Category Archives: Hand work

Bacteria Dreaming, Blue on Blue, Daily Practice, Total Loss

Home Again

Hello,

 I am  back from a great week of work with my friend Sharron.    She opened her home to me and we shared her studio space for the week and got a lot done.  She also has a wonderful garden and we did spend time among the flowers.

 

 

 

This is a shot of her studio from the turn in the stairs above the space.   There was also a second room , her storage space and were we could cut fabric on a huge table.

We both worked on two different pieces.   Her first one was a wall hanging and the second was a set of three Dr Seuss quilts.   This is one of four panels that make up the quilt.     They are so cheerful I think.

 

I had  a pleasant  Memorial Day week end and I hope all of you did as well.  Then this week there was a FAB meeting and we had a good time talking and sharing our work.  We will switch into summer mode now and only meet once a month.

Progress Report:   Lift Time Line

I think I am done with most of the drawing of this work.  I am sure I will think of more to add with time.     I will live with it a while and then decide if I want to add color. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Burring Loss  I worked away on this piece sense I came home as it was pinned to the wall and took up  most of the space.  It was mostly in the pin up stage and I really did not feel I could  move it much with out stitching things down.   I like how it is going.

 

 

Dancers   I stared this work at the retreat.   I may make a square or two more .  The units are done for the most part.  It is not as abstract as the first two and I am not sure I like it much.  It is not so dramatic I guess.  I will finish it and move on.

 

 

Up Against the Wind  This is the second project I worked on at the retreat.  It is what is called free piecing.   It requires lots of pressing and changes as one goes along.   I like it, but it is quiet slow and there are lots of redo’s and parts that just do not make the final .  I will keep at it however and see it as a great way to stretch.

 

Bacteria Dream   This work actually started as a dream, hence the title.   It has morphed a bit however.   I am enjoying the stitch work here.

 

 

 

 

Blue on Blue  This work is nearly done at this point.   I will do a few more days of study before I add  the binding and finish the work.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice  This is the last square that I built for this project.  I will put it together with all the others and make a quilt from it now.    I need to develop a new  project to work on every day.

 

 

 

 

There is no College Memories section this week due to a technique  problem.   I am sure there will be one next time.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

College Life, Creative Strength Training, Daily Practice, Hand work, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Spring is Here

Hello,

We are finally enjoying true spring here in central New York.   I love how the leaves are so thin and translucent.   They are as delicate as the petals of blossoms this time of year.

I had a good week as Wendy and I went for a late Mother’s day walk on Tue.  I enjoy the woods at this time of year too.  We both took lots of photos and enjoyed the time together.

 The second event of this week was the Creative Strength Training Meeting.   I am working on my Life Line for that group and enjoying it.  I  Sort of jump around as I think of details I want to add, but my first 20 years are almost done. 

I did the lesson for Textile Artists Stitch club with Salky  eccced and I am happy with the start of my response to her technique of twisting  thin strips of fabric and free form stitching.

 

 

 

 Progress Report: New Fire  New fires in the west inspire me to do new work.   This is early but you can see were the main trees will go and the house aflame.     So sad.

 

 

 

 

Bacteria    It seems to be a week of new starts for me.  It the moon headed toward fullness?     I had a dream about a new work based on bacteria so I built a base to do the stitch work on.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice   I finished one more of my bases as apart of my daily practice.   There are only two more awaiting my stiches and then I can begin to assemble the project.

 

Slow Stitch  

 

 

 

 

 

 

College Life – Camp II

After week one there was a two week session. This alternating pattern was the story for the rest of the summer. The beauty of the two week sessions was that the councilors could and did take the kids to out of camp excursions. On my first one I took my ten year olds to a sight that was on the edge of the camp property where we set up our own tents and learned a little more wood craft. We got the fire going and the girls wrapped the potatoes in foil and we added them. At this point I discovered we had a bit of a problem. I had asked for chicken for our dinner and when I unwrapped them, I discovered that Jay had just pulled the first thing he saw from the freezer in our pack. So we had chicken necks for our meat. We just re-wrapped them and ate the potatoes, carrots and S’mores for dinner. Needless to say, I gave Jay a piece of my mind when we got home and checked the meat myself for all my other camping trips. Week three the Camper population was down and I did not have a cabin. I worked as Ellie’s assistant instead. I learned a lot about the administration of the camp that week and had a new respect for her. She told me it was easier than organizing her sixth grade classroom. The second two-week session I got moved to cabin 16 with Jo Ann, my Jr. Councilor, and a bunch of 12 year olds. We went for a float trip like the one all the councilors took earlier. The big event for that trip was the second morning when we woke up to find we were sharing our meadow with a group of hogs. I had one camper who would not come out of her tent. So I ended up carrying her to the boats while the rest of us dismantled the camp sight. We did stop on an island on the second afternoon and had fun swimming and swinging out over the river on a big rope.

I continued in cabin 16 the rest of the summer, and for my second float trip we had a different experience. The first day was fine, but during the night it started to rain. We got up in the light rain and packed the boats and headed down river. The girls did sing a lot in the morning–songs like “Michael Row your Boat to Shore” and “My Favorite Things.” But as it rained and drizzled on us all that day, spirits fell. Everyone was soaked and miserable. We were portaging over a dam at about 5:30 and not looking forward to the setting up our tents in the rain, when the camp truck pulled into the parking lot. The girls broke into the “Hallelujah Chorus” at full throat. Jay had redeemed himself. When we got back to camp hot showers and dry clothing were our first priority. It was a subdued dinner in the dining hall for us, especially as the dinner hour was over, and then back to the dry cabin and straight to the bunks and sleep. My only other camper adventure happened when one of my campers fell out of the lower bunk in the middle of the night and broke her arm. It just so happened the nurse was not in camp that night, so I ended up riding in the ambulance with her all the way to Lafayette. Between her sobbing and the siren, my ears were a bit taxed when we got to the hospital. Her parents met us there. I do not recall what time or how I got back to camp, but I did.

Now I wrote faithfully to Eric every week. But when he sent my first letter back with all the spelling corrected I was a bit angry. I wrote to him that if he wanted any more mail that would have to stop. He kindly stopped correcting–or at least I didn’t know about it.

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

Every Day Longer and Brighter

Hello,

The days grow and grow like all the plants that are opening and extending their limbs.   The tilt of the earth and the warmth of the sun really makes our lives worth while!     Every day I see changes in the landscape and I enjoy every walk in the world.

I drove off to Bever Lake on Sat and went to the Fibers Festival with Sharon.      We both had a good time and purchased roving.     I am now jazzed to begin a new work on the piece I want to do about the fires in New Mexico and Arizona.    We took the Swamp path after the show and saw lots of turtles sunning as well as lots of new buds.

It is the start of a new month so I had lots of meetings.    The QuEGs had a zoom meeting on Tue morning with only three of us.  I did enjoy it none the less.

Then I joined Noel and we went off to Ithaca with Terri and Cheri to the DIVA meeting.    Terri and I got a little silly before things started.   Our show was a big success and now we are planning for the fall show in Trumansburg.

Barb is trying a new approach were she is building a quilt based on one of her paintings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noel did another of her roving stitching projects that she dased on one of  her drawings

 

 

 

 

 

I did work on my Creative Strength Training stuff and also did the Textile  Artist Stitch Club work for this week.  It was stitching on paper with geometric shapes.   I used some of my Gelli plate print papers form the week before for a base for that project.

 

 

The FAD group meant Wed.  Sharon showed off her son’s   illustrations in a new book that just got published.

 

 

 

 

Thursday I spent the morning doing Gelli  plate work with Barbara again.    I was working to create stormy sky fabric for a new piece.

Progress Report: Lap # 11 I am half way through machine quilting this project now.   I am sure it will be finished by next week.

 

 

 

 

Athletes  This work is  75″ w X 31″ t.   I am happy with it, but as you can see my space is not big enough for me to hang it flat.    It has quite a different feel from Action, its partner piece.  The close up work allow you to see the blue figures I outlined from the back .


 

 

 

 

This shot of Action was done at the Schweinfurth were I could pin it out flat.

Blue on Blue    This is my handwork project that I am doing as a part of my Creative Strength Training  program .  It is what I work on during the mini Slow Stitch meetings.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice  I work on these pieces of wipe up fabric that I have added  fused cut away fabrics to.   I have only three more pieces of fabric that I want to treat in this fashion before I start to assemble them into a quilt.

 

 

 

Sea Floor     This is a stitchery that began on a felted base.  I have been working off and on with this piece for a while.  It only came to completion with the fish that are cut from leather that Noel gave to me.

College Life- Camp week one

Reveille got us up at 6:30 and the next day began. At breakfast on Monday we passed out the campers’ class assignments. And we got ours, too. I had two sessions of Nature Crafts and then I helped with Archery for the third session in the morning. In Nature Crafts we printed leaves, painted and collected spider webs, wove cattail matts, painted rocks, along with other activities. It was fun and I think the kids enjoyed it, too. Throughout summer, I had two sessions where I taught three classes of Nature Crafts. And over the course of the summer I got to fill in with swimming, boating on the water front, and horsemanship.

At lunch, there were always announcements and singing. We sang to any child or adult who had a birthday and they had to walk around the table while we sang. Larry taught lots of fun songs like “The Grand Old Duke of York,” and “Little Rabbit Foo Foo.” It was always a good ruckus time. The afternoons the were less structured. The pool was open and a favorite of many kids. I often had that duty and for the first and only time in my life I was tan by the end of the summer. I also attribute the high number of times I was in the chorine for keeping me from getting any poison ivy that summer. Campers could also check out equipment from the sports center. When Inis had Play Ground Duty, as we called, it she always organized a volleyball game. The water front was open and kids could check out canoes and row boats to go up river for the afternoon. The trail ride was also very popular event–but hot!.

After dinner there was an event every evening. Mondays we had a movie in the big room in the main lounge. Tuesday was Olympics Night and all the campers participated events like relay races, potato sack races, three-legged races, tugs of war, and jump rope contest. Wednesday was dance night. There was a special event every Thursday. And, at the end of each day, Taps was played over the loudspeaker.

The first special event was a carnival with lots of games. Gene and Larry organized a wild game with the three ping pong tables where each player hit the ball, put the paddle down, and moved out of the way so the next person in line could pick it up and hit the ball when it came over the net. Then the players shifted to the other end of the table to wait their turn to do it again. If you missed the ball, you were out. It was wild with lots of action and laughter. It was a game that we counselors even played off and on for the rest of the summer. For the Carnival I recall a “candle bowling” game were one had to blow out ten candles from a distance. Chrissy and I ran a game with bean bags and a wooden bucket. Bubble gum was the prize.

Friday after dinner we returned to the open air chapel for closing ceremonies. Saturday morning after breakfast the campers packed up to board the busses that arrived around 10:00. The rest of the summer was alternating camp for one or two weeks each. I will talk of the special events in the next entry.

Keep Creating

Carol

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

March

Hello,

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

College Life:  Summer School 1967

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

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

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

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

I hope spring is on your door step,

Keep Creating

Carol

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

Winter Continues

Hello,

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

College Life- The Indianapolis 500

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

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

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

I am looking forward to spring and some warmer weather.

Stay safe and Create with joy!

Carol

 

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

February Fun

Hello,

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 Memories: College Life-Ending of Spring Quarter 1967

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

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

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

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

Stay Safe and Keep Creating

Carol

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

Winter work

1 Comment

Hello,

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

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

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

This in my stitchery with one new sequin pinned on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

College Life- Start of Spring Quarter 1967

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

College Life- Spring Break Plus

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

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

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

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

Stay safe and enjoy Valentines Day

Carol

Childhood Memories, Diva Meetings, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group

Bright Ideas

Hello,
The trees are really showing off now that we have experienced a few cold nights.   I love the way the leaves are drifting off  the trees now too.

A little challenge from the Pixies this week was to think about “Bright Ideas”. Many of us have challenges from the outside world or self imposed. Just where do the bright ideas come from? I find them to be very elusive. At times I as stumped by quilt challenges and feel they just do not apply to my process. I do draw and doodle and some times that process produces an idea for the project. At other times when I want to start a new project I have a firm direction because of a logical leap. But for the tough ones my experience most successful solution is just letting a goal go to the side. Often times, when the problem as been sidelined for a while, the solution with suddenly appear – the bright idea comes into my mind a bit like magic and I am off and running again with a celare direction to solve a problem.

I dyed for what I think will be the last time this season. We had to run the heater to be able to work this week. I did have fun and look forward to using these along with the others this winter.

The Quilt Diva’s also meant this week. Donna is working away on a new set of sculptures. Her work with fimo and found objects is amazing I think.

 

 

 

 

Bev did a few more of her little square pieces. The colors are so ver bright.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Day Dreaming This work is 29″w X 31″l. The dress is one of my Mothers and so I added a Felix the Cat doll to the person as that was one of her childhood favorites. The flowers are made from wool with free motion drawing on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elements- Line     I have stared adding sew in lines on this project.

 

 

 

Handwork  I just keep stitching away on this project.  I’d say the end is in sight.

 

 

 


Grandmother’s wedding dress      My cousin Casey gave me Grandmother Ruth’s wedding dress when we visited.   I am going to stitch it down to the blue and embroider the  information about her  and Grandfather Howard on the quilt.

 

 Lap # 22     I just have fun making these quilts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Beginning College

Summer ended and September began as did my freshman year at Ball State. I carried the usual load of six classes and filled my time with lots of extra events too. Dad took me to school every morning and we headed for home every evening after 5. My first class, World History was four days a week at 7:00 a.m. in the theater with 350 other freshmen. I sat in the front row with an old high school friend who was also a commuter, Marila Miller. We agreed that being that close to the teacher, we certainly could not fall asleep. Neither of us had a place to hang out until our next class. Mine was not until 11. We tried the lobby in the music building, next door to the theater. It was cold, uncomfortable and full of traffic.

We quickly discovered the Music Listening Library. Another of my classes was Music Appreciation, so I could do my listening assignments there as well. The space was much quieter and more comfortable with couches and personal listening cubicles. A vocal music student opened the space at 8:00 just as we got out of class. His name was Larry Tackett and we became friends, since it was just the three of us many mornings for several hours. Sometimes I used the head phones and did listen to required music, but just as often Larry would .pick out something for all of us to enjoy while we talked and worked. Larry became a life long friend who sang at my wedding. Later, after we moved to Syracuse, he even lived with us while he taught middle school for the city and worked on a Masters Degree.

The first week end at Ball State the big event was the Watermelon Feed, which I attended with Margaret. It was held in a big field at the west end of campus.We had fun, ate watermelon, of course, and talked to lots of folks, but did not make any solid connections. The Freshman Convocation was the next event. I had been to Emens Auditorium many times with my folks to see plays and musicals, but it felt very different to sit in the middle of a crowd of nosey freshmen. I sat between Susy and Margaret. The only thing I really remember was the president telling us to look to our right and then our left. “Of the three of you only one will be here at graduation.” We all swore to one another that would not be the case with us, but four years later I was the only one with a Ball State diploma.

The Theater became an active place and Drama Majors did performances. I remember going to see “ Half a Sixpence “ and “Mary, Mary”. Because I did most of my studying in the music library I meant and went out with lots of music majors. Recitals and small group assembles most of the time. But I also got to attend and hear Count Basie when he did a performance in Emens for Homecoming weekend. It was wonderful! I also went the “All School Convection” with Pearl Buck that took place that fall. I’d read The Good Earth in high school and I was excited. It was a good lecture, but I mostly recall how passionately she spook on the plight of the many mix blood children that the war had created. There was also a big band day in conjunction with one of the fall football games. I got to see some of my friends from Muncie Central at that even. It was a busy and fun fall.

I will be off at a small quilt retreat next week so there will not be a post.

Enjoy Halloween

Carol

Childhood Memories, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Moving Forward

Hello
We are enjoying the cooler weather that comes with fall. I delivered 19 lap quilt this morning to one of our local nursing homes for wheel chair folks. I did not get to see anyone except the receptionist, but I am sure they make it to great homes. I came home so inspired that I started another one.

On Sunday I went to the Associated Artist reception for  my friend Rosha.  She dose collage and drawing.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I went with some of the members of Sisterhood of the Scissors group to the Arnot Museum in Elmira, New York.    We went to see the Excellence in Fibers show, and it did not disappoint.  The works were in deed excellent.

 

This work is From the Golden Earth by Race Brumer.   I found it to be fascinating.

 

This is Terry Mangots’s comentary on global warming.

There was also a pixie meeting this week. Pixie meeting.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Day Dreaming I am enjoying do the work on this project as I move forward. I am ready to add centers to the poppies and stitch down the petals now.

 

 

 

Line- Basic Elements Series This is the base unit the first pieces in this four piece series. I will try to make the quilt work by using only lines on the surface.

 

 

 

Journal Jacket As I come the end of yet one of my daily journals I found this old project in the stack for the next journals. I use to teach this as a day class in guilds.

Drifting This is the project that I took with me on our trip west. I am filling in the back ground now.

 

 

 

Lap # 20 I am ready to do stitch in the ditch quilting on this project now.

 

 

 

 

Lap # 21 This one is the newly inspired lap quilt. It is always good to have a project in the works.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Family Trip

In August the family drove to Iowa again. We spent a couple of days in Morning Sun, where we went to a family birthday party for Sharon Bright. I really enjoyed the home made ice cream. We did not have that at home in Muncie at all. Then we spent a day in Grandview. That day was really silly as somehow we got to fooling around with instruments. Gene played the trumpet and then Doug tried to out do him by playing two at once. Grandpa Howard even got into the spirit and played. I remember Grandmother Ruth just shaking her head and laughing. The next day the Bells, along with Grandmother and Grandfather, and our family drove went west with us to the Black Hills and Badlands South Dakota. It took two long days of driving to get to get there. One day we stopped and visited a mine. Then we panned for gold another time. We took another afternoon and just explored the Badlands. I remember the kids all stayed together and someone found a petrified saber tooth tiger scull. The teeth on the sides of the skull were about six inches long and curving up from the jaw line. It was bigger than a football and quite heavy. We all took turns carrying it before we decided to put down in a spot that we couldn’t miss and get it on the way back. That plan did not work and it was lost to the next explorers. We then went on another two day long drive to Mesa Verdi. I remember Kelly had a little paper bag tiger puppet that she put on her hand and told us stories from the front seat. Mesa Verdi was amazing. I loved the underground shelters that the men had built for special ceremonies. We could not go back among the buildings and I wondered how dark it was and if the passages between homes like we would have in a cowered town. The ranger told us lots of interesting stuff and I marveled at the poll ladders. The ladders were made with a single tree/ poll center with limbs and short polls added slicking out the sides to climb up to the cliff top. One had to be agile to do that I thought. We then drove farther south to Brice. The colors of the layers of rock sediments were wonderful. We all marveled at the Hoodoos. They are the many stone pillar like formations in the park. Grandfather was very happy to see them. I remember Gene, Russell, and Doug running down the trail, whooping with the Hoodoos Kudos rising up on both sides. It sure made for wild echos. The other thing I recall from Brice was feeding the chipmunks potato chips at the Natural Bridge on Rim Road. It was then time to turn for home. All I recall was 3 long days of driving get home. It still was a great trip [and I enjoyed it thoroughly].

Stay safe and Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts

Starting Fall Color

Hello,
We are starting to see fall color here in central New York. I sure enjoy walking through fallen leaves. The sound of  the   shifting  and crushing of  leaves as one passes through them is one of my favorite sounds of fall.

 

 

 

 

It has been a busy week for me with two days spent dying with Liz. I have lots of fabric to was out today.

 

 

 

 

Liz is doing clean up  in this shot.

 

 

 

I had a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting this week.   It is always so good to talk and share with my fellow artists.     Noel had a great piece to share with us.   There is lots of movement here.

 

 

 

 

 

Joan shared too.   She hand dyed all the fabrics in this piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev also shared her work with us.

There was also a Pixies zoom meeting that I enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Tattered This work is 26″ X 40″. It is made up of cut aways from Granite and Silver with lots of hand beading added for interest.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap # 19 This work was formerly know as Circling Thoughts, but I do not think it is strong enough to be and art quilt. It was a good exercise none the less.

 

 

 

 

Lap # 20 I just had fun putting this piece together. I really like using   my alerted fabrics together.

 

 

 

Day Dreaming I am in the process of building up the face and arm for this project. I will start the assembly this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap work I am putting in about an hour a day assembling scraps together so I can make 2.5″ strips to add to the centers for my Roman Strip squares.   they will be used in my next  bed quilt. This step always takes a long time, but I sure like the review of fabric projects that it offers me. Sue Ellen also gave me a box full of strips and unused blocks.    I am mixing  then  into this project so there is lots of variety here.

Handwork I started this project on our trip to visit family. I am building in  more color now.

 

 

Daily Process This project sort of got pushed to the side so I could finish up bindings and such this week. It is good to get back into the habit.

 

Childhood Memories- Summer 1966

Summer after graduation was a busy one. There were lots of water related activities, including scuba diving, canoeing, and swimming. Dad teased me by saying I needed gills to assure my safety. The gang did lots of things together, but like everything else this too was changing. Cecile and Mike still did things with Margaret, Jim and me. But Susy spent most of her time with her family, and Bobby had flunked out of college so he went off to work. We played lots of Putt-Putt, with the winner seeming to change with every game. One day I went regular golfing with Jim Freshwater. That was one sport that did not work at all for me. My swing was way off and I kept sending divots into the air. My score was very high and by the end of the third hole Jim had become disgusted with me. He said I could walk the rest of the course with him if I promised to never golf again. And I never have.

In late July I went to orientation at Ball State. It was three days of tests and meetings with other freshmen and a councilors. The group I was in was full of folks who were all living off campus so there was lots of talk about parking and public transportation. There was a big jump in population on campus and I was glad I was not living in the dorms as there were three and four folks in rooms designed for two. The tour of the campus was not to new to me but that too turned out to be informative. We had our photos take for our student ID’s that we picked up in the fall when we returned to campus. The special mixers in the evenings were fun and I felt excited bout the new adventure a head. I did meet a lot of people but I did not make any connections with folks that I even remember seeing again on campus.

The next big summer event was the Band Trip to Detroit. We went to Greenfield Village, where Margaret and I had fun exploring together and got peppermint sticks at the general store.   There was also a cigar store Indian out front that we both liked. In the afternoon the band group went to the Ford museum. That turned out to be a bit of a rush as we had to hurry to get ready for the concert in the evening. We again went to a practice session with the Detroit Orchestia on Sat morning. In the afternoon the band went to see “Dr Zhivago” in a special movie theater with a big curved movie screen. The sound was great and I enjoyed the movie a lot. On the bus ride home I felt a little sad knowing this was my last adventure with a group that had given me friends and real identity throughout high school.

Be safe

Carol