Looking Back – 2021

It’s that time to look back on this year. Check out link above pictures for blog posts.

January

Loved making the embellishments, but also participating in the Violet Project was fun and an important action.

February

I made a cat cube for Molly. She wasn’t interested. However, Ally loves it and spends a lot of time in it.

March

I always like to learn something new, and a way to use up my fabric. I took an online class with Judy Gelzinis Donovan called Creating New Cloth from Old Lace. It was fun, and I need to get out that box of lace and doilies and do more of it.

April

Low immersion dyeing the 41 colors highlighted this month. I love having all of those fabrics to play with.

May

Of course, I can’t talk about the year without including my irises. They bring me such joy. In the past I have blogged about them as they bloomed. This year I decided to just have one post dedicated to my irises. This year 24 bloomed. I hope to see more next year.

June

I completed my art quilts for the Indiana SAQA Collaborative Project. This was a big deal because I have struggled to finish stuff.

This was also a sad month. For the past two years I’ve been having phone conversations with a couple of my first cousins 1x removed. I’ve so enjoyed my talks with Adrian Schatz who lived in Iowa. His father was my grandfather’s brother. Adrian shared not just his life stories but also memories about my grandpa. He showed his sense of humor in our calls. On my very first call I had talked with his wife Betty. Shortly after that she went into a nursing home. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he talked about his loving wife who he called every night (since visiting was allowed due to COVID) and how he joked to her about his girlfriend (me) who had called him earlier. His positive attitude amazed me.  His daughter called me to let me know he had died while doing what he loved, gardening. We have never had any contact, but she knew I was talking to her dad. Adrian was 94. His beloved Betty died in October. The first picture is of Adrian and Betty when they visited my grandfather John S. Schatz in August of 1950.

 

 

I was so sad, but thought I really need to connect with Mary Ann Bertke Meyer, who was also my 1st cousin 1x removed. Her mother was my grandfather’s half sister. Like Adrian, I hadn’t talked to her for a month or so. After receiving the call from Adrian’s daughter, I called Mary Ann. My heart sunk when her son answered the phone. He also knew who I was from his mom’s telling him about our conversations. He told me she had died the night before. I had told her I’d drive up to see her as soon as it was safe due to COVID. Unfortunately, I was driving up to her funeral. She also had stories including my grandpa and grandma, and had been the family genealogist. What a sweet lady. She was 85.

Both were so helpful identifying photos, and also just allowing me into their lives. It was such a gift for me to get to know them. If it wasn’t for COVID I would have visited Mary Ann, but it wasn’t meant to be. I feel like I lost a couple dear friends. I just wish I would have connected earlier.

July

I completed an art quilt for the SAQA Auction. I was so happy that it sold quickly. It was called United.

August

The SAQA Indiana exhibits here were a highlight of this month. My four collaborative quilts were included, and my CoronArt 2020 piece. I loved working on this art quilt. It showed what I worked on in 2020 during our lockdown. Here I am at the gallery with my piece. It included a picture of my grandfather and most of his siblings.

September

For this month I was in high gear creating art for two different exhibits. I created Bamboo Heaven and Falling Leaves for the Art Squared Exhibit in Henderson Ky.

Then I finished two pieces for the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana Miniature Art Exhibit. They were Goddess and Sun Garden.

October

I entered another local exhibit, Recycled. I love using my new design board/wall to help me with the process.

We decided a couple months earlier to give up the asparagus patch. With my back issues, it’s been too hard to keep up with it. So we had the landscapers come out and clean it out for us. Here is how it looks now. Kind of sad, but just part of changing priorities.

November

I loved revisiting soy wax, and posted a new tutorial about it. It’s funny what happens when you revisit a technique you’ve not done in awhile.

I decided to revisit it because I had given a Zoom talk to the Indiana SAQA group where I covered a lot of resists. I didn’t cover soy because of the time limit, but since I got several questions about it, I thought I’d revise the talk and include the soy wax. It had been awhile since I’ve played with soy, so I thought it would be a good idea to get out the pot and play.

Talking about that Zoom talk, I’d love to bring it to your organization. Email me to set up a time. It lasts about an hour with plenty of time for questions and answers. My email is lsheines at gmail dot com.

 

December

I finished another piece for a local exhibit next year. I’ll be posting the picture and the process soon.

Writing these looking back posts helps me to see what I’ve done this year. I mentioned last year that I wanted to use more of my fabric, instead of it just sitting on my shelves. Entering all of those exhibits have been fun, and has really given me the confidence to do more. I’ll continue to do more of that with tutorials thrown in. Whether I’ll teach live again, I’m not sure that will happen. Of course, my online courses are still available.  Speaking of them, watch for my next post. Also, this next year I’ll be working more on my genealogy.

I hope you all realize how much I appreciate you dropping by and reading my posts. Thank you!