Category Archives: Trees

100 day Challenge, Broken Blocks, Hand work, Trees

New Beginnings

Hello and Happy New Year,

I enjoyed the holidays, but now I am into the new things this year requires.    Last Saturday was the first full moon of the year- a Wolf Moon.

I was busy over the last three weeks and I did finish up the muffler I was crocheting.  I have worn it with all my shoveling of late.  The double quilt is done and I am working on a second with that broken block.  The Tree project is going forward nicely and I am on day 8 of the SAQA 100 day challenge.    My job for yesterday was to go and pick up my work form the QAQ show at the Schweinfurth.  I also dropped of the entries for Sharon, Marty and myself for the Both Ends of the Rainbow Show.   Then I stopped at Bett Library and dropped off three works for their Cabin Fever Quilt show that opens in Feb.      So on to the progress report.

Progress Report: Polk Berries    This quilt is 29″ w X 41.5″ l.   I finished it just after I posted last in December.   The base squares are my Broken Block pattern.  I really like how they work.

The berries are made from ribbon my friend Marilyn gave me in the spring.    I really like how it came out.

 

 

 

 

 

Graffiti      This is actually a shot of the back of this quilt .   The front is done of course and it is made  with the broken block pattern that I created a last year.   I finished this yesterday and will based and quilt it next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jetsam   I can not let this technique go, especially when the Joyous Embroidery class is starting a send run.  This shot is about one third of the work.

 

 

Tree Project   This tree square was completed just before Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 I was so inspired I moved right along to do a second Christmas tree with more jeweled beads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I moved on to doing a bare tree that I finished just yesterday.     I want to try a more abstract applique tree next.

 

 

 

 

 

Pink Crystals    I am quilting this project now and will finish this week I hope.   This is my second attempt at this block .    I still have a lot to learn here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAQA 100 days   This year for this challenge I decided to do all the suggested projects in the  “Fabric Embellishing  The Basics and Beyond ” book.   I purchased the book in 2010 and never really focused on it so here goes.    I am on day  8 and so far I am only building backgrounds as the  book suggests.

 

It has been enjoyable to review process like fabric weaving  and crazy quilt squares as starters.  A new one for me is fabric scrunching.   That process involves wetting the fabric and twisting it and allowing it do dry that way.   I am still waiting for it to dry out so I can unwrap it .

 

I am feeling happy about next year and hope you are as well.

Keep Creating

Carol

Broken Blocks, Hand work, Ice on Vincent, Lap Quilts, Tide Pools, Trees

Year’s End

Hello,

This morning when I was laying in bed after awakening, I realized this would be my las post for 2025.  I will not be posting on Christmas day- a week from now as I will be with my family.  And the following Thru is Jan 1of 2026, again a holiday and no posting.  Do enjoy  both of those  holidays in your own fashion.  My thoughts went on to do a bit of a review of this year.  It has been and an outstanding one as for me and my art works.     I have created  45 pieces , 25 of them my lap quilts that I have given away.  I have enjoyed working on them and I will continue that tradition as it has a helpful purpose.    The most of the other  works are arI quilts.  I  have enjoyed lots of recognition  this year.

I started last January with the La Moyne show with my fellow artists Sharon and Victoria.     There were four works  of mine  in that show.    This was followed by the Betts Branch Library  Cabin Fever Quilt show and  my first quilt talk for the year.       Then in June I had my Solo show for  Associated  Arts at the Manlius Library.     That show included 20 works all of the composite stitched works that I have be pursing the last few years.

  I have realized this year that I have been inching in this direction for a long time, but   I seemed to need a bit of encouragement in that form- it came from  the on line class Joyful Embroidery, with Fleur Woods for me  to see that.

My next be event was having my work accepted into the  SAQA Fire Competition.     It  will travel with that exabit for four years and visit many museums and shows across the world.

 

In the spring I did a trunk show for the Thumbstall Quilt Guild doing a history of my work.( this work was in that display)

 

 

 

I did a second trunk show for the Marcellus Modern Quilt Guild titled “Were do Ideas Come From”,  where I talked about inspiration. “Ice on Vincent” was a part of that talk.

 

Then my Green Tide piece won Best of show at Assonated Artists in Sept.  ( The only full shot I have of this work has too many pixels, for the program to accept, and   I seem to have deleted  all the smaller versions. )

 

 

 

 

 

The run of successes continued with my piece for Contrast  the SAQA New York- New Jersey Regional show,” Plastic Silverware. ”  That was in Rochester in the early fall and was in The View at Old Forge.   It will be in several other shows and end in the Genesee Valley show next year.

 

My work “California Burning- the Victorian ” was also a part of the Quilts Unlimited show at  Old Forge.

 

The work” My Year” was accepted in the Q=A=Q show at the Schweinfurth and is hanging there now and will be up until  Jan 6, 2026.

Sunday ,the 14, I did my last Trunk Show for this year.  It was at the Schweinfurth and my theme was based on the  fact that a fellow quilter, after seeing ” My Year”- said,” I didn’t know you did handwork. ”   All the pieces in the talk had handwork in them.   There were 19 pieces in this presentation.

 

 

To my delight one of my friends is purchasing this work after seeing it in my talk.  It has been a bumper year for me and I will be hard press to keep that up.   But I have enjoy the recognition.

Progress Report: Flotsam Jetsam    This work  is 24″ X 18″.  I continue to enjoy creating these Conclamant Reliefs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Handwork    This work is starting from leftover and cut off pieces so it too is a Jetsam piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linda’s Lap # 26/25  This lap quilt grew of of a bag of cast off shirts from my friend Linda.   I will pass it back to her when I am done.  It is enjoyable work as it is so very colorful.

 

 

Double Quilt   I am doing the binding on this work now.   I am about half done and I am sure I will finish it soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Muffler     I try to put in five plus rows  in  every day on this piece.  I have 20 inches at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Project # 3     I thought that I was done with this work , but when I shot it this morning I thought it needs more.  A bird perhaps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Project 4   I am enjoying doing this Christmas tree a lot.   I have an idea for  second one too.

Broken Blocks    I cut ten inch blocks from this run of fabric for my next Broken Blocks experiment.  They were part of a pack that the creator thought went together- I can sort of see it, but I would never have selected them on my own.    I am trying to stretch myself.

 

 

 

Crystal Blocks#2  I pulled these fabrics to use with a second quilt using the block pattern I created.  This time I will do a traditional setting where I put the same color in the same location in each block.

 

 

Snowmen    I made these little pins to cheer folks up after the holidays when I see them again.

 

 

It has been a wonderful year and I look forward to more creative work in 2026.  May your holidays be full of good cheer and may you make some wonderful memories.  Until next time –

Keep Creating

Carol

Broken Blocks, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Plants, Scrap Happy Quilts, Trees

December Full Moon

Hello,

Tonight is a the full moon and it is what is called a Cold Moon.   It is also the last full moon of this year.  The next full moon is in the first week in January.   I have always been fascinated by the moon and check the sky almost every night.

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday.   I went to Joyce’s talk at the Schweinfurth   last week.  She did a good job showing her diverse approach to the fiber world.

 

This is a shot of her many baskets.

Winter is in full swing here in central NY and due to a lot  snow storm,  we put off my trip with Sharon to Old Forge to pick up our work.   We will try again on Monday.

 

Progress Report:   Crystal Blocks  This quilt is 38.5 X 38.5.  I started this at the Sisterhood Retreat in Oct.  After a false start and a rework of the block design this is the finished piece.

 

 

I am thinking I may do the block a second time with different emphasis.

 

 

 

Double Quilt    I have now finished the second side of this piece.  It in based to the batting and I am now ready to move on to the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

New Lap  A friend gave me a bag full of her old cotton shirts and I have decided to use it as the jump off for my next lap quilt.

 

 

 

Tree Serries- Block 1   I completed this first block and I have decided it takes more than a week to do the job.   These blocks are bigger so  a years worth of projects will probably do the trick.

 

 

Tree Serries-  Birch Tree    This is the second square for this project. I want to add some interest on the ground and it will be complete.

 

 

 

Black Capped Chickadees   I have started adding berries to this work.  Stitch circles is slow for me.

 

 

Broken Block- Polk Berries  This is what I want to build on top of the second Broken Block series.  I started this one at the Fall retreat at the Schweinfurth.

 

 

 

 

Scarp Happy  All the rows are added to the quilt now and I am ready to begin the boarders.   It is all made from left over blocks so it it a bit random.

 

It is a  busy time of year, but I hope to get into the studio a bit every day or so.

Enjoy the season.

Carol

Birds, Biweekly tree challenge, Black Capped Chickadees, Broken Blocks, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Thread Painting, Trees

Holidays Beginning

Hello,

Here it is a week before Thanksgiving already.   I will not be posting next week due to the time I will be spending with my family.  I hope you to enjoy the holiday.

All the trees but the Oaks have shed their leaves in our area.  That has sure opened up how far one can see.     Across the park and into deep ravines the dark fingers of trees reach out, but one can see beyond them .   Leaves still run down the street in front of us as we walk and the squirrels  scold form their branches, but it remains a  beautiful time of year, epically if the sun is out.

The week end was spent at the Schweinfurth’s Fall Retreat.  It was a fun time with lots of old friends.     Emily and Susan discovered that they were both wearing variations on black and brown sweaters first thing on Friday Morning.

 

 

 

 

Emily worked on this  colorful  project  and  nearly completed   the  top.

 

 

 

 

Susan did some great color play with her blocks too.

 

 

 

 

Sharon was a whorl wind and  did three  projects.    This is just a start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria worked on several projects too.   I really like this little dress.

 

 

 

 

 

Marty really played with color with these wonderful strips of silk.   She assured me this is not the final layout

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanette worked on a bed quilt wedding gift.    She got is half done.    It’s a beauty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deb was busy making fabric bags for Christmas gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy put together a photo transfer image that she had taken.    Six panels here.   She was not sure how she would quilt it.   I  think that is a big challenge.

 

 

Donna did hand quilting on this beautiful  old   long cabin  project.

 

 

 

Joyce worked on three different things.  This was the last.  I can hardly wait to see what she does with this one.

 

 

Ann did a lot of handwork and was thinking about a second jellyfish quilt like this little work.

 

 

 

We decided on the Sisterhood  Challenge too.   There are three parts.

1.some of the fabric Susan selected and gave us at the retreat has to be a part of it.

2.  some glitz needs to be a part of the work

3. Some handwork needs to be included.

This work from the  QAQ  show fits two of the rules for  this challenge, so there ott to be lots of unique stuff in the future.

 

Victoria is doing a paper for Social Art on James Castle on Tue.   I am on the committee to do table decorations for that event.   Here is my start on my  mimic of one of his works.      Only two more to go.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Lap 24/25    I am working on the binding of this piece now I am sure it will be finished soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 25/25   I used a lot of my altered fabrics in this top for the next lap quilt.  It is ready for pin basting.

 

   

 

 

 

Crystals   I am now quilting this pieces.  It is slow going as I am trying to do a different type of pattern in each section of the block.

 

 

 

Tree Series # 1   I didn’t put in as much time on this project as I intended this week.   All the distant trees are appliqued and I am working on the big close up one.   Then it will be time for branches and trunks.

 

 

 

 

Flotsam and Jetsam  I am slowly working around the outside of this work.   It is filling in nicely all be it slowly.

 

 

 

Polk Weed      I made a base using my broken block style for the background for this quilt.  I have faced and turned the berries( the purple half circle at the top is one).   I ordered some beautiful fuchsia  silk from Linda Salitrinski  for the steams.  It came today, so I can move forward.

 

 

Black Capped Chickadees   I did the thread painting of the birds at the retreat.   Then yesterday I washed them out and built the background.    I am still moving the birds around and have just about decided the third one is not necessary    I plan to add more berries to the limbs .

  Handwork pillow   I started this work in Florida before the pandemic.   It has been my pick up : only when every thing else is done for a long time.   Now I only need to stuff it.

 

Have a pleasant Thanksgiving.

Carol

100 day Challenge, Childhood Memories, Curvie Cuts, Daily Practice, Drawing, Fallen, Smoldering

Perception

Hello,
Summer is in full swing here in central New York. On my walk I saw a deer this morning and noticed that I have a double blossom on one of my Day Lilies. One needs to keep their eyes open to perceive the world. We seem to live in a world of lines, both strait and curved. Our buildings are mostly sharp edges and lots of squares and  rectangles. To balance that we often add shrubs and trees that have curved lines.     Most roads are laid out in strait lines  with curves that are created mostly by the landscape.     For the most part here in the west we do not live with may circles like the beautiful moon gates of the orient or the curved onions of the middle east domes. I wonder if there is any   cultural  reason for our preferences or are we just familiar with them?
It was a quiet week for me. I did a zoom with the Pixies and Liz and I spent a day dying. We did a progression emersion dying process. Turquoise to Orange. I learned a lot and we plan to try it again later this summer.

Progress Report: Fallen I did finish applying the leaves to the surface and I washed the quilt in the washing machine. I like how washing frayed open  the cuts to reveal the layers of cloth beneath.  I now need to add a focal point to this work.

Smoldering I am stitching/quilting this work now. The process is slow as I am trying to spend more time looking at the work as I go along.

 

 

Butterflies I finished the machine drawing of the butterfly and I sewed him down to the quilt base. I am now in the process of quilting in butterflies  around the big one with  thread.

 

100 Days I am moving along on this project. Today is day 45. I am starting to play a bit more with how I might arrange them.

 

 

Daily Practice I finished another square this week and started a new one last night.

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing I just keep doing a drawing every day or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adolescence Spring trip II

We went to the White House on the Tues morning of our Spring Trip. The line  wrapped around the outside of the building along the black wrought iron fence and  it took an hour to get to the door. Rooms were huge and I recognized a few details from the TV tour that Mrs Kennedy had done a few years earlier. We then went off to the Treasury Building were we looked at counterfeit currency and got to see a real 100,00.00 dollar bill. There was also a exhibit of how folks had mutilated bills and a second exhibit of sculptures made by folding bills . I remember a bird and a dollar car. Next stop was the National Aquarium. I enjoyed the sea turtles the most. The National Aquarium is no longer in DC, but in Baltimore. After a light lunch we went back to the Smithsonian again. We visited the Space exhibit and saw Freedom 7 and Friendship 7. I was surprised that the capsule was smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle. We also checked out some amazing doll houses full of beautiful hand made furniture.
> Wednesday was our day to do history outside DC. We went to Fredericksburg first. Gene and I did look for bullets in one of the battle fields after reading a sign that said folks could still find them- but we were not successful. We then went to Williamsburg. We checked out the visitors center and enjoyed a historical movie about THE area. It was my first experience with a living history museum, and I liked all the colonial dress. We went to the Hatters, a Cabinetmakers shop and an Apothecary  shop. There was a demonstration going on across the green from where we were on the use of long guns. Gene and I started out running toward the location and one of the guns was fired. I know I changed direction in mid air, I was so startled. The demo was interesting when we got there. Next stop was the National Seashore and Cape Hatteras. We stopped at Kitty Hawk, first with a stop at the little museum. They had a model of the Wright Brothers plane that I found a bit flimsy to my way of thinking.  Good use of wire though.   We checked out the light house and then did a little beach combing. The water was too cold to even wade in, but we had fun building sand castles and collecting shells. I even found a sword from a swordfish. I remember that the wind was blowing so hard that the tops of the waves were blown backward . It was a nice restful day for us.
> When we got up and we started home, I was not feeling well. I could not get cooled down, but I did fall asleep until we blew a tire. When we got home I went straight to bed and did not feel any better on Sunday. Monday morning found me weak and I stayed home from school. I was still running a temperature in the afternoon. I do not know how or what happened next, but two days later I woke up with a clear head in isolation in Ball Memorial Hospital. I had Hepatitis and was one sick    yellow puppy. I was in the hospital for two weeks. Mom and Dad both came and visited me , but had to remain outside in the hall outside  the room. The room was just above the bay were the ambulances delivered their patients and near the end of my stay I sometimes learned out the window and talked to the drivers while they waited. No one else in the family got sick . I was Still weak when I was allowed to go home. I got steadily better, but I was very tired. I read Oliver Twist, Beowulf, and Return of the Native in that time. After six weeks I was allowed to go back to school for two hours every day to take English and History class. I can’t say that I know much about American History from 1900 to 1950. I did pass into my Senior year and I was well enough by June to go to summer school. My best friend Margaret and I took Art and Music Appreciation together. I remember going to the cemetery with her one hot summer afternoon to do our sketchbook assignments for Mr Carr. I recovered fully over the course of the summer.
Stay Safe  and keep your eyes open

Carol

 

 

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

Summer

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 


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

 

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

 

 

 

 

Drawing    I only completed two drawings  this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Jr Year Education

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

 

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

Please stay safe

Carol

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

New Growth

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

 

This is a shot of Ann at the show.

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

Drawing I did four more drawings this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

Stay safe and Keep Creating
Carol

 

 

Bonsai, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Drawing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Horsetails, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Poppy Field, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

New Siding – Step one

Hello,
It has been a busy week for me. Yesterday the workmen came and started on the next step of the house renovation. They pulled all the old siding off in less than an hour and then spent the rest of the morning adding a new layer of insolation. My studio is on the end of the house and has three out side walls so it sounded like I was trapped in a wood peckers den with them pounding on three sides of me as they attached the new covering. I had to remove my thread rack as the pounding knocked the spools off the wall.  We do not have a date for the new siding yet, but I am sure it will be soon and I will have a second day of nailing.
I did have four Zoom Meetings this week- QuEGs, The Diva group, FAB and the Pixies. I enjoy the meetings, but I do miss seeing folks in person.   That is changing I think. The Diva group is working hard on getting shows going and that is a positive thing. FAB is considering meeting in one of the gals gardens next time too. Susan of the Pixies is pushing us to draw more and I did some work on dictionary pages.
I am working from old photos from “The Secret Museum of Mankind.”

 

 

 

 

 

A book  was  published in 1935 with only little lines about the location of the image and a few words about the subject. I am working on the section about the Americas now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Poppy Field. This work is 34.5″ w X 43″ l. I did stamp on top of the first batch of quilting of the poppies and leaves. It did help I think. There is still a limited contrast here.   I will try to pay special attention to that factor as I go forward.

 

 

 

 

Horsetails All the polar fleece is stitched down now and I am starting to quilt it . I can see a challenge   for this piece and that is   getting this project  to be flat.

 

 

Lap #11 I just keep playing at fabric combinations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonsai This project has a  challenge of its own and that is  using all silks and synthetics as the base.    Those types of fabrics  do shift around a bit. I did the trunk  of the tree  out of several yarns wrapped in nylon netting.   Now I am adding the leaves in metallics and silks. It take me about an hour to add fifteen leaves so this step is slow.

Cubists Project.     I built this base for my second run at a cubist study   for the Sisterhood of the Scissors Challenge. I am using my collage construction approach on this work.   I hand dyed al the fabric in this base.

 

 

Daily Practice I am still working on filling in the background areas on this piece.

 

 

 

Dyed Mayan I am now quilting in this old Mayan piece. The pale colors of the dyes are a lot closer to the colors of the real walls at this time them the applique ones are.   I do need to push for a little contrast here too I  think.

 

Childhood Memories- Kennedy Assignation
Band was the first class after lunch. We got our uniforms the first day as well as band lockers. The uniforms were black pants with a purple strip and black suit jacket type coat with a purple strip on the cuff. Add a white military type hat with a brim, spats and white scolder caps with purple ” M”s  on them and the uniform was complete.   We did not wear the hats when we play concerts.   All Sophomores were seated at the end of the rows of the other like instruments. One could challenge another student to move up at any time and there were “ play offs” during study halls or at the end of the day. I held   first chair of third   clarinets for all three years of high school. By having this  class after lunch we could start a little early and practice routines and formations on the football field. Mr Mc Daniels would let us go early so we could hassle the eight blocks back to the High School building in time for our next class. We preformed on Football field for   the first Friday at the first football game of the school year.  We  learned new routines for all the  home football games for all three years. We did pep rallies and also play at all the home Basketball games too. The band gave me a social network and identity as well as assuring that I had a social life that involved me in lots of active events. I am sure that I came in contact with students that I would not have know other wise. There was no incentive to got to competitions like there had been in Jr High and I really did not miss that much. Mr Mc Daniels did keep it interesting and fun by having special events. One time we did a clown band and all dressed up in silly clothing. Another time we went patriotic and all wore red white and blue clothing.and a third time I remember, we all dress as colonial  Americans.   I made a special red check dress, bonnet and pantaloons with ruffles on the bottom.  My best friend, Margaret played the Sax a phone,  and  her sister, Ceicle was a part of the band too. She was two  years older and played the Oboe. Cecil got a black ford Mustang conveyable for her birthday in 1963 and she included me in her transpiration circuit when we went to band events. The gang that I did hang out with all grew from band. Bobby Cornell played the Trumpet and he lived near Margaret and Ceile. Mike Ritter also played the clarinet, he was a first chair and he and Cecil were an item so he was part of the group. Susy Bright, was a Band Aid, and lived in the same area as did Jim Freshwater who played drums that made two car loads of us and we did lots together. Sometimes it was a simple as going for a coke or a drive to Burkie’s a local restraint for fries. We did have a Mc Donald’s but it was across town and off the highway so we did not frequent it much.
After Band I had Physics class. I enjoyed it and had a better student teacher for that class then the regular guy. That class was followed by English  with Miss Meehan. I hated diagramming sentences, but enjoyed the literature section of that year. We were silently reading Silas Marner on Friday Nov 22, when the class was interrupted by the intercom with a radio broadcast. We all sat silently stunned and listened to learn that John F Kennedy had been shot in a motorcade in Houston. My last class of the day was Drama and it was a bit chaotic and three of the other older girls in the class were sobbing the whole period. At the end of the day we were told that all after-school activities were cancelled. The ride home  on the bus  was very crowded with many of us standing in the isle and no one was talking. The TV news with Walter Cronkite was very sad.  We had a Basket Ball game on Sat and it too was very subdued.    At the end of the game, Mr Mc Donald told us to appear at the field house at 1:00 on Sunday to march in a memorial parade to the cemetery. When we got there we all had black ribbons attached to our marching helmets and black arm bands. The white arm caps, spats and feathered topper for our helmets were removed. The drums all were draped in black too and sounded extra solemn . I am sure we played something somber but I do not recall what. When I got home, I to learn the Jack Ruby had been shot too. There was no school on Monday and it rained all day.

Stay safe

Carol

Autumn Leaves, Childhood Memories, Jumping Off Place, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Three Sea Horses, Topographical, Two Trees

October Cooling

1 Comment

Hello,
There is a real feeling of fall now as it has turned quite cold around here. The hardy Zinnia are still doing well and we have not had a frost yet. But if is in the air. I did some house/studio cleaning too. It seems I need to get my “nest” in order for winter. I have eliminated three boxes and a bag of stuff to pass forward for others to use. It makes me feel good to do that sort of thing.
There seems to be another thing in the air too,  because three of the groups I meet with cancelled meetings this week. Two due to low audience.   Perhaps everyone is busy hankering down for fall and winter too.

Progress Report: Three Sea Horses This work is 22″w X 16″t. Noel talked of this method of laying down roving and then putting netting over the top so one could  machine stitch on it. I tried that method on this project. The sea horses are cut from felt so there are sharp edges and then I added roving on top too. I like this technique. It is very soft, but  I think I need to work on contrast more the next time I try it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Trees The work is 18″ w X 18″ t. I started it in the Rock On Class With Cynthia Corbin at QBL this summer. This week I got busy and did machine drawing of two trees from a photo of them on Dad’d farm. It sure has the gray feeling I was having about the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Topographical I had a good time working away on this piece this week. I think two more hours of couching will complete the process. I feel there is lots of potential in this process and plan to explore it more in the future.

Past My Window- Autumn Leaves

I stared working away on this piece this week and it just seemed to take on a life of it’s own.     I started pinning the leaves I had created to supplement the ones I had made in Betty’s class on the final day.  Then I found a package of silk leaves that someone had passed my way and they just seemed to go together so I was off and pinning like a fool. It will take a long time to do all the free motion applique I think. But it is enjoyable for me.

Jumping Off Place        Angela gave me a packet called Through the Looking glass. It contained some great textured yarns and fabrics. I pulled it out yesterday and read the instructions. It is not my thing any more then it was Angel’s, but it turned out to be a good starting place. Only the organza, and little blue sequined square are from the kit. The rest I pulled from my collections. I will use the wonderful threads and supplement then with my own as the project was designed for a 12 “ square and I have gone way beyond that.

Coral Sea This work did not get much attention this week. But I did find some more felt that has misty fuse on it already so I am off and running again.

 

 

Wool Rounds I keep my hand in this project and finished three circles this week. My process is to fill in  one circle  at a  toime and every time when I finish with one stitch on a round, I have thread on the needle. I use that  thread  to do the blanket stitch on a new wool unit to tack it down. When all the units are tacked down I will move onto the next ring of stitches in the circles while still finishing off one fully.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories Depot

My parents built their first house in Ainsworth Iowa. Mom saved the check for the lumber yard for the construction and it was $180. In thinking about the houses I lived in I realized that three of my childhood homes were built into hills with a walk in door at that level.  Two of the them had garages . The Ainsworth house faced south with a gully on the west side that slopped up to the high school where dad taught high school. When we lived there we  two trips to the train depot in town. One time it was to get a great big box that contained parts for a rocking chair with an  apple green plastic on it. I got to play in the box while dad did the assembly. That  process was mostly one of  adding the arms and legs. I love rocking in it . The second time we went to the depot, it was to pick up a shipment of 100 live baby chicks. We took them home and checked them before we drove the m to Grandmother Esters house. I remember setting next to the box in the dark in the back of the car listening to the little peeps. I think I fell asleep. Because my next memory of the chicks was in Grandmother’s basement behind a 2″x 12″ that made a short wall next to the corner furnace. They all ended up in the brooder house and later in the hen house. I’m sure I must have gather eggs from some of them in later years. and  had some of them for Sunday dinner too.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall and creating great work.

Carol

Dream, Ethel's Nine Patch, Fly Fast, Green Dargaons, Label Blocks, Little Jellyfish, Machine Drawing, Wind Blown Tree

Summer

 

Mapel treeHello,

It is the first full day of summer and now the days begin to get shorter.   It is also the beginning of what as kids we called “Maple Whistle Time”.  As a kid for about a week we would use the maple seeds as a devise to make a whistle sound and drive my mom crazy.  There is also a mulberry tree that is dropping its fruit  that I pass under when I walk.  That too brings up great childhood memories of  climbing the  mulberry tree in the front yard and eating those berries. They were so juicy. We even tried to make mulberry one time .  Summer was always one day of adventure after another. IMG_8401

Progress Report: Green Dragons Green Dragons 31"wX 37.5  This piece is 31” w X 37.5” t.  It is quilted with stitch in the ditch work and then machine drawing of five dragons was added on top. IMG_8425I stated out by outlining the dragon that was printed on the fabric panel in the work.  I did  little research on Google  and then  some drawings      I then  did the others in a mimic of fist dragon.IMG_8426I have not done a  dragon quilt for many years, but there was a time when I did one as a yearly thing.   It is fun to revisit themes .

Wind Blown 16" X 29"Wind Blown  This quilt is 16’ w X 29” t.  I built up the background and then painted that ground.  I knew I wanted a tree on the surface so I did some drawing.IMG_8394

After  this step I had to decide how I wanted to build the trunk of the tree.  I used tear away paper and drew the image again.  Then I laid treeout yarn for that trunk and the limbs and free motion sewed them all together.   After pulling away all the paper I free motion stitched the tree down.   Next decision was  how  to make the leaves.  I placed a  piece of wash away on top of the tree and  then sprinkled shredded bits of green fabric on top of the wash away.IMG_8395 Last, I placed a bit of green organza on top   to create a sandwich and  free motion stitched the  everything together.  After washing out the wash away  I flipped the organza to the back and free motion stitched it to the tree area. IMG_8415

 

IMG_8417.jpg

 

Little JellyfishLittle Jellyfish  I am still doing the hand work on this piece.  Stitching down all the tentacles is slow.

Ethel Scrap Work IMG_8431 I sewing sold blocks to the 5” pattern ones at this point.

Fly FastFlag- Fly Fast  For this banner I set the machine on zig –zag and drew the letters in free motion.  I like the strange effect.

 

 

 

Flag-Dream IMG_8420This is the last banner that I made in Florida this spring. The letters are done with a chain stitch.

 

new WorkNew Work  I am building this in the build a unit technique that I use.   The challenge Liz made was to use some of the hand dyed materials we had created.

 

Label Block # 130Label Block # 130 I can see the end of this process now.

Keep Creating

Carol

PS    I will be away again next week .  I am off to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house Falling Water.