Another birthday, two more paintings, a new word

    Jumping back into painting, I was shocked to find I had not posted the Early Morning Dog Walk, completed a few weeks ago. Joe framed it and it is hanging in the living room. A simple painting, for me, it relaxes me as I walk by it daily. This month, I also invented a more complicated painting, Carpe Beadem, about The Beadsprouts, a group that got started after Anna taught me to bead crochet, the most difficult craft I ever encountered. The painting was complicated as well, but fun to paint.

    The dog walk painting took about two hours for two days before everyone told me to STOP.  The Beaders I worked on longer and am fixing even after taking these photos. Hannah is in my lap putting beads on her arms as she did long ago....sort of a carrying on of the craft. When older, she did visit our group to demo her origami bird.

     The little banner floating under the crocheting hands is inspired by a Medieval European speech scroll or banderole. It was a precursor of our bubbles in cartoons. Such communication goes back way before the Middle Ages.  Click on photos to enlarge, and thanks for looking!

     

Hannah's 7th: a quilted card

    Hannah turned seven and celebrated with friends at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  After creating a birthday banner, the group broke into two groups and the princesses sashayed off to look at four entirely different areas of the MFA which touched on royalty, returning after the tour, questions and answers to make copper pendants, have story time and dessert. Guests left with big 3D plaster royal cupcakes and paint palette in a bag. Some parents chaperoned and enjoyed the museum afterwards.The interns were fabulous and the project age appropriate. I was staggered by the new museum.

Hannah is seven and a sewer (click to enlarge)

    If I remember, I try to make the girls a journal quilt for their birthday. This was a close call. I am making challenge quilts involving Alice and Wonderland, and Hannah has that long blond hair. I fused "her," cut out the figure, and took her to my stash. The two background fabrics fell into my lap. I lightly quilted all, placing a bright erratic pink polka dot on the back after the batting. I free motion wrote, "Hannah is seven and a sewer."

     Hannah is proud of the sewing she has learned this year, embroidery and Sashiko. She wants to make a quilt. Alas, she is moving.Whereas I was going to make "her" with wings, carrying my heart, I sewed the heart onto the pocket here and we drove it by to her tonight with CDs of her birthday party to enjoy and send to her other grandmother.  I also included a CD of her making the origami bird available at YouTube. For her birthday I gave her A Book of Artageous Projects by Klutz in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art that I bought locally.