What is KWANZAA? & Cha Cha Cha

I think this Sesame Street video sums up what Kwanzaa is about from a child's perspective.

Kwanzaa means "first fruits" in Swahili. It is a weeklong cultural celebration that honors African American heritage and celebrated by many in the African American community.  It  begins on Dec26th and continues through January1st.


The 7 core principles (Nuguzo Saba)  pronounced (N-goo-zoe-sah-ba) with the English meaning are:

 

                           Celebration on the 3rd day of Kwanzaa here:

 Memphis Kwanzaa International Center for Culture, health and education

 

 

Beautiful  Nuguzo Saba on the wall. 

 

 

  Spoken word by "Inner City South"

 

 

Message by Dr. Noel G. Hutchinson, First Baptist Lauderdale.

                                   And  music "Soul Man from Senegal"

And what I am most proud of is this Kwanzaa Quilt I made and presented to a dear friend and longtime neighbor. It is machine pieced and machine quilted, with various kwanzaa fabrics.

 

And this is what Kwanzaa is about.  Happy Kuumba (creativity) to all and to all a good creative year.

 

Peace, love, and art,

Angela

 

 

 

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Maya Angelou on “It’s Christmas Time”

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language to translate
ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ.

Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of
PEACE…maya angelou

I cooked Christmas dinner, enjoyed Christmas candlelight service at Church, had lunch brunch with family and am looking forward to a Kwanzaa celebration on Friday.

May beautiful moments and memories be with you this holiday season.

Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Merry Xmas To all of You

I felt a little better today after feeling flu like symptoms the past few days and  did a little decorating.  Many years ago I love making ceramics and made  this tree.

Mama liked it so much I had to make one for her.

Here is another take on a tree that a quilt guild member made for our xmas party table.



A  few of the quilts displayed for the Viewers Choice Awards.


And lots of entertainment including a skit called ‘It a wonderful day in the life of a quilter”. Can  you relate?


And finally lots of yummy party foods. This one was a favorite. It’s called crock pot peanut clusters. I have not tried the recipe and was amazed that they were prepared in a crock pot. But I can tell you they were delicious.


Here is the recipe.


And another holiday party at my friend Lester Jones studio. Here is the link to his website  http://lesterjones.com

I bought a lovely piece and I plan to make a necklace. Lester is a Memphis City Schools art  teacher by day and Raku Sculpture artist in his free time.



Lester’s work includes a combination of pottery , sculpture, title work, and jewerly. I  am saving to buy one of Lester’s bigger pieces.


Peace, love, and art,
Angela

My Handmade Marketplace

I have decided to take a risk (that is my resource of time) and open a Etsy shop. Please take a look by clicking on the Etsy badge on this page or use this link  http://www.etsy.com/shop/eshopping

 I would love to hear  your comments. Not sure where I am going with my handmade crafts or if  I will have to modify my products but I  am giving it a try.  The heeded age old business advice is to listen to customers and I would love to hear your comments.

Peace, love, and art
Angela

Vote for “And Waved to Me”

This flag quilt is number 3 in a series of my “United We Stand” quilts. It is in a online competition and I would appreciate  your vote over here. http://quiltinggallery.com/2012/11/30/vote-now-star-quilts-3/

The quilt is made from all the red, white, and blue scraps I had. Do you remember the “ AOL quilting community”?. The patttern for this quilt was a project there. It was designed in the days after 9/11/2001. The pattern is found here http://anotherpat.com/qt/flagquilt.pdf

 I sewed two different half yard pieces together for the back . The quilt measures 43 x 33 inches and is machine pieced and machine quilted.

Regarding health and  fitness I enjoyed running/walking the 5k10k race for the Church Health Center . There were a total of 655 participants with more women than men running/walking.  I did  not win a metal but made it to the  Finish line. I started the race  at 09:04 and finished at 01:47.  I'm happy.

.
                                                      Timing chip I wore

A tiny micro chip is embedded on this piece of paper (bib) so the runner /walker get a personalized result.  Now isn't this state of the art.



Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Quilt Guild Xmas Party

 

 

 

 

Our quilt guild Christmas party is Saturday. I am taking these along for festive party food. I bought the ingredients today and since they are so quick and easy to make I can  prepare them just before leaving.  I found the recipe here.

 

 

 

Cucumber Cups Stuffed with Spicy Crab Dip

3 large cucumbers

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup cream cheese

3/4 cup crab meat, excess water removed

1 tsp. hot pepper sauce

1 tsp. brown mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

1tbs. minced onion green onion

 

Remove peel from cucumber using vegetable peeler. Cut cucumber into 2 inch slices. Use a small melon baller to scoop out most of the inside of the cucumber.  Leave walls and a thick portion of bottom intact.

In a bowl combine sour cream and cream cheese with a fork until well combined, add the remainig ingredients and stir until combine. Fill each of cucumber cups with crab dip. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve within 2 hours of making.

 

 

And this is the Block of the Month I made for showing in the viewers choice award. Already had the red and green batik which I loved so much when I purchased it I bought 1 yard. But I needed a second fabric so I purchased 1/4 yard of the red and green dots. I was attempting to make a modern version of the block called "Annie's Choice"  and I really think it worked up great.  

 

 

This kicks off my holidays. And I hope to hear about yours.

 

Peace, love , and art,

Angela

 

 

 

 

Happy Food Day

 This is more than a movie, it a movement.  Learn more about the good food movement and Fresh, the movie here http://www.freshthemovie.com
  

Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Day at the Zoo and Staycation Fabric Postcard

I love the Memphis Zoo. It is located in beautiful Overton Park on 70 acres.  I went on  free admission day and have fond memories of the school field trips, walking through the open gates , the fear of getting lost and mimicking the sound of the animals as a teenager.  My random visit to the Zoo set me on a path to create a fabric postcard for the staycation postcard challenge over here see photo below.

This year the Zoo  received a major award for International Conservation by the (AZA)American  Zoo Association.




And is Memphis highest attended attraction.



I'm happily drifting here in cat country.   

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Beautiful flowers and plants can be seen all over.





























   
At one time the Zoo was known as the hippo breeding capital of the world.




Interesting elephant fact. They live in a complex social herd dominated by a matriarch, usually a female for 50 or more years.





Can you find the bald eagle?



   
This Giraffe was grazing on the grass.




Peeking through the screen is a "Mona" monkey which sounds like a girls name doesn’t it?  She is overacting by making strange sounds in front of the visitors.




White Pelican birds basking in the sun.




Lots of beautiful art work on display by city school kids.




I don’t know how you can buy the sky?  But this is a profound
and beautiful environmental statement.

 

Back home my visit to the Zoo guided this staycation fabric postcard. I used fabric from stash, fibers and embellishments to create this card. Inspiration can come from  anywhere and in unexpected places.    



Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Fairy Book Photos

Here you will find  photos of  my Fairy Book from the fairy book
swap . Karla over at  http://www.karlascottage.com     
did a wonderful job of putting over 100 swappers pages
together. 

These pages are a magical journey filled with adventure.


A Princess becomes a Frog.
  
The ultimate test, am I a true princess?
The wicked witch.

Weaving straw into gold.
Do wings really travel?


F is for fairy.
Just a little fairy dust.


Rescued by a magical bird.
Under a magical spell.


Flayse keeps magic in the world.
A romantic espisode from Shakespeare’s “Tempest”.

Traveling across a magical landscape.
Lost in the woods.

Am I a true princess.
Happily everafter.

Singing everybody knows how u got 4 feet and 12 toes.
A romantic garden


The end


Fairy tales are where stories come alive.  They make children use their imagination and  adults  rethink what it means to be human. I hope you have enjoyed these marvelous  pages from my fairy book. And thanks to all the swappers for such beautiful and creative art.

Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Fairy Book

 I told you about the Fairy Book Swap I joined. Well I didn't think I would ever finish 8 fairy pages front and back by Sept 1, 2012.  When I got going things went quick. They are done and flying over to Karla at   www.karlascottage.typepad.com

Here is a peek at the pages I made. In return Karla the hostess will swap out all the pages and send each swapper a completed and bound fairy book.

 

 

All pages are different. The thing I like best about the swap is I explored some techniques I had never tried before.

 

Peace, love and art,

Angela 

 

Food for Body and Soul Quilt Exhibit.

  I finished the quilt for the Food for Body and Soul

quilt exhibit that will be touring the U.S. Profit from the 1905

 Cookbook and quilt exhibits will go to feed the poor. This is the website where you can view all  beautiful quilts.

 

http://www.heavenlypatchwork.com

The 1905 cookbook by Judy Howard

"A Taste of Summer"

 Used free-form piecing and cutting to make the quilt learned from a technique by UK art quilter Alicia Merrett

The watermelon my favorite fruit of summer

                                  Back of quilt and Artistment Statement.

This is what I said. "As summer nears I start drooling for the watermelon my favorite fruit of summer. I remember the wagonloads of watermelons my Grandfather took to the farmers market and the lessons he taught us grandkids on how to pick a good one. I hope this quilt makes you smile and remember the farmers who toll to bring us good Food for Body and Soul".

Granddad passed long ago but I think this quilt would bring a smile to his face. I wonder what he would think about the seedless watermelon today?  I prefer a watermelon with seeds. It's something about seeing the seeds in the meat of the melon that makes me think I am eating the real thing!

Peace, love and art,
Angela