Hello,
I am glad to finally home for after a lot of activity. I am also delighted to say that the little Christmas Cactus cutting that Liz gave me in Aug is blooming. This fall has been a full and exciting time for me.
I went to the opening of the Quilts=Art=Quilts show on the 29 of Oct and it was a delightful show. I was just so happy to be in again and could not believe it when I won the Judges Choice Award for my piece Action. 
My friend Ellen won Best of show and friend
Pat Pauly won the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist award for Best Embellishment. I was floating on air all the way home and still can’t quite believe it.
There was a Diva meeting at the beginning of November and we added a new member to the group, 
Denise Cooperman. She is a feltier and I love what she dose.
Barbara also had some wonderful new stuff to share with us. She had a great sale as a part of the Ithaca Art Trail.
Then I went off to a five day Sisterhood of the Scissors retreat. The event the year before involved a lot of “give aways” of raw materials- yarn and beads. So this year we got finished work back. I gave folks cowls and Ann gave us neck scarves. There were also necklaces. 
We did show and tell as well as lots of work.
Joyce made all three of these dolls and the basket during our time there. She takes the prize for being the most productive.
Ann did hand work all five days and made great progress on this beautiful landscape. I worked on the next three tops of the Meandering Mind Series.
Marcia created a new jacket form some of her Perilla fabric.
Then last weekend I went off to a three day Fall Retreat at the Schweinfurth Art Center. It is such a fun and stimulating event for all of us. Most of the same folks were there again. 
Ann had been inspired by what I was doing at the Sisterhood Retreat so she tried it. This is her start.
Sharon was working away on a piece from one of her photos from her late summer trip to Montana.
I think is it a strong piece and I love the high contrast. We sure had fun and I made progress too.
Progress Report: Koi Joy This work is 39″ w X 43.5″ t. This is the last of the koi series I think. I have enjoyed doing them and playing with the metallic fabrics sure has been a learning experience.
They tend to fray out very quickly and I had to do fray check along many edges . There is leather behind the button eyes.
Leaf Pile I am working away on this project and being away from it has helped me see that it needs more color contrast to really build a center of interest. Perhaps a yellow leaf instead of the red one that I have pinned there now. It’s value is too close to the greens.
Meandering Mind Series -Examine This is one of the three tops that I created at the Sisterhood Retreat. With this phase of the series I am using tints and shades of the complementary colors without any naturals. I pin based all three of them this week and I am now ready to quilt away.
Meandering Mind Series -Annalise This is a second exploration in this series using the Orange /Blue commentary combination.
Meandering Mind Series- Explore And this is the third. I am having fun using solids in this new construction method. I also have another idea for several more exploitations along this line.
Three Witches I have started to add a branch to the background of this work while I think through how I want to complete it.
Play I was not ready to quilt on the Meandering Mind series last week so I looked again at the Paula Kovarik work from last summer. One of her challenges was to cut up an old work and reassemble it. I played at that idea for an afternoon. Great fun.
I also took four of her exercise and put them together to create some new pillows.
Poem Tree This is one of the works I started at the Fall Retreat. I was still feeling connected to the free motion work for Paula’s class and this thought came to mind. I am liking how it is coming along so far.
New Hands At both retreats I took lots of photos of people’s hands to start a new work like the Action project. It is a different type of challenge as the bigger format creates a new way of thinking. I have already learned that open hands read a lot better in black and white then closed ones.
Susan’s Doll The emphasis last month for Creative Strength Training was form so I used that idea as my push to finish off this doll that Susan started .
I am looking forward to getting back into a studio work routine that will help me move forward through the holidays.
Keep Creating,
Carol
time at luncheons and gatherings. I do enjoy it however. I went the Open Studios in Rochester with Noel on Friday. We were impressed with lots of work and visited Pat Pauley studio and had a wonderful time.
On Sunday I went off to the Schweinfurth and went to the Trunk talk with Daisy Aschehoug. She is part of the Modern Quilt movement and has a work in the show. The talk was strong and we enjoyed it.
Then on Tue, Liz and I went off to visit with our good friend Angela. We ate Christmas Cookies and got to see her new studio.
Progress Report: Examine I am to the handwork step with this project now. All the quilting is done and I will add binding later.
Sun Shine- Slow Stitch This is the last little project for the Slow Stitch sub group of Creative Strength Training. I have enjoyed the little challenges and will miss the folks, but I think I will not join this program a second year at this time.
Sea Dreams I put a lot of time in on this project this week. I built the back and added the sea weed to that unit. All three of these fish got water marked satin inserted into them. I have cut four more fish in a different paid that I want to add to the mix.
Creative Assistants I spent time watching basketball and football games this week too so I did a little hand work to finish up that step of these fellows.
Handwork I am working away on this piece of handwork when I am at zoom meetings. It is fun to keep my hands busy.
