Reindeer pattern download!

Big news folks!

Break out your needle and thread.....

My quilts, kits and this new Reindeer pattern

are featured this weekend on 

the Martha Stewart crafts Department Blog

If you are interested in the downloadable pattern, 

it is available for $2.00 in my Etsy shop

through November 14th.

Happy early holidays,

and very happy stitching!

Visiting friends in creative spaces

While Irene was blowing up the coast

 I had the pleasure of spending a delightful, creative craft weekend hosted by my friends 

Debra and Pete at their sweet little pad in Pittsburgh.

 

 Debra and I hunkered down for most of the weekend in her studio chatting and stitching while Pete kept us nourished with tasty bits through out the weekend. 

  

I wish the zoom on my phone had been more forgiving because Debra has so many little treasures scattered around her house and studio... little collages and sculptures.... waiting for you to come close for an intimate viewing.... but alas, my technology was not in full cooperation.

  

 In the morning and afternoon Pete made lattes to keep our minds fresh and fingers nimble as we stitched away...

I brought two kits for Debra's little one (on the way) that she made over the weekend.... a penguin and a Kangaroo.... these kits (and much more) are available in my etsy shop...

I am not sure what I was thinking but I got the idea that I wanted to make something different... something that I had never considered making before...

A doll?

Then I realized that I really wanted to make miniature clothing...

Which I believe was inspired by the amazing show that Debra took me to at

The Center for Contemporary Craft

Mariko Kusumoto work is stunning and inspiring... 

She creates miniature worlds that reside somewhere between doll houses, jewelry and sculpture that long to be explored.... 

I look forward to following her work! 

Also at  

The Center for Contemporary Craft 

is the haunting work of Lia Cook...

her woven photographs are wonderful!  

This is a close up detail of the weave

It was a wonderful weekend with great friends, much stitching, 

beautiful weather and inspirational art.

Thank you, Thank you Debra and Pete for such a lovely weekend!

Best wishes to Maxwell...

Early one morning at 2:30 am we had a unusual storm. 

Hail, wild winds, thunder crashes and lightning...

We lost several trees in the storm

and two cat birds who left us a tiny little friend.... 

Maxwell 

Photos By Karen Philippi 

I scooped him up and nestled him in a box with a soft cotton cloth then

 got on line to find out how and what to feed him.

Every 15 minutes for two weeks I nursed and fed him...

 We found his fallen nest and made a cozy box for him,

and he grew

 

and spread his wings

 

and grew some more

 and he went out side to see the world

and we fell in love.

He shimmied around his box to be close to me and jumped onto my fingers.

I had no idea about bonding with birds until I met Maxwell.

Then we had a photo shoot . I had to have those wallet pics

before he went to be reunited with his extended family in the wilds of Rhode Island
(thank you Karen For your beautiful photos!)

So we drove him to south county to a wild life rescue. You see,  I was not confident about the next stage of mothering and he had come too far to make any mistakes!

I hope he will find us again.....

Photos By Karen Philippi

My new plan for a leaky skylight....

Wonder Land Quilt Complete!

Well, I have finally finished with the Wonder Land quilt!

I have been working on a gift of a commission for the past 12 months

(four hand stitched quilts).

There are two more to go (well on their way thankfully) so I am not done yet, but with each completion I feel a great sense of accomplishment and relief. Each of these quilts takes so much time and patience. Every stitch is made by hand... sometimes I think I have lost my mind but I really love the work for 95% of the process.... mostly I feel a Zen like calm. As the deadline approaches however, I hesitate to call my state of mind anything resembling to Zen.

Over the weekend we shared a slow and lovely Sunday with our friends Ron and Inga. Wonderful company, delicious food and delightful conversation. They are such dear friends and were kind enough to share their beautiful bedroom and king size bed to photograph the quilt. Inga even went so far as to order a sweet little rug from Morris etc to add a splash of color to the room.

I highly recommend a visit to their website to see some wonderful hand woven rugs.

So that is it... moving on to the next. Some champagne and cassis tonight then back to work on Thursday.
Stay tuned for the next two!
Many thanks to Karen Philippi for her wonderful photos... amazing as always!

Textle Museum: Online presentations

Every spring I dream of heading south to Washington DC to check out the annual Celebration of Textiles event at the Textile Museum. I have not yet made it but this morning I was peeking at their website again with longing and discovered that they had a wonderful "On line presentation" feature for people like me.... and perhaps like you....

Current Exhibitions

	Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles February 4, 2011 through January 8, 2012
	The Textile Learning Center Permanent Activity Gallery

Online Exhibitions

	Green: the Color and the Cause Online Presentation
	Ahead of his Time: The Collecting Vision of George Hewitt Myers Online Presentation
	Common Threads: Unraveling the World of Textiles Online Presentation
	Pieces of a Puzzle: Classical Persian Carpet Fragments Online Presentation
	Flowers of Silk and Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery Online Presentation

Online Exhibitions

	Green: the Color and the Cause Online Presentation
	Ahead of his Time: The Collecting Vision of George Hewitt Myers Online Presentation
	Common Threads: Unraveling the World of Textiles Online Presentation
	Pieces of a Puzzle: Classical Persian Carpet Fragments Online Presentation
	Flowers of Silk and Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery Online Presentation