MARGE ENGELMAN
Tea Time
My first cup of tea was sipped at my grandmother’s dinning room table, always served with sugar cookies. After a day at school, tea with Grandma Hellmann was a high lite of my day.
On the farm I often made play houses in the barn or corn crib. A small table was set with a tea pot and cup so I could pretend having tea in my play house.
The first week that I began college at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, IL, I attended a tea at the home of a professor. As I drank tea, I met a fellow Freshman, Ken Engelman. Four years later we were married, a union that lasted for 70 years and begat two children, Ann and Barth.
Shortly after I moved to Capitol Lakes and realized that five women named Marge or Marjorie lived here, I retrieved my English china and served tea and crumpets in my new apartment to celebrate our common names.
Recently, whenever my daughter Ann and I get together, either at her home or mine, we settle in with a cup of tea. She always serves exotic teas, such as recent sachets of Paris tea, one of 275 varieties by Harney and Sons.
WHERE THERE IS TEA THERE IS HOPE.
CYNTHIA QUINN
Low Tide 1 and 2
Visiting the tide pools on the Oregon shoreline, plus a month-long trip to the Greek islands were the genesis of an ocean series I’ve been working on for several years. These environments and the creatures who inhabit them inspire me to retell my delight in experiencing them by hand stitching with a variety of fabrics, threads, and beads. Using a cigar box as the stage for this piece challenged me to “think outside the box,” as I planned how to use the space. I was able to use the box open vertically to create a wave effect in the hand sewn fabric. The shoreline at the bottom spills out of the box edge while the deeper water is at the top. I made many crocheted pieces to add a dimensional effect.
Scroll down see detail of Low Tide 1
SUZY ROTH
Pandemic Yo-Yos
During the pandemic I found it comforting to sew hundreds of yo-yos. I challenged myself to make this a charm project by sewing only one yo-yo per fabric. Many of the fabrics I used have special meaning coming from my mom, my friends, and past projects. I found it soothing to select each fabric, cut the circles, sew the stitching lines, and gather up the yo-yos. Keeping my hands busy calmed my worries. My intention is to sew the yo-yos together to make a large coverlet. This would require nearly one thousand yo-yos. I’m nearly halfway there. I will forever remember this project as a positive element in coping with the isolation of the covid pandemic.
