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Festival of Lights 2024
9 hours ago
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Drawn Work
I just purchased 8 pair (!) of drawn work pillow cases, plus an additional pillow case, napkin and sheet. Most of the drawn work is the same pattern. The price was so reasonable I will be able to use them for every day! Plus, I will have some as gifts. These were from an estate sale. There was also embroidery from this sale; I will hopefully get to see some of that next week.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Arpillera from Peru
I mentioned that when we were on vacation in Michigan we spent a day in Saugatuck. We had a very nice time. There's a nice little downtown with cute shops right by the channel. The weather was gorgeous, the company was excellent, and we just had a good time.
I found a shop that carried "fair trade" items; and I get excited when I see one of those, because I know you can find things from around the world, and usually some in textiles. Once I went in the store, I was thrilled, because they had a lot of textiles. I found this Arpillera from Peru there. My budget determined the size I could get, but there were wonderful examples there, a rain forest, a garden, a market, an undersea scene, etc. (I'm not sure there were all of these in the shop, I've been browsing on-line as well.)
I chose the village scene for my granddaughter's sake. I wanted her to look at it, and she is crazy about animals, so this is the one I got. P & C were intrigued by the pink pigs, and they both liked the knitted hats. Most of the animals are fuzzy, so it was nice to feel them, as well. It is signed, and the store owner told me if I wanted to I could communicate through the web-page and find out exactly the artist that made it.
I like this piece so much that I'm planning to add another arpillera someday, when I can afford it. There is a "Tree of Life" that is cool, and a nativity scene with all the animals that pops off the page.
This is a picture of the little park along the channel. There were small parks scattered throughout the shopping area. We had lunch in a pub type restaurant. The sweet potato fries were wonderful. My mom wasn't walking very well (she's doing much better now) so we didn't get to many of the stores. DH and I are hoping to go back and check out more of the town.
I found a shop that carried "fair trade" items; and I get excited when I see one of those, because I know you can find things from around the world, and usually some in textiles. Once I went in the store, I was thrilled, because they had a lot of textiles. I found this Arpillera from Peru there. My budget determined the size I could get, but there were wonderful examples there, a rain forest, a garden, a market, an undersea scene, etc. (I'm not sure there were all of these in the shop, I've been browsing on-line as well.)
I chose the village scene for my granddaughter's sake. I wanted her to look at it, and she is crazy about animals, so this is the one I got. P & C were intrigued by the pink pigs, and they both liked the knitted hats. Most of the animals are fuzzy, so it was nice to feel them, as well. It is signed, and the store owner told me if I wanted to I could communicate through the web-page and find out exactly the artist that made it.
I like this piece so much that I'm planning to add another arpillera someday, when I can afford it. There is a "Tree of Life" that is cool, and a nativity scene with all the animals that pops off the page.
This is a picture of the little park along the channel. There were small parks scattered throughout the shopping area. We had lunch in a pub type restaurant. The sweet potato fries were wonderful. My mom wasn't walking very well (she's doing much better now) so we didn't get to many of the stores. DH and I are hoping to go back and check out more of the town.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Dutch Sampler
Today I want to talk about my "non-antique" Dutch sampler. My first acquaintance with this sampler was when my aunt S. gave an example of it to my grandparents, probably when I was in high school. I loved that sampler! but I knew that, in the normal course of things, I would not inherit it, since it came from another branch of the family.
When I was working, after college, a co-worker had scheduled a trip to Holland to visit family. I showed her a picture of the sampler, and asked if she could look for something similar for me to stitch. She was very happy to have a "treasure" to hunt for during shopping trips. She could find nothing like it in the shops, but discovered the exact pattern in a magazine stashed in a drawer in her mother's home. When she returned, she brought me a copy of the pattern! I was thrilled.
The colors listed in the pattern had numbers next to them... and I didn't know what they meant. I discovered they were DMC numbers, and I would be able to stitch the sampler in the exact same colors as my grandparents'. I thought that was a marvelous idea, to number your colors so you could match them exactly. That fact will give you a little insight as to when this saga took place; the date stitched on my copy of the sampler is 1979. I think it is the first thing I ever stitched on linen.
The stitching itself was a joy. The pattern was clear, the motif style made it easy to follow, and to see the sampler come to life under my hands was amazing.
Last year when I posted a picture of this sampler on my Flickr page, a friend from a class I was taking, Ati from Norway, told me the name of the designer, and sent me another sampler design by the same person. I never dreamed, the first time I saw this sampler, that I would ever be able to stitch it, and even less, that I would ever be able to find another pattern by the same designer. I love living in this day and age!
When I was working, after college, a co-worker had scheduled a trip to Holland to visit family. I showed her a picture of the sampler, and asked if she could look for something similar for me to stitch. She was very happy to have a "treasure" to hunt for during shopping trips. She could find nothing like it in the shops, but discovered the exact pattern in a magazine stashed in a drawer in her mother's home. When she returned, she brought me a copy of the pattern! I was thrilled.
The colors listed in the pattern had numbers next to them... and I didn't know what they meant. I discovered they were DMC numbers, and I would be able to stitch the sampler in the exact same colors as my grandparents'. I thought that was a marvelous idea, to number your colors so you could match them exactly. That fact will give you a little insight as to when this saga took place; the date stitched on my copy of the sampler is 1979. I think it is the first thing I ever stitched on linen.
The stitching itself was a joy. The pattern was clear, the motif style made it easy to follow, and to see the sampler come to life under my hands was amazing.
Last year when I posted a picture of this sampler on my Flickr page, a friend from a class I was taking, Ati from Norway, told me the name of the designer, and sent me another sampler design by the same person. I never dreamed, the first time I saw this sampler, that I would ever be able to stitch it, and even less, that I would ever be able to find another pattern by the same designer. I love living in this day and age!
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