.

The Three of Us

Dear Son, your Mom can take "selfies" too!

This is me, Julie and Chris holding one of our collaboration quilts, "Magic Happens." I made the blocks and the letters, Julie put them all together into a flimsy, and Chris did the quilting (in black and white variegated thread because Millie, my black and white cat, would be napping on the quilt).
 

 We spent my last day in Memphis at Chris's house. When we got there, Chris had my Spools quilt all ready for me. It's beautifully quilted, and I'll finish it next week, when it and all my other quilts return from their extended stay at Julie's.

Chris has always talked about making letters, so I gave her a lesson.  She picked it up right away and made some beauties. Here she is working on an upper case "C" in which the fish echo the shape of the letter.

These are the letters Chris made. As you can see, she also made an asterisk and a butterfly. 

Chris couldn't believe it when I saw this collection of threads in the bottom of her wastebasket near Iris, her long arm quilting machine. ("OH NO! She's looking at the ONE place I didn't clean!!!")

This is a great example of how colors jumbled together willy-nilly can give you ideas.

You never know where you can find inspiration, but as this shows, it's everywhere.

I had a FABULOUS time in Memphis and St Louis! It was awesome. A very deep and heartfelt "Thank you" to all the wonderful people I met, from the quilters to the folks at the hotel, and all the folks at the restaurants and stores we visited, and to the strangers we met at the Gateway Arch.

Thank you one and all!