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100 day Challenge, College Life, Creative Assistants, Creative Strength Training, Daily Practice, Felt Work, Lap Quilts, Sea Floor

Quiet Time

Hello,

It seems to have been a quiet time here this week.  I did have  one Zoom  meeting with Creative Strength Training,  but  the Sisterhood of the Scissors connection failed.   I did not loaf as there were  other things to attend to, as we live in a busy world.

  Progress Report:  100 Days II    I finished all the free motion quilting in the black on this piece and the  I am through with the binding at this point.     I have started to outline more sports figures in turquoise with  free motion from the back of the quilt.      I have about half of this step done I think.

 

 

 

Lap Quilt 10   This work is all assembled and quilted at this point.  The machine step of the binding is done and I need to stitch it down and then this work will be complete as well.

 

 

 

City Blocks   I designed these blocks as a response to a design suggestion in  the Inspired To Design by Elizabeth Barton book.    I started it at the retreat and I am now ready to get back to work on this project.  I am ready to begin the quilting now..

Blue Wondering    This is my hand work project for the presents.  I am just doing slow stitch work without any pre plan.

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   I have added hair arms and backs to all  26 assistants at this point.  I only need to do the final embellishment step that is adding squeezie paint embellishments to them.

Daily Practice   I am still working away on this project.

 

 

 

 

 

  Lap Quilt # 10   This quilt went together fast as the blocks were all made my Sue Ellen and she passed them to me in a box of scraps that she gave me last fall.  There are enough blocks remaining for yet another.   I will add boarders and be ready to quilt this one too.

 

 

 

 Care 4    This is my  graffiti entry for the new Cherry Wood  competition this year.   I purchased the pack that contained all the fabrics in the fall.  The spray paint did not run as much as I had hoped, but I still like the effect and the message.

Sea Floor  I did a lot of hand work on this piece this week.  The base is all felted with embroidery added on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

College Life – Summer  1968

My life at Camp Tecumseh started out a few day before most of the councilors arrived. Dad dropped me off on Saturday, and I got my first look as we drove down into a little valley meadow in west central Indiana that was surrounded with cabins. There was a bigger building to the right of the small parking area where a truck was parked. So we parked and went in. That big building turned out to be the main lodge of the camp, with a wide covered poach on three sides, a large reception hall, with a dining area in the back .Every day more and more folks arrived, and on Tuesday evening we had almost completed our task. Roy needed one more Junior Councilor. Larry and I suggested my brother Gene! Roy called and talked with him–and he agreed to fill the last spot. On Wed afternoon when Gene arrived, Larry immediately snapped him up and they worked together the whole summer.

The councilors and junior councilors were from all over, with the majority of us being from Indiana. But: Inis, our international councilor, was a kindergarten teacher from Austria; Ellie, Roy’s assistant, was from Kansas; Jay, our archery instructor and excursions director, was from Illinois; Peter, another senior councilor, was from Ohio; and Marcus, from California, was the last of the crew from out of state. With all the councilors on hand and most of the camp preparations done, we all piled into the back of the big camp truck and rode north to the launch location for a day and a half float trip down the Wabash river, which joined the Tippecanoe farther south and just north of the camp. The trip was a great way to build unity and get to know folks a bit more–as well as to prepare us all for the times we would take campers out on float trips later that summer. Three pairs of canoes were bound together with a wooden platform between them so they could carry supplies and a few more passengers.

The first week of camp started with campers arriving in various buses from different YMCA’s around Indiana. They were all greeted and checked in and assigned to various cabins. Chrissy was my junior councilor, and she and I were both nervous as we led our group of eight eleven-year-olds to cabin number 14, Chickasaw. Chrissy and I had the beds on either side of the door and the girls selected their sleeping places from the six bunk beds around the back of the cabin. The campers unpacked and, after they were settled, we took a group picture on the front steps. Then we gave the girls a little tour of the camp in perpetration for their classes on Monday morning. The dinner bell rang and off we went to our first big mean in the dining hall. All the tables were numbered to match the cabins and we ate family style.

After supper, the hall emptied out and we all went down the hill a short way to the open air Chapel that overlooked the river, where a campfire was burning. Mr Tulp gave an introduction, a few instructions, and a little sermon. Then Larry lead us in a few songs. It was a dark walk back through the woods and I was glad we had been told to bring our flash lights as we made our way back up the hill and back to our cabins.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, College Life, Creative Assistants, Daily Practice, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Lap Quilts

Spring is coming

Hello,

The longer warmer days  seem to give me lots of energy.  But I also seem to have my fingers in so many pots that it is a good thing I feel energized.

For me this week has been full of meetings and play.   I finished my work on the Fiber Artists Stitch Club project and got it installed in the box as suggested.

The Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meant on Saturday and it was a lively meeting.    Mary stated us off with this bed sized quilt that she is entering in the Genesee Valley quilt show   next Month.

She was followed by Joan’s newest piece.   She is doing direct dye painting for her faces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan has been doing lots of workshops and enjoying the play opportunities  they provide.    Almost everyone had work to share and I got so involved in the discussions that I did not take any more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

The Associated Artists had and opening on Sunday I and work as did Liz.

 

 

 

 

 

This is Liz’z sunflower in tribute to Ukraine.

 

 

FAB meant on Wed and we had a good time talking about what was happening in our lives.

 

For Creative Strength Training I did some play with my hand made brushes and went to the meetings this week.    This shot shows what I did with the nylon netting brush.

I also spent a day doing more Gelli Printing with Barbara. 

 

I will cut most of these up and make post cards out of them.

 

 

In addition I completed my Surface Design Association Auction piece this week.  I am now searching for a box or envelope to ship it in.

 

 

 

I also got a box full of my Grandmother and aunt ‘s old linens and such form my cousin.  So kind of him to send them my way.  I will have to push forward on a new project to display them.    My Grandmother’s Wedding  Dress was in a show and it was just returned, so I passed it forward to my Aunt who wore it at my cousin’s wedding.   I also shipped off two more quilts to the Ukrainian Relief Fund auction.   I am trying to get control of my big stash of finished work.

Progress Report: Lap  # 10   This work is all assembled at this point and I am ready to begin the quilting step.

 

 

 

 

100 days # 2    I am now to the free motion quilting step on this work.   I have decided to use black in the bobbin now so I will have some work to take out.

 

Blue Wandering   This is my new hand work piece.  I am trying to play with texture in a limited color pallet at this point.

 

Creative assistants    I am doing the faces on a new batch of Creative Assistants as I gave away some at the Spring retreat two weeks ago.   I had forgotten how much fun making them can be for me.

Daily Practice   I started a new bit of fabric for the daily stitching.   I only have three more pieces of fabric prepared and so when they are done I think I will assemble what I have done so far.

 

 

 

College Memories- Spring 1968

The term was a good one with lots of work for me. I had four art classes and a class in Public Speaking. I got a B in the Public Speaking. My work in Art History and Lettering only received C’s, but Drawing and Photography both got A’s. I loved the Photography and spent hours in the dark room. Mom framed four of my prints, and they hung in the house for years. I still have many of my prints, too.

I changed my job within the art department to take attendance in Dr. Pum’s Art Appreciation class. It was held in the Art Building lecture hall and there were about 250 students. I often had to do the attendance in the dark while he lectured and showed slides. I helped with his grading too when the tests were multiple choice. I had done the same for Mom when she was teaching high school. Dr Pum was a jeweler, and he taught jewelry, but I never had him as a teacher.

Eric and I continued to see lots of plays and films. We started the quarter off with Hello Dolly as a part of the Famous Artist Series and we also attended the American Folk Ballet presentation. The drama department did several plays, but I only remember Odysseus the King. The movies that quarter were wonderful. We saw Love with a Proper Stranger, Cincinnati Kid, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Shane, Great Expectations, The Birds, and Shenandoah. We even went down town to see Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner that spring. Eric’s love of the movies even carried on into his college teaching at Cazenovia, years later.

I did participate in the Art Show and Sale for Kallista, as I had done the year before. I was never a good sales person, and I did not sell any thing. Eric Sevareid,, CBS journalist, gave a lecture early in the term, and there were lots of political events in preparation for the Presidential election in the fall. Paul Newman came to campus, as did Mc Carthy himself. Robert Kennedy came April 4 in the afternoon. Eric caught a glimpse of him, since he was setting up audio equipment in the gym for Kennedy’s speech. Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis that evening, and because Robert Kennedy was in Indianapolis and spoke to the growing crowd, Indy was one of the few big cities where there were no angry riots.

Early in the term Larry suggested that I join him as a camp counselor in the summer. He had such good stories, and I had meat Ellie, who also worked there, so I applied. I had the job interview in early April and I was soon awarded the job of Counselor and Director of Nature Crafts for the summer. I think Eric was a bit jealous, as his summer job was back at the foundry. Being a counselor at YMCA Camp Tecumseh is my next big adventure.

100 day Challenge, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Daily Practice, Drawing, Fiber Artist Stitch Club

Spring Retreat plus

Hello,

Mother Nature is warming my days and lengthen them too.   I sure like it when I am eating dinner in the light.

The Schweinfurth Spring Retreat was wonderful.  I got the second half of the  SAQA 100 Day Challenge squares assembled.     That was my goal.

 

I even did a little bit of experimenting with the creation of a new block of my own.  I need to adjust the measurements for one of the pieces so they come together like I planned, but I am quilt happy with it so far.

 

 

 

There were lots of old friends there like Victoria.  She was working on cutting up and old work and re assembling it  in a new fashion.

 

 

 

 

Susan worked on a challenge for a conference she is attending in the near future.

 

 

 

 

 

Donna was playing with her rusted fabrics and doing a bit of Gelli Plate Printing.

 

 

 

 

 

Janet   W was working away on a floral piece.

 

 

 

 

 

Vanessa was getting ready for a show and she gave me these little gifts- including the background fabric.

 

 

 

 

Ellen was doing lots of creative playing.  She was an inspiration to watch from across the room.

 

 

 

 

 

  Davana  is working on a giant fifteen foot square Shorbi work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I keep building on the Stitch Club project and I am now behind in that area too.  But I like how this work is going so I will stick with it.

I continued to do work for the Sketchbook Revival assignments. These are a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made more brushes this morning for the Creative Strength Class.  I will make marks with them in the near future.

 

 

I also spent a morning doing Gelli Plate Printing with my friend Barbara.  We had fun and laughed a lot.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Scrap Happy   I am happy to say this work is all done now.  I like having an extra quilt in the closet when a need is called for.

I did send off six of my older wall quilts to a benefit for the Ukrainian war effort this morning too.

Pillow   This  project finally got completed this week.  I did the stitched center after a Stitch Club practice.

 

 

  Lap 10  This is just the beginning of a new work.  I did finish up lap quilts #8 and #9 and delivered them to a local nursing home  this week.  I did not realize that I had no photos of them.

 

 

 

 Daily Practice   Now that Action is completed I can go back to the old project of stitching on my dye wipe up clothes.   It is pleasant work.

College Life- Spring Break trip to Florida

The quarter went along quickly and Eric and I made several trips to South Bend. On one of them Gwen asked for a painting for her dining room wall. I was thrilled–my first commission! I painted an abstract nighttime city scape from the point of view of a ship off shore, with reflections of the lights in the water. The painting hung in that dining room, and then the next dining room, until Gwen’s death in 2008.

Eric and I had a big adventure for Spring break. Eric’s great aunt, Margaret White (Grandmother Butter’s sister), invited us to visit her and her husband in Pompano Beach, Florida. She wrote a very nice inviting letter to me and my folks asking me to come. My parents agreed, and Grandmother Butter got the airline tickets. Eric and I drove down to Indianapolis on Friday and spent the evening with Grandmother. When we were loading our suit cases in grandmother’s car at 11:30 PM, a passing couple wished us luck–they thought we were eloping! We had a 12:30 flight and it was my first time flying. I was sure I could not sleep as I was so excited, but I quickly dozed off once the plane was in the air. Mr. and Mrs. White quickly became Aunt Margaret and Uncle Ed after they picked us up in Miami at 5:30 that morning.

The air was warm and the world was green as we drove to their home on an off shoot of the Intracoastal Waterway (which is an inland waterway along the east coast from New Jersey to Florida). The White home was beautiful, and Eric and I both had very nice guest rooms, along with a private bath. The first night we were treated to a dinner cruse up and down the Waterway. I enjoyed the ribs, another first for me, and we had a good time. Aunt Margaret graciously let us use of her white Chevy Convertible and we enjoyed diving around with the top down. One day we went to the beach. The ocean water was fantastic, and we had fun splashing around and burying each other in the sand. We both got sun burnt, of course, and two years later Eric still had a tan line on his back where his suit began. We spent a day at the Fort Lauderdale State park, walking the trails and taking a scenic train ride through the swamp. We drove through Fort Lauderdale itself since, of course, it was spring break. Quite a scene! We even spied the famous Elbo Room bar. One day Aunt Margaret took us to a big shopping mall where I purchased some turquoise shorts and a top to match. She also took us to a new fast food restaurant–our first Arby’s. We still go there for a fast meal every now and then. Uncle Ed took Eric to see a spring training game one afternoon where he got to see the Yankees. They were his favorite team even back then. The White’s had a screened-in pool that was just outside our bed rooms, and I enjoyed swimming in it several times. One evening Eric and I took the convertible for a short drive up the coast to Boca Raton, where we saw The Graduate.

The whole week flew by. Too quickly and too soon it was Sunday, and we were getting on the plane to fly home. It was cold and dreary in Indianapolis when Grandmother Butterworth picked us up. We drove straight drove back to Muncie. And Spring term began the next day.

Enjoy the weather and keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Drawing, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Lap Quilts, Scrap Happy Quilts

Lots of little things

Hello,

We continue to see the opening of spring in this part of the country.    I love how fast things are changing out of doors.

I thing I made bit of a mistake by signing up for Sketchbook Revival again this year.  Two new assignments/exercises/projects every day plus all the other things I have my fingers in, is hard for me to keep up with.   I am trying  and  I do like the assignments.   There is lots of mixed media this year.

 

 

 

 

 

I am still working away on my Fiber Artist Stitch Club project.  It is slow by growing .

I am still doing the reading and attending the Zoom meetings  for my Creative Strength Training class too.  I am feeling better about things as I go forward.

Progress Report:  Scrap Happy    I finished the back assembly on Monday and I am stitching down the rows now.  I only have three rows to add and then I am on to the boarders.

Action   I keep stitching away on this project.  The left side is all completed at this point.

 

 

 

 

Lap #7  This top is all ready pin based and ready for quilting.  I do enjoy this process.

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing    I have signed up for Quilting by the Lake again this summer and one of my classes is in Machine Drawing.  So with that in mind I have decided to draw at least on continuous line drawing   every day until then. I just might help.

Cowl    I finished this cowl on Tuesday.  I am ready to begin a new one today.

 

 

 

 

 

 Necklace   I did pass a necklace forward this week and I was delighted to do so.  I do enjoy making these  as well.

 

 

 

College Life – Fall Quarter continued

That fall really cemented our love of movies and performances. I remember a week of film called The New Cinema. Every night for five nights there were award winning films from all over the world. It was great. There were also all the wonderful films that the Governing Board showed. We saw Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Grapes of Wrath, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and Who Shot the Piano Player among others that term. We also made it downtown to the Rivoli to see A Man and A Woman. The drama department did Hamlet and Chalk Garden, along with another that fall. Eric and I also went to a Jack Jones live concert in Emens. I loved his work and had several of his albums. It was a great evening.

The summer before Larry had worked at a YMCA camp called Tecumseh. He had found a new girl friend there, Ellie Perry. Ellie came for a visit in October, and we went to Mounds State Park for our favorite picnic spot. Again we played badminton and climbed trees. We had our usual cook out and Larry manned the grill. Eric lay on a blanket in the warm Autumn sun wearing my favorite yellow and brown plaid shirt and got his first back rub from me. Ellie had such a good time she returned in November for Larry’s Birthday on the 4th. She was a great gal and we became good friends.

Early in the fall, I think I was cooking something, and I dropped a new glass bottle of cooking oil, which shattered. Glass and oil all over the place. The clean-up took a long time. I used all the newspapers I could find and at least a whole roll of paper towels. In the process I discovered the door to the basement. I could not resist and I went down. It had dirt walls and was very dusty with cobwebs and lots of junk. I discover a collection of rusty round and oval faucet handles–which I took and used as part of a wind chime. There is one in use today: it holds the keys for our backyard sheds.

Later that fall, at Halloween, Eric purchased an especially ugly, bearded-faced Halloween mask. Because they now lived on the ground floor in a neighborhood where little kids would be trick or treating, he planned to join in. He wore his black trench coat and that gruesome mask to answer the door when the first little boy knocked. When Eric opened the door the child was so frightened that he forgot “trick or treat” started to back up slowly across the porch. His mother was on the sidewalk, so–fearing that the child would topple backwards down the steps–Eric rushed out and grabbed him–which, of course, caused the poor boy to be even more terrified! Eric took off the mask and did not use it again for fear of a repeat event. That mask made the move to Syracuse and was around here for years before the rubber rotted and fell to shreds.

The third exciting adventure in that house happened one Saturday night when we heard Fred and Denny shouting out in the front hall. Wondering what the commotion was about, Eric and I came out of his room to find a bat fluttering around the entry way. Eric propped open the front door and I went to the kitchen for the broom. I tried to shoo the bat out the door, but I inadvertently knocked him to the floor. As he lay stunned, we swept him into a paper bag and quickly closed the top. Then Eric and I linked hands, carried the bag and bat out the front door, and down University Avenue. and across the porch. Taking shelter behind a big cottonwood along the sidewalk we carefully opened the bag, with Eric stretching his arm around the tree as far as he could get with the opening pointed up. The bat flew off into the night. And we were heroes.

I will be away next week so there will not be a posting.

See you in two weeks

Carol

College Life, Creative Strength Training, Drawing, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Winter/Spring

Hello,

This week has been a wild one with lots of weather changes. We had snow  and it was beautiful now it is shirt sleeve weather and the spring flowers are up.   The temperature changes sure keep one on ones toes.

I had lots meetings this week as seems to be my usual pattern of late.   I zoomed to Sisterhood of the Scissors, Pixies and  Fiber Artist Stitch Club.   I watched the  Stitch lecture and new assignment , but  because I am still not finished with the last assignment I decided I will not do this one.  One does need to say “No Thanks” every now and then.    My cross stitch of Nick is coming along slowly.  The hoop is distorting it a bit – but I think I can iron it back into shape when I am done.

The Creative Strength Training ( CST)  is still overwhelming me a bit, but I am trying to keep up.  I did two of the drawing assignments this week and  read lots of old posts as well as making it to the weekly meeting.

 

 

I will catch up I am sure and it is a challenge – something that I need and will provide me with new growth. 

 

The emphasis this month is line and for this one I just played.

 

 

 

For this one I started a line from the top of the page and squared it of and then exited from right.  After each line I turned the paper 90 degrees.  I used all 10 of the green markers that I had in my stash.

I did go to the Schweinfurth  on Monday and help dismantle the Both Ends of the Rainbow show.  I also picked up my work and the work of two of my friends .

Progress Report: Lap # 8   I stared a new lap quilt and I like how it is building.  The one I was working on is to the quilting stage and I discovered that one of the blacks is rotten so I am dismantling part of it to do the repair.

 

 

 

Action   I continue to add stitches to this work and I am feeling good about how it looks.

 

 

Cowl # 26   I try to knit a row or two every evening so I make progress on these works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

College Life- Fall Quarter 1967

The fall quarter started with five new classes and lots of activities. I had two Art class and I enjoyed them both. One was Design II with Dr Griner, who later became the head of the art department. The second was Weaving. I loved that class with the exception of loading the loom. I quickly learned to do the warp for several projects at once. This meant that I had to be very careful with my measuring and the actual threading process, but it also meant that I could cut off the first project and go directly to work on the second. My physical ed. class was Tennis and Eric and I played several times that fall, so I got some extra practice in. Practical Science was my science elective that term and it again was a 8:00 class. I enjoyed it as it was designed for non-science majors. The teacher kept it light and some what entertaining. My final class was English. It was a bit of a challenge and the fact that Eric was in the class also added to that feeling. Eric says he got a B, and I just managed a C in that class.

At this point I stopped working for Food Services and went to work for the Art Department in the tool cage of the Shop. The hours were regular and I really liked working with Red, the man who ran it. I checked in and out tools for student projects and showed folks how to use some of them. Helping Dad with the building of all those houses as I grew up really paid off. I could also work on my own projects when I was not too busy. I learned who among my peers were the ones who put things off until the last minute.

Eric and Larry did not live at Barney’s that year, but found digs a bit farther from campus in a wonderful old ornate concrete block house with a sort of turret, so we called it “The Castle.” It had three porches, one on the front, with the turret, one just out side Larry and Eric’s room, and one on the rear of the house. There were two floors; the boys lived down stairs, and a young married couple lived up stairs. Fred and Denny occupied the front room. Eric and Larry’s room was just behind the entry way, and down the hall was the kitchen. I think there was another room on the back corner but I am fuzzy about that. I hung out in that house  a lot that year and had a few adventures.

Football was a big part of my life that fall, too. Eric and I went along with Dad to Anderson one Friday evening to watch my brother Gene play. He was so versatile that he was on offence and defense. Muncie Central won the game. Eric and I attended the college games too. The first one in the fall was on the old field south of the physical plant on campus. It was fun and I yelled my head off as usual. The second game we went to was homecoming. There had been a parade, of course, which we watched from the front porch of “The Castle,” and the Central Band marched in it, but I did not recognize many of the kids any more. The game was played in the new Stadium west and north of the main campus. It was very impressive, with a half of a bowl set up in cast concrete. The visitors sat on wooden bleacher across from the home team. (The bleachers were replaced two years later to be like the west side.) It was a glorious fall afternoon, and Ball State won- 56 to 7.

100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, College Life, Creative Strength Training, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Lap Quilts

Longer Day Light Days

Hello,

With the longer daylight days I seem to feel I need to do more stuff out side the studio.    This   week was the start of my Creative Strength Training with Jane Dunawald  and I have lots of reading to do.   So much to learn out there.   I am enjoying the challenge though.    The FAD group meant this week and that was enjoyable too.    This is one of Sharon’s works.

I talked with the Pixies and the Textile Art Stitch Club project is moving along.  I am not real good at all those tiny stitches and only seem to be able to work for about 30 min before I get big stitches and have to stop.

The big excitement was a trip yesterday to the Schweinfurth Art Center to see the Both Ends of the Rainbow Show.  I had two works in the show , and  Liz kindly took this close up of me in front of Granit and Silver .

 

 

 I also showed  Bonzi Tree .

 

 

Liz had two collages in the show.  It was great fun with lots of my friends represented.

 

As were many children.  I am going  on Monday to help take down the show.

 

 

 

I did the center pieces for the Social Art Club meeting this week as well.  I honor of the Ukrainian  people I made big Sun Flowers in blue vases.

 

Progress Report:  Action  I just keep working away on this project.  I have reached the outer boarder on two sides now and I feel great about it.

 

Lap # 9     I early winter Sue Ellen gave me a box of scraps and blocks.  I found these star blocks this week when I was sorting through the box and so I added some stuff of my own and put it all together this week.  The top is all done now to build the sandwich.

 

 

Cowl   I just keep knitting away on the yarn from Joyce and the cowls keep  being completed.

 

 

 

 

 

College Life- Summer weekends

I got to see Eric on several weekends during the summer. The first was a surprise. I got a call on a Saturday late in June and it was Eric at the Student Center asking me if he could see me. I was delighted and thrilled that he had driven down so we got together right away. He was showing off his new car, a pea green Lark station wagon. It was a fun little car with out much power. We called it Lighting as a joke. My parents were great about Eric’s surprise too, as they liked him. Dad took us all to the Ponderosa for dinner. After dinner Eric and I went off and played Putt Putt. Despite the fact that I made a hole in one I still lost the game. Later that night we got in trouble with a policeman for “parking” in the park. It was a fun weekend with that one exception.

Our next get together was much more planned. I got on the bus and went to South Bend on Friday of the last weekend in June. Eric’s family picked me up at the bus station and drove me to their home. Eric was working in the foundry for Cummings Engine that summer. His job was to knock off the excess “slag” from the engine blocks as they came down the line. It was a hot, dirty business, and I remember being surprised by his big steel-toed boots. When he got home he quickly went off and showered. Then the whole family got together to share Eric’s father’s birthday cake. Scott, the youngest boy, was so tired he could barely stay awake. As soon as he was done with the cake he went off to bed. Everyone else disappeared quickly too. Eric and I sat on the couch, listening to the stereo and talking late into the night.

Saturday morning, all the kids helped Mark assemble his news paper “The Voice of the Kids.” All the boys in the family are good with words and very conscious of literature. Their house seemed to be the center of neighborhood activity, too. Before I knew it there were lots of children playing in the yard. Somehow Eric mentioned that I knew judo, and they begged him to let me flip him. Now, Eric had gymnastics the quarter before, so I really did not flip him as much as helped him to give that illusion. We did it several time and had fun with it. We went to an early dinner at a fancy restrant called the “Wooden Keg.” I wore the new yellow dress I had made for the occasion, and Eric and his father both had coats and ties. Entering the dining room, we crossed a little bridge over a pool that was full of big coy fish. I remember I ate crab, and everyone else had steak. When Eric’s mom, Gwen, and I went to the bath room at the end of the meal she told me she had been worried about Eric in high school as he did not seem to be interested in girls. “But,” she said “ when he finally got around to it he picked a good one.” After dinner Eric and I went to the Play House to see The Music Man. I was excited for two reasons. First, I had never seen a live presentation, although I had listened to Mom’s record enough times that I could sing all the songs, and, second, it was in the round. I had not realized how little dialogue there was in the play. The songs really carry the story line. We had seats in the front row and at the applause at the end Professor Hill was directly in front of me. I said “Excellent !” loud enough for him to hear, and he looked directly at me and smiled even more. It felt so good as one rarely gets to let a performer know what one thinks in person.

Sunday was a beautiful day and Eric and I went to the movies. We saw the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. He informed me that Dr No was better. Even in those days he was analyzing and evaluating movies. That night, Eric’s Father, Bob, cooked steaks on his new grill. When I was helping Gwen do the dishes afterward she told me she had taken a poll and all the boys agreed I was a “ keeper.” I was supposed to go home that night, but the family convinced me to stay through the 4th of July. So I called my folks and I did. Eric had to go to work on Monday, so I just hung around and helped Gwen and fooled around with the neighborhood kids. We played several games. I remember one that I am sure they invented called “ My Father Shot the Bears”–but I only remember the name and nothing else, except it involved lots of running. Tue was the 4th and Eric’s family had a big picnic. Eric and I ate and then left for Muncie. When we got to my house no one was home. So I started to fix a light supper and then Gene came home. We decided to go to the Reservoir to watch the fire works. I liked how they reflected off the water from our vantage point. The next morning Eric left for South Bend and I went back to summer school classes.

100 day Challenge, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Drawing, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Lost Habitat, Pixies Group, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Textile Artist Stitch Club

March

Hello,

With the beginning of March life seems to be opening up a bit.  I have had lots of meetings on Zoom and the Diva’s even meant in person.    The QuEGs  and Pixies had their usual zoom events and I had a new Fiber Artist Stitch Club meeting.  Sharon Peoples  was our new instructor for that class and we are working on stitching photos graphic images.   I am not very far along on this project- but I am started.   One was to trace an image on tissue paper  and then stitch around it. That creates the outline of were there are color changes in the image.

I’m doing the little cross stitches to fill in the areas now.

I also started Creative Strength Training  with Jane Dunnwald  this week.   For that I did  a lesson with black and white  in response to a song.  The limited color really makes for a strong graphic.

There is lots of reading to do for this class too. So I am a busy camper with mental growth.

 

 

 

I did take time out one afternoon this week to do three little 6″ X6″ pieces for the Rochester Gallery for their annual fund raiser.   I could not believe it had been a year sense I did my last bunch .

Progress Report: Lap #7      This work has lots of my altered fabrics in it.  There  is  some  shobori  that   did  Liz two summers ago  as well as lots of printed and painted fabric.  It was a trip down memory lane to work on this one.

 

 

Lap #8    This project is a real out growth of  # 7  as these were the fabrics I did not use as central units in the first quilt.  I had so much fabric cut and stitched together for the surrounds that it seemed silly to just put them in the scrap basket.

 

 

Lost Habitat  This work is 44″ w X 33″t.     I am quite pleased with how this one finally come to completion.     It is my response  to the fires in Colorado last fall when 500+ homes were destroyed by wild fire.   Some folks  had so little time to evacuate that they did not even get there photos or computer backups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed this working on this piece even though the topic is stressing.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Drawing This is a second Neo drawing  that  I did after watching a video on the subject.

 

 

 

Daily Practice This is the work I am doing during the news every nigh.  The colors do not look like Ukraine- but that is the main topic on the news.

 

 

 

Action  I keep stitching away on this project.   I will soon be close to the edges were  I can stitch with purples.

 

 

 

 

 

Beading  I did spend a little time in the bead box this week.   I am still using beads I got from Joyce in the fall,  but some of my own have slipped in too.

 

 

 

 

College Life:  Summer School 1967

Summer school at Ball State in 1967 was two five week sessions. I took Painting 1 and World Literature the first session. Both of my classes were in the morning and I rode my bicycle to campus so I had the freedom to come and go when I wanted. I can’t say that I remember much about the literature class except it was lots of reading as we did a book about every two days. The painting class was with Dr. Nickels, the head of the department. I enjoyed going to Christy Woods every day and finding a quiet place to paint plants and flowers in water color. I got B’s in both of my classes that quarter.

I did not have much social life as Margaret stayed away at school that summer too. I continued my work at the student center dinning service, so I did have spending money, but not much to spend it on. I think that my being a part of the Sailing Club and being a Captain kept me sane. I had lots of afternoon dates with my brother Gene to sail. We went about twice a week that summer. All that sailing led to a great connection with Dr. Kunkel for Gene. The two of them got to be real buddies and Dr. Kunkel often took Gene off to crew for him in races for that summer and several others summers too. There were several weekends where I went off and dove with the Scuba Club that summer. Now the fresh water lakes in Indiana are nice for swimming, and I enjoyed the water skiing as well–but visibility below the surface is four feet at best and not very exciting. I enjoyed the process but was not thrilled enough to purchase more equipment than a mask and flippers. Both items were lost at an outing at the end of the summer.

There was a wonderful summer program at Ball State called “Shoe String Theater” and the family took advantage of it. Dad and I went to all six production, but Mom and Gene were spotty. I saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Vagabond King to mention just a couple. I still love live theater and go often.

Summer school for the second session was Philosophy and an education major requirement, called Human Growth ad Development. I did well in Philosophy and got a B, but in Human Growth I was not so strong and got a C. Along with all of that, there were lots of cards and letters from Eric and a few from Larry.

I hope spring is on your door step,

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Collage, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Daily Practice, Drawing, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Stretch Works

Winter Continues

Hello,

This has been a crazy week as far as weather is concerned.  Snow and cold, then quite warm and back to snow again.   Old Man Winter does not want to let with out a fight.

I had one two meetings this week.  The Retired Art Teachers  Zoomed as did the Pixies.  The Creative Strength Training Class does not officially begin until the first of March, but she still has done lots of pre work with us.    We had a lesson on altering a shape based on a tool.  I selected a tape dispenser and this is my solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being the practical person that I am I used the cut-aways  from the project plus a leftover bit of blue to create a second composition.

 

 

 

 

There was also a drawing lesson on contour drawing from Creative Strength Training  this week.  It was a slow  5 min contour drawing.   This is my solution.

 

 

 

 

My friend Joyce sent me a book “Inspired to Design” by Elizabeth Barton  and I have been working through the exercises in it too.   Of the five I have done this simplification assignment was the one I enjoyed the most.

Progress Report:   Lap 7  I enjoyed piecing together this top this week.   I will move forward on the next steps as the new week goes forward.

 

 

 

 

Lap 8  As usual I have pulled the fabric for the next lap quilt too.

 

 

 

Lost Habitat  I was disturbed by the loss of over 500 homes in Colorado due to fire in the fall.   I finally got going on my tribute to them.    The parts are just pinned in place at this point.

Action  I keep working every evening on this project.  My goal now it to have it complete by the first of April.

 

Daily Practice    This is the piece I am working on during the news  every night.

 

 

Stencil work  I ordered some commercial stencils from Stencil Girl in Dec and this week I finally got around to using them.    This is a computation of three stencils that I though played together well.

 

 

 

Bits and Pieces    I finished off and stretched this work this week.

 

 

 

 

College Life- The Indianapolis 500

I was delighted and pleased to see Eric when he picked me up from the bus station in Indianapolis. We went to Grandmother Butter’s apartment and she was her gracious, cheerful self. That also provided me with my first contact with Eric’s brother Dean. I got to meet one of Grandmother Butter’s sisters, Aunt Gretna, plus her two children, Carol and Dick, at dinner that evening, too. Everyone called Aunt Gretna Aunt Deckie, so I did, as well. It was a pleasant evening. Everyone but Carol was excited about going to the race the next day.

In those days the race was always on the 30 of May so it was a Tuesday that year.  It was gray  at 6:30 when we got up to go to the race. We all piled in the car– Grandmother, Aunt Deckie, Dick, Dean, Eric and I–and went off to the race track. It was cold when we joined the line of cars waiting to get into the track. At 8;30 we all tracked up the stairs of the main grandstand to row J in the section at the end of turn four and sat in our seats. Then the famous words came over the loud speaker, “Gentleman start your engines!” The cars growled to life and the crowd stood and cheered. The flag was dropped and the race was off. There was a new entry for the first time in 1967–a turbine car, and it immediately pulled to the front of the pack. When the turbine car passed our stands the sound was more of a swish than the roar like the other cars. Then a cold rain began to fall. The race was stopped after 18 laps and we, like most other folks, retreated to the car and waited for the restart of the race. It rained on and soon it was noon, so we ate cold chicken and deviled eggs and drank pop. We too finally deserted the track as we had watched many folks do through out the afternoon. Eric’s brother, Dean had finals to take on Wednesday we had to send him home, I called home and told my folks that I was going to stay for another day to see the race.

Eric and I went to Larry’s house and palled around with him and his current girl friend Connie for the evening. We went to White Castle for dinner. I had never had little square hamburgers before and we all had a good time. In the morning it was still gray and misting, so Grandmother decided to go into work at Wheaton Van Lines. Eric and I horsed around and talked until the phone rang. It was Aunt Deckie. She told us to look out the window and get hustling, as she was going to pick us up for the race. We hurried across town to Speedway. We were in the parking lot when we heard, “Gentlemen, restart your engines!” I think we missed seeing about two laps, before we got back in our seats. Again it was cold in the stands, but is was exciting. On the day before we had drawn the drivers names from a hat and we all had five folks we were following. Our seats were in a perfect spot to witness several wild crashes and I know I lost two of my drivers in the first one the first day. The turbine car led most of the way but broke down on the last lap of the race, and Mario Andretti won. Upon returning to Grandmothers we ate some lunch and called Larry and told him we would be picking up Connie soon. The three of us drove back to Muncie together where Eric dropped Connie off at her dorm. The Eric and I went to supper. After that we talked a bit more before he started for South Bend. I was very sad to see him go and felt that summer would be a long time, even with Summer school to keep me busy.

I am looking forward to spring and some warmer weather.

Stay safe and Create with joy!

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Aplique, Childhood Memories, College Life, Daily Practice, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors

February Fun

Hello,

I enjoyed Valentines day and my husband gave me this beautiful bunch of flowers.     I hope yours had some color too.

This week has been a week with lots of events.  On Friday I went to The SUNY Campus at Oswego with Sharon and Liz and we went to two art shows.  One was student work  and this sculpture was on that I found very intriguing.

 

 

 

 

I had  Three  Zoom Meeting s this week  Saturday was with the Finger Lakes Fiber Artists Group. Wednesday was the Pixie Meeting and then Thursday was the Sisterhood of the Scissors meeting.  It is good to see and talk my fellow creators.    There was one meeting in person and the was the FAD group.   Sharon shared a new work she is exploring.

 

After the meeting Sharon and I went up the hill to Onondaga Community College to look at the Scholastic Art winners.  She and I had both  been judges for this competition in early January.  It was very stimulating as the Jr High and High School students work was wonderful.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Child Dancing   This work is now done and it is W3543 X 294.       It is my tribute to Paul Klee.

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 6    I am now ready to layer and quilt this piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt #7   I have pulled the fabrics for the next lap quilt too.

 

 

 

Cowl # 23   I just keep playing with the yarn from Joyce and making these fun pieces.  I will pass them out at the retreat in the fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 Handwork  I am finished with this work now and it is stretched.   This is my work for the Textile Artists Stitch Club work were one made  sequins  by ironing the lining of a cereal box with objects trapped between the layers.  I need to complete the addition of the black fabric to the back  now.

Daily Practice   I got back to doing my daily practice this week.   This is my 12th piece of stitched fabric.

 

 

Action   I am adding the contrasting hand work to this project   every evening during the news.

 

 

I got a little confused and there are two illustrations for  this memory.

 Memories: College Life-Ending of Spring Quarter 1967

Things were going well with Eric during spring term too. We went canoeing several times and although it was a new sport for Eric he was quickly sitting in the back and controlling our movements. We both enjoyed the theater and went to several Drama Department events. We saw Playboy of the Western World, The Odd Couple and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf. We also went to The Mexican Folklore Ballet at Emens Auditorium where we came across Steve Coomer again for the first time. He just stop dead, looked us over, turned in the opposite direction, and walked away. We just exchanged smiles. Our next big event was a trip to South Bend one Sunday for lunch with his family. Larry and Fred Zamparelli, from Long Island, and one of their other house mates went along with us. I got to meet two of Eric’s three brothers, Mark and Scott, and his folks. I was nervous but it is was a very pleasant time. Eric’s dad cooked the meal and it was very good. So the fact that Eric now cooks most of our meals should be no surprise. Eric told me on the way home his Dad really liked me. “Why” I asked ? “ Dad wanted a girl when I was born and I am the oldest,” he said.

Eric helped me though my struggles with my term paper that quarter too. In the end he even typed the paper for me. He quickly learned I could not spell at all. His typing of the paper was one of the best presents I got on my nineteenth birthday. The paper was due that day. Eric took me to dinner for my Birthday, too, and then to the a movie. We made an excursion to Indianapolis one Saturday so I could meet Eric’s Grandmother Butterworth. She was a thin, beautiful, white-haired lady with lots of energy and style. I really liked her and we hit it off. She was an bookkeeper for United Van Lines and very independent.

Being nineteen is still a very emotional time and in early May I learned of the death of my friend John in Viet Nam. He was the only person I knew who had gone from high school into the Army. He was the second son and knew his older brother would inherit the farm, so he knew that serving in the armed services, was really his only option. I know he was planning on going to school when service was over. I wrote three very long emotional pages in my journal about him and his death. Even now thinking about it makes me a bit sad.

As the quarter ended, I was worried about how summer would affect my relationship with Eric. I was sad when he had to go home at the end of finals. There was a bit of good news to look forward to, however, as Grandmother Butterworth had invited both Eric and me to go to the Indianapolis 500 with her. In 1967 Memorial Day was still celebrated on May 30 and that fell on a Tuesday that year. Before I caught and I rode the bus to Indianapolis on Monday, my grades came in the mail. I got four Bs. One in Introduction to Teaching, one in Ceramics, one in Swimming, and one in Literature and Composition. I know I would not have done so well in the English class with our Eric’s help. I also got an A in Design class and I was thrilled.

Stay Safe and Keep Creating

Carol

100 Day Challenge, Action, Child Dancer, Childhood Memories, College Life, Drawing, Lap Quilts, People, Pixies Group, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Winter work

1 Comment

Hello,

We are starting to thaw after the big snow storm we had last weekend.   Only the  meeting was the Pixies, so I got a lot done.

One of the things I did was  a Neurotrophic Drawing.  It is a style with a series of steps that allows one to relax.  I did enjoy it and will do it again some time.

There was an additional assignment from the Textile  Artist Stitch Club from Monique Day.   She instructed us on how to make a plastic sandwich and how to cut more sequins from our sheets.

This in my stitchery with one new sequin pinned on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Overwhelmed  This piece is 32″ w X 40″ l.   I cut up scraps, bits of trim, ribbon and yarn and scattered them across the base .  Then I layered nylon netting on top and stitched the sandwich together.  Last I added the figure that I cut from wool I had washed several times.

 

 

 

Lap Quilt #5  I used lots of fabrics that I had altered in this lap quilt.   I am enjoying the play making these projects  offer me.

 

 

 

 

Action  I am doing the hand work on the figures now. The progress is very slow, but very calming.

 

 

 

Child Dancer  This idea came from a Paul Klee painting that caught my eye as I was flipping through an Art History book looking for a Monet image.   I then had a dream about is so I though I would try to capture that feeling.    I zig-zagged over yarn to create the out lines.

 

 

I am still playing catch up with my Memories so there will be two this week as well.

College Life- Start of Spring Quarter 1967

Over the break between winter and spring quarter, I did a little connecting with my old high school world. I went to see Musical Moods, an event that I had participated in all three years in high school. After the performance I talked with Don Jones and friend Sara Loe. She had been my band partner and played next to me, and she was looking for a friend to double date with her. I agreed to go on a blind date to spend a day spelunking in central Indiana. I did have a good time and, since it was a rainy day, spending it under ground was a good choice. We were the only four folks in that cave that day and we just explored. There were places where we had to crawl on our stomachs and some very narrow ones where we went forward in a vertical position. We all were quite muddy when we emerged, and I was glad it was not my car that we were driving home. I also spent a day scuba diving during that vacation. I enjoyed getting together with those folks, and I even helped Mike and Phil teach several scuba lessons at the YMCA that spring.
My classes for spring quarter really focused on Art. I had realized in the middle of the winter term that I really was not a strong enough artist to make a living doing art, so I had accepted the idea that I would go into teaching. I had Ceramics, Design , and Introduction to Art Teaching that quarter. The other two classes I had were English and Swimming. They did keep me busy.
On Wednesday of the first week back, I went to the Artist Series on campus at Emens to see Generations with Hans Conried. My seat was 101 in row L, and I was very happy with my view. I had taken care of my own wishes and gotten my seat the first day they were available. Friday of that first week Eric and I had our first real date. We went along with Larry and Nancy, a girl he “kidnaped” by asking her at the last minute when she could not say “No,” to see A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. We all laughed a lot and enjoyed it. That is still one of my favorite movies. On Sunday of that same weekend Eric and I went to see the Ingmar Bergman film Virgin Spring at the Foreign Film weekly presentation. For me that film raised lots of questions as I identified closely with the main character. I was both excited and scared at how much I liked Eric, yet I was concerned at how quickly we had become exclusive.
We had lots of dates over the next few weeks. One Saturday we decided to go for a picnic at Dixon Mounds. Eric, Larry and I walked the trials and looked at the mounds and then tried to fly a kite that I had put in the trunk at the last minute. That was not very successful, but we did have a silly time. We also had my parents badminton set, and that was the start of an activity that we played for years. Larry started the fire and we all enjoyed his hotdogs, too. We had lots of “Coke dates” and talked a lot. On another Saturday I took Eric canoeing on the Mississinewa River. The water was high, and we worked really hard on our trip up river. We did not reach our goal, but the trip back down was fun. I remember coming home exhausted. Larry, Eric, and I took off on the Thursday just before Spring Break and drove to Indianapolis to check out the 500 time trials that afternoon.
Back in Muncie, Larry and Eric opted to stay at Barney’s and not go home for the spring break. Instead, they went to work for Manpower, a company that sent people out on hourly jobs. I know one of the days that week, they spent throwing rocks into the reservoir to rebuild the jetty near the harbor where the sailing club had its boats. I on the other hand went with my family on a trip south and east.

College Life- Spring Break Plus

The spring quarter break that year we went south to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Gene had a new pup tent that we tried out the first night we arrived. Sleeping on the ground in March was quite cold! We took the full day cave tour the next day. It sure was a different experience from the explorative spelunking I had done earlier that spring. The guide was very informative. There were beautifully lit wonderful flowing formations as well as lots of dry areas in the cave. We went for a ride on an underground river and had lunch in a huge open area where we sat at picnic tables and ate bag lunches. The guide asked us to all be quiet and he turned off the lights. It was so dark! I have never “seen” so much darkness. One felt like the only person in a colorless nothing until he turned the lights up slowly again.

That night I slept back in the car top carrier and was much more comfortable. We spent the next day hiking and enjoying the park. I liked the spring flowers and had my first real experience with Rhododendrons. I still love that plant. The next day we drive mostly east and ended up at Myrtle Beach. That was great fun as we had a section of the beach all to ourselves. Gene and I spent the day canoe surfing. We would paddle out and then turn the boat back toward the shore and wait for a big wave. Then we tried to ride the wave into the shore. We got dumped out many times but still had a fun day. I remember the full moon rising over the Atlantic ocean that night and how it looked behind the palm trees. It was glorious to fall asleep to the sound of those leaves clattering against one another and the sound of the water crashing against the shore. I remember seeing a sign for a Black Beach on our way to our camp ground and pressed Dad to go there the next day. When I told him I wanted to see the black sand, he sadly told me the beach was a part of segregation and it was for Black people. I was so very naive.

Then it was back to school and back to classes. One of my classes was Ceramics 1. It was all hand work and an introduction to mixing and making one’s own glazes. One thing we had to get going on at the beginning of the quarter was finding and working on a natural clay project. As it turned out, the college was building a new Science building just to the west of the art building where there was lots of exposed raw earth. So that is where I got my clay. It had been drying out during the break, and I came back to class to break it down, sift it, remoisten the powder, kneed it and began building work with that clay. Mine was a wonderful yellow clay and I built three coil pots with it. One pot blew up in the first firing , but the other two did not. Mom had the finished works around for years.

On Tuesday of the first week back from spring break the Sailing Club had a picnic and boat launch. I asked Eric to go along with me and he did. We all had fun putting the boats back in the water for the new season and many of us got wet feet. We ate hot dogs that we all roasted over the open fire and generally enjoyed ourselves. Then we played flag football. It was mostly a game of chase, but fun. I unexpectedly intercepted the football and got a bit terrorized when everyone suddenly turned in my direction to pull my flags. I had a new respect for actual football players after that event.

Stay safe and enjoy Valentines Day

Carol