PEACOCKS

The weekend of May 19th I will be teaching at Bedecked and Bedazzled, the needlepoint Utopia run by owner and stitcher, Ruth Schmuff. If you aren't familiar with Ruth Schmuff in the needlepoint world, she is everywhere. She writes a blog called Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint, and started a fantastic community forum for stitchers called, what else? Stitcherie. This website is beautifully designed, and gives everyone a place to meet up, share pictures of their work, and find a community. I just heard that she is still taking students for this class, so if you are in the area, why not spend the weekend of May 19th with me??

I was thrilled when she asked me to teach a class at her Maryland store. After much discussion, we chose "PEACOCKS", a favorite of mine.

It is a well rounded design, a perfect balance of composition and color.  It comes in three colorways, Brown and Blue (Evening), Orange and Yellow (Sunshine) and Greens and Blues (Twilight).

The threads used cover a wide range, overdye, metallics and silk, with enough cushion stitches to perfect even a beginners technique! I am really looking forward to heading to Maryland in a few weeks and teaching this class. A real treat! Remember you can register here!

Will I see you in Maryland?!

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My Philadelphia! (watch this video...fun!)

     

       

Just another reminder--the late registration is still open for my ANG three day class "My City, My Skyline"!  By utilizing clever sculpture techniques, this innovative class will teach you how to make your two dimensional work turn three dimensional . Stitch tiny fiber renditions of Philadelphia's most recognizable buildings, including our very special, William Penn adorned City Hall.

This beautiful multi-media design is a new way to approach the canvas, and further discussions of ways to carry this method into your future work will be covered. Join us for this exciting look at three-dimensional needlepoint, and leave town with a beautiful remembrance of your time here!

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Whatcha Bedouin?

A closeup of bodice

My friend Jen, who is also the amazing knitter running classes at Adorn Atelier, dropped by with the most amazing relics--two Bedouin dresses she had bought almost 50 years ago at the Islington Street Fair. You can read more about this area here.  This area of London is renowned for it outstanding antiques, flea markets and vintage finds.

The Bedouin dress is what's known as "Tob'ob". Traditional Palestinian Bedouin dresses were often more than twice the length of the wearer and the sleeves were long, winged and large. They are decorated with red embroidery for married women and blue for younger unmarried women.

A complicated process of hitching and doubling up the fabric and wrapping the head in the long sleeves enabled the wearer to move about with ease--even with all the swathes of fabric! In the video below you can see a young woman in the 1920's demonstrating the way that the dress is put on.

                        

The Bedouin dress shown in this video is a cousin to the Arabian Burqa, in which the woman is completely covered, her body hidden completely, but for her eyes. The traditional Burqa face covering is not the simple black fabric that  we picture today. Before the social and economic upheaval of present day Bedouins, the artistry that went into their clothing is as complicated and exotic as any fiber artist could hope to see. The tradition of this embroidered work is beginning to die out in modern Bedouin society.

However, there is a European Union initiative called the  "Craft and Income Generation Project" that gives women a way to earn their own money and preserves their traditional handwork. Check out the website Fansina.

Coasters at Fansina

Jen's Bedouin dresses are redolent of the 1960's, when the sleeves narrowed and the length was shortened to ankle length. There is no evidence that it was cut and re-hemmed, and the sleeves are fitted and certainly won't wrap around your head! The stitching is incredible. Have another look:

Whatta beautiful bit of embroidered history! Thanks so much for bringing those over, Jen. It's definitely got me thinking about new designs!

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Kitchen, fans and color... huh?

 

 

Not sure what that was all about, so I might as well go all kookoo!

 

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This is what you should be doing today...

Is the weather beautiful where you are?   Then this is what you should be doing.  Mindless people watching, coffee drinking, while smiling in the sun.

Cafe in Philadelphia

Cafe in Moscow

Cafe in Italy

Cafe in Turkey

Cafe in Paris

Cafe in Sweden

Cafe in New York

Cafe in Tel Aviv

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Special spots in a special town..

When you are visiting Philadelphia for ANG this August, you might find yourself wanting to branch out from the Convention Center neighborhood and get to a few gems that are tucked away, hidden from tourists eyes! So I've put together a few wonderful and unusual spots that might whet your appetite for all things Philly!

The first one is the unbelievable mosaic Dream Garden. It was created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1916 to grace the lobby of The Saturday Evening Post at 601 Walnut Street.  At 15 x 49 feet this enormous rendition of a Maxfield Parrish painting was created entirely with pieces of Favrile glass, an iridescent glass that was a patented look for Tiffany Lamp Co. The piece was bought by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 1998 when casino mogul Steve Wynn attempted to scoop it up and cart it off to Vegas!

In the eats department, if you love your wine and cheese, you may want to head over to Tria, the wine, beer and cheese restaurant in Rittenhouse Square. Whatever you like -- a Pinot with a beautiful Maytag Bleu, or a Gerwurtztraminer with a lovely Queso Gallego -- this place has what you are looking for.  While not a Cheap eats destination, it's great for a snack and a rest! Located on the corner of 18th and Sansom, it's a treat for any visiting cheesophile!

In addition to discovering electricity, forming the first public library, and the first fire department, did you know Ben Franklin was a Freemason? The Masons are a mysterious secret fraternity, and much has been written and hypothesized about who they are and what they do. Well, wonder no more--the Masons here in Philadelphia have opened their doors to the world, with guided, $8 tours of 8 of their largest halls. Visit the "Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons", and grand halls done in eclectic and, sometimes bizarre style, from Asian to Egyptian and everything in between. 

And then there is the amazing world of bahdeebahdu.  If you are in the market for a chandelier, and wanted something "a little different" have I got a chandelier for you! The showroom for this company is located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. They do all sorts of interior work, but their signature sculpture chandeliers, made entirely of, well, junk, are a sight to behold!  The artist Warren Muller creates these amazing bits of bright confusion out of recycled and salvaged objects. His commissions include The Westin Hotel for it's recent makeover, and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.  If you have a chance to check out his unusual showroom, it is well worth the trouble!

Just when you had us pegged for a cobblestone colonial town! I will be doing more great spots in Philly, so be sure and check back!

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I kept noticing this "T" everywhere, and then I found it!

"Gyre"

   Artist Jacob Magraw-Mickelson set aside his paints and took up a needle.

In a recent interview with the NY Times (it's no coincidence that this is their signature "T"), Magraw says he was drawn to embroidery by "the layers of intention that can gather in such a slow process". This really spoke to me, as a fiber artist. The idea of layered intention is really everything that needlepoint is about. He goes on to talk about how we interact with stitching every day, in "mundane but essential ways..." This T of his is starting to pop up on Pintrest and Facebook---and I am sure we will be seeing more of this artists work in future!

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A little Alphabet anyone?

Look Closer......

Closer still.....




How was this made?





What does it mean?




Created by Yale grads Casper Lam and YuJune Park at Synoptic Office it is a veritable typographic topography of how we use our letters.  "The physical form of language is a record of collective memory.In this monotype typeface, the height of the letterforms is determined by how often a letter is used. This typeface maps the rhythmic ebb and flow of English.Each letter sits in a 6 x 6 inch square, allowing for any combination of letters to run seamlessly both vertically and horizontally."

It's so amazing, I just want to run my hands over it. Each letter is constructed to fit every other letter, so you can get the topography of any word, just by lining it up!

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