Category Archives: Landscapes

Balance, Birds, Collage, Collections II Grandmother Mc, Drawing, Hand work, IV, Machine Drawing, Perception, Persuasion, Pixies Group, Ravens, Rocky Shore, Scrap Happy Quilts, Spring Spin, Summer Family - Cardinals

Calm Winter Time

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Hello,

For me this week has been very calm.   I did do the Textile Talk on Wed and  zoomed with the Pixies, but beyond that I mostly caught up with myself.      A bit of a fallow time and one can always use that.

Progress Report: Scrap Happy   I did the quilting on this project this week and now it is complete.   This one had lots of leftover blocks  in it.

 

 

 

Valentines      I finished up all of these on Tue.  Now I am ready to add the address  and mail them.

 

 

 

 

 

Purple Jacket II    I am making slow progress on this piece.  the back of both sleeves as well as the jacket back need to be completed now.

 

 

 

California Burning: the Victorian    I finally got to the free motion stitching on this project this week.      I need to build the hedge and the background and it will be able to complete it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tide’s Out      The progress on this one is slow.  I feel good that I am now working  from the center towards the top edge  at this point.  So one is looking at it up side down at the moment.      I try to do a little on this every day.

Cut & Print  I was unhappy with the “film” on this project so I took it off.  Now I am ready to rebuild that so  I can connect the parts.

 

 

 

 

Collage/ Drawing   This first collage with a drawing on top is called  Teton’s Slopes.    I am learning a lot about how the types of papers I use effect the markers and colored pencils.    I also think I will take a photo of the collage before I start to draw on top  next week.

This second collage drawing is called Snake  River.   I am using a book of images from the Tetons as my starting place for the works.

 

 

 

 

Handwork   I did not spend as much time as usual watching TV this week, so not a lot of progress was made on this piece.  I am always glad to pick it up and stitch when the news is on.

 

I hope you are enjoying the joys of winter and staying warm when you are at ease.

Keep Creating

Carol

Applique, Balance, Birds, Collage, Collections II Grandmother Mc, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), IV, Lap Quilts, Perception, Persuasion, Pixies Group, Ravens, Rocky Shore, Scrap Happy Quilts, Spring Spin, Summer Family - Cardinals

Moving Forward

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Hello,

This is the time of year when it seems like I am just inching forward.  I keep being pulled in so many directions,    I’ll just load the dishwasher, and then go to the studio.  Or I open a drawer and decide it needs to be cleaned out, and then I’ll go to the studio.   So when I get to the studio I see  I need to put away the remainders from the last project and I need to write that Thank you note…   on and on it goes and the day it done and I have not done any real studio work.  I will admit that I did a trunk show for The Thumbstall Quilt Guild on Tuesday night and that did take a lot of prep time.   I related quilting like learning how to read.  You learn the letters( how to cut the shapes) then how to make words( making blocks).   The next step is reading books( like putting the quilt together).   Hopefully the Librarian shows one that there are   many different categories of books:  Like mysteries, romances, plays,  comedies,  poetry and nature text to mention a few.  I related the different types of books to  the many different techniques one can use to create  quilts.      I think they enjoyed the narrative as well as the work.     I still need to put the quilts away in there proper groupings so I can find them the next time I am called upon to do a quilt talk.    I also went to the Associated  Artists Group this week and made it to both FAD and Pixies.   In between that the battery in my car died so when I feel like I have done little or nothing this week, I need to remind myself that there were lots of distortions along with the laundry, shoveling  and …

One other little note, the purple  sweatshirt jacket that was too small for me fit Judy perfectly, so I set it home with her.

 

Progress Report: Scarp Happy I got this piece all put together this week.      The machine step of the binding is in process now too.   I’m working on the hand step of that process. Then  I will need to do additional quilting to complete the job.

Tide Pool   I attached the punch needle work and I am in the middle of adding the yarn  puffs now.   Still lots to do here, but I am enjoying the process.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt  I started this new lap quilt this week.   When I look at this  I realized  the California fires are effecting me  subconsciously

 

 

 

 

   

New fire   I did indeed start a new fire piece  with one of my last pieces of Judy Roberts fabrics for my base.     It is basted now and I will start the fabric collage work on top this week.

 

Collage/Drawing        In my on line class, Cass challenged us to mix drawing with our collage work.   I can see it is a lot more challenging than I expected .  In my own analogous, I think I need to keep the collage a bit simpler.   But making mistakes is a part of the learning process.

Keep Moving

Carol

Balance, Birds, Collage, Collections II Grandmother Mc, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), IV, Perception, Persuasion, Ravens, Rocky Shore, Scrap Happy Quilts, Spring Spin, Summer Family - Cardinals

New Year 2025

  Hello and Happy New year- 2025

I can’t believe we are starting the  second quarter of the 21 century. Time has a powerful way of constantly moving forward even if we are not paying attention.    Our worry about all the computers crashing  when Y2K hit seems so silly now.  I’m showing my age.  So many demands on all of us I guess.    I spent my morning closing my books on 2024 and setting up the book keeping for this year.  Doing that always make me take stock.

It has been a somewhat quiet week for me with  FAB  the Pixie meeting  and me stating a new class.    Making Connections with Cas Holms  is my new challenge for  this year.    I am looking forward to her approach to exploring what is close at hand.

 Progress Report:    My Year   I did finish   the quilting and stitching down the binding this week.  Now to get the sleeve added and labeled.

Collage     I did my usual two works this week.

I am trying to do more drawing a a part of the process .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy    I am doing the binding on this queen sized quilt now.  Each side takes more than an hour so the process is slow.

 

 

 

 

 

Purple Jacket     In the  newest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine, there was a article about a using a sweatshirt for the base of a jacket.   So I thought I would try it.       This is my back.

Autumn Tide Pool       I am making progress on this project.   I sure seem to enjoy adding all the little buttons and beads to the surface.

Stay safe.

Carol

Curvie Cuts, Drawing, Ethel's Nine Patch, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts, Machine Drawing, Nine Play, Pixies Group, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Joyous Season

Hello,

It feels like I have not done this work in a long time.   Lots of things have gone on in that time too.     First I went off to the Schweinfurth  Open Studio Retreat.   Three days of doing my own thing along with  8 other artists.    Linda  delighted us all with special cookies that her daughter had made. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria   was  working  away  on  a fabric collage  where  she  was  using  a part  of  one  of  night gown that was one  of my grandmother’s.

 

 

 

 

Susan was finishing up her project from the workshop with Irene Rodrick that she had attended a  few weeks earlier.

She did finish making all the units by the end too.

 

 

 

Nancy did lots of things, but this landscape was my foavorite.

 

 

 

Linda’s project was coming along beautifully as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellen    was busy  finishing up a project she had started in a workshop at QBL

 

 

 

 

I also visited the Q=A=Q show while I was there .  Sharon’s work looked great!

 

 

 

She was busy on a new piece.   It too is based on her trip our west last summer.

 

 

 

 

Judy, Sharon and I went off to visit Marty  on Tue the next week.   She is doing some fun water colors now.

 

 

 

 

 

Then Nov 15, I went off to the Sisterhood Retreat at Kuaka Lake.   This was the third year we got together and it was a good experience too.   The whole event was a bit disjointed this time.  Ann did not stay on sigh and Deb went home ill on  Sat morning with a bad cold.   Lots of work did get done however.

We shared our solutions for the challenges.    Liz made all of us little wallets.

 

 

Joyce did a great three-D landscape.   I did too.    Marcia was still working on hers.  Next year.  We did go shopping but decided ageist another fabric challenge.

 

 

 

Jeanne was the queen of production.   She finished up  this flower top   and worked on this spider web project.

 

 

 

 

 

 She also had a great quilt for show and tell .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deb finished a baby quilt top and went on   to build this Halloween top. before she went away.

 

 

 

 

Marcia worked on putting together  two projects that were started by her good friend Perilla.

 

 

Next year the retreat will be in early October and hopefully  a little more focused.

I had  a FAD meeting yesterday and a Pixie Zoom meeting too.   Life just dose not slow down.

Project Report: Nine Play #2  This quilt is 40″ X 41″.   It is a partner with Nine play #1 as I cut the blocks for both at the same time and mixed them up in both quilts.

I was still doing lots of inserting of narrow strips in this work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applied Nine- # 3 in the series   This quilt is 41″ X 41″.   I started it at the Schweinfurth retreat and finished the quilting at the Sisterhood retreat.     I really deviated from the rule of inserting narrow strips on this one and applied perfused pre cut pieces from my box of fused fabrics.   I also split up the blocks before I assembled them  to add interest.

I still have lots of perfused pieces and the box is still overflowing so I think there will be several more  similar works in the furfure.

Twilight   This quilt is 18″X 28″ and my entry for the Sisterhood Challenge.  I only got the fabric from Liz( Her left overs as I had totally lost my fabric) on the Tue before the retreat,  so it was done with speed.    I did the tree on wash away with a wool center for the trunk and big branches.  The thin limbs are all thread draw.

I no longer own this quilt as it went home with Patti at the end of the FAD meeting on Wed.

 

 

Lap # 20   This is the last lap quilt I will complete before I make a run to the local nursing home.   I gave away 10 in the  early spring and I will pass the second group off next week.

 

 

 

 

Rocky Tide Pool   I continue to work away on this project from my Joyous Embroidery Class.     I try to put in an hour every day on it.   I am enjoying the textures.

Hands Off    I started assembling this at the Schweinfurth retreat.   I used all the remaining quilters hands from my work last year.   The black and white scraps came from my collection of pieces from Ethel’s box of un used  fabrics.   I finished layering and adding the binding this week.  Now I have started quilting by hand in the negative black sections .

Scrap Blocks   When I opened the Ethel  box earlier this fall I decided to finish up all the scraps  and cut blocks from them.  I finished that step and now  have all the pieced sections added to a solid square of the same size and they are all added to one another as of this morning.  I will begin adding the big 8.5″ blocks into rows for quilt tops this next week.

Spores  In my search for inspiration for work to do at the Scherinfurth Retreat, cam across a photo of spores that had fascinated me.  So I decided I would use it as a jumping off point.   I quickly realized I wanted to us pompoms at a part of the structures and they are a slow hand work  project.  So I set them aside and will now get back to that project.

New Work   I have not decided what to call this project so it is New Work.  I wanted to take a class at the Schweinfurth in Nov and had paid my money to do so only to discover I had two impotent events that wee.  So I gave my spot to Liz.  Susan was at the Schweinfurth Retreat and was settings next to me so I asked her how the class was designed and I thought I understood the process from her description.   So  I attempted to do it at the Sisterhood retreat.  While I was there Liz observed what I was doing and re educated me as to what I was suppose to be doing.  So I will finish this in my own way.

 Exploratory work    Now I think I know what the teacher was trying to teach and with Liz’s explanation, mixed with what I got form Susan I am starting again and this is my drawing to do that  idea.   Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 Food Story – Christmas Noodles

Christmas was always spent at Grandmother Ruth house when I was growing up. Seeing family and talking was the main point of the event. That was paired with the food of course and there were no gifts. Our family was coming from norther Iowa until 8th grade and then from Muncie Indiana after that time. We slept at Grandmother Ester’s in Morning Sun and then drove to Grandview, Iowa – about 25 miles on Christmas day. We were always the first family to arrive as all of Mom’s brother’s family and sisters families lived closer by and they had regular Santa morning get up. Mom would go directly into help cooking mode when we arrived. That usually meant she would start making egg noodles. After the ingredients were mixed she would begin rolling them out. The dough had to dry and set up so it was a task that needed to be done early. I recall trying to roll out the dough, but I lacked the strength to do much of it. The noodles had to rest on the top of the washer and dryer before they were cut into the noodle ribbons and cooked. The rest of the families trickled in as the morning went forwards and I along with the rest of the grand kids was shooed out of the cooking as the adult arrived. We eagerly went off to write our Christmas afternoon play that we preformed to entertain the adult s late int he day. The noodles were always a major part of the feast from my point of view and I really looked forward to eating them. They were popular with everyone too because there were very few left over for the late evening meal.

 

 

 

I hope everyone is now happily preparing for the joy of the season.   I have started my Christmas cards  and one had already come from my friend Sharron.

Keep Creating

Carol

Robert sent me a photo to go along with the noodle story-

FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts, Nine Play, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Sisterhood of the Scissors

November News

Hello,

Fall is started it close as the color is almost gone form most trees around here.     I am still enjoying the sounds of crunching leaves as I walk thought the piles on the walks.     It has been a busy week for me however.   Friday I helped my friend Sharon hag a solo show.  She had lots of great work and I liked this one this best.

I had a zoom QuEG’s meeting and a Pixie meeting as well.  The FAD group meant here yesterday and we had a good time talking and sharing.

 

 

I went off with another friend to the Syracuse University Gallery this  morning to see the Peter Jones , a member of the Onondaga Nation ( Bever Clan member) show.

 

 

 

 

   He is a wonderful ceramic artist and we happened on a tour of the exabit so we got an bit of extra info.

 

 

 

 

I am off to a weekend retreat at the Schweinfurth tomorrow.  I am  packed with lots of ideas of what I want to do.    The on Wed I go off to the Fall Retreat of the Sisterhood of the Scissors on Seneca Lake, so there will be no post  next week  and not one on Thanksgiving either as the family will all be here.    The next post on November 30th,  will be a big one.

Progress Report: Nine Play # 2    I am declaring this one done even though I still have half of the sleeve to stitch down.   I am sure I will finish that this evening and I don’t want it to carry over to the next post

 

 

 Judy’s Banquet   This work is 24″ w X 16.5″ tall.     It is part of the Joyous Embroidery Class stuff.    I really like how she encouraged one to add lots of dimension to the surface.

My friend Judy gave me most of the lace that I used in this work.

 

 

 

Lap # 20   This top is all ready for layering , but I don’t have any filler at the moment.  I will stop tomorrow on my way home  to get that.

 

 

 

 

Felted   Dryer Balls  These are my gifts to give away at the retreat.  I have three more that still need their hot/cold shock wash in the washing machine.  That will get done today too.

 

 

 

Rocky Tide Pool    This project is yet another that is and out growth from the Flue Woods class.   I am enjoying building up this piece and it is dominating my  desk top at the moment.     I many not get much done on it over the next two weeks, but it will get done eventually.

Twilight    Sometimes you just have to wait for the idea to come – and that sure was the case with this project.   It is due at the Sisterhood Retreat so I am really cutting it close.   The challenge is the dark blue fabric.  I will be sure to take photos of the other gals use of it to share when next I post.

Have a good Thanksgiving and I will post again at the end of the month.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Diva Meetings, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Scrap Happy Quilts, Wildfire in Whisky Hollow

QBL plus

 Hello,

It has been a busy three weeks sense I last wrote a message  with lots of events.   Summer is in full force here and  very beautiful.   I am looking forward to the Art, Garden and Sustainability  Trail that will be taking place in my nationhood this Sat.    More about that next week.

First I want to talk about Quilting by the Lake 2023.    This year, its 37th,  the event took place at Wells College in Arura NY.  The college is in a splendid  setting  on beautiful Cayuga Lake.   Several folks went swimming in the lake too. The campus has lots of gracious  old building and as it runs along the lake edge there are lots of ups and downs.

This is a shot of my dorm.  I was in the front corner room,  level one with two windows.  We spent several evenings on the balcony stitching during the week.

There was also a very large and comfortable parlor were we worked to put together a puzzle week two. It had 2,000 pieces and we did not complete the task, so I broth it home and I plan to bring it week one next year so we can get the whole thing done.   This shot is of Lori and Reggi early on in the process.

This is how far we got before we had to dismantle it for travel.

 

Week one I was in independent study with  a dozen other gals.

 

 

 

 

Nancy finished this top, a quilt and did some machine drawing of a Goldfinch.

 

 

 

 

 

Reggie, who specializes in picking up finished blocks  and making tops out of them, did five during the week.   This one is make up of Dear Jane  blocks.  One   of 4.5″ block had 49 hand pieced units in it.

 

These pineapple blocks were done by another gal in studio and they got completely assembled as a quilt top for her grandson.

 

 

Rachel Clark taught a coat making class in our building week one and also gave the opening lecture.  It was inspiring.

 

 

 

 

Week one ended with show and tell in the dinning room.

This is a shot of a few folks from Irene Rodrick’s class ” Dancing with the Wall. ”

I went home and did laundry before returning on Sunday for week 2 and my class with Amanda McCarver.

Our class was was working with wash away  and roving to create different effects.   We did lots of little experiments and I learned a lot.    I am sure I will apply what I have learned to my work in the future.    This  a shot of the Solvy sandwich  with roving, yarn and loose threads before machine work is applied.

Here are my works for the first three days.

 

 

More experiments.

 

 

 

 

 

We  also had a quilt show that was of work of the Finger Lakes Fiber Art’s group.     This shot is Victor’s Work  from the show.

There was an event every night that included a trip to the Schweinfurth to see the Nancy Crow show were she gave a lecture.  We visited a local farm were there was a talk on antique quilts  and both weeks had a night were we gathered around the fire pit and made  Smores.  This shot is of Davana enjoying hers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Liz  too.

We had good time and made some new friends and enjoyed our old friends too.

 

 

 

 

Week II of QBL completed with show and tell and the Apron Auction.

 

This shot is of Elsa and her Blue Bird.    She was in David Taylor’s class.

 

 

The Apron Auction was lots of fun with lots of silliness.    The money goes to the Scholarship Fund, a very worth while cause.

It was a bit sad to see it all end, but I enjoyed myself as did many others.

Tue was the Aug Diva meeting.

 

Most of the time was spent talking of how we will finish up the “Together We Rise Project.”   This is Lori’s entry.

 

 

 

 

Mary  reworked hers as she did not feel that the burbles read well.    I think the balloons do a great job.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary also had a great self directed project.  She is still working through some of the fabric’s she purchased when she traveled to Africa.

 

Her beading adds an extra layer of interest.

 

We visited the Rock Garden Art show at the Homer Art Center while we were there.       Terrie had four little cityscapes .  There were all fun.

 

Cheri had four more of her wonderful prints in the show too.     I really like what she is doing now.

 

 

 

 

 

I also had a Pixie meeting yesterday and enjoyed catching up with those folks.  Our new assignment is to do something with insects.  I need to finish my lettering for that too.   I did an L and an S    at  QBL that I plan to turn  them  into pillows this week .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Wild Fire in Whisky Hollow   This work is  35″ w  X35″ t.  I did this in indigent study at QBL.    I did the binding and  sleeve after I got home.     With this work I really wanted to show a green tree paired with one on fire.    I saw and image like this in my check in with the wild fires in Canada that week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Fire  I was struck by the destruction  of the fires and what remains afterward , so I made this quilt as it is a part of the story too.   I think is needs more work so it is not completed yet.

 

 

 

 

Handwork   This is what I worked on during QBL while setting on the balcony of my dorm .   It is moving along.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt #11    I finished this top before I went off to QBL.  That seems like a long time ago to me now.    On to the layering and quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy    I assembled and quilted this quilt tis week in preparation for the local  Art, Garden and Sustainability  Trail on Sat.   I will  deliver it to one of the organizer this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

It has been a busy time , but I have enjoyed it all.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

 

Blue Water, Consider, Contemplating, Coy Pond, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand Out, Koi in the Kelp, Pixies Group, Pondering, Three Witches, Wall of Fire

Hurricane Ian

Hello,

The hurricanes that have hit the country the last few weeks have raised my concern for my fellow Americans.   So many of my friends live there  and there is  family too.   It is hard to face such destruction from nature .  The water and wind sure makes one humble.   I did talk yesterday with the Pixies who live in Gulfport Florida. Robert was staying in the area and the other two had both evacuated.  My sincere wished go out to all who suffered any loss and I hope you are all back to balance as fast as possible.

For me here in central New York, I am still feeling very positive as I received my award from the Art show on Sunday.   I was delighted by the support I received from my quilting friends too.

The Schweinfurth asked that artists contribute a small work to be raffled to help support the institution, so I started a new piece called “A Little Action.”    I now remember why I only did one work a day and it is a bit tedious.

 

 

FAD meant at Nancy’s on Wed.  It was good to see all of them  and Nancy shared her wonderful new piece.   I think it looks great!

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Wall of Fire    I built up the fire portion of this work this week.  I  think I am nearing completion.

 

Lap 4 This work is all ready to be quilting now.    I am always surprised at how fast the pin basting goes.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 5   I had extra time in the studio on Monday so I started a new lap quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand out  This work is done now.  I will give Ginny first choice on the one of the four that she wants  sense she gave me the wool coverlet that the hand units were cut from.

 

 

 

Consider   I finished the hand work on this piece this week.   Now all three works are complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other two works in the series are

 

 

Contemplate

.and Consider.    They are all the same size  and use complementary colors.   I am going to put them in the Associated Artist show at May Memorial for the month of Oct.

 

 

Blue Water   I have now placed and zig- zagged down the top half of all of the fish in this work.   It is building nicely I think.

 

Koi in the Kelp After consulting with Jane Durawall, I changed the orientation of this  piece and added kelp.   I like the feel of the action much more  and the extra layers of depth it now has too.

Rework -Coy Pond    Again after feeling a bit unhappy with this work I got some critique from Jane.  She had several suggestion that I liked and I finally decided to cut away the brown background and mount the whole interlocking fish unit on a new background of blue and yellow.    I am about half way done cutting away the background now  and think it will be a lot stronger when it is complete.

Three Witches   I had to wait on a friend in the parking lot while she had an in office procedure done today.  So I worked on the right side of the face this morning.  I think it beginning to feel solid.

New Handwork for Slow Stitch    I finished this work early in the week .

 

 

 

 

Then I had an idea for a second  textural piece so I did this work this week too. Texture is my real love so I guess this is natural for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork     This work is part of the leftover fused fabric pieces that I started a few weeks ago. Sense I finished the “hand series”, I  pulled up this work and started it late last evening.

Again my thoughts are for the Hurricane victims.

Carol

 

 

 

`

100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Fields, Scrap Happy Quilts

Summer Days

Hello,

We are feeling the heat of summer here this week.   I am not complaining as it is very mild compared to some forks – but unique for us this early in the season.    We continue to walk in the  early  morning and we have shortened our route to adjust.    These  wild grapes are a sure sign that summer is still producing her bounty.

 

 

 

 

It has been a full week.  On Saturday the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meant live for the first time in months. was very exciting and folks had lots to share and talk about. Pat had two pieces and they were very fun, active and bright.

 

 

 

 

Susan came with her work from a on line class she had taken with Joe Cunningham.

 

 

 

 

 

Bev brought the piece that was in the Made in New York show. Good to get a second look.

 

Maureen had a wonderful collection of her hand dyed scarves  along with several other works.

 

 

 

 

Mary brought her fabric baskets.   Great fun.

 

 

 

Sharon showed her latest work and a few of her new cards. It was a great meeting and I think everyone came away super charged.
I also did a Zoom meeting with the Pixies and a live meeting with the Retired Art Teachers.

 

 

Yesterday, Liz and I mad a trip to our friend Paul’s house to drop off out quilts for him to do his Photography magic. We both want to enter some shows.

We visited our friend Angela’ new house that is under construction. She is looking forward to the completion of this wonderful kitchen/ dining room/living room. I love her view too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Lap Quilt # 15 This work is 40″w X 70″ l. I really enjoyed doing the drawing of the trees to add interest and quilt in some of the bigger areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 16 I just keep playing with these projects. I will deliver 15 to one of our local nursing homes soon.

 

 

 

 

Poppy Field I am still building more thread painted blossoms for this project.

 

 

 

100 Day Challenge Here is the next batch of finished pieces. I am up to day 72 now.

 

 

 

Granite and Silver This work is on level two of its building. The granite base is just about done. I plan to add silver maple leaves on top when this step is complete.

 

 

 

Daily Practice The hand work just keeps moving forward here. I think I will complete this bit of fabric in the next day or two.

 

 

Scrap Happy    I started a new scrap happy because I gave away the one i had  to a refugee family from Banqualadash.      I also gave away two more for their children.   Glad to find homes for them.     I like to keep a scrap happy  on the shelf for just such events.   These are just the strips before they are cut into squares .

Childhood Nov/Dec 1965
When we got home from Iowa in 1965, Gene started pestering me for a lock of my hair. I resisted a while, but finally gave in and cut a small section from the middle of the back. School was a busy and fun as ever and the work picked up at the Student Center, so Dec flew bye. We got a letter from the Dean Family and a second from the Bells saying that a trip to Texas was not going to happen for either family at that time. I was disappointed, but everyone has a life of their own. We celebrated our Christmas before we left for Iowa as usual. Gene and I got Walkie talkies so we could communicate between vehicles on the trip. We were excited about that. When we went got to Iowa we went with Grandmother to visit Grandpa Merit in the hospital. He had lost a lot of weigh and did not look as robust as he had in the past. He begged to come home, and Grandmother reluctantly refused. She just could not care for him. It was heart braking. Our family went forward with our travel plans and got up at 4 and drove to Grandview were we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to get going. It was snowing and cold, but we got going with cousin Danny driving the Van and following us. The Walkie talkies worked and it was great fun. After lunch time Grandmother Ruth joined us and Gene went to the van. Mom moved to the back seat with me. We drove south west all day and stopped at a run down motel in Kansas. It reminded Grandfather of the ones he ran next to the Station in Grandview. We moved our sleeping bags inside and slept on the floor of the room that night. It was still a bit cold. We continued to drive south most of Tuesday too. There was one stop to do a tour of a Cotton Refining Factory. It was fascinating to see all the steps from removal of the seeds from the cotton balls to the spinning of the thread. The air was full of cotton fluff. I remember being amazed at how red the soil was in that area. Wednesday as another day spent mostly on the road seeing lots of oil derricks pumping away before the scenery gave way to catus and lots of yucca plants growing on the genital hills. We did arrive at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and camped. It was warm and pleasant that night. We spent the whole day doing the full tour of the Cavern the next day. It was specular with wonderful formations . We saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites as well as cave straws and what the guide called popcorn formations. We went on a boat ride on an underground river and ate lunch at the underground lunchroom. Ham and cheese sandwiches I think. The guide turned off the lights and although Mom was setting next to me, it was so dark and quiet it was like no one in the world existed but me. We even saw mummified bats before we exited the cave. It was great! We loaded up and started driving east into Texas. At that time we got caught in a wind storm that blew huge tumble weeds as big as the car across the road. It was like a big game of dodgeball for a while.  Exciting and scary at the same time. Our next stop was Judge Roy Bean’s office/salon/courtroom. Langtree was almost a ghost town with the exception of the saloon and the tourist store. We did the talk/tour of the Lilly Langtree Saloon. It was about the size of a half basketball court like one sees in a park, with tables at one end and a bar at the other. The guide explained how Bean was the law
“West of the Pacos”. He   used the bar as his court room and would close the bar for court  actions  .  He was know to change fines that  that took most of the person cash. If they could not pay and sense there was no jail, he would chain them to a log out back  for the night. As soon as the case was complete the bar opened and jurors were expected to by a drink. On a shelf behind the bar was Bean’s law book. I did purchase some little carved turquoise heats in the store and glued them to a bracelet that I had purchased at Carlsbad. Mom got a very nice silver bracelet that I still have.

Stay Safe

Carol

100 Day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Crow Calls, Curvie Cuts, Daily Practice, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Fields

Summer

Hello,
   Happy summer everyone.   This week has been a busy one. I went off to Ithaca with Liz and Cheri to pick up my Phaff from its cleaning. We did a little shopping and took a load of fabrics and notions to Sew Green too. It feels good to pass things one no longer needs or will never use to someone else who just might do something wonderful with them. Liz and I got caught in a heavy rain storm after we dropped off Cheri and had to double back due to a wire across the highway. Then on Wed.   Liz and I dyed for the first time this season. It feels good to be back doing that  again.    I did meet with the Pixies this week too.   Only three of us, but still a good meeting.

 

Progress Report: Crows Calling   This work is 36″ w X 53.5″ l.   All the rectangles that are not drawn on are old silk kimonos from my friend  Noel.       I enjoyed quilting crows in flight as a part of the background for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

100 Days  SAQA Challenge    I am still doing this challenge and now on day 24.

 

 

Lap # 12- Butterfly     I have now started to build the thread painting  that I want to overlay on this quilt top.   It is slow work as this shot shows all the thread painting I did in two hours.  I  used a full bobin to do just this  much of the job.

Lap # 14  This top is all assembled now.   I will move on this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green As this project progresses I realize that I need a better title as their is less and less green in the work  and no leavers are green.      I think I am nearly ready to stitch down all the cut leaves.

 

 

 

Poppy Field    I did get the french knot flowers add to the top section of the far field this week .   Not a lot of other work on this piece.   The orange flowers I made are too big to be a part of this one.

 

 


Dark side of the Moon    I have started to do reflective quilting  on this piece.  I still have some hand work to do inside some of the circular forms too.

 

Daily Practice     I have completed another of the daily practices pieces and started a new one last evening.     They are going well.

 

 

 

 

Drawing    I only completed two drawings  this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I got a little out of alignment  and the nose it far too long.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Jr Year Education

The Jorner  year   of high school was a one of challenge and change for me.   Ceicle and Mike had gone off to various collages. The gang added new kids from band and adolescence was a crazy mix of finding ones self and trying to figure out the opposite sex. I suffered with my academics a bit too. I had Mr Langdon for English and he was a very demanding teacher. I liked the massive amounts of reading we had to do as we did British and American   Literature. I recall reading Macbeth, Sartorius , Last of the Mohekens, Brave New World, The Scarlet Letter, The Good Earth and 1984.    The class discussions we informative and fun as well. We also did the poets e e cummings and Walt Whitman. For the poetry we had memorization and I can still recite “When Lilacs Last in the Door Yard Bloomed.” Dad also arranged for me to have a tutor for my spelling and she asked me to read The Bridge of San Lewis Ray. I did well with most of the other stuff and I still am glad for the exposure to the books. I ended my time with Mr Langdon with a C- the fist semester and a C the second.
Dad’s political connections allowed   me to be a Page at the Indiana state house for a day in Feb. I was excited and enjoyed the time.   The day was cold and the roads were icy and we arrived half an hour late to the CIrcle that the state house is on.  I remember running up the icy stairs and rushing into the building with no idea were I was to go.    Out of breath I asked the man in the front hall and he directed me.   In the page room after hanging my coat on a peg I took a deep breathe and started a wonderful day.  I got to put  bills out on the senators desks and run errands for them. The sessions seemed a bit disorganized to me as folks got up and talked to each other not paying any attention the speaker sometimes. I went to two committee meetings in the afternoon. One was on poverty and the second was on education. I almost missed being paged to do an errand at the education meeting as I was so engrossed in the topic.   It was a full day with lots of learning on my part.    Dad told me later that I really talked his ear off all the way home.
As to the social life it was full of teenage stress. Liking one person and not being liked in return and petty conflicts over boys. One boy, Bill Mohler, had a real crush on me and he was a sweet fellow. I went to a formal dance with him and he broth me a beautiful corsage. I even went on a date with him on a Sunday, went to church and spent the day with him and his family.   But there was not spark there.   Telling him I did not see him in the same romantic light  as she saw me was difficult.     Then after  my “friend “ Terry, stole Jim, a guy I was really attracted to,  away from me, before the romance even got started- I sort of swore off boys for a while. Bobby from last summer was still around and  I just could not figure him out either. So I work more along the line of ” friendships” with boys and nothing more for the rest of the year.

 

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

Please stay safe

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