More Critters

Flying Fish?

Some are going to be tree ornaments. The cardinal, hiding behind the rabbit in the front, was too small to work on easily. More to come...

Needle Felting

Ted says that I have become a Felting Fool. I admit it. I've been making a felt critter almost daily since I took the workshop and bought a grocery bag of wool.  Several have gone to live at someone else's house, but I still have a menagerie. And visions of more are dancing in my head!

The first brown bear. 

And the new wool from Judy Shuros!

October!

These women are just a few examples of the superior art teachers in the state of Iowa. I spent last weekend with them at the AEI Fall Conference in Sioux City. 

What happened to September? I think it got washed away in the flood of the Mississippi! We had to take our boats out of the water and off of the lift and the beach because the Mississippi flooded our docks and the sailing club. It is slowly going down, but now it doesn't seem smart to put a dry boat back into the water.  The temperatures have been summery, but we know that that could change over night.

I haven't had time to quilt recently. But this Friday, I will deliver my quilts to the Northeast Iowa Quilters' Guild Quilt Show for judging.

Summer Quilt Project

I've just finished a Grandmother's Flowergarden wallhanging. I began with pieces pre-cut and grouped by Dana Jackson's great aunt. Dana inherited a grocery bag of pieces and gave them to me after realizing that she was not interested in using them. I've had great fun coming up with ways to use hundreds of hexagons.

This quilt is destined for the NE Iowa Quilter's Guild show in October. I'm planning to enter it in "Name That Tune." The name of the quilt must be the name of a song. I have several candidates for the name of this quilt. I was looking or songs from the 30's since the pieces are sugarsack prints from the 30's and 40's. Here are my suggestions, so far:

"Love in Bloom" by Bing Crosby 1934
"The Music Goes Round and Round" 1935
"Thanks for the Memories," Bob Hope 1939
"Sugar, Sugar," sung by Wilson Picket, #1 single in 1969

I'm open to other possibilities.

The border is made from several 30's fabrics I purchased. The binding is 1960's bias tape that I bought at a store that was going out of business several years ago. It matched the color of the flower centers perfectly.

Spring Quilt is finished...

This is my Malanaphy Springs quilt. It frames six flowers that we saw on the Malanaphy Springs trail this spring. Later, my friend Karen and I walked there following her first chemo treatment. It is a healing place!

Second Graders

I've been helping Lower Elementary teachers at North Winn. learn how to use Blogger to share news from their classrooms with parents and patrons. This is a slideshow of second graders this year. Their teacher, Mary Glock, is taking her well-earned retirement at the end of this school year.

Cancer College and Wailin' Jennys

I went to two wonderful performances this weekend. I began with the opening night of Lessons from Cancer College, Nancy Barry's play about her experience as a college professor diagnosed with breast cancer. Nancy's cancer was a little different from mine, but her thoughts through the diagnosis and treatment paralleled mine. I am so glad that she is such a talented writer who can share our thoughts and emotions so well. Her work is being shared through this one-woman play and Kristen Underwood is the one woman. I recommend this play to everyone. I know that Ted could not go for fear of facing his fears again. I'm hoping that he will go later because Nancy's words and Kristen's actions are good for releasing those fears.

The second performance was the Wailin' Jennys at Luther. The music was crystal, and the mood was intimate, even with the CFL full of people. The Jennys are three young women with terrificly blended voices and professional polish plus a male fiddle player who backs them up impeccably. They are going to be playing in Winona on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at St. Mary's College, if you missed the Decorah performance. Their music is joyous and warm.

Another Quilt

Between skiing and blood testing, I have managed to finish another wallhanging. This one is for Katey, Charlie's girl friend, to hang in her office. I'm putting it in the mail today. Katey is a social worker, who works with moms and kids in a program for women who have been in trouble with the law in Cedar Rapids. This should brighten up her office!