Carolina, Jasper & an Enthusiasm

Carolina
 

Three more bands to go on Carolina.  Stitching has slowed considerably with the now ten week old Jasper as part of the family.  Anyone who has ever had a puppy knows how much time they consume with the constant loving and teaching they require and the taller they get the more things they can find to get into!

But he's been more than worth the effort :) 

 

It has been a lot of fun getting to know him, he is a sweet loving and ENERGETIC boy, lol and we're so glad we have enough fenced acreage for him to burn off that energy.

 

Since I haven't a lot of stitching news right now, I'm trying to finish the Carolina model to coincide with the Just Cross Stitch magazine article - which will be on newsstands New Years Eve - I thought I'd tell you about another enthusiasm of mine.  And that is the work of Japanese woodblock artist, Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)

KAWASE HASUI

During his life Hasui was named one of the Living National Treasures of Japan.  One of the chief printmakers in the Shin Hanga (new print) movement, his watercolors and woodblocks move me deeply.  His gift for portraying night scenes as well as snow and rain and the moods they can convey are profoundly beautiful.

 

 

 

I love the sense of stillness and peace they portray.

The harmony and balance Hasui achieved inspires me, I could spend hours lost in his remarkable work.

If you hadn't met him before, I hope anyone else similarly moved by Hasui's work will enjoy the introduction.
 

Carolina, Coverlets & Computers

Carolina's model is half stitched and it is meeting my aim of creating an image reminiscent of an early American coverlet.

Carolina Model Halfway

These coverlets have such an interesting history. If you aren't familiar with the story, visit this link to see how the early coverlets were made on looms whose patterns were created by punch cards. Punch cards were created as far back as the early 1700's and were perfected for the loom in 1800 by Joseph-Marie Jacquard. 

The coverlets were woven in bands of color, often using white for the actual motifs, that is why using the Assissi technique of leaving the design unstitched on a white or off white background can achieve a similar effect.

1842 Coverlet from Ohio

 

1852 American Coverlet

 

Anyone else old enough to remember when computers were programmed with essentially the same type of cards?  Here are some that were actually used on early looms to create some of the first Jacquard woven coverlets.

Early punch cards for Jacquard looms

For me it contributes to the charm of this particular category of Vintage Textiles.

And now for something completely different :)  We are really looking forward to bringing this guy home in two weeks, meet the newest addition to Gracewood 



Jasper

Finally, FALL!

Gracewood Apples

 

Wherever you are you may be able to hear the hurrahs from Gracewood this weekend for Fall has arrived!  Our time of year begins and we are surely ready for it.  The woodstove has been cleaned, the pile of firewood is growing and the mornings are crisply cold.  As we go to bed on these moonlit nights we hear the elk bugling to his harem in our meadow and the fruit in the orchard is bending the branches to breaking.  Can't wait till I step outside, exhale and see the whisps of colder air.

We're picking apples and pears and have baskets like the one above full of apples all around the kitchen/dining room and the aroma is ravishing!  The ones in the photo are from our tree of Ellison's Orange, a cross between Cox's Orange & Calville Blanc, it has a sweet tart, anise like, crisp, juicy and aromatic flavor.

It is definitely Apple Kuchen time and as soon as one is consumed another must be made!  It is a very simple recipe and I thought I'd share it with you.

 

Apple Kuchen

Dough

• 2 Teaspoons yeast
• 1/4 cup room temp water
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Approximaely 3 1/2 cups Flour

Place milk, butter, sugar and salt in a large measuring cup or bowl and heat in microwave until butter melts, let cool to room temp.  Whisk yeast into the 1/4 cup water and then add it and the egg to the milk mixture and then add enough flour to make a firm dough, turn out on floured board and knead for a few minutes or if using mixture knead with dough hook till it cleans the sides of the bowl, turn into lightly oiled or buttered bowl, cover with cling wrap and put in warm place for about 2 hours.

Dough patted out and topped with Apples

 

Topping

• 5 Large Apples (combining a few types works best)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar (1/2 white & brown works well too)
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 4 Tablespoons Flour
• 4 Tablespoons cold Butter

 

Peel and slice apples (thin slices, about 1/4")

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and flour together, cut in butter (food processor works great)

Ready for the oven, this one looks lighter since I was low on brown sugar and used more white

 

 

Assembling Kuchen

 

After dough is risen, heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly oil a sheet pan (I often use parchment paper instead) and pat the dough out in the pan (don't use rolling pin) leaving the edges slightly thicker.

 

Spread the apples over the dough pressing lightly. Spread the flour and sugar mixture over the apples and bake for 30 minutes.

 

Serve this warm with a big mug of tea or coffee and enjoy! or let it cool, slice it into serving sizes and put in freezer bags and freeze.  Take out amount you want to serve and let  come to room temp or lightly microwave, great either way. 

 

Just out of the oven, wish you could smell it!

 

Just add steaming cup of coffee or tea!

 

 

 

Though harvest time is leaving a little less time for stitching, Carolina is progressing and I think it is going to look nice hung next to Beauvais.  I hope to have it finished by the time the magazine returns the model.  

 

Enjoy your Fall if you are on our side of the equator! :)

"Stitches in Time", a Sad Goodbye & a Happy Hello

 

Carolina

Since I'm in the midst of designing and stitching patterns that reflect my interest in vintage textiles, I  was happy to come upon a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about an exhibition at the Met featuring such fabrics.

Here is an excerpt -

Stitches in Time: A History of Fabric

An exhibit opening Sept. 16 tells the story of history and economics through three centuries of fabric.  By Stephanie Cohen

In 2005, during a Matisse exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Decorative Arts curator Amelia Peck was asked to help explain the origins of a particular piece of blue printed fabric depicted in many of the master painter's works.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A cotton Wentke coat from mid-18th century Netherlands.

The fabric swatch had long been a mystery to textile scholars. All the known pieces of its type—variations of a blue and white printed-floral design—were in museums in America, and scholars had for years assumed it was an early example of American printed fabric. When a British excise label was found on one such fabric swatch in the 1950s, scholars decided it had been made in England and exported, although no piece had ever been found in the U.K. Now a swatch had turned up in France, where Matisse had bought it, and she was intrigued.

Ms. Peck began researching the fabric. In the Met's library, she found a book about Indian fabrics brought to Europe by the Dutch East India Company and realized that the blue and white pattern had been made in India for a European or American consumer.
"I'd been an American textile specialist for 30 years, and I'd never thought about them in the context of the bigger world," she says. Most scholars had assumed colonial American textiles had come from England. ....

the rest of the article can be read through the Wall Street Journal's online site, sorry it won't link, just google Stitches in Time: A History in Fabric.  There is also an online exhibit at the Met, featuring floral patterned textiles.

And now a sad goodbye.  We recently lost our eleven year old German Shepherd, Zoe, to age and illness.  This was the third such heart wrenching farewell we'd experienced in the last three years and that day I thought, that's it, no more dogs.  My heart can't take such things any more.

Our Zoe

However, the next morning dawned and all around the house were the memories of happy dog times and the lack of a dog bed by the woodstove and a dog dish in the laundry room was even harder to bear so we began our search for the next Gracewood dog to love.  It turns out he was born just two days before we lost our Zoe.  He is a Chesapeake Bay Retreiver and is somewhere in the heap of puppies in the photo below.

Somewhere in this pile of puppies is 'Jasper'

We can't wait to take the five hour drive over to Wenatchee, just this side of the Cascade mountains, to pick up 'Jasper'.  It is going to be a challenge to go from years with three older dogs to a brand new puppy with all of his enthusiasm and energy, but thankfully with this addition to the family Terry is home full time now and will have the joy of being a much bigger part of  'puppy life'.

Zoe would not have actually liked having a young puppy in the house, but we're sure she would be happy that our hearts will find some ease in loving another dog.

New Design - 'Carolina'

Carolina

I try to have the next project ready to go as soon as the current model is completed, but due to time constraints on getting Beauvais done I wasn't able to do that this time and was going through withdrawal having no fabric on my frame and next design ready to stitch.  Thankfully, I'm now happily stitching the next pattern, a companion piece to Beauvais, and second in the Vintage Textiles collection - 'Carolina'.

The inspiration for Carolina are the coverlets that were made in Colonial America by the descendants of Huguenots who settled in the Carolinas, primarily in the area of Charleston.  Historic Huguenot Street has some wonderful photos of their work.  Some of my ancestors were Huguenots and I've always been interested in learning about their abilities as artisans, particularly as weavers.

This piece is the same size as Beauvais - though both of the patterns could easily be reduced if you wanted something smaller, just take an even amount of rows and columns away from each side.    My colors for it are in two shades of mauve, using Rainbow Gallery's Splenor silk floss again, the model will be stitched with their shades of rose #S14 & 813 on 18 count antique white aida.

I really am stressed if there isn't a needle in my hand and a pattern next to me to stitch, hopefully I'll plan ahead better next time.

Beauvais Completed & Taking Photos of your Work

Beauvais

 

The Beauvais model is completed and framed and off to Just Cross Stitch magazine for their February 2014 edition.  Stitching mainly evenings while watching something streaming or on dvd, it took eleven weeks to complete and was an enjoyable project.  I hope others will also find it a fun stitch.

The magazine will make the pattern available after publication and I'll be able to sell it from the website and blog, as well as through Creative Poppy and ICG beginning June, 2014. 

I have another design in the Vintage Textile collection ready and will introduce it next week.

And now, I'd like to share a few tips for taking photos of your work.  Frankly it has been the hardest part of designing!  I've tried many techniques and finally found one that works and that is using a light box and a grey card. 

Based on instructions from this site I purchased foam boards at walmart and some clip on lamps.  I found I didn't need the light from the top, just one on each side of the box worked great.  However, without the grey card the photos were way too dark, even with all that light.  Below are photos of the light box and a brief video that shows how to use the grey card. 

Homemade Light Box

 

 

 

 

How to use a Gray Card

Stitchin' N Streamin'

Summer has arrived on Gracewood and while I love the roses in bloom and the delicious fruits it brings, on the whole I just don't 'do' heat well.  I'm like a reverse bear I hibernate but not in the winter. 

And while our little part of the world is humming with tourists come to camp and hike and partake of this weekend's Down River Days celebration, I'm only putting a foot out of air conditioning to enjoy the sublime mountain breezes in the early mornings and evenings. 

So, while many do less stitching this time of year due to being out enjoying themselves in the sun, I get a lot of stitching done as I hibernate inside waiting for that first nip in the air that says fall has come.  This year this has been a good thing since I'm working hard on finishing stitching Beauvais' model to get it framed and sent off to Just Cross Stitch magazine by the end of August.

These days I'm finding that nothing facilitates intense stitching like streaming some epic films.  And while I am still obsessed with South Korean sageuks I have also been enjoying watching some BBC productions streaming on Acorn TV. 

This week I enjoyed the newest production of one of my favorite novels, Tolstoy's War & Peace.  Though I admit that this one is War & Peace Lite and while I hate how much it leaves out if there is no other way you'd ever know something of the story and you like lavishly produced period dramas then by all means watch and enjoy this one.

However, watching this one left me wanting the 'real thing' and so I dug through our dvds and found our copy of what has to be the best, as in most complete, filming of this masterpiece, the 1972 version the BBC made starring a very young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre.

I am so very glad that I read this novel when I was younger, no film can do it justice.  They can't portray all of the inner thoughts of the characters that fill this story to the brim, but at least this version made the attempt and it is what helps to make this one truer than any other.  Please don't be satisfied with the laughably brief movie Hollywood attempted with Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn, it isn't even the Cliff Notes of this epic novel.

So if you too are a summer hibernator and are seeking something to accompany some serious stitching, give this one a try - I'm happy to find that the complete production is available on You Tube.

Now, off to refill the iced tea glass and get back to stitchin'