Category Archives: 3X3

3X3, Childhood Memories, Lap Quilts, Mayan - Lead Dancer, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Winter Moon

Holiday Greetings

Hello,

In this holiday season one misses  the family more then usual this year. Covid’s forced isolation,  has effected us all in many different ways. I find I value my friends even more now that I can not go see them. The Zoom meetings and email do help, but I miss the human contact. When we are all past this trial and we can hug one another again it will be even more sweet to do so. For now memories of days gone by will have to help us through the days and long winter nights. I enjoyed writing my cards this year and though more about what the recipient would like to know about my life then just doing the usual news letter type of thing. I hope to hear from the friends too. As the days inch longer, I will value the light and warmth they bring with more appreciation.
The Pixies were the only group that meant this week. We all had a good talk and enjoyed the commentary a lot. There was a new assignment from Textile Artist Stitch Club. Mandy Pattallo did a step by step demo on how to do a Christmas Robin. I think my bird got a little fat, but I enjoyed learning her fabric collage technique.
I did get a little gift for myself this year. I purchased a face book “Pastbook” of my images from 2016 to the present. I am quiet delighted by the wide range of images and enjoy reviewing my past work all in one place.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Scrap Happy – Ethel Scarps This is the second one in this group. I guess they all look a lot a like, but they are all going to different homes so that is OK. I only need to add quilting and do the binding now and this one will be complete.

Lead Dancer – Mayan Series #13 I just stitch steadily away on this piece. I have learned that it works best if I try to do the center areas first and work out from there.

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing These blocks are all dismantled now. So I will soon begin to assemble them into a quilt top.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt This top is all ready to layer and quilt now too. This one has only two fabrics that I did not alter in some way as a part of it. I like how satisfying these little works are.

 

 

 

Winter Moon I am still in a crow mood I guess and this moon rise with trees will be the base I build on. I zig-zagged down the wool yarn branches of the trees on the far left and far right so far.

3 X 3- new I though I would try a third piece in this assignment from the Sisterhood of the Scissors. I  also  wanted and excuse to try the Painted Tyvec leaves that were mentioned in the summer issue of Quilting Arts and this seemed to fill that bill. Painting the Tyvek was fun too.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Changes
I was having growing pains,  and not at all  sure what was appropriate behavior any more. Lee’s mom set up a boy/girl party in the fall. There were about a twenty other kids from seventh grade invited. It was in the afternoon and we listen to records and danced- sort of. I liked the punch and the donuts, but…. It was awkward for me as I became aware of the beginnings of “clicks.” I did not belong to any of them and felt like an outsider to folks I had played with and been friends with for years.     Added to that discomfort   was the face that I did not know how to dance. I stood on the sides most of the time and felt inadequate. Later my friend Lora, who had an older cousin, taught the two of us how to dance so I did not let that problem fester. I did have a Birthday party of my own in the spring. It was for only girls and that was a bit better.  But Martha Annaburg, Lee’s cousin, still played the “click card” by telling everyone what to do, so even that is not one of my favorite memories.
It really was year of not being quite  a full participant in anything. We did go to band class with the high school kids in the high school building. But we were not part of the winter or spring concerts. We were allowed to march with the full band, to swell its numbers, in the parade in the spring. I was so happy to get White Bucks to wear with my first band uniform. It was a big event as about 15 different bands came to town to  all marched in the afternoon parade. In the evening all the bands appeared on the baseball field to play “76 Trombones”- with all the trombones in the front.     And yes, there were 76 trombones performing.  The seventh and eight grade choirs was a bit better. We did get to preform two numbers at each of those music concerts I mentioned. I recall leaning Little Drummer Boy as it was a new Christmas Carol at that time.
At the end of the seventh grade the seventh and eight grade had a big dance called the “Spring Fling.” Again it was the first one the seventh graders were allowed to attend. Grandmother Ester made me a pink Dotted Swiss Dress for that event and I got new white Mary Janes. I also got to wear a very special pink fluffy coat that had belonged to Aunt Shirley. The coat had big cuffed three quarter length sleeves that just wrapped across the front- no buttons. Mom let me wear her long white gloves too so I thought I was hot stuff. The lights in the gym were low and there were lots crape paper streamer decorations. I was quite impressed. There was punch and cookies in one corner were it seemed like the teacher/ chaperones hung out and loud music. I don’t remember doing much dancing except with Lora. I did do one dance with Chris Moore. I was quiet enamored of him by then as I realized I really like boys with brains. Later, near the end of school year he did kiss me in his basement between the sheets that were hanging to dry there. That might have grown to a big part of my life, but   because Dad graduated from the University of Iowa, and Gene and I went off spend our last summer in Iowa.  It was  six weeks with the grandparents while Mom and Dad went to California looking for jobs.    They did not find anything they were happy with so they went and checked out Ball State Teachers College in Muncie Indiana.      That was a fit so they purchased a lot and designed a new house before they came to pick Gene and I up.   Then at the end of summer we packed the house and  moved to begin a new chapter in our lives.

Please stay safe and enjoy the holidays
Carol

 

3X3, Childhood Memories, Ethel Scarp #6, Fall Gathering, Mayan Series- Fire Dancer, Mayan- Water Dancer, Pixies Group, Squares a Dancing, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Thanksgiving

Hello,

It has been a turbulent year with lots of disasters from fire, flood, illness and death. I am thankful that there are so many wonderful willing souls in the world who are willing to go forward and help. They really make the world a better place. We all do the little things that we hope will make the world a better place too.
This week I took two works to the Everson for their Festival of Trees. My tree is part of a series I did years ago exploring how I could use “glitz” in my work.   In this case I added sequins to the tree and used a opalescent paint.
The flower basked is a stretched work that is a result of one of the challenges by Textile Artist Stitch Club.
This week the club’s teacher was Jennifer Collier. She taught us how to stitch with paper. I have admired her work in the past and enjoyed making these 3-D paper gloves. They are resting on top of my stitch sketchbook from the week before.
The Pixies were the only other group that meant this week. It is good to stay connected.

 

 

Progress Report: Burning This work is 41″ X 35″ and is all free motion quilted and appliqued. It is my tribute to the fire fighters of the west who bravely go on day after day fighting fires to save homes and landscapes.
I dyed  lots fabric for this piece and I made silk paper with this project in mind. I used organza and nylon netting as well to promote the feeling of fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wake Up Call This quilt is 36″w X 41″ l. I made the stencils form Robert’s photos of crows in flight. Then I created the trees from a photo I took on my walk. The crows are made with silk and velvet. I enjoyed this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Gathering 3 X 3 Challenge This work is 40″ 40″. The Challenge was form the Sisterhood Of the Scissors. There was a size limitation and one had to use black and white somewhere in the work. I mixed two sizes of broken nine patch blocks plus some 3.5″ fillers to created 14″ squares that I then joined. This work lead to  another quilt as I though I should spark it up a bit with some metallic fabric. When I pinned the metallic triangles  on the surface they just faded into the background. They were too close in value.   The result is below as new work.

New Work This is the new base I built for the leftovers from Fall Gathering.   I hand painted and dyed all the fabrics in this base.

 

 

 

Ethel’s Scraps I built four square blacks with the patterned squares mixed with the solids and then when all the units were connected into blocks I made rows for the quilt top. This is the first one and I think I can make at least one more top from the remaining squares.

Squares A Dancing I finished doing the hand work last week and so I worked at various ways to connect them. Found some more of Eric’s cast offs and thought I would try them. I hope there is enough fabric.

Fire Dancer- Mayan Series I just keep stitching down the parts of this piece. I think it is moving along nicely.

 

 

 

 

Water Dancer- Mayan Series I enlarged my sketch this week and just started cutting out the solid fabrics for the parts of the piece. I hope to get to the stitching stage by next week.

Tyvec Painting     Enjoyed reading an article in Quilting Arts on the use of painted tyvec  to create leaves so I painted a postal envelope form my friend Sharron.  I will post the results of the process next time.

Childhood Memories- Dad

When we moved to Carroll Dad became the principal of a much bigger school than before. After he finished the building of the house, he didn’t have time to build any more furniture and his work with wood although an interest mostly died away. The new job demanded much more of his time. I found it a lot more exciting, as we went to football games, basketball games, baseball games as well as all the band and choral events. Most things took place in the gym that was attached to the high school.    I remember one time when Dad lets us go with him into the basement under the gym. It was full of old school furniture and in one corner there was a collection of old trophies gathering dust. One was almost as tall as I was. The three big trophy cases in the gym lobby were full and since the school was built in the 20’s some had been retired.
> One of his more enjoyable activities was supervision of the Foreign Exchange program. One year the school hosted a young man from Denmark named Hans. He lived with the Annaburgs ,who were our neighbors,so I had a little contact with him too. Early in his visit both families went to the Drive-In to see “The Ten Commandments”.   It was a  powerful movie.  At intermission we went to the refreshment stand. Hans was appalled when we ordered hot dogs and root beer. “How can you eat dogs and give beer to young children,” he asked? This was my first experience with the translation of the English language and how  our use of words works. With careful explanations Hans realized that it was not as bad as he first thought. I am sure that sort of thing happened to him many times over the course of his year in the States. The Annaburg family enjoyed their time with Hans so much that they went to Denmark and visited him and the country. They purchased some Danish furniture and had it shipped home in big wooden containers. Those big boxes became forts for us . The following year the exchange student was from  Austria. She did not adapt as well as Hans  had and was very home sick. She ended up going home at Christmas time.
> Dad did all the normal stuff a principal does, like budgets, schedules, student supervision  and he ran the  teacher’s meetings. Dad was again in charge of discipline. I recall him telling a story about one of his delinquent students who was skipping lots of school in the spring. Dad said “ Well he is learning something- even if it is   only how to avoid me… temporally.” He was also active out side of school. He was a member of the Iowa Teachers Association and went to their meetings and did some presenting there . He was active in the community as deacon in the First Presbyterian Church, a member of the Jaycees  and the Rotary Club. There were lots of nights when he was away. I remember hearing the garage door going up under my room when he got home after I was in bed.
> At the end of my sixth grade year there was a big change. Dad and Mom decided that he would resign as principal so he could finish his education. He spent that year in Iowa City doing his Doctoral  Dissertation and the last of his classes. It was a five and a half hour drive both ways from Carroll so he did not come home much. He did call every week end , though. Mom was a single parent that year and we all grew as a result.

Hope you are safe and had a quiet and safe holiday.

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Mayan Series- Fire Dancer, Pixies Group, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Squares a Dancing, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Lots of Meetings

Hello

This week has been  a time for lots of meetings for me. I have found my walks to be a bit brisk as the temp has been low. We even have snow on the ground.    The high number of  Zoom meetings meant I d I did lots of handwork. There  was also the  second class from Textile Artist Stitch Club with Ali Ferguson. She gave us ideas on how to further embellish our pages and books.
The QuEGs meant and the population was low with only 4 of us. The FAD group was busy will all of us in attendance. I also did a class with Rosilie Dace on  Thur and enjoyed hearing her voice and found the lecture to be stimulating.   Then There was a meeting of the Sisterhood of the Scissors too.    I am pumped up by all the outside stimulation.

Progress Report: Mexican Blossoms I did the free motion work on this piece this week and added the sides It is the same size as the first one and I will pass them on as a set.10″ X 19″ in size.

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt      I finished this work this week.     It is 40″ w X 45″ L. I intend to take all of them to the Nursing home this next week .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burning I did a lot of free motion work on this project his week. I am now ready to face it and do the pressing to make it flat. I am sure it will be done soon.

 

Kathy’s Quilt I have the key board all laid out and fused down. I will do the zig zag work on this and this section of the quilt will be complete. I did order photo transfer paper to do the posters for the shows she did this week and it will show up some time soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing  This is the end of the squares plus the two extras. Now I need to plan the assembly of all of the units.

 

 

 

 

3 X 3 challenge This project is for the Sisterhood of the Scissors challenge. I made two sizes of broken nine patch blocks and joined them with additional fabric to create the finished 14″ blocks. I made and extra and so I could shuffle them in many configurations. This is the  row I was most pleased with.  Part of the challenge was to create units that could fit together in many ways and that proved to be the most difficult when I decided to unite my blocks.

Ethel Scrap Happy I am now adding solid blocks to the 5″ squares. I seem to be able to created about 70+ units and press them in an hour. I am on day nine of that process and it looks like there is just one  or two  more days worth of scrap blocks in the box. Then I will begin to add these units together  to make blocks of four units that I will use to create my rows for this quilt.

Black Rocks   This project is 20″ w X 15.5″ t.      It got a lot of attention due to all the meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire Dancer-Mayan Series      I am working away on this project and I am as excited about it.    The hand work is slow and calming.

 

 

  Wake Up Call    I did the wind motion quilting on this piece this week and I have pinned the trees in place.  I want to cut the crows that will be in the trees and place them before I stitch  both the trees and the birds to the surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Bikes and Such
Memory is a strange beast. It comes to the surface like bubbles rising from deep water and at other times is just flows out. I try to write down the little bits as they come to me and then organize them into units that belong together. This week I am writing about bits and pieces that don’t really hang together, but I know they all happened before I passed into seventh grade.
When one moves things get lost and left behind. Such was the case of my big red tricycle when we moved to Carroll. I had really out grow it by third grade, but I missed having wheels. I brought up the idea that I was older and bigger, so perhaps a bicycle was in order. Mom got Aunt Shirley old one for me. It was a big heavy washed out pale blue bike, with a big tank on the bar the swooped done to the peddles. I would grow to see that as “cool” when I was older – but not at this time. It seemed a disappointment. Mom assured me that she could remove the tank, add a new seat and give the whole thing a new coat of paint and she did. It got painted black with a long triangle on the front and back bumpers. There was also a gold strip on both sides. It was heavy for me and I did fall down and get many scraped knees but, I did learn how to ride on it with out any training wheels. Later we use close pins to add Gene’s old baseball cards to the cross pieces so they would flap against the spokes. They made a great sound. Gene had a red wagon and we tried to tie it to the back so I could pull him along. That was not a good idea and we had one spectacular crashed before we abandoned that idea. One could not turn or stop the wagon from the bike- something that was not good.
Gene and I also had roller skates with steel wheels that one clipped to  the toes of ones shoes.      Keeping track of key one skates used to tighten them to ones shoes was always a challenge. I remember that my saddle shoes worked best because they had such good solid soles. I we only skated on the long cement driveway.
Aunt Shirley, my Mom’s youngest sister, was a great one for providing me with fun. I remember her sending me a package that contained a small red painted wooden apple about the size of a plum. It could be twisted open and inside were three little wooden pink pigs. I still have it in my memory box in the attic. I also recall one day in summer when Aunt Shirley showed up at Grandmother Ruth’s house with her new sewing machine. It had lots of cool automatic stitches and we spent a lot of time trying them out. Then she pulled out a piece of apple green cotton fabric selected one of the stitches and stitched two rows of stitching on all four sided of the square of material. She did the same thing with a second pattern of a second color of thread. Then we fringed the edges by pulling out about an inch of thread on all sides to create a  fringed  table cloth. I smiled with the memory of helping make it every time I saw it for  many years  after that day. On special occasions I got to play with Aunt Shirley’s paper doll collection. It was very extensive with a few repeats and most of the figures were Ice Skaters.  I think that they came from ice cream containers.   The costumes were beautiful and to positions  of the skaters were so graceful. I don’t remember changes of clothing, but I do remember spending hours arranging finalizes after swirling them around the floor.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Crows in the Morning, Diva Meetings, Mayan Series- Fire Dancer, Mayan- Rabbit Dancer, Pixies Group, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Series, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Leaves and Bare Trees

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Hello,

We are in a time when the fall has  finally hit us.  For six days we had beautiful Indian Summer weather and it was glorious.  The sun was bright and the leaves were colorful although drifting down.  I worked in the yard   as did many others.  Then yesterday  it rained and today it is cold an gray as we return to real fall like weather.   The city has cleaned up most of the leaves  in the streets, so walking is back to being a silent  activity.    With most of the leaves gone one can see great distances again.  The bare trees  also  ravel lots of leave ball squirrel nests  as they too have prepared for the change of season.   I feel fortunate to live were the environment shows great change with the seasons. 

I had several ZOOM meetings this week.      This is my project for the Pixies using Roberts crows to make stencils and them applying them to the surface of fabric.   I plan to build up the surface more too.

There was also a DIVA meeting on Tuesday .  It is always so stimulating to talk to fellow  fiber Artists.        Then I topped off the week by going to the Quilts = Art = Quilts show at the Schweinfurth  Art Center  in Auburn.  Liz and I   wearing out masks meant  three other fellow Finger Lakes Fiber Artist there and it was delightful.     The show is amazing.     This work is by Candace Hackett Shively is called Unsafe, Unseen, Unheard 2018   is her response to the children that were separated from their parents at the boarder and are still in captivity, with no hope of being united with their parents.    What a shameful citation for our country! 

 

This piece is by Denise Labadie and is also in the show.  It is called  Bonamary Friday.  She hand painted all the rocks.

 

 

 

 

The Textile Artist Stitch Club also presented me with an new artist and challenge.   Ali Ferguson is the teacher and she walked us through how to make a seven signature book.   This is my cover.

 

 

 

Then she challenged us to  add stitch work inside.   Here is a start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Rabbit Dancer  – Mayan Series   This quilt is 20″w X 25″ l.      I am excitedly looking forward to a show show of all of these works when the last one is done.

 

The rabbit head was especially fun to stitch.

 

 

 

Fire Dancer -Mayan Series   I am making great progress on cutting the parts for this next work in the series.   I am anxious to begin stitching on it too.

 

 

 

 

Squares A Dancing    Seven more completed and only two more weeks worht of  squares cut.   I need to start to think about how I want to assemble  the pieces of this work.

I now have 231 squares done.

 

 

 

 

Mexican Morning    I painted this in Mexico when I visited Susan in  January 2018.  I added color to the background this week and will begin to stitch it soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt  This work is all pin basted and ready for stitch in the ditch quilting soon.   I think its colorful pieces will cheer some wheel chair bound person.

Now I only have two more to build before I take them off the  nursing home.

 

 

 

3 X 3 Challenge    All the units plus on extra are pieced now.  I need to do the quilting and finish the units  next.   The squares are going to be 15″ square.

 

 

 

 

 

Burn   I  got going again on the free motion work on this piece.  I really love my new Phaff as it cuts the tread at the end of the stitching work and that really speeds me along.

 

Ethel Scrap work   When the Fall Retreat got cancelled I decided to put in and  hour everyday  assembling  the strips that Ethel had cut.   Tue was day 21 of that activity and Wed I would have started the retreat had it still be a reality.     Instead I started cutting 5″ squares from the assembled units.  The box is overflowing and I still have units to cut.  When they are all cut I  will begin to build blocks for  more then one quilt I  hope.

Black Rocks    I am doing handwork on this black project.   So far – so good.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- The Nearby Wild
When I look back on those years in Carroll , I feel Gene and I were given great freedoms to explore beyond where Mom could keep an eye on us. We spent a lot of time building forts. One of the early ones was at the end of Adams street where the pavement ended in T to connect to a gravel road. Across the gravel road was a fenced farmers field. We built that first fort in the run off gully that was there by pilling limbs and brush against the fence to create a lean-to type of thing. Then we wove cat tails into the fencing to block off that side. It was a nice enclosed tunnel-like thing.
We also walked east up the gravel road, crossed the fence and walked across the farmers field to a raised portion of the land that was not cultivated. It was a big area that was where the farmer dumped debris. There were rocks from the plowing, and lots of old limbs and dead trees. There were live trees too, wild grasses and weeds and a rather steep but short gully. We called the area “ Dead Horse Canyon” even though the few bones that where there were from a cow. We were influenced by Cowboy shows and movies I’d guess. All the natural debris provided lots of building materials for forts and we usually had two or three going at the same time. We played lots of “Cowboy and Indian” out there. In the winter after a big snow storm we would walk out there too. The wind often blew the snow across the fields and piled it up in the gully. We would spend hours digging out forts and tunnels in the snow bank. Many was the time when we would stay a little too long and the walk home was very cold and uncomfortable with snow encrusted pants and coats. We went directly into the basement and shed our wet clothing, then run up stairs and quickly get into a hot bath to avoid frost bite.
If we walked farther to the east down the gravel road we would arrive at a new housing development. Most of the houses were going up at the north end of that area and we did not pay much attention to them at first . When other kids moved into the finished houses that story changed. For a few years we only went to the creek at the far east end of the area to fool around.  We caught frogs, and snakes along there. We would take them home to Mom who took them to school and put them in her classroom. At the far east end of the territory where another gravel road bridged the creek was a pond. Gene threw lots of rocks into that pond. It was fun to go under the bridge and yell as the cement tunnel distorted the sound. One winter after an especially long cold spell, Lee, Gene and I visited there. We ventured out on the ice as the pond was frozen solid. As kids we tried to break the ice by jumping on it. There was not even a crack. The Gene and Lee “dared” me to jump off the bridge and break the ice. I foolishly took the dare and on my way down after the jump – I thought to myself “ I’ll never do anything this stupid again!” I didn’t hit the ice square, so my feet flew out form under me and I hit hard on my behind. My heels did hurt a bit but not bad- and I did not crack the ice. We all realized how dangerous it was and didn’t tell anyone until much later. I was in my mid forties when I did tell Mom of my foolishness and she was appalled.    I never took any more dares either.

Stay safe, and create if you can

Carol

 

Childhood Memories, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Feathers, Mom VI, Old and New - Purple and Blue, Tee Shirt Quilts, Uncategorized, Wool Rounds

Busy Week

2 Comments

Hello
I have enjoyed a very active week. Last Friday I went to a silk painting workshop in Rochester with lots of creative gals. Liz did a great piece with flowers.

 

Joyce worked from a photo from her yard.

 

 

 

 

Regina explored a drawing.
I worked from the sketch I had drawn last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Karen did a great job from one of her photos of grapes.

 

 

 

 

 

The class was great and I learned a lot. I will add thread painting and quilting to finish this up in the next week or so.

 

The Michelle the teacher from Australia, did a wonderful trunk show at the end of the day.   This is her use of the techniques she was teaching us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Sunday I went off to Moravia and visited with Susan and Sally. We talked of may things and I got some great feed back on this piece- Old and New.

 

 

 

Tues I picked up Patti and the two of us drove north to Mill Sight Lake and Judy’s Camp for three days. Judy shared this colorful quilt that   Judy made and a Amish gal had quilted for her.

 

 

Patti and I worked with our machines while Nancy and Judy went out on the lake and platted around the island. We had a good time and made a few plans for the fall.

 

 

And just to let you know I make mistakes too.  I was not paying full attention while I was  working on my scarp  quilt and  I accidentally  ran the sewing machine into my finger nail.     I only caught the tip on my nail and a bit of skin.   So  please  be careful!

Progress Report: Tee Shirt Quilt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have now finished the assembly of the top of this work.  I have pulled flannel to make some base blocks that I will surround in the log cabin style for the back.

Feathers  I am half way done adding the feathers to this quilt.  I plan to do reflective quilting around the outside.

Wool Rounds     

I just keep building on these wool units.   It is calming work.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap  I worked on these at Mill Site.  I am pleased to say I only have one more box of scraps to work from.  Over the weekend I finished up nine more units.

 

 

 

 

Memories of Mom

I did a little hand work on this piece this week that is made from  things that Mom had in her home.

Sketching   I just keep my fingers in the drawing game by doing a new one every now and then

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Lessons
The summer I was ten and Dad was a temporary Ranger in Tetons was a great one for me.  We went to many ranger talks and sat on logs looking at the lake with the mountains beyond  and learning fun facts while the sky darkened and the stars came out. Because all rangers need to be able to rescue hikers from the mountains Dad  learned to repel.  He took us along for his practice with a second ranger named  Jim. Gene and I also got to take a hand a repelling and I loved it. It was great fun to jump away from the vertical rock face and sour down with the rope to help one land safely back on land.
We rode across Jackson Lake to the undeveloped side and bushwhacked up the mountain one day. Saw a heard of wild goats and got lots of scratches on that adventure. Dad also taught us that if we ever got lost in the wilderness to do two things. Always go down hill and when you find water follow it down too. It will always lead you to civilization eventually and you will have a vital life saving source close at hand. I am glad to say I have never had to apply that knowledge. At the end of the summer there was a range’s picnic. Gene and I were the only kids. Lots of great food. The only things to drink were water and beer. So I thought I would try the beer. Just as I opened the can Dad came around the cabin. He was not happy with me. But he insisted that sense I had opened the can that I drink the whole thing. Then I promptly emptied my stomach on the grass. I was never tempted as a teen- and even later I never learned to drink beer. The lesson was learned.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

PS this is a shot of the sun set over the St Lawrence River.

 

Animals, Childhood Memories, Fox in the Rocks, Old and New - Purple and Blue, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Shows

Full Summer

Hello,
It has been a quiet week here with a few events thrown in for spice.

 

 

 

 

I hung a dozen works at the Oaks for the on   Saturday .    Then on  Sunday I went to Marcia’s to Percilla’s Sale. The flowers are from Marcia’s garden.

I purchased a few Jackets and got this wonderful applique from Gautama that Percilla had purchased on one of her trips.    I love this little bat.

 

 

 

 

Tues was the QuEG’s meeting and folks had a lot to share. This is a work that Victoria made and gave to Susan.    They were working with hand  painted    silk organs.

 

 

 

They were in Micky Laure’s class and Susan purchased this piece at the scholarship auction by the teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Susan’s work from the class.

 

 

 

 

 

Corrine is off to Ghost Ranch for a workshop and she made these leather journals for her self and her daughter for that trip.

 

 

 

 

Sue Ellen did this commission of one of the lakes in the Adorancks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linda made this nice bed sized quilt at QBL . It is from a Jelly Roll with the dark blue added for contrast.

 

 

Angela is taking a class on line dealing with hand stitching.  This is one of nine squares she has done for one of the first three units  of this class.

 

 

They are only using strait stitches with different spacing and yarn thicknesses.   Here are two more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Fox in the Rocks This work is 27″ w

X 39.5″ t.    I started it in the  Rock On class with Cynthia Corbin  and finished it this week. I used some of the techniques from Betty Busby’s class to create the fox.  The painting and the use of colored pencil to create detail are from that class.

 

 

 

 

There are several more form this class that I am working on now too.

The cheese cloth texture  is some I painted earlier this spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bee Blouse I loved this shirt but it had a bad spot on it and I thought I would save it by covering up the spot. I had purchased bee appliques from Amanda Mc Carver at QBL and thought to use them.

 

 

 

I though three bees were not enough so I made some myself and some lady bugs too.   The bees are on the shirt and the lady bugs were used  to cover a tear on my new blue jeans.   This shot is of the insects drying after I washed out the wash away.

 

Blue Jeans
They do the trick I’d say.

 

 

 

 

Feathers I made the fabric for the feathers in Betty’s class and she cut them out on her stencil machine. They are fused the fabric and I am building a quilt around them.

 

 

 

 

 

Old and New- Purple and Blue

I keep adding the new hand stitching to the blocks and I can see the end now. There are only four more blocks to do. It takes about 15 min to do each one so this project will be done with this phase by next week.

 

 

 

Beaded Bag I came across this old project while looking for a piece of fabric. I could not remember when I had started it, but I knew it was long ago so I started the neck unit. This little red tab is what an hour will do- so now I know why I put it aside.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories; Saturday’s in 6th grade.
My allowance when I was in 6th grade was $.75.         $.25 of that went into the Skippy Peanut Butter jar bank. That was saving for a $25.00 savings bond. The rest was for spending.
My best friend was Julie and her parents owned the local roller skating  rink. It cost $25 cents to get in and .25 for sake rental so that is what how I spent my allowance. I loved the Limbo and the Hokey Poky.         Julie was the first person I had meant with a birth defect. Her second finger did not have the last digit and she had a very small fingernail growing out the top of it. She was an excellent skater and the first Sat of every month she went off to  competitions.   So on the Saturdays when she was not at the rink I did not go rollerskating.    I went  instead to movies with Gene and Lee.    $ .25 admission and $.10 for popcorn. That allowed for a nickel for a  Slim Jim- a Camel Taffy on a stick that took the whole afternoon to consume. The remaining   dine   was spent for ice cream on the walk home from the theater. We saw a lot of old westerns and had a good time.  I had always blown my whole  spending  allowance by Saturday evening.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, No Moon, Old and New - Purple and Blue, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Three Stars

Quilting by The Lake # 36

1 Comment

Hello
I am still feeling excited from two weeks at Quilting by the Lake. I enjoyed hanging the quilt show on the Friday before the opening. Sharon helped me with the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist part of the show .

This work is by Joan a part of that section of the show  and I’d say it’s a real beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

My Forest Fire quilt was well received too.
I did not really get to look closely at hanging time. I am glad I had two weeks to check all the great work out.

 

 

 

 

This work is by Barbara B.    She did a trunk show week two on Wed afternoon and showed lots of wonderful stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

I was in the Rock On class with Cynthia Corbin. She had to step in at the last min to replace Rosalie due to a visa problem at the boarder. I really learned a lot about myself in this class and sense I really love rocks it was a good fit for me.    The work on the left is by Liz and the work  on the right  is by Robin and I think they are both well done.

Show and Tell was fun on Monday. Susan, who I meant at QSDS was at QBL too and she shared this piece with everyone.

 

 

The Quilting by the Lake conference has been going on for 36 years. I have been attending for 35 of those years along with two other gals, Linda Salitrinski and Linda Hazelton. This year we were honored with aprons of our own.

Monday evening there was a lecture by Ellen Blalock, the artist in residence.    Her talk was powerful  and was a peek into the world of black life here in America .  This quilt  ( a close up) was about sexual abuse.

 

Week two I had class with Betty Busby. She is a real dynamo and had more to teach us then could fit into the week. There were one or two demos every day and four the first day.

Here she is demonstrating how to use oil sticks  to create volume.

 

 

 

 

 

We did work with natural plants objects one day and this is my piece using that technique.

 

 

 

 

 

She was very generous with her stencils and I took advantage of that as did most of the class.

I did enjoy learning how she used the cutting machine on interfacing. I designed these feathers to have cut out for me. She also cut three from her collection for me to use as well. They are the beginning of a new piece, of that I am sure.   The top two light blue feathers are mine design.

 

Betty  had a power point show every day after lunch and she shared her work and techniques with us then too. This is a shot of her diatoms quilt

 

 

 

  There was lots of activity  all the time in class.    Karen who was setting next to me did a lot of free paint work using circles.

 

 

Lynn who was setting behind me is working away in this shot and Gerry is next to her.   This shot is early in the week as that wall behind then filled with work  as the week went on. 

 

 

 

 

We all went home with arm loads of fabric that we had altered and lots of ideas for future  projects that hopefully will appear in the QBL quint show next year.

The last night both weeks there was show and tell. This is a shot of  Noel’s work from one of the other classes.

  There is also a raffle drawing for work folks can donate to raise money for the scholarship fund.  This is a quilt by Sally Davis donated for that purpose.

The was a apron auction both weeks too.  The aprons are created by the teachers and are  always a big success.

This is a shot of Amanda McCavour’s apron. I only have this great image because Noel purchased the apron and she showed it to me on Monday.  All the images on the apron are thread painted items that show off Amanda’s specialty.

 

 

 

 

 

Liz was in Micky Lauler’s class and when we got together on Monday all we really did it talk about all we learned. We both explored a bit more with the techniques we learned in class. This is Liz’s work showing one of the techniques she learned.

 

 

 

I  used one of the paint techniques I learned to paint these printed images.

 

 

Then today Liz and I went to Angela’s for a bit of Gelli play.  We were transferring  magazine images.  Angela was the most successful with that process, but we all had fun.

 

Progress Report: Three Stars and No Moon    This quilt I started in the Rock On class.   When I was nearing completion I realized it needed a focal point so I added  the petoglyphics .  Mari who was setting behind me asked if I was Native American. When I said “no”, she asked if I really wanted to hijack some other culture’s symbols.    I though about it  and decided to invent my own symbols and plan to do so from this point forward. 

 

These are my figures of a person  with three stars and a sun of my own designing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock 2

This rock also was built in the Rock On class.  It too is a very nice background so I drew a fox to add on top of this surface.

 

 

 

I will enlarge the drawing to fit the base and paint a fox to integrate into this work.

 

 

 

 

Rock On 3    This is another project that I started in the class.   It is barely begun.

 

 

More Samples from Betty’s Class

I did these two drawings in Betty’s class to make with the pellon technique that was used with the feathers.   But they were now cut.  I will use them to make silk screens for use in my projects later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old and New- Purple and Blue  I keep working away on the hand outlining of the squares on this project.  I have 21 more squares to do.  It takes me about an hour to do four blocks so hopefully next week I will be done.

Knitting

I needed to do some different type of hand work so I started this circular scarf for winter.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories: Dress Up I spent may a happy day staying at Grandmother Ruth’s house. My Aunt Shirley was only 8 years older than I and the house was still set up for children’s enjoyment. Grandfather had built a grand play house for Aunt Marcaleen and Shirley when they were young.  Aunt Shirley kept it well stocked with lots of great old clothing from Grandmother’s and Great Aunt May’s cast offs. Cousin’s Kelly and Tracy and I had many a backyard teas and parades in the wonderful get-ups we put together there.

Hollyhock Dolls

One hot late summer afternoon Aunt Shirley showed Kelly, Tracy and myself how to make Hollyhock Dolls.   We used the old  Carrom Board as our dance floor and our imagined balls were quite grand with the many swirling colorful gals. Grandmothers flowers were never safe after that summer as we repeated the doll making many a time.

Hide and Seek Many times there were lots of grand kids at the Cocklin house.   I remember one time when we played “Hide and Seek”.   My brother Gene was it and I hid in the Paper Birch tree above the sand box  next to the hedge. He never thought to look up and finally had to call “ Ollie -ollie-oxen- all in free”.  Because the sandbox was in the backyard and base was in the front no one knew where I hid and  I never told anyone where I had hidden.   We were called into dinner shortly after that so my cousins never found out either.     Sometimes it was an advantage to be the oldest girl in that generation  who can keep a secret .

I continue to be excited by the information that I got in classes and I will keep working on the started items over the next few weeks and mounts.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Diminish, Old and New - Purple and Blue, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Wool Rounds

Prep Week

Hello,
This week has been a quiet one. I did go and dye with Liz on Monday. We had fun and I worked to create several fabrics that look like rocks for my class. The work  pictured is what Liz created. Most of my efforts this week have been in preparation for QBL that begins for me on Friday. That day I will help hang the quilt show at Onondaga Community Collage. Then all the action will begin on Sunday. There will not be any new posts until Aug 1 after QBL is over.

Progress Report: Old and New- Purple and Blue The rework of this project is very satisfying. I like how it is much flatter too.

 

 

 

 

 

Diminishing I work hard on this project to complete the car wash series before I encountered Rosalie Dace again at QBL. I am done with the quilting. I did free motion spirals in the circles and pebble quilting in the rest of the work. Then the back ground was zig -zag stitched. That was new for me but I like how it looks.

 

Wool Rounds I started this new hand work piece this week as I finished the last hand project. I am not sure where I am going with it but I am enjoying the process.

 

 

 

 

New Work I am ready to do another forest fire piece and so this is all basted for that purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories :Parade Win When I was in the second grade there was a local parade in Columbus Junction. Mom made a green and gold tutu for me and a matching one for my Tony doll. I was so proud to be allowed to march all the way downtown without my parents. I had earned a quarter from Mrs Fister and I was going  to spend it all by myself.  After the parade I went into the drug store to do my solo shopping and the Draggiest leaned over his counter to talk to me. He said “ Congratulations”. I asked for what and he told me I had won a prize in the parade for my costume. I was surprised as I was unaware there was a contest at all. He told me to go across the street to Roundies Grocery and pick up my prize. When the manager, Mr Roundy gave me the prize of $5.00 I was delighted. I thanked him and took the money and ran all the way home to tell Mon, totally forgetting my goal to spend a quarter.

Gingerbread Men At Christmas time one year, again in Columbus Junction, Mom and I made gingerbread men with raisin eyes and mouths. We took them to the “shut ins”  in the community and hung some with red ribbon from silver ropes in the windows. I was disappointed that I did not get to eat any, but Mom said when we took them down from the windows after Christmas I could eat them all. That was about a dozen. I was nullified. When we took down the tree the weekend after New years, I got my reward. Then came the disappointment- the gingerbread men were hard as rocks and we had to throw them out.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Diva Meetings, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Hand work, Old and New - Purple and Blue, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

Summer visitor

Hello
I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. We where graced with a visitor in our neighbors yard in the middle of the day. Mother Nature is very abatable.

 

 

 

 

There were lots of meetings this week. Sat was the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist group meeting. Pat who had taught at The Surface and Design Symposium in Ohio for both week shared this little work by Sherri  ( she was behind me in class) that she purchased at the auction. She said it was based on advice about how to get a baby so go to sleep by one of the older gals at the symposium.
The meeting was a good one and folks had a lot to share.  Regina had lots to share.   The one at the top is her  3X3 piece.  We sure had fun with that challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce  had a lot to share too. the two at the bottom are her experiments  with Potato Dextrose  that she did at the spring retreat.

 

Noel    made this top in Pat’s class at The symposium.    She had this work quilted by the Diva meeting on Tue along with several others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon  is really stretcher as she works on this commission of 6 quilts using the clothing of a woman who has passed away.

 

Maureen  displayed here banner that is 8 feet tall by 24 ” wide.  It hung at the Women’s exhibit in Huston.

 

 

 

 

 

Angela had a wonderful contribution.    She has finished these three pieces based on her husbands sax keys.    The blue one will be at QBL  in two weeks.

 

 

 

The Schweinfurt has a wonderful set of shows on recycled work in the main galleries as well.   

 

This artist is working totally with packing materials and labels.   I love how he has used a box as he frame.

 

 

 

This artist built all her pieces from materials that she got from the city dump.      It is a fascinating  show.

The QuEG’s and Diva’s meant too. The QuEGs meeting was small with only 4 of us but we did enjoy our selves.

At Divas Noel shared the  pieces she   had  finished sense Sat..

 

 

 

 

Anne  showed a piece got some advice on one how to improve it. I love the stitching in the leaves here.

Liesa did a nice floral work. Can’t believe she will be 99 on her next Birthday and still creating! It is always stimulating and a good time.

 

 

 

 

Monday Liz and I did do a dye day. This is her piece and it is very vivid. We had trouble with our color washing out to very light last week so we added fresh dye to the paste and I hope this helps. I am washing out mine today and I will know by this eve.

 

 

Progress Report: Diminishing

I ma now quilting on this work.   Doing free motion circles is a bit of a challenge and I am having fun.

 

 

 

 

Shirt   I just keep building up the surface of this work.  I am enjoying  this handwork too.

 

 

 

 

 

Rework of Old and New- Purple and Blue

After some careful study I decided that this work needed more quilting so I am doing cant ha stitches around each block.  I think I will add some French Knots to each block as well to further the uniting of the three layers.

 

 

Childhood- Watermelon Feast

When we lived in Columbus Junction the park was next door. It was a wonderful play ground for us and we used it almost daily. One summer day the JC’s had a Watermelon Feast. I was thrilled and ate 8 slices of watermelon. Three were lots of bees in the park that day attracted to the sweet rines and I was afraid to toss mine into the bin. They few up in a swarm but were not interested in anything but the fruit just as I had not interest in dinner that night.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Diminish, Geza Series, Hand work, Heat, Old and New - Purple and Blue

Summer 2019

Hello,
This week has been a full one for me Summer comes and we all get busy. I taught a workshop in silk paper making on Thur and we all seemed to have a good time. Joyce did a lot of work that she will really use in books I think.

This shot is of Regina separating the silk paper from the nylon netting.

 

 

 

 

 

This shot is of my final products. I was working on building some material for my Rock Class at QBL in two weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

I also did wash out the dyed work from the week before. It was very pale so I think we need to add more powered dye to the mix to keep the intense colors.

 

 

Progress Report: Heat This is the fourth work in the Car Wash series. It is 31″w X 38″l. I had a good start on this work when I was in Ohio.

The two orange panels are silk paper that I made before I made the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old and New- Purple and Blue 3X3 This work is 56″ square. It is my second entry for the 3X3 show. I found the blue squares and I made the purple ones to add to them to create this work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diminished This work is the last of the Car Wash series. I was following a driver who kept hitting his breaks and the circles of his tail lights made an impression on me. I have abstracted it to suit me as you can see.

 

Shirt   I keep putting in the stitches on this work.    I  have also added a second color to the work.

 

 

 

Childhood: 4th of July 1961 Being a part of the of 4th of July parade in Grandview Iowa was always one of the joys of summer. Grandpa Howard was the organizer for yeas and that also pulled me in. In 1961 at the 100 anniversary of the start of the Civil War, that was the theme of the parade. Many kids dressed in blue shirts, union hats and carrying BB guns marched with tags around their necks listing the 27 men who went form the community to join the 19 Regiment of the Iowa Infantry. My cousin Danny, wore the sign for our great grandfather Herman Gast, who was a immigrant from Germany. Great Grandfather was discharged from Mobile in July 1865 and walked all the way home to Iowa from that point. He arrived in Oct. I wore a sign for Heneritta Wickelman, the only nurse from the county that volunteered to go. Because she was not a family member I do not know any history of that woman. It was a good experience for me as a kid.

Have a pleasant  Holiday on the 4th and I will post again on Friday next week.

Keep Creating

Carol