50 YEARS LATER

It's my birthday!

How did 50 years go by so quickly?

Today I'm 71. In the photo on the right I was 21. It seems a short time ago that picture was taken. The young me seems to be looking on the older me with amusement.

 
    
"Love Me Tender Souvenir Fork"           14"x14" - 2004

I made this piece as a result of a  of cake themed round-robin exchange with SMQ's Thursday Bee group. It began with my slice of plain chocolate cake on the plate with the plaid table cloth. The fork plus its embroidery, raspberry filling, frosting, and whip cream were added by my friends. I finished it off with the raspberries and gold border mat. 

Seems as though it was a much shorter time than nine years ago that it was made. Time flies when you're having fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

We're thankful for wonderful fall weather. It's been great to have so many good days ...

... to prune, clean up and mulch the garden beds, and plant pansies. It's wonderful to have flowers all winter and into spring. Our dog oversaw it all. The fun final touch was adding two new sculptures to greet all who come to see us.

The same artist of those, Allen Hampton of Chattanooga, created the metal flowers that line the walkway to our front entry ...

Wishing all of you a warm and welcoming Thanksgiving.

Healing

Healing isn't easy, but I'm getting there. There are clouds in my journey to being healed, but I do see the light of future wellness. It's been 3 1/2 weeks since surgery and I'm looking forward to getting to the point of not regretting doing "too much" on the days that I feel pretty good.

 

I appreciate all the good thoughts and supportive comments from my cyber world friends. Thank you.

My Life

This photo very much represents my life at this time ...

On August 9th, I had a meeting with a multi-specialty team of four doctors and a genetic counselor, plus a mental health counselor to determine a course of action to deal with cancer cells that lay beyond the area that was excised by my recent lumpectomy.  Several options were offered. Most of them involved more surgery, but only one would guarantee that I wouldn't be back for additional surgery within a few years ... that missed cancer cells wouldn't migrate to other areas to cause major problems. 

I sensed a relief from my surgeon when I chose the one solution that would most likely get me free of cancer ... a double mastectomy. Fortunately my lymph nodes are free of cancer cells, so a "simple" rather than "radical" operation took place this past Wednesday, August 15th.  Having this surgery also means that I will NOT have chemotherapy nor radiation treatments. Also, since I've opted NOT to have reconstructive procedures the healing time is faster.

My post-0p meeting before we left for Colorado had freaked me out more than a little. I'm grateful to have had the 5 weeks to think about and consider my options ... in particular living breast free.

I'm back at the cottage being well cared for by Lee, Terra, and Alicia. Other family members will be here over the next few weeks to tend to everyday tasks, too. I feel loved and well cared for by them. The good thoughts, prayers, and encouragement coming my way are very much appreciated. I'm in good hands and good spirits, and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things soon.

Good News

 Through the Door  26"x20 (2002)

Just before we left Knoxville in mid-May, an irregularity showed up in a mammogram. A sonogram a few days later showed that further investigation was necessary. I decided to have that done in Michigan just in case....  Not that I don't have good friends in Tennessee, but I have a number of longtime friends here, as well as family close by. And then too, the summer weather on the shoreline of Lake Michigan is a lot more preferable than the sweltering heat of Tennessee.

A needle core biopsy was performed on June 13th at the Betty Ford Breast Center in Grand Rapids. The pathology report indicated cancer. My husband and I had a meeting with the surgeon the next day to find out the extent of the cancer and my options for getting it "out of there." The cancer was small, about 1 centimeter. Although it was an invasive one, it was encapsulated (contained) within a milk duct and slow growing. I had an MRI on both breasts to make sure it's the only one and to give the surgeon more specific information about it's location and size.

Surgery was two days ago and all went well. The cancer being encapsulated in a duct could be removed by a lumpectomy along with just 2 lymph nodes.  I'm grateful for that rather than a mastectomy and many more lymph nodes having to be taken out. I'm lucky it was small and had not spread.

I'm to take it easy for a couple of weeks while the two incisions heal. I feel okay right now, but then I'm on pain pills. The only ill effect so far was nausea until the anesthesia wore off. In August, six weeks of radiation will start. Those daily treatments will ensure that no loose cancer cells have survived.

The prognosis for me getting through this and going full steam again is really good. One day at a time will get me there. My feelings are reflected in the quilt at the top of this post ... it's a little bit dark, as well as stark, in the room where I'm standing, but I'll soon step across the threshold into the sun filled one.

Never again will I be reluctant to have a mammogram. I had this one as part of a physical ... which I got only because I had turned 70. I urge each of  you who read my blog to have one if you, too, have been putting it off.

Thinking Puppet

Yesterday we went to the Art Extravaganza, Webb School’s annual art sale that features original artworks by more than 70 acclaimed artists from around the country. There was fine art, handcrafted jewelry, pottery, glass art, sculptures and metal art. We liked a lot of different artist's work, and were especially enamored with Daniel Lai's wall sculptures that featured reconstructed books (go here to see an interview about his work). It wasn't easy deciding which one to choose (go here to see a selection). This one won out.

 Thinking Puppet - 12"x 12" x 12"

A major factor in our choice was WHERE IN OUR HOUSE FULL OF ART WOULD IT GO? Recently we had moved an art piece from our bedroom to the entry way by the front door. Thinking about that specific available space and the angle at which a wall sculpture would be viewed made it easier to choose this particular one.

It's wonderfully interesting on its own. The interaction of the puppeteer  with this display of old dolls on my dresser tickles me.

Just beyond the end of that dresser is a display of more dolls along with a whimsical Pinocchio puppet and soft sculpture dunce figure, both of which are created by artists.

We have an eclectic mix of furniture and art in our bedroom The Victorian rosewood sofa was inherited and the copper and silver Turkish tray table was old when we got it forty-five years ago. For nearly fifty years we've been sleeping in Great Aunt Jane's double bed.

This 1970's modern room is filled with light from four patio doors, a full length window beyond the desk plus two celestory windows. We commissioned an artist to faux finish the walls with a cloud strewn sky effect. Often the morning clouds we see through the up high windows blend in perfectly with the painted ones.

Well, I didn't start out to give you a tour of my bedroom. But while I'm at it, here are photo views from each end of the deck that two of the bedroom patio doors open onto.

IF Tennessee were warm year around I would be tempted to furnish the deck with the elegant outdoor furniture that looks as if it belongs inside  and IF we didn't have to move everything that's out there into our bedroom while we're gone during summer. As it is, it's a wonderful place to have morning coffee and read the paper when it's warm. Also, it's protected from the wind so it can be nice during the cooler months on warmish afternoons. The post about my working on "Unraveled" out there a year ago February is here.

Smocking - "the end"

This is the last post about my smocking days ... the days when I applied that stitchery to art pieces ... the days when I was studious about color.

Purple & Orange Harmony - 15"x 12"

 Shadowed Hues - 14" x 13"

The one above was juried into The National Needlework Association show that traveled the United States for one year in the 1980's. Here's a close-up of the trellis stitch cross-over patterning.

Rows of the pure hues are laid on top of and off-set over rows of muted tones.  I used only DMC floss.  It was a challenge to blend within a color, let alone to blend into the next hue, even though DMC had lots and lots of colors from which to select.

This one hangs above the coat rack in our front entrance.

Point-Counter-Point - 19" x 9"

My color objective for this one was to combine yellow and violet, whereas, the one at the top was focused on orange and violet.  As I recall, both of these were made while I was taking a year-long correspondence color course through the Embroidery Guild of America.

I loved manipulating the smocked fabric into shapes.

Silk Fan - 20" x 14" (frame)

The thread, fan fabric, and background are all silk.  I just happened to have that mother-of-pearl button to finish the bottom. The gold leaf frame was built especially for this piece by a friend's husband.

As I recall, my color objective was to keep it monochromatic by shading from pink to coral. The rows of trellis stitches were worked in a diagonal pattern across the fabric ... more playing.

This is the last smocked art piece that I created.

Untitled - 16" x 9"

 I had covered a shadow box frame that was made for this piece with the same heavy gray linen that I used as the foundation fabric for the smocking.  However, I didn't like the joins at the corners so it never got mounted.  Here's a photo of it in process.

Then I had the idea twenty years ago to combine this smocked panel with quilted piecing.  I worked on that for most of a week long workshop with Nancy Halpern at Arrowmont Design & Craft School.  I had so much trouble with cutting the parallelogram shapes for the piecing that I decided I really needed to learn the craft of quilting ... that's when the current leg of my creative journey began.  Before it's over, I may get this piece finished  ... all the materials are wrapped up and stored away.

I thank all of you who have left comments in this series of posts.  I very much enjoyed my years of smocking.  During that time of stitching and teaching I learned so much about color and design. Without that experience I would not be where I am today in this amazing journey of making art.

PS: To see all the posts about smocking, click on the "smocking" label at the end of this one.

More Smocked Clothes

I'm glad to hear this little memory trip hits a cord with a number of you. For those of you who are interested, here are a few more pictures of me wearing clothing that was smocked.

I especially liked blouses. The red gingham one is in the book I wrote about in the last post, as is the cocktail dress.  The one pictured on the right is a gauze fabric smocked with a white cotton twist thread.  I think it was crochet yarn.  The one below is made of heavy cotton muslin and smocked with cotton floss.

I left the partial newspaper article in the scan out of our family scrapbooks.  Click on it and enlarge if you'd like to read a bit more about what I was doing and saying about smocking back then.

The stitching instruction for the design on this peasant blouse was published so others could make it, too.

I liked to tuck those blouses in rather than wearing them loose.  My trick was to tuck all that fullness into the top of my pantyhose for a sleek look.  Mmmmm ... where would all that fullness hide in today's under garments?

I also liked sundresses and am glad I wore them when I could.  Back then I never dreamed the toll that time would take on an aging body.

And lastly, I thought you may like to see the back of this dress as well as the hood.  The fabric is a pale green slubbed cotton and the smocking was stitched with Danish Flower Thread.

Ethnic clothing is making a comeback.  I see so many garments in the ads and catalogs that I would've worn "back when".  I still have most all those garments.  Think I may dig them out of storage to see if any of the young women in my family are interested in giving them another "go around".

More Smocking

While I'm on the subject, I'd like to share more of my smocking that was published in this book back in 1982 ...

It was written by my sister-in-law, Dianne, who had introduced me to smocking. I had taken to this stitchery like a duck to water.  I found it much more interesting to do than counted cross-stitch, as well as much faster to complete a project than needlepoint canvas work and crewel embroidery.  By the time this book was published I had been teaching smocking for a few years. I found ways to incorporate it into the ethnic influenced style of clothing that I wore, since I had no daughters to smock for.  Just about all those garments found their way into this book.

It was a peasant blouse Dianne was stitching that initially piqued my interest.  My first smocking was done on the blouse I wore on the cover of my workbook. I loved that style as well as doing the smocking, so I made a number of them.  This one features a design concept that I developed ... plaid smocking.

These two nightgowns are variations of the round yoke style for the raglan sleeve style of the peasant blouse.

 

The adjacent page has the "map" for the stitch placement on graph paper to make that particular design.  Graphing of smocking designs was another concept that I developed.

The cocktail dress in the center is one I made of a silky synthetic jersey knit.  It was the first project to which I added beads and stitched with a thick shiny synthetic thread ... a departure from 3 strands of cotton floss on cotton fabric.

The one on left I made as a wedding dress for a friend's second marriage.  It's made of silk satin backed crepe and stitched with silk twist thread.

Dianne and I both made dresses from the published pattern she designed. They have hoods that you can't see in the photos.  Fun to wear!

I designed and constructed the sundress on the left for my friend, Alicia.  She did the smocking, though.  The one in the center was one of my favorites and I wore it for several summers.  The pretty one on the right was my experiment in coordinating a smocking design to the border print in the cotton fabric.

I wore this gingham blouse with a denim skirt or white slacks.

I still have the child's blouse and would've liked my granddaughter to wear it.  However by the time it fit her, she had developed a different taste in clothes.

Here are thumbnails of those garments in color ...

It was fun for me to revisit this part of my life through this book.  I hope you enjoyed it, too.

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm happy!  I've been a happy mother since my older son was born back in 1966 and my younger one two years later.

 1968

I was happy with my boys throughout their childhood.

1978(?)

Even through their teenage years.

1985

I very much enjoyed their young adulthood.

1991

I'm happy being the mother of these two fine grown men.

2010

I'm happy to be mother-in-law to their wives.

2009

And "Granellie" to their children.

2009

I wish all of my friends who are also mothers and my daughters-in-law a joyous and peaceful Happy Mother's Day.

Paperdolls at the Royal Wedding

We were at an annual 3-day gathering with a bunch of friends during the time of the royal wedding.

Before going Lee and I had the idea of making paper dolls with our friend's faces.

Each friend was presented their paper doll wrapped with an invitation to the wedding.

The day before the wedding we had fun dressing our "mini-me's" for the big event.  We ladies created outfits from the colored papers and fancy trims that I had brought for this project.

The guys got to choose from different outfits that I had printed from a paper doll book featuring Chuck and Di's wedding.  In fact, all our doll's bodies are theirs, as well.  You can see that book on the corner of table next to Lee who is gluing metallic trim to the braids on his uniform.

These paper dolls were featured as the center piece for the table.  Here's the first night's table decor.

 

One of the ladies celebrated her birthday the next day.  The bouquet of roses from her husband was perfect for us to gather around in our finery.  That couple had the honor of standing next to Prince Philip and the Queen.

The last day I lined all the dolls up for a group shot.

In reality, we ladies donned hats the day of the wedding.

I had worn the pink feathered one during the very early morning ceremony.  Lee wore his best Elvis necktie with his night clothes.

Later in the day we dressed more appropriately.

Well, I did anyway.

....................................................

The frivolity of our tongue-in-cheek play with the royal wedding was a welcome distraction from the devastating weather raging through the south.  All of us had personal connections and worry for what was going on "back home" and to people we cared about who lived close to where those tornadoes touched down.

Lee and I came home to find many of our trees nearly stripped of their leaves, those leaves piled several inches deep all over the ground, marble sized dings in our newly painted siding and Volkswagen, broken outside light fixtures, and screens full of holes.  Thank goodness we were spared broken windows, downed trees ... and tornado touchdowns.