TOUCH

April 7--1969 was the day I touched my newborn baby boy!  What a joy!  What a pleasure! 

 

Happy Birthday--Baby Boy!

 

 

He has 'touched' our hearts and lives in many ways!

 

Other ways you are touched...............

the sight of crosses at the Normandy Beaches Memorial..................

 

 

 

or the Remembrance quilts at the 9/11 Memorial

 

And then there are these that you can physically touch..............

 

colorful fibers that ooze with touch ability!

 

AND the ultimate Touch!

 simple touch from a celebrity that causes you NOT to wash your hand for days!

 

We have that ability to touch with our hands, our eyes, our senses--

What would we do without touch?

 

My Favorite Color

 

 

 

As if you can't tell from my photos--what is my favorite color?!

There is nothing like the refreshing orange color of this fruit--and of course, it is called the color

ORANGE!

 

and the color of fresh carrots!

and in the shop windows of Paris, the color of spring does please me--ORANGE!

My friends have always razzed me about liking orange--well, I say--there is nothing like a little orange color to give your spirits a lift!

Good Night!

Easter

Happy Easter!  

Shadows

The shadows of present cast onto the past!  

Quote of Inspiraton

We took the journey to Normandy beaches 

and said a prayer for the fallen 

Here is photo of poppies painted on wall and with that 

We read the poem by John McCrae, 

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow"

My Favorite Flower

While on our walks through Paris, you will see many flower shops

These are my favorite flowers of the walks--

Full blooms

Happy Spring!   

My Morning View

We walk from our hotel down Champs Elyses, so this is our first view of the day.

Even in Paris you can find Stabucks

We can see

A breathe of Spring 

Spring lives among the city buildings

Our hotel view from our balcony 

What is your morning view?

Paris in the Springtime!

This Knitting Mystery was appealing to me--Why?  Because today I'm in Paris!  Yes, Paris, France! We are on a River Cruise along the Seine River!

When I saw that Cindy Garland was featuring a mystery shawl pattern based on Paris, I just had to sign up--of course, the pattern begins until April 1.   I've ordered my yarn, beads etc. so I can begin knitting on April 1st. 

Join with me on this exciting knitting adventure! 

Journey Along With Books

As we travel, I try to have plenty of books on hand to read--who knows when you'll miss a flight, be stranded on a desert island, need some quiet time to be alone, or just plain bored!  I think I have plenty to keep me busy !  Plus there is always the Kindle reader on my I-Pad.  

Good reading to you!   

One Day We'll Never Forget!

I'll never forget this day.  We made our ways to Freedom Tower and the fountains that remember the fallen.

Names are stamped into the panels surrounding both fountains where the twin towers once stood.

Deep into the 9/11 Memorial, we pass through sights and sounds from that day 

Remains of the retaining wall

It looks like an art piece, but it's actually twisted beams from the Towers.

I'll never forget that day!  

Walk in Their Shoes

We finally were able to visit Ellis Islad while on our time in NYC.  Our last trip here, the government was shut down and all were closed.  Something's it's hard to realize how it was for those who immigrated to US soils, but taking this journey we were able to walk in their shoes for a short while. 

I was happy to see in one section of education area, there was this great photo of a family weaving.

Weaving was given a small portion of  the display area, but it as there!  I can't even fathom the hardships our ancestors endured during those years, but I'm so thankful they did.  

Looking For Creativity!

We are in the "Big Apple"!  And everywhere I look I see sights that can be used to build creativity. Look at the building lines

And see how the shadows fade in and out.

Take this photo with its sharp peaks and angles 

Make it black and white and see something totally different

The streets even give off a sense of design style.

Use the color of the flashing billboards as basis for texture

Even the carpet in our room gets me a thought about quilting lines or weaving patterns

I'm loving this time in The Big Apple

Design Elements

 

When I'm traveling my eye is constantly looking for design elements everywhere! 

 

How could this design be used in your work?  How about a quilting pattern or a stencil effect as surface design?

Two together make for interesting view

Even the shelves of liquor bottles catch my eye--wonder how I could use this--besides drink it??

I liked the water shadow in the bottle as it sits on the blotter

What lines and reflections! 

Any of these will be noted in my design portfolio for future use--how about you?  Do you look at your surroundings?

Yarn Bombing!

Have you done any yarn bombing?  I know that photo bombing is popular now but I was happy to come across this yarn bombing in a city community area.  

Here is a great view of the construction and this length of knitting covers an ugly pipe giving it a soften touch.  Of course, I had to touch!  What a super way to brighten the town center.  

When Nothing Else Works-----DYE!

 

When one of our weaving friends moved to the West Coast, she had a super sale--sold everything out of her fiber closet that she wasn't taking with her.

 

I bought a few skeins of this gray or is it grey (?) alpaca/wool blend.  Although it is commercial yarn, it had a nice handle and it was good quality.  I didn't much like the color, but it was a bargain--you know how it is with a bargain!  I thought of it for awhile and then decided I could DYE it and it would be useful in one of my knitting projects

So, I skeined it off on my niddy-noddy; tied it securely for the dyepot

I selected a magenta acid dye and went for it--

I think this will be used in one of lace shawl patterns.  The tie strings, which are wool, shows the color of the primary dye.  Overall, I'm pleased!

So, when all else fails, over dye!

Add to the List--What NOT To Say...................

Listing courtesy of  California Arts Council

"why would I buy art when I can download it for free on the Internet"
 "My eight year old could do better than you."
"don't offer 25 dollars for an item that cost more than 200 dollars for material and hours of work to create!"
"How long does this take you to make?" 

What would you add? 

What is Old is Useful Again!

Recently, at one of our expatchers gatherings, Linda was pressing her fabrics for a future project. 

Press, press, press at the stand-up ironing board with a regular iron.

Judy M came to her rescue!  "Why not use the

Ironrite?"

What is an Ironrite? you ask!  The greatest invention for the ladies in the late 1940's!

The company was founded by Herman A. Sperlich and Johannes M. Uhlig in the early part of the 20th Century. They started in Detroit and eventually moved to Mt. Clemens, Michigan where they became a mainstay of the local economy, providing about 400 jobs until the factory closed in the late 1950s

Oh, yeah, you were lucky if you had one of these machines in your household--no more standing to iron large qualities of laundry--and ironing was a major chore of the women in 1950's!

Lucky for Linda, Judy has an Ironrite and she heated it up quickly and away you go!

Just place your fabric on the board and let the Ironrite do the job--perfectly pressed without any effort from you!

Today's weavers even use this machine as a mangle for their linen woven fabric

If you are interested, you can find used Ironrites on EBay.