One of the things I'd like to learn more about in 2013 is redwork. There are many websites online that teach about redwork, but I really like the site prettyimpressivestuff by Rissa Peace Root. Rissa gives us a little background information on redwork embroidery, the best threads to use and tips and tricks.
Last spring-into-summer I made some window valences for my kitchen with red gingham on the bottoms of each valence. I made two cafe curtains, one for each side of the window above my kitchen sink. I transferred some fruit motifs onto them using Aunt Martha iron-on transfer "Fanciful Fruits for Tea Towels" #3749. I started embroidering them in red thread...so I figure this could be considered redwork.
It's a UFO (unfinished object) as I have just a little bit left to embroider on this curtain. Oh, and one more whole curtain to embroider. But you never know, I just might finish them this year!
This dish towel is one I whipped up for a friend for Christmas. I had so much fun with this one!
On his lasso rope, I used a chain stitch. Almost everything else was done in stem stitch. I enjoyed using a bit of DMC Gold thread (that I borrowed from my daughter's stash) on the belt buckle and buttons. And this was an easy patten to do too! It only took a couple of hours to stitch!
Been thinking a little bit about train travel today.
If I am ever able to travel by train (and I hope that someday that I will), this is one of the songs I would listen to.
I love this song and it is easily in my to ten picks for best songs of all time.
Call me crazy, but the rhythm of the song reminds me of a train.
And suddenly, I'm in a passenger car rolling over the Montana plains (Philip Aaberg is from Montana, so it only makes sense that the train would be there also). We passengers would see grassland, fence lines, and maybe a pickup hauling a horse trailer.
As the train rolls through a small town we glimpse for just a second a view down main street and busy people going about their lives. Perhaps we see a man stopping by the post office to get his mail, another man stepping out of a blue pickup, and a woman watering some storefront flowers. It is a moment, a tiny slice of someone else's life that passes by our eyes so quickly.
Then at about 5:20 (in the song) the train begins to slow and then stop. People on the platform below look up at us through the window and wonder where we've come from. We folks in the cars have seen miles of country in just a few hours, while those standing still on the platform have seen only their everyday routine of morning donuts, coffee and the two block trip to the railway station.
I myself am getting off at this station. This looks like a quiet little town. As I stand on the platform, I turn around to look at the train that brought me here and the people who are now sitting in my seat. Their adventure is just beginning. Soon they will be moving quickly and I will be the one left standing still.
Steadily, the train begins to pick up speed. I watch as it continues on it's journey across the prairie until, like the music, it slowly fades away.
It's December...and that means I'd better start thinking about my Caldecott picks for the year of 2012. The winner and honorees will be announced on January 28th, 2013. It's like my Academy Awards.
The first two books pictured below are the two books that I'd like to see win. If the judges choose either one of these, I will be a happy camper. Extra Yarn Written by Mac Barnett and Illustrated by Jon Klasssen
And/or The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore written and Illustrated by William Joyce.
I love this book! Even if is doesn't win...the illustrations are top-notch in my book.
This year, I had a difficult time choosing a runner up. But I do like the simplicity of This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. It's kinda cute.
This year I'd like to see something with richer, thicker and more detailed illustrations win the Caldecott....a book so heavy with ink that it weighs 3 pounds....a book so detailed that each time I look at it I see something I hadn't noticed before! The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is just that kind of book!
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