Eggs!

Here are some of the eggs I've made in my pysanky class. They aren't finish-finished. I still have the yucky task of blowing out the egg contents.  That's probably going to be one of the more harrowing tasks, too, because that's when your egg can crack.  Or even explode.  Pleasant, huh?  (No matter how hard I try, I don't think I could make any needlework explode when I finish-finished it.)  Then they'll get sprayed with clear coat.  I still need to improve my techniques, like drawing straight lines.  And segmenting the egg properly.  And I'd like to get a lot better at understanding the dying process.  Hmm.  I should have said that I still have improve at everything.  So don't laugh at my eggs, ok?  I've admitted my weaknesses!

This class focuses on using symbols and the designs we're using are quite traditional.  It reminds me of the symbols we see in samplers.  So these traditional designs are a starting point but really, anything goes.  For instance, the green egg was for St. Patrick's Day.  Just some little shamrocks, but it was a good exercise in dividing the spaces on the egg.

OK, so here they are a little closer.  See the black egg?  That was very cool.  It's just a medium sized brown egg.  We drew the designs on with our hot wax and then dipped the whole thing in black.  I love the negative effect.  Next to it is an egg that I had wanted to be dark red, but I left it in the dark red too long and it became dark maroon - even brown.  But it was fun to do.

I love my red fish egg.  I had missed a class, so the instructor had started it for me (notice her lovely and thin line work?  She works very smooth and fast)  I did the parts in yellow.  It's such a happy little egg.

The purple egg was probably the most difficult egg to do.  Lots of detail and lots of trips to the dye containers.  But I wanted to show you the top of it.  Just like stitchers, most of the egg decorators sign and date their eggs. 

I have two more classes to attend and I must say that I'll be really sorry when they are over.  I may have to buy my own dyes....it's that addicting!

Time to catch up a little

It may not seem like it, but I've been doing things other than ranting and raving about inaccurate reporting and stereotyping of stitchers. (Although I was glad to get so many supportive comments about those raves)

Is it a sign that I'm getting older when I get so sensitive to and aggravated by put-downs about the past? I'd prefer to think that my "maturity" has made me realize the value of our history as stitchers. Each phase or fashion has been built on a previous phase or fashion. And each phase or fashion has its own beauty and worth. I could give you a dozen examples of this, but gang...I'm preaching to the choir here. You all get it, I know.

Anyway!  I must move on.

Dandy Dreams is almost finished.  One more puff ball to go.

And I received a lovely birthday gift in the mail from Sue. (She contributes to a blog, but it's a private one.) Sue and I met through a mutual friend at a Silver Needle retreat back in 2007. Then we reconnected again last year when I went to the Heartland Shop Hop. Such a sweetheart! 

Sue is a prolific and talented stitcher. One of her more recently completed BAPs is a Prairie Schooler Santa afghan with every single PS Santa card design.  (Can't find a photo of that right now, but if I find it later, I'll show you.) And one of Sue's current WIP's is the PS Alphabet series. Will you look at all the detail?

So boy-oh-boy was I ever thrilled when this little masterpiece appeared in my mailbox!  Sue took motifs from one of my favorite sampler designers, Eileen Bennett of Sampler House, and created this one of a kind pincushion for me.  It's just too pretty for words, so here are a couple photos.

And what's peeking out from behind the pincushion?  I finally went to the framer's and picked up Live, Love Laugh.  I'm happy with it.  Not over the top, though.  I think there is a bit too much space between the stitching and the frame.  If I had it to do over, I'd bring it all a little closer in.  I really should pay more attention when I'm discussing these details and go with my gut and not assume that the framer is always correct.  I think she was in love with my fabric and so was trying to showcase the fabric and my stitching got a little lost in the process.  Nobody to blame but myself though.  And I'm certainly not complaining.  I'm thrilled that I had some Christmas gift money left over to splurge on framing!

Tonight is Pysanky Egg class.  It's time to get crazy!  I hope I'll have something photo worthy to show you after this class.
So till then...

Grandmothers, needlepoint and thoughts on a whole lot of uninformed writing

Recently, Donna posted an article published by The Washington Post that caught my attention.  Maybe I'm fired up because it's on the heels of another article that Ms. Anna (who is keeping track of the white haired lady labels) posted.  (Really?  Languishing in a design wasteland?)  Regardless, I've decided it's time I did something about it.

I have SO had it with all of the grandmother references (not to mention dusty - that really burns my butt) whenever a reporter decides that the entire needleworking world has been remade anew just because he or she has recently found some really cool needlework designs.  Like the designs they've discovered are so much more relevant and attractive. Seriously.  And like the designs they've discovered are totally new to the needlework world.  Feh.  This stuff has been around forever.  How self serving and uninformed is it to say that because it's new to you, it's new to the world?

Ok, let me take a step back here and calm down.

(Taking a breath.)

I mean, on the one hand, I appreciate that our art is getting some press and attention, but on the other hand, does it always have to come with a slap to our history as needleworkers? Because that slap is certainly undeserved. 

Long time stitchers, are we really that easy of a target that we will sit back and let writers describe us as "grandmothers stitching dusty cushions of fusty florals"?  Does any other crafting group let themselves get stepped on the way we seem to be stepped on?  Would quilters put up with this stereotyping?  How about hobbyists, crafters and artists who are non-needleworkers?  Like photographers, chefs, modelers, or potters?  Certainly not.

Do you all remember when Mo Rocca, a contributor to the radio show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me mentioned that he didn't like homemade sweaters because they were all itchy?  The knitting world rose up and responded like nobody's business and he actually offered an apology.  It's offered tongue-in-cheek, but it the knitters' message seems to have been received loud and clear.

I think that we need to be heard loud and clear, too.  So I responded  to the Washington Post article.  Maybe some of you feel the same way, and if you blog, you probably are pretty good at putting words together effectively and writing your own response when articles of this nature appear.

Now, knowing that I like to be Boss of the World, you may want to sit back and let me respond on all of your behalves.  But I'd encourage you to respond on your own and at best, the articles about us may change.  At worst?  Well, venting about it can feel kind of good.

Through the magic of Paint

Thanks to all of you for your advice to make my sampler just the way I want it.  In the end, I decided that both of those empty spots needed something, but just to be sure (and because I'm running low on thread), I scanned the sampler and then edited it in Paint.

So the results are below.  Even though all of the letters are A's right now, I'm going to stitch "PA" (for Pennsylvania) under the CE in Peace.  And I'm going to stitch my initials over the heart.  Over one.  Argh.  It's on 28 ct. linen, but it'll still make me crazy.

So now are you completely impressed with my command of photo editing software?  I should have remembered that I could do this, because I've done it before. Several years ago we were trying to take a family photo and a certain son wouldn't cooperate.  We took one picture that he looked nice in, but the rest of us looked stupid.  So then he refused to smile nicely in the pictures we took later. 

So later that day, I cut and pasted a smiling face head onto his body.  Except I didn't get the proportions right.

So then I laughed myself silly, and knew that I couldn't stop there.

Yes.  Clearly I'm an idiot.  I'd say that I need a hobby, but....well, you know.  I already have one.

Almost done but need some advice

I came really close to finishing this sampler last night, but my eyes just gave out after stitching the over-one K.  I ask you:  Where are my over-one stitching pals when I need them?  Please come over and stitch DEFG for me! 

So here are my questions.  I'm deciding if I want to put my initials (Oh no - more over-one stitching!), and if I do, where to put them.  There are two emptyish places that feel like they need something.  First, under the "CE", and second above the heart in the bottom right corner.  What do you all think?  Either place or neither place and just a simple ELO in backstitch outside the border? 

Mary Garry's Peace Sampler as of March 18

Once this is finished, I'll have this red Quaker (Well, Weathered Barn, anyway), and a green Quaker.  I just bought the threads for a blue Quaker. 

Now I just need more $$ for framing and more walls in my house.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Those Irish sure have a way with blessings, don't they?

Irish Blessing Freebie from The Sampler Girl, stitched in 2009

Such fun!

Ahhh.  Spring break.  It's the fun of having kids home for break without the hassle of a holiday.  It's really very nice. Winter break can be a killer, what with them all coming home and me being in the throes of all the Christmas prep.  It makes me really appreciate Spring break.

Colleen was home for a few days, so we squeezed in some time to bake some meringue cookies.  I hadn't done meringues in years, but it's really just like riding a bike.  We used a recipe from this site, and it was practically fool proof.  Colleen wrote about them a bit on her blog, but I'll steal one or two of her photos anyway.

Dave has been away on his yearly golf trip, and I had plans to do all kind of housework, but  - - - well, we all know how that goes.  I'd rather stitch late into the night.

So on to the stitching.  This is such a fun sampler!  I'm almost finished - only the grass below and another leaf or two remain.  But it's easy stitching and that type of stitching is nice to have when I'm stitching with friends so I'm going to put it away till then.  I have another Silver Creek chart in my stash and it's just as charming. 

Dandy Dreams

I absolutely can't thank Barb enough for letting me borrow this Mary Garry chart. I'm enjoying every stitch and it also seemed to cure my inability to count. I haven't made any counting mistakes so far, and I had been plagued by counting errors the last time I stitched something Quakerish. Of course, that doesn't mean that I didn't make any mistakes at all. In 200 years, museum curators will assume that I didn't know my alphabet, but will I care? No.

 

Peace Sampler

In other news, I ran across an article in the newspaper about a local church offering pysanky egg decorating classes.  It's something I've always wanted to learn about, so I packed my eggs and paper towels and off I went.

Now before you get all excited, this is just a photo I grabbed from this site.  These are not my eggs.  (My first egg looks like it was done by a toddler.  With his toes.)  But I wanted to show you these because any sampler lover out there will look at these eggs and understand why I love them.  The way the designs march around the egg.  The symmetry.  The symbols.  The vivid colors.  So I'm going to stick with it.  On Tuesday nights there are a bunch of crazy ladies running around a church basement, dipping eggs in dye and getting color all over the place and it's wonderful.  Oh, and burning candles.  It makes it somewhat more exciting and thrilling having all of those open flames going. 

I hope to have some of my own to show you as we get closer to Easter.  Preferably done by middle aged hands and not toddler toes.

Spring break

My daughter was home for a little while and before I know it, my son will be home.  So things are a little topsy turvy and I haven't posted since last week.  But I have been stitching.  Oh - and buying.  It's a good thing money grows on trees.  Wait....it doesn't?

I'll be checking in again later!

My Older but Better Choice

This is the design I've chosen for my Birthday month project.  I started stitching in 1984, but except for a few Just Cross Stitch issues, I don't have any designs from back then.  Still, this design goes back a long way - to 1988 - and I know that I was buying practically everything Eileen Bennett was publishing back then, so I'm going to say it's a safe bet that I bought this hot off the press.

It's a nice, nice piece.

I love the grape border. (Reminds me of my Grape Arbor Girls)

It has seven different specialty stitches, but I like them all.  There aren't any that give me fits (I'm lookin' at you Queen Stitch).

The colors aren't too 1980's.  Just a little DMC 223 and 224.

And Ms. Bennett was sure ahead of her time with her suggestion for tea-dying (and the directions) on the back.  Back in 1988, I would have blanched at the thought of that, but now, 23 years later, I'm running for the tea bag.  Maybe an old coffee filter, too. 

I'm looking forward to starting this during the month of March!  Oh - by the way - If you've mentioned that you'd like to try a Birthday month project this year, I've added you to my sidebar along with a link to your blog or your profile.  Some of you hadn't made your project decisions yet, so I just wrote "Project".  But if you want to tell me when you decide, I'll update the list.

Fun and springy

I needed something springy and fast to stitch, and I love these Britty Kitties.  He fit perfectly into a standard frame, too.

I really need to get a cat.

Me and Mary Garry are enjoying each other, too.  I could be done very soon.  Except I know I need to get the good ol' Electron Microscope out to manage the rest of the over one letters. 

Tomorrow I'll show you my Birthday chart choice. I think you'll like it.

A bit more on family heritage

Last night was book club night and I was the book selector and hostess.  I know in the past I've talked about some of the book club things that bug me, but I have to say that last night went very well.

The book I chose was Julia Child's autobiography, My Life in France.  I chose it because I'm a big fan and wanted to learn more about her.  My paternal grandparents were French immigrants, and that drew me into the book, also.

My worry was that the book wouldn't hold up for anyone who wasn't as fascinated by Julia Child as I am, but I have to say that the members (except one) enjoyed the book and the account of her life.

Then to try to bring it back home again, I created a little display of some family photos and mementos.   

Sers and Merrisse famliy photos and momentos. 

Photos of my great grandparents and my grandmother, along with her recipe book

Letter my grandmother wrote when she was ten, (stunning penmanship!) some swimwear photos and photo of the Sers family.  The photo in the gold frame is my grandmother when she was close to 90. 

One of my grandmother's demitasse cups and great grandmother's coffee grinder

It's such a coincidence that this all came on the heels of the March SBQ, because I really didn't plan it that way. Isn't the universe funny?

My March Answer

I actually have a favorite Celtic or Irish piece of needlework. Even though there's not a drop of Irish blood on my side of the family, my parents took two trips to Ireland in the early 80's, and instantly fell in love with everything they saw. So whenever a stitched gift was in order, my choices were made easily.

So here's a photo of my favorite Irish piece. Since my stitching is hanging in my mother's house, I had to use this photo from Eileen Bennett's website.  It's one of her Very Victorian series, called Shamrock Sampler.  Specialty stitches, some delicate over one bands, a bit of pulled work...Clearly my eyes were much stronger 25 years ago because I enjoyed every minute of this sampler.  Not that I wouldn't now - it would just require a much more lighting and magnification and some (self-inflicted) stress.

As a matter of fact, I have many, many Sampler House designs and I think that one of them fits perfectly into my Older and Better Birthday Month project.  I'll talk more about that in another post, though.

I want to answer the second part of the March Question, too.  Although I don't have a family tree type sampler, I did stitch a family record years ago and it still hangs in my living room.  I think I've shown it before.  Its title is Guarnieri Sampler 111, published by Imaginating in 1983.

Not a very good photo, I know.  But it has our wedding date and the kids' birthdays.  I actually stitched and framed it before my daughter was born, then had the framer take it all apart so I could add her initials and birthday later.  Don't ask me why I had it framed that early.  It was silly to do it that way, but framing was so much less expensive back then and besides, you know I'm not very good at the whole delayed gratification thing.

We had several inches of snow yesterday, but now the sun is shining brightly and I can smell Spring in the air.  Come on and get here already, Spring!

March Stitching Bloggers Question

There are many good March themed questions to put out there, but my helpful buddy Jennifer had a wonderful idea for us.

Do you have a favorite Irish or Celtic stitched piece?  If you don't, what about a piece that represents your heritage?  Or maybe a family tree style sampler?  Think about it, then tell us the story of your piece and show us your photos, if you have them.

Older and better

March is my birthday month.  I'm not saying this to garner lots of presents (although cake would be nice - you know about my love affair with cake), but because I simply can't freakin' believe that I keep getting older. 

I think I've had a blessed life.  Nobody's life is perfect and we all have our problems, but I wouldn't change a day of it.  Hopefully life has made me more gracious towards my friends, family and strangers. 

I know - you're thinking, "Blah, blah, blah.  What does this have to do with stitching?"  Well, here's what I have on my mind.

In order to keep reminding myself about the whole "older, wiser, more gracious and better" thing, I'm going to do a little stash diving and pick one design that has been around since my very early stitching days.  You all know which ones I mean.  The ones that you bought in 19whatever and loved and never got around to stitching.  And every time you decide to weed out your stash, you wonder why you never stitched it.  Well, I'm going to choose one of those.  Maybe update the fabric and thread choices a little, but at heart it'll still be an oldie but goodie.  And I'm going to try to finish it before my next birthday.

Does anyone want to join me?  If you want to and if you tell me about it, I'll put your name, birthday month and project over in my sidebar. 

How about it?