Here's why I drove to Hartford from Cape Cod--and back--in one afternoon

"You're not going back tonight, are you?"  That's what I heard from everybody at the June 26 reception for Jazz Tones, the exciting art quilt show currently hanging at the  100 Pearl St. Gallery in downtown Hartford.  They had a point:  I'd just driven 188 miles from Cape Cod, where the rest of my family was on vacation, to Hartford for the reception.  Shouldn't I give myself a break and sleep in my own home before driving 188 miles back?

Uh,  no, as it turned out. 

I was between a rock and a hard place.  Jazz Tones is the most high-profile endeavor to date for the CT Fiber Arts Collective, of which I'm a founding member.  So of course, as the creator of three pieces in the show, I wanted  to be there for the reception.  Even if it occurred during my family's Cape Cod vacation.

At the same time, I wanted, even needed, to get right back to that vacation, because my daughter Julia, with whom I spend precious little enough time as it is, and her partner Elana and Elana's baby Maya, had just arrived.

So I had it both ways by making it to the reception but also pushing right back to the Cape afterwards, arriving around 11 pm and unfolding myself like a long-creased accordion from my husband's, uh, cozy, Geo Prizm.

What a reception, though.  The drive was totally worth it.  There must have been 100 people in and out of the Pearl St. Gallery during that time.  Here's a look:

That's Roz Spann of CT FAC talking to the husband of another member, Linda Woods.

That's CTFAC's Christina Blais in the lovely peach-colored dress.  Christina created the stunning image, Jazz Man, which forms the focus of this postcard:

 

Here are a few members of CT FAC with Jose Feliciano of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, who helped make the show happen.  L-R Antonia Torres, Karen Loprete, me, Rosalind Spann.

Rosalind Spann and Antonia Torres with Antonia's quilt

Roz with her piece, Stella's Violin

Honored Guest Ed Johnetta Miller with "And I Embrace All Cultures"

Wanda Seldon with her piece honoring 

Here I am with A Love Supreme I, one of my three pieces in the show

And here's why I drove back to the Cape right away without stopping overnight:

The majestic North Atlantic, Pamet Trails, Cape Cod National Seashore, Truro, MA

Julia's buddy Elana, Elana's baby Maya, and our daughter Julia, who had just arrived at the Cape as it was time for me to leave for Hartford.  Who could blame me for hopping in the car and driving right back the same night?