Summer Biking

 

It was after a busy day; I decided that a recharge on my spirit was needed.  I jumped on my bike for a quick spin around our lakes in Winona.  Then I headed out to Prairie Island.  Here's a little rest that I took.

 

Our spring and early summer had lots of rain with flooding.  Here the lake grass is in the branches, evidence of the high water before receding to a more normal level.

 

 

Rocks and water; the landscape of the backwaters of the Mississippi.  This is my neighborhood.  

 

My legs are basking in the sun.  Welcome summer.

Vincent Quilt

On June 17, 2014, Vincent Gabrielle Marco was born.  In celebration of this new little one in our family, I made a quilt of bright colors to welcome him.

Here's a bit of the creative process with the making.  I asked Correy, Vincent's mother what color scheme she would like.  She suggested bright colors or camouflage--I got excited about brights.

And then she had a pattern that she was excited about too.  The pattern is a Theresa Porter design found in the Make It Yourself issue of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, 2012.  Wow, way to go to make it easy!  

Stitching  1/4 inch seams for connecting the pieces.

 

In this piece of fabric, the little bears and the chicks wear chef's hats.  The fabric tells a story of Cotty.

 
The strips are coming together.

A detail of the story fabric: "The soup which Cotty made is very delicious." A simple drawing of a skillet and a fried egg. "Seasoning are salt, pepper, and honey." A chick wearing a chef's hat. "A burning hot fried egg is especially delicious."  Cotty is holding an ice cream cone.

I number the strips in the order that I want them.  This keeps my color selections working together.  And it is less confusing.

A hand written label stitched on the back: 
Vincent Gabrielle, June 17, 2014, Love you, Auntie Mary Lee

Flannel was used for the batting to create a lighter weight quilt for this summer baby.
 
I machine quilted it in the ditch (sewing along the seams of the pieced fabrics) and some free motion around the little kids in the strips.
 
Completed quilt with blue binding.  
Finished size: 37.5" x 64"

 

Pete's Great Adventure

At the end of our school year at Ridgeway Community School, we invited In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre artists to share art and puppet performance with the students. Stacy Lee King and Madeline Helling worked and played with students from May 12 - May 22.   On May 22nd, we had two outdoor performances with our whole school.  It was amazing and wonderful to be part of the children's discovery, learning and creating.

Here is Pete, the turtle. Pete is operated by 8 people--7 students and Madeline Helling, guest artist.   In our musical pageant, Pete has lost his way and needs help to find his friends and his way back to the pond, Ridgeway Community School.

Some  2nd and 3rd grade frogs want to help.

So do the Kindergarten Dragonflies.

 The First Grade Prairie Chickens race in to help.

The preschool lilies sing a song.

The frogs are pulling Pete this way and that and then they all fall down.

Fifth Grade Turtle narrators tell the story.

Madeline and Stacy Lee dance the turtle as all the 4th and 5th graders sing.

Frogs help tell the story too.

Stacy Lee King, Mary Lee Eischen, Kat Eng, Madeline Helling share the after the performance glow.

 Stacy Lee & Mary Lee

Artist Residency with Stacy Lee King and Madeline Helling

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre Artists 

Stacy Lee King and Madeline Helling 

from Minneapolis, Minnesota

May 12- 22, 2014

Ridgeway Community School had the great honor to host two amazing artists, Stacy Lee King and Madeline Helling from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.  They had workshops with our students aged 3- 11 years old, Preschool through Grade 5.  Stacy Lee and Madeline began on Monday, May 12 by introducing the students to puppetry with an all school assembly.  They shared stories and puppets for the students.

 

They showed how to work a puppet with two people.  They had students acting out a puppet show. They told the students that In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, HOBT, they had puppets that were two stories tall and required 15 people to operate them! 

When each class of students came in work with the artists, they played games with the children to learn their names and find out about their favorite critter. The children got to hold and work with the puppets.

At Ridgeway Community School we teach 3-4 year old Preschool, one class Kindergarten, one class 1^st grade, two classes of second and third grades; and two classes of 4^th and 5^th grades. 

Each class had a project

Preschoolers: lily flowers

Kindergarten: dragonflies

1^st Graders: prairie chickens

2^nd & 3^rd Graders: frogs

4^th & 5^th Graders: turtles

 The 2^nd and 3^rd grade students would create frogs and preform as frogs for the musical pageant.  To create the frog masks, the children filled up plastic bags with newspaper and tied them shut.  Then they balled up newspaper for two eyes that they taped to the head.  One group began the paper mache possess on the first day.

The process continued on their next session and they added brown bag for strength.

 

The children played animal games in between the making.  Madeline and Stacy emphasized that the materials used were recycled or re-purposed—old cardboard, newspaper, bicycle inner tube from flat tires.

 

The first grade students created prairie chicken masks. They paper mached the beaks.

 

 

 

 

Another day, they painted the mask, wing, and tail feathers.

The youngest children or our school, the 3-4 year old preschoolers, painted lily flowers for their mask/crowns.

The 2^nd & 3^rd Graders painted their masks and got fitted for the masks with a piece of cardboard and rubber inner tube to make it snug and comfortable for the head.

 Parents came to help and join in the fun.

The 4^th & 5^th Grade students created  turtle shells.  They paper mached with brown bag.

 

In the next session, they painted.  There were many variations on how to create the lines for the painted turtle.  Lots of artistic expression.  

The large turtle began with the head.

In the next post, check out how everything turned out and see pictures of the outdoor performance.  Stay tuned!!!