Getting Together

Two years ago, we gathered for the first Miller family reunion this decade. Betty and Bill Miller had five boys (yikes!) and all were there. Jim was the only one one missing this year as he and his family live in California and couldn't make it. Houston, his brother George, and I drove down to Winston/Salem NC for the weekend. 

These are most of the grandkids and great grandkids of Bill & Betty. 

 I asked that everyone at the party stand for a portrait photo. I got harumphs and rolling eyes, but nearly everyone obliged. George is pictured above, number 2 in the birth line and resides just two houses down from Houston and me. He likes riding trains and long walks on the beach.

My hubbie, Houston and number 4 and lives with me. He likes riding bikes and climbing mountains.

Chip is number 1 and lives near Charlotte. Chip likes anything to do with computers.

Chuck is number 3 and lives in Winston/Salem. Chuck likes painting and riding his black bike. He and his wife, Debbie organized the event.

Diana is Chip's wife and loves grandkids and puppies.

Debbie is married to Chuck and likes hopping on her bike and riding on river trails. She looks smashing in pink.

Houston took this pic of me and got way too close. I had to photoshop out some wrinkles.

Shannon is Chip's daughter and brightens everyone's day with her huge smile. I'm glad I'm her Facebook friend.

Jennifer is Chip's other daughter, making her Shannon's sister. The girls live next to each other on a big farm near Charlotte. Jennifer has a thick Southern accent that you could listen to all day. She's an EMT, saving lives right and left, sort of a super hero. (Her husband, Ryan, couldn't come)

Tim is married to Shannon, easy going and very likable.

Eric is Chuck and Debbie's son (my nephew) who lives just miles away from them. He likes WWW (not the world wide web, but World Wide Wrestling). He's a sweet, gentle soul and I always enjoy his company.

My niece Corey, brother to Erik, is just a doll. She lives in Raleigh, going for her masters in social work  (correct me if I'm wrong Corey). Her mom, Debbie is from Minnesota and Corey has carried on those Swedish genes. 

Doug is Corey's boyfriend and our grill master. He stood out in the hot sun (with Chuck) grilling our burgers and corn. Thanks!

Thomas is Shannon and Tim's son. He's a computer wiz and an all around delightful young man.

Nathan is also Shannon and Tim's son. He's soft spoken and polite and I'd like to get to know him better.

This is the first time I've met Jennifer's boys. There's four of them (!). This is Jay, the oldest of the four. 

This was Austin's pose. What a ham!

Grady posed perfectly. What a cutie.

But I couldn't get Mason to stand still. He was a bit shy and was wary of me so I had to run around and get candid shots of him. He's just four and such a darling.

Baxter is Corey's dog and I think she had the best time of anyone at the picnic.

She got heaps of attention from all the kids.

Lucy is a quiet girl. Storms kept passing through all day and she didn't like that one bit. Debbie ended up taking her home and giving her a little chill pill to calm her down. Hey, who wouldn't want that?!

Here are all the girls with big smiles...

...compared to the boys, who looked like they would rather be having their teeth pulled than be in front of the camera!

The 3 D's: Debbie, Diana, Dalis

With Doug and Chuck at the grill, and hours of getting the fire started and grilling burgers and corn, George wanted this pic taken so he could take credit for the grilling. But now you know the truth. 

 

Yum, yum, yum. Grilled corn is tasty.

and tasty this was too. Nothing like a Southern girl baking an peach pie. Thanks Shannon!

Doug stepped away from the grill for 30 seconds to fortify himself for more grilling.

 

A beautiful day and time spent with family....good times.

A Charity Worth Giving To

My felt coat/jacket/dress/bathrobe came out great. Nine members from my felting group took a 3-day workshop from Charity Van der Meer last week. 

I've never enjoyed a workshop so much. I threw wool, silk, nebs, crinkle chiffon, organza yarn, and mohair locks on a base of silk chiffon to create this purply/turqouisey splash of color.

Charity hails from Zambia but is now residing in Holland. She's here in the States for two months teaching workshops and sightseeing. Her felted creations are truly inspiring and I am so thrilled that I got to take her class.  

Even her hair is a felted work of art!

We had fun playing dress up with her felt garments.

I came with a pile of materials, all hand dyed purple, fuscia and turquoise.

For some reason these colors are not the true colors of my finished garment. Something to do with the light or exposure.

We laid (or Bev said I threw) the embellishments on, rolled it all up in bubble wrap and got to felting. We were in air conditioning but a few of us took our bundles outside so they could be in the sun (with black plastic over them to create an oven) to heat up so it would felt faster. Hey, whatever works!

Kathy's hand dyed pile of goodness.

Here it is in the laying out stage.

Bev's subtle coloring.

Paige methodically laying out her hand dyed fiber.

Margo took a full day meticulously laying out her design. It was stunning. 

I have not seen the finished coat yet but I'm sure it is breathtaking.

I loved Charity's style of teaching. It was laisse faire, not exacting, use lots of water and soap and it'll get the job done. Some teachers are so finicky about just doing it one way. She's fun, funny, approachable and I just wanted to keep her forever.

So after we rolled for a bit (a bit can be 1/2 hour to 2 hours), we tried our pieces on and then could determine where we needed to shrink it. Paige needs to shrink it everywhere.

I worked mine in various places like the waist, to bring it in or the sides so they wouldn't bulge out.

The most confusing part of the entire project was figuring out the collar. What's inside, what's outside, what overlaps....? Luckily Charity had much patience with me.

I'm into lots of color and texture (duh!) and had fun just putting lots of it on.

Silk ponge and organza float on the bottom, giving a real girly look to the garment. Hands off Stevie Nicks!

Grace made a 'duster', a long vest that has an open slit weave piece in the back. Hers is full of texture too and a lot more color than just reds. WoW!

I have found that wool is so malleable, especially great for fitting a garment to your body. A pull here, a tug there shapes it to your form. And Charity was a master at this.

So...this was supposed to be a 3-day workshop but Dear Derecho struck late Friday night. The Unitarian church where we were holding our workshop was damaged by the storm and anyway there was no electricity. None of us had electricity. But on Sunday, a few of us went over to Sharon's to work on our piece with Charity. We brought water and worked in the natural light. Some of the photos were taken in Sharon's front yard. This tree was split down the middle, creating an opening that we could fit in to.

Sharon's felt garments always turn out extraordinary. She has such an eye for design.

Zita's jacket is understated elegance. All black with just a hint of a secret color.

I was so disappointed to not get to see everyone's finished jacket. But at our next meeting we'll have a show and tell and I'll post the final pieces. I'm going to make a big fused glass button for my closure and when it gets cool enough to wear it, I'll be strutting my peacock coat. Bev and I are getting together soon to make another one so we don't forget how. Fun, fun in the summertime! Thanks so much Charity for sharing your vast knowledge and mad felting skills.