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There is something about photographing butterflies that I find incredibly soothing. At times it’s a waiting game, or disappointing when none are around, but year after year I find myself looking forward to it.  I was so glad when I spotted this guy yesterday. He’s a colorful beauty.

My sister and I signed up for the Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers with Photoshop Wizard and NAPP President Scott Kelby that was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center yesterday. Amazingly, there were no traffic problems!

The extraordinary Scott Kelby and moi.

At lunch time we walked over to City Hall to take some pictures. The lighting kept changing, and it was extremely humid. There were wicked t-storms the night prior, and there was a threat of more storms, but luckily as the day went on the weather cleared.

We then went to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Oh, I love that place! There are so many good things to eat, including way too much stuff like excellent baked goods, pretzels, Philly cheese steaks, and more.  I had to make a stop at The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company for a sugar cookie.  Yummy!




After the excellent class, we had diner at the Hard Rock and then strolled around taking more pictures at City Hall and the surrounding area.

We then made our way to Logan Square (or Logan Circle) to take some pictures of Swann Fountain.

My sister MaryAnn.

This summer I’ve been working on a couple large projects, the first of which is nearing completion — a retrospective of my work, going back some 30 years.  It’s become quite a project.  I ended up re-photographing all of my earlier work. I also went through several boxes of photographs to find and scan image that I wanted to include — like me as  an Apple rep when the Bondi Blue iMac was released in 1998 or the Polaroid of me and Todd Hensley, who was then the publisher of C&T Publishing when the Free Stuff on the Internet books were released. The 106 page book is now almost finished, and my goal is to send it for printing by the end of this month. I’ll be printing it through Blurb, and another goal is to do a version as an iBook, just in case anyone is interested in seeing it on their iPad.

While the full view and a detail are in the book, I’m sharing here some additional images of my 52″ square quilt, Reflections, which I finished in 1989.  It was the result of a class I took with Nancy Lubisco, who sold Grafix paper in right-angle, equilateral, and kaleidoscope pattern grids.  After I created my design using the kaleidoscope grid paper as a base, I made full size templates with various set-in seams rather than simply repeating the block itself (daa!).

I re-discovered the notes I wrote on the back hanging sleeve, which gives new meaning to “journal quilt.” I wrote that I learned how to wind surf that summer.  Immediately my mind was filled with those memories.  Ahh, the days before back surgeries!  I also wrote that we got a new dog that year. It was actually in 1988 that we got him, but because I hand quilted the quilt, I didn’t finish it until 1989.  I remember writing that I left some of Mustang’s dog hairs in the quilt because they made me smile. Amazingly, some of his dog hairs are still on the quilt (Mustang has long since died).

Eventually I’ll create an online gallery of older work, as well as update the older images on my site.  But, one thing at a time.

Diana Tatro!

Diana, I will email you for your address which I’ll then email to the publisher.  The publisher will send a copy of the book directly to you!

Thank you everyone who participated. I’m also happy to share that I talked with the publisher and she is offering a special discount to everyone who left a comment.  If you purchase Jane Sassaman’s new  book by July 12, you can get free shipping! This is for US addresses only!

Go here to order the book, type “FREESHIP” in either the “Discount Code” box or the “Message to Seller,” and the publisher will refund your shipping charge.

Do you have a stash of gorgeous “personality” fabrics — those prints screaming for attention — that you aren’t quite sure what to do with?  If so, you are in for a treat!  Jane Sassaman, quilt maker extraordinaire and whose name is synonymous with graphic, bold design — has a new book out, Patchwork Sassaman Style, Recipes for Dazzling Quilts, published by DragonThreads.

In it, Jane shares her principles for successfully working with large prints, such as the bigger the print, the bigger the block, and letting the fabric do the work. Those principles set the table for the meat of the book: 20 “flexible” recipes that can be adjusted “according to your taste and ingredients on hand.”

Each recipe is based on the mixture of bold printed fabric, such as her trademark graphic fabric designs, and traditional quilt block patterns. The excitement comes in how you blend your ingredients. In other words, how you cut into your personality fabric and what other fabrics you use in the mix. Jane explains how random cuts, “fussy” cuts, and mirror-imaging can each create a totally different look.  The resulting quilts from the recipes are gorgeous, and the flexibility in approach means you can create all kinds of variations. This book will excite today’s “modern” quilter along with those who have been making quilts for decades.

Would you like to win a copy of this book?  Do you have an address in the United States?  If you answered yes to both questions, please leave a comment on my blog anytime through the end of day, July 8th.  On Monday, the 9th, I’ll select a winner, and the publisher will send a copy of this book directly to the winner!  There will be other goodies that the publisher will be offering.  So be sure to leave a comment!

And, remember, the blog hop continues through July.  Here is the remaining schedule:

July 9:    Melissa Peda 
July 10:   Susan B Knapp
July 11:   Jacquie Gering 
July 12:   Weeks Ringle 
July 13:   SewCalGal 
July 14:   Jessica Kovach 
July 15:   Pam Matthews
July 16:   Frieda Anderson 
July 17:   Pat Sloan 
July 18:   Jan Krentz 
July 19:   Anita Grossman Solomon
July 20:   Lyric Kinard 
July 21:   The Quilt Show
July 22:   Jane La Fazio
July 23:   Free Spirit 
July 24:   Nancy Zieman

Finally, the butterflies are flying! I took these pictures this past Friday.

Award-winning artist Jane Sassaman has a new book out called Patchwork Sassaman Style, Recipes for Dazzling Quilts, published by DragonThreads. To help celebrate the release, an exciting book blog tour is scheduled throughout July! And, if you have a U.S. address, you have 22 chances to win a copy of the book. All you need to do is visit a blog on each day of the hop and leave a comment for a chance to win. In addition to the book, Jane and her publisher will also be giving away some of Jane’s patterns and fabrics! My date is July 8th, so be sure to stop here on the 8th and leave me a comment! This is a beautiful book that you’ll want to get your hands on.

Here is the schedule:

July 2:    Laura Wasilowski  
July 3:    Jessica Sloan
July 5:    Judy Coates Perez  
July 6:    Jane Sassaman
July 7:    Linda Teufel 
July 8:    Gloria Hansen
July 9:    Melissa Peda 
July 10:   Susan B Knapp
July 11:   Jacquie Gering 
July 12:   Weeks Ringle 
July 13:   SewCalGal 
July 14:   Jessica Kovach 
July 15:   Pam Matthews
July 16:   Frieda Anderson 
July 17:   Pat Sloan 
July 18:   Jan Krentz 
July 19:   Anita Grossman Solomon
July 20:   Lyric Kinard 
July 21:   The Quilt Show
July 22:   Jane La Fazio
July 23:   Free Spirit 
July 24:   Nancy Zieman

This piece of hardanger was made around 1985 or so from a pattern from Nordic Needle. I was stunned to see they had a website! Wow! I took a peak and see that they recently had a needleworking summit which you can learn about here. If you scroll lower on the page, you’ll see a piece that looks similar to the one above. I guess one could say these hardanger designs are timeless.

There’s no date on this; however, I believe it’s also from around the same time period.  The embroidery is framed within a serving tray that I gave my mom as a gift.  She has it hanging on her wall in one of her bedrooms. This tray is about 14″ square.

This was taught by Joan Masterson, another NJ teacher with whom I took many classes.

This is pulled work on linen. This was the result of a class taken with Ilse Altherr of Summit, NJ.  Does anyone know if she is still teaching? I’d love to tell her that I still have the pieces I made with her!

This is a long table runner that also took a chunk of time to make. The design is from a Burda book of embroidery.

This handbag was another of Ilse’s designs.  I never used the handbag. It’s been in acid-free tissue paper in a bag for many years! Oh, I should find and photograph a holiday angel that Ilse designed and taught. It’s very pretty — white linen, drawn and pulled work with pale ribbons.

The significance of this piece, a kit by Elsa Williams, is that was my first won a Best of Show ribbon in a NJ State Fair many years ago.  I made the piece around 1979 or so.

This is an old notebook cover (pre-marriage, and I’m married 31 years).  The inside of the book are page age after page of stitched samples within page protectors.

I have several notebooks and magazine holders filled with notes, lessons, stitched samples, and all kinds of stuff from those years.  I was also in a program called Hands On.  I still have all of the linen and beautiful threads from that program.  And I still have all of the issues of Fancy Work magazines from The World In Stitches! I loved that stuff and clearly am unable to part with any of it.

Mary Fry was another teacher I was lucky to have a class with (I know she passed away some years back).  Looking back at those years, I’m grateful to the many teachers who patiently taught me various techniques, and who emphasized the importance of using quality materials and keeping notes. If any of you recognize any of the names of those I had classes with (Edith Anderson Feisner was the woman who I took classes with in gold metal work; I made two jewelry box lids shown in one of the prior posts from that work), please let me know. I’d love to thank them and let them know I’ve always been grateful to them. This work is far from high tech or cool, but I still am very fond it.

Enough of the past, it’s time to get back to the current. In that regard, the piece I recently finished for the 8 That Create group is a far cry from the work shown in this and my prior two posts. That will be coming soon!

This is a piece of embroidery that I learned from Ilsa Altherr, who lived and taught from her home in Summit, NJ.  I went to her home many times over the years for classes.  This piece she called “Young Girl Embroidering.”

It uses a lot of counted thread patterns on linen, pulled work (where you pull the threads of the linen very tightly to make a particular pattern), chain stitch, outline and stem stitches.

The piece hangs in a hallway.  Here’s the kicker: the year it 1982.  Wow!  Can that really be possible? I’m amazed that I did this stuff without glasses, magnifier, or even additional light. Now I’m very grateful for reading glasses!

This is a piece that hangs in one of our bathrooms.  It’s blackwork, whitework, and gold metal thread work. It’s on linen, and under the linen is a piece of gold fabric — I think a gold treated leather but I don’t remember. I believe it’s also designed by Ilse.

The stitch on the upper left is a chain stitch using black thread and then a backstitch going through the chain stitch using white thread.  You can see I finished this on in 1989

The french knots on the top left use one strand of white, black, and gold thread.

Notice the cluster of white french knots on the upper left of the flower. I remember that taking a couple evenings to fill in.

I made this after taking a class with a woman who taught Ukrainian embroidery.  It is a “Rushnyk,” which is (or was) used for ceremonial events. Once again, I don’t remember the name of the teacher or even the type of events it was used for, but I think religious. I do remember it taking me a long time to finish.

My recollection was it being two types of stitches — a darning stitch made with a couple strands of black floss that was weaved  in and out of the fabric to create the design (which was followed from graph paper).  After that was all finished, colored floss was add as an accent.  There is also a long cross-type of stitch that results in a braid look.  The pattern repeats, so after a while it becomes very Zen-like as you stop using the graph paper and  follow the rhythm of the repeat.

The braid-like stitch is also used for the edging to create the fringe.

It’s interesting how much of what I embroidered was based on repeating patterns — much like the design I use in my art quilts.

This was a piece I did in the Embroiderer’s Guild of America’s Master Craftman’s program for crewel embroidery. And, it also hangs in a bathroom.

Once again, I did a lot of counting to create stitched patterns.  Again, it was very Zen-like.

I have more work that I did in the Master Craftsman program, but am not sure where it is (I suspect carefully packed and stored somewhere).

The crewel thread used in this piece was overdyed!  Yup.  I took a class in overdying thread about 30 plus years ago. I found the teacher’s name: Pierrette Frommer. Amazingly, I still have my notes from the class! I saved everything in page protectors and have them in binders.

Those are “long arm” stitches with a french knot (one wrap) head!  Yikes.

There are a couple more pieces I want to share, plus there are a couple at my mom’s house that I want to photograph. Eventually I’ll add a new gallery section to my site for embroidered work. While I no longer do this type of work, it’s part of my past and good to have a record of.

One of my “summer goals” is to catalog the artwork that I’ve created over the years. I have a great deal of fondness from some of my earlier work, especially the embroidery I once did that was extremely meticulous and time-consuming work. I remember relatives saying, “You’re lucky you have such good eyesight.”  I often embroidered and didn’t even need additional light!  How I wish I had that eye sight now!  When my vision started to go in my mid-40s, I kept thinking I had defective needles that had closed eyes before my husband finally said, “You should get your eyes checked.” Wow, that was a shocker. Now I can’t do anything without reading glasses on.

When I was 19, I joined the Embroiderer’s Guild of America, and I was fortunate to have taken classes with some amazing people.  I cannot remember the names of most (some memory took off with my eyesight), but I remember people like Constance Howard and Elsa Williams.  I also was fortunate because I learned the importance of using good materials — linens, silks, fine cottons. The pieces have held up very well over the years, and most look as good today and they did when I made them (albeit some dust and a few spots). For example, the piece above is almost 30 years old!!

Eventually I’m going to create a new gallery on my website to include this early embroidery work. I hope to find the name of the teachers to include in the descriptions.  The above piece was mounted in a wooden jewelry box (which I still use).  It’s a “silk and metal” piece. The background was first stitched in a fine metal thread in counted work.  The top leafs have beads stitched onto the satin stitch base.

The flowers are padded, and the metal threads are couched down with silk thread. I also used silk and metal finer threads to add chain stitching in the flowers.

What looks like bullion knots on the chain stitch leaf base are actually little metal thread coils anchored down like a long bead.

This silk and metal piece was designed by the same woman who designed the first piece. I will find her name, and am disappointed it doesn’t just come to me as she taught me a great deal. I can see her face, but cannot remember her name. The piece is also mounted in a jewelry box, and it is very dusty.  One day I’ll take it apart to clean.

This is mainly two strands of metal thread couched with silk.

The same coiled metal is also cut and couched down on the edges of the wings, and the middle area is gold fabric that is padded and stitched in place with silk.

This piece is the result of a several day class I took with a master embroiderer from Japan. Again, I don’t remember his name. I do remember that we worked with flat silk fibers. He taught us how to use a metal pointy tool (which I still have) to separate out the fibers and attach to the side of the wooden frame with a tack.  We each then used our saliva and both hands to create either a Z-twist or an S-twist in the thread.

We also used the metal tool to stroke the thread and hold it in place when making each stitch of the leaf or flower petal so that the strands of silk laid perfectly flat. The french knots in the center of the flowers were all done in what he said was “proper” — one loop around the needle.  I remember, “never more than one loop; if you want a bigger french knot, use more strands of thread.”  Today, people make french knots using more than one loop. What’s nuts is when I make a french knot and use more than one loop because I’m too lazy to double the thread, I actually feel twinges of guilt. Talk about nuts!

This piece hangs in one of our bathrooms.  It’s dimensional canvas work.

Here you can see the wing was stitched separately and then attached to the canvas.  This was done by removing every other thread in the canvas on the outside of one side of the wing, and then using a needle to weave those threads into the back of the base canvas! The butterfly body was done separately and attached. The body was bigger than the area it was being stitched into, so that the result was a rounded shape.

I’ve more coming, including  pulled thread on linen, hardanger, crewel, and Ukrainian stitchery.

Summer started yesterday, and today in central NJ was another day of very hot, sunny weather. I love it.

To celebrate, I took a little time to visit a nearby garden. While there were no butterflies, there was plenty of open blooms, gorgeous color, and blue skies.