Mirror Mirror

Since January, I have been slowly working my way through a series of crazy quilt journaling blocks as part of the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.

From the beginning, I had wanted the series to be about Reflections.  Knowing that my subject matter for each individual block was likely to vary widely, I made the decision to use mirrors and reflective materials in each block as a unifying element.

I set about gathering mirrors and mirror components that I might be able to use in my blocks...

In January Reflections, I used lots of silver and mirrored components including the mirror in the hole of the trunk of the tree...

And in my current shelling piece, the shell below is actually a vintage mirrored cabochon...

I have been enjoying adding these reflective elements and intended to frame the pieces with mirrors much in the same way as my Breakfast at Tiffany's piece.

Imagine my surprise on Sunday, when I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal:

And once again I was amazed that I could be working with mirrors at the same time that the fashion, home decor, and art/design worlds are simultaneously using the element as well.

Let's just face it.   Nothing is new.

Mirrors are popping up everywhere from mirrored purses, mirror-heeled shoes, mirror furniture, and mirrored clothing.

This dress is from the Fall 2012 RTW collection by Thom Browne...

Brad Pitt wore mirrored aviator shades to the Cannes Film Festival and Chanel is selling its new line of lip color through a short video titled, Mirror Mirror...

As if all that isn't enough, the movie about Snow White starring Julia Roberts titled Mirror, Mirror was also released this year.  Go figure.

But it happens all the time, doesn't it?  The simultaneous generation of ideas...

I remember when Jim and I gave Jack his name.  We were certain that we were giving him a name that hadn't been popular since parents named their children for President Jack Kennedy.  It had been at least 30 years since the name was really popular...or so we thought.

When Jack hit first grade, there were 7(!) Jacks in his first-grade class...evidently, everyone else had the same idea.  

This phenomenon has been studied and written about fairly extensively regarding scientific discoveries, with hundreds and hundreds of inventions throughout history being discovered at approximately the same time by very different inventors in different parts of the world.  

It's referred to as the phenomenon of simultaneous discovery and it turns out that it's fairly common.  I found this great article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker Magazine titled "In the Air"; which proposes that perhaps scientific discoveries are inevitable...that inventions are not necessarily the result of a single, solitary genius but, in fact, that they are in the air, products of an intellectual climate at a particular time and place.  Calculus, the telephone, evolution, decimal fractions and oxygen were all discoveries that had multiple discoverers, having their Eureka! moments at roughly the same period in time.

So here I am working away in Baltimore, MD, using mirrors just like everybody else.  

In needlework, mirror or shisha embroidery originated in India in the 17th century and its use spread through most of South Asia, including Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, Pakistan, and Indonesia.  

I particularly enjoyed this "vintage" video produced in 1971 by the late Erica Wilson, where she shares  examples of mirror work and demonstrates one way of attaching mirrors to fabric.  She also shares a few "modern" projects...which are all pretty mod and groovy...for 1971...

There are lots of online video tutorials on different methods of attaching mirrors to fabric that can be yours for the searching so I won't repeat them here.  

I will, however, point you to the work being sold in the Dinesh kumar Rathi Etsy shop, where vintage Banjari textiles are being honored and re-purposed into wonderful pieces of textile art.

It's Monday and we just returned from a long weekend away so I'm back to crabbing...

See you next time!

The Crab Scuffle

I remember the day well.

Jim and I were on the beach and noticed that it was littered with holes surrounded by small tracks in the sand.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a small crab but it darted into one of the holes before I could catch his picture.  

Time and again, I tried to snap a picture of one of the elusive crabs but they were too quick and would disappear into another hole, leaving me with nothing. 

Trying to help, DH Jim engaged one of the little buggers in a scampering duel, eventually chasing the crab down toward the water's edge where he had little room for escape.  Which gave me just enough time to snap this picture...




At first I thought this was a fiddler crab because of its pronounced eye stalks.

But upon further study, it turns out our feisty friend was a Caribbean Ghost Crab.

Evidently, the ghost crab can scamper about at speeds reaching 10 mph which make them the fastest crustaceans on earth.  And those cute eyes, have great vision capable of seeing a full 360º.  His vision is so acute, he can grab insects from mid-air!

To keep themselves safe from feasting shorebirds, the crabs are mostly nocturnal.  Should they need to venture out in the day, they have the ability to change color to better camouflage themselves against the sand.

When the moon is full, the almost invisible ghost crab scuttles across the sand facing the moon hence the name "ghost crab".

So now that I've become more acquainted with this beach friend, I wanted to honor his memory by giving him a place on my shell block.

This will be the first time I'm actually trying to create something three-dimensional, wanting for my crab to scamper across the block much in the same way that it scampers across the sand.

So yesterday, I gathered pictures of ghost crabs from all different angles so I could begin to make a pattern...

They're kind of funny when threatened because they rotate the underside of their shell forward so that they almost stand straight up on their eight hairy legs.

I traced components from various pictures so that the actual pattern is a conglomeration of many images...

Next, I used the color picker in Photoshop to sample the various colors on the different parts of the crab so I could create a palette for my fabrics and threads...

Now comes the hard part.  

I've not quite figured out the best way to make this three-dimensional guy so I'm going to have to try a number of different techniques to see what works best.  

So now, I'm off to gather crab supplies and begin playing with my needles.  

Happy day everyone!

Fall Fashion 2012: Needlepoint, Tapestry and Point de Croix

The fashion industry has embraced the needle in a big way for Fall 2012.

And the needlepoint!

Check out these looks from the Fall 2012 RTW (ready-to-wear) collection of Pierre Balmain...



I love how the pieces of needlepoint were integrated into the overall garments.  Makes me feel like ripping apart some of those outdated pillows on an old lady's couch and making a new jacket.

Balmain also went wild with the pearls and beading, inspired by a Fabergé egg seen at Christie's in NYC...

The Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 RTW collection was an homage to Italy and included pieces inspired by ecclesiastical embroidery, the baroque gilding on the palaces of Southern Italy...

And the handmade works of tapestry and needlepoint...

OK folks, it's time to break out those old dusty needlepoint bags your grandmother carried and give them a new lease on life!

I just love those boots!

And even though I was disappointed when I found that this close-up on a jacket wasn't embroidered...

It did resemble a gilded, baroque version of a wrack line.

Valentino had one of the most stunning looks of all in their Fall 2012 RTW collection...

*sigh*  So beautiful...It reminded me of the vintage Boué Souers dresses from the 1920s.

I wasn't surprised at all that it had already gotten worn by Keira Knightly for the movie premiére of
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

In this close-up you can see the detail of the cross stitch applique and the sweet ribbonwork over gold silk tulle.  Gorgeous.

Valentino's Fall 2012 Haute Couture collection included lots of beautifully embellished silk brocades...

In this close up you can see the thistle embroidery on what looks like silk charmeuse...

And here the beaded and embellished silk brocade...

In Haute Couture, the layering of fine laces, silk tulles, organzas and beading continued to figure prominently.  

This gold and ivory wedding dress from Elie Saab is to die for...

And this close up gives you some idea of what I mean by the layering of lace, tulle and beaded organza...

Valentino continued their exquisite application of this layering approach in their Fall 2012 Haute Couture collection...

A look already perfected in the Spring 2012 Haute Couture collection which I blogged about in this post: Ivory, Lace and Tarnished Silver.

And I just couldn't leave out this beautiful lace look from Marchesa Fall 2012 RTW from this post...it is absolutely too gorgeous not to share...

As are the Deco-inspired, 1920s, beaded looks from the Fall 2012 Haute Couture Collection of Gaultier...

And this look makes me want to dance...

Plus I think those beaded/metal clam shell shapes are held together with either lace insertions or crochet.  I can't tell which.

I hope you found something here today to delight and inspire.  

Myself?  I can't wait to repurpose an old bit of needlepoint. 

Speaking of that, you might want to check out the crazy quilt in-progress that Cathy Kizerian is making for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.  She's using a vintage needlepoint piece as the quilt center and designing the blocks around it.  

It's absolutely wonderful, not to mention completely in-vogue!  You can follow the progress of her quilt on her blog here.

Back to shelling...

The Wrack Line

The wrack line is the line of dead seaweed, marine animals, shells, egg casings and other detritus left behind on the beach as a result of high tide.

The word "wrack" comes from the Old Dutch wrak which meant ruin; e.g the term "wrack and ruin".  In the 14th century, it came to mean shipwreck and today, it's anything that washes ashore...seaweed, driftwood, or any other debris from the sea...

Including shells...

Jim and I love to spend hours combing through the wracks of shells on the beach...

Studying what the sea has cast forth...

And discovering something new about life in the ocean.  

I imagine it's a magical world under the sea.

And walking the wrack line proves that fact time and time again.

And I'm not the only one interested in wrack lines.  

It's the prime feeding area on the beach for shore birds,  crabs and other beach critters.   The birds deposit seeds and organic material in the form of their waste, which leads to the formation of sea grasses and dunes and the ecological health of the beach...

There's no doubt in my mind that poring over the treasures in the wrack line is a meditative activity and leads to a sense of peace and well-being.   

And so it is placed on my shell block....the second in a Reflections series I'm working on for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.  

It's been a joy working on these blocks...though completing twelve by December...phew...we'll just have to see about that.  Hope springs eternal.

I actually found a book titled,  Walking the Wrack Line:  On Tidal Shifts and What Remains.  I think I'd like to read that one.

I'm posting as often as I can but not as predictably as during the school year.   Summer life means less time inside to stitch and to be online.  It's one of those seasonal shifts that I enjoy, though I do miss being here.

Happy day to you all and thanks for your interest in my blog and my work.  

I'm getting close to finishing now...just one more major thing to figure out...

I'll tell you about that next time.

Barnacles on the Brain

I've finally sat still long enough that barnacles have started to grow on me.

In fact, I'm developing quite a fondness for them lately in comparison to my youth when I was afraid of being cut by their sharp edges.

It's been a while since I worked the Raised Cup Stitch, a stitch that resembles a barnacle quite nicely.  Given that, I got out a doodle cloth and began practicing the stitch using varying weights of thread.

The barnacles to the left were stitched with a silk twist; the middle barnacles with Coton a Broder size 20; and the far right barnacles with Au Ver a Soie 100/3.  

I decided the Au Ver a Soie was a bit too thin and wimpy.  Barnacles are definitely not wimpy.  I liked the Coton a Broder the best...less bulky than the silk twist...but I may still try a finer silk twist if I can find one.

I learned that barnacles are crustaceans just like crabs, mainly because they spend two larval stages floating around in the sea before they attach themselves, head first, onto something.

Evidently, the substance that a barnacle secretes when attaching itself is one of the two strongest "glues" found in nature.  And they'll attach themselves to almost any surface, with little or no effect to the host...unless you're a boat ;)

Barnacles release a chemical so that baby larval barnacles will know where to plant their heads.  That's how you end of with large communities of the things...

Live barnacles have "doors" which open to release "feet" which extend out into the current to feed on plankton.  When the tide goes out or the barnacles are threatened, they close those "doors" and close up shop until the threat goes away.  That's why they tend to fare pretty well in polluted waters...and they've been on the planet for millions of years...

They have staying power.

I like that about them.  

Purple striped barnacles like the ones below tend to flourish in tropical climates which explains why I find them on the shells in Naples, Florida.  

Charles Darwin wrote four volumes on the barnacle just before penning his famed On the Origin of the Species.  In fact, the barnacle had such an influence on Darwin's work that there was a book written about it, Darwin and the Barnacle:  The Story of One Tiny Creature and History's Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough.

I love where my embroidery takes me.  

Now I just need to find a home on my block for a family of barnacles.

See you next time...

The Feet of the Fourth

It's been a week since the Fourth of July celebration my family held at the beach and it's nice to be home and to have some time to process all of the happenings of the past week.

Every year, the kids vote on which wearable art item they would like to create to add to their annual Fourth of July ensemble.

This year the vote surprised me a bit...they voted for shoes!

And so on the morning of July 4th, we spread out all the paints and supplies and began decorating...

The shoes were found at Target and Walmart with the least expensive being about $5USD.

I was a bit surprised at what a hit the shoes were...

Evidently, these simple canvas shoes are becoming popular again with kids.

I had no clue so I'm thrilled to share this late-breaking trend.  Remember, you heard it here first.

Last year, we made fascinators (read the posts here and here); the year before it was shirts (post is here); the year before that it was shorts (post is here)...preceded by baseball hats (here), and before that, I don't think I was blogging...

By now, they are a walking celebration from head...

To toe!

So when they step out in public, they are quite the patriotic spectacle...

And over the years, we've included all the kids in our building who are vacationing at the beach for the Fourth.

Since I have nine nieces, there's a lot of long hair around.  Last year they tried dyeing their hair red and blue and it made a HUGE mess -- imagine dye all over the tub, walls, bathroom floor...

So when I found this article about chalking hair, I thought we would try it.

We had mixed results...with the blondes or the kids with blond highlights having the best results...

That was the beautiful locks of my niece Katie below...

Who is enjoying a S'more on a Stick made by her Aunt Betsy...

It was another great year, and my oldest niece Carolyn (middle below) flew in from Milwaukee to join us.

And my Dad was there amidst all the mayhem...

But I just realized he didn't have on HIS patriotic shirt.  Funny, it was such a crazy day that I didn't even notice.  

The rest of the week was very, very hot but full of fun and the festive feet went with us wherever we went...

As did Jack...

He's resorted to photo bombing to get some notice amongst all those girls.

I'm back to stitching today and looking forward to making my blog rounds.

Happy Day!