Halloween 2008 Stitching

This is a freebie on 28-ct. linen, "Poor Jack" by Just Nan, that I started last night. I made his eyes and grin with DMC glow-in-the-dark floss. I'll be making several Halloween designs, and I'm not sure yet which will be used for my HOE partner. The linen is really natural but the scan makes it look grey.

Crater Lake

This is a view of Crater Lake National Park as seen from a north lookout on the rim highway. This photo was taken on August 2, and the white stuff you see around the edge of the lake is snow!

The little island poking up is Wizard Island. A park ranger told us that the view was hazy because the smoke from massive wildfires in California moved north into the valleys of Oregon. At the bottom of the photo you can see that the haze is beginning to clear, and the incredible deep lapis blue of the lake is starting to emerge.

Unfortunately, there are now Oregon wildfires burning that are affecting towns, some access highways to the park, and hiking trails. It is very dry in most of Oregon right now.

Eliza's Pyn Pillow

This is a WIP freebie, "Eliza's Pin Pillow" by With My Needle, that I stitched this summer. I'll finish it as a pinkeep. I didn't have the recommended thread count linen, and so I had to leave the serifs off of most of the letters, as well as rearrange them to fit my small piece of linen. I had to substitute for some of the colors.

Yesterday I went to Michael's crafts for a sale and bought some narrow ribbons. I got some Thanksgiving colors, and plan to use a brown for the edging of this.

I also bought another skein of DMC glow-in-the-dark thread to give to my HOE Halloween Exchange partner, and two quarter-yard pieces of lovely prints that will be useful for the backs of smalls. My granddaughter likes the glow-in-the-dark and wants me to use it to stitch something for her room.

Chihuly in Pittsburgh

This is one of the Chihuly art glass pieces in the Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My daughter visited there but I haven't been able to go yet :(

Phipps had a Chihuly exhibition last spring that was so popular that (I think) they purchased several of the works, which are now on permanent display.

Oregon Coast

This is a view of the Oregon coast as seen from the trail in the woods below the Heceta Head lighthouse. The day was overcast when we arrived, but gradually the mist lifted. I was so excited to finally see the Pacific Ocean!

"Ocean in view . . . oh, the joy"
---from the journals of Lewis & Clark

A Quaker Pinkeep

Although I didn't post all summer due to a lack of blank CD's (to back up all photos), I was busy stitching. I made this pinkeep for the HOE Summer Quaker exchange, but realized that I did not like the floss colors against the background. The background isn't really blue-grey--it's more of a mottled neutral. The reverse is covered with the batik yellow fabric that you see.

I gave it as a birthday present to someone with a summer birthday. They never responded, even to say whether or not they liked it. It took me a long time to stitch this with my aging eyesight. I have to wear magnifying glasses.

Memo to self: I will cross-stitch handmade gifts only for family and close friends who appreciate my work.

I took the pattern from an issue of the digital magazine "The Gift of Stitching."

Thank You Gift

I stitched this as a thank-you gift for my son's girlfriend, following my stay with them in Eugene. It's "Embraceable Ewes: September" (An Apple for You), by Moon Pi Madness.

It's stitched with DMC on linen. I chose to eliminate the bow at the sheep's neck, and the row of apples on the bottom. The chart featured only the picture so I added the letters from one of my Dover Publications books. I used buckram and some quilt batting to create a hanging. The back has sheep design fabric. I was rushed and didn't sew the edges straight, therefore no picture of the reverse side.

Saturday Market--Eugene, OR

Here are pictures of some lovely flower bouquets for sale at the Saturday market in downtown Eugene. It's held outside until sometime in the fall, when it moves to an indoor location.

Farmers and craftspeople come from the Eugene area and set up their wares underneath tents. The selection of both homegrown produce, food and and handmade crafts was incredible!

My Trip to Oregon

In August I traveled to Eugene, Oregon, to spend five days with my son and his girlfriend. I'll be posting some pictures from my trip.

This is a view of Eugene taken from Skinner's Butte.

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

These are some huge plants in the inner courtyard of the museum that overlook a small pool. I don't know what they are.

I went to this museum on the University of Oregon campus primarily to see the collection of works by Morris Graves . They had about four of his works in a special room. Unfortunately, there were no prints or posters of them in the museum gift shop, and practically nothing in the gift shop was based upon the museum collections, except for some magnets. Perhaps because the Jordan Schnitzer Museum is small, it cannot afford to make reproductions.

It is difficult to find reproductions of Morris Graves' work. It seems that much of his work is in private hands, and many of the works in major museums are not sold as prints or posters in their shops, either. Maybe some are available when one visits in person, but not listed in the online shopping. Maybe there are not enough people who want them to make it profitable.

Has anyone been to the actual Morris Graves Museum of Art in California (Humboldt County)?

I'm especially attracted to his series of birds (Waking, Walking, Singing in the Next Dimension), and those featuring "white noise."

The other museum collections (Asian) that featured samurai outfits, intricate Chinese enameled hairpieces, and and hand-painted screens were magnificent. I reveled in seeing the embroidered clothing (silk thread in satin stitch) so closely that I could see the actual stitches.

Summer Quaker

This is the jewelry pouch that I stitched for April for the HOE Summer Quaker Exchange. The eight-petal flowers, the enclosed swan and the enclosed birds/flowerpot are from a freebie, "Six Mains," by A Mon Ami Pierre. I chose to fill in the swan and make the background look like a pond, just to add variety.

The vase is my own design; the key, initials and letters from a book of charted designs by Dover Publication.

The interior is of the finest silk, from the blouse (choli) piece of an Indian silk sari. I've had this silk for years and use it sparingly for special projects. I stuffed it with flat quilt filler and added buckram for stiffening.

Goodbye, Teacher

Last week was the final week of the school year for a young relative. We give small gifts to the teachers at Christmas break and at the end of the term. I wanted to make handmade gifts this June, not only due to our budget, but because I enjoy giving a personalized gift.

For the music teacher, I created a small hanging pillow. The front was white Aida, the back was black velveteen, and the hanging cord was gold trim from India. I cross stitched a black silhouette of a colonial violinist, from the book "Anne Orr's Charted Designs," by Dover Publications.

For one (male) teacher, I made a watercolor of his family coat-of-arms, which I had researched on the internet.

For the homeroom teacher, I wanted to make a sampler-type gift but knew I didn't have time to make a large one and frame it.

Thursday evening (June 5th) I was still working on her gift. I had wanted to make a sampler that looked like a blackboard, the same sampler that I stitched for one of my daughter's teachers many years ago. It was from an issue of the (now defunct) magazine "Cross Stitch and Country Crafts." Unfortunately, I couldn't find that issue, and realized that I'm missing 2 or 3 issues, not just that one.

I had to design my own sampler to be stitched with DMC floss on black Aida.

The sampler read, from top to bottom:
(stitched apple) Teacher's Name (in white thread) (stitched apple)
SCHOOL (white letters on green box background)
GRADE she taught(in white thread)
(x-stitch of a #2 yellow pencil)

below I stitched (in different colors):
math equations; an angle, a square, a triangle, a quadrilateral; math operation symbols; an outline of the continental USA, Alaska, and Hawaii; the sun, moon, Mars, Earth, and Saturn; a darkling beetle on oats, under a magnifying glass; and the word "SPARKLE" to commemorate a spelling game they played.

By this time it was midnight and I finished it as a small hanging pillow. The backing was green with a small black paisley-type design. The hanging cord was of white rick-rack.

I did not go to sleep until 2:30 a.m. Friday morning because it took me that long to do the watercolor coat-of-arms. I got up a few hours later, wrapped both gifts, and put them in a bag to be taken to school.

After school I was informed how much the homeroom teacher LOVED her gift, and that she wished she could have met me. Actually, I had met her several years ago, when I observed classes there for three days. She just forgot.

* * * *
This morning I began reading the local newspaper online.

I see her last name on the obituaries. I see the same first name as hers.

It states she was a teacher at the same school.

I cannot believe what I am reading.

I call the mother of one of the classmates and find that it is true.

She had a heart attack the day after school ended, the day after she announced her retirement, the day after she received my cross stitched gift--a gift that both acknowledged her teaching and brought her happiness.

All of you--my friends in stitching--la communaute des brodeuses, never underestimate the power of your needle and thread.

With needle and thread we create joy, we create friendships, we mark milestones.

Your embroidery may be the only cross stitched gift a person ever receives. Your embroidery may be the last gift someone receives.

Cherish your skills, pass them on, teach someone to cross stitch. Je brode, et vous?

Goodbye to a wonderful TEACHER