Hot off the Press!

If you love needlework, and crazy quilting in particular, then you will know the name Judith Baker Montano. Here she is showing off her latest book: Fibreart Montage: Combining Quilting, Embroidery & Photography with Embellishments. Judith has been getting folks excited about her method for piecing and embellishing crazy quilts for many years. She’s the author of 8 previous books on the subject, and has a schedule of teaching and traveling that makes my head spin!

If you can’t wait for your local quilt shop to have this brand new book on their shelves, you can hop on over here where Judith will be happy to autograph and sell you this beautiful book. It’s 256 pages, spiral bound with a hard cover and it's published by Dragon Threads. As if the cover weren’t enough to entice you, how about the titles of the chapters in this beautiful book to whet your appetite: Getting Started, Crazy Quilting, Photography, Computer Skills, Land/Seascapes, Underwater, Dyed Fabrics, Silk Ribbon Embroidery and Embroidery Stitch Guide, Watercolour Painting and Creating Cottage Projects.

As well as being an accomplished needlewoman, Judith is an incredibly talented photographer and in this book she combines her passions for both arts. In fact every chapter in the book starts with a 2-page spread of Judith’s photography.

I count myself extremely fortunate to have spent 4 lovely summer days in 2008 with Judith at her home and studio in La Veta, Colorado. I was there to produce her DVD for C & T Publishing. Her house, studio and gardens were so gorgeous, and the hospitality I enjoyed from Judith and her husband, Ernest Shealy, was so generous.

Before the Feast ...

I got a bit creative with the dining room table sitting for our family meal. I found some little Indian corn cobs hiding in the Welsh dresser which looked fetching and appropriate in the center of the table. I threw a colorful round tablecloth on top of an antique family linen cloth. The little turkey salt and pepper shakers - which were also lurking in the dresser's drawers - got an outing too. My dear late mother-in-law would probably rather that I'd made up the Coleman's mustard from scratch, like she used to do. Her trick was to mix the yellow powder with a spot of Gordon's gin for a little kick! But the little jar was my lazy way out.

The feast was splendid, and having both our sons home for the occasion this year was a special treat.

(The antique Delftware on the dresser is something I enjoy every day as I walk past it.)

Thanksgiving Feasts...

The first Thanksgiving meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, roasted meat and cranberries. I found this an interesting read to get some historical perspective to this, my favorite of American holidays. It's about gathering together with family and eating yourself silly and maybe taking a moment to remember, out loud, what everyone is particularly thankful for this year.

I've just returned from a Thanksgiving haul from our local Safeway -- and the only things on my list from the historical feast described above were cranberry and corn. Both items handily available in cans.

Our menu will be a Roasted Turkey, Stove Top Turkey Stuffing Mix (jazzed up with bits and pieces), Green Bean Casserole: fresh long green beans mixed with the obligatory Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup and the fattening french fried onion rings to top that off in a casserole to bake through. I'll be making a yam casserole too - the lovely Garnet yams with their deep colored flesh ... adding a few chopped prunes, a bunch of butter, some brown sugar and a splash of some Jack Daniels Whiskey and inserting a few mini-marshmallows as I stir all these things together. Mashed spuds, good gravy from the turkey drippings will be part of our feast, as well. I found a recipe for a Corn Souffle -- looks easy enough, but I don't think it will puff up quite like a French souffle. For my husband, I'll be sure to remember to make some Bread Sauce, the distinctly British sauce he says he can't eat roasted fowl without. The more it tastes like what he remembers of British Railways Bread Sauce, the happier he'll be. Then of course, no Thanksgiving is complete without the incredibly fattening and traditional pies. So I'll be whipping up Pecan and Pumpkin pies. Thank goodness for frozen deep dish pastry shells.

Then it will only a few weeks until I put my English Christmas culinary hat on and more or less repeat the turkey business, but with more traditional English side dishes!

Photo credit: Sisse Brimberg & Cotton Couson

Terrific Embroidery Stitch Resource

A friend told me about this blog. Hand Embroidery Network (HEN). They've been posting Stitch a Day tutorials. The explanations are straightforward, and the detail photos are fantastic. I am going to be trying some of the stitches out because I need to expand my own personal dictionary of stitches to use in my work. My passion for piecing patchwork has totally gone out of the window for now and my lovely sewing machine sits patiently, waiting for a new machine project to start up... but first the embroidery and quilting on the Tulip Tree!

First Embroidery Stitches in...

It seemed like time to stop pussyfooting around with my Tulip Tree piece. I leapt in and did some running stitches down two leaves. Then I thought I should have a little piece upon which to experiment with some markers and stitches. (Of course I probably should have done that first, but there's nothing like jumping in the deep end, and then knowing enough to get out and take a few steps in the shallow water to get the feel of the whole thing!)

So as to marking: the first row of stitches on the actual piece were free form. But for my sample cloth I got out my trusty and ancient sliver of deodorant soap and a Chalconer chalk marker. I seem to have more control and a thinner line with the chalk marker, although I like the smell of the soap sliver! They both come out easily, although the thread will cover those lines. That's a needle threading gadget next to my thimble, in case you were wondering!

Now I'm just having fun trying to figure out how to make a stitch indication of a straight-ish line in Laura's luscious threads. So I've tried a couple of stem stitches, then some running stitches with thread passed through the stitches (quicker!). I also laid down some thread and took little couching stitches to see how that looked. Pretty nifty, especially with the variegated thread. I'm happy with my French knots and like four wraps around the needle for a bolder look! The upside down hand blanket stitches around the outside of the leaf? Might save that idea for the tree trunk and boughs.

Northern Flickers Ticked Off...

This post is by way of apology to the Northern Flicker woodpeckers (Colaptes auratus)who have been making nests in the eaves of our house for the past several years. I think they were Northern Flickers. I pored over my "Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound" guide by Chris C. Fisher, and think I identified the species correctly. For the past week or two, these birds have been swooping on the house trying to figure out whey they can't get in to make their new nests.

Dear Northern Flickers:

We regretfully inform you that you are no longer welcome visitors at this address. Finally we're fed up with your mess and smell. You'll have noticed that we've had new metal grates hammered into all the holes around the eaves of our house. These defense devices were installed at considerable expense, I might add.

At first we thought it was so wonderful to be able to observe you guys. Communing with Nature as it were. The drilling into the wood that sounded like a thousand tiny jackhammers which woke us up in the early mornings. Your charming diligence and determination as you tracked down twigs and leaves (and insulation) to stuff into your nests rather enchanted us. Then when your babies hatched, you never stopped your avian room service duties to feed your ever-hungry offspring. You didn't like it when we had to power wash the walls and decks to clean up your droppings. Once the power washing started, we grew less charmed by your antics. It was at the end of this past summer when we really started to notice a terrible smell which the power washing efforts didn't diminish. We were forced to summon the experts in. We had no choice.

I've heard you trying to peck your way through this new metal defense system in the past couple of weeks, but I think there'll be some serious bill breaking if you continue to do that. I do wish you the best of luck in your efforts to establish a new home. Surely there are enough trees in this neck of the woods in which you could continue your dynasty.

PS: I am so very sorry. You're going to be sorry too ... when I send you the bill for the painting of the exterior of our house.

Pomp and Circumstance ...

When I became a naturalized U.S Citizen in the year 2000, I had to “foreswear all foreign kings and potentates.” Easy enough words to say. But thank goodness I wasn’t asked to swear to forget about the history of the Kings and Queens of England. Last night I watched fantastic documentary film on PBS called “A Queen’s Coronation.” It evoked my own personal memories of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on June 2, 1953. My main memory of that day is watching the proceedings on a tiny little black and white television which a neighbor had arranged for the occasion. Small images in black and white, allowed so many people to feel like they were a part of the historical occasion. Even though the screen was so small, and many people were crowded around to watch, the pomp, ceremony and solemnity of the coronation was not lost. I suppose we used our imaginations to see all the rich colors of the day. So it was a thrill to see, 56 years later, the film of the coronation in Technicolor - complete with a throbbing and passionate narration given by Laurence Olivier. Thanks PBS!

I can’t get over the coronation gown the queen wore! All the symbolic embroidery was so beautiful on that dress. Flowers of all the countries over which HM ruled were embroidered in a subtle fashion on the gorgeous gown. The impression from the film was that it was a shimmering and glimmering white dress … there were no super close-ups of the details. I’ve included a drawing by designer Norman Hartnell I found which shows, probably in brighter colors, the design for the embellishment of this historic gown.

I might now be an American Girl, but there’s nothing like the pomp and circumstance of a British Royal event to stir the soul.