Forever In Our Hearts...AMB

Today is a very sad day for our extended family.  It was three years ago that my niece, Allie was killed in a tragic auto accident.  Her loss is still felt acutely by my younger sister and her family.   It so hard to imagine how difficult it is for them to get through each day with such a burden on their hearts.   Thankfully, their faith in God and the support of their church, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, has helped them through this troubling time.

There isn't a day that passes that I don't think of the beautiful young woman Allie was becoming and wonder what might have been.  She had so many interests and  so many friends that miss her as well.   Happily, their contact with my sister and her family keeps Allie very much in the 'present'.

My thoughts and prayers are with my sister and her family at this time and pray that God keeps them in his loving arms.


"'Til We Meet Again...."
AMB 08/01/90 - 03/12/07

Time Well Spent.

The trip to Hampton, VA to attend Quilt Fest 2010, was a wonderful experience....so many quilts and such imaginative work.  As I am not a quilter, I am awe struck with stippling -  heavy quilting that covers areas large and small - that can be totally random or follow a distinct pattern.  Whether done by hand or machine, its  remarkable.


The miniature quilt detailed here, achieves its three dimensional quality and various backgrounds colors by stippling in different color threads rather than different patterned fabrics to provide color.    Since the quilt is created from whole cloth [a single width and length of fabric], its pattern is derived from quilting alone, giving the artists the freedom to develop any pattern they desire.   Despite its diminutive size, the detail is marvelous and well presented.

Equally remarkable are the picture quilts depicting a complete scene.  The piece shown above is a superb illustration of the use of many techniques to achieve realism - thread painting of the figure's hair and spray from the water; water color washes provide the shadows in the water and texture of the rocks while quilting provides the illusion of depth.  The layers of color in the hair shows the lengths the artist goes to to achieve realism.  Wow!

Then there are the fabric painters who paint the design onto the quilt top and then quilt around the painted objects.  One particularly striking quilt was a whole cloth white top with black and creamy iridescent  fabric paint.  The quilting, done in black and gold threads, highlighted the contrasts between the values.

As much as all these techniques fascinate, I dare not add another medium to the number I have committed to already.   No need to court disaster. I'm already indecisive about what to do first.  

At home,  the little heart that has been waiting patiently for my return.  Meeting time is approaching and I want to have something to show that I've been "stretching my repertoire".  I picked two overdyes, Waterlilies Cameo and Fiesta and pulled corresponding flosses for each but ultimately chose the  Fiesta.  Nine squares of the thirty are completed out of the twenty that are true squares.  The remaining ten are triangles to shape the heart.  I'm thinking that since I'm working this design on #22 Hardanger, I'd rather make it into a biscornu which I can make better use of versus another picture.

In any case, I have resolved to complete one creative project per day.  Most will be small and easily finished, while working at least one square a day, perhaps more if I get into a rhythm, on the heart.  By next month I should have quite a few items to post.

As always, we'll see.....

Been Gone A Long Time.....

Apparently, the holidays were more taxing than I could have imagined.  Lots doing so there was no time to visit with the fascinations that occupy my mind, this blog and my world.  But now its a new year AND a new month [what happened to January?  And for that matter, February!?!].  So let's get busy...


Since November, my daughter and sister each spent over two months in SE Asia in the time spanning 2009-2010, both leaving and returning within a week of each other.  My sister to visit her daughter in Singapore and my daughter on a teaching/book tour.  How wonderful that they were able to briefly connect in Singapore during their respective trips.


"The Needlework Maven", my sister, arrived between snow storms and spent a few days with me before heading back home to Virginia.   There, 20" of white stuff was already on the ground with another 24" or so yet to fall.   We shared stitching stories, ideas, and good conversation.


My daughter, the world traveler, spent time in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Vietnam, before returning to Taiwan for a teaching retreat.  She returned to NYC and was preparing to come for a long overdue visit before returning to Arizona but the weather didn't cooperate.  We were socked in while nary a flake fell on northern New Jersey.  Rather than risk life and limb, she elected to stay close to an open airport. She is now back in the arms of her students in Arizona, teaching away.

Our recent blizzard conditions altered everyone's schedule.  This is the first time in memory that I've seen my neighbors shoveling more than once during any storm.. Perhaps because it just kept coming - for two days it kept coming - and coming!  We all took rotating turns at the sidewalks just so we could move around when the blizzard finally stopped.  All was fine by the next day.

The storm cancelled the February ANG chapter meeting among others.  Lucky for me...my embroidered heart appears to be in "cardiac arrest" and isn't doing so well and it'll be good to have another month  to resuscitate my flagging progress.

Meanwhile, my attention has settled on curing a couple of problems that require multiple cures:  Adjusting to a new computer, revamping a failing wireless network and managing the tangle of wires for numerous electronics in a convenient spot close to a power source.

Both my PCs [laptop and desktop] fell victim to a nasty virus through the late summer and early fall, prompting a long overdue leap to the world of Apple.   Next, the wireless network issues were cured with an Apple Time Capsule, combining wireless router with wireless back ups allowing me to work anywhere in the house I choose.

The last item -  cord/wire/recharger management - well, that's  supposed to be easy, right?  Just drill a hole in the back of a bookcase, run a grounded extension cord through, add a surge protector and voilà - another gaggle of loose wires on a shelf instead of the floor!  After purchasing [and returning] two ready-made charging stations, it became obvious that my needs would not be met by what was available.  

So its off to the drawing board to design what will do the job in the space available.  Just a little foam core, straight pins and a lot of book repair tape and at last, a nice two-tiered box with a lift-up access door providing lots of room inside for everything.  A decided bonus, it looks good with the rest of its shelf mates.

Well, back to stitching.

New Year's Resolutions, Anyone?

Two days into the new year and it became apparent that a lot that was left over from the last year has made it through to the new.   Still haven't found those Peter Rabbit buttons...they may be lost forever.

Need to move onto other things, though.  Like the queen-size duvet that's been a work in progress since the fabric was purchased 20 years ago - way too long.  Great Jacobean pattern, so many great colors that will look great when finished.   Just needs to be assembled and then quilted along the border.   Must be its massive size that makes it such a daunting project and keeps it from being completed.  Will be tackling this shortly now that I've taken some classes in quilting at the Quilt Fest in Hampton, VA in February.  So, more on this one....later.

Other projects, equally old, keep getting pushed further back behind new stuff that keeps capturing my attention.  What a dilemma!   So much to do and so little time.  But then that's been heard before.

For instance, the February stitching program for my ANG chapter is a series of intricately stitched squares fashioned into a heart designed to expand the embroiderer's color and stitch repertoire using over dyed silk thread, Kreinik metallic braided threads, floss and perle cottons.   I bought only the over dyed silk and metallics as I already have an extensive stash of the other threads.  Much of this quantity was inherited from my mother and never sorted.   Oh, dear.  Had no trouble pulling the appropriate matches from this lot but then got caught up in reorganizing.  Its taking longer than I thought since I don't have an efficient means to house the numerous skeins of various types or their quantities.  The saving grace is that, in future, I'll have the advantage of knowing what I have and not "re-buy" it.  Until I can winnow down, I'll be judicious with any new purchases.

The program will be a true stretch for me as I have not ventured beyond needlepoint, crewel work, blackwork and general cross stitch.  Each one of these squares involves multiple threads and multiple stitches to achieve the overall look of the finished piece.  It will be interesting to see how quickly I can adapt.   Many of the stitches are unfamiliar to me, even though I have this lovely book with 100s of embroidery stitches, I have only leafed through it on rare occasions.

As I embark on this latest endeavor with a resolve to do well, learn something new, and FINISH(!), I realize that it seems almost daft to start anything new.  With so many unfinished projects looming, there is strong motivation to get a move on 'cause time's awastin'.

Until next time.