Ended Official BYC Mini Contest - "WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY?"

[N F C]

Entry #3 - Ceramics

I spent some time on a contract in the middle of the pacific. WHile there I was able to partake in many activities. I spent a lot of time bowling, drinking, painting fantasy & scifi miniatures, learned to sail, and got my PADI open water dive card. But my fondest memories were in the ceramics shop where as a complete novice I taught the instructor a thing or two.

On the island (Johnston Island) we had some old worn plaster molds for slip casting. One set in particular was for a classic set of chessmen. Detail was worn and the greenware needed to be re-sculpted for the most part to add back the fine detail.

Note the use of 'washes' and 'dry brushing', as well as 'outlining', 'stippling', and 'mottling' - surprised the heck outta that art instructor - She said it'd never turn out. I just wish that the board hadn't exploded in the kiln.

I don't have the 'work in progress' shots available at the moment, but here is what I do have (the original set is safely in a box in the basement). I really want to get a kiln.

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This was Johnston Island View attachment 1578525

Wow, very nice! I like the detail you put on the pieces.

 

[room onthebroom]

This will probably be a long post - I tend to get wordy and post lots of photos! Hobby number one is quilting. I love it. I started quilting long before the "quilt resurgence" in 1976, which was the time of the Nation's Bicentennial when everyone suddenly seemed to want to get back to the old ways. In fact, the neighbors used to refer to me as "that poor lady down the street who has to make her own blankets." Yeah.

I don't have room in this old trailer house for all my quilting stuff, so a good friend gave me a full sized travel trailer that she used to use to house her temporary hired farm workers. It sat in a barley field for many years, so I had some evicting to do - in fact I came down with Hanta Virus from evicting those little critters and cleaning up after them. Then I had to mouseproof it so that I wouldn't get more after we moved it to my house. It sits in the back, behind the garage, and is my sanctuary.
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My Sanctuary

I don't know what I'd be considered. I've won several ribbons in quilt shows, have sold a few, and used one in a raffle for a dear friend who's daughter was almost killed in an ATV accident. I've also got one quilt that has been featured in a quilt magazine. I made it memory of my mother, who loved to garden and who we buried on a Christmas Eve. It's official name is "I Remember Mama" but somewhere in it's construction it became known as "The Albatross" and the name stuck. Most of them I give away, with strict instructions that they are not for show if they are bed or baby sized - I want them used and loved to death. Here are few of them:

View attachment 1577946 Moonlit Garden - a wallhanging for my sister Linda, who we lost to kidney failure last summer.


View attachment 1577947 Hidden in Plain Sight That's a real pheasant feather sewn into the quilt. Ken's favorite. Made with 2 inch squares.

View attachment 1577951 Love from Auntie A heart quilt for one of my great-nieces.

View attachment 1577953 Still Fishing in But in Heaven, Dad This was made for my brother and his SO after the death of their 8 year old son Coty in a house fire. The day I gave it to them, Connie had just been released from the hospital from the injuries she suffered trying to get Coty out. Coty was severely autisic, and his big thing was fishing, anywhere, anytime, or just pretending in the play boat my brother had built for him in the back yard. One of the songs at his service was "Fishing in the Dark." He was such a love, always wearing either bib overalls during the colder months or bib shorts in summer.

View attachment 1577954 Ribbons Just a quilt trying to better learn color values.

View attachment 1577957 Winter in the Field Made for my sister Lori (pictured), who wanted a wallhanging for her new house. Again, 2 inch squares making up that scene.

View attachment 1577959 The Albatross - this is just a closeup of the stitches, each one put in by hand, in a mostly forgotten technique called Broderie Perse. I used black silk thread, the quilt was black polished cotton. I was fine when I started - 4 years later I was wearing tri-focals to finish it. This quilt was never touched by a sewing machine. Every single thing was done by entirely by hand, from seaming the panels together to the applique to the quilt and the binding.

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The Albatross - this is not quite a full shot..the dove at the bottom is cut off. But the quilt is really too big to get a complete head on shot of it. It's huge. I'll post one more shot of it so you can see how big is really is.

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The Albatross - in a quilt show.
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My latest project. You can get some idea of the small size of the "flowers" by comparing them to the spool of thread. Dunno why I started this one but now I have to finish it. I don't work on it very often anymore. After my botched neck fusion, it's hard to hold my head down long enough to sew. The papers with the hexagons on them? I have to cut each of them out, baste the little fabric hexagons to it, sew them together into a flower, then use the flowers in the quilt. I only need 500 of them. <sigh>

I have many more photos of other quilts I've done over the last 48 years, but I think I've bored you and taken up enough space on the thread.

WOW! Super impressive & all with stories that make me want to laugh & cry. I want to see more.

 

[Blooie]

WOW! Super impressive & all with stories that make me want to laugh & cry. I want to see more.

Thanks, but I think I’ve hogged the thread enough!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Why thank you so much! Ken is an electrician so he hardwired the whole thing, making sure the circuits were good for running sewing machines, for the refrigerator that holds my soda supply when it's hot out there, the heater for winter, and the portable swamp cooler for summer. I love it out there. The last few years, since my neck surgery when sewing became more difficult for me, he's gradually taken over my space, filling it with junk that he wants to keep but has no space for. But by golly, my neck is getting stronger since I started the new exercises the PT gave me, and he's gonna have to clear out!



Thank you very much. With the resurgence in quilting, you should be able to find someone who will mentor you! I am totally self-taught. When I started the best I could come up with for help was a few musty smelling books from the library. I taught both of my granddaughters, Little Diane (named after me, so I guess I have to be Big Diane) when we had custody of her, and now my granddaughter Katie. Katie is mildly autistic, and she came to me and said she wanted to learn how to quilt. So we went out to the camper and found some half square triangles I'd never used, and she started pressing them. But then she worried that they wouldn't make a very big quilt. I was thinking she wanted to make a doll quilt, but no. She said, "Gramma, Kendra has no feeling in her legs and feet so she can BE cold before she KNOWS she's cold. So I want to make a quilt that will fit her wheelchair and her car seat." (Kendra is Katie's little sister who was born with Spina Bifida, has more severe autism, and is developmentally delayed) So she picked out different fabrics where she even had to do the initial cutting, and she made a beauty!

Little Diane working on her first quilt at 6 years old.
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Katie with Kendra's quilt. 8 years old.

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Aaand now that I've totally hijacked another thread....sorry! Guess I could list "teaching old traditions to my grandkids" as a hobby!

She is so adorable and so Blessed to have you teach her! I would love to hear more of your PT routine, I am having a very hard time lately. The looking down so much is getting worse and worse. I had two discs removed last Feb and fusion of the lower, he said I will eventually need it all fused but I cant imagine the entire thing and never looking down or up. although it may totally stop this nagging pain. I actually have my laptop up on a box on table so its at a hight that doesnt bother me. if you could message me I would appreciate it! I want to keep at the soap but dang making so much is starting to kill me not only neck but my wrists and fingers with the RA is nasty.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Thanks, but I think I’ve hogged the thread enough!

Hog away, we want chat and everyone to get to know each other better!

 

[Chick-N-Daddy]

Wow, very nice! I like the detail you put on the pieces.

Thanks. Wasn't as easy as the pix make it look, a lot of the glazes looked identically 'greige' (grey + beige = greige) when wet and the color wasn't actually visible until after the pieces were fired -= hence some of the sloppiness.

 

[N F C]

Thanks. Wasn't as easy as the pix make it look, a lot of the glazes looked identically 'greige' (grey + beige = greige) when wet and the color wasn't actually visible until after the pieces were fired -= hence some of the sloppiness.

I remember that griege color! A co-worker of mine had a ceramics study for a very short time. It was always fun to see how those colors would come out. My mom did ceramics for a real long time, I still have a nativity set she made and a big Christmas tree.

Always enjoyed that hobby but never could find a place close by where I could do it.

What else have you made?

 

[Chick-N-Daddy]

I remember that griege color! A co-worker of mine had a ceramics study for a very short time. It was always fun to see how those colors would come out. My mom did ceramics for a real long time, I still have a nativity set she made and a big Christmas tree.

Always enjoyed that hobby but never could find a place close by where I could do it.

What else have you made?

There were some attempts at using the potter's wheel (epic fails). The only other bit that turned out was an earlier trinket box where I was testing some techniques. Again, that whole grey-on-grey with the glazes is tough. I really want a kiln <sigh>. I'm even having my electrical service upgraded from 100amp to 200amp so that someday if it happens, I'll be ready.

 

[Blooie]

Hmmm, after posting about it ad nauseum on another thread, I remembered Hobby Number Two - training dogs. I did make a living with that hobby. I owned a training kennel, I raised, trained, showed and did hunting tests with my own show/obedience/hunting retrievers. I also held classes for others, from Puppy Classes and 4-H, all the way up to working for advanced AKC obedience titles. What started out as a rewarding hobby for me turned into a moderately successful business. My own dogs still remained my hobby, though. There’s a saying in the dog world, “If you’re doing it right, you’ll be lucky to break even.” Yep.

I am most proud of one singular achievement...Maxie. Out of the blue one day I got a call from a gentleman who happened to be a quadriplegic, and he asked if I could train a service dog for him. I told him I had no personal experience in that kind of training, but I said that if he was willing, we could all learn together. I helped him select the perfect puppy - Maxie - and we got started. Maxie started right out with his owner, Jim, in my puppy class. If Maxie was going to work successfully with Jim, I wanted him to learn that there would always be other people and distractions around and he’d darn well better get used to that from the start. Jim’s determination - even getting his power chair through deep snowdrifts to get to class - was only overshadowed by his love for Maxie. We worked tirelessly, training, refreshing, adding increasingly complex things, even teaching deliberate disobedience, where the handler gives a command the dog knows isn’t safe and refuses that command. That was a tough one. We made mistakes, we started over. Some things worked,some didn’t. But over time - a long time - we learned and Maxie became not only their best friend but a dog with incredible abilities.

Jim said from the start that somebody needed to go to the South Dakota state legislature (where we lived at the time) and show them what a service dog could do. He became that “somebody” when a by-then fully trained adult Maxie, Jim and his wife were made to leave a restaurant. At that time only Guide Dogs for the Blind were allowed by law in public places. Jim took Maxie to the legislature and demonstrated Maxie’s value first in simple things, like retrieving dropped objects for Jim or taking a phone off the hook and dropping it in Jim’s lap. (Jim did not have the ability to reach out for something, but he could pick it up from his lap and get the phone to his ear.) Maxie could also dial 911 on a special pad rigged to Jim’s home phone or seek help if they were out and about, which stunned the legislators when they saw that demonstration. But when they saw Jim’s wife help Jim to the floor, then watched Maxie assist Jim in getting back into his chair, the legislation to allow Service Dogs into public places in South Dakota was written and passed without a single dissenting vote. I am extremely proud of that - and of Jim and Maxie. And I can’t forget Chris, Jim’s loving wife and primary care provider for both Jim and Maxie. Her devotion to the entire project was incredible.

I don’t have a lot of glitzy photos of those days, hence the long narrative. I just have a couple of one dog, (my best ever dog), and a few faded, creased newspaper clippings. The one of the legislation passing has disappeared in move to here, but one day I’ll find it. I do have these, and if you’ll indulge me a bit more I’ll share them.

AKC/SKC Ch. Norwynd’s Rueben James CD - My beloved learn-on dog (yes, that’s a much younger me!)

A full page and half spread written about my dogs. I was so excited the day that came out.

And the story of Jim and Maxie - the beginning of their journey but certainly not the end of it.

I couldn’t wrap this up without a photo of my latest project, training Destructo-Dog. Fiona is the culmination of a 30 year dream...to own and love an Irish Wolfhound. Um, maybe I shouldn’t have taken that one on in a 10x60, 1976 single wide mobile home. This is our special Fiona, and I guess I can spill the beans here....my hope is to train her as Maxie was trained, so that when my days on earth are done she will be for our littlest granddaughter Kendra. But first I have to train this big lug simple manners! She’s learning, but the curve is a lot longer than with my retrievers.

Fiona at 8 months old.

Thanks for indulging an old lady's memories of a hobby with the dogs that I dearly love.

Edited: I'm not sure how that double shot of Rueben got in there. Sorry.

 

[N F C]

Hmmm, after posting about it ad nauseum on another thread, I remembered Hobby Number Two - training dogs. I did make a living with that hobby. I owned a training kennel, I raised, trained, showed and did hunting tests with my own show/obedience/hunting retrievers. I also held classes for others, from Puppy Classes and 4-H, all the way up to working for advanced AKC obedience titles. What started out as a rewarding hobby for me turned into a moderately successful business. My own dogs still remained my hobby, though. There’s a saying in the dog world, “If you’re doing it right, you’ll be lucky to break even.” Yep.

I am most proud of one singular achievement...Maxie. Out of the blue one day I got a call from a gentleman who happened to be a quadriplegic, and he asked if I could train a service dog for him. I told him I had no personal experience in that kind of training, but I said that if he was willing, we could all learn together. I helped him select the perfect puppy - Maxie - and we got started. Maxie started right out with his owner, Jim, in my puppy class. If Maxie was going to work successfully with Jim, I wanted him to learn that there would always be other people and distractions around and he’d darn well better get used to that from the start. Jim’s determination - even getting his power chair through deep snowdrifts to get to class - was only overshadowed by his love for Maxie. We worked tirelessly, training, refreshing, adding increasingly complex things, even teaching deliberate disobedience, where the handler gives a command the dog knows isn’t safe and refuses that command. That was a tough one. We made mistakes, we started over. Some things worked,some didn’t. But over time - a long time - we learned and Maxie became not only their best friend but a dog with incredible abilities.

Jim said from the start that somebody needed to go to the South Dakota state legislature (where we lived at the time) and show them what a service dog could do. He became that “somebody” when a by-then fully trained adult Maxie, Jim and his wife were made to leave a restaurant. At that time only Guide Dogs for the Blind were allowed by law in public places. Jim took Maxie to the legislature and demonstrated Maxie’s value first in simple things, like retrieving dropped objects for Jim or taking a phone off the hook and dropping it in Jim’s lap. (Jim did not have the ability to reach out for something, but he could pick it up from his lap and get the phone to his ear.) Maxie could also dial 911 on a special pad rigged to Jim’s home phone or seek help if they were out and about, which stunned the legislators when they saw that demonstration. But when they saw Jim’s wife help Jim to the floor, then watched Maxie assist Jim in getting back into his chair, the legislation to allow Service Dogs into public places in South Dakota was written and passed without a single dissenting vote. I am extremely proud of that - and of Jim and Maxie. And I can’t forget Chris, Jim’s loving wife and primary care provider for both Jim and Maxie. Her devotion to the entire project was incredible.

I don’t have a lot of glitzy photos of those days, hence the long narrative. I just have a couple of one dog, (my best ever dog), and a few faded, creased newspaper clippings. The one of the legislation passing has disappeared in move to here, but one day I’ll find it. I do have these, and if you’ll indulge me a bit more I’ll share them.

View attachment 1578959 View attachment 1578960

AKC/SKC Ch. Norwynd’s Rueben James CD - My beloved learn-on dog (yes, that’s a much younger me!)

View attachment 1578964 View attachment 1578962 View attachment 1578962
A full page and half spread written about my dogs. I was so excited the day that came out.

View attachment 1578965

And the story of Jim and Maxie - the beginning of their journey but certainly not the end of it.

I couldn’t wrap this up without a photo of my latest project, training Destructo-Dog. Fiona is the culmination of a 30 year dream...to own and love an Irish Wolfhound. Um, maybe I shouldn’t have taken that one on in a 10x60, 1976 single wide mobile home. This is our special Fiona, and I guess I can spill the beans here....my hope is to train her as Maxie was trained, so that when my days on earth are done she will be for our littlest granddaughter Kendra. But first I have to train this big lug simple manners! She’s learning, but the curve is a lot longer than with my retrievers.

View attachment 1578975 View attachment 1578974
Fiona at 8 months old.

Thanks for indulging an old lady's memories of a hobby with the dogs that I dearly love.

Edited: I'm not sure how that double shot of Rueben got in there. Sorry.

Ah Blooie, you did it to me again...you brought tears to my eyes with the story of Maxie and Jim. How amazing and what an impact, not just to those that knew them, but for the many that do not.