I love your blog award

Recently Lelia gave my blog the "I love your blog" award. Thank you Lelia, I am happy you enjoy reading my blog.

The rules of the award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

I have chosen blogs I have set up in Google Reader and check every day and that I haven't selected previously for one of the awards that has come my way to be passed on. They include:

CrazyQStitcher
Modeknit/Knitting Heretic
AveryClaire
World in Stitches
ArtGirlz
Craftside
The Embroiderer's Story/Plimoth Plantation
WoolyThreadBlog
Time Goes By

Some of these are individual's blogs and some are related to businesses. Most are fiber related, the exception being Time Goes By. I don't know how they'll react to something like this. I think they're all well worth reading.

August TIF done!

I'd hoped to get this up last night but Blogger wouldn't cooperate. I spent much of today "visiting" France. A French friend is in town so we went to a local French bistro with another friend for an amazing lunch (La Petite Folie--not to be missed). Then we spent some time looking at wedding pictures (one of my friend's children got married this spring).

I had potato-leek soup and a wonderful chicken salad with asparagus, artichokes, olives, and just the right amount of feta. One friend had the same, the other had a crab salad and an heirloom tomato salad. (those few words just don't describe at all the luscious dishes and their various components.) We had to have dessert. I was good and had a compote of berries with lemon sorbet. Yum! The others had a chocolate bombe and an apricot tart. Luscious!

Lunch and the nice visit left me feeling much more in balance than I have been lately. My vertigo is improving and with it my attitude. I think my piece this month shows some of the lack of balance I've been feeling.

The background is my take on an inkblot--I did a yarn painting--the kind we did in grade school where you coated a piece of yarn and placed it on half of a piece of paper, folded the paper over and pulled the piece of yarn out. I wanted to do an inkblot but realized that the heavy paint from that would be hard to stitch through. All along I had been thinking white fabric and black ink but at some point the image reversed and I got myself some black fabric and used white acrylic paint I had. (I think part of the choice had to do with the white paint being to hand.)

A yard of upholstery cording was the yarn. I pressed and precreased my fabric, poked the cord into the paint bottle. I used a chopstick and the rim of the jar to squeeze out excess paint and then "artistically" draped the cord onto half of the fabric. I folded over the other half and then pressed a cutting board over it to keep the fabric flat. Then I pulled out the cord. For some I did this more than once.

Looking at them live they looked to me like flower petals. Looking at photos of them, they look more like x-rays. Other samples on on my Flikr site.

I chose the one I did because it reminded me of twirling, of the inner ear bits that are giving me fits, and the heavy line reminded me of the kind of balance staff tight-rope walkers use. I liked the layered effect.

I used a piece of the cording (dry) to wrap the tightrope. I used wools that I had on hand. I began to wrap neatly, this fine line we all walk to keep our balance could at least be pretty, but then decided, well, it's not. I'm not quite sure if the dangly threads are obstacles or things to hold on to. Most likely both. The ends are frayed and not attached to anything.

I backed the painted fabric with black stiff felt and then couched on the cording. I added a backing of white stiff felt. The last of the yard of painted cording is looped for the page binding. Done.

more on biscornu and zoo

Some responses to comments: Biscornu aren't hard to do once you get your mind around it. I learned from a friend, World Embroideries. This site has links to finishing instructions including several biscornu tutorials: http://focusonfinishing.wordpress.com/useful-links/. Thanks to everyone who has commented thus far; your names are added to the pool.

My husband used to go to Michigan City Zoo as a child. He's never mentioned an amusement park--I'll have to ask him. We began going together in the 70s, no amusement park by then. It is the place with the very cool clear plastic tube small children can crawl into and watch the otters underwater. We were interested to see that the otters tended to congregate by the tunnel when children were inside it.

I'm battling the side effects of a blood-pressure drug that as of Monday I'm no longer taking. I'm still pretty miserable and experiencing vertigo. Which is rather appropriate in an ironic sort of way since I used the extra down time to finish this month's TIF piece on balance. I have a photo and hope to get it up later on.

Giveaway!

This weekend we visited the Michigan City Zoo. Actually, it’s the Washington Park Zoo but we’ve always called it Michigan City. Partly because I work near a Washington Park in Chicago (no zoo but room for confusion), and partly just because it’s what it seems to be known as by everyone local. It’s a lovely, small zoo, build during the depression by the WPA. It’s recently undergone some renovation that improved it. If you’re near Northwest Indiana, it’s well worth a visit. (It’s just around the corner from the Lubeznik Gallery and the outlet mall.)

The zoo is built right on the hills next to Lake Michigan—we sat for a while on a shady bench and I took this photo. If you look closely, near the center you can see the tiger pacing in his cage.

I spent some down time working on my sample piece for Plimoth, for the 17th century jacket recreation project. I don't think I can get there to stitch but thought it would be fun to try the sample and learn the techniques. I have been nervous about doing it…those spaces are really tiny and the thread is thick! (soie perlee) I had some quiet time in the morning today and was able to do a sample of reverse chain stitch and a detached buttonhole stitch. I may not get back to it until I have another peaceful weekend morning. But I do feel more confident and competent now, having gotten underway.

I’ve also been making pincushions. When we visited Erica’s a couple of weeks ago, I bought a stack of 5” squares of Moda fabric (Portugal by April Cornell). Erica’s had dozens of packages of fabric like this and it was really hard to pick just one. The squares are one each of each design and colorway in the series.

I’ve decided to give away one of the pincushions—this biscornu. Please leave a comment between now and next Monday (September 1) and I will draw one name to receive the pincushion. I’ve wanted to do a giveaway for a while now and this pincushion seemed perfect. The seams are overstitched with Portuguese knotted stem stitch.

I also did a little work on this month’s TIF challenge. I hope to have more to report later this week.

beading fun

I've been singularly unambitious this week, doing nothing much more than flipping through magazines in the evenings. I think it may have something to do with my new blood pressure drug.

I made this necklace last Saturday from stones I'd gotten at the Glass Onion while at my niece's graduation in Appleton, Wisconsin. I finally got out crimps, clasps and wire and made up the necklace. I've worn it most every day this week and really like it. While I was at it, I made up two pairs of earrings--at the bottom of the second picture.

I think of these as Navajo colors: turquoise, coral, black and silver. I may be totally wrong on that but they're colors I've used together since my college days.

I made up this bracelet for a friend while I was at it. I'd hoped to take her out to celebrate her graduation but it didn't happen. It's blue stone beads (some kind of natural crystal) with Swarovski round and bicone crystals.

Stringing beads like this is quite quick once you have all of the components together.

More pictures are on my Flickr site.

World Embroideries

If you haven't done so yet, stop in and visit World Embroideries. She's posting some very interesting items. The lace piece in her most recent post is exquisite.

New nametag

For years I've loved the doll designs by Patti Medaris Culea and have avidly read all of her books, followed her blog, etc. But I'd never actually made a doll from her patterns. Recently she posted a free pattern for a nametag doll, Natania, on her blog and last weekend I decided I needed a new nametag!

It was quite a challenge to stitch, turn and stuff those teeny-tiny pieces but I managed to do it. I used muslin for the doll; happily it was a good quality muslin that didn't fray to bits in my struggles. You draw the face on after you've made it and let me tell you once I had that thing stuffed, that head was going on that doll no matter how the face came out!

It came out pretty much okay, thanks to Patti's directions. The eyes aren't quite level and it's a little high on the face but, hey, I'm pleased with it as a first attempt.

Her armature is pipe cleaners, her blouse a bit of lace. Her hair is hand-dyed silk threads from Treenway Silks (Gulf Island Series, Poet's Cove, about half-way down this page on the right)--their fibers are amazing. I used a wire "armature" for the hair. I used Pigma Micron pens for the face and the name banner, with some Sharpie fine point markers for some of the color.

I'm really glad she added this little pattern. Now that I've dipped my toe, I'm ready to dive in.