A Story Worth the Telling

If you've been reading this blog for some time, you might remember this post I wrote about Bangladeshi needle artist Surayia Rahman who has spent her life helping hundreds of women escape from poverty in Bengal through needle and thread.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

I recently received an email update from Kantha Productions, the group that is filming a documentary of her life story. Here's an excerpt from their newsletter:

We have completed over half of the filming and have a brilliant base of still photographs too. Most of our research for the film is complete and we are now putting together a storyboard for the documentary that will touch your hearts. We plan final filming in Bangladesh as soon as the rains stop and then we will work with our editor on the first cuts of the film!

And here is a link to the newly released trailer for the movie...it's worth a look. I love needlework that tells a story...and this tale has many facets. There's the story of Surayia herself...and then the stories of the women whom she helped...and the stories that they've translated with needle and thread in the form of their embroidered nakshi kantha. It's beautiful on so many levels.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

If you would like to follow this story yourself, you can sign up for email updates at the Kantha Threads website. There you can read more about the project, view a beautiful gallery of Surayia's works and find a support page where you can make financial contributions.

With continued interest and support, it's possible that Kantha Productions will complete post-production of the documentary in spring 2012 and start submitting THREADS to festivals!

Attachment

Well, when last I left Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the East Coast, I had just finished my 15th stumpwork petal, and I was lamenting the need for a better pair of trimming scissors.

Luckily for Maryland, the Hurricane caused power outages and downed trees but the flooding and damage were minor compared to what was predicted. Thank you all for your crossed fingers and well wishes. They worked!

As for trimming my petals, I did go on a hunt for a better pair of scissors...And though I loved Gerry's idea of buying a pair at the fly fishing store, my local needlework store was closer and I had to get them before the storm hit.

The pair on the left is my every day Gingher embroidery scissors...the pair on the right is my new Dovo scissors with tapered ends...

Those tapered ends allowed me to make a much finer cut. Below, the petals on the left were cut with my everyday Ginghers and the set on the right were cut with my new pair...

And so, I spent the time during the hurricane trimming my petals and sinking them onto my ground fabric...

I thought I would stitch the background first but changed my mind about that. I just needed to see what would happen to the piece once I attached all the petals...

So far so good. Only thing I noticed was that I need to make about another 10 petals to "fill out" the existing flowers and to create a few others. No wimpy flowers on this piece...no sirree.

But *Ugh*.

I'm a little tired of petaling at this point. I think I'll move onto something else just to give myself a break for a few days.

Until next time...

Lacy Petals

Yesterday I finished stitching the 15th lacy stumpwork petal for my Breakfast at Tiffany's block.

As I was stitching the petals, I was worried that the couched wire outlining the petals was going to be too strong compared to the laciness of the petal...

Overall, I think they'll be great and the delicacy of the lace of the petal really comes through which I'm happy about.

One thing I did notice was that I need a much more precise pair of scissors...like these used for hardanger...in order to clip all those threads super close. A macro lens is good for pointing that stuff out.

So...as the Mad Hatter said in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland after the Red Queen had imprisoned and forced him to become her personal Hatter...

"It's good to be working at my trade again."

If you're wondering what my Breakfast at Tiffany's project is...you can read prior posts on the topic here and the originating post describing the inspiration behind the block here.

Happy weekend everyone!

P.S. We are preparing for Hurricane Irene. Though our house is up high on a hill, our little historic mill town of Ellicott City is situated right on the Patapsco River. It flooded in 1972 during Hurricane Agnes so keep your fingers crossed for us this weekend that this doesn't happen again...(that's the second floor of the building showing above the flood)

Home Coming

Hello. I'm back.

I've spent most of July and August away from home this Summer. And, though I didn't necessarily intend it, I've been away from electronics as well.

Needless to say, we have had many adventures and a ton of fun, but it sure is nice to be back home.

While I was sitting here this morning, I looked over and noticed that this red-tailed hawk had come to visit.

I couldn't believe it. It's not every day that a red tailed hawk pays me a visit. They sometimes perch in the trees in the backyard. And I often hear them call from overhead or see them circling high above.

But I've never had one pull up and take a perch on my back porch only 20 yards or so from where I was sitting. It was a pretty special visit. When I googled the possible meaning of having a red-tailed hawk visit, I found some very interesting reading.

[Note: He and I looked at each other for about five minutes before I decided to commando-crawl to get the point-and-shoot camera and take this picture through the screen. He flew away when he heard the click...]

And so I'm going to sit here today and reflect a bit. Get re-acquainted with Audrey and my Breakfast at Tiffany's piece. Think about what that red hawk's visit might mean.

And I'm going to digest and process all of our adventures from the last month or so. To be honest, I just need time to sit, to stitch and to think.

While I was away, Jack turned 15 years old. And since I've had the luxury of spending so much time with him this Summer, many of my thoughts are about him. How much he's grown and matured.

[And did you notice? It was his 15th birthday and I snapped this picture while he was in gocart #15! I just love that...]

One of our goals for this Summer was to enjoy Jack as much as we could since next Summer it's likely that he'll be working. I think we accomplished that.

There's a lot going on inside his head at the young age of 15, and it's good to be around to hear what he's thinking.

And so...

Hello again everyone. I look forward to catching up...

And I hope you are well.

I wish I could sit still long enough for flowers to grow on me...

Uh oh. I don't think I should have said that...

Diaphanous

When you look at the Autumn 2011 Haute Couture Collection of Elie Saab...

You can definitely see that he understands the shape of a woman and how to accentuate her beauty...

And you can also see why he's become the most popular designer for Hollywood and the red carpet.

How could you not feel beautiful in one of these dresses?

I think I'd feel radiant, diaphanous, and absolutely feminine.

There isn't one of these dresses that I wouldn't love to try on.

But mostly...

I'd rather be the one to do all the embroidery and beadwork.

It's true.

I'd rather work in the atelier.

The amount of work that goes into the making of each gown is incredible.

I found a video on the Making of a Chanel Haute Couture outfit that is a great watch and gives you a sense for what goes into making one gown. Have a look...

But even though I loved Elie Saab's collection the best, I think I got the most number of ideas for my own work from the Valentino collection.

I noticed that Valentino was also inspired by Princess Kate's wedding gown and chose to apply gold lace to silk organza to regal effect.

And this dress with its pleated-tulle, fairy-wing shoulders and burnt-out velvet...

Is a maiden's dream.

And I completely LOVE the idea of cutting away burnt-out velvet. I'm going to have to do that.

And also this cutwork velvet ...

I'm going to have to try that too.

But my absolute fave of all the designers was this number by Valentino (including the shoes!)...

I love the braided, beaded collar and belt...the flowing petal skirt...and the overall workmanship...

And that's it from me on Fall 2011 Haute Couture. The next show won't be until January 2012.

I hope you found something here today to inspire.

I'm off to D.C. today with Japanese friends and trying desperately to remember some of my Japanese from 18 years ago...

Have a great day everyone.

Traveling

Miss Holiday Golightly, Traveling

That's what Holly Golightly's calling card reads in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's...

Always on holiday, always traveling, always lightly.

In fact, her apartment is full of unpacked luggage and boxes.

To Miss Golightly, traveling was a state of existence. It didn't mean she was physically traveling...though she did that too...

In the past few weeks, I've felt that way. I've been in a traveling state of mind.

Not physical traveling so much as mental and emotional traveling. Out of my normal routine. Away from what's familiar.

And not that soul-searching, solitary type of emotional traveling either...

More like the kind of emotional traveling when a group of folks are all thrown together into a situation and they have to figure out how to navigate time, space and each other.

For the past couple of weeks, I was helping my brother take care of his four girls while their mother traveled to Italy. Well...and...I also asked my other brother's three girls to come too. Plus Jack, that makes eight...and me. And my brother too when he wasn't working, thank God.

Gone from the daily "do" that we all create for ourselves.

And into the world of childhood adventure...eating candy before dinner, catching sand crabs, riding the bus and thinking it was fun, playing in the ocean, getting too much sand in the bottom of my bathing suit, losing at putt putt golf, and all the while...managing sand, sunscreen, feedings and safety...yes, they all lived.

I can now better appreciate what it must be like for working parents with multiple children...somewhere in all that hustle and bustle...and laughter...and childhood mishaps...you just don't have time for yourself.

It was good for me to travel to that place again. To remember what it was like to feel those amazing joys when a kid dives through her first wave and screams "awesome", orders rainbow sprinkles on her donut, putts a hole-in-one, flies her first kite...And those moments of concern when one niece fractures her foot (yes, it happened) and another breaks a wire on her new braces...And then, when you think there's time to breathe, there isn't. Because it's time for another meal, chop up the fruit, pour the milk...these kids need to be healthy...run to the store to get another loaf of bread..."Can we get ice cream again?"..."Aunt Susan, I don't have any clean clothes left?" "Do I have to eat this?" "I lost my sunglasses in the ocean...*sniff" "Who got sand in the chips bag?" etc etc...

But the big kids can ride to the grocery store, and one cousin helped by giving the littlest a bath, and the older girls can do laundry...so it all works out.

I wish I could have taken pictures...but it's hard to carry a camera bag when you need an extra hand to carry a water bottle, the lunches, someone's forgotten flip flops or when little legs get tired and they need a piggy back.

I admit it. Raising Jack is very different compared to all those girls...let's just say there's a lot less drama...

He's definitely the quiet one in the midst of all those clucking hens. By the end of last week, our group thinned out. Jack wanted to fly his kite and I remembered to take my camera to the beach.

And they have free lessons from 6pm-9pm down at the boardwalk...

We bought Jack a new stunt kite for his birthday and he gave his old kite to his Uncle and cousins...

And finally, I was able to capture some of the joy of the week...

And the goofiness...

And the fun of flying kites.

And the teamwork required...

And it makes me sad that I missed capturing all the other moments of the prior two weeks...all because it was too hectic. And I vowed that next time, I wouldn't let that happen.

And I'd be fibbing if I said I didn't think about needlework.

In fact, the final task of the boardwalk scavenger hunt was to find my favorite store between 8th and 9th streets. It was Salty Yarns, a beautiful beachside needlework store, which I'll tell you about next week...

And we did start salvaging weathered fabric from broken and discarded beach chairs for a future project...

But I'll tell you more about that later too.

Good Monday everyone. It's nice to be home.

But it's not for long. We're taking friends from Japan to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and Jim's mom is coming on Thursday to go on our family vacation to the beach. This time Jim gets to come too.

I hope to get around soon and see what you've been up to...