Embroidery

Stitches In Time.... Time In Stitches

Warning! If you do NOT Absolutely LOVE embroidery you must stop now... this post will only Bore you! That said, I will admit to a passion for decorative stitchery...... known as embroidery. I learned to sew when I was seven or eight years old.... but didn't learn about embroidery until I was a teenager. The little pouch you see here is perhaps the Second thing I ever embroidered. I found an old kid-skin glove that was stained and I cut it up to make a little bag and then I started to decorate it with whatever idea came to mind until it was all filled up. I probably worked at it over a period of two or three years... not steadily... but just adding here and there when I had time.

Yes, it betrays my early Hippie years... a hookah smoking hedgehog........!

Amongst the dragon flies and flowers note the tiny bees.......

And even the bottom was covered in designs.......

All my projects were little things.......

like embroidering this butterfly and rose on the velvet lining for a needle box.........

Here, you can see the Rose.....

My biggest project was embroidering an Alphabet quilt for my first son...... a project that started out as just applique letters.... but quickly evolved into embroidered AND appliqued letters.... which took a WHOLE lot LONGER! I started when I was pregnant...... was stitching "L" when I went into labor..... and didn't complete it 'til my son was four and I was nursing my Second Son!

Here you can see the FIRST piece of embroidery I ever did..... on a scrap of torn bed linen..... which I saved and incorporated into the Quilt.... which is what got me going with the embroidery part....... this is a portrait of our black cat "Puss"........

And more details from my Son's quilt..... a pair of pink pigs in a puddle.....

And this letter I remember stitching when I was VERY pregnant with my Second Son......

And I DID START the quilt for my Second Son....

Honest, I did! This is one of the squares of his Still Unfinished Quilt...

(hanging head in shame)....

And Another one......

I got all the way to the letter "J" ..... for my Son Jake.......

and still have the squares all stacked up in the sewing basket.......

but somehow the Time got away from me........

This letter "Z" is the one from my older son's quilt......

There just never seemed to be any Time for embroidery...... I used to carry my basket with me and sew a few stitches even at the Boy's soccer games....... but they outgrew that and the quilt still wasn't done...... perhaps Someday I will finish it.......

So it can be no Surprise to you that when I discovered a local store that sold embroidered Saris from India I was hooked! One by one I acquired them..... they weren't Cheap...... a WHOLE Rainbow of Incredibly ornamented AMAZINGLY Beautiful lengths of cloth! I hung them on my Bed frame...... a four poster with a canopy frame just Made for displaying these wonders...... They made my tiny attempts and embroidery look Primitive by comparison........
Here you can see a photo from my FORMER Home...... my new Home bedroom is too small and dark so they are packed away.... But the Former home I had painted the walls in a deep Moroccan Blue and ornamented it with painted trees and flowers and birds........

This is the view from ON the bed........ Messy bed..........

And another view from the end looking towards the wall.....

but you can see some of the embroidery...

sequins and gilt thread on that saffron sari........

And the view from the door to the room....... I Told you it was a Rainbow!

So, to celebrate my Downsized Home .... where there isn't room for a dozen draped saris on the bed.... I purchased a small Quilt..... or Door hanging...... made from scraps from an AMAZING assortment of former Saris...... I hung it on my bedroom door where I see it EVERY Day and can admire the Unbelievable Variety of Design, Pattern, Image, Technique, Material.........

Here, You MUST have a closer look........

(I Apologize for the blurry shots.....

it was quite difficult to hold still enough and close enough to get uniformly clear shots....)

The Wonder of the beauty of just a Fragment of the original.....

And the Variety of Form and stitches......

And Complexity of Materials......

Makes me Wonder WHO stitched this...... and HOW Long did they work at it.....

And Who taught them HOW......

Or Created the Designs.....

The Patterns know no ending of Variety....

Some more Glittery than others......

Some Encrusted with Beads and Mirrors......

Some more Delicate......

Stitches I Still don't have a Name for..... techniques I would LOVE to learn......

Fine and Subtle.....

Bold and Tribal......

Brilliant and Flashy.....

Pieces that had a Life I will never know a thing about.......

And can only Wonder and Gaze at in AWE.......

Adorning my Doorway........

Reminding me Every Day how MUCH I LOVE

Embroidery

Summer Mist

I MEANT to Invite you back sooner, I really did! To see more of the Garden while the Full Summer Sun shone strong and hot and LONG. To visit again with the Daylilies who were just getting started when last you were here. How Quickly the time has gone!

And the Queen Anne's Lace nods elegantly over all the other flowers.......

And Achillea 'The Pearl" crowds the gateway to the Garden with a Cloud of dainty blooms.

And my FAVORITE Daylily spreads it's curly petals wide and scents the air with an Orchid's fragrance.....

And the sun as it rises higher sneaks through the overhanging branches of the Silver Maple to illuminate choice patches of the Garden.... for a MOMENT..... and then moves on....

Highlighting it's friends on the ground..... greeting them with a kiss..... of Summer.....

Making them GLOW as if on fire.....!

Making the petals glisten with iridescence...... each blossom open for just a DAY....

Can you BELIEVE the Black of this one?

And the Lavender of this?

And my Favorite! The Daylily called the "Orchid"..... so exotic!

See what I mean? Don't you just LOVE it?

And then there are the other Lilies....

the Oriental Lilies with AMAZING clouds of heavenly scented blossoms!

Perfuming the Whole Garden........

But Summer is moving on...... you know it is Past the middle when the Phlox begin to bloom....

In COLORS so intense it is hard to Believe the pictures are real.....

And the Honeysuckle vine is covered with a second flush of blossoms.... better than the first!

And the Hot Pink Phlox "Wildfire" ignites its corner of the Garden with a color so intense....

Rivaled by the Lingering blossoms of "Falstaff".... who wishes not to be outdone!

And the Rose "Tropical Sunset" joins the fray.....

As if to say...."Summer is NOT over yet!"

But then one morning as I leave for work, the Garden is swathed in MIST.......

And I cannot RESIST the urge to take a moment for photographs.... even though I am late....

The Morning Fogs of Late Summer have arrived.....

bringing an almost Melancholy beauty to this little patch of Garden.....
.

Spangling a cobweb amongst the late blooms on the Rose bushes.....

Betraying the Spider's snares.....

Dripping from the nodding Roses....... presaging the coming Frosts!

The soft MISTY air seems to reveal the Garden in a way the Sun cannot.......

showing the beauty of the Clematis Gone to Seed

And the Echinops beginning to fade........

Making Ghosts of Cobwebs......
And the CHILL of the early Morning keeping the Bees clinging to the flowers, too cold to fly....

And twists the Candle spires of the Veronicastrum into Bizarre distortions......

And coats the merest Rose leaf in minute diamonds....... for the Moment......

As if Weeping Quietly for the loss of Summer.......

Summer Missed

Summer Mist