Category Archives: Finger Lakes Fiber Artists

Drawing, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Fish, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Rough Cut, Scissors, Scrap Happy Quilts, Stretched Works

Sky Light

  Hello,

We have a sky light in our bathroom  and this morning when I was there , I saw a squirrel  on  top of  the space.  He stopped to check his front paw and I admired at his soft white fur in contrast with his black feet.   He did not stay long and my eye then moved to the branches of the oak above.  It has grown from a small finger sized twig that we planted over thirty years ago to a wonderful tall full tree that nearly crossed that sky light that in near the center of the back of the house.    That thought lead me to think of the many trees that we have planted in our yard  over our long lives here.  We have so many now that a vegetable garden is impossible.  I did have one in the back for many years and the tomatoes were so plentiful, I had  to give them away to the neighbors.   Over time I have traded that for hours of shade and lots of raking.   I love the trees so I would not trade any of them and the squirrel that they attract.

Last Saturday was the Flinger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting and although we were a small group, folks had lots to share.

Victoria has finished her box project and it is wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne is still   working with her challenge piece, and  making progress.

 

 

 

Maureen dusted off her  watercolor paintings shills .

 

 

 

And because it was there I had to take a third look at the wonderful show at the Schweinfurth.    It is so powerful!

There was the opening of the Assiated Artist show on Sunday and I was handed a nice prized along with the promise  of s solo show in June.

 

 

 Sharon, Victoria and I meant to do some planning for the La Moyne show  in Jan .      Sharon is working on this piece to be a part of that event.

 

 

 

 

The Sisterhood of the Scissors and  the Pixies had on line meetings as well.

Progress Report: Stream Bed     This piece is 24″ wild X 20″ t.  I finally decided what way was up  on this piece and added the wire to the back.     I sure enjoy ding these  hand pieces and  I pulled out the stuff to start another this morning.

 

 

These works really play to my strong interest in textures.

 

 

 

Rough Cut    I have moved on to the next scissors project.  I sure hope the wool frays a lot when I wash it so there is even more texture here.

 

 

Tropical Floor     I did the free motion drawing on the roving and Angelina to create the fish and stitched them down.   The sea weed is made from some of the dyed wipes I did earlier this year.

 

 

Scrap Happy    I am doing the hand stitching on the binding of this work now.  I am sure I will finish it  this week.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt   I got this work all assembled this week and  I am working on the quilting here.

 

 

 

 

 

 Drawing     I did this  with ball point pen, my favorite  tool.     Susan of the Pixies challenged  us to draw plants.     Not sure what I will try next.

 

 

 

 

Take good care of yourself.

Carol

100 day Challenge, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Pixies Group

Home Again

Hello,

  I am back from my travels and set to stay home for a while.  I did have a good time and the Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum were amazing.    So many and only about 25% of the collection is on display.   I just could not look enough.   Taking in all that new imagery was  exhausting to me.   I am sure some new work will come out of that experience.

Before I went away I had some adventures too. I went with Victoria and Liz to Angela’s for a bit of creative play afternoon.   We were   adding surface treatments  to our handwork.  Angela had the plaster all mixed up for us as well as the softened paper clay.      Victoria had a difficult time  deciding what pieces to alter.

 

Liz did too.       It was a fun thing to work with and I added color on top of the plaster with my piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are some of my pieces before the add on treatment.

 

 

 

 

 

Angela had been doing more felting sense out last visit and she sharded her new felted vase with us.   I really like the gradation of color her here.

 

 

 

We also had a FLFA meeting on the Saturday before departure.

This is the work Sharon had done to add to the project from the retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat had a lot of new work.  This is her most recent.

 

 

Anne has finished putting together her Robin quilt  top from her class at QBL last summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Linda, our newest member, show off her finished migration piece.

 

 

Maureen is still doing handwork on this powerful piece.  It is  nearing completion she says.

 

 

 

 

Liz has pulled  out some of her older work and is ready to begin to finish this one now.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a shot of Liz wearing Pat’s spring coat that she made for a fashion show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a FAD meeting on Monday this week and Sharon had a new mini land scape to share.

 

 

The Pixies meant as usual and we are going to do portraits for the next assignment.

 

 

 

My husband and I walked to Syracuse University on Wed and went to the art gallery there.  I was wowed  by this bit of  work that mixed thread with leaves.    There were 24 leaves surrounded  by thread  and suspended  in a frame like a table top. ( yes, those are my toes on the floor below the work.

 

 

We also walked around  the little lake in Berry  Park this week.    Spring is sure here  in our part of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  B4  This is the last block I made for the SAQA 100 day  Challenge.     I am delighted to say  that I got it done before the trip.   It is 32″ X 50″.   I really learned a lot building this block with the change in curves in the center strips.

 

 

I also  had  very  good  time  with  the  quilting on this one.

 

There are enough blocks remaining for another small piece.  The challenge is over now, but I will put all the left overs into pieces.

Art 2    This work is 34″ w X 52.5″ t.   It is made from extra blocks from Art Blocks  the third of the SAQA Challenge. 

 

Doing the challenge was a good thing for me and I hope to apply the ideas from it to my future work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BV 2  This too is a second project that is a result of the SAQA Challenge.   It is created from leftover blocks from the BV Block.  This block was designed with my good friend Barbara Vural in mind. 

 

Again there are blocks remaining for another small project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing  The glass flowers were inspiring and I did a bit of drawing from some of the close ups.  This is a close up of a Lilly.

 

 

 

 

 

Swoop   I stated this quilt top at the spring retreat.  I go a lesson in how to do curves from Liz and Linda.   I am very proud of how very flat this quilt top  is and  how the curves all lie down very nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Fragments Piece    This is my piece showing the fragments that I altered at Angela’s.    The plaster dose make it difficulot to add more stitching.    I did added color on top of some of the  units   to unifly the idea before I mounted them.   The units are a result of my interpretations of the assignments in   Finding Fragments class as a part of Art Take 2 .    I am now ready to begin a new  on line class called Naturally Inspired- also from Art Take 2.

I hope that spring is filling you days with new sights.

Keep Creating

Carol

I am attaching one last glass flower for your enjoyment.

 

100 day Challenge, Coral Shore, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Pixies Group, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Active Week.

Hello,

   This week has been a very busy one for me.   Last Sat was the FLFA meeting  and although there was snow and attendance was low(only 5 of us ) we had a really good discussions and enjoyed the art that folks shared.

 

 

 

Maureen had a beautiful hand printed work that she is stitching on at the moment.

 

 

 

Sharon is getting ready for her show at Baltimore Woods next month and so she is doing natural landscapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria is working away as usual with this wonderful piece were she is using some of my Grandmother’s night gown in the piece.

 

 

 Susan has put together the top she was working on at the Fall  Schweinfurth  retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

We looked again at the Both End’s of the Rainbow show and I noticed a work from Therese that had not caught my attention before.  That is the best part of second trips to shows for me.  I get overwhelmed and it is fun to discover new things with a second look.

 

 

 

FAB meant on Tue  and Sharon had another work for the show that she shared with us.

 

The Sisterhood of the Scissors had a zoom meeting on Wed morning  and Pixies meant on Wed afternoon.

 

 

 I put in a little time on Chellie Rode’s class in preparation  for a play day with Angela.     This is one of the projects from that class that she has nearly  finished.

 

She along with Liz Victoria and I were all in the class and so we had a good time  playing with cola pens and inks making marks.

 

 

This is my sample.  We decided to do some stitch work on our pieces and get together in six weeks and add the plaster step on top .    It is so much fun to explore things together.

 

 

 Progress Report: Ethel 3    This bed quilt is now done.  I plan to start to assemble the fourth this week end.

 

Barbara Blocks II     I am only at the beginning of the quilting on this project.    It is the last project I tackle at the end of the day and many times I run out of time before I get to this one.

 

 

 

 

Coral Shore   Pulled out another rock piece form the past to rework for the Joyous Embroidery series.  I deiced to split this one in half and make a diptych with it.  I added the punch needle parts I  made last week on the top and started to do the embellishments around.

 

 

QSDS 100 day challenge BV Blocks    This week I am working on the middle sized blocks.   I have six fully put together and many other parts connected one to another.

Handwork    This little project is going well.  I am sure It will be completed this week as I only have the flowers to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Past Times  This set of gloves got a ring and now I am ready to start the next one.

It has been a fun filled week and I hope the same can be said for my readers.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Childhood Memories, Drawing, Experiments, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Nine Play, Pixies Group, Re Work, Tide Pools

Winter Solstice

  Hello,

We have reached the end of the earth’s elliptical trip around the sun for one more time.   It is a tine for the return of light here in the norther hemisphere. The long winter nights will now begin to shorten once again.    I also see it as a time to begin reflecting on the events of the last year and star thinking about what I want to do differently in 2024.

This last week included a FLFA meeting for me.  I do enjoy seeing that creative group of gals and the work they do.      This work is by  Julia.  I feel she is really beginning to “speak ” with her own voice.

 

 

 

Bev is doing some wonderful silk work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat is working away too.

She is really a printing crazy lady.

 

The Pixies also meant this week and everyone is busy and happily preparing for  the holidays.

Progress Report: Spores    This work is 18″w X 32″l.   It is another work that came out of the Joyous Embroidery class.   I made the tubes and stuff them with thick yarn and then couched them down.  The pompoms were another suggestion from Flur.

The painted parts in the  background is my own too,

 

 

 

 

Split  This work is 53.25″ w X  58″ l.    I started this work at the Sisterhood Retreat last month.   I put it through the wash to encourage more fraying of the torn and raw edges.

I really like texture and the feeling of depth they layers create.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap #21  I am to the stitch in the ditch quilting step now.  It’s about half done.

 

 

 

Scrap backs  I am working on building backs for the Ethel Blocks now.  I think one of the units is nearly big enough to start layering the first quilt together.

 

 

 

 

New Nine   I am starting a new quilt that is  a broken nine patch design.   This is in the early stages and even not all the blocks are built yet.

Or perhaps I should say broken at this point.

 

 

 

 

Linen Shirt   This  project only gets attention when there is no other hand work that needs doing.   That  happened this week so I put in time.    I am doing the flowers and French Knots on the shoulder area and across the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tied Pool 2   I got a lot done on this new highly textured piece this week.   Starting with a old rock quilt as my base  others makes it easy and fun for me too.   Pompoms again and the frapped circles are some I made in the  Joyous Embroidery class as well.    She also encouraged us to use old bits of handwork that had no use any more.  The green lace  came from an old pillow case.   I painted it and used it in a seahorse  work this fall.   This little bit remained and I recall seeing a bit of sea weed in a tide pool when I visited Korine years ago.

 

 

Christmas Balls   I decided I wanted to decorate some new  balls for our tree this year.     At the RATS  ( Retired Art Teachers ) meeting a few weeks ago , Beth described what she was going to teach at the YMCA class and I took what I remembered and created these fun balls.    I made some as gifts too.

New Work   Last week I was working a project using a technique that was only described to me.   Well,  I think I did give it the college try- but it really is a disaster!    There are so many wrinkles and parts are not fitting together at all.   Not having the true instruction means I am flying blind.

 

 

  So I have decided to admit that I don’t get it and abandon the idea.  There are always mistakes very now and then.

 

 

 

Food Memory. 

Scramble

My Mom was a “stay at home Mom” until my brother, Gene went off to first grade. All that time she was always busy with one project of another . I remember her making and printing silk screen plant images on fabric that she made into kitchen curtains. She painted two big murals in the house in Carroll too. One was in the bathroom in the basement and a second was over the sink in the kitchen. For Christmas she was scenically busy. One yare she mad a little church out of sugar cubes and icing with a foil roof. That project was around for years. One of her seasonal traditions was to make Scramble. She would get out the blue speckled roasting pan from Thanksgiving and fill it with a mix of Rice Checks, Corn Checks, Wheat Checks, Cherrieos, mixed nuts and pretzels. She added some other ingredients and cooked it all in the oven, taking it out to stir occasionally. When it was done she put it into foil lined boxes and wrapped it as gifts to the neighbors. We al ways had some too. Her other seasonal cooking thing was to make chocolate fudge. There was always the candy thermometer and lots fussing with that project. I loved the smell of the house when she was doing that project, and the eating of it too.

Enjoy what the season brings your way.

Carol

 

 

Drawing, Felt Work, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Nine Play, Pixies Group, Re Work, Sea Floor

Fall Beauty

Hello,

 Fall is creating her wonders around here now.  So many colors and changes.  I enjoy the walks whit the leaves skittering down the path in front of me while I crunch through them. I made my usuals fall efforts to catch the falling colored leaves as they rushed toward the earth, but was not real successful today.   The wall nuts are piling up and the white pines have dropped many cones.  I collected some and hope to create a wreathe later.

My weeks continue to be full.   It started with  a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Meeting on Saturday.     This is Marcia’s newest piece.   She dose wonderful work I think,

Victoria had two new pieces and I liked them both.   The use of grommets to connect the units is a great solation as I am sure they would fight with the eye of the viewer  for attention other wise.

 

Her second one is very interesting with the weaving  too.

 

 This week also  included an opening at the Manlius Library for the new members of Assonated Artists.  Friends Adam Virial and Carol Adamic were among them.

I enjoy Adam’s playfulness.

 

The sculpture is one of Carol’s.   She can be so playful with her work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies meant as usual.  Susan has asked us to do memories about food, so I will make that story and illustration at the end.

Victoria, Liz and I meant Cheri and Liz at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester on Thursday and had a wonderful time.   We visited the Infinity Room with it many mirrors and reflection balls.  It was powerful!

I also did more with the Joyous Embroidery Class.   I am enjoying creating my Fabric Collage piece although it is slow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Nine Play    I am to the quilting Stage on this project now.   I am doing reflective quilting with little added picks were there are color changes.

Nine Two    This is the second nice patch with similar colors in use.   I am using curves here too to add a different feel.

 

 

 

 

Lap # 17   This quilt is also ready for the quilting stage now.

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Floor I am nearing the completion of this project I think.   I only want to add a bit more clutter to the bottom and it will be ready for binding.

 

Blue Sea  I am doing the hand work of adding trumpto  to this piece.  It is very slow as I don’t put in too much time on it.

 

 

 

Food Memory :  Strawberries and Ice Cream

In those summers when we lived with the McElhinney grandparents I recall getting in her bright blue Ford and driving about mile down the road to the Samuels house. We would go in and Grandmother would talk with Mrs Samuels for a while . I had to seit quietly while this went on. The we would all go out to the strawberry bed. It was huge and there were 12 foot 12inch boards placed across the bed every so many feet. One would walk out on the board and kneel down to pick the berries. I loved doing that as I would always eat a few as I picked. I don’t recall, but I am sure Grandmother paid her- be it in cash or eggs. Then we went back home and washed and cut the berries before some were frozen and some just went into the refrigerator. Later in the afternoon Grandmother loaded Gene and I into the car and we went to town to the Ice House. She would put some coins in the box on the out side and then go into the building and carry out a block of ice with some enormous thongs. She would but put the ice block on a burlap feed sack in the trunk of the car. Then back to the farm. The ice was carried down to the basement sink were Gene and I had to break it up with the ice pick and put it in the ice cream maker. We did not work on that long as folks started to arrive and the Uncles and Dad took over the job. Soon Grandmother carried down a silver cullender full of cream and such to make the ice cream. She put it into the barren and ice was added around it. Then the cranking began. I remember Uncle Ernie, Uncle Jim, Uncle Bernard, Grandpa and Dad cranking for what seemed like hours to me. I did beg for a try once and found it to be a lot harder than I expected. Every now and then more ice and salt was added to the top of the wooden crank barrel. Ice water leaked out the bottom of the barren as the ice cream hardened. Mean while up stairs the women talked and the kids, myself included, played in the yard. Finally the ice cream was done and it was celebration time. I recall how exciting it was to be handed a old margerin bowl with a power milk biscuit inside and a couple of big scoops of ice cream. One then moved to the table to add fresh strawberries and get a spoon. Kids went out to the picnic table to enjoy the feast. The fireflies came out and we ate all the ice cream. From my point of view life could not be better.

Have a creative week

Carol

 

Collage, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Uncategorized

Moving Forward

1 Comment

  Hello,

The cone flowers are fading and  the Rose of Sharon’s and Black Eyed Susan’s are in their glory.   But I did spot these few leaves that are pointing toward the fast approaching fall.    I can’t believe we are in the middle of  Aug already.     It was a busy week for me  with a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting on Sat.    It was very stimulating as usual.    I am always amazed at the wide creative expressions in that group.

 

 

Liz showed us her wonderful hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce shared several baskets and a doll she had created.

 

 

 

Deb had a Cubist style  set of portraits to share.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan has finished assembling the top she was working on at QBL.  It is a cut up and rework of an old project.

 

 

 

 

 

Joan is doing  wonderful painting mixed with great fabric collage quilting work here.

It was a great meeting.

I also had a Pixie meeting this week and we had a good talk.

 

Progress Report:  Lap # 12     This is the first quilt in a long time that does not have any of the fabric that printed for the 100 Day Challenge in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I did use lots of stuff that I had altered though.

 

 

 

 

Reggie’s Quilt   At QBL, Reggie specialized in assembling  blocks that she had picked up over the years.   She gave me this top all put together and I  did the quilting.  I am working on the binding now and plan to add it to my lap quilt stash.   My granddaughter has agreed to take them to the nursing home were she worked for me to go to folks in the wheel chairs there.

Elizabeth’s paintings   When Marty and I went to Maine to visit Elizabeth Bush she gave us both some of her little canvas paintings.  “Use then as you please ,”she said.    I finally decided to turn them into cards to mail to folks.

 

 

College Insect – Praying Mantis    The pixie subject of Insects to Animals in still in effect  so I continued my study.  This collage is done with a ball point pen drawing on top.

 

 

Jeans   The work goes on with this project.  I thought I could use the machine drawn flowers that I had purchased from Amanda on the jeans, but their is not enough contrast.

 

 

 

 

 

 So I saved a blouse that had a big black spot on the front with the flowers and continue to add stitches to the legs.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork Napkin   I worked on this while I listened to the SAQA lecture on Wed.  It was a good talk and I am finished with the handwork on this project

 

 

 

New Work I was fascinated by the bark on one of the trees at QBL  So I took a lot of photos.  The bark pulled away and split as the tree grew.     I though I could use that idea as a jumping off place for a quilt and so here goes.   First I pulled the fabrics I want to use.

 

 

 

Then I started cutting and pinning.   You will have to stay tuned to see were this goes.

Keep Creating

Carol

Consider, Contemplating, Creative Strength Training, Drawing, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pondering, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Three Witches

Busy Summer Time

Hello,

  As the title suggests I have had a full week.    I ran the Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meeting on Sat.  We had a lot to talk about and share.   I am  sharing  this  work of Bev’s because I think  she   took  a real  chance  here  when she burned the edges  of  this  work  with  a blow torch.   The  effect  really  works.

We had a lively and productive meeting.

There was also  a Creative Strength Training on line meeting , a Pixie meeting and a meeting of the Sisterhood of the Scissors.   I have spent a lot of time setting at the computer.    In addition to that I spent a day at the Schweinfurth helping take down the Fiber Arts show on Tue and I went with Sharon up to 1.000 Islands in Clayton on Wed to pick up her art work from the show there.     Its all been very stimulating,  but it sure eats into my studio time.

  Progress Report: Circling Circles   This work is 69″ w  X 64″ l.   I have stitched lots of circles in this piece and feel it is stable at this point.  It is most certainly a bed topper  piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spider’s Weds  I am done with the hand work on this piece now.  I think I want to frame it  as it is so very fragile.

 

 

 

 

 

Contemplation    I am all done with the quilting step on this work now.  I started to square it for binding when I realized  that I wanted all the works in this series the same size and I did not know how they would all trim down yet.

Consider  I am almost done with the quilting on this work.   I think I have about one more hour and it will be done.

 

 

Ponder   I have taken a page form my class with Paula for the quilting on this piece.  She called these bump quilted l stitch lines fence posts.

 

 

New Work   I pulled these fabrics for the next lap quilt that I hope to start this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches    I did this drawing to prepare for the stitching of the second witch.    I have transferred the drawing to the surface and I have started the stitching.   I just keep adding stitches to this.  It is building slowly as hand work always does.

 

 

 

I am enjoying all the activity of summer and hope you are as well.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Sisterhood of the Scissors, Textile Artist Stitch Club, Uncategorized

Getting Green

Hello,
I hope everyone’s holiday was pleasant. We are really starting to feel like spring as the greening up of the world gets going here. Ones views are being cut back too as the leaves grow and fill in all the possible openings  of long distances and grow  to collect light for Photosynthesis.
I had several zoom meetings this week. tThe  QuEG’s, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists,   Sisterhood of the Scissors  and  the Pixies meant. There was an assignment for the Pixies from last week and that was to make ones own brushes. These are mine.  All have chopsticks for handles and yarn, fur, and rubber bands for the brussels. I will try them all out this week.

 

 

 

I finally finished my Coral Sea piece for the Textile Artist Stitch Club. It is 14.5″ X 13″. There is a felted base that I stitched the various beading, and sequin  techniques on top of it.   I am quit happy with the work.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: 10″ X 10″ s   These works are  for the Quilt Consortium.     I have been working on these 10 X 10 inch works to go for their fundraiser. This week I put sleeves on them and added the labels so they are ready to ship. They will be sold for $10.00 at the show later this year.
Camels Today

 

 

 

 

 

Plant Play

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dragonfly Days

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploration

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon Aid

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Reef II I actually started this work before the one I did with Textile Artists. Completing that project pushed me to work again on this one. I am trying more unique materials as a result of the doing the first one. The green plants for example are cut from a bit of Christmas ribbon.

 

Crows I printed more crows and I have now pulled fabric for the beginning of the assemble of the project.

 

 

Lap Quilt X I just keep doing these fun little explorations. This one has lots of my altered fabrics in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Daily  Practice   I continue to enjoy doing this work every evening and the piece keeps filling up.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories High Finance
I started serious baby sitting after we moved to Muncie. My first job was across the street with Steve Ballow. He was the same age as Gene and Dad worked with his Mom, so we did know them. That job lead to other jobs with faculty members. By the third year I had so much work that Gene was pressed into service too. I lost several costumers to “ The Gentle Giant”, as he was called, because he had a big growth spurt in 8 grade. In early Sept of 1963 Dad pulled me into the den for a big talk. He told me it was time for me to be more organized and responsible with my money. He then pulled out the family books and showed me how he was organized with categories of different kind of expenses and bills. He pointed out several months of clothing entries , and we added up how much was being spent on my clothes alone . He said he would provide a clothing allowance based on an average of these figures. He went on to talk about other expenses, like food. In my case lunch money would be provided. He then said that if I packed and carried my lunch from the family stores, he would still provide the food allowance, and I could save for special expenses that way. You will be riding the bus to and from school, it is too far to walk, so you will have a transportation allotment. Then he covered recreation expenses. You will want to go to ball games, dances and other school events that fall into that category- and extension of your old allowance is a good way to think of that. Your mother and I get paid once a month so you will too. You will supplement you income with your babysitting, of course, but you must live on those incomes combined, so I suggest that you save some money for emergencies too. You can not come to me or your mother for cash any more. Then he gave me a little red note book and I set it up to suit me. I was always good at following instructions so I did well with this too. I quickly learned that I could stretch my clothing budget and have fun sewing my own clothing. The next trick I learned was that if I made a wool plaid skirt and jacket, and I made a solid blue skirt, I had two outfits, economically. I added to that a turquoise skirt and jacket that picked up one of the stripes in the plaid to make more parts, and so my wardrobe grew. I added browns and tan skirts and vests all in classical styles that served we all through collage and beyond. This idea of making simple but related pieces that could be used interchangeably served me well when I was doing costumes for the school plays when I was teaching. Red check shirts made for “Guys and Dolls” were used in Annie Get Your Gun”, with the addition of a white lace edge for the cow girls in the wild west show for example. The efforts that my Grandmother Ester put into teaching me, and the Home Economics from middle school, have been sources of great joy and economy for me.
> Dad also started teaching me how to drive at this point. We used the station wagon as it was an automatic. We began by driving in the country, then moved to quiet town streets. I never really learned to drive a stick shift , although the two -tone green Rambler was a standard. One evening, Dad thought I was ready to drive down town to the high school for a math club meeting. It started out well, but I was not very good at using the clutch. We were waiting at a stop light in the growing darkness, the car facing uphill just before the bridge across the White River when things went wrong. I rolled back into the car behind before Dad took over and we went forward across the bridge. We stopped on the other side and talked with the other driver. No damage done, but I was quite shaken. Dad drove the rest of the way to the high school and I went off to my meeting. One of my friends brought me home. I just could not get past that event so even though Eric and several others have tried to teach me, driving a standard is not one of the skills I have.

 

Childhood Memories -Summer 1963
In the summer of 1963 I was 15 and Gene was 12. That made us both a bit more independent than in the past, so with that in mind , Mom took her first Summer School Field trip with Dr Cooper. She spent 8 weeks in Hawaii studying biology there. She sent home lots of post cards and we enjoyed them. She also brought gifts when she returned. I got a great University of Hawaii sweatshirt. It was always a conversation starter when I wore it.
On Wed every week, Dad, Gene and I went to the Student Center and had dinner. Then we would go down stairs where Dad taught us how to bowl. Gene caught on very quickly , but for me it was a bit more of a challenge. We did have fun though. By the end of the summer I had the hang of it and we repeated that pattern for several years. Some evenings when it was not Crowded, Dad even worked with us on how to play pool. I recall his careful explanations about how to use the cue stick to line up the angle with your eye to project where the ball should go…… Then there was the part about where on the ball one was to hit it to be successful. Again it was a skill that Gene excelled at and me not so much. It was still fun.
> When Mom got home we still went for an end of summer trip. We drove to Chicago and spent a day in the Field Museum. It is on the lake in a building that was part of the worlds fair when it was there. I was struck by the two big totem polls that flank the doors when one first comes inthe doors of the museum. I think that is were my love of the northwest Native American’s art started.
The two big bull Elephants that are in the center of the main hall were surrounded by special displays and booths as they were having a Mexican Celebration. I was captivated by the pinata they were building. They were made with a cardboard box as a base , with a head, a tail and wings added in more cardboard. The whole unit was then covered in crepe paper and tissue paper. I tried to build my own when I got home from what I remembered. The rest of the museum is wonderful too. I enjoyed the many animal dioramas and sea floor exhibits the most.
There was a skeleton of a sperm whale and it was huge! Mom was the most interested in the displays of the cultures of the South Pacific sense she had just been there. There was also a display of Northwest native peoples that really impressed me. Gene liked the fossils and dinosaurs. There was a Transistors Rex skeleton in the same area as the whale, I think . It was an exhausting day.
> The next day we went to the Art Institute. There was a special exhibit of a scaled down version of the Sistine Chapel on display . It was amazing , with lots of detail and one could really see all the angles and figures as it was much closer to the visitor than the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Mom said. even so, the Sistine Ceiling was glorious- though one’s neck got a bit tired from the looking up. The only other thing I really recall was George Seurat’s Sunday In the Park! I was blow away. It was my first real mural sized painting, and to add the stippling to the size really amazed me. I had done mosaics and knew how long those took to do – so the thought of doing all those little dots really registered! I do not know if there was any other work in the room- but if there was I never recollected it, and I have visited the painting several different times. I even took 5 of my students on a field trip in my car my first year of teaching to see the museum and that work of art. We went from Chicago to visit the grandparents in Iowa for a few days. There was a big family picnic at the cabin while we were there. It was good to see the cousins again. I did not realize how much I missed the long summer stays with them.

Stay safe and make wise choices,

Carol

 

25 Million Stitches Project, Cardinals, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Killdeer, Mom VI, Robins

Winter

Hello-
Snow continues to fall here in central New York. We just shovel and drive with care. This week there was a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting. It was good to see folks even if there were not a lot of gals in attendance. Pat had three pieces – two big and one small to share. This is a close up of one.

This is Bev’s newest work. It is all pin basted for quilting now.

 

 

 

Noel is back to working with silks in an effective new approach.

 

 

 

Liz is doing lots of hand work and she asked for advice on how to quilt this great piece.

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a FAB meeting this week. It was good to see these gals again too. Sharon is busy finishing the last commission in the series of 7. These little flowers will be added to the base she has already produced.

I did get my two pieces for the 25 Million Stitches project mailed off this week too.

Project Report: Two Cardinals This work is 10″w X 16″ t. I am really enjoying doing the free motion drawing of birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Killdeer This work is 19″w X 12″ t. I had to do some small modifications to is after I showed it to the gals at the FLFA meeting. The birds faded into the background too much until I added some dark to their backs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Robins This work is 24″w X 18″h. I did end up adding the third adult robin to make the composition work. Because I had done five other birds before it only took and hour and 15 min to do the new bird. Experience does help.

Exploring Blue  This work is going along slowly as it is all done by hand. I am enjoying working away attaching all the little units I have pinned down.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood- Move to Carroll

At the end of second grade we moved from Columbus Junction to Carroll Iowa. About a six hour drive from the part of Iowa that my Grandparents lived. Dad got a new job as a high school principal in a larger school there. We moved into the Park View Apartments that summer . The apartment was a half level with the windows on ground level. It was dark. A girl a little older named Joanna lived in the apartment above ours. She taught me to play the card game “War” that summer and we spend many an afternoon at that activity. At the back of the lot behind the apartments there was a tall hedge and just in front of that was a huge sand box.
We spent a lot of time playing there as well. Across the street in front of the apartments was a big city park. There was a band shell there and on most Friday evenings there was a concert. Gene and I went with Mom and Dad to listen and play in the dark. The public swimming pool was across the park. Mom did not know how to swim so she signed up both of us for lessons. I remember putting my clothing in a numbered wire basket and pinning a safety pin with the same number on it to my suit to get my clothing back. The one had to walk through a very cold chlorine wash to get out to the pool area. One day we were late and so I ran across the park bare footed. I cut my foot on a piece of glass. I had to set out for that lesson . I did learn how to swim that summer and passed the test at the end of lessons as did Gene. Most days Dad went off to Adams street and worked with Grandpa Howard and some twins from the high school on the house. I remember seeing the place the day they removed the forms from the pored cement basement walls. They were tall I though. My next clear memory was visiting the house when they were framing the main floor. The furnace was also being put in at that time. I was fascinated by the furnace man because he could do tricks. He was a “ sward shallower” of sorts.   At least he could swallow those long slender strips of metal that were used between the joints of the heating ducks. He was not fooling me as I walked around him to view from all sides. We moved into the basement before school started. Mom and Grandpa worked on the upstairs that fall and winter to finish the house.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Owl, Scrap Happy Quilts

Busy Time

Hello-
As the photo shows I am still sorting my images of Australia.

I have been busy this week with a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting. We added a new member to our group and I welcome her. Her work is very personal and this quilt is about her concern for a friends lung cancer.

 

 

Angela shared her second quilt for her brother that is constructed with fabric from her fathers old shirts.

 

 

Noel showed two baby quilts and her new excoriation work with pears. She is expanding her knowledge form her QBL class- one on the many qualities I like about her.

 

 

 

 

Pat just completed this big work.

 

 

 

I also spent time at the Quilts = Art= Quilts show. This was my second visit and I was attracted to new works this time. This work is by Shannon Costly  if Marco Island Fl  and is called Emerging.   The white words are “cut through”   the quilt and only connected with thread.    I love how used color and negative space to convey her message.

Progress Report: Bed For Kids- Scrap Happy I put in a lot of time on this to finish it on Tue.

 

I am glad I have done the build work with scraps so that this quilt only took two weeks to complete.

 

 

 

 

Pink Windmill This work was what I started at Sharron’s earlier this fall. It too went off to the Beds project on Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 


Owl- Nick’s Christmas quilt I have built the back of this quilt and I am now assembling the rows. I hope to get to work on the owl piece for the top soon.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants These guys have served as my hand work for this week. It looks like I need to add the arms and hair so I can complete these guys.

 

There are two Childhood memories this week in my attempt to catch up.


Childhood Memories- 6th Birthday

In my family we always celebrated birthdays with candles and cake. One time Mom made angel food cake and inserted a little doll in the opening and made the cake frosting her gown. Mom did special parties when one was 6 and again when one turned 13. I’ll do 13 later. For my 6th birthday I had six guests all from the neighborhood- Billy, Susan, Sally, Doug, Anne and my brother Gene. The theme was Out of this World. The party hats were red vinyl with red crepe paper manes and two antenna with a ball on the end of each. The party favors were little forest green clothespin men with red ta-bards that sported a lighting strike. The were set in marshmallows to stand up.

Mom made a cake shaped like a space ship. The base was the usual cake tin and the second layer was baked in a domed Pyrex bowl. It had pink frosting with gum drops on it for lights. I got a big tricycle for my gift from Mom and Dad. It was red and white with a huge front wheel. I really loved it.   I spent many and afternoon  riding  it in the basement or up and down the driveway.

Childhood Memories – 1948 Ford 

As a kid, I did not pay much attention to cars until we got a used 1948 Ford. It was a ugly faded shade of dark green. My parents took it off to the garage and had it updated. The visor over the front window was removed and it got a new coat of paint. The Sunday before it came home we visited the car at the garage. The windows were taped with paper and the wheels were protected, the smell of paint was strong in the air and the ugly duckling was now yellow on the bottom with white on the top. It looked great! It was the car my parents used to pull a rented air stream from Columbus Junction,Iowa to Yellowstone National Park for that summer. I was seven. Mrs Mc Donald across the street gave  us a box of cookies the morning we left. Mom carefully dulled them out and made them last the whole trip. She also used the top of the box to keep track of the mileage. I recall smuggling down on the floor with my head resting on the lump- (drive shaft) and falling asleep on that trip. Later that summer we used the cookie box to create a diorama. Sand was on the bottom with short branches for trees, wolf liken for bushed and peeled corrugated cardboard became  the log cabin. Mom arranged a trip away from South Gate every weekend Dad had off from his guard duties. The car got a lot of use. On the first trip out of the park we went to Silver City- a soon to be tourist attraction. We walked the town and talked to the man who was running the press.    He was printing  hand bills for a show that evening at the opera house. We decided to stay . It was a Melodrama and great fun. I had never “Booed” or thrown peanuts shells at a villain before. When the show was over it was too late to drive home,so we stayed just out side of town sleeping in the car. Dad proceeded to pull the back up from the front seat and lay it down between the front and back seats. We were sort of flat and all four of us slept that way that night. In the morning Dad put the seat back in place and we drove away.
My only other memory of that car was going home. We were pulling the trailer over the centennial divide and the car did not like the work. The engine overheated.  Dad stopped the car and we all got out. Dad carefully removed the radiator cap -jump back just in time to avoid a scalding eruption. We had our own “Old Faithful” with lots of steam! After it cooled Dad filled the radiator with water from a canvas bag that hung on the front of the car. It was mostly down hill the rest of the way home so it did not happen a second time.  It was a good car that sure provided me with lots of memories.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season and is not stressed .

Keep Creating,

Carol