Finishing Up February

What a busy month! I needed an extra day (29th). We had cold, we had rain, we had temps in the 30s, and temps in the high 60s. My yard is still soggy and has lots of dead limbs and twigs from some winds. These huge old trees constantly self-prune and drop dead branches. The azaleas have had enough warm weather to make them start to bloom, so we're hoping they don't get nipped by a late freeze.

     I've enjoyed some OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) classes, like an art class with my favorite watercolor artist Dana Stratton, a class about the trends and what is happening in Christian churches today with Brett Harris (my co-pastor), a talk by Carol Durham about working in an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Then we are beginning work on some new church liturgical banners.
     Our second Meistersingers concert was last Sunday afternoon--Winter in Blue--some beautiful music by a Norwegian composer and pianist, Ola Gjeilo. The first concert was last October, called Spirituals in Blue. The third one this season will be Mass in Blue--a requiem mass with a jazz flavor--as part of Festival South in June. The words of the traditional mass are there, but the music is exciting and surprisingly fun to sing. Rehearsals will be challenging but rewarding.

     In our Southern Fiber Arts group we exchange small (8" x 10") art quilts. Jackie Watkins made one for me inspired by the cover of the Spirituals in Blue concert. I made her piece using real leaves under organza, embellished with silk embroidery stitches.

I am holding the quilt Jackie made for me; she is holding the one I made for her

Cover for concert

My art quilt for Julia Graber

Art Quilt Karen Arzamendi made for me

  In bits of spare time I like to work on a jigsaw puzzle on the dining table. The table is long enough that there is plenty of room for meals on one end with the puzzle on the other end. The current puzzle may be far beyond my ability to finish. It's a beautiful scene of Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. The colors are strong and clear, but more than one piece will fit and look right but I often have to undo sections when I find an error. This is somewhat like picking out stitches or doing what I call the frog stitch (rip it rip it rip it).

Elizabeth modeling the ruffle collar I made for Christy's Stella

Rahrah watching out window

Tarbaby wanting my attention

January & February 2020

What happened to January and February? One time killer was moving from an Android to an Apple phone and watch; answering a phone call on my arm makes me feel like Dick Tracy! You have to be pretty old to remember him.
I can post more once I learn how to move all my pictures from phone to desktop.

I fell in love with this little abandoned puppy I picked up Christmas Eve and kept until Southern Pines Animal Shelter opened two days later. He was malnourished but sweet and loving--tempting me to keep him. But common sense and disapproval from my three cats won out. He received much needed medical care and was adopted in January.
My three are quite happy and would not share their home with an interloper. Here Tarbaby has claimed my pillow, Elizabeth sunning in the window on a mild winter day, with Rahrah wanting to join her.

I have worked on several quilting projects, but the activity bringing the most joy has been sorting, organizing, and repurposing some of my fabric supplies. Some heavy-weight fabrics went toward making walker totes. Several boxes of oddities like polyester, silks, wovens, and others went to the USM theatre department for student use in their interior design and costume projects.

I even discovered some early unfinished projects that will go to Pine Belt Quilters grab bag at our October 2-3, 2020 show.

Sorting and organizing fabrics always leads to making a few postcards. Elizabeth makes it hard to work sometimes.