From The Ashes

It was an interesting Thanksgiving Weekend. You probably caught the drift of what Thanksgiving itself was like from my last post. And then things got really wild.

We had a huge fire in downtown Leominster, that burned from Saturday evening till midday Sunday. The building was the historic, and beautiful Columbia Building, a former hotel, that took up most of a city block. It was a 6 alarm fire, that left  about 35 people homeless. Nine or so businesses that had been located on the first floor are looking to relocate. Two firefighters were hurt when the back wall collapsed. They were treated and released from the hospital.

The Leominster Art Center that I volunteer at was in that building. At first we were told we would be escorted in to retrieve what we could, but an inspection showed that it wasn't safe. Instead, a couple firemen and the Mayor went in and got some things out. Yesterday afternoon, I helped sort some of what was taken out. It was so sad to see all that art work destroyed. The artists have given up on most of it, and are just hoping to salvage frames. Amazingly, it looked like most of the glassblowers items survived.

I'm not sure what happens next for the Art Center. What is left of the building will be demolished, and the priority is finding homes for the tenants. It is a real blessing, something to be truly thankful for, that no lives were lost.

Today's collage was inspired by the fire, and the efforts of the tenants to start over, with the assistance of our community.

Friday In The Garden, And A Few Other Things

There has been a fair amount of sewing going on here this week. I finished my friend's handbag, which unfortunately  I forgot to take a picture of before giving to her. It was done in Asian-inspired fabrics, and was quite elegant.

I also finished my own new bag. "Elegant"  isn't quite the word for this one, but it's bright cheeriness makes me happy.

There are lots of pockets inside, and a fabric whose message makes me smile every time I see it.

Now I just need to decide what to do with the old one, which still has lots of good fabric in it. Some recycling is in order.

Speaking of recycling, The Leominster Art Center  is holding a Recycled Art Sculpture Contest. Entries have already started to come in, and they are amazing. This is Colette A. Shumate-Smith with her  recycled young woman. I forgot to ask the official name of the piece. Colette works in many different mediums, but her ceramic tile murals made using the raku process are especially intriguing. You can see part of one in the upper right corner of this picture.

In this picture, the young woman seems to be looking with envy at the cyclist, made from spare parts by the kids in the Leominster High School's Center for Technical Education. 

Meanwhile, back in the garden, the green is bursting out all over. The Neighborhood Lion has been spending a lot of time in our yard, catching rays, and other things.

He seemed to be determined to get in every picture today.

He followed me all around the yard, occasionally attacking my shoelaces. Here he is popping out from underneath some of the grasses that are waiting to be cut back.  

Finally, adding a little movement to the daffodil and red-twig dogwood picture...

And then gone, off to visit someone else.

We are supposed to have a very nice weekend here, with just a little rain overnight on Saturday to water some freshly planted seeds. I hope you have a good one, also, with lots of sun. 

A Little Cheer

The Christmas tree at the Leominster Art Center was looking a little bare, so I made some ornaments to hang on it.

First, I carved the "Love" stamp, and stamped with red paint on white fabric.I stitched these hearts onto hearts made from strip pieced red and white fabric. Added a little stuffing, and some hanging loops, with little buttons, just for fun, and hopefully the tree will look much happier.

Just in time for tomorrow afternoon's Winter Stroll, with lots of festivities downtown, finishing with a laser light show, and a tree lighting. Should be a fun weekend, and I hope yours is fun, also.