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

Quilting by The Lake # 36

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock 2

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

More Samples from Betty’s Class

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Knitting

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

 

 

 

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

Hollyhock Dolls

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

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

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

Keep Creating

Carol

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

Prep Week

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

Keep Creating

Carol

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

Summer visitor

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

Progress Report: Diminishing

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Rework of Old and New- Purple and Blue

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

 

 

Childhood- Watermelon Feast

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

Keep Creating

Carol

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

Summer 2019

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

Keep Creating

Carol

Geza Series, Hand work, Heat, Manzi, Old and New - Purple and Blue

Quilt Canada 2019

Hello,
I missed doing a posting last week because I was off at Quilt Canada with the New Your Quilt Consortium. I caught the bus and rode along with 54 other quilts five hours to Ottawa. Regina and Liz shared the trip with me. It was peasant and we really caught up. There was a second bus from NY and we knew lots of gals on that bus too and had dinner with  several of  them.

Then on Friday, off to the show. We shopped of course and then went to the National Juried show. There were lots of very impressive works. I really liked the mix of hand and machine work on this Cherry Blossom Triptych.(Close up)

This work by Daniela Tiger, “Where are We Going from Here” about emigration was very thought provoking.   This is a close up too.   The machine drawing is wonderful and the paint work is strong.

 

 

I really liked all the wonderful machine work on this face.  “Arborist: Tree Spirit” got my vote for best of show.

 

 

 

 

 

This “Exotic Fathered Friends”was a great study in Machine work and painting.

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed the mixing of media in this work “ My Tribute to Indigenous Powwow Dancers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the ribbon  work and beading was stitched to the background before it was quilted together.

 

Thousands of pieces of fabric where used in “Technicolor Dream Parrot” by Roxanne Nelson. It was a visual feast and we ran out of gas before we visited all the works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ordered out Chinese at the hotel the second night.   This is dinner with Bev,  Joyce  , Liz, Regina and Terry.   We laughed a lot and fell into bed exhausted.

 

 

 

Day 2 we visited the QSDS  Metamorphose show. It too had a lot wonderful work.

I was delighted so see this felt work as apart of this show.     Wonderful hand dyed stuff too.

We went home on the bus very tired with our treasures that eve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz and I got back on track to doing our weekly  dyeing again and this is what the line looked like on our first run.

 

 

 

I really liked this little piece of Liz’s work.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Into It –Geza Series.   This work is 41.5″ w X 35″ l. I did the last of the quilting and bound it before I went off to Canada. This is the first one in based on the  Car Wash.

Rosalie really helped me with the quilting on this project. I had not thought of using double needle for this work, but I think it helps.

 

 

Heat – Geza Serious.   I am quilting away on this work and will soon be ready to all the silk paper to the piece. I will stitch it down by hand.

 

 

Old and New , Purple and Blue This work got a lot of attention on the bus. I finished all the purple blocks and made all the nine patches. Now I am adding the sashing and will begin the final assembly this week.

Scarf Liz purchased this bit of commercial Cant-ha to make a scarf. I did the assembly with the twist in it so I have a mobious strip.

 

 

 

 

Jacket I observed Victoria’s blue jean jacked with a panel sewn on the back when we went to Ohio. In my search this week for a fabric this week I came across this beautiful bit of Shobori and though I would add it to my own jacket. It now has a good home.

Handwork Shirt Having finished the hand work on the blue squares I needed a new project. So I pulled out this shirt that I had purchased in Florida earlier this spring. I will keep adding the distorted blanket stitches to the shirt until it feels finished.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories: Homes
My childhood was full of moving. My parents were always finding better jobs and moving to new locations. Be cause they were teachers that also meant that summers also included living in different locations. This also meant building new houses and I have lots of great memories of that activity, but I will include them another time.
I will try to cover them in time order. My fist memory is of the house in Ainsworth,  Iowa. It was a simple four rooms and a bath set up and my brother Gene was born there. Mom saved every thing and I even have the recite for the lumber for that house $350.00. I remember too that they did not build a barrier in the closets- back to back – between the two rooms and we could run through the hanging clothes into there room and jump onto their bed when we hear them in the mornings. Dad was an English teacher there and basketball coach. I got to be the mascot and at half time I sat in my little purple skirt and white sweater on the center of the court while the cheer leaders did there thing around me.

Dad got a job as a principal in Columbus Junction, Iowa and we moved. This time they purchased a house were the basement was built into a hill and with Grandpa Howard’s help built the main floor on top while the first school year went on and we slowly moved up stairs. I stared kindergarten while we lived in that house. The city park was our view from the front room and as kids we spent a lot of time there.

The summer I was seven, Dad got a job as a temporary ranger for the summer in Yellowstone National Park. My parents burrowed a air stream trailer that they pulled out and back with our yellow and white Ford. We did not have electricity that summer and only had fresh meet and milk on the night after we went to West Thumb( no longer there) to the store. I remember sleeping in the front room of that trailer and watching the full moon one night line up with the circular window in the door and listen to the coyotes howling.

Our next move was to Carroll Iowa where I started third grade. Again we lived in the basement that Dad, Grandfather and twin high school boys built into a hill the summer before school started. We actually lived in an apartment for the summer. It was across the street from the city park and both Gene and I took swimming lessons there. Gene started Kindergarten and Mom went back to work for the school as a seventh and eight grade science teacher.

Our next home was again a temporary summer Ranger Job for Dad in Tetons National Park at Colter Bay Campground this time. They provided housing and we had electricity. We spent the summer in a army surplus tent with a wooden floor, wood stove and screen door. Mom made a birthday cake in the electric fry pan that she brought with us. We did have to walk/run to the bathroom in the camp ground though.

We continued to live in the house in Carroll in the winter and we went off to Greeley Colorado so my parents could work on there Master’s degrees. We lived in a much nicer trailer that had two bed rooms. Gene and I both went to summer school that summer. We played with kids in the park in the afternoons. The girl and I played dolls. Barbie was popular by that time, but my little doll of choice was Betsy Mc Call. Her legs bent and she could set in chairs.

Dad Graduated from the University of Iowa and he and Mon got jobs at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. That was the only house that they did not build them selves. But they did choose the lot and arranged the floor plan to suit us. We moved in there and I started eight grade. Gene was at the local elementary and for the fist time we did not go to the same building for school. My parent shared that house until their divorce in 1973.

Childhood Memories: Dad’s Office
Fathers’s day is Sunday. In thinking about him I have wonderful memories to share
We moved the year I was six and ready to begin Kindergarten. Dad took his first job as a High School principal in Columbus Junction Iowa. I remember going to his office. The Superintendent was across the hall and there was a huge grandfather clock that fascinated me in the hall. I was really hypnotized by the hug pendulum and I love the chimes. Dad’s office had a clerking floor that even made sound when I walked across it. I remember setting in Dad’s chair and my head was barley above the desk top. There was a closet in the back of the office that held the candy that they sold at sporting events. There was also on the back of the door to that closet a big wooden paddle. It was larger then I was tall. I had always know that Dad meant business when he talked- but this really reinforced that in my young mind. It Dad gave me a Milkyway from that closet when we left because I had been so good. Later he sat me down at home and we had a serious talk about behavior. Dad said I was getting too old to spank, but I was still responsible for my actions and there would be other punishments if I needed them. We had other variations on the responsibility talk as I grew up.

Gardening with Dad
Every place we lived Dad had a garden. I recall the second spring in the house in Columbus Junction and watching him use the spade to turn over the ground. I sat near the strawberry bed and he uncovered a carrot that had survived the winter in the ground. He wiped it off on his pants and told me I could eat it. I backed a bit”Its still dirty” I said. “Aw,” he replied and wiped it a second time. “Don’t you know you have to eat a cubic acre of dirt before it will kill you?”, as he tried yet again. I took the carrot and took a small bit from the cleaner end- it tasked OK. Dad smiled and said “That’s my girl- my Carrie berry bin” -And I got my first and favorite nick name. As Dad was always teaching he explained about nick names when I asked him. This one is a sign of “endearment “ he told me and I added this to my list of growing vocabulary.

Hope you are all creating wonders of your own

Carol

PS   Posting for the next two weeks will be on Friday.  Next Thur I will be teaching a Silk Paper workshop and the following Thur is 4 th of July.

Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Geza Series, Manzi, Pants Leg Monster

Quilt and Surface Design Symposium

 

Hello,
I am home form my adventure to QSDS.  Susan very generous and kindly asked me to ask me t replace her on this adventure. It was great!   This conference was held on the Columbus Collage of Art and Design  campus  in Columbus Ohio.    I was  in Independent Studio/ Master Class with Rosalie Dace for seven days. What a great way to imerce one in a new challenge. I prepared myself by choosing a new subject that I had never tried before and set a goal of trying to find ways to blur the edges of my work. I am pleased with my progress and will keep developing this train of thought.  My photos of the car wash were a great jumping off place. The class only had 7 folks in it.
Jenny was setting behind me and her simplified drawings developed into a wonderful work by the end of the week.

 

 

 

Sherry spent the week working on a quilt based on the back side of a water lily leaf.

 

 

 

Dale worked on a piece based on the blue sound in space.

 

 

 

 

Susan was preparing for a solo show that has 30 works in it. She is also writing a book and hopes to turn her quilts into posters to sell to other cooks.

 

 

Rosalie did hand work all week jumping from one project to another. This is one of my favorites.

I checked in with Victoria too and this shot shows her first piece dealing with fusing.

 

 

We took a field trip to on Wed. First stop was the Ohio Museum of Craft. I was delighted by this wonderful sunflower by Mark Wiesner. It made me recall my corrugated mask series that I did at SU.

The show was wonderful with a lot of great work.
Then it was back to the bus and off to Athens to Quilt National. No photos there of course but it was stimulating. I was looking seriously at how others blurred the edges and ways they quilted that were not the typical strait line work. I got lots of ideas.

 

Victoria’s fist class ended on Friday and she had three more works to add to her future.

 

 

There was a walk about on Friday too and I visited all the classes.

 

 

 

This is a shot of Pat Pauly’s dye class- one of five rooms.

 In keeping with my attention focus on machine work, I was fascinated by this work by Joe Cunningham that he had out for the walk about.
Victoria went on to a two day class with Joe for the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a challenge and Pat Pauly did these works in response to that.  The folks  where to do four little 12 X 12 quilts in red, yellow blue and green.   These are Pat’s yellow and blue works.

 

 

 

This is Susan’s response to green .

 

 

 

 

 

The teachers did a lecture one evening and this is a shot of Joe on stage talking about his work.

 

 

 

 

There was one other event that needs to be mentioned, it is not offered every year.    But on Tues at 11:45 we had to evacuate our beds due to a tornado alarm warning. We all went to the basement were we  enjoyed a sleep ware fashion show while we waited to return to sleep.
The week was great and I feel like a gained a lot from being there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Geza series: Pants Leg Monster   This work  is 38.5″ w X  50″ l.     I did it in class with Rosalie. One of my faults is I try to put everything in one work and being in class stopped  me from dong that with this time.

 

 

 

 

The parts are suspended from the top with a few  “drops” running down as quilting.

 

 

 

 

Geza   Manzi         Manzi   is Zulu for  water.    I am still straggling with the quilting on this project. Again Rosalie saved me from trying to fill this with too much stuff.

 

Geza series: 3 I have not decided on a title for this work yet. It is loosly based on the bubbles sliding down the windshield and grew directly out of my photos . I had intended to put the Tyvec bubbles on top of Manzi .

This work is also my first mix of hand stitches with machine work.

 

Geza 4 I made the heat panels from silk paper before I left for Ohio. This  is early in the process and only pinned in place.

 

 

 

 

 

Geza 5 The car in front of me in the wash  kept tapping his breaks….. this work grew out of that.   I am feeling more confident just using the suggestion of the idea as my starting place then before this class.

 

 

 

 

Purple Squares At night in Columbus  I worked on my Daily Practice every eve. I got ten  blocks finished.

Childhood:  Milking     Grandfather Merritt taught me to milk when I was 10.   I was quite proud although I never developed enough stamina to to fill a bucket.   My cousin  Kelly was allergic to cow’s milk so they had goats.  Phoebe was her favorite and one day after proudly barging I could milk a cow she challenged me to milk the goat.  I almost completed the task and the goat kicked over the bucket and knocked me off my pride perch.

I had a good and full week and feel charged to go forward.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Hand Bags, Icarus, Tee Shirt Quilts

Moving Along

Hello,
I saw this toad on my walk this week. He is difficult to see. Looked for him in the same area every day sense, but no luck.   I am just glad to know he is in our world.
The Associated Artists had their opening for the Flight show.   This wing is Liz’s entry.   There was a woman who was 102 how came along with one of the other artist. It was fascinating talking with her. Openings can open one to new ideas and this one was especially simulating.

This is Barbara’s entry.  The top one sold that day too.

 

 

 

 

 

Liz took this shot of me  and my piece there.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Tee Shirt Quilt
This quilt in nearing the completions stage now. The back is complete and I am in the middle of the quilting.

 

 

 

Purple Squares-Nine patches I did a lot of work on this project this week. The some of the older blue blocks have been combined with the newly completed purple ones to create these four nine patch units.

 

I plan to make a second entry for the 3X3 show if I can get them done in time.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Bag I made a new more colorful spring bag this week.

 

 

 

 

Scarp Assembly This process just keeps inching forward. I have been putting in about an hour every day stripping together fabric strips.

 

 

Preparations I am preparing to depart for QSDS on Sunday. I did two more drawings from the car was photos.   I think they will be a good jumping off place for me.

It also means that I have limited my color pallet and that means a concentrated box of fabric for me. I decided yesterday that I need a little security too, so I pin based a base for a new wild fire piece. I have a clear idea of what I want to do on it  so when I feel too frustrated with the car was project I can work on a piece with more potential for success.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memoirs- Belief
As a child I had a great imagination. I really could believe in the stories that were read to me and fairies, witches, trolls and pixies were just out of sight. One summer day I spent with my Aunt May. I spent a frustrating morning trying to learn how to jump rope.   At lunch she talked to me about believing one could and would accomplish things with time and belief. “I belief you will learn how to jump rope”, she told me. After lunch she read a story about Aladdin and the flying carpet before I was to take a nap. I was fascinated by the idea and could not get to sleep for thinking about it. In my childhood mind, one didn’t need the carpet-just belief. So I climbed out the window over the poach and walked to the edge. I folded my arms, step off and folded my legs and proceeded to “Fly” down into the snowball bush. Aunt May say me “Fly” past as she was setting on the front poach  and screamed as I passed by. Needless to say the snowball bush was never the same. My only injuries were a few scratches.  Mom could not believe I had not broken anything – the power of belief saved me. I did conquer the jump rope later that afternoon too.
I am off to Quilt Surface Design Symposium on Sunday and will not return until June 3, so there will be no posting next week.
Keep Creating
Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Collage, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Scrap Happy Quilts

Lilac Time

 

Hello,
As the photo shows the Lilac are blooming. The smell is wonderful. We continue to have warm days with lots of rain.
There was a Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meeting this week end. It was good to see the gals and the discussions were good ones.   I know I took photos but I can’t seem to put my fingers on them at this time.  Lets just agree it was a visual feast.

The Sketchbook Revival class ended and I did a lot of drawing / collage works to finish up. It was enjoyable to stretch in that way for a while.  It is always good to step out of ones routine and try new things every now and then.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Circular Thinking I am glad that I did the rework on this piece. The edges are square now and I like the flipped piece. It did mean some additional stitching across the seams, but it was well worth the efforts.

 

 

 

 

Tee Shirt Quilt 1 This work is moving forward now. All the shirts are assembled into the top  and I am building a scarp back in  shades of green and brown.

I would love to get this one completed in the next week.

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants I got busy and made a new batch of faces for these little fellows this week. It is always a playful activity.

 

 

Prep Work I am going to the Surface Design Symposiums in Ohio the last week in May thanks to Susan G.   She can not go due to a join replacement she had last week. She is gifting me her spot with Rosalie Dace in Independent Studio for seven days. I am working on sketches of things to try with her guidance.
The this one is of an antique auto  that I took years ago. I want to do a few more before I limit my choices and then I will start to pull fabric to do the work.

This is my pencil interpretation of a shot I took in the car was.   I have several more from this adventure that I want to try.

 

 

 

 

Scrap Assembly   I  keep putting together my scarps and the box is now almost full of units to cut up. I have emptied one of my five bags of scarps too.

 

 

Purple Squares I had a good week and managed to finish off six new blocks this week. I want to complete three more and then I will build a nine patch by adding them to some of the blue squares that I excavated before the retreat.

 

 

Childhood Memories- Berrying Doubloons One of the summers that Gene and I stayed with the grandparents while my parents went to Iowa City to work on their Master’s Degrees, we where in love with the idea of pirates. Our great Aunt May had worked in the button factory when she was younger and she was allowed to bring home the button  seconds. There were buckets full of pearl buttons in Grandmother Ruth’s house. Gene, cousin Russell and I called them doubloons and decided to make a treasure map and bury some. We got a old cigar box from grandmother and filled it with the buttons. We even tried to make “ink” with some berry juice, used a chicken feather for a pen and drew a map of “ Cocklin Island” .   Cocklin was my grandparents name- and the map was our interpretation  of the yard.  We noted all the landmarks in the yard like the three Blue Pines and the dead cherry tree .  We  put an X where we buried the treasure of course.   It was in the garden near the old  stone encrusted  cement pillars that  great  grandfather Herman, had made when Mom was young.    We berried the “treasure chest”  there because  it was the only place in the yard that was soft enough for us to dig  successfully.   I do not know if anyone ever went in search of the treasure or what became of the map. I am sure grandmother dug up the box when she dug potato that fall. It was a great way to spend a summer day  and my memory of the day is a golden one.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Icarus, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Re Work, Scrap Happy Quilts

Spring Studio Schweinfurth 2019

Hello.

This last week end was the spring retreat at the Schweinfurth.  It is a time when one can work on projects of one’s own choosing and be with other like minded folks. This time I was in the dry studio and worked on lots of projects. Many of my friends were present too. Sharon did some wonderful pillow covers down stairs in the wet studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce did some explorations that look a lot like her paintings.   As you can see she really  loves the apple green color.

 

 

 

 

 

Regina worked in the wet studio too and showed me one of her finished indigo/ hand dye painted pieces the first morning before she got to work.

 

 

 

 

Liz was up stairs and she took advantage of Nancy’s expertise to move forward with machine quilting.

 

 

 

Donna did hand work.

 

 

 

 

Norma put together a new top made with fabric her grandson brought back from Sweden for her.

 

 

Sally worked diligently on this piece and got the top all assembled over the weekend.

 

 

 

 

I worked away on may projects- but folks were most amused by my “Pig Pen” like approach to building scrap units.

 

 

 

 

I put in a lot of thought into the old blue squares and decided to cut them down to 6″ squares. The 42 of them will be added to 43 newly embroidered  purple squares that will be my new Daily Practice work.   Later   I will assembled the old ones and then new blocks into  a quilt.

It was a great fun weekend and we did get silly as this picture shows- we were excited talking over one another and laughing when the Kindergarten teacher in Liz came out and she put us in line.

There was an extra benefit to being at the Schweinfurth, we got to see the Made in New York show. I really liked this wonderful bit of fiber work that greets one at the opening of the show.

 

 

Tues was also meeting day for QuEG’s and Diva’s. For QuEG’s we meant at Dori’s house.  Sue Ellen had a great sunset to share with us.

 

 

Corrine had more of her wonderful leather works.

 

 

 

 

Victoria showed off one of her new projects too.

 

 

 

Dori had a beautiful bed quilt that she is doing for her grand daughter. Dori also shared a portion of her Paper Doll collection with us.

It was amazing and brought lots of laughs as well as memories to all of us. A fun meeting.

Diva’s was a lot quieter. Maureen showed off her newest bit of hand work. This photo does not show all the stitch work.

 

Mary brought back her finished “Painted Ladies”. They are delightful.

Wednesday, the FAB group helped Nancy do a bit of moving by all showing up at her old house and loading up our  cars and  then driving to the new house and unloading there. I took this shot of the drooping tulip in the garden at the old house. I was taken by the shape.   Nancy is leaving beautiful gardens behind- but looking forward to building new ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Icarus This work is 35″w X 41.5″ l. I spent a lot of time on this at the retreat. Not only did I add the  body  parts to the background I added the loin cloth and did more quilting. I added the harness and wing connections on Monday when I got home.

I am quite pleased with it and it is off to be hung at a part of the “ Flight Show “ by Associated Artists in the Maniluas Library for the next 30 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circular Thinking 3 X 3- revisited. The more I looked at this piece the more unhappy I was with it. So over the weekend I took it apart and re assembled it. I am still working on evening up the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scraps assembly This is the way the strips look when they are sewn together and pressed. I will then cut them  horizontally  into 2.5″ strips and put the strips into long rows that will later be added to blocks or as boarders for the Scarp Happy quilts I make.

 

 

Sketchbook Revival: This class is over now but I am still working doing the lessons that I did not get to. This is what I did in response to Rachel Taylor’s instruction. The whole process  has been a good way to stretch a bit.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice – Purple squares Here is the first purple square to go with the blue ones I mentioned before.

Fortunately I still had the cut letters  that I had created for the first set of squares so I could add the stamping like the first ones.

 

Childhood Memories- Fishing in Minnesota
My brother, Gene always liked to fish. Me – not so much, but I would go along and read while he did the fishing. One summer our family took a vacation in the 1,000 lakes of Minnesota. For 10 days we did not see or talk to anyone other then the family members. Gene and I spent several days” fishing”. On one of those days we were quietly floating in a nice sunny area when Gene had a strike. He reeled the fish up and out of the water- it was a big one! Then the line snapped and the fish fell back into the water. Gene was upset. But upon looking over the side of the boat he spotted the bright silver  lure against the  dark green bottom. He quickly tied another lure  to his line and carefully dropped it back into the water and hooked the new lure into the first and proceeded to reel everything back in. This time however he quickly pulled the fish over the boat where the line broke for a second time and the fish and two lures landed in the bottom of the boat. He was thrilled. A great fish story.   He went on to catch three more fish that afternoon. And guess who got to clean the fish?- Me of course.

Keep Creating
Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Icarus, Shows, Tee Shirt Quilts

Show Work Week

Hello,

The Blood root is from my garden. Spring keeps pushing forward. Thank goodness!

 

 

This week has been a busy one. Sat. Liz and I went to Varna for a play day. I taught folks how to make a boiled book. We had mixed results as the leaves are still too soft to get really strong images. But we did have fun with it. Liz made progress on her applique circles. I think this will be a great quilt when it is finished.

 

These books and tags are the work of Donna.

 

 

I have put in a lot of time making labels  doing artists statements and making sure I have all the necessary items to hang and present a good shows.   Yesterday with the help of Angela and Julia,  we hung the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist show at May Memorial at 3800 Gennesee St here in Syracuse.     The quilt  by Sharon is a part of the show.   The works  looks good against these dark walls.

It was great to have the help and the process took less then two hours. I forgot to print out our into statements so I made a stop there today to post that addition. The show will be up until Wed May 29 and is open most days from 9 until 4:30.
Today  with Beth’s help we hung a show at the Life Force Center.   This quilt is called Tucson’s and is one of 32  of my works  in this show.  It  will hang  from now until the middle of June.    Beth was very helpful and it took about two hours to hang this show too.  Building  and hanging shows is a part of being an artist,  but  I   look forward to doing my own creative work for  a while now.

Progress Report: Circular Thinking- 3 X 3 This work is 51″w X 51″l and it  is my response to the Sisterhood of the Scissors challenge 3 X 3 . It was a bear to assemble. I see now that I really need to take a second look at the one side and perhaps re do the facing there. When one is working on a piece as big as this it is hard to see the total until the end.
I am glad I did all the stitching, even thought there seems to be as much embroidery thread in my stash as when I started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Icarus I am finishing up the machine drawing on this work now. Even though I fused the fabric to batting before I did that step it sure got distorted.    Lots and lots of heave pressing has flattened out most of that however.   Again I need to live with this a while to see where to go from this point.

 

 

Creative Assistants I finished another batch of these little fellows this week. There are 23 this time. When I was cleaning I discovered under my chair, one more that needed the last three steps to finish it off . Guess that means I have a starter for the next group.

 

 

Tee Shirt Quilt I have make little progress on this work this week, but it is moving forward.

 

 

 

 

 

Sketchbook Revisited Class   Along with many others am doing a online free class for the last week and a half.  It is a great way to stretch and explore.      This lesson was by Anne Butera.   The emphasis on studying the subject, but not getting too hung up on the details.  Looking  at color and using a big brush captures it all quickly.  I  am enjoying myself even though I am behind a few lessons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories -Crack the Whip    One year at Thanksgiving time we had a real cold snap for about 4 days and there was no snow. We all went to the cabin that Grandfather Howard had built on the slew.( It is a back water of the Iowa River- created when the river changed its course and left old Chanel still full of water) The ice was thick and flat. One could skate in a strait line for as long as one wanted to if you went up the slew. All the cousins who had ice skates spent a wonderful afternoon skating.   Being one of the older kids I had done the “hand me down” thing with several pairs of skates.    Uncle Paul pulled us in a laugh filled game of Crack the Whip. Gene, Danny, Russell, Tracy and Doug were there I am sure.  My memory is a little fuzzy about who else was there.  When we  got cold  and tired we went up to the cabin and had hot coco and popcorn from the popcorn machine around the stone fireplace that grandfather had built.   It was a great day!

Keep Creating

Carol