Hello,

The work on the siding was completed on Wednesday.  It looks good  and the house looks longer to me.       But this morning we decided to change the siding on the gables too.  So more construction is in my future.
I am really enjoying my walks now that the weather is a bit more comfortable and the views are great. Every day I can see the changes in the   new growth of the leaves of the trees. The color of the flowers tickles me too. This is a great red  here.
I went and helped my friend Noel sort and roll her silk kimono parts this week. She was sorting to pass silk forward to others in one of the quilt groups that I am a member of t so she kindly gave me first choice and I came home with some real beauties.   There is lots of new inspiration for me here.
The Pixies was the only group that meant this week and we did enjoy our talk. No new assignment came out of that meeting, but I am keeping up with my drawing. I continue to work my way through the 1938 book called “The  Secret Museum of Mankind” . I realized that having a source  of subjects at my finger tips helps me get the drawings done every morning. I guess I just needed a prompt.

Progress Report: Horsetails This quilt it 30″w X 41″ l. The plants are made from polar fleece and couched down with embroidery floss.

 

 

 

 

I love the texture contrast.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt   # 11      This work is 40″w X 50″ l. The blue squares are all indigo sun printed images that I made. I also did a little oil stick color additions on some of them. A woman from PACE, a local elder care facility, came and picked up ten of these lap quilts  for folks who are wheel chair bound.   I  made all of them Jan. 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonsai I just finished sewing down all the leaves this morning and now I am ready to begin to quilt this work. I did stitch in the ditch before I added the trunk so there is a little quilting already, but it needs a lot more to make it flat.

 

 

 

Saturday Afternoon ( Cubist piece) This work is for the Sisterhood of the Scissors change. The black is fused to the edge of the shapes and adds a lot to the look I am after. The bottom three pieces  of fabric are what I plan to use to make their clothing.

 

 

New Lap quilt.I pulled these fabrics to be the next lap quilt.     I like having and on going little project.   It is a good opportunity to play with different color combinations and not feel stressed about doing so.

 

Drawing    I am still drawing on old dictionary pages.   I like the unity that gives the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Felting      I made some backgrounds in felt this week  as I wanted them so I could just move forward when I got a new idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice I worked on this during the Pixie meeting as well as the usual news hours this week.

 

 

Childhood Memories- Theater

My parents did a lot to expose my brother and I to different things. The first time I remember going to the theater was in Greeley the summer between third and fourth grade. The College had summer theater program and we had season tickets. I do not remember the titles of the plays and sometimes I did not under stand the stories, but I enjoyed watching the actors . Gene almost always fell asleep but I never did. It was not until years later that I realized the ghost I remember on stage was from Macbeth that summer. When we moved to Muncie the new Emerson auditorium had just opened and my parents got season tickets to the Artist Series. We had
seats in the second row in the center on Sunday afternoons. I got to see such wonderful production as “Oklahoma,” “ Gigi” and “Camelot” with Robert Goulet . We also had season tickets to the Ball State Drama Department series. Again our seats were near the front and I remember great performances of “ Once Upon a Mattress” and “A Mid Summer Nights Dream”. I still love and support live theater. It is magical to me.
When I was a Sophomore my last class of the day was Drama with Mr Fee. We had to read a play every week and write a little synopsis. We also did lots of little 10 and 15minuits scenes in class for our class mates. We leaned how to apply makeup effectively. One day I got made up as an oriental with black spray painted hair. I just could not resist wearing that home on the bus that day. I got lots of strange looks, and Margaret laughed and laughed at me. Another day I was made up as a young witch, but I did not wear that make up home. Mr Fee also ran two drama clubs. Stage Door was for kids who were underclassmen and wanted to participate in school productions. We mostly did crew work for the plays. To be in Nations Thespians one had to have experience it at least two productions and by the time I was a Junior, I qualified. For the sophomore year, the play was “ Everybody Loves Opel”, and I painted lots of scenery. I helped with costumes for “ Bull in a China Shop” the next year. That interest in dressing up folks only grew with time. There was a state Thespian Convention one weekend at Ball State and I participated in that. I was in the solo competition and did a piece called “ The Button”. I do not remember what my score was, but I sure remember working on it in drama class. The morning of the conference when Dad was driving me to campus he suggested that “ I try on a different personality, like show more leadership, and see if you like it. You will never see these people again so what do you have to lose?” I sort of tries that as I did know the campus and could easily direct folks to the correct locations for performances and such. I liked helping people. I did have a great day and did connect with a few folks from Fort Wayne. I even got to show them were Burkes was when we went out for a quick dinner. Theater is still dear to my heart.
Stay Safe

Carol