The Fiber Art Fusion Show

Here is a post that Virginia Greaves did about our Fiber Art Fusion Show.

What Fun!

Yesterday I got to help hang Fiber Art Fusion's show at The Art Place gallery in Marietta, Georgia. The title of the show is Transformations. There are some incredible pieces at the show. It will be up until August 22. If you are in the area, stop by. I have three small pieces in the show, and one that my geometry classes made.

New Work and the Kids

Here is a 4x6 piece I did. You cannot see it very well, but there is a map of Europe stamped on the lutridor. The charms are stamps on shrink plastic.


And here are my two youngest children.

Gifts from Margaret

Here are pictures of my wonderful gifts from Margaret. Thank you very much. After I post this, I am going to add beads to something...

Another 5x7 and a Trip to Margaret's House

Well, blogger won't let me upload any pictures right now. Suffice it to say, I worked on another 5x7, and I was going to show it to you.

My three youngest and I visited my friend Margaret this morning. I wish I could point you to a site with Margaret's beautiful work on it, but I don't think her work is on the internet anywhere. Margaret, we need to fix this problem. Margaret does the most exquisite bead work and crazy quilting. She is an important and integral part of Fiber Art Fusion. And she is one of the most generous people you could ever meet.

I mentioned in an email that I wanted to go bead shopping and asked for suggestions for bead stores. Margaret invited me over to shop in her home. (I would love to show you pictures of the beautiful beads Margaret gave me, but blogger won't let me.) Not only did she give me beautiful beads, she also gave me some sweet little ceramic pots, and some gorgeous velvet that Nicholas Kneil had given her. (And in my mind, it is leftovers from some beautiful designer gown that Nicholas was involved in making. Probably not, but I can pretend...)

Margaret also entertained my children with matchbox cars, colored pencils, an electric pencil sharpener (Sam is finally clean, Margaret,) and Mardi Gras beads. We have all been wearing bead necklaces all day.

So thank you a million times Miss Margaret. You are one sweet, classy, and wonderful lady!

Abstract??

At Fiber Art Fusion, a friend said she was going to try to work in non-abstract (I know there is a word, but it is escaping me) for a change. Well, I decided to try something more abstract. So I am trying some 5x7 pieces with different techniques. On this one, I just sewed various blue-green fibers onto a black piece of fabric. The black fabric was fused to a piece of interfacing to facilitate sewing. I used invisible thread and my darning foot with a small zigzag stitch. Then I fused it to a piece of Peltex for stability. Here is a close-up shot.


I think this could make a good ocean background. I was going to add some shells, but I really like it the way it is.

Chicken Mummy Day 1

Here is our chicken mummy on day 1. I hope this works and doesn't just make a smelly mess. So far, we washed him, put him in a plastic bag, and covered and filled him with salt. Then we washed our hands really well. Ed, Amy, and Sam are involved so far. I think Alex will get in on it before the end.

Next step in our history study is to put a time line up. I am trying to figure out the best place. I think we will use the upstairs hallway. If anyone has done this, please let me know how long your time line was, and if you did all time on it, or divided it up by what you were studying. I know I cannot put Big Bang on one end and today on the other and just divide time because everything would happen in the last few inches. I was thinking of starting around 7000 BC and going to now, and put an arrow on the end saying 5 miles to the beginning of time or something like that. Any opinions?

Another day, another appointment

Now that I am teaching, I make a lot of doctor and dentist appointments for the summer. Today I took my oldest to the dentist. I just realized that on all the millions of forms I had to sign, I put yesterday's date. Ugh. At least they let me fill out all the paper work for the middle two who go in 11 days today. (Or yesterday, I guess.)

I ran two miles the morning. Well, I walked about 1/4 of one mile up hill. Those hills are killing me. Tomorrow I am going to add in some distance.

Today, I am going to work on a 5x7 piece for the Fiber Art Fusion show at The Art Place on Sandy Plains Road.

Fractured Quilt

Last night at Fiber Art Fusion, we had a new member. He has just moved here from Northern California. (He told me the town, and now I can only remember that it was 2 hours north of San Francisco.) Anyway, he and I were talking about doing a fractured quilt. So if any of you Fiber Art Fusion ladies are reading this, think about it. He said we could just do one with the two of us if no one else is interested.

One of the things I teach in geometry and algebra is proportions. To hook the kids on the first day, I do a fractured artwork piece with them. This first one is of a Picasso. It was done by my Algebra I students.

This second one was done by my geometry students. It is an Ellis Wilson print.

Thunderstorms

When we were in Florida, there were storms almost every day. Now that we are back home, the same phenomenon is happening here. Just as Dave and Alex were going out to play tennis last night, a nasty storm came in. We were even under a severe thunderstorm warning for a while.

Tonight is my Fiber Art Fusion meeting. I have to remember to attend the meeting. Actually, remembering to attend is not the problem. It is remembering where the meeting is located that is that problem.

Off to work on the round robin piece for this month. One of these days I am going to work on it in advance...

P.S. I ran again this morning.

Monday Monday

Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying being home for the summer? I really enjoyed teaching, but I am having fun relaxing with my kids, too. And I found the Natural Market today which has the mother lode of gluten free food. Even chicken nuggets. Yipee!

First some beach pictures...
Here is Sam on the beach his first day. He is running from the ocean. By the end of the two weeks he was running towards the ocean.


Amy loved the ocean from minute one. She loves boogie boarding and being out with the big kids, hence the life jacket.

This is Ed and his sand Sphinx. (I bought the chicken and salt for the chicken mummy today...)

Alex and his sand structure.

So before noon today, I managed to run two miles (well, I probably walked about 2/3 of a mile during it,) drop off a check at the sitter's, go to the bank, go to two grocery stores, and feed everyone lunch. This afternoon, the other calculus teacher came over and we set up a time line for the course. And now I am thinking about dinner. What should we have?

Oh, and if anyone runs, can you please tell me, am I going to start loving it soon? I did use the time to think about a lot of things. I had a little panic attack about calculus, but I am now over it. (It comes back, though, every once in a while.)

The part that makes me the most nervous about teaching is finding a way to fit everything in before the test. In Georgia, End Of Course Tests are given with about two weeks left in the semester. Considering the semester is 18 weeks long, and we lose about a week to other school activities, I have 15 weeks to teach 12 chapters of Geometry or Algebra I or whatever before that EOCT. We teach calculus year round, so I do have plenty of time for it. We plan to finish new material before spring break, and take the time after spring break to review for the early May AP (Advanced Placement) Exam. In geometry, I have to do a section a day to have any hope of keeping up. In calculus, I can take a couple of days per section and still have plenty of time to review. I am feeling better about it every day.

Fort Pierce

I just got back from two weeks in Fort Pierce, Florida. We stayed in my sister's beach front condo. I'll post some pictures soon. I am trying not to fall back off the face of the earth. But, we don't have internet access at the condo. My husband did go into town to the Panera to do some work one day and use their Wifi. However, I didn't think it would be nice to take my gluten free child to Panera, so I didn't go.

Right before I left, I finished the t-shirt quilt. I forgot to take a picture before I delivered it. But, it went to the home of a professional photographer, so I am going to ask for a picture of it. Do you think that would be ok?

I got interviewed for an article for the Atlanta paper, but I was not mentioned. Oh well.

I am up to running a mile now. I want to be to three before school starts in the middle of August. It is hot, though. Right now, I run the first mile, walk 5 minutes, run another 5 minutes, walk 5 minutes, etc. until I have gone three miles.

I am currently reading The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. I am reading the children's version, Story of the World, to my seven year old. We are both learning a lot. He is fascinated by ancient Egypt. I can see a chicken mummy showing up in my life this week. He made the Sphinx out of sand at the beach.

I finished the calculus class. I am amazed at how much calculus I remember, and was surprised at how much you can do on a graphing calculator. Wow!