Category Archives: Drawing

Childhood Memories, Coral Sea II, Daily Practice, Drawing, Horsetails, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts, Stencels, Twilight Crows

Quiet Spring

Hello,
This week I seem to have finished up lots of things. Clearing the decks is always a good thing in my mind.   It is like the raking I have done this week to clear out the gardens for new growth.   One needs to move on.

Yesterday Liz ands  I went to “Sew What”, a recycle sewing supplies shop in Auburn NY .   It felt great spending my money to up cycle materials that other sewers no longer needed.     I know that as a society we are generating far too much material that can easily end up on land fills  or polluting the water.  That is really only  a poor solution for our planet.    This resel/recycle shop is so much better!      Liz purchase two quilting hoops as they were so inexpensive and she did not know what would work best for her.    She also sorted through there button    bin to find some 50’s buttons to make a bracelet for herself.   As you can see I made a bigger purchase- but it is all stuff that I can and will use.  I used the pre wrapped bobbin thread today in my machine when I did the illustration  for Childhood.    They had a wide selection of sewing related materials, yarns and books.    It is a good resource and I will donate to it as I sort through my studio and support it by stopping and purchasing materials that I will use in my work.    We all need to take care of this world and recycling is one of the best ways we can all do our small part.

Pixies was the only group that meant this week. Susan challenged us to draw last week and these two are my answer to that. The Woman is my Mom.

 

 

These are my favorite red shoes.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Coral Sea II This work is 16 X 18. I enjoyed embellishing this work. The fish are made from fancy ribbons so they will not fray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twilight Crows This work is 40″ X 48″. I cut all the stencils in the past and just used them together in a different arrangement this time. Most of the other fabric are altered as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 10 This work is 37″ X 51″. I so enjoy just putting fabrics together to create a new unit. I always seem to make extra filler and I am challenging myself to use that as the starting off point for then next one.

 

 

Scrap Happy. I finished this scrap happy this week. I plan to pass it on to my granddaughter.

 

 

 

 

 

Poppy Fields I was frustrated by this work and Liz suggested that I stamp on it to build up the contrast. I am much happier with it now. I plan to push forward now.

 

New base I built this base of all silks. It proved to be a challenge to get them all strait. I plan to use it for a base for my next leaf exploration piece.

 

 

 

 

Horsetails This quilt is a result of a dream I had this week. I have no idea where it came from, but I am enjoying the process. I have not tried couching poplr fleece before.

 

 

 

Daily Practice I am done stitching all the units down now and moving on to the background. I am about one forth done with that step on this section.

 

Stencils   I cut and printed some new and stencils that I mixed with some other ones.  A fun way to build more complexity in my work.

 

Childhood Memories – Sophomore Year II
I was always good at sports and   loved the gym class that meant alternate days with the Health class. Indiana is a big basketball state and Muncie Central was a real sports  power house .They had won the state   Basketball championship several times and for  two years in a row before I attended. I was looking forward to playing basketball in high school, so when  the school  morning announcement   made no mention of girls  basketball try-outs, Iwas  baffled.  After  the second day announcement of boys try-outs, I went to the Principal’S office and asked. The Vice Principal told me that” We don’t do that, because its not “ Lady-Like”. When I asked Dad about this, because I knew he had coached girls ball, he just laughed. “ Carol,” Dad said, “ There is only one gym and if there is a girls team, that would cut the practice time for boys in half.” That realization made me quite angry. I also realized that the cards were stacked against me and there was little I could do. I sort of worked on the issue of girls sports with Miss Anderson and by the time I was a senior there was a girls Track team and I was on it. No threat to the boys with that sport. We had the hand me down uniforms from the boys team. I was the base for the relay team and we won several races. I do have one ribbon from that activity.    I took synchronized S swimming at the YMCA as my  fall Junior year  physical ed class and joined that team. I was glad that having  straight hair was popular as the class was just before lunch and my hair was dry by the time my first class started. There was no travel for the swimming team and we did only  two performances . Despite the lack of outside support, I did have fun. I can still do all the fun moves we learned like  the clam shell and star fish.
> Lunch was a full hour and I  often at in the Cafeteria .   Sometimes I spent some of my lunch hours playing Chess with the Chess Club  that met  in one corner of the big room. We were also allowed to leave campus at noon to eat in the community. I got in trouble financially with that in October . I went with a couple of other gals to the Woolworths counter and  where we ate lunch. The cost of one Woolwoth lunch was more then a whole weeks work of lunch from the school lunch room. I should have realized early on – but the social aspect of it captured me. The last week of Oct I had only 15  cents in my pocket. Just enough to purchase milk at school at three cents a box for the week. So I stopped going to lunch with the “in crowd” and carried peanut butter sandwiches that week. I needed to learn that lesson. Being downtown also presented other temptations. There were three bookstores in the downtown area and I used them to purchase many paper back books. I know I spent money on every copy of an Edger Rice Burrows book I could find. Charm bracelets were all the rage at this time and I often checked out jewelry stores for charms for my self and gifts for friends Birthdays. My friend Ann’s parents owned a jewelry store there too. I did go several times and looked at charms there, but found they were just a little bit more expensive than the other stores, so they did not get much business from me. I still have my three bracelets that include charms from all the states I had lived in and some of my interests,   another bracelet that is all gifts , and a third , witch was the last one I built and it is very eclectic with a small Opal, a cowboy, a part of scissors  and a graduation hat , among other things.

Please take good care of yourselves
> Carol

 

 

Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Drawing, Lap Quilts, Poppy Fields, Scrap Happy Quilts, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Signs of Spring

1 Comment

Hello,
As the photo shows one is beginning to see signs of spring around here. I also noticed lots of bird calls on my walks this week. I find that I am going through the world a little wide eyed of late trying to find those signs of the changing season. It is far to easy to look but not really notice the changes. The bright color really helped me notice these small flowers. One tends to categorize objects and in doing that, that action  make it easy to move onto the next thing, object or event and ignore the uniqueness of things around us. Claude Monet said” To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.” He was speaking to art of course and I do agree, but there is another aspect too. I spent twenty min looking for my cell phone on my desk yesterday and only found it when I had my husband call the number an it rang. It was  lying  directly  in the center of the desk, but because it was setting on its side instead of on its back or front,  I did not recognize the form. I could not see because I had named and categorize the cell phone in only one form.   I feel that is a bit of a cop out for and artists and I am trying to really see the world now.

The week has been as busy as usual. In the Textile Artist Stitch Club we had a new teacher, Jette Clover. We did a winter landscape with her were we added paper to the work in the form of a stamp. I enjoyed the process.

 

I continue to work on my coral sea piece too. I added pipe cleaners as steams for my plants and added lots more big sequins this week as well as ,many beads.

 

 

 

 

 

Project Report: Lap Quilt #8 This work is all pin basted and ready for the quilting step now. There are lots of my hand dyed and painted fabrics in this one.

 

 

 

 

Poppy Fields This project is going forward. I finished the circles that represent the flowers and I am working on the tree and leaves now.

 

Shattered Stars I an quilting this work with silver metallic thread. I drew a big star on  a pieces of paper and then cut it up into triangular units  to create shapes for the quilting patterns. There are parts of three stars here and only four sections   of the third star be quilted.   They are the white paper units n the edges.

 

 

Scrap Happy This is a pile of the two and half and four and a half inch strips that I will add to various blocks to build the backing for this next quilt.

 

 

Crows I have created some new works to join together for a new work in this series.

 

 

Daily Practice I am setting this block aside now and moving onto the next. I am leaving some open area on each one as a place for the eye to rest.

 

 

 

 

Drawing I did a little playing with leaf shapes in the sketch book and think there is yet another project in this vain in the future.   One can save a lot of time and effort by drawing first some times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New   I am playing with stitching down bits of fabric just for fun with this piece.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Travels 1
The move to Muncie also brought a change in our travel patterns. Mom saw each school holiday longer than than a weeks time, as an opportunity to explore the country . She planned a trip for each vacation. Our first Christmas , as usual, we went home to Iowa and celebrated with our families. But we started for Muncie  a bit early that year, and hit spots in Illinois on the way home . Our first stop was Dixon Mounds. It is a excavated burial mound of the native Americans on the bank of a river. That first time that we visited it was still being excavated by the farmer, Mr Dixon and it was inside a tent covering. We were the only visitors and so we talked and asked questions directly to Mr Dixon. We were up very close to the few bodies that he had exposed. I recall a Mother with her  arm bones wrapped around a child and two pots there as well. We stopped there several times over the years and each time the excavation was bigger and more sophisticated. My last visit was with Dad about 12 years ago and it is now  a big museum with several buildings . There are 248 exposed bodies that one can view from a raised walkway the surrounds the excavated space inside a fancy building. One is not as close as the first time  of course, but the size of the burial is much more evident now. There is also a display of pots, arrowheads and stone axes . We also stopped at the Illinois State Museum in Peoria. To see its wonderful displays of wild life and life sized dioramas of Native Americans. Mom was just getting into her museum studies and she really enjoyed it.
During spring break that year,  we drove east to Acadia National Park. I remember that Gene and I had illusions of swimming in the Atlantic ocean before we got there. It was very windy, a rocky shore and oh so cold! We spent a lot of time walking along the rocky water line and throwing rocks into the water. I still love the sound of waves as they crash on the shore. I remember Mom pointing out an old lava filled crack in one section and her talking about how it was like the lava deposit on Mt Moran in the Tetons. We did some hiking and exploring. For the most part were had the place to ourselves.
At the end of summer school that year we went to Toronto, Canada, my first trip to a foreign country. I was not impressed by that, as it looked the same as the land we had been driving through. I did notice some folks speaking French in the capital. We toured the capital building . I remember being fascinated by a statue of a Unicorn ,setting on his hind legs and holding a coat of arms. I mistakenly thought it was part of the coat of arms, and learned later that it was not.    I spent part of my allowance on a little doll dressed in a kilt with a beret. She is still in my collection. We visited a great rock and mineral display and the usual stuffed creatures at the Natural History Museum there too. We then drove south to Niagara Falls. I was impressed by their size and sound. On the Canadian side we visited a museum that was more like a Victorian curiosity cabinet than a museum. There were lots of interesting things, but no real organization. Mummies were in the same room as various turtle shells. There was one of the broken up barrels in which someone had gone over the falls. It was really shattered! I recall a big slice of a red wood tree that was over twenty feet across. It had markers on some of the rings noting historical events- like building of the great wall of China, Christ’s birth, the fall of the roman empire, and Columbus’s arrival on this content. We crossed to the US side, and were  much closer to the falls. I was impressed by how loud the water was and how very swiftly it was running. We started home and camped on Lake Erie.   That night Mom, recited Hawthorn’s Song of Hiawatha. “ On the shores of Gitche Gumee, of the shining big sea water….” It sure is a big fresh water sea!

Stay Safe and play  little this week.

Carol

 

Childhood Memories, Diva Meetings, Drawing, Lap Quilts, Mayan - Lead Dancer, Mayan- Bone Dancer, NEW, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts

Winter work

Hello,

Now that the holidays are over and all the decorations are put away I can really concentrate on the studio clean up and sort.   It is a good time to do this sort of thing as there are few  distractions.      I am nearly done with the fabrics. For the most part I have put like colors and fabric types together. I did make some selections of things that I can pass forward  to give away. The only material  left is  my hand altered fabrics and then I will call that step done. My plan is to tackle the remaining book shelves next.
I had a Zoom meetings this week with the Diva’s and the Pixies. It is always good to talk with fellow artists. Textile Artist Stitch Club gave us a new assignment too. This is my drawing. I will use a view finder to select a small portion and begin the  stitch work.

 

 

Progress Report: Lead Dancer Mayan Series # 13 This work is 20″ w X 24.5″ l. With  this finished up, there is only one more in the series. It has been and enjoyable one for me. I am looking forward to the show next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wind Blown 3 X 3 Challenge This work is 38.5″ X 38.5″. All the Gingko leaves are raw edged appliqued to the surface thought the batting. The leaves are all silks of various types.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy I was commissioned to do one of these in a twin size. All the rows are done and I am working on the backing now.

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt. In my cleaning I found this top all done with out the batting and backing.   I added those two part and  I am   doing stitch in the ditch quilting it now.

 

 

 

Captured Threads I started this project three years ago at Fall Retreat at the Schweinfurth and it too got buried. I am doing the binding on it now and so I will finish it shortly.

Bone Dancer- Mayan Series # 14 This is the last planned work in this series. I am to the quilting stage of this work now as I have a show of all 14 coming next week at the Life Force Studios. Nothing like a dead line to push one forward.

New Work I had cut these squares and pinned them down before I found the other lap quilt, but I will build it none the less. I know I can always find a home for them.

 

 

 

Daily Handwork I started this last week and I am adding yarns and ribbon to the surface at this point. I am keeping the colors simple and closely related. It is meditative to work on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Moving to Muncie Indiana
The move to Muncie was a big change for all of the family. Gene and I did not help with the actual packing up of the household. That job was carried out my Mom and Dad with the help of uncle Paul. They drove our stuff to Muncie and unloaded it. Gene, Russell and I came in Grandpa Howard’s truck. In the late afternoon one day, Grandmother and Grandpa loaded us up and we started driving east form Grandview. The three of us had a good time raising our selves above the cab and yelling into the wind for a while. But as the sun went down it became colder and colder. I remember Grandmother rotating us into the cab to warm up before we all fell asleep in the sleeping bags in the bed of the truck. The new house was in a housing development at the end of Brook Drive. It was a yellow brick ranch style house with a garage on the far south side at the end of the drive. There was one other competed house diagonally across the street where the Baloue’s lived. The adults  both worked at Ball State too and their was a son, Steven,  was Gene’s age. Many lots were not developed, but a few had craw spaces dug. There were no girls over 4 for five or more blocks in all directions. There was a big old Shingle Oak in the front yard on the west end and behind the house was a brook. Our street T-ed int Petty Road and beyond that road were fields. Across the brook was a abandon field that was going back to nature and beyond that a stone field house. From the  drive way one would walk up one step  between floor to ceiling windows on the left and a yellow brick flower box on the right , to arrive at the front door. Opening the front door one entered into a short landing with three exits. To the right was a wide opening to the living room that ran along the front of the house. If one went strait ahead there was a phone on the wall to the right and a door way to the kitchen. On turning left one went down the hall to the bath on the right across from Gene’s room. Strait down the the hall brought  one to my room, with Mom and Dad’s bedroom door just to the right. Their sweet had a small bathroom with a shower, stool and sink. I loved my new all white room. I had two windows that faced east and a third that faced north. The big old yellow typing desk, that was in my room in Carroll, did not make the trip, but most of the furniture that my parents had built did. They built desks for both Gene and myself out of doors that were used as the writhing surface. Four screw in legs were the corners, and Dad built slides for the drawers. The drawers themselves were brown plastic wash tubs that slid in on the slide tracks. I also had great bulletin board on that was on that wall. In the corner at the east side was my newly inherited chest of drawers with a large mirror over it. Mom and Dad got a new bedroom set and I got the old blond wavy cut one with big X drawer pulls. I thought it was so “Hollywood”. In the front north east corner was my new bed. Gene and I both got new three quarter beds. That was a fashion that did not last long and Mom grew to dislike as she could not purchase sheets to fit. She had to cut down and re sew doubles to fit. Later that fist fall I got a blue swivel rocker that lived at the end of my bed in front of the closet. My book shelf lived inside the closet at one end and the play cupboard that Grandfather Howard had built me was at the other. Back down the hall was the kitchen/dinning area was behind the living room on the west side of the house. There were double sliding glass doors at the far end of that are and they opened onto a poured cement patio. At that far end was a set of folding doors on the right that opened to the living room. Beyond those doors on the right was a door to the garage. Opposite that door was on to the laundry room that included a sink and a stool too. At the end of the short hall was a door to the den. There was a door to the patio from there as well. Mom and Dad both had desks in that room. The house served us well and I enjoyed it until I moved away my senior year in college to live in a house with seven other girls.

 

Childhood Memories, Drawing, Lap Quilts, Mayan - Lead Dancer, Mayan- Bone Dancer, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts, Squares a Dancing

New Year

Happy Hew Year to all.
I sure hope that 2021 brings more freedom and joy to everyone.     May we all see a little clearer, love a little more deeply and value what we have missed the most this year.  I look forward to hugs and laughter with lost of smiling faces all around me.     Good health and wonder to all.

I tried to finish up lots of little details as part of my preparation for the new year  and  a fresh start.
I did complete my English Robin as the Textile Artist Stitch Club assignment. I learned that I need to pin and pin a lot even though the instructor, Mandy Pattallo did not. My robin got very fat as the part spread out while I worked.
The Pixies had a on line meeting as usual. We had an assignment to draw something to represent what we did on Christmas day. I always associate Christmas with Pamagranits, so I purchase and eat them that day. They were on sale in our grocery,  so I purchased two. One is gone and the second is almost finished now.

 

 

Progress Report: Lap Quilt This work is 40″ w X 46″t. It is made up of mostly fabrics that I altered in some way. I printed on most of them. It was fun to use my fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cold Moon Rising The work is 46″ w X 28″ t.    I changed the title of this work as I learned that the  last full moon of December is called a Cold Moon.   The branches are all wool yarn that I zig-zagged down. The birds themselves are made from various blacks. Several from the bottoms of pants that were shortened, some of velour and a bit of felt. By using a variety of fabrics for the birds I think it adds more interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I finally got to put these fellows into rows this week. It will be a very handsome lap quilt I think.

 

 

Scrap Happy I worked away on this project this week . I am at the machine quilting stage and about half way done with it. I am sure I will complete this project this week

 

 

 

 

Lead Dancer- Mayan Series #13 I am working away on the out lining of the parts of this figure. I think I am about half way done with this step and will surely get to the quilting by Monday.

 

 

 

Bone Dancer – Mayan Series # 14 I spent a few hours this week with the cutting and fusing of the shapes for this project. I think I am getting anxious to complete this series so I put in extra time.

 

 

 

 

Fall Last week I painted the tyvec to use as leaves on the colored base. Well when I finally placed the first leaves on the base . It was awful! So they will become the start of something new. I tried cutting and pinning ginkgo type silk leaves on the base and I like that a lot more. So I am going in that direction now. I plan to stitch a few down before I go any further with this idea.

 

 

New Work I got asked to do a commission by the son of a friend. It will be a twin quilt for a child. I pulled out the leftover squares from the summer quilts and I will start there.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Church Camp
The summer between seventh and eighth grade was different than past summers with the grandparents. I was older and there was more freedom in both households. I did get to wash and dry dishes in both places too. At Grandma Esters’s I was too old for Vacation Bible school, but old enough for Summer Church camp. It was held at the Rose of Sharon Church, out in the country, with bean and corn fields on all four sides. The camp lasted a week and was an overnight event. Old Army tents were set up on the church grounds, with the boys tents west of the church, next to the cemetery, and the girls tents, east of the church, next to the parking lot. Grandmother had an old army cot that I slept on in a small tent that I shared with one other girl. Grandmother and I prepared for the event by making pajamas out of cotton duck. Grandmother also make me a corduroy robe to wear over the top. At the camp we had bible classes in the mornings and sang. Each afternoon was a special event. For the afternoon of the first day we all piled into the Church bus and rode to Burlington to the public swimming pool. I was a bit mesmerized by the older kids as they played a wild game where the girls would get onto a boy’s shoulders and the pair would charge another pair. The girls would try to knock one another off into the water. I was also surprised by Kathy Paterson, the minister’s 17 year old daughter, who wore a two piece swimming suit. We did have a good time in the water that day. After dinner we had a little Bible study and sang around the camp fire, mostly Psalms. Then it was time for bed. The bathrooms were in the church and one had to leave the tent to wash up and finish preparing for sleep. I was so very proud of my new self made pajamas, that I went to the bathroom without wearing my robe. On my way back to the tent, I was walking along the side aisle of the chapel to the back door when Kathy, stopped me. She then proceeded to lecture me on how inappropriate it was for me to be out of my tent in only my pajamas. I ended up in tears as I ran back to the tent. My tent mate, also a bit of an out cast, was not very sympathetic either. After I cried myself out, I lay awake a long time thinking about the situation. I realized that I was more covered in my floor length cotton Pajamas then Kathy had been in the pool that afternoon That was really the start of my questioning religious philosophy. We went roller skating one afternoon, and had base ball games too. One night some kids went “Snipe Hunting”. I at least did not fall for that nonsense. It was pleasant for the most part.
Later that summer Aunt Hertha tried to teach Mary Helen, my cousin and me to knit. Mary Helen did get it, but me… Well lets just say I had several more teachers before I really got the hang of it. I babysat for Aunt Marty Ann too. She had two girls. Sharon, who was three and baby Sally. Sharon love to play tag. She often fell down in her hastes .Her cheerful response to that action was “ Oops-see -daisy” as she got up and ran again. It was always fun to play with her.
Another privilege of being older was that I got to go out with my cousin Ronne Lambert . He was a year older. He had a car and one afternoon we went to the county fair. His sister Ann was in 4-H and had cookies and an apron in the show. We rode the Ferris Wheel and the Merry go Round. It was enjoyable. Ronne and I went for one other outing to Columbus Junction at night. We rented a motor cycle and drove around town for about an hour. It was fun as we did go past my old house and the school as part of the trip. When we got back to grandmothers, we sat in the drive talking about our dreams for the future well into the night.

Please stay safe and have a good New Year

Carol

Birds, Childhood Memories, Crows in the Pines, Drawing, Hand work, Mayan- Deer Dancer, Mayan- Rabbit Dancer, Pixies Group, Squares a Dancing

Fall Color is Building

Hello-
The weather is becoming cooler and the leaves continue to drift down when we walk. Tues we were walking along the two block empty lot  wooded area and we saw two deer. They just watched us pass and  they were about 10 feet from the road.  We were not a threat in any way and when I looked back they had returned to their grazing.   More trees have started to color but we are not at peek yet.  I was captured by these zinnia’s all wearing the orange of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

For Textile Artist Stitch Club this week Vinnet Stapley challenged us to build a second work using some additional techniques that she suggested. I did a piece using the negative spaces left over from the original assignment. I also did the sewing with the free motion of my sewing machine in metallic threads. It was fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies had their meeting on Tues. We were challenged to find and artist and use that person as jumping off place for a work. I looked at William Kentritch  for my artist.. He used maps as a base for a few of his early works so I took that idea. He also likes silhouetted figures. So I found a map of California, painted fires on top and  then added a fire-fighter to create this image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Crows in the Pines This work is 18″ X 16.5″ .  I printed the pines with a silk screen that I made and then I added Robin’s Egg Blue dye to the back of the fabric.

 

The crows are all done in fabric markers on top.
Then I free motion quilted around all the birds.    I quilted drew around all  the pines too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deer Dancer I am making progress on this new work. I always think this black out lining step make the work come alive.

 

 

 

Rabbit Dancer I drew the next dancer and enlarged it yesterday. He may need to hold something to balance the left side.

 

 

 

 

Goldfinches I pulled out this background that I have started felting. I will get out the machine and finish this step and then add some thread painted Goldfinches to the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burning Woods The red and black is the base for this next fire piece. I have drawn trees ion the wash away that is on top of the fabric and will machine draw them.

 

Blue Ferns This work will become a window quilt for our bed room. I am also building a cover for the air-conditioner that will stay in the window over the winter. The opening at the bottom is were the air-conditioner fits.

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I just keep having fun creating these little fellow. I now have 196 squares.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories 6th Grade – Miss Eaton
I was in Miss Eaton’s class in sixth grade. It was her first year of teaching and she was full of excitement. One of the fun things Miss Eaton did with us was teach us a bit of French. I the only thing I can remember is how to count to 10 and how to say “Recognize the snow”. I will not even try to spell that. In September we started a year long project dealing with poetry. To improve and practice our cursive she had us all copy “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. Then we had a week to memorize it. After all the kids had recited it our next assignment. We had a week to find a poem of our own choosing with a historical theme. On that Friday we did the cursive step and began to memorize the first two stanza. I think I selected “Paul Revear’s Ride” but it may have been the “Song of Hiawatha” because I know I memorized both over that year. One topic was nonsense poems and I recall I learned “ The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll for that one. We continued that pattern was followed all year and I did learn lots of poetry that I can still recite.. At the end of the year we bound them all together with the drawings that we did to illiterate the works into a little book. I had it for years.

By this time my poor reading was really pulling my grades down. I did not like being in the bottom reading group with four other trouble making boys either.       Miss Eaton let everyone do Extra Credit Reports any time on animals and birds to help our grades. Mom helped me by reading from a big green leather book she had on animals. I would then, recite back to her what I had heard and do a little out line for before writing. The first report was about Buffalo and I started as the author by tell about the “Habitat”. Mom stopped me and said you can not use that word as it is not part of your vocabulary- find another way to say the same thing. That was when I learned about paraphrasing and plagiarism. Mom explained how I could not use words that I did not know or copy someone else’s words without giving them credit. It was like steeling she said. Learning that difference and skill helped me all through my education.

Miss Eaton loved Ancient history and I learned a love of some of it too. Ancient Egypt really came alive for me. Before her class all I knew about Egypt was from Bible stories about Moses. She did lots of explaining and we did several projects. But the one I remember the most was making Scarab Beetles. She gave us all an oval of plaster that she had cast in a spoon. We carved the lines of the beetle in the plaster dome and a Egyptian hydrophilic on the flat side. We painted them with Easter egg dyes. I really loved the mythology of Greece and Rome. Near the end of our study of that topic we did  a painting of our favorite god, goddess or myth. We were given a large sheet of heavy paper and told to draw a simple drawing first in pencil and them draw over it in chalk. Keep it “simple like a coloring book page”she said. I was drawing from an image in my text book when Mom came in and asked me “How  is coping an artist image  different then copying someone else’s words?” After we talked,  she asked me how I could make the picture my own. We decided one could add things, take things away,  and move them around in the picture make it my own work  . She also pointed out that you could go to a different source and mix things  into the image. After having me list what I really wanted in the picture – Diana, an Owl, a bow, the moon, Diana’s dogs and a deer she went off to get an aid. She had a green Art Deco vase with leaping deer in relief on it. They were simple too,so I started with them and Diana and built my picture. I remember I did not include all the parts I had mentioned.   Back in the class room, when  we outlined the drawing in chalk and that forced  a bit more simplification. The we pained up to the lines with thick tempera paint. That step was repeated and then lastly we painted over it all with black India Ink. After it was dry we went to the janitors closet and washed the paintings gently under the faucet so the black came away on the thick tempera as did some of the color. It was magically beautiful and well worth all the time and effort.

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol

 

 

Childhood Memories, Crows, Drawing, Mayan- Turtle Dancer, NEW, Pixies Group, Series, Squares a Dancing

Equinox

Hello,

I hope that the equinox was noted by folks this week. I sure am seeing evidence of the shorter day light. For a  few days every year  the sun lines up directly with my east facing door to the studio.  Those days  are now past and the sun is rising and setting at  about 7.
This week the Textile Artist Stitch Club teacher Carissa Caiksen, suggested and then showed us how to add found objects to the surface of our stuff shapes. I added some rusted washers and nuts that I had collected.

I added stitches to the surface of the shapes   as she suggested as well.

This was a fun challenge I think.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies had there third online meeting this week. We are getting better and better at working through the connections. There are two challenges this time. One was to do a group drawing that we can connect together into one image. I did my hand and I have sent it off to be married with the others. Can’t wait to see how this project goes. The second was more explorations with Crows. I did this little 12″ X 12″ piece this time. The crows are drawn in crayon on interfacing that I got two years ago in Mexico when I was visiting Susan. The wax in the crayons does make the crows shinny and it also makes it a bit difficult to free motion stitch over.
I did Dye with Liz again this week.

Progress Report: Green on Green This work s 32.5″ X 47.5″. It is all stitch in the ditch quilting. This work will also go to the nursing home for folks confined to wheel chairs.

 

 

This project has lots of hand dyed and hand manipulated fabrics too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Dancer I am doing the outline and applique stitching on this work now. I can see the end of that process and I will move onto the quilting. I drew a new subject this week as well.

 

 

Sweet Peas I started this work when I was in Mexico   visiting with Susan. It finally made it to the top of the pile so I free motion quilted it this week. I will add facings and finish it.

 

 

 

 

New Work I spent and afternoon making silk paper this week. My main goal was to make material for the fire project that is on my mind. I also made these clouds to use in my next crow pieces as well. Yesterday I cut stencils of 8 crow forms to use with the clouds.

 

 

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing The collection of squares grew by seven more this week. I now have 175 and I am working on the next batch.

 

 

New Top   I pulled out these fabrics and I am considering using them together for my next top.  I always like to have something in the background waiting my attention

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories: Farm Yard continued
A little ways from the sheep shed on the southwest side of the barn yard was the Machine Shed. It was a corrugated metal shed that was open on the north side. The tractor- “Big Red”, the disk, the cultivator, the seeder, the mower, the plow, several hay wagons and various other big tools and wagons lived in that space. On the back wall were the old harness sets. Grandfather loved horses and I do remember the last team. They were both white and called Sugar and Salt. Dad use to tell stories about how he and Grandpa would go to the Chicago Stock yards and get wild horses that were brought in from the western plains by train. Grandfather had a good eye for selecting two horses that were similar in size and color to make good looking teams. They would then purchase the horses and bring them back to the farm. It was Dad’s job to break them to ride, harness and pull the farm machinery. When he was growing up there were always four teams on the farm. One older and more experienced team, two in training and a third that was “ green”. Grandfather would sell the oldest team when he was ready to go again to Chicago and get a new team. Horses usually live twenty to thirty years, so it was a good system to make additional money.
There was a narrow lane that lead to a field between the machine shed and the hog house, the next building on the south side of the farm yard. The hog house was a long one story red building with windows and a cement floor. As kids we did not go in there much as hog are unpredictable and dangerous however, I do recall one visit just after piglets were born. They were cute and squealed a lot.  At the eastern end of the hog house was a red stock loading ramp. Using fences and gates, Grandpa could load all his animals into trucks with that ramp. East and north of the hog house was the mud lot. This area connected four barns, was in constant use and was always muddy. The windmill with a connecting stock tank to hold the water that the wind driven pump brought up form the well, was next to the gate on the west side. It was the main gate from the farm yard and it was metal and always closed unless in use. There was a cement pad there that extended along the big barn to help machinery make the transition from the dry are to the muddy lot. In the south east corner of the mud lot was the big gray barn. Dad told me that was were they used to house the horses in the lower level.  I only remember the barn being used to store hay. The loft was a great place to play in the mornings, but often became too hot in the afternoons. The cats liked to have their kittens there and on occasion we found them.  In the center of the mud lot was the corn crib. Having it here meant it was easy to shovel out the corn for the animals. There was also a metal silo behind the crib.  At the back of the mud lot was a gate that went to the big meadow pasture with the creek. On the south west corner of the mud lot was the big red main barn. It had big sliding doors on the west and east sides so you could drive through it. In the front and to the left was the corn cob elevator. That piece of machinery also was used to raise bales of hay to the lofts. It was on wheels and could easily be moved. In the back of the barn, on both sides of the pull through, were “ tight rooms”. One was used for oats and the other for shelled corn. Gene and I loved to enter and climb to the tops of the grain piles and slide down.

Keep Creating  and stay safe

Carol

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories, Drawing, Mayan- Vulture Priest, Squares a Dancing

Health

Hello
The human body is an amazing machine. It does so many things with out our giving it any thought. There are lots of actions that go on in our bodies with out or direction like the heart beats regularly, we breath in and out, the digestive track dose it thing and we maintain a constant body temperature. All that plus the actions our body takes on with our brains commands, like walking, eating, talking, touching, hearing and sleeping to name a few. We take it all for granted until something goes wrong. When we trip that is when we notice how we are walking.        When we get bitten by a misquote is when we notice the exposed skin. When one gets sick is when we realize how much we take out good health for granted. So take good care of your health now while you have it, it is one of your most valuable possessions, for without it you have nothing of value.
This week was a “by week” for the Textile Artist Stitch Group so her was no new assignment, but I did finish up my Concertina Book from the week before.

Cover

 

 

 

 

 

Spread one

Spread two.      I enjoyed adding the hand work to these    pieces.

 

 

Third section

 

 

The final

 

 

 

 

Liz and I did do a bit of dyeing this week. This is her mixing the dye power. Can you see her smiling?

The pieces in the pot are washing out the color.   I like this green.

Work on the line that Liz dye painted.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Scrap Happy I added the rows all together and added the boarders as well as the first step of binding. I can see the end of this project now.

 

Top I put this top together and although I like the color – it is not doing any thing for me now. It is in the ugly stage and I am ready to toss it out. Guess it will have to disappear for a while before I can see it’s potential again.

 

 

 

Squares a Dancing I just keep putting in the time on this project. I now have 77 squares done.

 

 

 

 

Vulture Priest I finished the top this week and now I only need to do the scepter and I will be ready to quilt it.

 

 

Parrot Priest As I can see the end of the Vulture Priest,  I moved onto do a drawing for the Parrot Priest so I can start on it this week. I am happy with this series.

 

 

 

Drawing     I am still doing a bit of  drawing.  These are all ocean micro plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Thanksgivings Mornings
>
> Even after we moved to Carroll, my family still drove the 5 hours it took to return home   to the Grandparents for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. For Thanksgiving we left from school on Wednesday. Mom packed sandwiches and fruit so we could avoid a dinner stop. But as we neared the edge of Illinois we would often stop at a dairy bar called “ Cow Jumps over the Moon” and get ice cream. The place had an amazing sign on top. It was a big shell with the moon, stars and the cow ,of course ,all outlined in neon. The cow’s neon turned on and off in a series so the cow actually appeared to jump over the moon in the course of sixty seconds. It was wonderful to my eyes. We then drove on to Grandmother Ester’s house where we stayed. We would arrive and talk a bit before going up to bed. I remember it being very cold in the mornings and snuggling back under the quilts until Grandfather Merritt got the coal loaded and stoked up. That changed when they got a new furnace of course. Thanksgiving was Grandmother Ester’s big day. She always cooked a big turkey with all the trimmings for the family gathering. I don’t remember much of a breakfast- Grandmother was too busy, so we as a family just mostly went out for a long walk to stay out from under foot. We would exit through the door yard into the machine yard, past the wind mill, and climb the big wooden gate into the barn yard. We crossed between the two barns and the corn crib to climb another wooden gate moving into the east pasture. Grandfather usually had cattle there, but I do remember one time when he housed some horses as well. We avoided the cow pies that were near the gate as grandfather fed hay from a  rack there. Then into the grass and down to the meadow to wander along the creek. Gene threw rocks as usual, but we mostly walked along, noting the changes in the few pool sizes and such. At the far south east end of the creek on Grandfather’s land was a big sandstone cliff where we almost always found some conoides- fossilized sea plant steams. Mom said that the Native Americans used them as beads and I can easily see why. Many times we would cross the fence near the creek into the neighbors pasture and explore the old abandoned sandstone church. There was never a roof in my memory and the window and door frames were gone too. There must have been stairs at one point as the two door jambs were about three feet off the ground. There were three window openings on both the east and west sides. The back wall was solid stone to the peak. We would then climb the hill behind the church to the fenced cemetery that was well maintained and always mowed. It was a fascinating place to me with lots of old markers. That was where I learned how many children  died  in their first year- some lives as brief as three days, five days, four months up to two years. Then there seemed to be a drop off. There was a huge oak tree in the south east corner. It had low branches and Gene and I love to climb it. It was so big around at the stump that Mom, Gene and I could barely touch hands if we all wrapped our arms around it. In the south east corner of that cemetery was a big sink whole about the size of a barn. Mom said she was sure there were caves in the hills around there. We did discover a opening in a corner of Grandfather’s pasture up behind the cliff face. Grandfather fenced off the area so no animals would wander in accidentally. There was a lane that lead out to the gravel road from the cemetery that separated Grandfathers land from the neighbors. One summer while I was out there with only Snookie, Grandfather’s dog, I startled an orange furred bodied  bat hanging from a branch along that lane. There was also a mound that was along the lane on Grandfathers pasture that Mom speculated was an Indian mound, but we never did anything to follow that up. We wandered back to the house around 11:30 and prepared for the feast.

Stay safe and keep creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Drawing, Felt Work, Heron, Mayan -Leopard Priest, Scrap Happy Quilts, Thread Painting, Yellow Ramped Warbler

Quiet Week

Hello,
This week was rather quiet after a trip on Friday to pick up my work from the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton. Wendy and I went together and enjoyed the day. We walked the fitness trail at Colgate and saw lots of great views after climbing lots of hills. We stopped at Oriseany Falls on the way home too. It rained on us at the end of the drive but we still had a good time.

Progress Report: Red-Winged Black Birds This work is 18″ w X 20″ l. The background is a mix of felted work and fabric. The reeds are all added on top as well as the birds. The male, female and adolescent are shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow Ramped Warbler This work is 12″ X 12″. It too has a felted base with the thread drawing birds added on top. It is also a stretched work. I have lots of little bird studies done this way as I picked up 7 from the gallery Friday.

The leaves are cut from hand dyed fabric and the limb is made from torn strips of fabric and yarns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heron This work is nearly complete now. I still have eight reeds to attach and the heron too. I do enjoy thread painting.

Scrap Happy This is my third scrap quilt this year. I only need to finish the binding and quilt the big squares and this will be complete. That is about two hours of work remaining.

 

 

 

 

Mayan Jaguar Priest I am  now to the cutting and assembly of the parts of this work. It is like doing a puzzle- but backward as I have put fusible on the back of the fabric so I cut them correctly  before I iron them down. .

 

 

 

Australian Reef After looking at my pictures of the Birthday trip with Wendy last year I decided I wanted to do a reef picture. The top is painted fusible and the bottom is felted. I will start the hand embroidery next.

 

 

 

9 Square – Textile Artist Stitching Challenge This challenge is from Christine Chester. I will finish it this week I am sure.

 

100 Day Challenge The SAQA group started a challenge to make a block every day for 100 days. It began a long time ago but I am just getting on board. I started Tuesday. Two done and a third on its way.

 

Black and White plus Green This work came from a dream I had about black and white. I am going to add lots of layers of greens and metallics on the surface.

 

 

 

 

Drawing I only did a little drawing this week. One is a seed pod the other is from the oak tree over our driveway.

 

 

 

 

I love the delicate leaves and small flowers or spring oaks.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Camp Life
We quickly adjusted to life in the park provided army surplus tent behind the camp ground office at Colter Bay Camp Ground. Our tent faced west.      A second tent for a second ranger faced south. That tent housed Pete Nickels, a ranger from Texas who had quite a lidrawl. We called him our Texas Ranger in honor of a TV show that was popular at that time. There was a third ranger and his wife who lived in a one room cabin along the highway. They had two Siamese cats- the first special breed I had come across.
One day early after our arrival,  we walked along the side of Jackson Lake to their home. Gene threw rocks into the lake the whole distance. I got to see my first sight of a kayak. I was really taken by it. But I was far too young to do anything more then look. We walked back along the highway  after a pleasant afternoon. We came across a young buck that had been hit and killed by a car. Mom persuaded Dad to remove the antlers- only four points and they were still furry. Then Mom spent a long time rubbing them again trees before they became clean and shinny. They went home with us at the end of the season and later got sawed into buttons with holes drilled into them. She put them on her leather jacket. I still have a few. Gene used his little ax a lot, and the day that the reporter from our home town showed up he took a photo that appeared in the local news paper of the family with Gene chopping in the foreground.
The campground had about 150 sites that were on six loops of about 25 sites each. Every day the rangers had to drive the loops and check the sites in the camp truck. They stopped and talked with campers as  needed and checked to see what lots were indeed empty.  I remember playing Jacks on the wooden floor of the station on rainy days below a big map of the campground.
We did not have running water in the tent and we used the camp ground facilities.   I recall carrying water many afternoons.   The bathrooms- one for each loop- consisted of men’s and women’s sides with four sinks and four stools in each half. One of the toilets was a new ceramic stand up design. One backed over a trough and one did not sit to do business. I got real comfortable with that system as that stall was usually empty at the morning rush because folks were not aware of how to use it.
We went to the campfire talk every week. It was at the top of a little hill and had benches made from sliced longs laying flat side up. The sight  faced the mountains. One of the Naturalists usually talked about some aspect of the park. I loved to watch the sky darken and see the light creep up the mountains until only the tops were lit by the setting sun. Then the stars came out before we started our walk home.   Mom sometimes gave us little astronomy lessons while we were there.      On Wednesday nights we went to Jackson Lake Lodge. We had gone to the grand opening of the lodge two years before when we were in Yellowstone and I still was impressed with the big two story windows facing the Tetons in the lobby. There were also wonderful huge western paintings in the lobby. I remember one of an old miner that was made up of lots of little horses that one only saw up close. It was my first encounter with optical illusion. We went to the lodge to participate in the Square Dancing. Both Gene and I got real good at following the directions given by the caller and were very comfortable with “ al-la-mand left” and “ dosie doe”. It was fun for us and it sure made square dancing at school an easy A for me later.

Keep Crating and stay safe

Carol

Big Pop, Blue Corn, Childhood Memories, Curvie Cuts, Drawing, Experiments, Queen Ann's Lace, Re Work, SAQA Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Thread Painting

Working Away

Hello
I hope all are doing well. I see more and more evidence of spring every day with daily changes in my garden as well as the trees see blooming on my walks.   It is wonderful to see the world filling in with green.

 

 

 

I spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon assembling stuff in the yard. My grandson gave me this windmill for Christmas. It moves beautifully in the light breezes now.

 

 

 

 

Then I moved on to this swing. That took three hours and really was a two man job. Eric came and helped at the end.   I need to seal it now.

 

 

 

There was one last challenge do for  the Textile Artists Stitching group this week. I will move on to it when I finish the folk art challenge from the week before. I have used this project as a chance to do some exploring with stitches and techniques I have not tried in along time. I am making progress even though it is slow.   Sense there is no dead line for this , I am enjoying the exploration.

I did finish my SAQA entry for the auction this week too. It is 12″ X 12″ and called Spring is Coming. I enjoy doing works for this great group and have done so for many years.
I will ship the last of my masks to the Navajo Nation this week too. They put out a call and I am glad to do this.

 

 

Progress Report: Big Pop This piece is 30″ w X 41″ t . We have been eating a lot of popcorn and I have always loved it so it seemed appropriate to make a bit of a tribute. The corns are appliqued on top of the curie cut  base unit.

 

I added paint to the kernels to add interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Corn- Rework This piece is 40 “ X 32″ and is a rework of a older piece. I changed the orientation to horizontal and appliqued the corns on top. It was an okay piece before but this helps I think.

This is a shot of it before additions were made.

 

 

 

Ethel always said I made beautiful backgrounds. So when I was painting kernels for the first piece I just did additional ones in a smaller fashion for this piece. It was enjoyable and now the piece is out of the dark and will go somewhere I hope.

Queen Anne’s Lace Tiles This work is my attempt to try a project from a Quilting Arts Magazine article by Julie Hirota in the Oct/ Nov 2007 issue. I have only really applied the tiling and the attachment technique she suggested. The grommets attachments  are  a slow and some what frustrating process. It takes me about 15 min. to do each tile. I will finish it but doubt I will use this technique again. As my Dad always said” It is just as valuable to know what you don’t want to do as to know what you do want.” It’s part of learning.

 

Mayan Project I did do my first drawing for this project and then I enlarged it. It is early in the process. But I am looking forward to moving on it.   I hope there will be six panels when it is complete.

 

 

 

 

Thread Painting I decided to do some more birds for my next project  thread project. The Red-winged Black Birds will be a warm up  of sorts. The true challenge will be the Heroin as it is so large  with very little color change.   They are drawn on wash-away  and ready to go into the hoop now.

 

 

 

Drawing I did a lot of sketching this week but not a lot of the drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

Scarp Happy I am done assembling the top and I am working on the boarders now. I have two  borders on all four sides.    I plan to add  one more before I add  the binding.   The work also needs some additional quilting.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Grandfather Howard stories

Not only did Grandfather Howard collect coins and rocks he had lots of other interests. He sold Hudson’s and ran a SUPER 8 S station, The cars were mostly used ones. He was always quick to laugh and play jokes. He told this  story about how he fooled one of his dealership friends.   It seemed he took the engine out of one of his cars, then hauled it to Muskatine.    At the top of the hill they disconnected the tow rope and giving the car a starting push rolled down the hill where Grandfather skillfully “drove “ into the dealership. He got out and his friend came out and walked around the car looking in the windows and such. They went in to the office and completed the deal. When they came out the car was still setting out front even thought the dealer had told his mechanic to pull it into the bay.    Only when the mechanic laughing said he couldn’t did the joke get revealed.
Grandfather ran a Essix Super 6 gas station in town during the depression. He discovered that someone was stealing gas at night as he noticed unexplained shortages. So one night at closing time he put some rice in the nozzle of the pump. A few days later a man came to him with an ailing car.    Knowing what to look for, Grandfather quickly had his thief.     He took many things in trade for gas at that time. One of the best things he said was family photo albums as folks usually came back when they had the money to retrieve them. Years later when I helped Grandmother Ruth clean out the flour house one summer, we still found lots of those albums and I still have one of the more interesting ones full of strange faces and tintypes.   In the basement was a little green safe on wheels that we often played with as kids. We would wheel it about and try for hours to “crack” it. We were sure it was full of valuable stuff. The year I was a senior, at Christmas time,   when the family was gathered in the basement and enjoying the fire place – Someone asked Grandfather to open that safe. He did and I wish he had not. It was full of IOU’s mostly of folks who were long dead he said as he tossed then into the burring fire. Grand father closed the station in town as the new highway passed west of the main street. He built a new station, a Phillips 66 and diner there. Mom told stories about making pies at night to sell the following day at the diner. She was also a waitress  there and said she hated that job. Twice a year the a gypsy family would migrate through. The dilapidated vehicle would pull into the station, then folks would pour out, scattering in all directions. The leader would stand respectfully next to the pump and talk with Grandfather as he put in the gas. When the car was serviced the leader would shrilly whistle and all folks who had not returned before pilled into the car and off they went. Then Mom, Grandmother Ruth and Grandpa would see if they could discover what was missing- be it a wrench or a bottle or two of soda pop. Grandfather would laugh and say” Well they must need it more then we do.”
Eventually Grandfather sold that station and built a new one diagonally across the intersection. It was a DX station. He also built some tourist cabins there and did quilt well with that venture. The cabins were simple- a bed, a sink , a stool , and on the out side a car port of sorts.     He was successful at that venture.

Childhood Memories – More Grandfather Howard

My grandfather Howard was fascinated by electricity and gadgets. He wired all three of the houses that he helped build for my family and built one for himself and Uncle Dale and his family too. He even set up a wireless for Grandmother Ruth’s students so they could hear a broad cast by the president in her classroom. Grandfather purchased the first television I ever saw. It had a round screen that was about 6 inches across. It only got one channel- out of Chicago and was very snowy! He purchased a record recording machine when I was about 7. I recall cutting a record about the wonders of the park in Columbus Junction and I still have it somewhere. He did taxidermy for a while and I recall a owl that hung in the basement for years. The glass eyes fascinated me. He also stuff a three and half foot alligator from his Pecan Farm in Georgia. We played with it for a while then it disappeared when he discovered how dangerous the arsenic it was stuffed with was.  There was also a tanned fur rug of a badger that he as credited with creating.
He was a skilled wood worker. He built a little cabinet for me with doors and drawers. He then a few years later built a much more elaborate one for my cousin Tracy. I also was the recipient of a wonderful doll house that was a copy of the floor plan for the house in Carroll. It even had the stairs to the attic. It was to scale for my Betsy Mc Call. I had fun with mom collecting furniture and  doing curtains and rugs for it. I still have the dolls and the furniture, but the house went back to the Grandparent house when we moved to Muncie. It was in the basement for years turned on its side so one could use the walls as shelves to store other stuff on.       Grandfather  was in World War II in the Navy. When I was a teenager he gave me one of his old blue wool uniform shirts. I wore it with pride until I wore holes in the elbows. He had a great Macrame Belt that was made of small nylon cord done in square knots. The letters U S NAVY were part of the design. It was amazing to me.
He taught me to eat a baked potato when I was 6, with lots of butter, pepper and salt. He introduced me to lots of exotic cheeses. That became a game of sorts    and he would often pick up something especially strange just to test with me. I remember Coon Cheese- it was awful. One year at Christmas, I was dressed in my new white lace blouse and black and white plaid wrap around skirt and he gave me my first Pomegranate. It was love at first bite. It was also quite messy and I ruined my new blouse with the red juices, but it was worth it. I still look forward to my first Pomegranate of the winter and think of him when I eat it. He was always experimenting with food. The first year Eric came to Christmas with the family, Grandfather made turkey ( from his farm) with pink rice dressing. He had soaked the rice in Hawaiian Punch.
Grandfather was a justice of the Peace . I remember when I was in third grade he let me number the pages in his court book. I was so very proud. We had to play quietly out doors when he was holding court. In is capacity as Justice he married my cousin Russell to Donna in Whisky Holler on the Bell Farm. My cousin Danny, the oldest grandchild, could drive. He was bragging that now he could speed and get away with it as Grandfather was the judge. To that Grandfather said” You better not- I’ll throw the book at you!”   I had a wonderful grandfather and I remember him with great fondness.

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol

Agitated Aggie, Childhood Memories, Curvie Cuts, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Granite, Hand work, NEW, Pomegranate, Re Work, SAQA Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Snow Dyeing

Getting Warmer

Hello,
Spring is winning the battle for the weather. I see more and more evidence of new growth every day. My Blood root for example is doing beautifully and Betty’s flowers are also blooming.

 

 

 

 

 

I continue to work away on the Textile Artist stitching challenges. This is my applique piece. It is not at all the assignment – I could not get logged on until Friday so I will do it later.

 

This weeks is folk art and I am started as this shot shows. Again I am stretching the piece to fit what I wish to accomplish.    I will incorporate as much of the instruction as I can.
My Fad group meant on Zoom again this week and it was good to talk with them.

 

Progress Report: Agitated Aggie This work is 38″ w X 41″ l. It is my solution to the Sisterhood of the Scissors Canada challenge. Many of us purchased the print fabric and the challenge was to use it. I have only seen one other work doing the challenge.


 When I was in Florida I came across more material by the same artist so I added a second piece of material to my piece. It’s the same artist and meant to go with the first. It is the colored background piece here.

Granite I keep doing the hand work on this project during the news.   This is a close up.

 

 

 

 

 

Re Work Self Challenge I was cleaning and came across this piece in the process and although it is okay, I decided to use it as a base for a new work. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Popcorn I spent an afternoon this week playing and decided to paint giant kernels of Popcorn. They came out fine so I built a curvy cut base to applique them on. It is pin basted and ready for quilting now.

 

 

 

 


New Sea Floor A long time ago I painted some fusible inner facing. In my cleaning this week I uncovered it. I thought it looked like something I could use as a abase for a small underwater piece. Pulled some shells and found a bag of yarns and ribbons. More play in my future.

Queen Anne’s Lace When I was painting I also did this little piece. I had reread an article in Quilting Arts from Oct/Nov 2007 and it got me thinking about a tiling technique of quilting. This may or may not work. But Experimenting is always just taking a chance.

 

 

Mini’s    I cut up one of the quilts that I discovered in my cleaning and made these little starts for use on cards.   Only the one on the bottom right is done.

 

 

 

Scrap Happy   I finished the first of the pieces that I started at the beginning of the isolation.   It is a queen sized piece.

 

 

Drawing I was influenced by the Sketchbook Revival class and so I did some clean the brush painting on a few pages of the sketchbook. This is what the page suggested to me.

 

 

I went back to my herb book and while I was on the phone I drew this Dill. It may have influenced the Queen Anne’s Lace I did later too.

 

 

 

 

Popcorn- well we have eaten a lot of that of late and it too was on the desk when I was waiting on the phone.    It grew into the later work.

 

Then I just opened the sketchbook in the middle of eating my orange and did this drawing.   I see know that it needs strengthening  the green was too intense for this subject sense I did not draw with a strong enough pen.

 

 

 

Snow Dyeing  I actually did this last week but was in the process of washing it out last Friday.  The two dark pieces are from this summer and were in the bottom of the bucket.

 

Childhood Grandfather Howard

Grandfather Howard was a wonder filled inquisitive person. He often went to Auctions and other places and purchased boxes of books. Then he read most of them. One of the other things he collected was coins. He build a wonderful display that hung in the Den for many years. It held a pounded metal curved blade, brass collars, strings of shells and beads, strange little stamped metal pieces as well as many other odd items that were used as currency and trade goods in Africa.
I remember one summer asking Grandmother Ruth for some dress up clothes and she went to the attic to look. I was allowed to climb the stairs and wait near the top. I spent the time slipping my hands into the space between the flooring and the ceiling were lots of small stuff had be placed. I explored and I pulled out a heave cigar box. It was filled with three rows of silver dollars lain end to end. I called to grandmother “ Look what I found.” “Where did you find them she asked ?” I pointed as she took them form my hands. She carried them up into the attic and they were never seen again as far as I know.
Grandfather collected rocks all his life. He built shelves in the basement from floor to ceiling and displayed his collection there. He also fronted the fire place there and at the cabin with wonderful rocks and geodes. Uncle Paul even carved a pink sand stone dinosaur with a green stone eye, that was featured as part of that fireplace. There was also a part of the basement that was a workshop. There was a rock tumbler that was always running and as a result there were baskets full of Michigan Agates all over the place. The space had a lot of cutting and grinding tools as well as buffer and polishes. He kindly showed me how to use all of those tools and I spent many happy hours working away at carving and creating little works of my own. I still have a stone rabbit and tiger eye “arrow head “ I made.
There was lots of new highway construction in the 50’s and 60’s. We did lots of traveling by car as did lots of Americans. When Grandfather was along , one could count on many stops at the raw cuts along the road side for a bit of exploration. I recall one time when we stopped and collected about 100 petrified Hor Coral. They polished up beautifully and two of them ended up in that fireplace I mentioned.
Grandfather won ribbons for his rock creations . He designed and built three swag lamps that had shades made from sliced beautiful rocks that he suspended in fiber glass. When the light passed thou the stones it was beautiful. Of his two big hobbies, he said that Rock Hounds were much more fun. At Grandfather Howard’s death his collection was given to the University of Iowa and they were glad to have it. My cousin Tracy also took some of the stones to use in her classroom as she was a Science teacher.
Mom too became a Rock Hound and many was the time we carried rocks home in the car. When Mom retied to Tucson, I would visit every February break and we would go to the Gem and Mineral show. I purchased stone beads and she bought more rocks of course.

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol