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Dear Friends:
My weekend was a celebration of life and creativity. It started with The Library of Virginia’s 2008 Virginia Women in History award, and I am most honored to have been selected as one of their eight honorees this year. The Library of Virginia’s staff is so organized, and what a lovely evening it was. I had so much fun meeting everyone and learning about the other honorees.
Representatives of the Nottoway Indians were there to accept the award on behalf of Wané Roonseraw, also known as Edith Turner, (ca. 1754-1838) of Southampton County. She was chief of the Nottoway (Cheroenhaka) and successfully navigated nineteenth-century Nottoway and Anglo-American societies while she strove to keep the tribe’s children on the reservation. The Nottoway are a refined, lovely people, and I have so much respect for them. I learned from Chief Walt “Red Hawk” Brown that the Nottoway are going to hold their 7th Annual Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Pow Wow and Gathering this July 26 & 27 at the Southampton County, Virginia, Fair Grounds. How I wish I could go, but I will be in Berlin, Ohio, that same weekend for a show with Berlin Creek Gallery. However, Chief Red Hawk told me that the general public is welcome, so if you would like more information, please contact him at WDBrownIII@aol.com. Their Pow Wow Chairman is Mona “Quiet Storm” Cunnikin, and she may be reached at monafc@hotmail.com.
One of the highlights of my evening was meeting the men and women of the Nottoway. They are beautiful people, in every sense of the word, and so appreciative of the respect that was paid to their tribe by The Library of Virginia. Standing to my left in the picture above are Bob Almond, Executive Director of the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education, and Jake Henderson, President of P. Buckley Moss Galleries, Ltd. Look at the beautiful native dresses of the women in the picture below! I can’t stress enough what a privilege it was for me to meet them.
How I wish I could have known each of the honorees, but some of them lived long ago and some have just recently passed on. All of them are fascinating, intelligent women, and I felt blessed to be honored with them. What a neat feeling to be part of history in my own lifetime! Two of them whom I did get to meet were novelist Sharyn McCrumb of Roanoke County and Judge Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy of Richmond. Sharyn McCrumb’s novels reflect the rich culture and heritage of the Appalachian Mountains. I found out that Judge Lacy and I have something in common, and that is we’re both dyslexic. Judge Lacy was the first woman to serve on the State Corporation Commission and on the Supreme Court of Virginia. What an inspiration she is for those with learning differences
Sharyn McCrumb and I share a love for the culture and history of Virginia.
Everyone who spoke was very good. When it was my turn, I introduced the Foundation’s Executive Director Bob Almond and talked about the work of the Foundation and the P. Buckley Moss Society and their awards and programs to benefit children, with a particular focus on those who learn differently.
Among the many people there were my friends Floyd Boothe and Shirley Wells. Floyd is a member of the Society and a volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate Association), which supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children. Shirley and her husband Al were instrumental in organizing the Foundation for Children’s Education. Al served as the first president of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and Shirley served as secretary of the Foundation for several years. Also present were members of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an honorary society for key women educators that promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education of its more than 116,000 members. I was very honored to be inducted as an honorary member last spring. How wonderful to have a welcoming committee at The Library of Virginia waiting for me!
While the awards and honors that I receive are given in my name, I accept them with the knowledge that I am doing so on behalf of all of you who support the work of the Society and the Foundation and on behalf of the Society and Foundation themselves. None of it would be possible without wonderful people who care about others. Thank you!
Jake and I left Richmond around 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. and arrived at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, around 1:00 a.m. My daughter Patty had driven up on Wednesday to set up our booth for the 21st Annual Quilters’ Heritage Celebration.
Patty did a fabulous job of setting up our booth for the quilt convention. Isn’t it amazing what one woman can do?
The Quilters’ Heritage Celebration was amazing! The show was organized and set up superbly by Rita Barber of Barber Diversified. It took up three convention halls and everyone, including us, visited all three of them. Jake really had no idea how much creativity and talent goes into quilting, so the show was quite an eye-opener for him. Of course, I had to buy a machine quilting frame. The booth next to ours was selling them, and I love sewing so I had to try it out several times. I couldn’t resist buying it. There were so many clever and inspirational ideas brought to life on fabric there. I came back home with the wheels in my head spinning in overdrive.
Rita Barber, organizer of The Quilters’ Heritage Celebration, brought me up above the convention hall where the security guards watch the whole thing. She took me on a tour of all three convention halls. In the picture I’m wearing my skirt that Jenny Beyer made for me over 25 years ago. Everyone loved my skirt but could hardly believe that Jenny had done a crazy quilt pattern on it, contemporary quilter that she is now.
This quilt convention had everything, even appraisers (pictured above). Rita showed me this area, and I was very privileged. People weren’t allowed in there unless they were having things appraised, like the lady in the orange sweater, and there was no talking allowed either. I very much enjoyed seeing how the whole thing worked.
For my Saturday luncheon talk, Jake put up slides of my quilt prints and the quilted wall hangings that quilters have designed using my painted, fabric centerpieces. (I also bought some fabric paints so I can have more fabric colors to work with when designing my centerpieces.) I explained that the wall hangings have been auctioned for charity, and I talked about the meaning of quilts in my art. I saw a lot of old friends and met quite a lot of new ones. I certainly hope to be invited to show with the Quilters’ Heritage Celebration again!
Another quilted wall hanging will be auctioned this coming weekend during the Saturday night Dinner Dance at my Collectors’ Convention at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in Riverside, Iowa. It measures 30 x 30 inches square and features one of my hand-painted centerpieces. Pearl Yoder of the Moss Country Friends Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society in Kalona, Iowa, is doing the quilting. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education.
Pearl Yoder of the Moss Country Friends Chapter of the Society is putting the finishing touches on the quilted wall hanging that will be auctioned this weekend at my Collectors’ Convention in Riverside, Iowa. Isn’t it magnificent and so appropriate for spring!We’re going to do a little something different with the quilted bunny wall hanging and the Dinner Dance auction this time. In the past, only those attending the Dinner Dance have had an opportunity to bid on the items for auction. For this particular wall hanging, we are going to give the newsletter readers who can’t attend the Convention and Dinner Dance a chance to bid by e-mail. If you would like to place a bid for the wall hanging, please e-mail it along with your contact information to triciamiles@pbuckleymoss.com NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. EST FRIDAY, APRIL 4. All bids received will be given to the auctioneer and will be included with those placed during the actual auction.
I’m looking forward to this weekend and seeing so many of my Iowa friends. Friday morning there will be a bus tour of the Kalona area, followed by the opening of the Convention Friday afternoon. I’ll be available from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. to meet collectors and sign my work. The Convention reopens Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. with lots of fun activities planned throughout the day. I’ll be available all day, except when I give a special welcome to collectors and friends at 11:15 a.m., to sign my work. The Dinner Dance and auction starts at 6:30 p.m. and has a “Proud to be an American” theme. Patriotic dress is optional, but I plan on wearing red, white, and blue. The Moss Country Friends Chapter and other Iowa-based chapters have put together 100 Freedom Bags, which contain donated gifts and P. Buckley Moss gift certificates and may be purchased for $20 each. One lucky bag will also contain a certificate for a framed, miniature original watercolor. We’ll have a buffet dinner, music, and dancing. The whole weekend is going to be great fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Love,
Pat
I couldn’t resist sharing this picture of my Easter orchids. They love this corner of my sun porch
The Moss
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©P. Buckley Moss 2005