Category Archives: Scrap Happy Quilts

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, Curvie Cuts, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fish Bones, Mayan Series- Fire Dancer, Mayan- Rabbit Dancer, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing

Wild Temperatures

Hello,

This week has been one of wild temperature swings here. We where in the low 20 one day and had snow.    It was light and I liked how it stayed on the fallen leaves and pine needles.  Then the weather turned up and yesterday and today temperatures are set for nearly 70.       Our Indian Summer is set to last through Saturday. I sure enjoy it.
I spent a lot of time in Zoom meetings this week. There was a great meeting of Sisterhood of the Scissors. We are revising the 3X3 challenge of 2019. We were to make nine little quilts that could be put together or work independently.   I was the only person who followed through and did it last time.  I ended up uniting mine. I decided to challenge myself to doing this a second time. I will put that image in the Progress section.
The Pixies, FAB and QuEG’s meant too. I am bowed up by all the talk and support that they provide.

Progress Report:   Fish Bones  This quilt is 37″ X 29″.   I did free motion drawing for all the fish images on nylon netting that was trapped between two layers of wash away.

 

The curvy cut background adds a great feeling of movement I think.

 

 

 

Rabbit Dancer Mayan Series I finished the quilting of this work yesterday. I will add the binding and sleeve and it will be complete for next week.

Fire Dancer Mayan Series As I am nearly done with Rabbit Dancer I got busy and started the Fire Dancer this week.   I did the enlargement and the face base  is pinned in place at this point.

 

3 X 3 challenge II I built these nine patches and then realized that the smallest size of the units for the challenge is 12″ squares. These will only be 9″ when they are trimmed so I need to get creative and add to them to fit the challenge.

 

 

Ethel Scraps I keep adding the strips and leftovers together to created these big   unit pieces. I will cut them into 5″ squares today before I make any more units. I still do not see much of a dent in the box of per cut strips of Ethel’s that    I started with.  I am enjoying using them however.  I made a little personal rule to not begin assembling any blocks until I had made the 5″ squares for 21 days. Today is day 16 so I am getting close to moving onto the next step in this project.

Burn I got a little frustrated while I was working on this project because the machine kept freezing up on me while I was doing free motion work. I could sew for about a min and then it would stop and tell me to remove thread from under the bobbin. I did take the machine apart and use the bush in that area even though I could not see any threads. After the fifth time I just set the project aside and put the machine away. I will go to the Phaff dealer before I go forward with that machine. I got out the Bernia and have been using it for  work most of this week.

Squares A Dancing This is the latest group of seven. I only have enough squares for two full weeks at this point. I have 231 squares done. I may cheat a bit and cut some additional squares from some old jeans to make a third week for a total of 35 weeks. I will make decisions as I near the end.

 

 

Black Rocks I already mentioned all the Zoom time I had this  week. Well when the meetings are going on,  I stitch away .

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Neighborhood Kids 2
Another Catholic family lived in the house just south of ours. I remember that they had a wonderful lilac hedge all around the back yard. It smelled heavenly in the spring. There were only two children in that family, Bill, who was older, and Jane who was a year younger then I.  Bill was a bit of a bully and I recall him throwing Walnuts at me in the fall. He was also the only person who teased me with a nickname. He called me “Carol Kay Cumber Cackle Hanney. ” Mom often said that she  gave  both Gene and I names that could not become nick names. Her name was Margaret and she got called Maggy, Peggy, Margo and even Liz. She did not like it at all. Bill’s nick name did not last too long as they moved away. Jane, Mickey and I often played in the Honeysuckle in the empty lot behind Jane’s house. The old bushes grew close together and arched creating a tunnel-like place that we could get into. One day Jane provided us with a thrill by bringing out one of her Dad’s Playboy Magazines. We felt safe viewing that under the bushes and got an eye full. One time I sort of stood up under there and disturbed a bees nest. I got 5 stings- two on my head and three on my hands before we got out from under the plants. Needless to say we did not go back there again. There was also a rusted swing set frame in the empty lot and we spent lots of time hanging upside down and swinging from our arms on it. There were lots of sticker bushes there as well , so we mostly had the lot to ourselves. I remember pulling those round stickers off my socks before I put them in the clothes hamper, because if one didn’t, they were still there when the socks came back from the laundry and much harder to remove.
Two older women lived in the house directly behind ours. They had a beautiful flower garden and a few vegetables.  A huge rhubarb plant was on the boarder between their house and ours. I had permission to pick and eat as much rhubarb as I wanted whenever I wanted. What a privilege. I did eat quite a bit. We would use the big leaves as hats and pretend to do fairy dances with them on. That part of eating the rhubarb  and dancing  disappeared as I grew older. but I still enjoy  raw  rhubarb  .
Behind the Lightning’s  house,  was a house with only one little girl in that family. Her father adored her. He took a pair of his wife’s cast off heels and cut them down to fit her feet. All the rest of us   girls envied her. We tried to trade some of our treasures for the shoes, but she was not having any of it. The next lot was also a basement home. A family with three little girls lived there. I got to babysit for them when I was in the sixth and seventh grades. I got an amazing 35 cents an  hour. They did not have a TV, but had a great radio instead. I would stay up after the girls were asleep and listen as I did not want to fall asleep on the job. I remember late one  night when I got a Spanish speaking station from Mexico. Dad explained about how radio signals could “ skip” so you could hear stations from far away, but he didn’t really think it was Mexico. I never heard it again even though I did try.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Childhood Memories, Curvie Cuts, Fish Bones, Mayan- Rabbit Dancer, Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing

Happy Halloween

Hello,

Happy Halloween everyone. It is my favorite holiday as I like to dress up and try on other personalities. Like playing a part in a play, but for only one night. I got this little cutee from my friend Sharron. It was a great surprise.

 

 

I noticed as the leaves have started to desert the trees how many different types of Oak trees we have in our area. The shapes of the leaves tell me these are different species, but one should note that all the vain structures are the same. It is in the details that we find the variety of life.
Liz and I dyed on Friday last week. We know that it will soon be to cold to work in the garage so with the exception for the red one that is for the Burning quilt top, all the rest are pure play.
The Textile Art Stitch Club teacher for this week is American Jodi Colella. I had fin making the charms and got a little carries away embellishing the black lace that was Grandmother Ruth’s. I plan to add it to a hat later.
I had two Zoom meetings this week. One with the Pixies and a second with the Sisterhood of the Scissors. It is always so stimulating to talk and see like minded creative folks. They really break the isolation of this time.

Progress Report: Ethel Scrap The Schweinfurth Fall Retreat got cancelled so I decided that I would do an hour worth of work on the scrap project ever day. First I sew two strips together. Then I add small cut away sections from scraps to the sides. ( columns one and two)         I add smaller units together and build  squares or strips  adding together pieces that fit one another.   

The small units added to the long strip will be cut apart and be added to others of the same size.

On the far right one can see that the two sections did not match.  So I will trim off the excess on the bottom right to make a strait edge  and that small section will be added to a strip as in step 2.

I keep building adding until I get big enough collections to cut several five inch squares from it. There are always pieces that do not make the squares and that is the source of the scraps that I add to the next set of  strips.

 

These five inch squares plus five inch solid ones are the base units for the quilt I will eventually be  building.

 

Squares a Dancing I keep working on this hand project during the news every night. I finish about one square ever evening. I now have 217 done.

 

 

Burning I got the trees all free motion attached to the background. I am now in the process of adding the flames made with cotton, silk, nylon net, organza and silk paper. Hopefully some of the red I dyed will go into this too.

Fish Bones (Curvy Cuts) I am nearly finished with this project.  I made a curvy cut base in shades of blue and aqua  and added the fish on top.    I had to make additional fish as the first set of seven, did not fill the space enough to make me happy. I free motion stitched them all on top yesterday.   I need to do the binding to complete the project.

Black Rocks I did a little hand work on this project this week. It will become my TV project when the Squares are done.    I had to abandon the green tape between the rocks as it kept falling off the surface.     I am using the embroidery wool that Nancy gave me for this project.

 

Childhood Memories-   Neighborhood Kids

I was growing and leaving childhood ,and puberty hit me as it does all of us. I remember a little blue pamphlet that Mom gave me to read called “Now You are 10″. It was from Kotex and it was about the menstrual cycle and what to expect. Mom and I had a little talk , and I had a blue box in my chest of drawers from that point forward. What I remember more vividly was how very uncomfortable I felt that spring when I went without a tee shirt for the first time. I had developed over the winter , so Mom took me shopping and we got three bras. I felt much better, and as delighted by the little ballerinas machine-stitched on the bottom of the cup in multi colored thread. Laura Harris, a girl in my class that was as childish as I was, I visited her grandmother, who lived across the street from us , several times that year. She was the friend who got to see my new BRA .She and I had a club called the “ Asinine Club”. It was so much fun to say that scandalous word out loud. Laura’s Grandmother’s was one of the few houses that Gene and I got to visit on Halloween by our selves. She made us do a “trick” before we earned our “Treat”. I sang a little song and Gene did a forward roll. This was the tradition for Halloween in Carroll.
> Our neighborhood was a relatively   new area of town and there were lots of young families with kids as well as lots of empty lots. That meant I could always find some one to play with when I went out doors. Beyond the cedar trees and the picket fence south of our house was an unfinished house- just the basement , like what we had  when we had  moved into Columbus Junction.     That house was not completed when we moved away five years later.   A Catholic family with 11 kinds lived in that basement.      The names  of  everyone in that family  started with M. Micky  Lighting was the oldest and my friend, followed my Marty, Marsha, Matt, Martin, Mark, Mike, and Melody as far as I can remember. The  names of  little ones all ran together for me. I was surprised that in the fall she did not go to school with me.  All the kids who were school age in her family went off to Kemper, the Catholic school. Micky helped me with my further explorations of different religions by taking me to the Catholic Church one week day. She handed me a Doily-like thing and she plunked a similar one on her own head. ‘’ One never goes into Church without your head being covered,” she said. After entering the big doors, our first stop was the font were we splashed a bit of “Holy Water” . I don’t remember any explanation for that ritual. I was awed by all the colorful sculptures and burning candles. When we visited a pew I was surprised by the kneeling bench. Then I looked in the hymnal. I did not find a song I recognized and the responsive reading was in a strange language. I was impressed that she could speak and read Latin even though she could not tell me what it meant. When I learned she always had fish on Fridays, I never got a real good explanation for that. Mickey was also the person who lead me a bit astray with Cigarettes. I did not know any one who smoked and both of her parents smoked. It was the 50’s and the ads were every were. She stole a partial pack along with matches and we went off to the honey suckle to light up. My body knew better then I, as I coughed  and coughed.    It was sort of unpleasant.  I decided they were not for me, and the fact that they were not readily available helped,I am sure. I really felt sorry for Mickey as she had to spend lots of time caring for the younger children. Her toys did not last long either, as younger hands had a way of destroying things.

Please stay safe and Keep Creating

Carol

PS;    I had to add these maples leaves too as they are so beautiful.

Burning, Childhood Memories, Experiments, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Mayan- Rabbit Dancer, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing

Busy Season

Hello.
We continue our journey into fall seeing more and more color every day. It was rainy today so the oranges showed up nicely against the gray sky.
This week was full of Zoom meetings. The QuEGs had a nice talk on Tue as did the Fiber Art Dames on Wed. For the Pixies I did a work loosely based on Janet Fish’s paintings. She uses beautiful cut glass and shows all the color and light reflections. Mine is -“Oh so much simpler!”.I can see ways go forward though. I also dyed with Liz  this week, and the fabrics are ready to wash out today.

The Textile Artists Stitch Club continued with Sonbine Kaner. She had about six different ways to move forward with similar ideas  from last week  and I noted them and may try some at a later date. What I did do was use the cut ways from last week for the base of my work this week.

 

 

Progress Report: Deer Dancer – Mayan Series This work is 20.5 w X 24.5″ l. I am quite happy with this series and working with the ideas. Each one is more and more my effort and less copying of the images presented.

 

 

 

I did all the quilt work this week.

 

 

 

Rabbit Dancer- Mayan Series. This work is really a composite character. The head dress is from one character and the body from another. I wanted this character facing the opposite  direction from the Deer Dancer. I also added the plant in the upper hand like some of the earlier works. . I am ready to  fuse it down and  start the stitching.

 

 

Burning I finished doing the free motion work on the trees and the got  them washed out this week . I then layered the back ground to batting and backing and pinned the trees in place.    The machine work and adding the flames are in the near future.  I plan to work hard on this work this week.

Squares a Dancing This is the work for this week. I now have 210 squares done. The pile of bases is getting smaller with each block.

 

 

 

Fish Bones is an experiment. I wanted to see if I could use tear away instead of wash away to do the machine drawing. I am not happy with the results and will go back to something that I am confident with. I think it is good  to try new things every now and then.

Black Rocks This work came about due to the failure of the discharge from two weeks ago. I was looking at the beautiful black fabric and though what can I do. So I picked up some of the embroidery wool that Nancy had passed my way earlier this year and started stitching. I had a photo of rocks at a jetty from Sandpoint that I really liked so I used it to build the idea. The green tape is going to serve as a boarder for different types of stitches and as a spacer between the rocks. This too is and experiment and may not work well. But I don’t know until I try.

Coral Reef This bit of hand work got lost in a heap of projects and only got unearthed this week.

 

 

 

 

Ethel’s Scraps This box is full of scraps that Ethel had cut.   It too  was at the bottom of that heap I mentioned.     I opened it and put in a couple of hours putting together strips. I have sense put it aside and will take it to the fall retreat and do more work on it there.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Doll Tales
I continued with my musical studies and played more of the clarinet. I got a new instrument that I played through high school. I went to several solo competitions in the early years. It was a great way to build a social network and my best friends grew out of my playing in the band and orchestra.
I also continued with my struggles with reading, but I got lots of support from my parents. For our last book report in sixth grade Miss Eaton asked up to make a puppet or doll of the main character of our book. Dad had gotten me a record set of the reading of” Alice In Wonderland” with an accompanying book. Miss Eaton allowed that I could count that as my book since I had read along with the oral reading. My character of Alice was built on an empty toilet paper roll tube. The head was made of an old nylon of Mom’s that was stuffed with cotton. I drew the features on in pen. Mom did gather some beautiful turquoise fabric for the skirt and I wrapped the top half of the tube with the same fabric for the top. I cut an apron from one of Dad’s old handkerchiefs and pinned it on. Mom allowed me to run the sewing machine over some orange yarn that was captured between two pieces of scotch tape to create the hair. I was very proud of my puppet /doll. I was getting a little old for dolls, but I still liked them. That year Mom took me to the Doll Hospital because the elastic in my favorite doll- Tony, had broken elastic bands inside so the arms and legs had come off. The hospital was in the doll Doctor’s basement. We went down the stairs and hanging from the walls were  groups of body parts.  There were  collections  of arms, legs, heads and torsos. I was fascinated by the display. He took my doll and assured me he could repair her in two weeks. When we went back she looked like new and all the appendages worked beautifully. Mom was inspired and make a visit to Grandmother Ruth’s attic to get her original Shirley Temple doll and have her refurbished. She was in awful shape as the paint had pulled away from the sawdust head around the eyes and mouth and cracked. It had fallen away in some places too. Her arms and legs were separate from the body too. The hair was matted and snarled as well. She was a real mess. The Doll Dr took her and when we picked her up it was amazing how nice she looked. The face was smooth with a wonderful new paint job and beautiful new wig. Mom promptly made her a new blue taffeta dress with pink rick rack trim. She sat in a place of honor on my chest of drawers next to my black lacquer musical jewelry box. Tony joined them there. I did get one more doll for Christmas that year. She was a 20″ Model doll, dressed in a high fashion red taffeta dress with removable red high heels. That meant her feet were not flat on the bottom. She had removable nylons and silk panties as well as pearl earrings that dangled. She just joined the others and looked glamorous. I still had my Betsy Mc Calls too and I did play a bit with them. I still have all of those dolls and the doll furniture in my attic. The beautiful doll house that Grandfather Howard built for me made its way back to Grandview when we moved were it lived on its side in the basement as storage shelves until Grandfather turned the basement room into display space for his rock collection. At about this time I also got a figure/doll that had wire inside so you could post it. The clothing was not removable but I still enjoyed hanging her from the lamp and bed post. Again I went into my “ How does one make this type of thing?” Dad gave me some wire and allowed me to use the needle nose pliers, providing I always returned them to the tool box. So I built a wire body- and armature I learned later, and wrapped it with strips of rags to fill it out. I also used a bit of masking tape and then covered the whole thing with an old white tea towel. Then I added features with a pen as I had done with the Alice figure.   I glued down yarn hair and made clothing that I attached to the fabric body.   I did about seven of these – my first doll sculptures.

Stay safe and keep creating

Carol

 

 

 

Childhood Memories, Felt Work, Mayan- Parrot Priest, Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Mill Site Lake Aug 2020

Hello,
Nancy and I had a wonderful time last week at Mill Site Lake visiting Judy’s Camp. We took up a treadle sewing machine that one of my daughter’s friend gave to me as she was cleaning out her mothers house. The Amish family was very happy to get the gift. Then when I got home the woman across the street offered me a second machine. So Nancy and I will make a second trip north later this summer. Judy Showed off her Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt.

 

 

 

We made a trip to purchase fresh vegetables for dinner and stopped at a spring and filled the water bottles while we were there too.
Jake, Judy’s new puppy keeps her active and brings her lots of joy.    He is funny little guy and he likes to chew shoes.  I found a solo shoe in my car- one of a set that I had take to the Risque Mission that had fallen out of the bag.  So I passed it on to Jake and he was very happy.

 

 

 

 

 

Over the last two week I have been doing my Textile Artist Stitch club assignments. Haf Wieghton challenge was to make medallions. I enjoyed this process.

 

 

 

 

This week Cas Homes challenge the students use crumpled paper as a new element in their stitch work. I did a landscape as she suggested. I made it my own by doing the free motion tree on the machine too.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Golden Garden I am having fun working away on this piece. The base is all built from fabric that I have altered except for one piece that is less then a fat quarter. I have added ribbon, and organza shapes on top. Then I faced circles that I am appliqueing by hand.

Repair While I was up at Mill Site I work to repair this quilt from Grandmother stash. The brown shapes were falling apart. So I cut the same shapes from some of the old fabric from her house and appliqued them on top. The Blue, white and red print  piece with the pins is ready for the stitching.( center top ) All seven of the shapes are covered and requilted down now.

Blue I am having a good time layering this piece. I am not sure that it is finished yet , but it is getting close.

Parrot Priest- Mayan Series # 5 I worked on this at Mill Site too. All the outlining is done and I am now quilting around the figure.

 

 

 

 

 

Bunk Bed Quilts All the rows are completed for the bunk bed quits. I am waiting for a trip to the fabric store to purchase backing material so I can finish.

 

Felting- washer balls I am in the middle of preparing these to pass on to my friends.

 

 

 

 

 

Felting landscape I started this yesterday at the end of the day. I want some additional greens so I ordered some and they will come Monday.

 

Squares a Dancing     I worked away on the squares over this two week period and  and finished 21 of them.   I like how this project is going and I am enjoying the use of only a few stitches with lots of different colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Christmas
We drove home to Morning Sun and Grandview for Christmas like we did for Thanksgiving. Most years while we lived in Carroll we had a nearly visit from Santa before we left. Because Gene still believed the first years, Mom wrote a special letter to Santa to alert him of our need and set up the date. I do not remember anything special gifts except for one year when I got a rhinestone setting jewelry kit. It offered me many hours of glamorous fun. The five hour drive ended at Grandmother Ester’s home as it did with Thanksgiving. We always slept there and enjoyed the time on the farm. Grandmother Ester had a cedar tree that Grandfather Merrit had cut from one of the fields was in the living room. Ginger bread was Grandmother’s tribute to the holiday. We had gifts for both of them of course.
On Christmas day we got up early and drove to the Cocklin house. I remember there was always homemade egg noodles on Christmas day. As I got older I got to help roll out the dough. It was always one of my favorite parts of the feast. Grandpa Howard did the turkey. One year he stuff it with rice that the had soaked in Hawaiian Punch. It was pink of course- I have no memory of the taste- but it never reappeared on the menu. Several Christmas’s we did family portraits. Mon was the oldest and we were usually the first to arrive and as the other families appeared they took their places and had pictures taken. From my point of view it took forever for the other families to arrive- but then they were celebrating the normal tradition of Santa’s arrival that morning. Uncle Dale was the second child. His wife was Barbara and they had five children. Danny was the oldest and 6 month older then I. Next was Timmy, followed by Tommy and Lisa, who was the last child in that family to be born in Iowa. Following Dale’s love of hunting and fishing the family moved to Alaska before Darcy was born. Uncle Dale is still alive as are the next two children in that generation. Aunt Marcaleen was the next child and she married Paul Bell. Russell was their oldest followed by Tracy, Doug and Kelly. The youngest child in Mom’s generation was Aunt Shirley. She was married to Jerry Dean and they had three boys, Curtis, Casey and Scott. Some years Grandmother Ruth’s younger brother Dan and his family came to Christmas dinner too. Dan’s wife was Lovell and their kids were Jerry, Claudia, and Garth. The kids were all older and I do not have much in the way of memories of them.
When the Bells showed up things really started to move for us kids. Many years we wrote and preformed a play in the later part of the afternoon. We dressed up and used the pocket door in the den as our curtain. I do not remember the stories we preformed, but I do recall one year when Doug did commercials between the acts. He stole the show with his presentation for “Grandma Moses’s Spider Taffy.”
As we got older we started shooting skeet in the afternoon. I can’t say I enjoyed that much, but the men did. As the afternoon turned toward evening folks drifted off and we too returned to Grandmother Esters with our happy memoirs of a good family fun fill day.

Enjoy the summer and stay safe

Carol

Childhood Memories, Mayan- Parrot Priest, Mayan- Vulture Priest, Scrap Happy Quilts, Textile Artist Stitch Club, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Thankful

Hello,
I hope everyone is continuing to do well in these trying times. I feel so very thankful  to be an artists and a person who can entertain myself. Being able to set my own rules and goals allows me to choose to be selective in who I have contact with as well as where I choose to go. I can and do make my own fun. This week was quiet but I am still playing in the studio

There was a new assignment from Gregory Wilkins this week. We are building a mixed media collage with lots of stitching. I love his last bit of advice” It is not done until it is over done.” What and excuse to just keep going.   I had fun stitching down  big sequins, key pads from a saxophone, some  of Grandmothers Ruth’s old glass beads and old lace on my painted base.

Progress Report- Vulture Priest- Mayan Series # 3 I finished this piece yesterday. It is 21″ X 23″.   This series is proving to be a challenge in the assembly process.  Cutting all the little fabric pieces and putting them back together is a bit of a challenge. 

 

I am learning a lot about stitching small circles too.

 

 

Parrot Priest- Mayan Series # 4 When I start ed quilting on the Vulture Priest I started the drawing on this work. It took the better part of three days to get the fabric cut and fused down. Now I am ready to begin the stitching outlines.

 

 

 

Time Check Last week was an off week for the Textile Artist Stitch Club so I put my time in on this little work. I think the class is helping me think in a new direction.

 

Bunk Bed Scrap Happy I started this Scrap Happy as a Christmas gift for the twins. Putting the rows together sure goes fast when there are only 10 rows of 5.

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I put in a lot of time doing hand work in the evening lately. With 91 squares done now I will soon reach the original goal of 100. But sense I cut up two more pair of Eric’s pants for bases I will keep going until I have used them all up. Then I will decide on the size of the final quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 New work  

 

I usually audition fabrics before I start a new project.  These are the ones I am thinking about at the moment.    After several days of looking I have decided that there are really two bases here.  So I may just make two

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories-Thanksgiving- the Feast

The meal for Thanksgiving was a big job and Grandmother Ester’s big day. When we returned from our little family walk the first thing I did was get dressed in fancy attire. When I came down stairs the work began. Grandfather would have turned the dinning table and added all the four leaves. The pad was added and then the white Damask table cloth was all spread . My job was to set the dinning room table with the good china from the china nook and the silver from the credenza. I was given Grandmother’s silver plate dinner ware many years after her death. I decided to use it daily and enjoy it. I did that for many years until the plating wore off some of the piece. Doing so made me feel like Grandmother was a daily part of my life for years. Back to the Thanksgiving feast. I carefully arranged the plates for 16 and put out the utensils and napkins. The five kids ate in the kitchen. People began to arrive  around 1:00. First were usually Aunt Helen and Uncle Bernard followed closely by Jim and Herta with their three kids, Charlie, Mary Helen, and Tom. Then the other sisters and there spouses.  Grandmother Esterd was the oldest of the family.  There was aunt Loretta and uncle Bert, aunt Illa and uncle Nathan, aunt Ethel and uncle William, and the two aunts who lived together because they had both lost their spouses- aunt Vivian and Lovel . Everyone broth in food and it was a major pot luck. Grandmother Ester always did the turkey and dressing along with the mashed potatoes and gravy. There always were two dishes- oyster casserole and Golden Glow jello salad. Pulse pumpkin, apple, and cherry pies with lots of whipped cream. One always ate too much. The talk was lively even for us kids. When the dishes were done then men would turn the table back and take out the leaves so they could watch football and the women would play Canasta at both ends of the shortened table. When I got older one of the Aunts tried to teach me Canasta- but I did n’t really get it. We kids would retire to the upstairs and play board games. Monopoly mostly- Gene loved that one. The Bates family had animals on their farm and  they always left early so we never rarely finished the Monopoly game. It was cool up stairs and Gene and I often took a nap. Folks drifted away as the afternoon wore on and we ate a leftovers that evening. Dad and Grandpa would go out do his few chores too. It was a big and happy family get together with great feeling of warmth and love.
The next day we would drive to Grandview in the early morning and meet up with Mom’s parents. Many times we joined the Bell family and went from there to the Christmas Parade in Muscatine. It was the start of the holiday season. We would window shop and then go back to Grandmothers house in Grandview in the afternoon.   One of the other activities that was a part of that weekend was the selection of one’s magazine subscription for the year.   It was  a Christmas gift from Grandmother Ruth. I sure enjoyed that gift. My parents always chose National Geographic. My choice for years was one called “Pack-O-Fun”. It was full of little craft projects one could create from trash like plastic berry boxes and egg cartons. The start of my “ look at one thing and see it’s possible reuse” , I guess. As the Cocklin family grew it became cumbersome to purchase gifts for all the kids;there were 14 grand kids on that side, so at Thanksgiving time we would draw one other persons name. That was much much simpler and with time that even disappeared. Being together was the important thing in both families.

Please stay safe and keep creating

Carol

I will be away nest week so the next post will be  August 6.

Childhood Memories, Hand work, Lines of Inquire, Mayan- Eagle priest, Mayan- Vulture Priest, Scrap Happy Quilts, Series, Squares a Dancing

Quiet week

Hello,
I hope folks are staying safe and enjoying summer. The Mulberry tree we walk under is nearing its end of the fruit baring time.  On the other hand, the wild raspberry patch is just getting started, so I enjoy a little treat on my way home.

The Textile Artists Stitch Club teacher for this week is Sue Stone. We are to weave a base out of fabric strips and stitch over it. To help with the stitching, it is suggested that one draw the image on tissue paper and then stitch thought it. I have only just started that second step. I like that idea however.
Liz and I over dyed this week. I pulled out some fabrics that were dyed before, but were not real successful. It was quite hot and the photo shows how the heat effected me. I really look wilted. The process was done in the Shobori style, were one warps the fabric around a poll and does immersion dyeing. I really like the effects as the colors are so very rich. We are going to do some more of that next week too. It is fun and there is lots of surprise in the process as one does not always have control of how the dye will work.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Eagle Priest- Mayan Series #3 This work is 21″ X 23″. It is the third one in the series. I learn something with each project.

 

 

 

 

I like the headdress and face area of this work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vulture Priest- Mayan series # 4 This work is all fused down now and I am starting to do the out line stitching. Some parts are three layers thick and hard to pass the needle through.

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I just keep making one and a little more every evening. I have 56 squares now.

 

 

 

 

 

Layers I pulled this out of the pile after not looking at it for a week. I immediately saw what it needed  and made additions. Now I am ready to square it up and finish the project. It is great what time can do to help clear ones  vision.

Lines of Inquire This piece us all quilted in the ditch. I am now outlining the metallic inserts in gold thread. I will make passes around each one until I have quilted the work.

 

 

New Scrap Happy I cut centers in four colors and added the sides to them. Now they are all cut into squares and I can begin assembling the top.  Yes, they are Minions

Childhood Memories- Playground
Our playground in the fifth grade was a different scene from the fourth. We had big long jump ropes and could play group games with them. The girls took turns jumping and twirling. We played a lot of Aces- a game were one ran into the twirling rope and jumped once , then exited. The next person in line was to let the rope pass once and enter, then do the same single jump. After all the girls playing had jumped the single jump, one repeated running into the rope, but jumped twice. If someone missed by jumping on the rope or not entering on time, they replaced one of the twirlers and the game when back to Aces or one again. There were lots of rhyming songs that we jumped to as well- like Johnny Over the Ocean, Sampson and Delila, Blondie and Dagwood and one that we had to modify to use. It was Little Robin Red Breast. In that rhyme the last line ends in “poop”. We got around saying that by clapping when we got to that word. We played Double Dutch where two ropes were set in action going in the opposite directions. Lana Turner was the queen of that game until she broke her leg falling off a fence. We all admired the cast and were impressed by her painted toe nails when she came back to school. She said it itched and the crutches hurt her arm pits. She finally let folks sign the cast, but I was not one who signed. In the sixth grade I got a Pogo Stick for Christmas. By spring I was very good at its use and could cover lots of ground with it. I had no trouble pogoing to and from school. I even got so I could do jump rope rhymes too. I let lots of other kids try using it. It does take skill and I remained the champion of that event. In that year my best friend became Evelyn Stouton. I walked to her house after school many times. She had three sisters and she was the third girl in the family. She got mostly “hand me down” clothing and she did not like that much. But her older sisters also made her more sophisticated. Her room, in the attic was our hang out spot. Her bed was in a little cubby with a small window at the end. It was fun to lye there and watch people walk by. Her family moved over the summer and I was quite disappointed in the fall.
> My parents took me to the dentist as my teeth were a little out of alignment. After a discussion it was decided that the Dentist would try a new experimental technique to fix the problem. So one morning I went to the Dentist office at 8:00 instead of school. The dentist put bands on back teeth and wires on springs were attached to the bands
that would force my teeth forward. When I was done I walked the five blocks to school and joined my class. We had Chow main for lunch that day. I took one bite and suddenly my mouth was full of springs and wires as well as food. I went to Miss Herd and she told me to run back to the dentist as she knew he played Golf on Wednesday afternoons. I did run and barely made it to the office in time as he was in his car and the nurse had to flag him down. The dentist took all the wires and connections out and made a cast of my teeth. A few weeks later I got two retainers, one for the top and one for the bottom. I wore the bottom for about 9 months and the top for about a year. My bottom teeth are still a little crowded and crooked in the front.

Enjoy the holiday and Stay Safe

Carol

Childhood Memories, Mayan- Eagle priest, Mayan- Vulture Priest, Mouths, SAQA Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Textile Artist Stitch Club, Uncategorized

Beginning Summer

Hello,
I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well.     Summer Solstice was last Saturday and  now the day light is shortening every day.   I continue to walk and enjoy the summer season as it is a visual feast. There is a Mulberry tree that we walk under every day and it is loaded with berries now. I sure enjoy the  few  seedy fruits  I pick every day.   It reminds me of my childhood.   My garden is also hostessing flowers from Grandmother Butterworths ‘s garden. They always make me think lovingly of her and their bright  color is a joy to the eye.

 

 

 

 

The Textile Artist Stitch Club had a new assignment this week. Emily Tulli demonstrated how to do a mouth. We are to do three different ones and this is my work at the half way point. I still need to add a second shade of gray and then white for the highlights.

Progress Report: Square’s a Dancing I worked hard on this project this week and finished two groups of seven. I also cut up another pair of Eric’s pants to use as bases and that is why there is a color change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy I have now made rows of leftover squares for a new quilt. Nothing goes to waste in my world .

 

 

 

 

 

Eagle Priest- Mayan Series I finished the quilting of this piece this week and only need to finish off the little quilt with binding and a sleeve .

 

 

Vulture Priest- Mayan Series I drew out the next piece for this series and I am in the middle of cutting the pieces to applique to created the image. It will be ready for work when the Eagle Priest is done.

 

 

 

New Work I am working away on this new piece.   The insertion of the metallic pieces is a fun process. As I have no clear vision as to where I am going- the work is slow.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- 5 th Grade

My teacher is fifth grade was Miss Herd. She had a reputation for being very strict and I guess she was. But she was also very fair. We had lots of routines in her class. After the pledge we had reading followed by Arithmetic. I remember lots of review on Division at the beginning of the year and then team games of all math techniques. At noon we walked done the hall to the far stairs and had a moment of “silent reflection” before we went down to the lunchroom in the basement. After lunch Miss Herd read aloud to us. I remember one book about a little southern girl and learning about her life during the Civil War.   I found it fascinating.   This class room had a little library like the fourth grade. I found and enjoyed all the Raggedy Ann and Andy books there. It was also the beginning of the TAB and Arrow book clubs for me. One could purchase books for .25 to .35 cents. My parents allowed me to purchase one or two every time there was an order. I did not read any of them until years later, but I sure enjoyed filling my book shelf with them. My reading was very poor and one of the things my parents attempted to do to help was have my eyes tested. I got some very stylish tear drop glasses that I wore for about a year. Mrs Fister   the high School art teacher, came for a special art lesson  in late November. It was about Alexander Calder. Then each member of the class each built a Christmas mobile out of an opened wire coat hanger. I made Christmas trees in the form of cones and added a few round candies for balls. The mobiles hung in the hall until  we left for the holidays. I love the history lessons   we had that year and did a special project for westward expansion. We had a puzzle map of the United States at home and under the states was a map that showed all the areas that were added as the country grew.   So I used the Opaque Projector to cast the map on a big piece of white paper and traced it out. I painted and labeled all the areas from the original thirteen colonies to the addition of the California territory. I painted the areas different colors and added the rivers and  mountains and also   labeled everything.    It hung in the front of the room for a long time and I was quite proud. Fifth grade was when we were introduced to instrumental music. I wanted to join the band, so Mom got me Grandfather Howard’s old silver clarinet. He also had a C saxophone, but the band leader, Mr Cox discouraged that choice. Playing the clarinet continued to be an important part of my life until the end of high school. Near the end of the year I volunteered to join the Safety Patrol and become a crossing guard. The main qualification, after volunteering and being at least in fifth grade, was to have perfect attendance. I did. As a fifth grader, I worked with a sixth grader for the last month of the year and became a full guard in the fall when I was in the sixth grade. We all had white adjustable belts and little silver badges. I had to leave the class a little before the end of the day to go to my post. I was assigned to the north end of Adams street across from the High School. I had that same post in sixth grade. We looked carefully and then went into the middle of the street and held our arms out so the younger kids could cross safely. I got to know many of the younger children who lived in that quadrant of the city. Sixth grade guard duty included flag duty. At the end of the day I was assigned to help take the flag down and fold it before taking it to the principals office for storage over night. At the end of sixth grade, I in tern, help teach a fifth grader to take my place on the squad.   I was very proud of my first job and took my responsibility very seriously.

Take good care of yourself.

 

Carol

Childhood Memories, Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing, Uncategorized

Moving Slowly

Hello,
It seems like the my world is moving slowly. I have spent so much time out in the garden and yard that there is not a lot of action in the studio.   Eric and I did come across a surprise on our walk on Monday.   Eric put his foot in the shot so one could see the size.   He was in the middle of the road. Eric carefully moved him to the side of the road in the shade. By the time we got back about thirty min later he was no were in sight.

I did go and dye with Liz on Tuesday. These two pieces got washed out yesterday and there are two more pieces in the washer at the moment.

 

 

 

 

I sorted the fabric I had altered and as these stacks show I really do not need to make any additional pieces.   But is is so much fun that I am  am not going to stop now.   I pulled out and set aside pieces to do two new starts while I was sorting. The cutting table is clear now and I am ready to begin.

 

 

Progress Report: Scrap Happy I need to do the last bit of quilting on this work and it will be finished. This is the fourth one this year and I already have a home for it.

 

 

Mayan Series # 3- Eagle Priest I am doing the outline and detail stitching now. There are lots of part in this work.

 

 

 

 

 

Layers This work is moving forward. I need to create a few more mazes and stitch all of them down. It is beginning to come together.

 

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I finally have a name that I am happy with for this project. I got busy doing hand work on this project this week as there was no new project for Stitch Club. I now have 35 squares done and about 10 started. It is pleasant work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Greeley, Colorado

In Dad’s continuing push to improve himself, he and mom decided to get more education. So we went to Greeley Colorado for two summers so they could work on  Master’s Degrees at the College there. We lived in a trailer in a park that had about 55 units. Ours was number 22. Our lot was near the narrow end of the pie sliced shaped park and the Rail Road ran along the back side. I recall hearing it at night many a time.  We  kids  tried to flatten pennies on the rails, but never found any after the train had passed. Mom and Dad both took classes and Gene and I went to summer school in the mornings. It was lots of review, but we also learned Spanish. I can still count to twenty, know the days of the week and the months of the year in Spanish. As well as how to say” I do not know how to speak Spanish”. I remember setting out under the olive tree on our plot and making a diorama of irrigation for one of my class projects. As I said before, my skills at reading were below grade level so I took special one on one lessons. The teacher used a reward system to get me to read more outside of our time too. I was given an Annie Oaklie paper doll and could earn a new dress for her with each book I read. She was a special type of paper doll as static cling electricity was the method that held the dress to the doll- no tabs.   At this time I also discovered Classic Comic books. I often got one at the grocery on our weekly trip. I remember “Green Mansions” and “the Moonstone” very vividly. I was into model making at this time too. I did several monsters like Frankenstein and the Mummy. I also did one of Perry the   Flying Squirrel- from a Disney movie. In the winter that year I did the Invisible Man and later the Invisible Woman.

There were lots of kids in the park so there were always lots of folks to play with. In the trailer next door lived a girl named Silvia. She was a Seventh Day Adventist. I recall Mom explaining to me about how folks believed different things about religion. One Saturday I went to church with Silvia. In the church school class they were having a biblical knowledge contest. I was the only one who knew that the Ark landed on Mt Arrowwrat. The teacher was impressed and a bit annoyed at the other kids that an outsider knew that information. Two tailors down in the opposite direction lived the Donally family. The dad was studding Biology  like mom . They had three kids, and  the boy was Gene’s age. The two girls were younger. I often helped the Mon get the three year old to sleep at nap time. In the evening we often went along with the family  for ice cream stand for Dilly Bars.   They were ice cream on a stick that was dipped in chocolate.   Some sticks were stamped with “Free” on them.     I never got one but I recall Gene getting a free ice cream two weeks in a row.     To entertain and keep the kids engaged, Mr Donally made up a car identification game. For example if one spotted a Jeep, one would sing out” Beep beep, there goes a Jeep” – or “Wee I see a Volkswagen”. We laughed a lot too. This is was also the time I became aware of popular culture and begged for a Hula Hoop. When I finally got my yellow hoop I played with it for hours. I finally wore out the staple that held the circle in place by back spinning it too much on concrete. It was also the time dad made a concession to near bare feet in the form of Thongs- or Flip Flops as they are now called. After the blisters between the first and second toes healed up, I wore yellow thongs until the button on the bottom wore off the bottom. By then it was winter and I never got another pair. My only other big memory those summers was playing dolls with Silvia and Sally. Sally was the owner’s daughter and we played “ Barbie” on her screened porch. I had   my Betsy McCall of course and although they traded dresses and they played at jobs and balls. I was quite content to play the little girl  with Betsy and have fun. The experience really confirmed my feelings that being a grown up was not something I wanted to rush forward toward.   It was a good way to spend summer.

Enjoy the season and Keep Creating

Carol

 

Childhood Memories, Mayan -Leopard Priest, Mayan- Eagle priest, Pine Tree, Scrap Happy Quilts, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Advancing

Hello,
I hope everyone is doing well as we emerge from our cocoons of isolation. Please stay safe in all your activities.   On my daily walk of about two miles in our city I pass by  the homes of six seniors who’s high school years were cut short by the epidemic.    I am glad to see the signs on their lawns.  But  my heart goes out to them as I recall all the joys of dances,  ball games, honors, meetings  and hanging out, that were a part of my last semester of high school.    Even visiting colleges is done virtually for them.    For a person who is a tactical and visual I am  this sure would have stunted my senior year.

I continue to work and I attended another Zoom meeting  Of FAB this week.    Liz and I dyed again  this week too. We are both doing a lot of over dyeing this season.

 

 

 

 

I completed the work from last week and my class with Merrill Comeau on Saturday.    I really enjoyed building up all the layers with lots of stitches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then   I finished my   new assignment for Textile Artist Stitch Club for this week.   The lesson was from Susie Vickery and we were using plastic bags in combination with embroiders thread  to do the stitch work. I like the effect and will keep an eye out for more different colored bags to recycle into my work.

 

The plastic has a lot of shine and one needs to think about the printing on the surface when cutting the strips.  But I feel that adds interest.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Mayan Series- Jaguar Priest This work is nearly complete. I did a lot of quilting around the figure this week. It still needs a sleeve for hanging and a label. This is the second in the series. I really like the head of the Jaguar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayan Series- Eagle Priest This is the third piece in this series. It took a long time to cut out the shapes and fuse them down, but well worth the effort. I am now ready to start outlining the shapes and adding details.

 

 

 

Layers This work is still building. The maze portions take a long time to cut and add to the surface.

 

 

 

 

SAQA 100 days I will keep working with this theme but I think I will go beyond the 100 so I need to think of a new title.

 

 

I really enjoy the hand work  and doing variations  on radial designs is something that I find very calming.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap  Happy  I finished three scrap backs for these projects this week. I have only three rows of Garden Path stitch down to the base . It will just take effort to finish now.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Allowance

On Sunday morning before we went to church we got our allowance. It was sixty cents. To earn that full amount one had to have done all his or her  chores. I don’t remember all Gene had to do, but we did share  the drying dishes duty. It was a case of alternating days with the two of us working on Sunday. The other chores were to clean one’s room, a job also done on Saturdays before we went out doors to play. One job that I did alone was to empty the washing machine and hang the wet clothes on the line before I went to school on Thursday. I also had to take it down when I got home. I remember taking it off the line when it was frozen sometimes. I  forgot on a few occasions and had to do that job in the dark. I also had to collect and empty the waste baskets every Tuesday evening because the garbage men came on Wed. The  last chore for the week was to polish my shoes. Dad had grown up poor and went barefoot a lot. He only wore shoes to school and church and they were hand me downs many times.   A a result,  we always had three pairs. A daily pair for school and such. A pair that were play shoes, that were old schools shoes or tennis shoes. The last pair were Sunday shoes. I remember his teaching me to polish my Saddle shoes. First one took the laces out. The dark section was polished with a  wax polish. One did one shoe while the first dried so one could buff the dark section and move on.  .When both shoes were done  with that  first step,  then one applied the white with a dauber from the bottle of liquid polish. When they were dry one had to buff the whites to make them shine as they dried with a chalky appearance. The last step was to put the laces back in the shoes. When Sunday saddle shoes became school shoes, the polishing still  had to be done on them too. I liked it a lot better when I got a pair of cordovan Loafers as they were only one color. I was also allowed to add pennies when they became school shoes. We wore shoes all the time. No bare feet in our lives. If Dad saw you with out shoes he would say” Put your shoes on Lizzy, don’t you know your in the city.” The allowance was divided three ways. Ten cents went to the collection plate in Sunday school. Then a quarter went into the Skippy Peanut Butter jar that each of us had that was our savings.   Mom had painted our names on the lids with finger nail polish.    Birthday money and tooth fairy money went into the savings jars too. The money was collected  until we had enough to by a savings bond, that would mature to a full $25.00 in seven years. I remember thinking that seemed like a long time to me. Some times we got savings bonds from our McElhinney grandparents for Birthdays. The last twenty five cents came to us in nickels and dimes with the words” Don’t spend it all at once” as part of it. I put mine in the jewelry box. That spending money was to go for things like dues for Brownies and treats. We were allowed to take loans from Dad if we were away from home and saw something we could not live with out. But it always had to be paid back when we got home. We got lunch Money on Mondays too as well as milk money and that was extra and had to all go to the school. Gene pushed for a raise in third grade. With his arguments the allowance went up twenty five cents for both of us. I recall thinking it was a bit unfair as I had live on the old amount until I was in 5 th grade. Gene was always more concerned about money then I was and he still is.  Dad continued our money education as we got older, but I will cover that later.  It was a good enough system that I did learn the value of saving and thinking about how I wanted to spend my money.

Keep Creating

Carol