Moving into August. or...In The Pink

Becky & Dolly

Dothan ,Alabama----IT was Hot..

We visited and crocheted and visited some more..

Made a couple runs to Michaels to buy SALE

yarn...whoooooo we got some bargains!!!

I actually got to work on... and finish the

pink, free form ,baby blanket while we were visiting Becky.

It was for Sierra Anita.I delivered it to

her today.. she slept through it---Her Mom

loved it!!!!

The Pinks were a fun colorway to work with..

I have a gray project in the works...that wasn't

planned..stay tuned for what it turns into at

a later date....

The official Hot August Nights is over....It was a huge

success and we had a wonderful evening of food,music,

friends and frolic......and the anticipation of the Silent

Auction........The beach chair was a crowd pleaser and

sold for a hefty sum....The catfish, Penny found a new

home with a local Lawyer.....A good time was had by all.....

Parts of my July *gig*

I thought I would filll you in what has been taking up my time the last few weeks..or part of what has..... Every year our Parish has a Charity Auction called Hot August Nights and one of the major attractions are the chairs local artists have been asked to paint. I have never managed to do one before and this year I had the chance. I was excited..

I had intended to complete the entire chair in patchwork but the idea came to me to paint a beach scene on the back that has a chair in it...sort of a mirroring thing...They ask about a dozen local artists to paint the chairs for them in any way you want to. So off I went to pick up my chair ( and my catfish--more about that later) about 5 weeks ago. I had to paint in the middle of my living room because I don't have my studio set up here yet and it was wayyy to hot to paint outside. I have painted alot of hours on this chair. The last count I had over 200 little faux fabric pieces..after that they all got hand stitching... so wow--is a pretty approptiate word here..I painted a crochet doily on one arm and a couple of faux buttons and even a threaded needle...There was a point I had to say STOP!!lol

THere was a point I had to say STOP!!lol Some of you may know what this style chair is but for those who don't here is a wee bit of the history.. An Adirondack chair (or in some parts of Canada, a Muskoka chair) is a type of chair used primarily in an outdoors setting. The precursor to today's Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee in 1903. He was on vacation in the New York State mountains and he needed outdoor chairs for his summer home. He tested the first designs on his family.The original Adirondack chair was made with eleven pieces of wood, cut from a single board. It had a straight back and seat, which were set at a slant to sit better on the steep mountain inclines of the area. It also featured wide armrests which became a hallmark of the Adirondack Chair. Today's Adirondack chairs usually feature a rounded back and contoured seat. The style has also been translated to other pieces of furniture, from gliders to love seats Some modern Adirondack chairs are made out of engineered wood instead of wood. Adirondack chairs are becoming popular as outdoor seating at cafes, because the flat armrests are suitable for setting food and drinks on, making it possible to provide individual seating without using tables.Here is a little closer detail of one arm with a button and the needle. These chairs sell for around $200 here and the auction prices usually fo between $500 and a $1000--Awesome eh? So I'm just gonna hope all the hours I put in this will bring a good price for the Parish. I saw 3 others as I returned mine..it was exciting. One had a flag and gazebo and one was retro 60 in lime green with pink/yellow/ blue flower power and one was a burgandy and black throne with a large painting of lips on the seat.....

THe other part of the project was painting an 18 inch catfish-molded of resin. Since we are named as a Catfish Parish and have the official catfish festival ever April the town decided to adopt the catfish as it's mascot..as well as these table top catfish they will have several 4 foot ones gracing the parish is outdoor spots courtesy of commercial sponsors...Since we Have two catfish processing plants at this end of the Parish I am hopeful they will sponsor one for Wisner and I can get to paint it!!! This is a *she* fish and her name is Penny! I had some pricy copper paint I'd inherited from my daughter Kris that I had been reluctant to use because of the price--but this seemed like the perfect occasion /project to use some of it. I made the parasol from a doily and bamboo skewers and a chopstick and some wore and beads...I wanted it open and her holding it but the dynamics and engineering of that escaped me...so the rain passed and she was able to hold it in her lovely tail... Now we got to see several of her brother/sister fish and they are charmers....there was a *cashfish* with $ bills glued on bits of him...a widow fish dressed in black, a referee fish, a baseball fish and some other cuties... I'm hopeful they will take pictures and have an online version of these. they got the idea fom an online site . You might like to check them out too...... http://www.fremontneb.com/bigfish/bigfish.html I have quite a few other things going on for me but I will save that for another time........Dolly and I will be going Sunday to spend a couple weeks with Becky and Rick in Alabama-- Will try to get some photos of our adventures and share with you.

Always,Kathie