We're leaving on Saturday Morning

... my blog friends, I will miss you terribly! All of you! But recreation can be even more necessary if there is an addictive relationship to your job or activities, and in my case, this is so. I hope I'll find you all in good mood and happy when I come back! Best of luck to all of you!

The ghost bird arrived

In order to puzzle you, I left a part of the tablecloth in the picture, instead of cropping it. The organza idea is nice, but I don't have any; this is what I intended: Copy shamelessly from Jude and embroider the bird within the grid of the chequered fabric. I cut a paper stencil for the bird's shape and outlined it with a running stitch.
The story behind it: There is a sparrow hawk in our region which flies low between the trees. I saw him/her rob a young magpie. The exited parents followed with shrieks of horror. A few days later, the sparrow hawk came into our backyard, flying no higher than the roof rail. This bird has something weird!
I intended this quilt to be a nap quilt, but not, if it gives me nightmares. Well -- being creative means you surprise yourself sometimes.

Got the Blues

Yesterday, a small parcel arrived with 10 shades of blue. I just asked for a scale of the more vibrant range of blues, and got exactly what I was dreaming of at a decent price. Below, there are samples of my old stash, and I was lacking the dark blues; there is still enough of the medium shades, but the trouble is: This quality of embroidery wool has completely vanished out of Germany. My way out of this dilemma was to buy old stash and leftovers from e-bay or to use split sock wool which is not available in the desired range of colours. This is the first time I ordered crewel wool, and it feels lovely, I can't wait to try it.
I'll be offline most of the time from the coming weekend on for a fortnight. I'm looking forward to sleep in the morning without a monster like this robbing my slumber, as it has done for a week. They are renovating the tot lot. German workers start at 7; maybe someone complained, now they start at 8 which is bearable. Yet, I'm glad to be in this Danish cottage in the north soon. My friend Martina will be taking care of our place.

Journal
Again, I will use our journal, as we have kept them on our journeys for years. They are diaries, embellished with drawings, small water colour paintings, pasted postcards and tickets.
The red light tower is situated in Esposende on the North Portuguese coast. As my camera escaped from my bag and ended up on the stone pavement with a crooked nose, I was without a camera which was really tantalizing, and this event helped me to understand that I am a junkie and have to see the CA -- Camerolics Anonymous.
To soothe my pain, I made this watercolor painting.
But there is more in these journals.




There are cartoons by my husband J like this one:








And another event which robbed 120 $ from our travelling wallet:




To sum it up: All the things that make you smile when you look back.

Passionate Quilting

What was I thinking? I'm so in love with this flower fabric on dark blue ground that I put some of it onto the right side. I thought that this empty space needed something. But there should not be 4 equal sized birds. Now I wonder, should I rip this flower bush off? It is a lot of work, and maybe unnecessary.
The loose thread bits are there to hold the layers in place. I find it nicer than pins; working with pins all over is like cuddling with a porcupine.

I want a ghost bird to appear on the checkered space.

More Birds

When Judy had her operation, she woke up with "3 Little Birds" by Bob Marley. The story must have influenced me to add a golden bird and a black one to the blue bird. The variegated floss is perfect for this kind of picturesque "emquiltery". Apart from the black matter, all cloth came from Jude. It is a fun piece, and I have to take care and remember my duties like going to the last session of gymnastics, hopefully for good, and I mustn't forget to have breakfast before going -- which I actually sometimes do! Or I get carried away by my friends' beautiful blogs...

Dancing Poodles of Afghanistan

A new mail from Pascale Goldenberg:

Hi!
The latest shipment of embroidery-squares has arrived. The Picasa-Galery is restocked. Anyone who is in need or wants to just look at the new designs is welcome to do so.
My new book describing the whole embroidery-project hast just been printed. You are welcome to order it through me (20 Euro). I am sure you will love the numerous photos on the special square collection ! Since I will be in Afghanistan between July 29th and August 20th 09, you may order before July 27th or after my return.

I was thinking of a little present with symbolic meaning for the Afghany women. They love to take care of flowers. If you could quickly participate in sending flowerseeds in a envelope. Thank you. (Pascale Goldenberg Kirnerstr. 16 79117 Freiburg, Germany)

Quilters living in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg, Danmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, France and the United Kindom, who like to participate in the contest " Afghanistan-Inspiration ", are also welcome to contact me for further Information. And please do share them with all your artists friends.

Keep in suspence and have a plesant summertime !
_________________________________________________________

Aren't they incredible? More of this kind if you scroll down the page.

More about the book
And here is the link to the book shop -- in German
Or send a mail to: Goldenberg-Freiburg at t-online dot de

A visitor from New Mexico

Yesterday, I had the great joy, honour and pleasure to see an old friend who lives in Santa Fe now (C, aubergine blouse). We first met 33 years ago, and this is about how long I have known our host R who is sitting in front of the barbeque machine with his wife D.

J and I picked her up with her luggage and took her to our hosts to have a lovely meal and a long talk about what happened since we last met and how to save the world. She is a British citizen who has spent a long time in France and then immigrated as a religious worker to the USA. This was the first meeting after 10 years, and we continued our connection and she is so close to my heart as if no time had passed.

R was my boss for 1,5 years in 2001-2002. I first met him in 1975. C was so enthusiastic about New Mexico. She gives me another reason to dream of a journey. We made our first steps into Buddhism in 1979 together.

At the moment, her plane lifts off. I do hope it will not be another 10 years before I see her again!

Stitching with Diane's floss on Jude's cloth

What a wonderful feeling to connect artists in Europe and the USA. Got some beautiful floss from Cymberrain today. Pansy, Jewel, Hyacinth and Bee-Eater. Thank you, Diane! And I wish all my American readers a happy July 4th! --
The Bird looks a bit darker today than on Wednesday's posting. And it is!

Sudden Appearance of a Blue Bird