The May Phoebe Meeting was held at George Mark Children's House in Oakland

The May meeting took place at the George Mark Children's House in Oakland. Built in the 1960s, it was the first of it's kind—a fully licensed and accredited non-profit medical facility offering a home-like setting for children who do not need the on-going resources of a children's hospital. It offers support to care-giving families and children with illnesses modern healthcare cannot yet cure or for those with chronic medical conditions or end-of-life situations. It is a stunningly beautiful place with colorful art and individual rooms for children with themed designs, like the railroad one shown above. There is fabulous food, fun games and activities, and even suites for family visits and stays. The Phoebes were taken on an extensive tour and were extremely impressed by it all!

Calendar of Events 

June 22, (Saturday), 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. Barbara Willis Mold-making Workshop at Barbara's Studio. There will not be a regular Phoebe meeting this month.

July 20, (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Marcella's. Flat doll challenge will be due. Sally will offer enrichment.

August 17, (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Marcella's. Mary will offer enrichment.

September 14, (Saturday), 10 A.M. to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Marcella's. This will be an activity event with three activities to participate in: fabric origami (Harlene); how to wire tins (Anne); book binding (Jennifer). Bring a bag lunch

October 12, (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Christ Episcopal Church in Alameda (time to be determined). This will be our annual potluck/gift exchange to celebrate the Phoebes' anniversary. Bring a sweet or savory dish to share. Watch for more upcoming details.

November (date to be determined), (Saturday), 1 to 4 P.M., Phoebe Meeting at Colleen's. Harlene will offer enrichment.

Enrichment by Daisy

We all gathered in the Great Room of George Mark for our May Phoebe meeting. A special treat was Daisy's enrichment session, during which we all followed her instructions and each made an eyelash yarn "lei" by looping yarn around a large straw. A very clever idea with a quite lovely result (see photos below). Thanks, Daisy!

Rosie is proudly displaying her yarn necklace made from two differently colored strands of the yarn, while Suzanne can be seen in the back making a beautiful bright pink one. Lots of fun for all!

Show and Tell

Harlene is quickly wrapping her yarn during enrichment, but take notice of the amazing vest she is wearing. It is made with many, many tiny quilting scraps covered with net and fused together. She then quilted it with long running stitches. Don't you wish you had saved more of your scraps? I do!

Anne, working hard as ever making items to sell at upcoming shows, brought these four fabulous examples to share with us. She never fails to amaze us with her work!

This last one was made by Anne molding ceramic clay inside a small fluted jello mold and then sculpting and attaching the head, torso and arms. It is so adorable.

Bonnie took a new path from flat dolls to this very whimsical and cute "flat house" made from quilting fabric and various embellishments. 

She also brought of samples of various craft tapes (a la washi tape) she has been making using double sided tape. Some are fabric, some are paper. Don't we all have things around the house to make even more interesting tapes than the ones in the stores?

And finally, these four double-sided fabric collages are samples of Bonnie's iconic work using her home "stash" to craft unique embellishments 

Marcella has created another wonderful quilt for a George Mark child by tapping into her delightful collection of quilting scraps. It is sure to be much appreciated.

Mary is shown modeling her latest knitted work of art. As soft as a whisper, it can be worn many different ways. The lovely color combination of yarns have been knitted into an intricate pattern which is testament to her advanced knitting skills.
We all want one like it (but unfortunately most of us are not skillful enough to make one). Darn!

Above and below are cute little dolls made at Bay Quilts in Richmond. Shawn, thank you for sharing!

And last, but certainly not least, Zanaib brought examples of the project she is currently working on. Above is a "party-in-a-box" which her friend Sherrye made and sent out to create a birthday celebration for her mom recently.

Zanaib will be inviting relatives to join in the celebration, by mail, of her mother's 87th birthday on June 17. She will be sending about 30 of the boxes to some of them. Included in each will be a balloon, some tea, candy, a gift certificate, napkins and a card. Other smaller groups of relatives will be receiving the "loaded envelopes" like the ones pictured below, with similar items included. They are requested to mail back the included stamped, addressed birthday cards to Zanaib's mom, along with some recent photos.

Some more distant relatives or friends will be receiving postcards to decorate and mail back with birthday wishes. We not only send Zanaib's mom the Phoebe's early wish for a wonderful birthday, but we hope her spirits will be uplifted by the response of all these people joining together to wish her a very "Happy Birthday" in June.