Fiber Turkeys on Etsy! Plus, Some Fun-and-not-so-fun Facts on the Bird...

Turkeys

Credit: Jurek D.
Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution

"Some 46 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day, about the same as in previous years, said Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation." (Gator Sports)

I like animals, all of them, and in my head I am a vegetarian. But, in real life, I am a weak carnivore and deeply ashamed by it. I don't really have an issue with animals being eaten, at least not philosophically, in an environment where they are also deeply valued as esteemed fellow beings- you know... old fashioned farms where they get to exercise, frolic, get nipped by a herding dog, mate, have their young ... or shot with an arrow by a sinewy native who then says a blessing as the animal's light fades from its eyes... (romanticized versions, of course!), but I do have a moral problem with the meat industry and how animals are treated in order to meet the quotas our society demands.

I was just going to write a cute post about turkeys on Etsy. There are some wonderful turkeys there! Like this sock turkey! Isn't it just the cutest toy for a kid?

Sock Turkey

SOCKstar $20

Or, look at the elegance in this blockprint! The artist said she was inspired by the wild turkeys that run around where her parents live.

Blockprint Turkey Towel

artgoodies $15

Turkeys really are, even with all the fleshy head stuff they have going on, beautiful birds indeed. Here's a dandy from the 1800's:

1867 Turkeys

PetitPoulailler $19.85

Meanwhile, back at the turkey ranch...
"More than 255 million turkeys were slaughtered in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. That means the average American consumes about 17 pounds of turkey meat each year. ...

Most of today's turkeys are intensively confined in crowded, dirty sheds with no natural sunlight, let alone fresh grass or woods to forage in or trees to roost in. Millions of tons of waste from these farms pollute nearby waterways and cause other environmental damage.

Selective breeding and growth hormones have been a boon to the meat industry, causing turkeys to grow very large over a very short period of time. But the birds, unable to withstand this unnatural size, suffer numerous chronic health problems."(ABC News)

And, good ole' PETA, of course runs in defense of the turkey. Their Peta Files, listed Top 10 Reasons to Pardon a Turkey. The first one is because turkeys are really smart birds who love to play. They compared it to eating your pet cat. Number eight might be more convincing to the health conscious:

8. Turkey consumption might kill you.
"Turkey flesh is brimming with fat and cholesterol. Just one homemade patty of ground, cooked turkey meat contains a whopping 244 mg of cholesterol, and half of its calories come from fat. Turkey flesh is also frequently tainted with salmonella, campylobacter bacteria, and other contaminants. And a vegan meal won't leave you sprawled on the couch, belt buckle undone, barely able to move."

Sigh...

On the brighter side of life, fight all that bacteria with a nice turkey sachet:

Turkey Spiced Pumpkin Sachets

lynchgirl 2 for $5

Some things I didn't know about this poor bird, culled from baltimoremd.com:

- Turkeys originated in North and Central America, and evidence indicates that they have been around for over 10 million years.

- Until 1863, Thanksgiving Day had not been celebrated annually since the first feast in 1621. This changed in 1863 when Sarah Josepha Hale encouraged Abraham Lincoln to set aside the last Thursday in November "as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer."

- In Mexico, the turkey was considered a sacrificial bird.

- Domesticated turkeys (farm raised) cannot fly. Wild turkeys can fly for short distances at up to 55 miles per hour. Wild turkeys are also fast on the ground, running at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.

- Only male turkeys (toms) gobble. Females (hens) make a clicking noise.

- The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 pounds -- about the size of a large German Shepherd -- and was grown in England.

- Mature turkeys have 3,500 or so feathers. The Apache Indians considered the turkey timid and wouldn't eat it or use its feathers on their arrows.

- More than 45 million turkeys are cooked and 525 million pounds of turkey are eaten during Thanksgiving.

- Ninety percent of American homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Fifty percent eat turkey on Christmas.

- North Carolina produces 61 million turkeys annually, more than any other state. Minnesota and Arkansas are number two and three.

- Benjamin Franklin, the great American statesman, thought the turkey was so American it should have been chosen as our national symbol rather than the eagle.

- The fleshy growth from the base of the beak, which is very long on male turkeys and hangs down over the beak, is called the snood.

Would you like some turkey feathers? Get them from Rana Muck, who harvests them sustainably. Lots of other great bird feathers can also be found in this shop.

4 Wisconsin Turkey Feathers
RanaMuck $4.25

As I was traveling around Etsy, looking for cool turkeys, lo and behold! I found something in my own shop! I had completely forgotten about this mola, and I must say, it really is a nice one!

Turkey Mola

Rayela Art $24

So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. 46 million turkeys, put out of their misery, will be hacked and consumed. I heard someone say once that if we eat happy food, we will also be happy. But, if what we consume is misery, than we will certainly be miser-able. Hmmm... an interesting play on words there. Get it?

Without any more dampening of the celebration, we do have much to be thankful for, at least I know I do! And, in that spirit, I wish you all a wonderful time with family and friends. Enjoy your pumpkin pie, your corn and squash, pass the rolls and give me some of that cranberry sauce...............

......gobble, gobble!

Fiber Turkeys on Etsy! Plus, Some Fun-and-not-so-fun Facts on the Bird...

Paradise Found: A Mola Quilt by Rayela Art

Paradise Found, a mola quilt by Rayela Art

For years and years, I have been promising my friend Diane that I would make her a quilt. Guilt has plagued me as for those same years and years as Diane has been one of those friends who walks the talk. She has consistently given support in the form of advice (as a chemist, Diane is a well of knowledge in all household and textile care tips), as a customer, as a knitter (I have benefited as the recipient of wonderful woolen goodies), as a book pusher (many of my favorite authors came through Diane's guidance), and much, much more.

Diane, AKA The Yin-Yang Knitter here on the blog
and DLouse on our Fiber Focus group.

Last April, Diane came down from Wisconsin to help me with my booth during the Quilt Show here in Paducah. I had just purchased a bunch of molas to sell on Etsy and we decided that I would finally make true on my promise of a quilt, using bird molas as the basic theme. Our booth was next to Bob (also a Fiber Focus member) and Helene's, who were selling fabric. Diane scoured through and picked a selection that she liked:

Aaargh! For all that we do have in common, our color palettes are not one of them. I prefer earthy, more subdued colors, while Diane's favorite color is bright yellow. However, I admit that her choices work well with the bright colors the Kuna Indians like to use in their molas. For months, the fabric sat in a pile- I just couldn't see what to do with it. Then, leafing through a quilting book I have, New Cuts for New Quilts by Karla Alexander, I saw what I could do.

The book shows different techniques for "stacking the deck", where layers of fabric are stacked and then cut in free form. Rotate the layers and you get repeat blocks, but with different fabrics. The quilt is very busy, so it may be hard to see the blocks, but the center is made of big, bold leaf designs, alternating the flaming oranges with lighter fabrics. The border on the top and bottom is another set of stacked decks and the sides alternate larger molas with forest greens. Perhaps some symbolism can be read into the reds and greens, referring to the destruction of our forests around the world and the hope that this paradise may somehow continue to exist.

Small molitas are appliqued throughout the center with large leaves protruding from behind them. The larger molas on the sides were sewn into the quilt as part of the piecing.

The quilt looks a lot better "live" than it does in the photos. Some close ups will help show the details.

Border Medium Size Molas:






Small Molitas with Big Leaves Appliqued in the Middle:




The Back of the Quilt
I like to bring elements of the front to the back of the quilt. In fact, I really like the simplicity this brings and often prefer my backs to the tops I've made. Most of the quilts I've made have been for other people so their tastes or designs have been dominant over what I would prefer to do. I long to play more with these ideas.
I also like the prairie points that go around the border of the quilt.

There was absolutely no way that I would be able to quilt this thing! Molas involve layers of fabric appliqued and reverse-appliqued so that they can often be quite thick. Diane hired our friend, Pam (another Fiber Focus member), to do the quilting. Pam is a professional long-arm quilter and did a great job! I told her I imagined vines and tropical leaves throughout the piece.

Pam Heavrin, Professional Long-Arm Quilter

Pam knew exactly how to translate my idea into reality! The quilting shows up best on the back.

Paradise Found is also about friendship and the collaboration we do together with our interests. Diane saw the vision, Bob and Helene had the fabric, I put it together, and Pam made it all stick! Plus, there is the international touch with the molas, bringing people and nature together. If the quilt were mine, I would have overdyed the whole thing to tone the colors down, but Diane absolutely loves it and that is what counts.

Molas are wonderful center pieces to work with and I hope this piece inspires you to look at the ones I have listed on Etsy. This quilt used 16 molitas, which could become quite costly, but simpler versions could be done. Molas are sturdy and work great to applique on pillows, jean jackets, bags, and other accessories. If you have ever made any mola projects, leave a comment and give us all some more ideas on how to use them!

Books on the Kuna, Molas and Stacking the Deck,
available on Amazon
Purchases through this widget help support this blog.

Note on Commissions: I am available for commissions. I enjoy doing them, especially if I have some freedom in coming up with ideas. A similar quilt to Diane's (in terms of labor) would be around $1,500 plus cost of materials and another $300 or so for Pam to quilt it. I especially enjoy working on memory quilts that honor a person or occasion. I will not be able to start on any new projects until after the New Year, but will happily work on commissions after that.

Paradise Found: A Mola Quilt by Rayela Art

The Gourd Patch Festival, Mayfield, Kentucky

Photos courtesy of Bob Davis

The days are still warm and pleasant here in Western Kentucky, but Summer has officially ended and signs of Fall and colder weather begin to manifest themselves. Leaves start to turn, night comes a bit quicker, that tell-tale chill in the morning... yep. The cold is on its way here.

With the change of season comes harvest and bountiful, beautiful pumpkins and gourds. A couple of my Paducah Fiber Artists friends and I took a trek to attend the Gourd Patch Festival in nearby Mayfield, Kentucky. What a wonder!


I've seen gourds before and plenty of pumpkins. But, I don't think I've seen so many varieties, such vibrant colors and all that texture!







We learned that the gourds are dried by leaving them on the vine, in the field, and the ones that survive the elements will make good gourds for craft use. I picked a few that I want to experiment using henna designs:


There was plenty to do at the festival as it featured gourd vendors, craft booths, a Gourd-mobile derby (!!!), food concessions, live music, a hay-bale maze, with the day ending in a ghost walk at a nearby cemetery (we didn't stay for that!).

Vendors definitely had a brisk business!

David Meeks from the Pumpkin Barn sells raw
gourds and these birdhouses he makes.

Paula Martin, of Nashville, Tennessee, looked around,
getting ideas for what she was going to make with the gourds she bought.

Many of the crafts were season oriented with Halloween, Fall and Christmas decorations in mind.



Others were quite lovely, appropriate for year round use.

Murray State University's Gourd Percussion Band tried really hard to make a commotion (they could have used some mikes...), but they were cute and darling.


My friend, Bob, posed for a portrait:

A great likeness in my opinion!


The Ice House Gallery (Yep! It really was an ice house way back when...) sheltered the masterpieces by gourd artists from all over the country.

It's amazing what different people came up with! Pigs, dragons, presidents, and intricate ornamental work revealed themselves through this gourd art.

At the back of the Ice House Gallery, there is a little shop and an art room for classes. I enjoyed speaking with one of the local artists (the guy who made the dragon).


We rushed out because we didn't want to miss the Gourd Mobile Derby. Our friend, Margaret had been volunteering inside, while her husband, Fred, also a gourd artist, got all the gourd cars ready for the big competition. For weeks before, kids prepared for this event by getting their spiffed up gourd cars ready. The base is from a kit, the same on all of them, but the top is up to the artist.

As you can see, some stayed close to traditional car designs, while others went wild with their imagination:


The cars are raced, three at a time on this special track. It was surprising to see which ones got the best umph!

We loaded up our pumpkins and gourds with ideas spinning around in our heads of what we might be able to create with these wonderful shapes! I'm sure there will be some tasty pies coming up in the next few weeks as well. Yum, yum!


The Exhibit at the Ice House Gallery continues through October 11. That's at the Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild, 120 North Eighth Street, Mayfield, KY 42066. If you are a gourd artist and would like to submit your work next year ($1,000 award!!!), you can contact Dana Heath at icehouse@wk.net, 270-247-6971. They accept work from all over the United States.

The Mayfield Gourd Patch Festival is sponsored by the City of Mayfield, the Mayfield Tourism Commission, and the Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild. See www.icehousearts.org for more information.

The Gourd Patch Festival, Mayfield, Kentucky