Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Happy Birthday to US!

Today would have been my dad's birthday --he was born in a small Missouri town--his history is completely lost!  We know nothing about his upbringing; his WWII experience (as he didn't speak of it), his father or mother's life.  My father died too young, carrying all these things with him.
Sad all this is gone to the ages.

On the contrary, Our country's history is definitely on the books!  Many
good stories are told in the annals of United States History--
Here's a Happy Birthday wish to all those who enjoy our freedoms!



Monday, July 3, 2017

Antique Quilt Blocks

Recently, we walked through an 'antique' shop--
it was a hot day and the shop had AC and we wanted to
cool off before heading out to do more shopping.

 In the back of the shop, draped over a chair was one quilt that took
my eye!  The fabrics and color combinations were so -off-
it made the quilt unique! 

The block is the same!  Just look at the colors and fabric
choices--doesn't matter if it was plaid, stripe or
print--these quilt blocks worked!

Serendipity!  It's always interesting how those spur of the minute
times take you some place special with an opportunity to
get your brain functioning differently!



Sunday, July 2, 2017

One Down, No Make That Two!

Why or why did I cut so many of this section for a quilt?
The only good thing is I have three (3) quilts instead of One!
Yes, three quilts!  Goes to prove I should have been measuring
right.

I'm doing one person assembly line sewing!
trying to use up all those middle sections--
just needed to sew 4 patches from 2" squares--
working down that stash bin!

Here we have it--two more quilts!
Same pattern--boring!  Easy to sew though

These will go to church group that is doing collection for Ronald MacDonald House.
Feels good to contribute plus the bonus of eliminating all those
small blocks!!

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Make Your Own Patriotic Pinwheel

To celebrate the Fourth of July, make your own pinwheel to show your patriotic spirit for those parades, parties, picnics and firework evenings!



These are so simple to make and a good way to use your red, white and blue fabrics!
check out the suggestions on Pinterest!

Friday, June 30, 2017

WWII Propaganda

There is a fabulous exhibit at the Pacific War Museum, Fredericksburg, TX--besides being a great museum with factual happenings during the Pacific War, they host periodical exhibits pertaining to WWII.  The last exhibit I attended was clothing from 1940's, wrote about this in previous blog.

I found this exhibit to be eye opening!  Did you think that our country would
do propaganda across this country as well as foreign countries?  Well, 
they did!  This exhibit focused on the artist who participated in
designing for the WWII.  Some of the writers and artists I knew about,
but not all.  Here was Jack Campbell--

Who wrote books on Torio Kid--against Japanese citizens--
propaganda is used to influence people psychologically in order to alter social perceptions.


His comics were Terry and The Pirates
During the war, Caniff began a second strip, a special version of Terry and the Pirates without Terry but featuring the blonde bombshell, Burma. Caniff donated all of his work on this strip to the armed forces—the strip was available only in military newspapers. 

Did you ever read Terry and the Pirates in the comic section of
the newspaper?

Everyone knows Walt Disney
Disney also produced several propaganda productions, including shorts such as Der Fuehrer's Face‍—‌which won an Academy Award‍—‌and the 1943 feature film Victory Through Air Power.[92]

Mickey Mouse was the first cartoon to make Walt famous

He had other comic books that were used for propaganda--
selling bonds

being patriotic with his cartoon characters

And a musical

At first, Manning's work appeared in several forms in the paper. Although he was interested in drawing comic strips, the popularity of his editorial work led him to focus on editorial cartoons.[2] His work was syndicated in as many as 170 newspapers

His editorial cartoons were some of the best during WWII

He produced "Little Itchy Itchy"

 Polish-Jewish artist who worked primarily as a book illustrator and political artist throughout his decades-long career. 

His illustration were superb!


And the best part for me was seeing some of the propaganda
ashtrays--an excellent exhibit!! 

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Tour de France = Tour de Fleece




The Tour de France begins July 1 but to fiber spinners it means Tour de Fleece.  In fact, I always think of this time in July as time to spin!

What does this mean?


  • All spinners unite to accept the challenge to spin each day--even if it's only for 5 minutes!

  • Have fun!

  • Get that Stash spun down!


How can you participate?


  • Join a team--here is one that welcomes your involvement--accepting members till June 30th--spinfoolish
  • Join this Facebook group for encouragement
  • The Knit Girls are sponsoring a Bingo game around Tour de Fleece
  • Shepherds Talk is another interesting feature on Facebook
So get those wheels ready and the stash prepared and

SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!









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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Are You Out of Your Gourd?!

Gourd--  

noun
1.
the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo(yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally.
Compare gourd family.
2.
a plant bearing such a fruit.
3.
a dried and excavated gourd shell used as a bottle, dipper, flask, etc.
4.
a gourd-shaped, small-necked bottle or flask.
Idioms
5.
out of /off one's gourd, Slang. out of one's mind; crazy.
You think you're out of your "gourd' when you enter the exhibit hall at the Kerrville Arts and Cultural Center--it was full of gourds of all shapes and sizes!  

This was the Southwest Gourd Fine Art Show (exhibit ended June 25) 
A Juried Show of art from the best gourd artists--

Here is a small sampling from the exhibit:  All pieces were so creative!  I'm thinking of growing gourds again!  







This was one of my favorite--!!






These two pieces were wrapped in blue jean strips


Best of Show!  

Repurposing!

 Still cleaning out closets; finding all sorts of interesting things I had forgotten about.  Years ago, I had spun cotton and wove on indigo...