The Last of Christmas...

Holiday with the Boys...
cBFF Dave and T. came over last night to celebrate Christms and New Year with us. It was a WONDERFUL evening. We began with cocktails, exchanging of gifts. They were surprised (right) at receiving their hats, pleased with other gifts. The girls received some beading kits and supplies, Lindsay a princess "makeup" kit in a train case. All in heaven. And Uncle T. was so wonderfully engaged in helping them learn a few skills to begin while I finished the food prep.

We then enjoyed something of a feast: roast pork tenderloin, potato salad with balsamic vinaigrette and bacon, broccoli sauteed in olive oil and garlic (my favorite of the evening!), a lovely salad with pears, romaine, cranberries, peacans, a nice dressing. Bread.

You should have seen the kitchen at 11:00 pm last night. Made me wish Drew was here to get more done after 9 pm than I did all day long...

U2 and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (Rattle and Hum)

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" -- Martin Luther King, Jr.; 1963




Meandering a Handcrafter's Memory Lane...





T. made one remark, only ONE, I tell you! about a piece of counted cross-stitch he'd done for his mother. That one remark made me think of a piece he might like to do for her and there we were, looking through every needlework magazine ever purchased by me, every pattern, all of the UFO's (unfinished objects) in my holding. It was so wonderful. He and I may not have a great deal of overlap in tastes but he did go home with my legal brief bag FULL of patterns, etc to peruse.

For me, I was reminded of some beautiful work I've done, some I'd like to finish some day. For Rob, it was a reminder of "another chapter", as he called it, in my life of immersing myself in something and later moving on. For context, I will say that I began to do needlecrafts seriously in 1983; the last piece I completed was dated 1996. And I don't think I'm finished with this kind of crafting, I just think that knitting, guitars, they are more appropriate for my lifestyle at the moment, they are what is inspiring me. But its a fact that handling these things this morning, looking them over---I was definitely inspired.





Only more photos and needlework chat beyond this point...








Small Pulled and Drawn Thread sampler, featured in four parts in a Sampler Quarterly magazine that is likely now out of print. Its a very gutsy thing to take scissors to a piece of work you've prepared and snip this and that fiber out to create the open space. Exciting, actually. This one is "finished" so far as the pattern is concerned but I've never been happy with the rather raw look of the left lower corner motif. I've decided how I'll improve it and perhaps get this framed in short order. Unfortunately, this type of thing is completely inconsistent with any room's decor in my house. I don't know where it will hang.

This piece is actually the first pulled/drawn thread piece I ever attempted. I love it, love it. I know that the pattern and supplies were all purchesed in San Jose, CA on a visit to my sister that was a gift for completing my graduate work. She may have even purchased these for me as I had something like NO money while I was there. I was unemployed for the last three month's of my studies to finish my internship. One day I will finish this. That large, messy open space looks more or less as it should in prep for the wrapping and drawing to be done. One of the reasons I haven't moved forward with this is that I do not like what the designer planned for this space and I have to figure out what to do, how to do it. And I'm not really experienced with this stuff.

White Work Pulled Thread Sampler

This is another pattern run in four parts in Antique Sampler Quarterly. I began this one in 1993 or so with one of my best friends of all time. There's no cutting involved here, just the simple texture created by pulling warps and wefts in various directions, wrapping them, white linen fabric with white cotton embroidery floss. In general, my affinity for this work is all about tone on tone texture.