Category Archives: Lap Quilts

100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Granite and Silver, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Field, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Inching Forward

Hello-
I hope everyone is doing well as we head into the last few weeks of Aug.    I am just working away one day at a time on my projects.   Sometimes that is all one is doing.    My big excitement for this week a quick trip down to New York City by bus with Liz to see the Virtual Van Gogh show.   I really liked the interactive “rooms” that were set up so one could go into the paintings.   Liz and I got silly and she tried to throw me into the insane asylum at one point.   It was a beautiful experience  and I enjoyed it very much. We walked a few blocks from the display to the World Trade Center Memorial and enjoyed that as well. We followed that by a quick trip back north to the bus terminal and back on the bus at 5:30 for the rid home. It was all a bit of a whirl wind trip but is sure was wonderful.
I had two Zoom meetings this week too. One with the Pixies and a second with the Sisterhood of the Scissors. Bother were good stimulations for me.

Progress Report: Poppy Field This work is 34.5″ w X 43″ l. I made the big poppies at the bottom out of wool roving with thread drawing to hold it all together. The centers are yo-yo’s with beads added to the centers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granite and Silver The Silver Maple leaves resting on the granite are a great contrast.    The idea is from  a old cover of Adirondack Life magazine. I painted the base with a rubber band brush to get the texture and added nylon net to create shows on the stone, with the leaves on top.   It is a very shallow image.

 

 

Scarp Happy I am having fun doing the rows for this project.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt # 16 I started to do stitch in the ditch quilting on this work today. I am sure I will finish it soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt # 17 This is number  two on the   current assembly process.   I like building the units and then uniting them.

 

 

 

 

100 Days Project I am up to day 71. Today is actually day 73 so I am behind myself I will need to do a few extra later today.

 

Daily Practice This small wipe up rag will be done soon.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Christmas 1965
We enjoyed a bit of rock hunting at a ranch and then drove on to Big Ben National Park. The camping that night was in a very empty campground. Lots of evergreens in the area and almost every other tree supported a bit of mistletoe. Christmas morning started with a good breakfast and a few gifts. I got a ID Bracelet that I had been hoping for and a beautiful hair piece. I then realized why Gene had wanted a lock of my hair in Nov.     I wore the hair piece a lot when I went back to work as it was a perfect color match.      We    then hit the visitors center, were they had a hug Century Plant decorated with Christmas balls. We went on from  to get our first view of the Rio Grand. The shore was sandy, the water was muddy and there were steep bluffs on both sides. We saw fossils imbedded in the canyon walls. We walked down the canyon a bit and came upon a young man who would take one across the river on the back of his burro for a dime. So on Christmas day we all rode across the river on the back of a mule. We climbed the bluff toward a small village. In the process we were “ attached” by a bunch of bambinos” selling rocks. Grandma and Grandpa both purchased a pockets  full  of useless rocks, but I am sure that the process made the kids day. The town was dusty and very poor. There was a small open school building, scattered mud huts and a saloon. It was sad. The next day we went east and visited a country store. Dad brought us all soda pop that we enjoyed in the heat. We cross the Rio Grand a second time- this time by row boat. On the Mexican side were steps up the bluff and we emerged into a more substantial town. First we came across some men making pack saddles. This village had streets that were packed dirt and many more buildings. There were lots of active people doing business. There was a small church and a water pump in front of it. There was a wooden school house that I went into. There were benches and a chalk board but nothing else. I had my sketchbook and soon tried out the little bit of Spanish I could remember from 3ed grade on some children. Some how I got to asking them their ages. I would write the number and then turn it into one of the cartoon characters that I had created for my Honor Society speech. The kids were thrilled and I folded pages and tore them out and gave them to the kids until I had use all my paper. I didn’t  see much of the town, but I did have a good time.    That night we camped again in Big Bend in a different camp ground. The following day we drove east out of the park and crossed the boarder a third time on a bridge this time. The town was very prosperous. We did lots of shopping there. I perched a famous Mexican Bandit Marionette that wore a sombrero, black flannel suit that sported a white zig-zag trim down the legs and had a six shooter in each hand. Mom purchased me a beautiful turquoise and purple poncho that I loved.    Grandmother got all three kids sombreros. As it turned out, I think our younger cousins, Casey and Curtis ended up with them when we got back to Grandview. My favorite purchase was a guitar that I got for $6.00. I spent hours trying to learn how to play it. But the thing would not hold tuning. The neck kept bending under the pressure of tuning to the point were the strings and the neck were so far apart that one could put there index finger between the strings and the frat board at the bottom and not touch either surface. After our shopping we returned to the states and drove north. Our Next stop was the Alamo. Gene and I had seen the movie and were a bit disappointed. It was much smaller then I expected and being in the middle of the city with big tall buildings all round made it seem even smaller. It sure made me realize how much Hollywood played with reality. We continued north and stopped at Platt National Park, one of the nations smaller parks. It was too cold to wade in the river, but Gene and Danny threw lots of rocks in the river. Crossing Kansas and Missouri we arrived back in Iowa. Dad and Mom went to see Grandpa Merit, but Gene and I did not. Then it was another 12 hour day drive back to Muncie and School the next morning.

Stay safe

Carol Boyer

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, 100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group

Home again

Hello,
I hope August is full filling everyone’s expectations. I sure like the many flowers that are blooming this year.

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed my trip to Maine. Marty and I always have a good time together and this year was no different. We visited with Elizabeth Bush and she was busy making winter hats for children. We talked and ate well enjoying each others company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way home Marty and I stopped at the Fenimore Art Museum and spent a few hours in the Native American art display. This is my favorite mask this time. We really enjoyed the baskets as well.

 

 

 

 

 

I went along with Noel to the Diva meeting at Cheri’s this week and we had a lively discussion. This work is by Maureen. She dose beautiful hand dyeing with natural materials. I also made it to the Pixie Zoom meeting yesterday.

I am doing a bit of cleaning and passing forward this stack of lap sized quilts to folks who are confined to wheel chairs.

My being away means there is not a lot to share.

100 Day Project For this one I did make progress. There are two shots for two weeks. I am still two days behind, but they are cut and pinned just not sewn yet.

 

 

 

Lap # 15 I did the stitch in the ditch quilting on this work this week. I will move on later with t free motion trees to out line the ones I printed and add new ones in the big areas.

 

 

 

New Lap I just pulled and pinned up these to see if they work together for the next one. I also sorted out some old quilts to add to the quilts that I plan to pass to wheel chair folks. This is the stack

 

 

 

Daily Practice   I am enjoying doing hand work.  I find it very calming.

 

 

Childhood Memories- Adolescence – Fall Senior Year 1965

My Senior year was a full and active one. I continued to participate in Band, the Math Club and Choirs. I also added Orbal our literary magazine to my list of organizations along with Thespians.. There was also all the social stuff. It seemed like we talked a lot about values and how to have a better culture. Viet Nam was getting to be an issue in the news and that also entered into many conversations. One of my friends John Conley did join the army at the end of the senior year. He was the youngest in his family and although loved farming he knew that he would not inherit the family farm. He did go to Viet Nam. We corresponded then that stopped abruptly. I learned later that was because he died there. I had one short romance with Keith Johnson, a Jr in the band he played the saxophone. He was far to physical and “fast” for me at that time. I was not ready for the heavy necking that he wanted. But exploration was part of growing up.
I got my first real job in September. After securing my work permit I started in the Dinning Service at the Student Center on Campus. After two weeks of work I got my first pay check of $26.00. Only $21 after taxes. The job as mostly serving tables at banquets and then working in the dish room cleaning up afterwards. No orders, checks or tips. I quickly learned how to balance a tray of eight plates on my shoulder and get it safely down to the rest without a spill. I got good at that job and could work every evening if I had wanted. I also was quickly tapped to work in the Orrer Room for small intimint dinners of 12 and under. That seemed very easy after doing three tables of eight and ten in the big dinning room. I was a good way to meet kids outside my school environment. I really enjoyed one young man with red hair and frekels named Tom Sawyer. He was a real comic too. I got to serve the head table when our senator Birch Bye, was at one fund raiser there. Yes, I did break a few dishes( always in the clean up process) and my feet were sore when I got home many nights, but I really did enjoy the job. I held that job until I was a Jr in collage at Ball State when I exchanged that job for teaching assistant in the art department.
The classes kept me busy, what with English, Speech, Math, Physics, Economics and Civics. There was also the SAT test in the fall. In the spring I was inducted into the Honor Society. For my incitation presentation I did a demonstration on how one could turn numbers into cartoon characters. For example a 6 could easily become a horses head.
At Thanksgiving time we went home to Iowa as usual to the family feast and time with the cousins. The meal was much the quieter than in the past with out the McElhinney clan because Grandpa Merit was ill. No Oyster casserole that year. Grandpa had black lung from the grain dust, but we did not learn that until later. He had sold his prize heard of regerstered Black Angus and on the Friday after Thanksgiving men came and loaded them into trucks and drover away. I remember seeing Grandfather standing at the living room window with out making a sound while big tears ran down his face as he watched his dream drive away. My father pulled me away to let his father have the time to him self. When we went to Grandview at that time we made a plan to go to Texas and Big Bend National park at Christmas with all the families.

Stay safe

Carol

100 day Challenge, Blue Butterfly, Broken Blocks, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Fields, Smoldering

Quiet Times

Hello,
Summer keeps putting forth her bounty. I was captured by these forming apples that I noticed on my walk today. It seems like the blossoms were on the tree just a few weeks ago. It has been a quiet week this week with only the Pixie meeting. Even that was short one member due to the fact that she is in the hospital. We are all sending good vibes in her direction for a fast recovery. This week however was one with lots of studio time and so I finished up lots of work.

Progress Report: Blue Butterfly This work is 37″ w X 50″ l. I changes my mind on this work after I had started it. I like the hand altered fabrics to much that I decided to add the butterfly on top turning it from a lap quilt into an wall piece. I did the insect on wash away so that the fabrics would still show through. Then I added more quilting after watching Joe Cunningham’s Face Book post were he was suggesting that the quilting was an additional design space to use to add interest to ones work. So I quilted in more butterflies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smoldering This work is 33.5″w X 40″l. This work in my sad response to the new 80+ wild fires burning in the west. It is so heart breaking.
I hand dyed the smoldering ground fabric last summer. It did not work in my piece on the wild fires that I did last year, so this time it was my starting place.

 

 

Fallen This work is 30.5″w X 43″ l. I thought this work was finished last week, but after a second hard look I realize it did not do the job. I added the dragonfly to make a strong center of interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt #13 This work in 37″ w X 52 “ l. I keep making these fun small quilts to use my altered fabrics and explore techniques. I applied Joe’s idea to the quilting here too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 14   Broken Blocks (Tutorial )With is work I was playing with a limited color pallet and 14 basic blocks for my start. After stacking the blocks into two stacks I sliced them diagonally.

 

 

 

Next step was to shuffle the units and recombine them. I repeated that step holding two blocks out of the process. These last two blocks were sliced in half vertically and set aside.

 

 

 

 

After sewing all the units into blocks again I lined them up into four rows, I added a half block into each row so there were no vertical seam lines.

Then I connected the blocks into four rows and then into a top.

 

 

 

Lap Quilt #15 I am building a new lap quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poppies I continue to make more blossoms for the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New work I decided I wanted to do a new leaf quilt. I built this whole cloth base to look like Granite. I used one of the brushes that I made earlier this year as a part of the Pixie Challenge to do the painting. Great fun.

Daily Practice I finished two more units this week.

 

 

100 Days I am now at day fifty two. It is still a fun challenge.

 

 

 

Drawing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adolescence Summer 1965

The summer after the hospitalization   sunner was a bit quieter then in the past. I did summer school but not as much swimming and such as the summer before. I did enjoy my time with the band gang. Summer band was a bit different as the group participated in more competitions. We even won a first place in one of them. We did the county fair stuff as in the past too. In Aug Gene and I went to Iowa for a few weeks before Mom and Dad. Grandmother Ester took us off to a different church camp then in the past as it was only a morning thing. In the afternoons she and I worked on sewing up some new clothing for school. She helped me make three dresses that were all the same pattern but with validations in fabric, neck openings and sleeves , they appeared different. I remember helping Grandmother Ruth clean out the Flour House that was at the back of Aunt May’s house. It was called the Flour House because when the train went through town flour was stored in the building. The building was snug and full of old stuff. One of the treasures was a horse drawn sled. Grandmother said it was the sled that Grandfather Howard took her out in at Christmas time to see Hailey’s Comet and purpose to her in 1911. There were was a strange electronic devise that we called “the Brain Machine”. Grandfather had taken it in trade for gas during the depression and the man never retrieved it. The cabinet was mahogany with two electrodes on the top. When one opened the folding doors on the front they revealed a series of nobs and dials above each was a little screens containing numbered dials with little needles that one could adjust when the thing was plugged in. On the doors inscribed on brass plates were the instructions on what dials to adjust for different illnessnesses, like headache, back problems, arthritis and rheumatism. And of course brain illnesses. One was suppose to put a finger from each hand on the electrodes and get a mild current/ shock to cure you. Mom said she was sure it did nothing- except excite one into believing things were better for a while. I got to take home some old photos albums full of old tin types that Grandmother told me that again, they were traded for gas. There was a collection of old Iowa auto licence plates from 1933. She said grandpa Gast had purchased them to patch the barn roof and these were the leftovers. I still have one.
We went from Grandview north to Wisconsin and on into Minnesota to do our family vacation in the land of 1,000 lakes. We had the canoe and we rented a second for the water part of the  trip. We were along the US and Canadian boarder, crossing back and forth several times. For the whole week we did not see  or hear another person. It was wonderful with lots of portages and camping on islands. The moss on the ground was about four inches thick in places and sponge. Gene and Dad both had fishing permits so we ate lots of fish. We saw many red squirrels and a flying squirrel too. I loved the many calls of the loons that we heard mostly at dusk and dawn.   For the first time I really saw the Milky Way and believed that there were more stars in the sky then one could count. There were lots of insects too- but not a lot of misquotes. It did rain on us one day and so we spent the day in the tent lounging and reading. We hiked to several water falls as well. The water was cold but we did swim a bit every day or so. It was a very calm and quiet week and what I imagine the whole country was when the native americans were its inhabitants . Our trip was the week of the Watt Riots, but with our insolation, we only learned of that disastrous event when we got home.

Have a good week and there will be no entry for next week as I will be away.

Stay safe

 

Carol

100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Craow Calling, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fallen, Hand work, Lap Quilts

Summer Travel

Hello-
I hope folks had a good Forth of July.  We sure had lots of fireworks in our area.   I enjoyed my trip to Ohio to see a lost cousin. She really showed us around her area and I enjoyed the covered bridges of her county. We saw the longest one in the country and it is also a double bridge as the long one  is on top of a gully with a smaller covered  foot bridge underneath it at tht bottom of the gully.

Liz ans I dyed on Monday. I will try to wash them out tomorrow. I also had two Zooms meetings- the QuEGs group and Pixies. In addition I had two live meetings. The Quilt Diva’s meant at Cheri’s house and we made lots of decisions about the up coming show in Sept.

The FAB group meant as well. Patti brought her little loom and she worked the whole meeting adding a few inches to her scarf. Sharon shared her new project with lots of little units that she will build to float on top of a quilt base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Dark Side of the Moon 40″ w X 59″ l. This work in made mostly from kimono fabrics that Noel gave to me. It is a mixture of machine quilting and hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

The hand work is in the center of the metallic circles.

 

 

 

Calling Crows 36″ w X 52.5″ l. I drew all five of the bird panels. They are done with colored pencils and crayons. Again the silk is from Noel. I quilting flying crows in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fallen This work is an experiment. Sharon kindly talked me through the technique on the phone. I did not fully get it as she told me she would not have done what I did if it had been hers. But not knowing what to do never stopped me when it comes to quilting. It goes off to the washer now with the hope of lots of fraying so the cuts show up.

Smoldering  Sense California is again  experiencing wildfires, I am doing a new piece on this topic. It is the early aftermath that I am focusing on this time. This work is only about half pinned in place.

 

 

 

Butterfly-  lap quilt  I am still doing the thread painting of the Butterfly to be applied to the top when it is done.

 

 

100 Day Challenge I keep using the sports images from the news paper for my inspirations for this project. I did a few extra this week so I am showing work up to day 40 and we are only 38 days into the challenge. But I know that my week end will be a busy one and I do not like to play catch up.

 

 

Daily Practice I finished one more panel am I am ready to start a new one now.

 

 

Drawing I keep putting in time on this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adolescence- Spring trip to Washington D C

The year I was a Jr in high school the family trip was to Washington D C. We started out early on a snowy morning and entered the Applications after a long day of driving. I was struck by how much iron was present in the mountains and how many pine trees there were. We had intended to stay in Shenandoah National Park, but found it was closed. So we drove farther east and camped on the side of the road. We got up to more snow that melted quickly as the day warmed up. Our first visit was to Mt Vernon. It was a big estate with rooms that I saw as smaller then I expected it was a very big complex  however.   No mention of a black presence in 1965. From there we went to Arlington National Cemetery were we visited the Thumb of the Unknown Solder. The guards looked smart in their matching pattern. Then we went of to check out the Eternal Flame at John Kennedy’s grave sight. The vast fields of white crosses sure brought home the costs of war to me. Everything is so close together that going to Lincoln Memorial was an easy next step. I was most impressed by the carving of Lincoln’s hands.  We then  went  along the reflecting pool up to the Washington Moment.   We climbed all 66 flights of stairs with 18 steps in each flight to get to the top. It only took Gene and I 16 min. to get to the bottom when we when down. Mom and Dad followed much more slowly. Our next stop was the Capital building. I found the Rotunda to be much bigger than I expected and both the House and Senate to be smaller. Mom remained to check out me that The Freedom Lady sculpture on the top as we walked away. We  started for the campground we got a little lost and went in circles around the building complex several times before heading home. Dad accidently ran a red light and there were four policemen on the corner. The did not stop us- Mom guessed that they saw the Indiana license plate and let it slide. We camped that night in a small camp ground called Prince Edward. I wonder if it is still there. Tuesday we got up and went back into Washington DC to do the Smithson. I enjoyed the special exhibit of “Animals in Art” a lot.   I did a drawing of  sculpture of a mother chimp cuddling her young one.    We saw lots of manufacturing equipment along with lots of old automobiles. In the Natural History Museum Mom and I spent two hours in the basement and only did about half. We did the ground level after lunch and saw a Blue Whale , the Hope Diamond,  Witch Dr Masks and a great collection of shrunken heads. By 4:30 we all had “museum feet” and pilled into the car and drove to the Air Port to watch plains take off and detox a bit. We rested  and then went to the National Archives building. The Constatation had a place of honor in the rotunda along with the other founding documents. We walked right up to them and could easily read them thought the glass. I was a surprised by how yellow the paper was and how faded the ink. One could purchase copies in a little kiosk near the door but we did not.   The day was full and we all slept well that night.

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

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

The Wild Around us

Hello,
It has been a busy week for me. The FAB group meant at Nancy Bailes home and had a good time. We got to see Nancy’s doll collection. She told us she always got one from a lady she admired when they went to Maine to visit. She also shared her beads work.

 

 

 

 

This is just one of the many bracelets that she has completed. There was a Pixie Zoom meeting too.

 

 

 

 

I also went to the Schweinfurth on Thur to see the Made in New York Show with Liz and Cheri. What a lot of wonderful inspiring work. This work is called Eclipse by my friend Julie G.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite piece from this show was Drawing II by Susan Byrnes. What a great use of automatic machine stitches. From across the room this looked like chalk on black paper.

 

 

 

We also went up stairs and enjoyed the Threads Across Time show of quilts by Sarah Bond. It was a good day.

 

 

 

 

 

But it was our walks that really provided me with the realization that Nature will find a way.    We often see deer in the wild area behind the SU student apartments.    One day we saw a hawk that was just setting on the ground with a lot of feathers all around him and that was followed by Monarchs visiting milkweed plants, and a baby rabbit that just avoided a mower.     All those creatures were in just one day.   Then last night we had racoons on our patio.     We live in the city and not the suburbs and if the creatures can make homes here they can live just about any were.

I seem to be in the middle of lots of work with out any completions at the moment.   Doing many projects at once is my way of allowing myself time to look at and think about what I want to accomplish with my work.  A way of slowing down of sorts.

Progress Report: Lap #14   I am still building quilts that I plan to pass forward.    There are lots of my hand dyed and painted fabrics in this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap # 12     I liked this base so much that I am going to turn it into a regular quilt by adding butterflies to the surface,  But I do not want to make them silid so I am going to try to find a way to use thread painting to do the job.  That is what the brown paper that I have pinned up is for.

 

 

Crow Callings    I have moved onto the quilting of the parts of this quilt.  This time I am doing wind lines and also including outlines of flying crows to add a little interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green    I worked on the leaves  I want to applique to  this quilt  this week.   I will also need to create some additional size and colors to this work.

 

 

Dark Side of the Moon      I am still doing the hand quilting on this project.  I did start to do the machine work around the few finished circles however.

100 Days Challenge    This work is getting better and better.  I did decide to turn some of my images on there sides to add a bit more interest.

 

 

Daily Practice

 

 

 

 

 

Drawings    These are my drawing for this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a double dose of Childhood this week to to the technical difficulties of last week.

Childhood Memories-Summer 1963 Family trip
> Mom and Dad arrived in Grandview with the car top carrier with the canoe on top. They did spend a few days visiting. One sunny afternoon Dad ,along with Marce, Russell, Doug and Gene took a canoe trip down the Iowa river. I remember them launching at the river’s edge in Columbus Junction and then Mom, Grandfather Howard, Kelly and I went off to the island at the edge of the farm to watch then float BY. It was a calm and quiet enjoyable time, but we never saw them pass , and decided that they must have chosen a different branch of the river to go south. We found them at the exit point and helped them unload. Everyone was excited and a bit sun burnt.
> My family then went south to Hannibal Missouri, to see Tom Sawyer’s house and visit other historic stuff. We did see the fence that supposedly was the one painted by Tom’s friends. It had just been white washed as a part of some special summer celebration so it looked real good. The house was much smaller then I expected and packed full of stuff like a museum. I remember there were lots of old spoons and such, as well as a death mask of Mr Clements in one of the glass topped cabinets. Mom had to explain to me about that as I had never seen one before. We also did the tour of the cave used as the basis of Tom and Becky’s adventure with Indian Joe from “Tom Sawyer “. I was not very impressed and only remember the narrow passageway with sandstone walls. Not any big room and no formations that I recall. From there we went to St Louis to visit Dad’s brothers family. Uncle Leonard was working for General Electric at that time. We did go to the Zoo in St Louis. I liked all the animals. I remember seeing a Elephant performing show there. I was a bit stressed by the man putting his head under the elephants foot, but Dad assured me no harm was done. We had a good picnic with Mike and baby Tom in Uncle Leonard and Aunt Alieen’s back yard. Their house was a new one and they had the cleanest basement I ever saw. Gene and Mike rode the trike around and around the basement floor.
> We continued south and went to a camp ground. We put the Mimahuni in a lake. We went swimming too. Another day we did a bit of river fun with our canoe.. One day we went for a cave tour at Crystal cave. It was privately owned and our family were the only folks on the tour. We all carried lanterns for light. It was much more interesting then Tom Sawyer’s cave with lots of different formations. The guide was a some what tired young college kid who was doing this as his summer job. He did lots of good explanations and even broke off a small stalagmite and gave it to me. I still have it. Mom was sure that was not something he should have done, but she didn’t say anything to him. We then headed home and got ready for the new school year.

 

Childhood Memories Jr Year High School.
After the start of school our family took a canoe with the Yoyhauses. We put the two  canoes in the Mississinewa River about 10 miles outside of town and worked our way down the river. At one point the river was so wide and shallow that we had to get out and walk the boats forward. While we were doing so, a farmer on the left bank shot his shot gun over out heads and said” Get off my land!” In Indiana the water is public but the land under it belongs to the owner. We hurried forward and all pilled back into the boats as fast as we could. Further down the river in the afternoon near the end of the trip we had to go over a falls. We pulled into the shore and portaged the camping gear down to the bottom. Phillis, Mom, and I watched from the shore as Dad alone in our boat went over the falls successfully. Then Gene and Frank tried. Frank was not as skillful as Dad and they tipped over at the bottom. Frank panicked and began thrashing around as he could not swim. Gene just reached out and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to the side of the boat and started pushing everything to the shore. When they got out, Frank could not thank Gene enough for saving his life. Gene was just embarrassed. After reloading the canoes we just went a bit farther down the river to a camp sight and had a good evening. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I went to the Mississinewa many times with various friends and put the canoe in for afternoon trips. We always went up stream first when we were fresh and floated back to the bridge to get out. It was a pleasant way to quiet time with friends.
It seemed like I got a lot more social in my Jr year of high school. The Band continued to keep me busy , but I did lots of other stuff too. I went to the movies a lot more and seemed to still have one foot in my youth as went to see the Disney animated version of “Sward in the Stone” one afternoon and then “ Lord of the Flies” that night. I recall going to see “Cleopatra” too with Elizabeth Taylor. I suer was impressed with all the gold and the big sets in that one. Gene and I went to see “20,000 Thousand Leagues under the Sea” as he was now 13. In Sept a new TV hit show was “Bewitched” and I never missed that TV show. There were lots of plays too. We had season ticketed to the Ball State Drama department and I remember seeing “Come Blow your Horn”. I think that being a Thespian made view live drama in a different way. Having worked on sets and costumes I was more aware of how importantly they were to the story. One evening, Margaret and I went to see “Oklahoma” at a county high school. We also went to see “A Mouse that Roared” that spring.
Gene had a great adventure on April fools day. He had played a trick on Dad by subatuting salt for sugar in the sugar bowl the night before. Then at Breakfast he watch Dad put sugar in his coffee and sprinkle it on his grapefruit. When Dad calmly ate the third bight of grapefruit, Gene burst out “ Dad- You don’t have any taste buds at all!” Dad replied” April Fools to you!” I discovered you trick when I had coffee last night and put thing to write.”
That year I also had my first crush. I think that Ceicle really pushed that. Bobby Cornell was a part of the gang that I did stuff with and she tried to make the romance work. She even persuaded me to purchase matching shirts for the two of us for his birthday. His was too big so I took them back. One night we were out with Ceicle and Mike, Bobby got sick and threw up in the back of Ceicle’s Mustang Convertible. We quickly drove him home. Neither Mike nor Ceicle had the stomach to clean it up so I did. Not pleasant, but baby setting had prepared me for that job. One night when Bobby brought me home I was sure he was going to kiss me. The tension had been building up to this for some time. We were saying good night on the front poach when I saw thought the living room window my little brother, Gene, wiggling across the living room floor to spy on me. I grabbed Bobby hand and shook it telling him I had a great time and went inside leaving him on the porch. I really yelled at Gene in my disappointment. The romance fizzled and I never did get a kiss from Bobby although we did remain friends until he went off to college  were I lost track of him.

Stay safe and keep creating

Carol

100 Day Challenge, Crow Calls, Curvie Cuts, Daily Practice, Drawing, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Field

Sumer Time

Hello,
It has been a somewhat quiet week here. I only had one Zoom meeting and with the Pixies. We always enjoy sharing our work and catching up. Susan , who edits my Childhood postings is having trouble with her sending email. We had a power outage and I lost my copy of Childhood too so it looks like there will be no posting of that this week. Hopefully things will be back to normal next week.
This beautiful orange Peony was on  Liz’s table.  I had to touch it to assure myself it was not silk.    I had lunch with Liz and Joyce and that was enjoyable too.

Progress Report Horsetails – reworked. This project is 30.5″ w X 40.5″ l. After showing it to the FAB group last week and getting some constructive feed back, I reworked it. This is much stronger. Sometimes we don’t hit the mark on the first or even second try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 13 This work is 39″ w X 53″ l. I used a lot of my altered fabrics on this one. There are enamels of printed stencils and hand dyed fabrics here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap # 12 This work is all pin basted and ready for quilting. Again I am playing with my altered fabrics.

 

 

 

 

Lap # 14 I am still in the assemble process on this one. I sure like working in this smaller format.

 

 

 

 

 

Green Base This base unit is all stitch in the ditch quilted at this point. I am trying to do some leaves were I do the cut away technique on them. Again I do not know what I am doing as this is new to me- so it is mostly a case of trial and error.

 

 

 

 

 

Crow Calling is all pin based now too. I am ready to do the stitch in the ditch step and then do some free motion drawing to add interest.

 

 

 

 

Daily Project I finished the long strip and have moved onto a new bit of fabric.

 

 

 

Dark Side of the Moon I am hand quilting around the woven images of the flowers on this project.   Then I am outlining some of the petals.

 

Poppy Fields     This week I built some new poppies to add to the field.   But apone putting them on the work I discovered that they are too orange and do not give the effect I want.  So I will scarp these and try again with a mix of the orange wool and the red  to make the new blossoms

100 Days Project Quilt Surface Design Association put out a calling to do a bit of work every day for 100 days. This is there second run of this challenge.  I missed the first. I decided to do 4.5″ X 6.5″ blocks in black and white. I recall an image in he Saturday Evening Post from my childhood were the photographer had reduced his images of people to black and white and then put lots of them together to create an image. My memory is foggy- but it has stuck with me somehow and so I though this would be a great opportunity to try something similar. I am using figures from the sports pages and some of my figures are based on dancers. My friend Noel suggested them after I told her what I was doing. In the 10 days of the process I have made some discoveries. I have learned that I want to cut the black fabric for my pieces and I want do the stitch outline in black too. The thing I discovered yesterday was I want to make all my figures big enough that the extend off the frame at least once in each case. I am still playing with possibilities here.

Drawings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Curvie Cuts, Daily Practice, Dark Mystery, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Lap Quilts, Saturday Afternoon, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Textile Artist Stitch Club

Busy Week

Hello,
This week had been exciting because I had two meetings where we meant face to face.    What a relief as we all get vaccinated and the governor  lifts the restrictions  of  Covid.    I did not realize how much one reads body language. And  in these meetings,  there was no talking over one another either. The first meeting was with the Quilt Diva’s. We meant in the Schweinfurth after picking up our work form the Members Show. We did business and then shared our work. Alice has been working with clay and these are her “obers” .

 

 

 

Barbara had a real nice piece. I brought home five works for other artists that live here in town and will distribute them all back to their owners by tomorrow. There was also a Pixies meeting on line and it was up lifting too.

 

 

 

The second meeting was with four of the FAB group here at my house. Again we all had a lot to say and enjoyed our selves. It is so nice to set out doors and enjoy each other and the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I worked on the Textile Art Stitch Club project. This week she showed us how to add punch needle texture t our work. I also finished up my Blue Fox from the last assignment this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Saturday Afternoon This work is 36″ X 34″. I learned a lot about yarn applique doing this project. It is a skill I need to work at I think.  The project is an answer tot eht Picasso Challenge by the Sisterhood of the Scissors.

 

I used some of Grandmother Ruth’s hand made lace for part of this project.

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 13 This project is made up of many of my hand altered fabrics. I made the stencils earlier this winter and printed them with acrylic paint. This is the fabric of half of the stencils I printed at that time, so there will be another similar piece in the near future.

Green Base I got an idea for another leaf project and built this curvy cut base to support that idea.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Side of the Moon( formerly Dark Magic) I decide that the old title was not the mood I wanted to set for this work. I am hand quilting around the featured woven sections of the kimono at this point. This will be a slow project as I am not a fast hand quilter.

 

 

Daily Practice This is gong smoothly. I think I will finish this strip in the next two days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Horsetails   After showing this work to the FAB group  and thinking about it, i decided it needed more.  So I took out some of the stitch work and added the sun to this piece.  I am now in the process of assembling it.

Drawings for Pixies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Summer 1963
>
> Summer was always a busy time. I did attend summer school in the mornings, but the afternoons were mine. Mr Mc Daniel’s, the band teacher, also kept us busy. We did have practices and activities. It was so hot that many times we would play out on the front lawn of the school under the big oak trees. The  band  also marched in the 4th of July parade . It was a much smaller event then what I was familiar with from Grandview. We participated in the county fair and the band had a white elephant sale for that. Many of the kids manned the booth and we had fun afterward on the rides and such. There was also a Cake Walk that we ran one of the days. For that I baked a Cherry Cake- my favorite. The money we made went toward our summer field trip to Detroit. We left on a Friday morning and rode the bus to the city. We played a concert in a city park in a band shell that afternoon.    For that we did not wear our uniforms, but all dark shorts and white shirts.  I still remember being hot.   I went to dinner with a group of fellow band members and had my first commercial pizza. Someone persuaded me to try an Anchovy. That was a taste surprise. I shared a hotel room with three other gals and we talked late into the night and did not sleep much it seemed. Saturday morning we went to a rehearsal of the Detroit Sympathy. It was informative. In the afternoon we all went to see “How the West Was Won” on a wide screen movie theater. I really enjoyed the movie and purchased the record of the sound track when I got home. We then all piled into the bus and rode home. We sang a lot and it was quite late when we got back to Muncie. Grandmother and Grandfather Cocklin were visiting and we all went to church the next morning. I do not recall much else about that Sunday except we made homemade ice cream. Gene and I went off with the grandparents on Monday to Iowa for two weeks before Mon and Dad joined us. It was a great time. We got to see all three families of cousins and spent a lot of time with the Bells. Casey and Curt Dean were little boys with lots of energy and fun to play with. They only visited tow days and then went home with their mother Aunt Shirley. I did baby sit for Aunt Barbara one day out on their farm. I remember climbing the apple trees with cousins Timmy and Tom along with Gene. We also played space travel using their beds that were built into the wall under the slope of the roof. We pretended the Radiometer was our power source. That evening I went on my first date with cousin Danny. He was a year older and had a car. We added one of his friends and drove to Muscatine to the fair grounds. His buddy brought me French fries and we all rode the Ferris Wheel together. It was a good time. What I remember the most was the time spent with the Bell family. Tracy and Kelly came into Grandmothers one day and we played dress up in the play house. Then the girls stayed the night and we played with the ice skating paper dolls that grandmother had. One day out at the Bell farm we played war in the trees hoses. We loved the goldfish-carp in the house tank and we fed them oatmeal. The fish were about eight inches long. Cousin Russell got stung and I learned he was allergic. His Mom rushed him off to the Dr to get a shot I think. Another day we spent the day playing board games. I fell in love with Trade Winds- a game with little ships that had to collect barrels of rum, doubloons and gems stones. I asked for that game for Christmas, but Mom never found it. One afternoon Aunt Marce took all five of us off to Wild Cat Den State Park. We all had a great time running the trails and hiding from one another. We came home exhausted from that fun afternoon. One night the Bells took Gene and I to play miniature golf . It was a great time and Doug ended up with the best score. It was a great time with all my cousins.

Please stay safe and be Creative

Carol

Bonsai, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Field, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Sisterhood of the Scissors, Textile Artist Stitch Club

New Growth

Hello,
Spring continues to explode around me. It is so beautiful ! Over the long winter one tends to forget  how powerful green can be. I had two Zoom meetings this week. The QuEG’s meant and the Pixies  did too. I also had two meetings face to face. FAD meant in Judy’s garden and enjoyed ourselves greatly. Today I meant with my fellow quilters in the Sisterhood of the Sisters group as we viewed the Members Show at the Schweinfurth.  This shot is of Sharon her work.    As it turned out there were only seven of us- but it was still great. 

 

This is a shot of Ann at the show.

 

 

The only other member of the Sisterhood   who had a piece in the show was  Noel.

 

 

But I have lots of other friends who were in the show too.   This diptic is by Barbara Vural , a gal that I taught with for over 20 years.

 

 

This sculpture is by Carol Adamack,  another Art  Teacher that I taught with.

 

 

 

 

 

This shot shows a quilt by Mary( the Haron) who is  Quilt Diva’s and a work by Cindy,  another art teacher /quilter I know.

 

 This is a work by Anne another active Quilt Diva  member.      It is a great show and will be up until  May 30.   I found it very stimulating.

 

 

 

 

 

The Fiber Artists Stitch Club got a new assignment from Saima Kaur. I am enjoying working on my project.

 

Progress Report: Bonsai This work is . I challenged myself to not use any cottons in this work and it did prove to be a challenge. The silks and synthetics do slip around a lot. I am working hard to get it to be flat and I will make another attempt at the pressing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Afternoon I am in the process of zig zag appliqueing yarn down to out line the shapes.

 

 

 

 

Poppy Field After talking with Liz I decide that this piece needed a center of interest. As my friend Ethel said” you make good backgrounds”. So I took the information that I learned in Amanda Mc Carver’s class a few weeks ago and stared some bigger Poppies in wool and thread. I have these two about ready to put together and I want to make three more and hope they do the trick.  I plan to place the three petal piece on top of the twin petals and add a center to create the blossoms.

Drawing I did four more drawings this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt       This new work is make from all fabrics that I have altered .   I am still enjoying building with my own stuff.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories :  Portland OR
The school play my senior year was “Girl Crazy.” I worked backstage and enjoyed the process. In the spring we did a variety show called “Musical Moods” For that production I was on stage as a dancer in the piece about the south pacific. The Tiki that Mom had carried home on her lap from Hawaii was on stage too.   It is now residing in the corner by the bookshelf in our east bed room. The National Thespian Convention that year was in Portland Oregon. Mr Fee took seven of us to that event. I sold lots of candy to raise money for the trip that year. I was the only senior , with two Junior girls and four Junior boys. We boarded the train in Muncie at 4:00 am and headed for Chicago. There, we joined a train that was exclusively for Thespians going to the convention. Kids from further east were already on board. Our group was seated together at the end of a car in the last four seats. It was long ride of two nights and three days with new car loads of kids being added as we went along. Sitting in front of us was a group from PA. One of the boys just in front of me had a guitar. He played beautifully and we all sang folk songs all the way across the country. Songs like “If I had a Hammer” and “ This Land is Your Land, This land is My Land.” It was very enjoyable.
Mr Fee challenged each of us to come up with a personal bit of acting to do some time over the week we were at the conference. I decided that with the help of the others I would try to play the part of some one who was deaf and could read lips. I did a good job fooling the gals on my floor in the dorm. Only once in the shower room did I almost blow it. My back was turned to a gal in the shower and she asked me to hand her a bar of soap on the bench. As I turned I realized I could not have herd that request, so I quickly said in my flat voice, “ Good Night” and left the bathroom. We had a dance one evening and I went of course. One of my boys from Central had to explain to one of the gals on my floor that I could feel the beat of the music through the floor so I could dance. I could not have pulled the week off without their help.
The Conference was at Lewis and Clark college in a remote beautiful hilly setting. When we got our room assignment I was a solo so the other girls helped me with my acting by waking me up each morning by coming into my room. I had a great view of a beautiful gully like the one in Columbus Junction. The conference went on for five days with workshops in the mornings a play preformed by our peers in the afternoons and a second each evening. We really covered a lot of ground. Again I did two workshops on costuming. I learned some nice tricks. As to the plays, I really only remember “Waiting For Godot”. The group discussion after that was very lively. The memorable evening performance was of “Peter Pan.” It was great to talk with the stage hands after that one and have them explain how they built the equipment to do the flying. That was also the last event of the conference. The train ride home was not as exciting as we were in a different car then the PA folks, and we were tired . Mr Fee did ask us about our” acting “ experience. I admitted that I was tired of playing that part by the end of the week. It did make me more sensitive towards others with that impairment.

Stay safe and Keep Creating
Carol