This is a show of all of the series that I have created so far in this series. There are 13 quilts in all about the same size and all for sale at the price of $125.00 each.
Hello followers. It seems that the post from last Thur was blocked for most of you so I am reposing it. My thanks go out to Patti my Computer Guru who save this project for me.
Carol
Hello- Fall is really making it’s self know here. On the walk today I noted that the trees with smaller leaves are changing color and dropping them. So our path is now strewn with Box Elder, Walnut, and Black Locus leaves. The sidewalk is also stained with stains from the wall nut husks, the chock cherries and the crab apples as the trees give up their fruits. The Maples are picking up color and dropping a few leaves but they are mostly full of foliage at this point. We did have one day when the smoke did effect the color of our morning sun and it was a bit eerie.
The Artists Stitch Club new teacher is Vinny Stapley. She is having us work with transparencies. I selected Polk Weed for my subject and this is the work so far. There is still a lot to do on this piece.
The Pixies are now meeting regularly on Tues. We did and Exquisite Corps piece last week and this it the final result. We are going to do it again this week and all of us will include words. I have not even started mine yet.
I did finish the crow assignment form the week before however. Crows in the Clouds is 18″ X 16″. The clouds are silk paper made with silk batting. The crows are black felt that is free motion added on top.
I also started a new crow piece for this week. I am using a bit of fabric that I hand stenciled and dyed the week before as the base. The crows are added on top. There is still work to do on this one.
Progress Report: Turtle Dancer- Mayan Series. The process is a very calming one for me and I am enjoying the bright colors too.
Deer Dancer- Mayan Series I am working away at the pinning up of this project. This step always takes me longer then I think it will. I am getting a large supply of fused backed fabric along the way.
Sweet Peas This little wall hanging is complete now.
Bunk Bed Quilt II This is a scrap happy as the many different fabrics used around the central blocks attests. I finished this second bunk bed quilt this week. These will become part of the Christmas for the twins.
Fern Forest This work is now all quilted with stitch in the ditch and ready for binding and completion. I like the colors here.
Blue Ferns This is a top that grew out of Fern Forest. The dark blue ferns just did not work in the other piece. I am just getting started at the lay out for this project and think I will use it to be a part of the new window quilt for the master bedroom. The challenge will be to build the 3-D part that covers the air conditioner.
Squares a Dancing I made great progress on this project this week . I did 14 squares so there are two sets of seven.
I now have 189 squares done. The “To Do” pile is shrinking too.
Childhood Memories- Last of the Bran Yard.
In the far right hand corner of Barn Yard and on the far right side of the barn was a Dutch door that lead to the cow stalls. Grandfather only had four milk cows for as long as I could remember. There were stalls for seven and last three were used for storage and Shookie slept there. It was also were she had her pups. Grandfather always gave away the puppies except for one the last litter. From that one he kept a male named Sport. Snookie was fixed after that. She was a better farm dog than Sport as he never really got the hang of herding animals very well. They often rode in the back of the pickup with Gene and I . They would accompany us when we played in the pastures too. Grandpa milked the cows morning and evening. He would set on a T stool made from a 2″X 4 and pull until the big buckets were full of foaming milk. The cats would always show up and sit patiently until he would call them, at which time he would squirt a pull of fresh milk into each waiting open mouth. The cows had a small pasture that they grazed in during most days. Grandfather could easily give them grain in the winter in there stalls. After milking Grandfather would carry the big buckets to the house. There were far too heavy for me. The buckets then went down to the basement were Grandmother would run the milk through the pasteurizing machine before pouring it into the big 10 gallon milk cans. The cans then went into the root cellar at the back of the basement to stay cool until they were taken to town. The milk along with the eggs of the week went to the Locker in Morning Sun and were traded for cash or locker rental. We had fresh milk at every meal. There was land across the road from the house too. The first field on the left of the lane was 80 Acres and the field to the right was 180 Acres. My memory was of how black the soil was there. I especially recall running behind the plow wheel in the flat feral left on the far left side of the plowed ground. My feet were always quite black when that was over. I had to do a per-wash at the pump before I came in to do the job seriously. One time when Dad and Grandpa were mowing the small field the accidentally killed and opossum. They saved the two babies and brought them back to the house. We put them in an wooden box and took them home. We fed of course and I remember lots of hissing and being bitten when I tried to pick them up. Never saw any “playing dead”. When Mom determined that they could make it on their own we took them out to Heart Lake and released them into that wild area.
There was a second 80 Acer field beyond the first and farther west. The lane turned south and ran to a pasture that was mostly created by erosion with several gullies. There was a small barn there. In the late 50’s and early 60’s digging farm ponds was all the rage, Hoit who owned the farm just north of Grandfather’s dug one, and I remember visiting a dam built across a gully on the Bell farm before it had filled with water. It was quite deep. Grandpa Merit also dammed up the biggest gully in that pasture to create a pond. It filled up quite well in the spring. The fresh water supply meant that Grandfather could house live stock there. He had always dreamed of having a herd of registered Black Angus. The pond meant that dream could be fulfilled. He started out with a heard of 25 and it grew from there. I remember going out to that pasture one day after a very bad thunder storm. Dad and Grandfather pointed out two cotes and a calf that had been stuck by lighting. The cows both lived, but the calf dies two day later.
Gene loved to fish and when Grandfather stocked the pond with Blue Gills he was delighted. We would walk across the road and down the lane, climb the fence and walk to the pond where he would spend the afternoon fishing. I just fooled around climbing trees and such. When he had caught a few fish and the afternoon was drawing to a close, we would go back to the house were Grandmother would clean the fish and fix them as a part of our suppers. I saw my life as the best- a city kid during the school year and a farm kid in the summers.
Hello, I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well. Summer Solstice was last Saturday and now the day light is shortening every day. I continue to walk and enjoy the summer season as it is a visual feast. There is a Mulberry tree that we walk under every day and it is loaded with berries now. I sure enjoy the few seedy fruits I pick every day. It reminds me of my childhood. My garden is also hostessing flowers from Grandmother Butterworths ‘s garden. They always make me think lovingly of her and their bright color is a joy to the eye.
The Textile Artist Stitch Club had a new assignment this week. Emily Tulli demonstrated how to do a mouth. We are to do three different ones and this is my work at the half way point. I still need to add a second shade of gray and then white for the highlights.
Progress Report: Square’s a Dancing I worked hard on this project this week and finished two groups of seven. I also cut up another pair of Eric’s pants to use as bases and that is why there is a color change.
Scrap Happy I have now made rows of leftover squares for a new quilt. Nothing goes to waste in my world .
Eagle Priest- Mayan Series I finished the quilting of this piece this week and only need to finish off the little quilt with binding and a sleeve .
Vulture Priest- Mayan Series I drew out the next piece for this series and I am in the middle of cutting the pieces to applique to created the image. It will be ready for work when the Eagle Priest is done.
New Work I am working away on this new piece. The insertion of the metallic pieces is a fun process. As I have no clear vision as to where I am going- the work is slow.
Childhood Memories- 5 th Grade
My teacher is fifth grade was Miss Herd. She had a reputation for being very strict and I guess she was. But she was also very fair. We had lots of routines in her class. After the pledge we had reading followed by Arithmetic. I remember lots of review on Division at the beginning of the year and then team games of all math techniques. At noon we walked done the hall to the far stairs and had a moment of “silent reflection” before we went down to the lunchroom in the basement. After lunch Miss Herd read aloud to us. I remember one book about a little southern girl and learning about her life during the Civil War. I found it fascinating. This class room had a little library like the fourth grade. I found and enjoyed all the Raggedy Ann and Andy books there. It was also the beginning of the TAB and Arrow book clubs for me. One could purchase books for .25 to .35 cents. My parents allowed me to purchase one or two every time there was an order. I did not read any of them until years later, but I sure enjoyed filling my book shelf with them. My reading was very poor and one of the things my parents attempted to do to help was have my eyes tested. I got some very stylish tear drop glasses that I wore for about a year. Mrs Fister the high School art teacher, came for a special art lesson in late November. It was about Alexander Calder. Then each member of the class each built a Christmas mobile out of an opened wire coat hanger. I made Christmas trees in the form of cones and added a few round candies for balls. The mobiles hung in the hall until we left for the holidays. I love the history lessons we had that year and did a special project for westward expansion. We had a puzzle map of the United States at home and under the states was a map that showed all the areas that were added as the country grew. So I used the Opaque Projector to cast the map on a big piece of white paper and traced it out. I painted and labeled all the areas from the original thirteen colonies to the addition of the California territory. I painted the areas different colors and added the rivers and mountains and also labeled everything. It hung in the front of the room for a long time and I was quite proud. Fifth grade was when we were introduced to instrumental music. I wanted to join the band, so Mom got me Grandfather Howard’s old silver clarinet. He also had a C saxophone, but the band leader, Mr Cox discouraged that choice. Playing the clarinet continued to be an important part of my life until the end of high school. Near the end of the year I volunteered to join the Safety Patrol and become a crossing guard. The main qualification, after volunteering and being at least in fifth grade, was to have perfect attendance. I did. As a fifth grader, I worked with a sixth grader for the last month of the year and became a full guard in the fall when I was in the sixth grade. We all had white adjustable belts and little silver badges. I had to leave the class a little before the end of the day to go to my post. I was assigned to the north end of Adams street across from the High School. I had that same post in sixth grade. We looked carefully and then went into the middle of the street and held our arms out so the younger kids could cross safely. I got to know many of the younger children who lived in that quadrant of the city. Sixth grade guard duty included flag duty. At the end of the day I was assigned to help take the flag down and fold it before taking it to the principals office for storage over night. At the end of sixth grade, I in tern, help teach a fifth grader to take my place on the squad. I was very proud of my first job and took my responsibility very seriously.
Hello,
It seems like the my world is moving slowly. I have spent so much time out in the garden and yard that there is not a lot of action in the studio. Eric and I did come across a surprise on our walk on Monday. Eric put his foot in the shot so one could see the size. He was in the middle of the road. Eric carefully moved him to the side of the road in the shade. By the time we got back about thirty min later he was no were in sight.
I did go and dye with Liz on Tuesday. These two pieces got washed out yesterday and there are two more pieces in the washer at the moment.
I sorted the fabric I had altered and as these stacks show I really do not need to make any additional pieces. But is is so much fun that I am am not going to stop now. I pulled out and set aside pieces to do two new starts while I was sorting. The cutting table is clear now and I am ready to begin.
Progress Report: Scrap Happy I need to do the last bit of quilting on this work and it will be finished. This is the fourth one this year and I already have a home for it.
Mayan Series # 3- Eagle Priest I am doing the outline and detail stitching now. There are lots of part in this work.
Layers This work is moving forward. I need to create a few more mazes and stitch all of them down. It is beginning to come together.
Squares a Dancing I finally have a name that I am happy with for this project. I got busy doing hand work on this project this week as there was no new project for Stitch Club. I now have 35 squares done and about 10 started. It is pleasant work.
Childhood Memories- Greeley, Colorado
In Dad’s continuing push to improve himself, he and mom decided to get more education. So we went to Greeley Colorado for two summers so they could work on Master’s Degrees at the College there. We lived in a trailer in a park that had about 55 units. Ours was number 22. Our lot was near the narrow end of the pie sliced shaped park and the Rail Road ran along the back side. I recall hearing it at night many a time. We kids tried to flatten pennies on the rails, but never found any after the train had passed. Mom and Dad both took classes and Gene and I went to summer school in the mornings. It was lots of review, but we also learned Spanish. I can still count to twenty, know the days of the week and the months of the year in Spanish. As well as how to say” I do not know how to speak Spanish”. I remember setting out under the olive tree on our plot and making a diorama of irrigation for one of my class projects. As I said before, my skills at reading were below grade level so I took special one on one lessons. The teacher used a reward system to get me to read more outside of our time too. I was given an Annie Oaklie paper doll and could earn a new dress for her with each book I read. She was a special type of paper doll as static cling electricity was the method that held the dress to the doll- no tabs. At this time I also discovered Classic Comic books. I often got one at the grocery on our weekly trip. I remember “Green Mansions” and “the Moonstone” very vividly. I was into model making at this time too. I did several monsters like Frankenstein and the Mummy. I also did one of Perry the Flying Squirrel- from a Disney movie. In the winter that year I did the Invisible Man and later the Invisible Woman.
There were lots of kids in the park so there were always lots of folks to play with. In the trailer next door lived a girl named Silvia. She was a Seventh Day Adventist. I recall Mom explaining to me about how folks believed different things about religion. One Saturday I went to church with Silvia. In the church school class they were having a biblical knowledge contest. I was the only one who knew that the Ark landed on Mt Arrowwrat. The teacher was impressed and a bit annoyed at the other kids that an outsider knew that information. Two tailors down in the opposite direction lived the Donally family. The dad was studding Biology like mom . They had three kids, and the boy was Gene’s age. The two girls were younger. I often helped the Mon get the three year old to sleep at nap time. In the evening we often went along with the family for ice cream stand for Dilly Bars. They were ice cream on a stick that was dipped in chocolate. Some sticks were stamped with “Free” on them. I never got one but I recall Gene getting a free ice cream two weeks in a row. To entertain and keep the kids engaged, Mr Donally made up a car identification game. For example if one spotted a Jeep, one would sing out” Beep beep, there goes a Jeep” – or “Wee I see a Volkswagen”. We laughed a lot too. This is was also the time I became aware of popular culture and begged for a Hula Hoop. When I finally got my yellow hoop I played with it for hours. I finally wore out the staple that held the circle in place by back spinning it too much on concrete. It was also the time dad made a concession to near bare feet in the form of Thongs- or Flip Flops as they are now called. After the blisters between the first and second toes healed up, I wore yellow thongs until the button on the bottom wore off the bottom. By then it was winter and I never got another pair. My only other big memory those summers was playing dolls with Silvia and Sally. Sally was the owner’s daughter and we played “ Barbie” on her screened porch. I had my Betsy McCall of course and although they traded dresses and they played at jobs and balls. I was quite content to play the little girl with Betsy and have fun. The experience really confirmed my feelings that being a grown up was not something I wanted to rush forward toward. It was a good way to spend summer.
Hello I have enjoyed a very active week. Last Friday I went to a silk painting workshop in Rochester with lots of creative gals. Liz did a great piece with flowers.
Joyce worked from a photo from her yard.
Regina explored a drawing.
I worked from the sketch I had drawn last week.
Karen did a great job from one of her photos of grapes.
The class was great and I learned a lot. I will add thread painting and quilting to finish this up in the next week or so.
The Michelle the teacher from Australia, did a wonderful trunk show at the end of the day. This is her use of the techniques she was teaching us.
Then on Sunday I went off to Moravia and visited with Susan and Sally. We talked of may things and I got some great feed back on this piece- Old and New.
Tues I picked up Patti and the two of us drove north to Mill Sight Lake and Judy’s Camp for three days. Judy shared this colorful quilt that Judy made and a Amish gal had quilted for her.
Patti and I worked with our machines while Nancy and Judy went out on the lake and platted around the island. We had a good time and made a few plans for the fall.
And just to let you know I make mistakes too. I was not paying full attention while I was working on my scarp quilt and I accidentally ran the sewing machine into my finger nail. I only caught the tip on my nail and a bit of skin. So please be careful!
Progress Report: Tee Shirt Quilt
I have now finished the assembly of the top of this work. I have pulled flannel to make some base blocks that I will surround in the log cabin style for the back.
Feathers I am half way done adding the feathers to this quilt. I plan to do reflective quilting around the outside.
Wool Rounds
I just keep building on these wool units. It is calming work.
Scrap I worked on these at Mill Site. I am pleased to say I only have one more box of scraps to work from. Over the weekend I finished up nine more units.
Memories of Mom
I did a little hand work on this piece this week that is made from things that Mom had in her home.
Sketching I just keep my fingers in the drawing game by doing a new one every now and then
Childhood Memories – Lessons
The summer I was ten and Dad was a temporary Ranger in Tetons was a great one for me. We went to many ranger talks and sat on logs looking at the lake with the mountains beyond and learning fun facts while the sky darkened and the stars came out. Because all rangers need to be able to rescue hikers from the mountains Dad learned to repel. He took us along for his practice with a second ranger named Jim. Gene and I also got to take a hand a repelling and I loved it. It was great fun to jump away from the vertical rock face and sour down with the rope to help one land safely back on land.
We rode across Jackson Lake to the undeveloped side and bushwhacked up the mountain one day. Saw a heard of wild goats and got lots of scratches on that adventure. Dad also taught us that if we ever got lost in the wilderness to do two things. Always go down hill and when you find water follow it down too. It will always lead you to civilization eventually and you will have a vital life saving source close at hand. I am glad to say I have never had to apply that knowledge. At the end of the summer there was a range’s picnic. Gene and I were the only kids. Lots of great food. The only things to drink were water and beer. So I thought I would try the beer. Just as I opened the can Dad came around the cabin. He was not happy with me. But he insisted that sense I had opened the can that I drink the whole thing. Then I promptly emptied my stomach on the grass. I was never tempted as a teen- and even later I never learned to drink beer. The lesson was learned.
Keep Creating
Carol
PS this is a shot of the sun set over the St Lawrence River.
Hello followers- I need to tell you that I have messed up the postings and can not post photos at the moment. My computer gurue is coming on Friday……..
After introducing myself I described my working pattern as DDT.
Determine what you want to do
Do the work
Triumphantly celebrate the completion of the project
Sometimes deciding what I want to tackle is the hardest part of the whole process.
I divided my talk into five categories, because I discovered that I return again and again to many subjects.
1. Nature and Science. My mother was a science teacher and she had a profound influnce on what I became interested in too. The first quilt that I am showing is Totem Poll and I did it for my father as he did a lot of wok with the Native Americans in Alaska when I was growing up. This quilt show all four of the earth elements that they believe in. Air is represented by the Eagle at the top. The Wolf represents the land. The tribe celebrates two types of water-salt and fresh- thus the whale for salt water and the frog for fresh water. I did showed several other quilts that showed my use of animals as subjects for my work.
2 Water : The next displayed work was Ice. I seem to go back to this subject repeatedly and perhaps that is because of living here where ice and snow are so much a part of our lives- I don’t know, Spring Thaw was the next work on the wall. This work shows how I was starting to add different materials to my quilts. The opalescent color is created with the use of floral plastic.
This work was followed by Ice on Vincent a piece that I did just last year.
Next came Deep Stars I was a scuba diver and the ocean has always been fascinating to me. When I learned that along one of the hot water wholes in the Mariana Trench supported Fuchsia colored star fish , I just had to do a quilt to note that wonder.
Deep Jellies is also a study of the ocean and my love of texture. I hand dyed the lace and the jelly fish are spray painted for extra color.
Briar Patch is another example of my love of plants and texture.
Blooming Bacteria 24″ X 38″ $320.00
Blooming Bacteria After visiting a display of Elizabeth Bush’s work where she used the dyed slides of diseases to build her pieces I did a close up of dyed bacteria too.
When I saw a shot of bacteria, I remembered seeing pond water under a microscope in Mom’s Biology class and so I did this work- Pond Water.
3. Rocks Canyon’s Create Towers. I did this work after a trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon with my Dad. This trip resulted in 8 works based on that experience. My Grandfather was a rock hound as was Mon and so we where always picking up rocks and collecting them.
Canyon De Chelli was also the result of a trip. I went with two other quilters who are also crazy about rocks. I had to do this quilt because I was fascinated buy the fact that I saw three layers of man kind here. The Anasazi- a very old Native American culture was built into the canyon up high. Then the natives that had returned to the canyon and were living there when the Spaniards came-the lower bigger buildings. And to my eye the stain on the top rim of the canyon looked like the New York City sky line.
Whip Shock Hill. This work is a geogical sight that I visited with Marty on our way to Maine. The size and the up heavel f the rock I find amazing.
Asurite is based on a small stone that I have enlarged. I love building up and playing with the effects I can create with fabric.
Granite Grannies I see faces and bodies every where. This quilt shows the three ways I know of altering the surface of fabric. There is acrylic paint on the faces, the black and white, machine drawing to show the detail and it is dye painted from the back to get the blues. There were a dozen works in my “Spirits All Around Us” series.
Motherhood maze was done to show how sometimes being a parent can be. I used sculptures from Europe- The Veins of Walendorf to represent Eurasian and the fertile stage of motherhood. The Myna birth goddess to represent the beginning of life. And the African mother pole to show how we are tied to the little one for a while after birth.
Generation Whispers was a tribute to my family of women. I am the center with my mother and mother in law above me and all four grandmothers stitched in too. The my daughter with my grand daughter at the bottom.
4.ology is a mix of people and plants. It is also my first trip into felting as a way to build with fibers. There area over 90 faces in this work.
Blooming Branch I can always count on my love of plants to help me out when I need a subject for a new work. I have done lots of branches and this one has a sister work that is very like it as I had to build two limbs before I was happy and so I created a second background and completed it too.
Briar Patch is another study in plants and my love of texture. I added berries made from Angelina to this work too.
Grounded I enjoy stamping on fabric and this work shows lots of fall leaves that I stamped a few years ago.
Pomegranate II. As the title suggests there are several works with the pomegranate as the subject. This work along with the others is stenciled. I designed and cut the stencils myself and enjoyed toe process. I have several others subjects using stencils in my collection of work.
Tulip Bed. This work was my first attempt at an l regular edge. I also did this work as a challenge as my friend Barbara gave me the starter fabric that she has painted. I will give it to you if you promise to cut it up she said. And I did.
Five Jacks. I am now mixing felt with applique work to represent my plants. I am then stretching the works so they will be flat.
Call Crows. 49” 34” This work came about due to an experience too. I stared in the Hilton in Auburn one fall when I was at a workshop at the Schweinfurth. I along with my room mate was awakened at 4 in the morning by the calling of the crows outside our windows on the third floor. I just had to comate that event and this quilt does that.
5. Text We Can 72” X 74” This quilt is my declaration of intent to do what I can to help the endangered animals of our plant. I machine wrote the names of all the animals that were threated at that time. Five of them have been removed from the list and two have become existent.
Glyph II 31” X 36” This is the second graffiti based series. I love letter forms and I am playing with them at this point. There are nine quilts based on the word OWL in this series at this point.
Fractured Glyph 32” X 41 “ is another of the glyph series.
Label Quit. This is my third quilt that uses labels like a crazy quilt. The first one was done in 1985. It took me 144 weeks to do this one as I did one 8” block while watching the news each week.
I learned that I go back and revisit many of the same themes over and over in my work. These five areas are only a few of my interests.
Lovely color and unique fabric can be created with rust dyeing. If you want control then this is not the process for you. One never knows what one will get.
Materials:
Clean prewashed fabric. ( this example is done on white- but color can be used if it is light)
Metal- tin objects like the ones pictured- but old drill bits, tools iron shapes etc.. ( I did the work in an old cookie sheet that was rusted and it added to the effect.
Vinegar / water solution of 50 /50.
Spray bottle, and gloves.
It is best to do this on a warm day- but one can put the work in a black plastic bag and get good results. The heat seems to help.
You can simply lay your objects on the fabric and pour the vinegar and water solution on top or you can wrap and tie the fabric around the rust to get the transfer. I like to lay things of top of the bundle too.
Then you spritz the fabric with your solution and put it in the bag if you wish or if it is warm one can just walk away for 24 hours. I usually check and respitz later in the day . This is how my fabric looked in the morning before I started rinsing. The old tools and bike chain still on top.
Then rinse fabric in a water and salt solution. This is a lite solution of salt. Next rinse in water. The soapy water. Then in clear water again. These are my buckets lined up.
Then hang your cleaned fabric to dry.
Have fun.
Susan had good regulates placing a piece of glass or plexi glass on the table. Then placing thin cut shapes between two sheets of fabric spritzing then with vinegar and water. Followed by a second piece glass or plexi glass on top. Again wait 24 hours .The top fabric was the most successful. Look at the image at the top on the line. You can see the butterfly clearly on the bottom row here. It is as the bottom of the line piece too.
Three Brothers 16″ X 22″
Bird Goddesses 17.5′ X 24
Southwest Voices 17″ X 23″
African Goddesses 22.5 “ X 24″
Photo Floats 18.5″ X 20.5″
Fragments 15.5″ X 26″
Exploration VIII 4.5″ X 19.5″
Fascinating Rhythms 18″ X 24″
Aqua Glow 17.5 X 23″
Rain Makers 19″ X 25.5″
Drum Talk 20″ X 26″
close up
Knot Now 18″ X 25.5″
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