A Framing Idea

I have a friend who is a framer and, lucky for me, she is willing to try new things.

I have 11 bead journals completed and they are all 5"x5". I did not want to frame each one individually...too expensive plus I don't have the wall space...

So, I asked my friend Terri to make me a shadow box that opens from the front. Rather than a hinge and closure, we tried using magnets so the entire box front lifts off...

It worked. Only trouble was she couldn't find a glue strong enough to keep the magnets from pulling out. Nothing a little bit of tape didn't fix...

She also put little blue tick marks so I know which side is the top.

The inside of the box is made with black suede mat board and I sewed a strip of velcro to the back. All that was left was to put the loop velcro dots on the backs of my bead journals. And voila!

I can change them out by the seasons. Since it was such a success, she's promised to make me a slightly larger one for my 8" crazy quilt blocks.

I'll be heading to the beach this afternoon and spending the next two weeks with four of my nieces while their Mom is in Italy and their Dad works. I'll try to post but if you don't hear from me, you'll know why.

Thanks to everyone who bought a fabric pack yesterday. I have one left in the shop here...At this point, I think we've raised at least $300 to contribute to the fundraiser. Thanks for that and stay cool everyone!

Fabrics for Japan

Hello everyone! I have missed being online for the last week or so. This summer has been just plain busy! Jack is turning 15 in August and will be entering his Sophomore year in high school this Fall -- I feel his impending flight from the nest and am taking advantage of every minute to hang out with him. Believe it or not, he still likes me which I don't think is likely to last either...

That being said, I did manage to go through my collection of antique silk kimono fabrics to create 14 fabric packs to sell on Etsy.

You can find lots of vintage kimono fabrics at pretty good prices on both Ebay and Etsy...but I have always tried to find unique pieces that are hand-dyed, hand-painted or unique in some way. I had a lot of fun putting them together but it took me much longer than I expected it would. Check them all out here.

My absolute favorite package is what I called the Special Commemorative Sendai Pack which includes the fabrics that I used in my Sendai block including a piece of that super special hand-painted silk fabric with the bird and flowers.

I cannot tell you how exquisite, delicate and old this piece of fabric is...it's really quite something. Unfortunately, I only have one of these special packs so once it's gone, it's gone...

I am donating the fabric in full so that the entire sales price of all the items sold will be donated to the Crazy Quilt International Group and their Hearts and Hands for Sendai fundraiser. The money raised by that group will be sent to our fellow crazy quilting sister, Hideko Ishida (her blog is Wind from the East), who lives in Sendai and will be disbursing the money as she sees fit locally.

Evidently, I haven't been the only one focused on Japanese fabrics and art in honor of Sendai Japan.

Check out some highlights from Georgia Armani's Fall 2011 Haute Couture collection, Hommage au Japon ...

Isn't it great how he uses the smallest bits of exquisite Japanese fabric to such dramatic effect?

There's a lesson in there for me.

Love the black velvet lined with the beautiful silk patterns..

And the lines in this dress...

Exquisite.

And the headdresses! Millinery collages using ikebana and origami techniques...

And this "hat" just makes me smile...

And this tangerine and apricot confection...

Is as beautiful as a sunrise.

Next post I'll show you some other favorites from a few other of the Fall Haute Couture collections...there was lots there to inspire.

And don't forget to check out the antique japanese silk fabric packs for sale here in my new Etsy shop. Remember all moneys collected from sold packs will be sent to Sendai Japan.

Doomo Arigatoo Gozaimasu!

NYC = Pizza + Candy + Rock Climbing + Salted Pretzel = Happy Jack

Jack and I went to New York on Monday together with our family friend Colleen. I looked up things to do with teens in NYC since Jack and I have done most of the biggies and I stumbled upon Scott's Pizza tours. Pizza is Jack's favorite food so I went for it.

The tour started in Little Italy, a three block area in NYC right next to Chinatown and Greenwich Village. At first I was disappointed that our tour guide wasn't the famous "Scott" himself...

But I got over that within the first two minutes of meeting our passionate, spirited and quirky pizza tour guide.

Right off the bat she asked the kids what their pizza profiles were...Colleen had a quizzical look and claimed that she had never thought about that before...Jack spouted out..."Thin crust, very little sauce, and LOTS of cheese." And our quirky tour guide responded, "Well Jack. Have I got the pie for YOU!" And we were off...

We learned many obscure factoids about pizza, its origins and its ingredients. Pizza originated in Naples, Italy and the very first pizzeria in the United States was opened in 1905 in Little Italy in NYC...

And we were going to go there, but first we had to investigate the ingredients. We went to the oldest Italian cheese store in the United States, Alleva, where fresh mozzarella is made every day.

Evidently mozzarella is made by separating the curd and whey from milk. Mozzarella that is fresh doesn't keep very long and has to be used within two days. That's why most pizza is not made with fresh mozzarella.

I cannot wait to go back to this deli...There was one amazing cheese after another and the place smelled like heaven.

The kids tasted the fresh mozzarella...it had no salt or additional flavors...it was just the curd.

Let's just say that they really didn't like it at all...

But Colleen is too polite to make gagging noises.

We tasted our first slice of the three on the tour at Lombardi's...the very first pizzeria in the United States.

It was delicious and their secret ingredient is fresh mozzarella, uncooked crushed tomatoes and...the oven.

The oven is very hot (like a few thousand degrees F) and the pizza baker has to wear gloves and goggles and continuously rotate the pizza with his paddle to allow the crust to bake evenly. It only takes 2.5 minutes for a pizza to cook.

The result is a pizza crust that is so thin (about 1/8") and crisp that it doesn't interfere with the tomato and cheese flavors at all. Delicious.

Next we had a typical New York style street slice at Joe's and then Jack's favorite was served up at John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village.

Thin crust, lots of cheese and a little bit of sauce...And the sauce was on top of the cheese.

After the tour, we headed to Dylan's Candy Bar. Jack wants to go there every trip to NYC. So I ask, "Jack. Why is it you like Dylan's so much? I think it's just a lot of overpriced candy...."

And he said, "Mom. I'm a kid. It's a candy shop. What's not to like?"

Jack loves extremely sour candy and one of his favorite brands is Warheads. They're a little hard to find but Dylan's has a whole wall full of Warheads so Jack feels the need to replenish his supply when he goes there.

You don't get much sweeter than Colleen and she bought her two brothers each a box of candy. Those two boxes cost $8.71...like I said...overpriced.

But with floor to ceiling candy...and a candy stairway. They just love it so I think I'll stop fighting it.

Next we headed to Central Park to cool off. It was 95 degrees F in the city and I think the temperature must have dropped 10 degrees when we got to the park. All those huge century-old trees provide the best shade.

I think Jack could spend all day climbing on the big rocks in Central Park. He loves that place. Next time we go for the day we're going to spend the entire day there. I don't think we've ever seen the whole thing...it's so big...643 acres.

The other thing Jack has to do when he goes to New York is eat a pretzel from a street vendor...completely covered in salt. That's the way he likes it.

We ended the day window shopping on 5th Ave before getting back on the bus. Phew.

When I got back home, it was so nice to read all of your comments about my Sendai block. Thank you.

I'm putting together Japanese fabric packs for sale to benefit Sendai and hope to post them soon. It's the first time I'll be listing something on Etsy so I'm trying to figure that out. All money will be sent to Japan to help the earthquake victims.

Stay tuned.

Oh...and I almost forgot...

For all you Harry Potter fans...I thought you might enjoy seeing the movie billboard in Times Square for the final movie...

Jack's going at midnight tomorrow with my sister for opening night. How about you?

My Prayer for Sendai

My Hearts and Hands for Sendai quilt block is finished -- ready to head off on its journey and become part of a larger quilt to benefit Sendai, Japan.

You'll have to forgive me now because I'm going to get a little deep. It happens sometimes when I've spent many hours with a project that comes from my heart. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I believe that embroidery is a spiritual exercise.

I believe that great love and energy has been generated by every person who picked up a needle and made a block for one of these quilts.

I believe in the power of your energy as you read this blog post and bear witness to its message.

I believe that all that power...the power of all those communal stitches and thoughts...has, indeed, already helped someone in some way.

I never underestimate the power of human connection...the power of us. And the power of our hearts and hands to help Japan.

I had the good fortune of living in Japan for close to three years in the early '90s and feel a strong connection to the land and the people. I enjoyed all of the many festivals that occurred in my local village and tried to participate in as many as I could. But one of my absolute favorites was the ceremony of Toro Nagashi at the end of O-bon.

O-bon is a festival that honors the spirits of deceased ancestors. O-bon occurs in either July or August and lasts for three days. On the last day, there is a lantern lighting ceremony called Toro Nagashi where floating lanterns are lit and released into a river in order to guide the spirits of the departed to their afterlife.

I remember the mood being fairly somber as families wound their way through the streets down to the river bank...many of the young children dressed in kimono.

Just seeing all of those lit lanterns making their way downriver...

Well. It's quite a beautiful sight.

And you definitely feel a profound sense of honor and respect for those who have left this earth.

I knew I wanted to include those lit lanterns on my river in this quilt block -- to honor the thousands and thousands of lives that were lost.

And Mt. Fuji as Japan's most sacred mountain...and symbol of national pride...

And the moon reminding us of the passage of time. That Japan has existed for a very long time, through countless lunar cycles, through countless disasters, and will continue to persevere through countless more.

The bridge...connecting...

Connecting one state of existence with another. Connecting the losses of the past to hope for a brighter tomorrow. Connecting all those whose lives were lost to their afterlife.

And I tried to use Japanese textiles...kimono silks, sashiko quilting, and shibori...to remind us of the great strength and beauty and resourcefulness within Japan.

Made by my hand in the West, sending great love and hope to my friends in the East.

If you are interested in making a financial contribution as part of our fundraising/quilting effort, visit this post to see how you can donate.

I'm heading to New York city with Jack for the day tomorrow but when I come back on Tuesday, I'll try to put together a few Japanese fabric packs for sale...all proceeds to go to Sendai.

See you then.

Past Posts about this block:

Cherry Blooms

The Great Wave

Building a Bridge

When there are no words...

Crazy on Canvas!

Even though I don't do much needlepoint or counted canvas work, I do enjoy many of the gorgeous hand-painted canvases, threads and stitches used by the designers and stitchers in that medium.

When I stumbled upon the new blog of designer Kelly Clark and saw this piece she just finished, I completely loved it!~

All rights reserved Kelly Clark Needlepoint. Pics used with permission.

I love love love how she accomplished the look of different fabrics and textures through her stitches.

I think the stitch used on the chocolate brown section of this fan is my absolute fave...

All rights reserved Kelly Clark Needlepoint. Pics used with permission.

Just thought I'd share...in case any of you canvas people might want to crazy quilt...or any of you crazy quilt people might want to canvas...

You can check out Kelly's new blog here and the post about her finished "block" here. Her work is wonderful and full of very creative three-dimensional embellishment! You can check out all of her designs available at her website here.

She says the canvas and stitch guide for the block will be available in January 2012 in your local needlepoint shops!

As for me, I'm finishing my Hearts and Hands for Sendai block today and I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!!

How we Made our Fascinators for the Fourth

First of all, let me start this post by saying that there are lots of tutorials available online on how to make a fascinator...

Everything from professional millinery tutorials if you plan to make one for a wedding to the most basic craft tutorial using a plastic container lid and a bit of elastic.

I didn't use any one method but combined a number of ideas.

I wanted the hats to be wearable and more durable than a simple, crafty version using a plastic lid or heavy paper plate.

That being said, I also knew I was working with kids and couldn't afford to use real millinery ribbons and materials. So I went with a more professional sewn base and then used supplies from the craft store...

We used tulle, fabric, trim, wire, card stock, pipe cleaners, craft feathers, tinsel, christmas ornaments, drink stirrers, mardi gras beads...whatever we could find!

At first I thought I would buy the fascinator bases but they ran almost $5/piece and I couldn't afford that when needing to make 20. I looked at some pics on Etsy and decided to make my own using buckram.

Buckram is a very stiff, heavily-sized, open weave fabric that can be steamed and molded and sewn through.

I cut out 4" circles of buckram (a few 3" circles for the littlest ones) and then steamed them to give them a cupped shape that would fit nicely on the head. I thought I could use a bowl in the kitchen but that didn't work...I found I needed a round mold so I used a globe for the 4" circles...

And a big glass Christmas ornament for the 3" circles. The hair dryer was to speed the drying process since I was in a big hurry...

I did need to use a little elbow grease to mold the buckram over the globes. Once completely dry, the circles release very easily from both smooth surfaces. Letting them dry overnight would be ideal.

I sewed bias tape around the circumference to cover the raw edges. Then our little sewing circle attached hair combs to the underside of the bases and I sewed felt to the topside using my sewing machine.

Voila! Our fascinator bases were complete.

We also bought hair bands from the dollar store and hot-glued them to the underside next to the comb to give some of the hats extra stability.

We tried to use elastic head bands but they didn't work as well. And some of the simpler hats stayed in beautifully with just the comb we attached to the underside.

Everyone took their bases and had a free-for-all decorating.

Over the years, I have found that the creative process is best when they don't have a time limit (some of these guys took all day) and when they have a nice big open space to spread out (we use the big open porch area outside all the second floor condos).

I know I create best when I have very few constraints and the same goes for kids.

I don't really worry about the mess while we are in the middle of the creative storm...we clean up later.

And this is my absolute favorite part...

It gets very quiet while everyone works.

And I'm always surprised at the attention to detail. Here's one of my nieces hand-pinking the edges of the American flag for her hat...

This year, there was a great deal of problem-solving involved for some of the older kids who created more complicated and/or heavy designs. It definitely took some pre-planning and thought.

Here my niece Moe made a stiff inner circle that she attached to her fascinator base. She then was able to attach all of her embellishments to that circle. Smart.

I think they learned a lot about construction and the Dads were involved too for structural engineering advice.

All in all, we used a combination of hand sewing, wiring, and hot glueing to make the hat structures.

And I highly recommend the activity, especially middle school and high school girls. I can just see them done in school colors...or birthday fascinators for sweet 16...or Christmas fascinators for Christmas or Halloween or...whatever...you get the idea!

Well folks, that's a wrap for this year's Fourth of July.

Until next year...