These are a few of my favorite things!

 

The September meeting focused on Sally's enrichment session, during which she taught us how to assemble and bind the pages of a small book. By the end of the session most of the Phoebes had books ready to take home to decorate the covers and perhaps the pages. We are looking forward to viewing them at the October meeting. Thank you, Sally, for sharing this technique with us. 

                        Calendar

October 12, Phoebe Anniversary Celebration and Potluck at Marcella's at 11:30 A.M. Founded in 1987, we are celebrating 37 years of friendship, creativity, inspiration and laughter.

Please bring a sweet or savory dish to share. We are looking forward to a special session to be led by Kathy, who will be teaching us to make little angels in preparation for the coming holiday. 

If you have any placemats, cards and/or tags for Meals on Wheels, we will be collecting them at this time. The last collection day will be at the meeting in November.

Show and Tell

If you are trying to decide how to make your cards or tags for Meals on Wheels, here are a few ideas from Geri. 

Rosie got a head start on making tags and went to town making these lovely ones before we were able to find out that while MOW might prefer an autumn or Thanksgiving theme, they are extremely thankful for everything we can contribute. 

Since Bett's challenge for this month was to share "a few of our favorite things," most of the items in show and tell are those items. Betts brought the collection of painted brushes that she made. They were created in response to a challenge Barbara proposed to their neighborhood art circle. 

Suzanne brought her fabric roll the Phoebes created as a memento when she retired from her position as the club's president. 

And she happily shared her newest award for Docent of the Year at the Oakland Zoo. 

Anne treasures this "Street People" sculptured fabric doll which was made by an artist friend.

Shawn has discovered her newest favorite color which is a pretty navy blue. It is definitely a very flattering and beautiful color on her. She has discovered numerous garments, accessories, and craft supplies to wear and utilize during her "blue period." 

Donna brought the last remaining items that she made with dominos—the other ones were given to family and friends. One is a jewelry pin and the other three are accordion pleated fold out tabletop tchotchkes, as seen below.

Among Geri's favorite things were 

two lovely "Slow Stitched" fabric collages.

She used bits and pieces from the Phoebe "freebee" table.

She used the same technique to fashion a book cover that was inspired by her love for gardening.

Caroline is an avid fan of the San Francisco 49ers and The Golden State Warriors. She loves to make the little felt Warrior pins and has sold or given away a great number of them. Marcella's collection of favorite things includes little mementos and embellishments—including a stamp featuring Raggedy Ann—her favorite collectible doll.

Caroline also treasures the bear she made from an elinor peace bailey pattern.

Is this a few of Sally's favorite things?

Kathy brought some of her favorite beads and reminded us to continue sending them to Beads for Kids.

Betts shared the beautiful triptych she made

in response to Daisy's challenge. It really is lovely!

 

A Special Visit with Wanda

 What a special and joyful meeting we had this month when our close friend and former member Wanda was able to join us. Her dear family—daughter Diana, son David, and granddaughter Natalie—made it all possible and we are very grateful! We have missed Wanda so much since her stroke and we look forward to having more visits in the future as she continues to recover. We love you, Wanda!

                        Calendar

September 14 Meeting. We will be meeting at Marcella's. Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. The enrichment for September will be presented by Sally, who will tutor us on bookmaking. You will be receiving a materials list soon, so check your email. Betts' September Challenge with be a container of your special treasures entitled "These are a few of my favorite things." 

  

September 27, (Friday) we will be gathering at Marcella's for a greeting card workday from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. Please RSVP if you will be joining us. 

 

October 12, Annual Phoebe Anniversary Potluck. We will be meeting at Marcella's. Please bring a sweet or savory dish to share (more details will be forthcoming). If you are sewing placemats for Meals on Wheels, also bring your completed mats to this meeting. If we find out more are needed, we may resume sewing them in future months. 

August Enrichment

Our August enrichment, designed by Daisy, involved adhering fabrics and trim to three paper dolls that would represent the three Phoebe members we sadly lost over the past few years—Zanaib, Mary, and Harlene. 

Applique items could represent fabrics and items or themes dear to our lost members, such as African, Japanese, and butterflies. 

 We all brought items from our collections and Daisy supplied even more. The three dolls will be ultimately joined together as a triptych. Here are the beginnings of some of the dolls that will be displayed at next month's meeting. 

The August Challenge

Last month Betts challenged us to make tags that included a four-letter word. Donna converted the English word joy to the French Joie and used her tags to decorate the fronts of greeting cards.

And since all of her materials were strewn about, she made some more basic cards.

Caroline expressed her joy of singing.😊

Marcella made 4 cards expressing hope and another 4 with toy dolls representing play.

Suzanne R's tags featured various animals from the Oakland Zoo.

Jennifer, who loves to read (and create) books, found it easy to choose a favorite word.

Geri, one of our avid doll makers and collectors, choose "doll" for her tag word and decorated the tag with smaller versions of dolls she has made over the years.

     Also, here are doll pins Geri has created to represent dolls she has made during her many phases of doll making. 

Betts displayed a box of "a few of her favorite things" to inspire our ideas for the next challenge.

And more!She also displayed one of her favorite treasures in her lace collection...vintage Coronation Cord. 

Daisy's Little Bow Peep doll is so adorable!

Suzanne R completed another great greeting card. 

More placemats for Meals on Wheels have been completed and sewing will continue to make even more until they are due at the October meeting.  

Bonnie has been working to create more of her wonderful small decorations.

She also made a cute, embellished booklet using her collected buttons.

Sally mentioned the possibility of creating expandable booklets like the one above that contains "twinchie" graphics for inspiration. 

 _____________________________A message from Rosie!

Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue

 

The July challenge promoted by Betts was to celebrate the 4th of July. Suggestions included tales of memorable celebrations, items like the ones above, or even being decked out in those colors. Numerous photos in this post will show the challenge was a success.

                                Calendar

August 10 Meeting. We will be meeting at Marcella's. Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. The enrichment for August will be led by Daisy. We will be using Mod Podge to adorn paper dolls with fabric, ribbon, and other embellishments. Refer to the recent newsletter and emails for materials that will be supplied and others that you might want to bring with you. Also remember to bring your August challenge which will be something made with the card and tags Betts has supplied (see photos and info in Show and Tell).

Show and Tell  

While these photos from Geri were taken before the advent of color photography, they show the joyful memories from family 4th of July celebrations.

Suzanne D displayed her happy 4th of July doll which was made from a Patti Culea pattern.

Marcella contributed a wealth of 4th of July mementos. 

Barbara is clothed in celebration colors featuring the lovely red silk fabric necklace she made.

Colorful fabrics were displayed.

As well as wonderful possible embellishments.

For the August challenge, Betts has supplied a card and some tags. Actually, there are no rules or limits in this challenge. Make something original.  For example, perhaps use 4 letters or four words, or express a special theme or a new idea by using your own choice of materials or embellishments.

The Phoebes have volunteered to make place mats for Meals on Wheels. It will be an ongoing project. In June members gathered fabrics from their stashes, cut out kits, and eagerly began assembling and sewing together the mats. 

At the July meeting a total of 44 mats had been completed and gathered to deliver. Many more will be completed over the coming months. This example was sewn by Donna.

Suzanne R has turned into an avid card maker. 

Among her favorite subjects are animals that she sees often as a docent at the Oakland Zoo.

Great job!

Betts, the Queen of button collecting, recently displayed these unusual buttons from her collection that have an interesting history. 

Betts also shared a very creative fabric sculpture she made as an homage to spirits and sayings of indigenous American tribes. This wall hanger was made with paper and fabric on quilted soft fabric. 

Donna displayed her wine bottle decoupaged by using white chalk paint, Mod Podge, 1 layer of a 3-ply printed paper napkin, and a bit of bling.

Suzanne R also displayed her beautiful bottle decoupaged with a lacy rice paper and decorated with a delicate leaf. 

Barbara is working on a new project which will have three die cut embellished panels. She said "sweet image of a vintage armoire, underpinning garment and a fancy out on the town dress! Using my vintage treasures is the best part!" 

Caroline made this lovely brown beaded necklace. 

And, here are two more photos of her very useful shoulder bags. Great for your cellphone and other necessary small items. 

She also made this very cute little pin by using a painted cork and some fibers. Clever idea!

Suzanne D held up this large quilt top she recently completed. It's not only joyfully colorful, but also a complicated design that displays her advanced quilting skills.  

Donna recently completed this watercolor which is basically a technical challenge to use her new masking fluid (blue, for easier removal) in order to paint the background first, and also practice building layers of colors from light to dark. 

Our former Phoebe (Judy who now lives in Florida) has recently completed this terrific oil painting. Our thanks go out to her for keeping in touch and sharing her amazing talent. 

Our dear Rosie shared this photo of young girls in Thailand wearing the cute dresses her sewing group has been assembling and sending around the world. A big thank you goes out to all the Phoebes who have combed their fabric stashes and contributed A LOT of lovely fabrics to the cause. 

Rosie also shared her latest alcohol ink paintings. So lovely and detailed. 

Thank you, Rosie!