Hello,
It feels good to return to an old pattern. I will try to up date you on a few things. The collapse of the old computer sure set me up for a lot of new learning. All the transfer of info is still not complete, but every week things are better. My biggest hurdle has been the photo program. An up dated program is now installed and I am getting the hang of it.
The holidays were good to me and I enjoyed my family. As most of the events I attend have become Zoom meetings I do not have any other folks work to share. On Tuesday this week I enjoyed three Zoom meetings and an hour Zoom presentation. That day was a bit much so I hope to smooth things out so that does not occur again.
The Pixies have been a nice constant through out this time. Last week Susan challenged us to do a Valentine Dance Card. This is my solution.
I did manage to keep up with my Fabric Artists Stitch Club work. This work is stitching on paper that has been collaged in the workshop from Monique Day- Wild. I also added candy wrapper foil, an idea from another work shop.
A second workshop by Jessica Grady was about adding sequins that were made from different materials on to the surface. I really enjoyed this one. I used paper, foil lined caps, fabric, part of a pie pan, some Christmas paper, and plastic for my sequins. 
She suggested other shapes and materials so I still have areas to explore here.
At the Sisterhood Retreat Joyce kindly passed forward lots of yarn. It was mostly sox yarn so I mix two or three strands for this project. I have been making cowls out of it. These are the two most recent ones.
Progress Report: Grandmother’s Wedding Dress This work is 39″ w X 52″ l. The dress is from my Mothers side of the family and it was a gift from my cousin this summer.
The table cloth behind the dress was all done by hand and the pearls were Grandmothers.
I hand embroidered the story and dates of the dresses use on the skirt.
Scattered This work is 32″ w X 17″ t. I have done lots of hand work and this challenge is part of the Sisterhood of the Scissors group. It represents the way my thoughts and actions seem to be during this Covid area.
Lap Quilt 1 I continue to make these simple lap quilts to pass on to the local nursing homes. I delivered 25 in early December. I am starting a new batch for this year.
Lap Quilt 2 I am using these projects to use many of the fabrics that I have printed and altered over the years. It is fun play for me
Lap Quilt 3 For this I used many silk kimono fabrics that I had been given by Noel.
Lap Quilt 4
Lap Quilt 5 I am starting a new work here
100 Day Challenge I have now assembled and done the free motion quilting on my 100 Day Challenge project and I am calling it Action. I used six panels that are not in the project to do a little trial work to see what colors I want to use for the embroidery work. The yellow is too pale and I like both the red and purple so I am ready to start doing the hand work in both of those colors.
I have moved on to my college years with the Memories series and I have been doing them every week so I will post two until we are up to date.
College Memories-Trip to NYC
In the fall quarter at Ball State I joined Kallista, the art club. The meetings were held in the West lounge of the Art gallery where all the designer furniture was kept. It was great to get to sit in the Eams Chairs and Catalonia lounger. I liked the Jacobson Egg Chair, too. The club was going to New York City over the Thanksgiving break. I jumped at the chance and volunteered to sell candy at football games and saved my pennies for the trip. After my last test, for The World in the Twenty Century, I got myself ready for the trip.
I got on the train with nineteen other students and three chaperons and headed east at 6:00 am on Monday morning. We stayed in the Hotel Piccadilly at west 45th street and Broadway. I shared a room with three other girls. I was the only freshman on the trip. But I became friends with a gal named Pat, who was a senior, and she sort of looked out for me. We had so many choices of things see and places to visit that it was almost overwhelming. Our first outing was the Museum of Modern Art. I was delighted to see so many paintings that I had only viewed in books, in six- or eight-inch illustrations, or as slide projections that were huge. I recall being struck at how small Starry Night was. The sculpture garden was open to the sky in those days and we walked around the work and posed for photos with the Henry Moores.
The Guggenheim was a real mind blower for me. The pictures I had seen of it did not prepare me for the size. It was so much bigger. I recall looking over the balcony on the top floor after exiting the elevator and loving Frank Lloyd Wright’s spiral design. As we strolled down we stopped and posed for photos in front of the paintings there, too. It seemed to be over with all to soon.
The only other required museum was the Metropolitan. Fortunately, Pat knew what she wanted to see–I was just amazed at the choices. We did the Egyptian exhibit and studied some of the jewelry very closely since jewelry was her major. We also looked at lots of paintings– including Vermeers and Rembrandts. I remember being amazed at how big “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was. I was fascinated by the paint work of the ice in that one. After that, we e explored a little of Central Park outside the museum. Later pat and I joined two boys and went to Rockefeller Center. I love the golden Atlas and the statue over the ice skating rink. We did rent skates and had a good time on the ice. We bought dinner that night from street venders, and I recall having Chestnuts, too. One of the boys, Greg, and I decided to stand in line for tickets to see Johnny Carson that evening. I don’t recall the guests, but I sure remember laughing a lot and getting back to the hotel quite late.
On Thanksgiving day we got our acts together and went to the Macy’s Parade. It was cold standing on the pavement, but I did enjoy the balloons. I remember Snoopy, the Sinclair Dinosaur, and a rather faded Superman. Pat and I did a little shopping that day, but I don’t think I purchased anything. That evening four of us–Pat and I, Greg, and another guy whose name escapes me–went to a Chinese Restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. There were very few folks in the space, but we did have a good time, laughing about our unusual holiday fare. My fortune cookie message said “Be especially careful tonight.”One of the group trips was to the United Nations. It was not in session, but the building sure was impressive. I purchase a gift for Mom in one of the nearby shops and the saleswoman offered to wrap it. I said sure. I happily took the wrapped gift away with me. Later that day I opened the package to show off the gift and found the box to be empty! I was quite disappointed and felt like a gullible fool. The group also took in the Empire State building. No lines to speak of and great views. I recall the Chrysler Building sparkling in the sunshine. We went south from there on the subway, which I found to be a great place to people watch. There was one gal, obviously a model, who was beautiful with long legs and a great coat in the car with us. It made me realize that everyone used that mode of transport. We got out in Greenwich Village and did some gallery hopping there. I was not too impressed at the cutting edge stuff and I think now that was mostly because I just did not know what to look for.
The whole group spent a day in the American Museum of Natural history, too. The dinosaurs were impressive and I thought that was what they are know for. But I remember the display on the Northwest Natives the most. Perhaps that was because Dad was going to Alaska and working with the Tlingit people at the time.
Theater did not get neglected either and I remember we went to several plays. I had been spoiled by the top of the line stuff at Emens at Ball State and can’t say that I remember the name of a single play.
I did enjoy the trip and think it made my Art History class have a bit more meaning even if slides and books pale by comparison to the real things. But that is true of most of art.
College Memories–Pledging and More
After Christmas I went back to campus to face some new challenges. To begin with, I had a new hairdo. I had always wanted to be a brunette and for Christmas got a wig of that hue. I was thrilled that it had so much body, and I could curl it over night without having to sleep on the curlers. The first big event upon returning to school was Sorority Rush. There were eight different sororities at that time, and Rush Teas were spread out over Saturday and Sunday afternoons of the first weekend back to school. I met and talked with so many folks I could not really keep them straight, but I was only asked to pledge Alpha Sigma Tau.
My sorority Mother was a upperclassman named Carolyn. I really like her, although she was the only person I really got to know. I was not particularly happy with the bright yellow beanie, but that was part of the game, so I wore it. Pledging was fun most of the time, with lots of silliness. I did not share classes with any of the other pledges or members. Pledging sure put a new structure in my life. From 6:30 to 9 every Monday to Thursday evening, I was in the sorority suite, a set of rooms in a dormitory. There was a short meeting some evenings, but most of the time was dedicated to silent study. There were lots of social events, and we were expected to be a part of the chapter choral group. I remember a sorority-fraternity Roaring Twenties party that was lots of fun. For it, I made a simple dress of apple green with little white printed daises. I added three rows of four-inch fringe trim to the skirt. I loved that dress so much that after the dance, I removed the trim and wore it to threads. I also made a second dress for the group. We were all to wear matching yellow wool dresses for the big spring Sorority Concert. I did not like the chosen pattern at all.
Another thing that started soon after I went back to school was dating Steve Coomer, the fellow from Larry’s Christmas party who spent the evening blowing his bubble gum. I was flattered that a senior wanted to date me. We went to musical events mostly, but it was not a real healthy relationship. He hated the brown wig and told me so from the start, Somehow that made me want to hang onto it all the more. He also told me that pledging a sorority was a foolish idea. He was jealous of the Twenties dance because it was closed to folks who were not in Greek Life. But we did go to the Valentine’s Dance and I made a special dress for that, too. It was blue velvet. Yes, the song was popular at that time and they did play it at the dance. Things really came to head a bit later when we went to see Porgy and Bess at Emens Auditorium. I was looking forward to the performance because I knew the songs from listening to Mom’s records, but I did not know the story. Students could get free tickets to events by presenting their ID cards at the box office ahead of the performance. Since I was accustomed to second- row seats, because that’s what my folks had for Emens events, I always got tickets early. So I gave Steve my ID on Monday, when he assured me he would take care of getting the tickets. He returned my ID on Sunday afternoon– almost a week later–when he picked me up for the 2:30 performance. When I discovered we were seated on the far left of the upper balcony, I was a little upset. Steve admitted that he had not gotten the tickets until Saturday afternoon, even though he had promised to get them right away. I was really disappointed and upset as the opera went on. I could see only a few details of the sets and costumes, and none of the facial expressions at all.
Enjoy
Carol