Category Archives: Scrap Happy Quilts

Birds, Childhood Memories, Experiments, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Heron, Mayan -Leopard Priest, Red-winged Black Birds, Scrap Happy Quilts, Thread Painting

Temperature swings of Spring

Hello,
I hope everyone is doing as well as can be expected in this time of high stress for all of us. I continue to see signs of spring and enjoy them as they come.    We had snow on Monday and Tuesday.    Then   the sky was so very blue yesterday it made me smile as we  walk in the 54 degree weather.     More trees are budding every day as this red bud attests.    This time of year is full of surprises.
I participated in a Zoom meeting this week. It was good to just talk with my friends and see there faces. I continue to work in my studio and enjoy the process.

Progress Report: Tiles One of the things I have been trying to do is explore with old Quilting Arts Magazines. The article was by Julie Hirota in the Oct Nov 2007 issue 29, is the source for this project. I think it falls very short as a final piece as there is so little contrast. The techniques of attaching pieces with grommets, I find very frustrating and time consuming. It took me 15 min to attach each one. But as my father often said one can not expect success on the first try of something new. In thinking about the idea I may try the tiles again and use lace as the connections.

 

 

 

Flower Vase This work is 16″ w X 20″ t. I did this work in response to the suggestions from Textile Artists community stitching challenge. Ann Kelly was the woman directing this phase of the challenge. I adapted it as I usually do. I use this project to explore different ways to make flowers. Using old linens as a vase was her suggestion and I really like that idea.

I went on to use old crochet flower forms on my piece. Then I did yo-yo’s as the centers for the blue flowers that have daisy  stitches for the petals. The big pink flowers are made from some trim that I had in my collection. I ended up stretching it to give it a stronger final presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granite This work is also 16″ w X 20″ t. This work has served as my hand work project for the last few months. I am pleased with how I feel it depicts the granite that I based it on. I now intend to start the 100 days challenge as my hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy This is a queen sized bed quilt. I like to use up scarps and that is how this piece began. It is only the most recent in along line of pieces of the same type. They all go to worthy causes or folks who I feel need them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy new I started a new one as soon as the last on was complete as I had made the squares earlier this year. There are at least two more quits like these  in the near future.

 

 

 

 

Red Winged Black Birds This is my newest bit of thread painting. I finished the machine work yesterday and now they are pinned to the board ready to have the wash-a – way removed from them.

 

 

 

Heroin I worked on this piece of thread painting at the same time as the other birds. I only now need to finish the legs and the beak and it too will be ready for the wash out step.   The wash-away has not been trimmed from this piece.

 

 

 

 

Pattering I started this work in January when I was caring for Susan. It only resurfaced a few days ago. It will get some attention now.

 

 

 

 

Mayan series –  Leopard Priest  I made on Mayan piece a few months ago and it received such a lot of positive feedback that I thought I would make a few more. This is the drawing and enlargement for that project. The orange fabric will be the background.

 

Mini   I have also been playing with small little works.  This is one of the first.

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing I did a little more drawing this week. The two on the same page are from Designs in Nature  a book published  by Dover.

 

 

 

 

This drawing of a spring branches, is from life.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Serious about Camping

In the spring near the end my third grade my family got a new car. It was a white Ford Station wagon with brown plastic seats that had brands all over them. I remember the circle X and the Bar BQ most vividly. Dad had to purchase a woven wire seat that he sat on because the plastic made him sweat in the summer time. Dad also got busy building at that time a wonderful car top carrier. It was made of plywood that was 2.5 ft tall at the front end and tapered to six inches at the back. There was a hinge a few feet back form the front so items could be stored in that area and easily accessed. Beyond the hinge , Mom made canvas sides and aback panel
that allowed the back to open up, but still  be protected from the weather  inside. Dad also made a ladder that could be placed on the back of the car so Gene and I could climb up into the carrier and sleep there.   We stored all of the family sleeping bags with the air mattresses fully inflated in the   car top carrier back area during the day and removed Dad’s and Mom’s bags at night and put them in the bottom of the wagon with the seats down. We all slept comfortably with this arrangement well into my college years. Dad also built two sturdy wooden boxes to store our food as well as 4 nested metal plates, cups and pans that had removable handles. Mom painted the carrier and the boxes white. There was also a Coleman Lantern and Coleman Stove for cooking.    Both of those ran on white gas and had to be pumped up for use.   We were set for years of great camping experiences with all this great equipment.    All this  preparation was  for Dad’s Summer job as a seasonal Forest Ranger at  the Tetons National Park.
We set out for the Park as soon as school was out that spring. Gene and I both had a suit case of course and we were allowed a small collection of toys. I took my 7″ doll and her clothes, jacks , papers and crayons. Gene took a new hatchet he had been given and his football.
We started out driving west on highway 30 out of Carroll in the early morning. As soon as we reached the Iowa boarder we drove north along the Missouri  River before turning west again in South Dakota. We hit many of the attractions along the way. I remember passing lots of “tourist traps” and a coffee shop built of cast concrete that was shaped like a coffee pot. We stopped and got gas at a Sinclair station that had a life sized green dinosaur on a little rise to the west of the station. We did stop at Wall Drug Store after reading the many Burma -Shave like signs that were along the highway. We drove into the Badlands. They were so barren compared to the green of home, but held a special beauty all their own.   I know we   went to the Black Hills and Badlands on other trips with the Bell family, Grandpa Howard and Grandmother Ruth.   On that trip we did a lot of exploring and fossil hunting in the Badlands.   I just do not know what age I was for that experience.     I do know it was not a  part of this adventure to the Tetons as we had a time dead line.   The next stop   on our trip was Mt Rushmore. I was quite surprised at the size of those of those heads. I remember being impressed with the modern lunch room and visitors center. I had warm prideful feelings years later when I saw the film “North by Northwest”. We then drove on to Wind Cave and stopped and did the tour. I was awe struck by the amazing block crystal formations on the ceiling of that cave. We continued west crossing Wyoming. I am sure we stopped somewhere along the way and camped with our new equipment, but I am not sure where. I do recall the long haul up the east side of the Continental Divide.   It seemed to be  just a long up hill drive with a few descents and then more up with no real view of what we were about to see.  There were lots of trees and no real views.    But when we crossed  the top and there was a wonderful view of the Tetons. We drove down into the valley and into the park. I am sure we went to the main headquarters first but I can’t say I remember it. I do remember  the wonderful summer at the camp ground at Colter Bay, however, and I will tell some of those stories next.

Please take good care of yourself and keep Creating

Carol

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

Working Away

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

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

 

I added paint to the kernels to add interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

This is a shot of it before additions were made.

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Grandfather Howard stories

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

Childhood Memories – More Grandfather Howard

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

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol

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

Getting Warmer

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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


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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 


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

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

Childhood Grandfather Howard

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

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Drawing, Hand work, Kites and Flowers, SAQA Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Solo Butterfly Flight

Contrast

Hello
Mother Natures and old Man Winter are playing games wit the weather here. Wed I took the flower picture and it was a glorious day  sunny and warm. This morning I got up to cold, snow on the ground and all  over the trees. It is a time of contrast.

 

 

 

 

I spent a lot of time working on the Textile Artist stitching challenges this week. I did finish Sue Shane’s assignment from week one. I will work on creating more simple patterns using only strait stitches in the future.

The assignment for this week was from Richard Mc Vetus and it was to do four different ways of couching. I added it to the fabric piece from last week. This morning I though of one more thing I want to try so I drew another circle to fill.

I did more of the Sketchbook Revival projects.   Melany Rivers did a fun exercise where we drew with our left hand and then finger painted in the drawing. It was enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

Noah Scanlin gave us a challenge were we were to put 100 dots on a page and then connect them to create and image. The crazy clown with the deflated balloon came out of that. The we added to the image using the same blokish style. I good way to loosen up.

 

 

Ryana Campbell did a collage and paint piece with us. Her approach uses more paint on top to join the image and build it up then.  I normally do  not add much paint when  I  collage, so I learned a new tool to add to my   creative tool box.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Place Matts I have now completed all 17 of the place matts. They are all in a the bag that Joyce gave them to me in and I will deliver them to her front poach on Tue. The new rule that says I am ,as an even year birth date , only be out on Tue, Thur and Sat.   That does limit me. But I will use Tue to do lots of little errands like deliver masks and    go to the post office and mail some of my cowls to friends.

Solo Butterfly Flight This work is 22″ X 22″. The blue and pink background is from Regina and one of the completed it challenge pieces that she gave me.
I finished this free motion drawing part and added the butterfly yesterday.

I looking at it today I think I will add a bit to the butterfly as it seems a little dull to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kites and Flowers This work is also a part of the complete it challenge. I am finishing up the facing part now and the yellow and orange on the right is that section. I did reflective quilting after I quilting around the kites and flower.

 

 

 

Agitated Aggie When I went to the Canadian Quilt show last fall with the Sisterhood of the Scissors group we created a challenge using the graphic fabric with the women holding the scissors. I am finally getting around to working on it and having a great time.

Marble This is my hand work project for now. I am just trying to mimic some floor tile that I took a photo of.

Drawing I only did one drawing this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy This is the start of the assembly of this one  quilt. It has taken longer then I expected to put together the backs. That reflects the same problem I encountered before- trying to do three at one time is just a lot slower then doing just one. I will not do it this way ever again.

12″X 12″   The call came out this week for the Surface Design Quilt Association   auction entries.  This is my start on that challenge.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Des Moines

The move to Carroll was made because Dad got a new job as Principal of the Public High School there. It was a much larger school with about 2 75 high school students. One of the new things that the job offered was his  participation in the Iowa Administrators Conference that happened in Des Moines every year on the Saturday  of the week following Thanksgiving. We went along with him and spent the day in the city while Dad went to the meetings. It continues to be the biggest city in the state and it seemed huge to me as a kid. Mom started her Christmas shopping at that time so we went to the big department stores, J.C. Penny’s, Sears and Roebuck and Gimbles. Mom let Gene and I pick out an ornament for the Christmas tree every year. The first one I selected was an orange Santa with a real fur beard and arms that were attached by springs so they wiggled. He could be separates at the belt to reveal a opening in the middle were Mom hid a special treat every year to be opened on Christmas morning. One year I selected a blown glass blue bird with a long tale that was like a paint brush. There were lots of shoppers, so to keep us together Mom always held Gene’s  hand, while I held onto her coral colored coat  sleeve and often carried a shopping bag. Mom gave us a few coins with instructions to donate to the charity buckets that were manned along the street. “ We need to be thankful for out blessings and share what we can,” she told us. Gene did not want to do that and I think he kept a few of the pennies, but he did put something in the pot too. As we walked from store to store, I kept looking at all the different people. We walked past two dark blue black men who were talking. They were the first live black men I had ever seen and so much darker then the brown King in our nativity set. Mom corrected me for my staring- but it was not the color  of their skin that captured my limited childhood mind- “ But, Mom they were talking in tongues!” In my world I had jumped to the conclusion that they were doing something religiously amazing sense the only time I had ever heard that one could not understand the words of another was from the Bible. She laughingly  explained to me that they were just from a foreign country not from the Bible. I was so  naive.
The last even of the day was a stop for dinner at a big smorgasbord, called Bishops. Mon carefully took me all though the line and Dad helped Gene. She let me look at everything before we started to fill the plate so I would not take more than I could eat or fill that plate with too much of one type of food and want some of an item further down the line. It was a very pleasant meal and we followed that ritual every year that we went to the conference. At the end of the meal a waitress brought Gene and I balloon’s that had  Bishop’s printed on them  and with   little cardboard feet so they sat flat. I remember bouncing the feet on my hands in the car as we started the long drive home.   The family followed variations on this trip for four years.

Stay safe and keep creating.

Carol

Drawing, Hand work, Kites and Flowers, Scrap Happy Quilts

Slow Spring

Hello,

I took this photo of the daffodils on Tuesday it has rained  every day sense then and then today it is set to snow.     The temperature has fallen from 50 this morning  to  29  this evening.    Mother Nature can’t seem to make up her mind.

 

 

 

I am still working on the Textile Arts Stitch Challenge. This week Emily Tull did a demo on how to stitch an eye. Mine is okay for the first try – but I think I need more practice. I am still working away on the week one piece from Sue Stone.

Sketchbook Revival is still giving me lots on stimulation. Nina Rycroft built an Easter Bunny wit us. It would be a cute card.

 

 

 

 

David Drazil worked with lettering. Lots of potential here.

 

 

 

Wendy Holler who works for the Botanical Gardens in NYC worked with us on how to paint a petal. I went on with the idea and did a flower.

 

With Stephanie  Lee one worked on personal responses to the meanings in quotes.   It is an usnusal use of a sketchbook.  I see it more as a note book myself.

 

 

A Wild Garden was the lesson that Karen Stamper lead one through. It is wild and very freeing.

 

Juliet Meeks did a floral display with us. I am having fun and it is nice to explore new ideas outside quilting.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Masks I just keep making these. I passed on eight this morning to a friend who wanted to send them to her children. I have requests for more too so there will be more in my future.

 

 

 

Kites and Flowers  I finished the free motion drawing around the kites and flowers yesterday. Now I need to decide on a pattern for the rest of the quilting to finish this work up.

 

Place Matts I have finished five of these now. The rest all have there nylon netting on both sides but I have not done the stitch in the ditch quilting to bond the four layers together on the rest. Then there is the binding to do too. It just takes time.

Scrap Happy I am making progress on this project. I am building backs Now so I can do the assembly to the units.

 

 

 

 

Regina Challenge. I fused all the parts down last week and now I am doing free motion drawing on top to hold things all together. I plan to make a free motion drawing of a bird or butterfly to add to this work for a center of interest.

Drawing I have been drawing every time I spend time on the telephone. I had
Several long conversations this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cowls I did more cowls this week. Now I have made 23 of them. I am down to small bits of yarn now and I feel good about that.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories– 3rd Grade
I went into the third grade the fall we moved to Carroll. The elementary school building was built in 1952 and seemed very modern and new at the time. It was a long low L shaped building with a wide hall that ran down the center of each the two levels with classrooms branching off both sides and stair wells at the ends. The short leg of the L connected to the high school building that was three stores high and much older. The new gym was attached to the north end of the high school and it had a stage on one side and permanent seating across the basketball floor in the center. In the elementary the kindergarten was on the south side and faced the playground. Gene was in that room in the afternoons and I picked him up at the end of the day
and we walked home together most days as my class was just across the hall. I do recall one Tornado  Drill in that hall where all the kids sat on the floor with our knees up, our heads down and are arms over our heads in the dark. I am sure it did not last long, but it seem like forever to me as kid.
The play ground was on the south side of the elementary building. It was a huge pea gravel lot.
A wide cement area was next to the building and ran all the was across the front of the building. Lots of jump rope space.
The swings were along the east side and the south side had two slides, several see-saws, and a double sized jungle gym. I spent a lot of time at the top of that structure in third grade. The west side had two  ball fields that overlapped a lot. One was used mostly by sixth grades and the second was for the forth and  fifth  grades.
My memories of third grade are few but I do recall some . I remember laying on the floor on top of a big piece of paper and the teacher tracing around me She did that for  all the students. We then drew in the details and colored our life sized selves to sit in our seats for open house in early October.     In Dec we made a class Nativity scene in ceramics. I made a very simplified figure( modern I though) of a Shepherd- my assigned figure.    When they were fired we painted them and set up the display.   When I brought the figure home, it became  a part of our family Nativity and appeared for years. Third grade was the first time I ate school lunch.    I had carried Dad’s old black round top  metal lunch pale a few times in second grade before we moved. The lunch room in Carroll,  was directly below my class room in the basement. I remember standing in line on the stairs waiting for the hot lunch many times.
I recall too the day when Mrs Fister , the high school art teacher came to our room to do Art Appreciation. The big reproductions that she showed us was Grant Wood’s “Stone City”. She told us he as a native Iowan.   The painting has a  corn field in the foreground with a farm behind and a huge windmill, a road that winds between hills to the horizon.   There are lots of round trees that are all uniformly green .    When asked what I saw in the painting I said” Pea Trees”- and got a lot of laughs from my peers.   I was embarrassed but  Mrs Fister did not make a fuss.   We had a similar lesson every year in elementary.  In Jr high when I had Mrs Fister for  seventh grade art  class, she rewarded my talent by doubling the time I got to come to her class  for art and so  I went every day.   I did my first stitchery in her class.  It was an underwater landscape with lots of fish and  bubbles that were cut circles of blue fabric with a pearl  button on top of each circle.

Stay safe in these trying times and keep creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Exploring Blue, Scrap Happy Quilts

Evidence of Spring

Hello-

As these flowers show Spring is trying to make an impact here I New York, it is getting warmer too.  The walks we take daily really help break the feelings of confinement and lighten my spirit. Everyone’s life has and is facing a major shift in thinking and existing.     Being out and  seeing spring reviving its self helps me.    Working in the studio has become even more important to me  as well.   I have no destination for the work I am doing, but is  it does help me feel sane. I hope everyone is doing what is best for their sanity too.

I was a part of a Video chat this morning and that was a real positive event.   Just one example of how  I am practicing ” Social Distancing” and  one of the changes my life is going through.   As my Dad said “ It is not what happens to you- but what you think about what happens to you that counts.” Please keep looking for the positive view.

Progress Report:Exploring Blue    This work is 33.5″ w X 18.5″ t. It all started with me finally deciding to put the machine lace I had done over a year ago into a piece. I added stuff from the packet that Angela had give me too. It is the biggest piece  of hand work with add on’s that I have done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talisman Pouches These two little pouches are based on the instructions in Quilting Arts Magazine. I had fun building up the textures and stitching down the ribbons and beads. 

 

 

This is a shot of the bags open  showing the back and the flap.

 

 

 

 

Felt Dry  Balls I have created these four new balls this week. I have the cores started for six more so there will me more in the future. It is a fun way to use some of my roving.    I plan to give them as gifts.    My laundry is nice and fluffy as I have run them in the dryer once to make sure they did not comp apart.

 

 

Scrap Happy– I stated cutting 4.5″ strips and sewing them together and adding the scrap pieces I did last fall to the sides .  ( on the left) I think I have enough for three quilts here. This is a project that I know I can rely on to get me going when I am in a bit of a dry time. It pulls me into the studio and gets me sewing.

Place Matts These are a commission that I am working on. I have two quilts from Joyce.   ( the stay in the right)   Both  quilts  have some places that have bad wear places so she wants me to make them into place matts so they can continue to “live” in the world as apposed to setting in a drawer. It took me a long time to get past the emotional discomfort of cutting into them. They are cut to size and I will begin to fuse the parts together and move forward on this project.

New work- Regina Challenge I finally got an idea of where I want to go with this project. I was cleaning off a shelf and came across the rust, brown and blue fabric and though that they could work together and I am rolling now.

 

 

Cowls The News is so very stressful that I find if I keep my hands busy with these projects I do not get so upset. Some one will benefit in the future I am sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My collection of wild yarns is greatly diminished and I like that part too.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Creative Mom

Mom  was  always very resourceful. I remember her spending hours in the sewing closet in the hall. She made clothing of course and lots of curtains for the new house. Gene’s room had a nautical theme. The  fabric had big three masted boats in a  large directional print on it.    I think it was really designed for skirts that were popular around that time. Mom added a green boarder on the bottom to make them long enough. She made the curtains for the basement in a diamond print that used red, orange, pink and black diamonds alternating with white. She also made a doll dress with the leftovers for my Mexican doll, Rosalia.    She made a silk screen of big leaves that she printed in dark green on white. From this   printed fabric she made kitchen curtains. She painted two murals in that house. One was in the bathroom in the basement. It was a picture with a lake in the foreground, pines and aspens in the middle ground and then mountains in the far background. The second mural was behind the kitchen sink. The double sink was set at an angle to the corner and a piece of bent Masonite was the paint surface. This painting was also a work featuring mountains with a tree in the foreground.
Mom stayed at home the year I was in third grade and Gene was in half day Kindergarten. One day in the spring I came home and came in the front door to see one orange leg hanging down from the ceiling over the piano. Mom had accidentally stepped off the pallet at the top of the attic stairs and come though the ceiling. She was in a position that she could not pull herself up to get out. She yelled for me to help. I could not do the job  either , so she sent me to the Annaberg’s house to get David( who was 18) and Mrs Annaberg . They all came running back with me and quickly helped her get the leverage she needed to puller her leg out from between the rafters. The only thing broken was the Sheetrock . After assuring them she was mostly embarrassed and a little bruised they went home. No one ever mentioned it again. Mom did make a fancy cake and took it to them as a thank you. Dad got lumber the following weekend and put flooring down over the whole attic space over  the next few weekends. The ceiling got patched and the front hall got a  new coat of paint. When ever Mom wore those orange wrangles I always thought of that leg in the ceiling.

Stay Safe

Carol

Birds, Childhood Memories, Collections, Creative Assistants, Drawing, Scrap Happy Quilts, Thread Painting

Thread Painting

Hello,
This has been a busy week. I went to Judy Hand’s opening on Sunday. She is an amazing painter. Tue was the Diva meeting. There were only three of us so it was a bit disappointing. Regina gave me this wonderful little stitch piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She and I also made our UFO exchange. I think I got the good end of this as two of the three are only fabric .      The ones I passed to her are farther along.

The FAB group meant today and it was good too. Always lively discussions.

 

Thread Painting.   I have been doing this and I thought I should explain   my process.   After I have selected  subject, I sketch it   in  my sketchbook.  That way I can trace it on the wash away.   I then make a sandwich that is one layer of wash away, a layer of  nylon netting as I tend to tear the wash away if I do not reinforce it.    In this case with the Kill Deer I have added a bit of brown roving too.   Then a second layer of wash away with the traced images on it.  This all goes into a hoop where I then do the thread work.    I outline the   one colored area I want to fill in first.  Then I fill in small sections until I am happy with the solid feel of the area.

 

  I change color when I need to and often times run  two different colors of thread through the same needle to get a richer color.   I continue until the total figure is filled in.  I tear away as much of the wash away as I can before I  pin it to foam where it is flat and I use hot water to remove the rest of the  wash away. ( Check out the Robins)   I let the project dry over night and then trim away the nylon netting that remains .( The Cardinals are trimmed and pinned to a background)   I hope this makes it clear enough for folks to follow.

Progress Report: Snow Dye

Here is the result of the was out that I showed last week. It is unique I think

 

 

 

 

Cardinals The Thread painting is going well. Now I need to build a limb for them to rest on.

 

 

 

 

 

Robins I finished this family yesterday and did the washout. I need to unpin them and trim away the  nylon netting next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaves I tried the machine drawing on roving with these leaves too. They worked well and are just pinned down here.   I’ll adds some birds and until I get that done I do not want to make the final decision about the leaf locations.

 

 

Collections- Memoirs of the Women  The women on this piece are  Grandma Butterworth, and Mom.   The pictures are from when both were about 20.   The bits and pieces are all from their lives. I only have a few more things to attach and this will be complete.

Creative Assistants I added the arms, hair and backs to these assistants this week. Then I turned and stuffed them. They were sewn shut and the pin backs added. Yesterday I added the squeezie paint embellishments.

 

 

Scrap Happy     I finished this work this week too.   It has been waiting for the return of the  sewing machine.    I  have been work with  one that only does strait stitches and zig- zag  so I could not apply the binding with the button whole stitch that I like to use.

 

 

 

 

Drawing –   

I was trying to work with reflection this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Junction Bed Room

My bed room in Columbus Junction was also the den. It was just to the left inside the front door. Along that south wall was a window and below it was a small book shelf that Dad built. Grandma Ruth had seven grand children by then and she gave us all magazine subscriptions for Christmas. Gene and I had subscriptions to Humpty Dumpty and Child Digest. They were stored in the book shelf and Mom or Dad would often pull one out to read to us at night. That was where I was first introduced to “Mike Mulligan the Steam Shovel and wonderful Dr Suess stories like “ It happened on Mulberry Street” and “ Mac Elliot’s Pool. “ On top of the book shelf was a lamp that Grandpa Howard made from wool that was cut and milled from the timber near the cabin he owned. The lamp was made of five blocks of walnut there were 4″X 4″ X 2″ stacked on alternating with 1 “ thick circles of a lighter wood. There were several other lamps like this in the house too. Next to the book shelf was a single bed. Mom made a cover that was gray on top with a long slightly gathered ruffle of 1″ strips of cream and black that hung to the floor. Along the back were two bolsters in red that Mom made and stuffed with rolled woolen blankets. There were two pictures above the bed but I don’t remember what were the subjects. I was sick with chicken pox in that bed. On the north wall was a door to the hall and the piano. Many times my Paper dolls were dressed up and lined up on top of the closed key board for a parade on that piano. On the east wall was a closet. I had a little dressing table with a bench and mirror in the closet. Sometimes I hid in the closet with the door slightly ajar and studied the shadows cast on my face in the mirror. Next to the closet was that chest of drawers that Dad and Grandpa built, and on top of that was a record player I had gotten for Christmas. It played 33.3s, 45s and 78s. I had a set of children’s records in red and yellow plastic that played such tunes as Poor Little Robin, Take Me Out to the Ball Park, The Rolly Poly Man in the Moon and Oh Susanna. I played them until I knew them by heart and can still sing them all.

I will be away for two weeks to help my friend. I know we will make art, but I will not be posting until I return so the next Bolg will be Feb 6.

Keep Creating

Carol

25 Million Stitches Project, Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Owl, Scrap Happy Quilts, small god

Happy Kwanzaa

 

Hello,
I hope the holidays are being filled with joy and delight for all of you. Kwanza begins today and for those who celebrate it, enjoy. This time of year one  takes stock of all the people who mean something to each one of us. As I write each holiday card I think of old friends and miss those who are on longer part of my life.

This week was full of many for me with lots of family events and for that I am truly grateful. I did finish Nick Quilt on Tues eve so I really meant my goal.


Progress Report: Owl quilt for Nick This queen sized quilt proved to be a struggle when it came to appliqueing the owl down. It is difficult to roll the quilt tight enough to fit under the arm of the machine and still be able to turn it to do the machine work. Nick and Haily did seem to like it however.

 

 

 

 

 

Small God      This work is 23″ W X 28.5 “ long. I found the blue woven fabric when I was pulling fabric for the back of Nicks ‘s Owl and set it aside.

So it did not take long to add it to the sides of the already stitched piece.  I did the drawing for this work over two years ago.   Sometimes I just have to wait for the fabric to show up to complete the task.

 

Scrap Happy I just keep inching along on this project. I surely will finish it soon.

 

 

 

 

 

25 Million Stitches Project

I am working away on the figures now and only need to add the work HOPE in the center of the circle and complete the figures.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants These little guys just keep rolling off the work table. I will need to stop and count sometime soon.

 

 

 

Childhood Memories: Yellowstone Critters
Mom was a continuous explore and   constant teacher. We learned the wild flowers in Yellowstone just like back in the Junction. I could quickly identify Bear Grass, Fire Weed and Shooting Stars. We walked up the high way one day and spent the afternoon exploring a lily pond. Gene just wanted to throw in rocks, something he seemed to driven to do with any body of water. One day we saw a solo Buffalo in a small meadow off the road. Mom charged us to take note of how high the buffalo was in relationship to a small tree there. On a later day we stopped the car and walked across the meadow up to the tree. I realized that my sense of scale was way off as I could only reach the branch that seemed to be level with the buffalo’s hump, if Dad boosted me a bit. They are very big animals!

On one of our outings we saw a Porcupine. He was very shy and ran away before Mom could get a photo.

One of our hikes revealed a Fire Ant mound. The nest was built of pine needles to help it suede water, Mom said.  The mound also made it possible for some of the aunts to weather the winter.  The mound  was so tall it reached about Gene’s waste and was three feet across. The bite of those ants hurt a lot too.
One of our outings  was up to a fire lookout station. The station was above the tree line and one could see across tree tops and peeks in all directions. There was a large brass device in the center of the room that cold be turned in any direction with a little window that the ranger then lined up with smoke so the fire could be pinpointed. The Range also gave us his binoculars and pointed out a Balled Eagle nest with 3 young all brown birds in it. They do not get white head feathers until they are three years old.   They were only six weeks old he told us.    Yellowstone  was a great experience for me as a kid.

I am stating to think about my goals for 2020.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Jumping Off Place, Owl, Scrap Happy Quilts

Working Away

Hello,
With Christmas fast approaching there are always lots of craft fairs in our area. I went to one and purchased these wool dryer balls. They are a great way to speed up dryer time and fluff up the clothing just like lint sheets- but no waste. They work well.

Progress Report:   Owl   Quilt – Nick’s Christmas   I am assembling the base and quilting that part now. The quilting is all stitch in the ditch.

 

Scarp Happy I finished the back and I am now flip quilting all the rows together. Only have a few left.   I will do a diagonal quilting pattern on top to make even more connections.

 

 

 

Jumping off Place This work got berried under other projects and only came to light again this week. I want to add some buttons for emphasis and think I will finish soon.

Creative Assistants I did watch a lot of football this week so I finished up 25 more of these little fellows. More are in various stages too.

25 Million Stitches Project My good friend Cheri alerted me to this project to note and bring to the attention of others the fact that there are 25 million refugees in our world at this time. I continue to be worried about the children that our country has separated from their parents and this is my small contribution to  that  awareness  and to other aspects of this problem. I started my contribution last eve. If you are interested in participating the email add to find information is AQUinfor@comcast.net

 

Childhood Memories Base Camp in Yellowstone
Dad was stationed at the South Gate Ranger Station  in Yellowstone so that was where we parked the tailor for the summer. There were four families there plus a barracks full of young men who were the trail crew. They also tended the horses that were in the meadow in the day time and in the barn at night. Two of the families were permeate ranges. They lived in a three story duplex that the park service provided. There were three stories because the snow became so deep in winter that one could only escape from one of the upper stories through doors on those levels. The Children- all boys- five of them were home schooled. Across the dirt road on the meadow side sat our trailer and the smaller camp tailor  of the Jaquin’s .    We where  the  seasonal ranges families  and there was no housing provided at that time. We did not have electricity or running water.  (Welcome to how most of the world lived for hundreds of years.)    Mom had to hall water and the out house was down the road a bit and closer to the barracks. There was running water there and the barracks had indoor pluming so we never really crossed their paths. Mom had to use a wash board to do the laundry. With on way to keep food cold we only had real milk and fresh meat on the evening after we went to West Thumb and visited the trading post. We did drink a lot of powered milk though.  Because there was no  electricity and running water meant that Mom had to boil water on the Coleman stove for baths. We had a big stainless steel tub that we used for that. But I only remember doing that a few times . More often we went off to secluded section of the Snake River down stream from some geyser activity and went “swimming” there with soap. Mom often washed my hair there as well. It was great as it was warm and very clear. There was electricity available as Gene discovered the first night we were there. It was dusk and  he and I where catching June Bugs. He ran into the electric fence and it knocked him to the ground. He was more surprised then hurt. The fence was there to cage the horses and we had not noticed it when we parked the trailer. Later that summer we ducked under the single strand of wire and went into the bog part of the meadow. I was fascinated by the fact that one could find frogs in all stages of development from tad polls to two and four legged  little frogs with tails ,  all at the same time in the small horse hoof  pool wholes in the bog. The bog turned into a small stream just south of the barn. Jay, Gene and I played in it the first week or so. We built dams and such. No chance of getting lost as long as one stayed in the stream bed or next to it ,  so we did wander far. That all ended when a bear went through the camp area. Mom could not find us at that time and after that we had to be within hearing or eye sight of the camp for all our unsupervised play time. With only seven children and me the only girl,  it was a bit wild. We played hide and seek, tag and various other made up games. There was a big Marian of smooth rocks left by the glaciers that we used to play King on the Mountain on too. The rocks were all rounded so there were no sharp edges to get too badly hurt on. There was a big sand box near the big house and as kids we played there a lot. Gene had a toy we called a Trunner Rucker. It was a toy version of a road building bit of equipment. It was deep green and consisted of a cab unit with a trailer behind that had a crank on it so you could rise the bed and dump out the contents. It was a popular toy in that sand box and we played there a lot.    One day when Jimmy got angry with me and brook a glass jar on top of my head. I was banned from the sand box after Mom picked the glass out of my scalp. My first experience of “might makes right”. Dad tried to explain that even though it seems I was being punished –  sometimes it was better to avoid a conflict.     I just felt” wronged “and things between me and the boys were never the same. Mom did build me two tents- one out of a green army blanket and one out of a red Indian blanket to compensate.   It was fun but lonely.
We did eat a lot of peanut butter and canned meat that summer but we did get fresh fish too. One early morning the rangers took all the kids fishing on Yellowstone Lake. The kids mostly played on the rocky shore and only reeled in the fish that the men caught. Each child got the limit of 3- Cut Throat Trout. I remember being very proud. The eating was great too.

 

Hope everyone is preparing for the holidays and enjoying the time.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Owl, Scrap Happy Quilts

Busy Time

Hello-
As the photo shows I am still sorting my images of Australia.

I have been busy this week with a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting. We added a new member to our group and I welcome her. Her work is very personal and this quilt is about her concern for a friends lung cancer.

 

 

Angela shared her second quilt for her brother that is constructed with fabric from her fathers old shirts.

 

 

Noel showed two baby quilts and her new excoriation work with pears. She is expanding her knowledge form her QBL class- one on the many qualities I like about her.

 

 

 

 

Pat just completed this big work.

 

 

 

I also spent time at the Quilts = Art= Quilts show. This was my second visit and I was attracted to new works this time. This work is by Shannon Costly  if Marco Island Fl  and is called Emerging.   The white words are “cut through”   the quilt and only connected with thread.    I love how used color and negative space to convey her message.

Progress Report: Bed For Kids- Scrap Happy I put in a lot of time on this to finish it on Tue.

 

I am glad I have done the build work with scraps so that this quilt only took two weeks to complete.

 

 

 

 

Pink Windmill This work was what I started at Sharron’s earlier this fall. It too went off to the Beds project on Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 


Owl- Nick’s Christmas quilt I have built the back of this quilt and I am now assembling the rows. I hope to get to work on the owl piece for the top soon.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants These guys have served as my hand work for this week. It looks like I need to add the arms and hair so I can complete these guys.

 

There are two Childhood memories this week in my attempt to catch up.


Childhood Memories- 6th Birthday

In my family we always celebrated birthdays with candles and cake. One time Mom made angel food cake and inserted a little doll in the opening and made the cake frosting her gown. Mom did special parties when one was 6 and again when one turned 13. I’ll do 13 later. For my 6th birthday I had six guests all from the neighborhood- Billy, Susan, Sally, Doug, Anne and my brother Gene. The theme was Out of this World. The party hats were red vinyl with red crepe paper manes and two antenna with a ball on the end of each. The party favors were little forest green clothespin men with red ta-bards that sported a lighting strike. The were set in marshmallows to stand up.

Mom made a cake shaped like a space ship. The base was the usual cake tin and the second layer was baked in a domed Pyrex bowl. It had pink frosting with gum drops on it for lights. I got a big tricycle for my gift from Mom and Dad. It was red and white with a huge front wheel. I really loved it.   I spent many and afternoon  riding  it in the basement or up and down the driveway.

Childhood Memories – 1948 Ford 

As a kid, I did not pay much attention to cars until we got a used 1948 Ford. It was a ugly faded shade of dark green. My parents took it off to the garage and had it updated. The visor over the front window was removed and it got a new coat of paint. The Sunday before it came home we visited the car at the garage. The windows were taped with paper and the wheels were protected, the smell of paint was strong in the air and the ugly duckling was now yellow on the bottom with white on the top. It looked great! It was the car my parents used to pull a rented air stream from Columbus Junction,Iowa to Yellowstone National Park for that summer. I was seven. Mrs Mc Donald across the street gave  us a box of cookies the morning we left. Mom carefully dulled them out and made them last the whole trip. She also used the top of the box to keep track of the mileage. I recall smuggling down on the floor with my head resting on the lump- (drive shaft) and falling asleep on that trip. Later that summer we used the cookie box to create a diorama. Sand was on the bottom with short branches for trees, wolf liken for bushed and peeled corrugated cardboard became  the log cabin. Mom arranged a trip away from South Gate every weekend Dad had off from his guard duties. The car got a lot of use. On the first trip out of the park we went to Silver City- a soon to be tourist attraction. We walked the town and talked to the man who was running the press.    He was printing  hand bills for a show that evening at the opera house. We decided to stay . It was a Melodrama and great fun. I had never “Booed” or thrown peanuts shells at a villain before. When the show was over it was too late to drive home,so we stayed just out side of town sleeping in the car. Dad proceeded to pull the back up from the front seat and lay it down between the front and back seats. We were sort of flat and all four of us slept that way that night. In the morning Dad put the seat back in place and we drove away.
My only other memory of that car was going home. We were pulling the trailer over the centennial divide and the car did not like the work. The engine overheated.  Dad stopped the car and we all got out. Dad carefully removed the radiator cap -jump back just in time to avoid a scalding eruption. We had our own “Old Faithful” with lots of steam! After it cooled Dad filled the radiator with water from a canvas bag that hung on the front of the car. It was mostly down hill the rest of the way home so it did not happen a second time.  It was a good car that sure provided me with lots of memories.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season and is not stressed .

Keep Creating,

Carol