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Barefoot Photo Shoot

By on May 13, 2021 in Uncategorized

What fun! At the invitation of QuiltFolk magazine, I showed up for a beach photo shoot, along with six other quilters and our respective bundles of quilts.

The first request was for us to show the photographer our quilts – IN THE PARKING LOT. Talk about a trunk show! It was almost comical.

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog
They asked us to bring the chairs, too, as potential props.

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Doris Hulse, left, and Karol Kusmaul, right.

And then, Carole Lyles Shaw showed up with her COLORFUL quilts. Eye candy everywhere!

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Linda Hoffmeister admiring Carole Lyles Shaw with her quilt.

Once we made it onto the sand most shoes were kicked off as the photographer got down to work. Although the temperature was perfect, the wind quickly dashed any hopes of a good hair day!

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

L-R: Karol Kusmaul, Carole Lyles Shaw, me, Linda Hoffmeister, Doris Hulse, Regina Dunn, and Bobbi Baugh

Regina’s husband, Michael, was great about taking lots of behind-the-scenes shots for us. Here I am with Jubiliation. (This is the photo which had the quilt waving the least!)

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I’m hoping this next one doesn’t make it into the magazine. Both hairdos and quilts were out of control!

Barefoot Photo Shoot. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

We had a great time socializing and “oohing” and “ahhing” over each person’s quilts.

Additional photos were taken with quilts staged on the chairs, boardwalk, etc. I’m looking forward to seeing which photos they use.

Ellen Lindner

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“Ahead of the Storm” Completed

By on October 29, 2018 in Uncategorized

In the fall of 2017, hurricane Irma set its sights on Florida. Although Floridians don’t get too excited about most hurricanes, this one was a category 5, the strongest possible.  It’s path was hard to predict, so ALL of the Florida peninsula was in the strike zone.  As a result, widespread evacuations were ordered and everyone took the storm very seriously. The outcome was over 6.5 million people evacuating, over one-quarter of the state’s population!

As you might imagine, this mass exodus created a new set of problems: huge traffic jams, gas shortages, and a lack of available hotel rooms.  All of this factored in as I (a Floridian) designed this piece.

Ahead of the StormAhead of the Storm, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

The swirl of fabric strips was a bit of play that I had done a couple of years before. It served as the perfect starting point for the composition.

I hand stitched the name of the hurricane, as well as some text about the evacuation issues.

Ahead of the Storm - detail, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I made this quilt for a call for art named “Forced to Flee.” However, I sold it right away, so I won’t be entering it after all.

My best patron, my mom, was the buyer. Shortly after purchasing it, she meekly asked, “How much trouble would it be to remove the word ‘Irma’?” What? That’s the main point, right?  But, I got it: she had no relationship to that particular hurricane and preferred something generic.  Now, I wouldn’t do this for anyone else, but for my mother, what could I say?  Of course, I removed it.

Afterwards, I thought it looked a little empty in that corner, so I added “Category 5,” much smaller. I forgot to take a picture of the revised version, but this computer edited photo will give you a pretty good idea.

Ahead of the Storm, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I have to admit I think it looks better and my mom loves it.

Have you ever altered a piece of art after finishing it?  Or after SELLING it?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. We didn’t evacuate for Irma only because there’s a shelter just down the road.  We knew we could get there quickly if needed. Fortunately for us, it only side swiped us as a much weaker storm. We tend to measure the strength of storms in the number of days the power was out.  This one was only a few hours!

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Hurricane Matthew

By on October 11, 2016 in Uncategorized

Nothing like a major hurricane to interrupt blog posting!  By late Wednesday, October 5th, Matthew was predicted to be a category 4 and was heading straight for Melbourne, FL, where I live!

hurricane-matthew-projection-for-melbourne

We finally decided to evacuate, and began to pack.  You don’t need a lot when you flee a hurricane: your personal items, medications and medical records, home owners insurance policy, computer hard drives, chargers, passwords, and maybe some entertainment.

I decided not to take any quilts.  I knew I could make them all again.  But, I was concerned about our family photo albums.  Not wanting to lug them with us, I put them in a water tight area, the dryer.  We also lifted a few things off the floor, like the abundance of quilts I store under my son’s bed.

Dodging hurricane Matthew

Since we didn’t decide to evacuate until very late in the game, there were no hotel rooms available.  Instead, we went to a nearby shelter early on the 6th.  It turned out to be a very good option.  Of course, that did require quite a bit of additional packing: sleeping bags, air mattresses, and camping chairs.

This was our home away from home, where we spent the next 24 hours.

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It was very well organized and not a bad way to weather the storm.  We shared an elementary school classroom with a total of 12 people.  Everyone was nice and we got along well.  Every room had a bathroom, additional sink, and water fountain.  Plus a TV for the REQUIRED weather watching.  And WIFI!

The Red Cross fed us, which was a pleasant surprise.  Meals were the “main event,” (even though the food was only fair.)  I’m NOT complaining!  There were about 1100 people in our shelter, so the line was always long.  No worries, though.  We generally talked with the people around us.

Dodging hurricane Matthew

There was lots of storm noise during the night, when Matthew came its closest at about 3 AM.  THANKFULLY, for us, it stayed just off shore, so local damage was not nearly as bad as expected.  Still, the wind and rain managed to blow under the doors of the school.

Dodging hurricane Matthew

The next morning, we packed up quickly, and hurried home to find our home UNDAMAGED.  Woohoo!  We fired up the generator and sat around in front of fans until our power started again mid-afternoon.  All in all, an amazingly trauma free event.

BIG KUDOS to the staff of Meadowlane Intermediate and to the Brevard County Emergency Management Preparedness  Folks!  Preparations were wonderful, our needs were met, and everyone was kept safe.

Thankful to be living in the well-prepared Sunshine State,
Ellen Lindner

P.S.  Did you notice the Goldilocks look to our sleeping set up?  I was the “baby bear” since I’m quite short.  Still, it was pretty comfortable for all of us.

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