Emily Williams aka etheldora

Photo of an elephant facing right wearing a checked knitted blanket while on sandy outdoor ground under a chill bright blue sky

Volunteers created blankets for elephants during a cold spell in Myanmar, Winga Baw Elephant camp #WomensArt

Small mustard yellow quilt with comic book style “Wow!” appliqué

Comic Book Heroes: WOW! First in a series?

It was great fun to play with fusible bias tape and pop arty style … but the color is quite difficult to photograph. Though my favorite shirt insists it is a perfectly fine color …

#quiltsky #biastape

The Trump-Supreme Court battle is not really the crisis.

The crisis is here now. Trump is enacting an insidious coordinated attack on our institutions of democratic accountability, designed to crater democracy before next fall.

1/ A long 🧵to explain the plan & how we stop it.

Cat wearing crown … only cats should be kings

No Kings!
(Except maybe me …)
.
Speak up. Make phone calls. Send letters. Provide support services for organizations you care about.
Check out 5calls.org or indivisible.org for ideas

Fundraising letter from the Republican National Committee with an all caps misspelling of the word “desperate.”

And these are the people trying to eliminate the Dept of Education …

(Don’t know why they think I would donate, but I’ll let them waste money on the letters.)

Who Gives A Crap USA Help reduce deforestation with eco-friendly products in the US. 50% of profits donated to global causes. Join us and shop now!

whogivesacrap.org

Completed quilt top for my modern version of our reproductive rights quilt. There are 50 unique blocks, one for each US state. The colors used in each block are keyed to the state’s current reproductive rights laws. Way too much blood red and black … indicating abortion bans or extreme restrictions that put women at risk.

Piles of scraps from making the blocks become a fabric-covered rope bowl

The more traditional version of the quilt which was the inspiration for the modern version.

Modern version of the reproductive rights quilt top is finished. Re-designed/re-made a few blocks and re-embroidered a few that needed to rotate. I could have kept re-arranging the blocks for weeks but made myself stop.
Lots of scraps … time to make rope bowls.
And the original quilt my group made.

Photo of virtual art gallery entrance

My quilt “Lightly Tethered,” nine small compositions brought together on a white square

Please join the Menino Arts Center for an on online viewing and reading of their “Images Then Words Exhibition” on their virtual 3D Gallery. Tues, Feb 11, 7-9pm

You will need to register for the Zoom link. www.hpaa-mac.org/exhibits/

My “Lightly Tethered” is excited to be read to! See you there?

Quilt block with lots of seams. A pink circle with a grey triangle inserted at bottom of the circle

Same quilt block but with fewer piecing seams. But I cut the circle is cut bigger on one side. I didn’t slow down and measure properly.

Next block re-work to eliminate seams …
Like it much better without all the seams but I really should learn to take my time and cut a proper circle!
Third try may be happening …

Thanks. And we all see differently, that’s what’s so fun about art!

Thank you, it is fun to play

Finished block with inset corner seams

First seam

Second seam

Finished and pressed seam

Ended up remaking a couple blocks that weren’t making me happy.
This one I remade by piecing odd, inset corner, shapes. I’m rather proud of myself.
It actually was easier than cutting the shapes down into smaller pieces with straight seams. Huh, who knew?

Nine different layouts of quilts blocks with very small differences between them

Open to the possibility that I am overthinking this quilt layout thing …

Quilt blocks laid out on floor

Cat on sewing table, not actually helping but looking cute

Fussing about with the layout of my minimalist version of our Reproductive Rights quilt. A block for each state, representing their current reproductive rights laws.
And getting expert advice from my assistant …

Writing emails to the sponsors of AQS will probably do more to effect change than a boycott. Not saying we shouldn’t boycott AQS, but I believe that their sponsors should be given a chance to help them see the error of their ways.
#quiltsky

100 Years of Women’s Voices Through Quilting and Sewing For centuries, quilting and sewing have been more than domestic tasks. They have served as powerful forms of expression—a tactile language through which women have woven their stories, identitie

I’m totally appreciating @accuquilt.bsky.social’s blog post today. It strikes me as a direct response to the censorship of the AQS. I see you and appreciate you, Accuquilt!

www.accuquilt.com/blog/news/10...

Tub with fabric covered with dye powder and fresh snow. Left it to do its stuff for about 48 hours …

I used moss green with a little deep yellow. However, it’s a little dull and I think maybe I didn’t use enough soda ash? Maybe overdye with some more deep yellow? I didn’t realize the splitting of colors happens but I might have if I’d thought about it. There are very few pure colors so most “split” into their component colors, e.g. green is made of blue and yellow. If my ancient chemistry knowledge is of any use, the different color molecules move at different speeds. See chromatography.

Snow/ice dyeing is for the patient … not one of my strong points … but very interesting so I will be trying it again.

The interesting part is the way the colors in the dye separate during the slow process of the snow melting.

Used moss green and a little deep yellow. And not enough soda ash?

Woo hoo!! Great news! The SAQA board voted unanimously to pull the entire show out of AQS (see previous post for details)

And the International Quilt Museum has acquired my quilt for their permanent collection!

We all could use some good news. Thank you everyone for making your voices heard!

Woot!

Why I'm Boycotting the American Quilter's Society — Io the Alien The American Quilter's Society has a long history of censoring artists. Read about their history of censorship, and why I'm boycotting AQS shows.

Posting this again, as I’ve updated my blog to include work from a second artist that was censored. The American Quilter’s Society sees (nonexistent) genitalia everywhere they look. 🍆 🍑

#quiltsky #art #censorship

www.iothealien.com/blog/censors...

step 1: control the media …

Thank you

Laura Shaw’s quilt will not be shown as part of the SAQA exhibit at AQS (American Quilter’s Society) shows due to its subject matter: women’s reproductive rights. This quilt was shown at Quiltcon in 2023 and been part of a SAQA traveling exhibit since then.

Quilt has been censored due to its subject matter: women’s reproductive rights.
Annual attendance at AQS quilt shows is about 37,000 (according to their website). The vast majority are female.
Words fail me.

Shameful

Jeanne Williamson Ostroff’s Wordle Paintings show at Storefront Art Projects at 83 Spring St in Watertown MA.

Jeanne works with patterns and boundaries inspired by construction fences, charts of her daily walks, and Wordle puzzles. This piece is painted and stitched on old embroidered and appliquéd table cloth.

This piece is based on her daily walks, charting distances and more. Wonderful and made me think about how (and if) we chart or record our lives.

The next show is Lois Tarlow’s paintings of Maine and New Mexico, opening Feb 8.

Visited a “new-to-me” gallery in Watertown. Storefront Art Projects, 83 Spring St, Watertown MA

On display were Jeanne Williamson Ostroff’s “Wordle Paintings.” Her works are inspired by daily walks, grids, and puzzles

The next show is Lois Tarlow’s paintings of Maine and New Mexico, opening Feb 8.

Peaceful cat sleeping … an excellent role model for resetting my life goals this evening

Re-aligning my life goals this evening …

Happy #caturday

Exhibition flyer for “Images Then Words” at the Menino Arts Center in Boston. A collaboration of works by visual artists and written word artists

Lightly Tethered is my art quilt composed of nine individual, but related, abstract pieces mounted together

Please join my pal Lightly Tethered and me at the reception for “Images Then Words” this Saturday, January 25, 3:30 – 5 pm, at Menino Arts Center in Hyde Park.
An exhibition of Word Artists responding to Image Artists. Viewable in person or in a virtual 3D gallery.
www.hpaa-mac.org/exhibits/.%E...

and that quilts illustrating women’s bodies and pregnancy are “adult only” … which I kind of get but is an overall sad statement on how we view women … etc …

Knitted dress with George W Bush commentary re: Hurricane Katrina.

Back of dress with “joke” response to how will folks get out of New Orleans after Katrina, “I don’t care if they Roe or Wade”

Coat hangers cut, shaped, and coated with red lipstick

Still learn bluesky …
Only four pictures per post …
More from the Kniznick at Brandeis

Photos of some of the artwork in the “Wrongs & RIGHTS” exhibit at Brandeis’ Kniznick gallery. Knitted wall-hanging illustrates the current unraveling of reproductive rights

Visited “Wrongs & RIGHTS” at the Brandeis University Women’s Research Center’s Kniznick Gallery.
The exhibit “brings together five decades of work supporting the intergenerational battle for reproductive rights …”
It closes at the end of next week and I highly recommend scheduling a guided tour.