A Connecting Thread ------ Embroidery

I thought I would repost this as it is some of my favorite artwork. Maybe this is how Warhol started?

If memory serves me correctly the following occurred because two things came about to me at roughly the same time. I used the new embroidery design Sue of The Needlework Factory had just completed - the Jeepers Creepers skull embroidery - with my new found talents with cutting, copying, pasting and layering images. Several of these I used for my Facebook profile photo, but I like them all because they are iconic yet elevated beyond what the originals are.

Any favorites?

Amtrak NY Penn Station to Pittsburgh

I'm back on Maui. Getting settled in and reacquainted with everyday life while working.

I did accomplished much when I was in New Jersey, and I could have done more, but it was just nice to chill.

I had hopes of working on the follow up paperwork for the sorbet, which has still been kept active, on the train ride to and then from Pittsburgh, but I just sat back, watched the scenery blur by, took in the mini-dramas of the passengers surrounding me in their seats; I packed my own food so I ate as I pleased and truly feel the 18-hour round-trip from NY - Pittsburgh was overall relaxing.

I went to teach at the Airport Sewing Center the projects I had posted in my June 02 post Recent Projects. I'll post pics from the class and a turtle embroidery in the process of being sewn out in my next post.

These pics were taken through the tinted window of the passenger train.

Leaving Pittsburgh train station

These smoke stacks were part of a nuclear power facility

Red car, red house, gold gilded church roof

 The stripes were created when the mothership landed and deposited the circular alien pods

Stripes 

 Crossing the Susquehanna River on a mile-long bridge

I see a muppet-like tree monster a la Sendak

Philadelphia

Then it was on to Trenton, Newark and New York Penn Station; the subway to the port Authority bus terminal and on to New Jersey to crash...

Recent Projects

I've been constructing away at projects I need for a demo I'll be doing at the end of June at the Airport Sewing Center. That's where the Hula Doll embroidery originates from, in essence, and the embroidery is the focus of the art, and here it is shown with designs from the Hula Dolls collection.

Hula Doll Embroidery with Mylar Fiber Skirt shown as a Wall Hanging. The pattern can also be modified to make a 16" Pillow.

 In the side garden

Studio shot: Shown with embroidered flip-flop (bottom right) and Seed Bead Starfish pins

Standard-Size Pillowcases, Hula Dolls collection

 Origami Fabric Hawaiian Shirts

Fabric scraps torn into strips and knit

Standard-Size Pillow case using the Bottles and Hocus Pocus (glow-in-the-dark) prints from APOTHESCARY and a trim of Glow-in-the-Dark Fairy Frost

Shave Ice Bucket Hats reverses to corduroy with reverse seams

Where Have the Days Gone?

Wow... I just looked back and saw it's been over 10 days since I last published a post and it seems like only yesterday. I leave to go back to the east coast three weeks from Tuesday and a lot of my attention has been focused on preparations for my trip: getting a new collection out the door (the group is called Beadwork), settling a few outstanding pieces of business (the sorbet being one of them), making sure bills are paid and/or are on auto pay, trying hard to remember what the weather is like back there this time of year, making sure the plants will be watered and the house looked after in my absence... you know, all the minutia associated with taking a trip.

I haven't blogged about design in a while... that's because most of what I have is in the developmental stages (new art completed and submitted to Michael Miller Fabrics this past Monday (Beadwork), awaiting strike offs for the group submitted about a month ago (called Generation Hex), recoloring some designs on fabric for the next release in early Fall) and it isn't a good idea to reveal the unfinished designs too prematurely, so there hasn't been much to show. I am working on samples for a class I'll be teaching in PA at The Airport Sewing Center the weekend of June 30th... it's my friend Sue's new shop (Sue of the amazing digitized machine embroideries I have shown previously.) Some samples are completed, most are works in progress, and as it has been raining pretty much constantly over the past few days (go figure... and we started the dry season on the 21st) I haven't had the opportunity to go outside and photograph the samples amongst the natural surroundings of the property. Also, I'm waiting for the dust to settle in the aftermath of Quilt Market in Kansas City, so I don't have any info regarding the trends and successes of what happened at the show (I'm crossing my fingers the reintroduction of Mirror Ball Dot was one of them!)

Now, as I am sure you have become accustomed to, there are quite a few "entries" in the cooking category...

Fresh New Zealand Clams in Shock Top Lemon Shady Beer with Maui Onions, Scallions, Cherry Tomatoes, fresh Ginger and Butter;
Focaccia Garlic Toasts; Lemon Wedge and Buddha's Hand Flower

Grilled Top Sirloin Steak, Baby Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms in Ginger-Lemon-Soy Butter with Charred Cherry Tomatoes

Oven Fries with Sour Cream and Scallion Mayo

Hawai'ian Kiawe Smoked Sea Salt, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Roasted Beets with Fresh Lemongrass and Tangerine Peel

Tuna Hoagie: Grilled Tuna, Cole Slaw, Roasted Red Pepper, 

Kalamata Olive Mayonnaise, Toasted Komoda's Bakery Roll 

 Live Abalone as seen from the under side (above) and from the top (below)

 Fresh Ehu (Short-Tail Red Snapped) caught that morning off the shores of Maui. The fishmonger was filleting the fish as I stood there and waited at Whole Foods.

 The completed meal:
Grilled Ehu Fillet with Ginger-Soy-Lemon Butter on a bed of Steamed Beet Greens, Grilled Abalone; Scallion, Hayden Mango and Black Sesame Seed Finish, Fresh Lychee Garnish

Coconut Sushi Rice, Hayden Mango, Black Sesame Seeds; Lychee and (peeled) Mangosteen 

The cleaned shell of the abalone after the mollusk had been removed, cleaned, rinsed and prepared for grilling 

A bowl of fresh Lychees and Mangosteen 

Wild Tomatoes in my garden ripening on the vine

* And just a note on my cooking: Some have said that what I do is extremely decadent... in a sense it is, at least in the preparation, creativity and presentation. But I do "cut corners" when I cook... meaning, for example, the oven fries. This was an Idaho potato that had been parboiled, cut in batons, misted with olive oil and baked in the toaster oven. The sauce is reduced-fat (Whole Foods) mayo, fat-free sour cream, scallions and seasonings. The butter in the Ginger-Soy-Lemon Butter is actually I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. The beets again misted with olive oil and tossed with the lemongrass and tangerine peel and roasted in the toaster oven, garnished with more lemongrass and tangerine peel. So enjoy the pics because looks can be very deceiving!

Aloha!