A Few Fall Images

Fall foliage in my area is about at its peak and its wonderful to look at especially on a sunny day. The view a couple of blocks down my street.
And the small maple tree in my yard.

The side view from my front porch.

Years ago when I was working in a Psychiatric Hospital I used to lead Reminiscence Groups. one patient described standing under a tree with golden leaves and having the leaves fall all around her and how wonderful that made her feel. I have never been able to look at a golden tree again without thinking about it.

The New Tibetan Rug from Nepal

On most of my trips to Nepal I indulge in purchasing a Tibetan Rug. In addition to being a good investment, they can't possibly wear out in my lifetime or even my children's for that matter. This year it was a wine dragon beauty which is about 3 X 6 feet and a 100 knot. One disadvantage of buying them is that this one took up 11 pounds and a bit of space in my suitcase.

The other problem is where to put it? The floor its on is obviously out...it looks awful on that pattern. And I am way past out of walls to put it on. Maybe it can live in the kitchen with the other one for the winter. Obviously it never occurs to me what I am going to do with it when I purchase it.

You can see my other tibetan rugs and more information on how they are made by typing in tibetan rug on the search on the upper left.

Class at Marcia's Studio - The Last Day

During the last day we continued working on the big pieces and put them up on the walls for an afternoon critique and discussion.


Marcia made a stunning piece which reminds me of an Indian rug.



Mine looks too much like a potential jacket back
When i changed the scale it still did.

Class at Marcia's Studio Continued

Suki surveys the cars parked in the yard from a vantage point on the roof.
We made larger pieces from shapes we created.
My pieces.
Then we took cardstock and made a dozen shapes using a set of criteria.




Viewing and critiquing the work.
Some of Terry's works.
The next step was to take the designs and incorporate in larger ones or make new larger designs.
Suki emerges from a nap behind Barb's shirt on her chair.

Class at Marcia's Studio

This week 8 of us (including Marcia) took a class with Terry Jarrard-Dimond. Our first exercise was to compose two compositions using ladders as a theme. Some of our examples: Terry photographing our results.



Then we were to make a couple of larger pieces again using ladders as a theme. My first one.

Westminster, Vermont Quilt Show

This past weekend I was a vendor at the Westminster Quilt Show in Westminster, Vermont. There was a special exhibit by Pamela Johnson, a student of Ruth McDowell.






This was a mermaid quilt in the regular show.

They also had an excellent display of vintage quilts.

Another of the regular show quilts.
More antique quilts. I have one made from a similar pink fabric.
And another of Pamela Johnson's quilts.

This quilt from the regular show made me smile.


And yet another Pamela Johnson quilt. She also taught a class using Ruth McDowell's technique.

The Babies Have Come In From the Cold

I bought these beautiful huge wooden puppets 13 years ago on my second trip to Nepal. That was back in the era of the 70 pound suitcases and it was fairly easy to bring them home. While it is still easy to find similar puppets in a much smaller size, I have only seen one this large during my visits in all the years since, and that was very faded and very expensive.

They were made in Bhaktapur, a city a few miles from downtown Kathmandu which used to be a separate kingdom. Now it is a Unesco site and the temples and palace are beautifully preserved. It is a destination on any tour of the Kathmandu Valley. It is one of the nicest to visit as there are no large vehicles allowed in the square. There is also a very picturesque potters area just below the temples.

Small puppets hanging on the streets of Bhaktapur waiting for tourists to come by.


My puppets have been sitting all these years in a rocking chair in what was designated by my grandchildren as the "fire room" since it had a fireplace. Unfortunately it doesn't have central heat (it was added on to the house at the same time as the garage) so it is mostly closed and cold in the winter. There is a wall gas heater but because of the expense now (and because I have two other "living" rooms I only open it up when a fire might be fun. Those are opium pipes from Hong Kong on the upper left .

I decided it was time to move them to a new location for awhile.

They average 27" long, have wooden arms and legs and a heavily stuffed body.

Their clothes are all made of handwoven Nepalese cotton fabric.

And, of course, they have all the necessary strings for movement.

So now they have been moved to the front parlor where I can enjoy them more in the winter. By next summer I will have decided whether they can keep this spot or not.