Spring of 2007

*Photo Session with John Blaustein for the Irvine Foundation-A big thank you to John . He is also taking the photos for the book we are making, featuring quilts and stories of 45 Los Hilos de la Vida Artists.
*Lee Serrie and Los Hilos are still working on our Documentary film which we plan to have completed in June 2007
*Women's Cancer Resource Center, Oakland show was 11/2006 to 2/2007. We want to thank Art & Remembrance for the royal treatment at our opening, for providing money for transportation, for helping us with advertising costs and for doing a dual show with us so viewers could compare/contrast the artwork of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz (a fabric artist who depicts scenes of her childhood during the Polish Holocaust) to the works of the artists of Los Hilos de la Vida
*Rural Community Assistance Corporation Conference-Long Beach, February 26-March 1st
*A special thanks to Karen Musgrave for promoting our program from Chicago. She recently came out in March and interviewed our quilters for the Save our Stories Project, a project of the Alliance for American Quilts . Upon her return to Chicago she wrote a wonderful article about Los Hilos which will come out in the December 2007 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. AND THEN Karen called Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) and helped us get accepted for the October 2008 Show! We'll see you there!
*Breggo Cellars, Boonville until April 2007
*Scharffenberger Cellars, Philo Until April 2007
*Mendocino Hotel, Mendocino-May 3-17. opening Cinco de Mayo for info call Jaime at 937-0051 or Molly at (707)895-3277.
*Memorial Weekend Quilt Show, Guests of Honor May 25, 26, 27 363 North Main Street, FB
*La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley June-July
*Lauren's Restaurant - Don't miss the Art Walk on the 4th of July! The show will be up until August.
*August or TBA: We also hope to have our new book printed and ready for signing during our show at Lauren's.

Hanging the show and the Marin Market

Some of the Los Hilos women went to the bay area last weekend to sell quilts at the Marin Farmer's Market. They made many new friends and sold two pieces. Many people came by the farmer's market and Eva said "Hey, welcome!" in English. She tried salty pineapple chicken legs for the first time at Whole Foods and said it was very rich.

They also went to the Women's Cancer Resource Center and the Judah L. Magnes Museum and met with the art director Margo, who was a great help. Our show is called "Stitching Their Stories" and is co-sponsored by Art & Remembrance, whose show will coincide with ours.

Women's Cancer Resource Center gallery
5741 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland
"Los Hilos de la Vida/ Threads of Life"
December 3, 2006-January 19, 2007
Opening with the Artists Sunday, December 3, 2006, 12-3pm

Judah L. Magnes Museum
2911 Russell Street, Berkeley
November 20, 2006-February 11, 2007
"Through the Eye of the Needle: Fabric Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz"
Opening Sunday, December 3, 2006, 2-5 pm


We did have a few mishaps along the way. Luzma suddenly became very ill and the van took a three hour detour to the emergency room through rush hour traffic in Berkeley. She was fine and we got home OK.

-Amy

The Community Foundation is sponsoring the making of our documentary film and book. The book, coming out in the summer of 2007, will have one story and picture of a quilt from each woman participating in the program.

We will also have a show opening November 20th with an opening reception December 3 at the Women's Cancer Resource Center at 5741 Telegraph Avenue (off Ashby) Oakland, CA 94609. The show is in conjunction with a show by Art and Remembrance, "Memories of Survival" at The Judah A. Magnes Museum. Their opening will also be December 3. The joint show idea was the brainchild of Benita Kline, who saw our show at CIIS, and Molly, who has worked so hard to make this happen. Please come and see both quilt shows which feature themes of struggle, celebration, and survival.

Marin Farmer's Market Show

We are getting ready for a show and sale of our work at the Marin Farmer's Market on Sunday, November 19th! The Market is held at the Civic Center in San Rafael, 8am to 1 pm. There are so many new quilts and stories, we are scrambling to get them ready for the show. I am starting to work with the women of Los Hilos, and I will be writing on blogspot occasionally, so stay tuned!!

-Amy

Mendocino College Gallery Show

Our show opened on September 7th and goes to October 19. Gallery hours are 12:30-3:30 Tuesday-Thursday or by appointment (707)468-3207. Thank you to Paula Gray, who has made this show special by offering tours to many of the college classes. Thanks to those of you who supported us during our opening party.

Thank you Margaret for the gift of lovely batiks!

Many of our artists have children at Mendocino College. These students had a chance to see their mothers honored as artists.

Carmela's Day of the Dead Quilt

New Show at Pumpkin Seeds fabric store in San Rafael

Jennifer McCoy saw our quilts at the Point Reyes Farmers Market and she invited us to hang a show in her welcoming, well stocked store, Pumpkin Seeds. Please stop by and visit Jennifer, Norma and Leslie at 1414 4th Street, between D & E in San Rafael. The show runs until April 30, 2006. Call Pumpkin Seeds (415)453-4758 for store hours. There is a wonderful article in the Marin Independent Journal. Many thanks to the Bay Area quilters for all of the generous donations we received at our opening! We are very pleased that three quilts have sold already.

La Medusa
Medusa
by Olga Medina

La Charreria Mujeres Charras O Escaramuzas by Luzma Bucio

En México con la llegada de los españoles se formaron las grandes haciendas, dando lugar a la llegada de trabajadores para atender al ganado. Esto obligo a los hacendados a buscar a los mestizos para atender dicho ganado. Los mestizos buscaron nuevas técnicas para domesticar a los animales. Creándose así los chinacos como fueron llamados en aquel tiempo ahora son charros que se dedican ir por pueblos llevando este deporte mexicano esto a traspasado fronteras, ya que tenido concursos fuera del país.
Las suertes charras que ahora se conocen se llaman LAZO A CABALLO, COLEADERO, JINETEAR, AMANSAR YEGUAS, SUERTES A PIE Y A CABALLO, Y ESCARAMUSAS.
En este cuadro me enfoque en las escaramuzas. Ya que fue todo
un reto para las mujeres poder entrar en un ruedo montadas a caballo. El dominar un caballo les dio el pase para un papel en una careada. Las escaramuzas se presentan después del PASO DE LA MUERTE. Son las que adornan nuestro deporte nacional y le dan elegancia como toda MUJER CHARRA.

TRADICION MEXICANA, ORGULLO DE NUESTRA TIERRA.

The Cowgirls Of The Mexican Rodeo by Luzma Bucio

When the Spanish arrived to Mexico they built huge haciendas. The Spanish needed workers to care for their cattle. Even though, at that time the Spanish did not like the Mestizos, they needed their help to take care of their cattle. The Mestizos looked for new ways to domesticate the animals. In this way, the first chinacos, “cowboys” were born during that time. Now they are called Charros. They are dedicated to going to pueblos continuing this Mexican tradition and sport. This sport has traveled across borders, and now the tradition takes place outside of the country of Mexico.
The skills that the Charros, cowboys, demonstrate are: lassoing,
lassoing tricks while on horse back, like jumping through the lasso while it is spinning and rider is standing on a horse; coleadero, the cowboy grabs a calf by the neck and flips it while being timed; jinetear, bucking bull; amansar yeguas, like coleadero, except the cowboy ties the calf’s legs. suertes a pie y a caballo, fall an animal with a lasso, from a horse or on foot; escaramusas, cowgirls riding in sequence.
In this quilt I focus on the cowgirls. It was very difficult for women to become part of the rodeo, they had to ride sidesaddle. The first cowgirl in Mexico rode in 1810. By riding horses in the show, women participated in the rodeo ring for the first time. The women’s horse show takes place after the Paso de la Muerte (an event where a cowboy jumps from one bucking bull to a second one.) Now women can participate in all of the rodeo sports. These cowgirls bring beauty and elegance to our national / international sport.

A MEXICAN TRADITION, PRIDE OF OUR LAND

A Secret Place by Elizabeth Herrera

This quilt makes me feel very relaxed. I made this scene because I really like nature and beautiful things like flowers and water. I wish we would have more time to go and relax and have fun in places like this.

Un lugar secreto

Este colcha me hace sentir muy relajada. Hice este paisaje porque a mí me gusta la naturaleza y cosas bonitas como las flores y el agua. Me gustaría que tuviéramos más tiempo para ir a relajarnos y divertirnos en lugares como este.

El angel maternal - Motherly Angel by Celia Guerrero

La cascada
Carmela Valdivia

En México en el estado de Michoacán hay muchas lugares hermosas de la naturaleza. Me gusta mucho cuando vamos con mi familia cada diciembre. Nos gusta llevar a nuestros hijos a los parques donde hay cascadas y mucha vegetación y los ríos con su agua cristalina. Yo les enseño a mis hijos que observan la naturaleza y escuchen la felicidad de los pájaros, al tener vegetación y mucho agua para que mis hijos aprenden a cuidar los árboles y el agua y los animales. En Michoacán hay diferentes lugares donde conservan y cuidan mucho la vegetación, las cascadas y los ríos. Los cantos de diferentes pájaros. Me gusta mucho Michoacán.

The Waterfall
In México, in the state of Michoacan, there are a lot of beautiful natural scenes. I like it a lot, when I travel to México with my family in December. We like to take our children to the parks to see the waterfalls, beautiful vegetation and the crystal clear rivers. We observe nature and listen with pleasure to the birds. I want my children to learn to take care of the trees, water and animals. There are different nature reserves with a variety of wildlife in México. I love Michoacan.

Mi casa en las montanas My Dream Home in the Mountains
by Aurora Torres

El viaje sin regreso - One Way Trip by Alma Carrillo

Para muchos hermanos latinos este viaje a la libertad puede ser un viaje sin regreso. Hemos escuchado a lo largo de nuestra vida las experiencias de la personas que cruzan hacia este país esperando tener un mejor futuro para sus familias. Hemos oído del sufrimiento que experimentan en esos momentos y de las personas que llegan a esta frontera y nunca regresan con sus familias. Para mí fue muy difícil porque yo tenía que pasar corriendo por el cerro. Tenía mucho miedo todo el tiempo pero quería que mis hijos tuvieran lo que yo no tuve. Yo sé que estuve arriesgando la vida de mis hijos y la mía pero al final gracias a Dios y a las personas desconocidas que cruzaban juntos con nosotros estamos bien.


One Way Trip
For many of my Latino brothers and sisters this journey to freedom may be a one-way trip. All our lives we dream about the experience of people who cross in to this country hoping for a better future for their families, about the suffering they experience during that time or about the people who reach the border and never return to their families. It was very difficult for me because I had to cross running though the hills. The whole time, I was very afraid but I wanted my children to have the future that I didn’t have. I know that I risked the life of my children as well as my own, but in the end, with the help of God and the unknown people with whom we crossed, we are safe.

Los Hilos on KPFA, Berkeley

Alma and Angeles on the Morning Show. Thank you to Amelia Gonzalez and Andrea Lewis