Paper and Threads

Christmas weekend we took several of our New York City grandchildren to special programs.  Five year old Callum needs some separate time with us, i.e. without big sister Sydney and big brother Henry, so we planned a movie date to see The Muppets.  This was very nostalgic for us - since we watched the Muppet Show with our children every Sunday night and took them to see the first Muppet Movie.  I had tears in my eyes during the reprise of "Rainbow Connection."  Squirmy Callum sat at the edge of his seat with rapt attention.

This is a web image of our favorites - that I sketched to remember the day.

The next day we took Sydney, Robbie, and Callum to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan.  I played the part of Peter in our 6th grade public school production and saw Mary Martin in the role at about the same time.  Syd watches my videotape of that Broadway Show (from when it was rebroadcast during the decades of VCR) at least once per month in my apartment and also knows all the songs.  Cathy Rigby was even better than Mary Martin and her gymnastic abilties at age 59, during the flying sequences, were not to be believed.

I sketched this from the program cover to create a sketchbook page for the day.

We talked to our DC grand daughter multiple times over the weekend, and my son sent this photo of Princess Annabelle - dressed in the sparkly princess dress that I made her for Christmas.  She is also wearing the tiara I found for her at the NY Union Square Christmas Market, and the earrings that her other Grandma gave her to complete the outfit.  We also have photos of her putting Princess spells on various things with the wand that matches the tiara. 

We are going to meet her new baby brother William this week.  My son also sent a photo of him in the blackwatch baby gown that he requested that I make for their family "blackwatch" Christmas Day morning celebration.  So glad that it fit!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration, and a joyous and artistically productive 2012.  We have our 5 NYC grandchildren here (without parents) for a New Year's Eve party and sleepover - the very best way that my husband and I can think of to welcome each new year.

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We had 5 of our grandchildren here Saturday and then for an overnight visit - and we braved the crushing crowds at sunset to take them to see Rockefeller Center and the gorgeous Christmas tree.  Their parents were very afraid that we might lose one!  They were great - and very impressed.  Unfortunately the 2 year old fell asleep as soon as we unfolded his stroller and started to walk away from the subway.

When they left Sunday, I resumed quilting a new baby quilt for our 7th grandchild - due next Saturday.  I put the last stitch in at 11:45 PM - logging in many hours yesterday watching Downton Abbey on PBS.  This quilt was machine pieced and hand quilted - a total of about 60-75 hours.

I finished making the princess dress and newborn sleeper - and those are ready to go to Washington DC.  And 9 of the Christmas ornaments that I made for this year are done - 3 more to go.

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I just returned from the International Quilt Festival which is held in Houston, Texas annually.  It is a wonderful mixture of classes, exhibits, and vendors.  This year, my Everyday Matters friend Raena joined me, for the second year, for part of a day.  She doesn't quilt, but the doll exhibit gives us something fun to sketch together.  My doll sketches aren't painted yet, so they won't be posted until later this week.

Instead, I'm posting a bug I painted on fabric with Tsukineko inks in my class with Judy Coates Perez, and two continuous line contour drawings which I'm still loving for quick, slightly wonky images.

The first is drawn on tinted paper - my pencil case contents.  The second are the tools that I used for my second Quilt Festival class - soy wax resist and instant dyes on silk with Ginny Eckley. 

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Yesterday my friend Teri and I had a full day of Art and Quilts - and here is one painting and one photo of the highlights.

At 9:30 AM I was one of only several dozen people in the new German Expressionism exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art and I sketched this beautiful sculpture.  It was the final day of the Members' Preview Days and they opened 1 hour before the museum opened.  It is a fabulous exhibit and I will return several times to see it, learn more, and copy the Masters.

After exploring several other venues at Fashion Institute of Technology and a Gallery and Lunch in Chelsea, we ended the day at a special 6 day exhibit sponsored by the American Folk Art Museum and made possible by Joanna S. Rose who funded the exhibit of 651 of her red and white quilts for 6 days at the Park Avenue Armory as a gift to the city of New York.  It is impossible to describe the impact of the number of quilts and the artistic installation in this enormous 55,000 square foot space. 

Martha Stewart said "

"Two days ago, I went to the most incredible display of quilts that I have ever seen.  My TV crew joined me at the Park Avenue Armory at 643 Park Avenue (between 66^th and 67^th Street), in New York City to see the American Folk Art Museum’s presentation of “Infinite Variety:  Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts.”  Joanna Rose, a New York quilt collector, has a collection of more than 1,300 quilts but she really wanted to put her entire collection of red and white quilts on public display, all 651 of them and no two alike!  If at all possible, I urge you to see this exhibit, which runs through March 30^th.  It’s simply breath taking!  And please tune into my television show on Monday on Hallmark Channel, to see the segment about the quilts that we shot at the Armory."

This is one of my photos, but you can read about the exhibit and see slide shows here and here and here.

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I make fabric ornaments for our Christmas Tree every year and I'm now trying to paint all of them to have images I can play with.  This small stocking was made in 1989.

My daughter and I took Sydney to the NY City Ballet version of The Nutcracker this week.  She loves the Mouse King, but I painted him after we went last year.  This year I decided that we really needed a Nutcracker drawing  - and I sketched this one from a little ornament I bought for her.

I still have two more small stocking stuffers to sew today, then tomorrow I'll make the flourless chocolate cake for Christmas Eve dinner here with all of our children and grandchildren.  My husband is making a rib roast, and creamed spinach.  I just need to bake bread and make rice pilaf.  We love Christmas!

Posted by Shirley at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)