A 35th Anniversary Phoebe Celebration!

Did you know that gnomes are all the rage? If you visit the Etsy Web site, you will discover that dozens of people are making and selling them right now. 

Diasy, our resident art teacher, volunteered to lead enrichment this month and brought a big collection of socks in many sizes and colors to choose from. She then instructed us on how to turn them into lovable, whimsical gnomes. We are anxiously awaiting the appearance of the completed ones at the next meeting.

Calendar 

November 12, (Saturday), 11 A.M. at Marcella's. Betts will be bringing kits and part of her vast collection of fabulous buttons and will conduct a make-it-and-take-it enrichment session. Drop-in Social Get-together will be from 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Please bring your completed Gnomes from the last meeting.

 December 10, 11 A.M. (Saturday) Christmas Party at Barbara's Studio.  Barbara will lead us in celebrating the holiday season and also teach us to make a dainty paper shoe. Watch for details in the Phoebe Newsletter and the meeting minutes.

Show and Tell

 Shawn is shown beside the amazing memorial quilt she created in memory of the famous and much revered quilter and teacher, Roberta Horton. It will be displayed, along with 99 other Horton memorial quilts at the Pacific International Quilt Festival, then continue to travel around the country in the coming months.

Shawn is modeling this soft, warm "Teddy Bear Coat" made by Caroline from a piece of Geri's fabric. A great garment to cuddle up in during the coming cold winter months.

Sharon gathered up some of the many beautiful acrylic paintings she completed during the pandemic. Here are six examples that are painted on canvas. We hope she will continue to bring more to show us how she used those long days to create original works of art. 

Donna brought three small needle-sculpted cloth dolls she had previously made. The ones on either side are the results of a Christine Shively class she attended in Petaluma a few years ago. The highlight was learning from Christine how to make the felt flowers that adorn their hair. The center doll is a design Donna created to honor the Japanese Harajuku girls, who dress up as little "Lolita's" and capture attention on Tokyo streets by wearing lots of lace, ruffles, bows and pastels. 

We all miss you, Rosie, but we are glad you can join us on Zoom and also share some of the creative projects you have been working on. Above are beautiful dominos that Rosie has painted with alcohol inks. 

Rosie has recently joined a sewing group that is volunteering to "Dress a Girl Around the World." Not only are they making the dresses, but they are also sewing cloth dolls to accompany each dress. Here is a sample of the dolls Rosie has been making.

The most time-consuming part is sewing the hair on the doll heads.

She is also making baby dolls that are swaddled in little blankets. 

Caroline discovered some UFOs (unfinished objects) that she is now working on to complete. They are designed to carry cell phones or other items. She has been very successful in selling some of them. 

Sue always astounds us with her doll-making creativity. Her sculpted polymer clay heads are always terrific.

Kathy is already experienced in making gnomes. She has currently been busy making these cute tiny bear gnomes to give away as Christmas presents. 

Randy, Sue's husband, accompanied her on the long drive to our celebration. He is shown here working on one of the Hawaiian feather headdresses he has made over the years, many of which are currently residing in museums. To make them historically accurate, he uses the same materials used by his ancestors as much as possible. Some vines are not easily accessible these days and are now replaced by woven reeds. But the designs, the other materials and the techniques are centuries old. It is a very exacting and time-consuming process.

Show and Tell

The challenge for this month was to make a card that would celebrate Autumn, Halloween, or Thanksgiving holidays. They were to be hidden in brown bags and randomly exchanged. Here are samples of the wonderful results.