Still Creating

Hello Everyone and no I haven't forgotten the blog, it's just been a very busy summer! My husband loves Barbeque and BBQ contest. (I'll link to earlier post about this later when I figure out how) and we are very involved in the contest for KCBS a Barbeque organization that runs contest. We've been to New Jersey twice and Maryland twice as well as Chicago earlier in the year. All of that was flying and on a very tight and sometimes delayed schedule. Now we're back to working the North and South Carolina areas so hopefully it won't be quite so bad. Anyway back in the spring I took a workshop with my local quilt guild with Susan Sorrell and it was fantastic! That was class in person with lots of great friends. It's hand embroidery and sewing and brings me back to my roots as far as fiber art is concerned. I first learned to sew by doing it all by hand at my grandmother's lap. I think of her often as I stitch now. It's also what I did alot while in High School during the '70's. It was the fiber art of the time. Now I'm able to use these skills again to create a little art. I'm working on one piece that I carry with me to these BBQ contest and work on in my spare time. I've also taking an online class from this same instructor and it's on making little felt pins. Very quick and satisfying gratification. So if you'd like to work on these yourself check out Susan Sorrell's site at Creative Chick Studios She's a very sweet and supportive instructor and an awesome artist! Did I mention this is an online class? Love online classes!

Here are some of my pins as they progress: (Please excuse the photography skills, it's late and I was just trying to hurry up and get something posted for the online class.)

Now I'm going to add beads and things. We'll see how that goes from here. Hopefully since they're small they may actually get finished!

She Did It!

Our daughter, Elise McClure, just finished her Master of Arts in Educational Media from Appalachian State Unv. in Boone, NC and we celebrated! This is a degree that focuses on using technology in the classroom and Elise is certainly doing that! This was a great area for her to study! It's been a long couple of years, wrestling with technology that sometimes decides not to cooperate at the very second it's needed and meeting countless academic deadlines, but it's finished and she's done! Yay! She teaches Kindergarten and now with all of these added technology skills these kids will really be starting off to a great future!

Here are a few picture highlights from our week-end of celebration!

Graduates receiving a Masters Degree don't flip a tassel, instead they get "hooded." Here she is getting ready to receive her hood.
This is one happy graduate! We're so thankful the College of Education hood color was a nice blue color! Some were, brown, dull green, tan, pink, etc. (She would have liked the pink, but not the music degree required to get that color.)
The back of the hood shows the school colors of Gold and Black.
My husband and I are so happy and very proud of her! While thankfully we didn't have a monetary investment this time around, we did support her all the way!
And the rest of her cheering squad at the Graduation Ceremony, Elise's husband, Josh and Morgan Shupe. Morgan was a member of Elise's very first Kindergarten class and they have grown very close over the last 6 years. We all had a great time and certainly lots of fun marking this milestone in our daughter's life!

Doodle Embroidery Piece

I took a workshop with Susan Sorrell this past Friday. It was lots of fun, but the results are slow! It's lots of handwork and with my hands that means a good deal of pain too. So I have to pace myself. But I'm having fun. Out of respect for the teacher (who has online classes as well) I won't be able to completely explain the process. But here is my first step completed, outlining my elements. Whew that's basically done, but new elements can be added as I see fit. The back ground fabric is some I made from another workshop. I thought I'd do something else with it, so I cut it up in four pieces, then I rearranged them and sewed them back together. That was an extra step I perhaps didn't need, but I don't think it hurts the piece too much. (Please forgive the rather wonky photo, it's late and I'm tired.) Next I'll be adding more stitches of various types and eventually perhaps some beads. I'm looking forward to that step! You may asking yourself, "What is it suppose to be?" It's just a doodle design, no labels, just shapes and placement. So I'm just trying to document the transformation as I go. Stay tuned.