Odds and ends, this and that, part 2....

Here is an all black pieced block that I've been doodling with for months. I used bright colors in the threads and ribbons for embellishments, and they really pop off the blacks. I really love doing the fancy fan corners like shown here in the bright yellow thread. I've done quite a few, and no two are alike. You just start with a few stitches radiating out of a corner, and keep going back and adding another layer, then another. The back ends up looking awful, but the fronts are lovely.

This is my latest attempt at doing some iris. I've been enjoying a DVD of Di van Niekerk's that I borrowed from our library, so I tried doing an iris more like hers, larger and looser, and really like how they turned out. This is some 7mm ribbon that I dyed with food coloring; it came out mottled rather than gently shaded, but I like the purple/pink variations.

This is a picture of a very brave father letting his 13 year old daughter drive his new toy through a tight spot between the house and the truck. All went well.

Here is my grandson Zack, who is 22 months old and a very busy guy. He kept going to the refrigerator yesterday and asking for something that sounded like "pickles" to me, but I know he doesn't really like pickles. When I took the jar out and showed him he just shook his head sadly, like he thought it was such a pity I didn't understand English. His mom translated when she got here; he wanted a bagel. Now I know.

Corbin and Zack doing the brother thing, watching a movie.

Another video I borrowed from the library is called How Art Made the World. It's a BBC production and I found it fascinating. It begins with the Venus of Willendorf, and asks the question, "why did so many ancient peoples make these female figurines?"
It goes on to cover cave paintings and Egyptian tomb art and Greek statues. The last episode is about death, including some interesting theories on why the crucifix is such a compelling image.