News from Afghanistan

"Tshokletdusi" -- "chocolate" embroidery
depicts sweets in general as a subject

Stitching projects from a hurt country

I told you before about the embroidery project by Pascale Goldenberg
(Pictures with kind permission P.Goldenberg)

"Keshide", traditional embroidery

Quilt by Francoise Rouppert

I recommend to view this awesome website with a remarkable attitude towards the stitching women and their personal story. The ladies who support the project by buying the work of the Afghani women and integrate these pieces into their quilts show respect and charity at the same time, enhancing the work of the women in Kabul and other places and letting them shine.

You may have noticed that there haven't been postings on my blog for a long time. The reason was that my other project -- much like the latest one I posted -- occupied me completely and would not allow me to concentrate on other things. Apart from that, I had to undergo an operation of my right leg after a minor accident because the hematoma would not disappear. This operation was done on April 12th and is history by now. I'm not sure what craft project will be next, because my right eye doesn't respond well on work being done closely to my eyes, be it embroidery, quilting, or painting watercolor pictures -- computer work doesn't affect it, surprisingly. Well, when aging, you have to adapt to your limitations.

Mail from Cymberrain

Look what was in my mail today! The most wonderfully dyed embroidery threads and an extra goodie -- thank you so much, Diane!
Don't these threads match my project perfectly?
Have a look in Diane's shop, she's offering the most luxurious and delicate velvets in unbelievable colors. I received a little pack of ribbon, too, and I'm curious to try it out, perhaps this is just right for the snake theme.

New birds on the block

The bird quilt is so large now that I have to spread it out on the balcony to show it completely. I integrated a very old embroidery I made for my Mom about 25 years ago. It was my own design, embroidered on a silk cushion cover. The fabric broke after a few years, and my friend C, a professional textile restorator, repaired it -- I cannot see where. But there was newer damage. I think the latest quilting will strengthen it and help to maintain it for some time.
My mother died in 2001. I got the cushion cover back. There is a strong scent of her perfume about it. When I took it out of the drawer, I and J felt her "presence".
What else is new? A falcon in the sunshine, a bird in a cage, quilting on the night piece and -- a diving bird, just diving. You see: When we went out watching birds, my parents and I, who all loved to do this, we could never be sure to see anything interesting. Birds like to be hiding.

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.

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

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!

Afghanistan: Embroidery Project

Today, I received a Mail from Mrs Goldenberg:

Hi!

There is a new book out on embroidery, which I have put together: "Fäden verbinden - threads unite." It was published by MARO Verlag in Augsburg, Germany.

It has a square format of 16cm by 16cm with120 pages. It is a paperback edition with over 300 fotos, which I took during my visit in Laghmani and 16 of fotos which show works from the exhibition "Threads unite women" and scanned embroisered squares. The text is in German and English. By September a leaflet in French will be available for those interested. The price is €20.

Through the sale of that book I hope to make a little money for myself, since I continue my voluntary work for the project. Whoever wants to support me, may order the book from me. That way I will get almost the percentage that normally goes to the bookseller. Promoting my book will also be of great help.

So maybe you take the chance to order the book now or by ordering embroisered squares. Or you can find it at the exhibition at the "Gudrun Sjöden" store in Zirndorf, at "Textile Art Berlin" which will start in two weeks, at "Nadel und Faden" in Osnabrück from the 11th to the 13th of September as well as at the Alsace EU-Patchwork meeting, which will take place from the 17th to the 20th of September.

Have a nice summer.

Best wishes,

Pascale
picasagalerie from project:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nilsgoldi/ProjetAfghanistanStickereiEmbroideryBroderie?authkey=BqpOPdNxxtU#

**********************************************

So far the mail from Mrs Goldenberg.

The book can be ordered from the German publisher.

Fils d'Aquitaine

A friend of mine ordered 3 biscornus! Stored away the fusing stuff and started embroidery.

Paths to the truth

My latest small embroidery is finished, about 7x7" size. At the moment, it is wet and drying on a board, fixed with pins. As I did all the stitches in one direction, I have to reshape it a little bit. This is different from the "Hidden Stars", because here I changed direction alternatingly, so the tension is balanced.

Time off

The husband is having a few days off, he must be back in the office on coming wednesday. It's been a long time since his last vacation! And we are lucky to have a few sunny days. We went to see an exhibition of Henri Matisse, but it was more or less second class quality. Later, we walked through the city and rode along the harbour. I took this photo through the scratched and dirty window panes of the train.
The Albers pillow is finished and I took a pic of it on the seat it was made for.

Hidden Stars of Bethlehem

Finished. The colours are taken from a limited scale, I sometimes put such rules on my work as "take what is in this bag" or "use as many colours as possible from Grandma Elizabeth's wool". The full range from my drawer is less inspiring to me than the limits.

Happy Holidays to you, whatever way you celebrate!

Caught in lace and held in frame

A human shape behind lace is the latest progress of the witch gown.
As Susan noticed, the text ribbons are paths! It is clear to see.
I explained the details and meaning to my husband who doesn't mind at all to be caught in the traps of his witch.

The embroidery is developing a little unexpectedly. I intended to do an "Star of Bethlehem" allover pattern, but the piece has a different idea. I put it up in a quilting frame in order to keep it stretched. My embroidery hoops are too thin and small to hold needlepoint which is gaining volume and cannot be pressed between the hoops, the wool gets squeezed, and it shows.

Working on 5000 Projects at the same time

It must be rather confusing to be following this blog. So many things unfinished. But this embroidery about which I wasn't sure first has been improving (I can't say I did it because I rather feel it grow like a plant and develop according to the laws of nature). I enhanced the contrast between the colours and used more greens in order to balance the reds which in the beginning were too loud. Now I really feel like going on and finishing it soon.

I went to get bread and stuff and on the way took a few signs of spring. The sun is shining brightly onto our balcony and warms it which I think our oleander will greatly appreciate. Here, on the south side of the house, it is a lot warmer than outdoors around us. This photo is for Reyna!



Cornus mas is in full blossom. In September there will be dark red, sour fruits, a little similar to cherries, in the shape of a rugby ball. Only very curious people eat it or cook jam out of it. But it is good!




Siberian Squill is the name of the blue flower.

A heart in the ditch? A forgotten Valentine? We'll never know. Mine is not there. Mine is rising in the sunshine, looking forward to the warmer season, the green of the trees, long days and the view of playing children.

Josef Albers in Wool

The embroidery ist going on. I started it months ago. The size is 7x8,3". It will not be perfectly alike, but similar enough, I hope.
It could be an amusing game to find the differences.


I have always thought it is kitsch to reproduce a painting by embroidery. What do you think?

Spring is coming, and my husband and I put the oleander into a new pot, not a clay pot which tends to dry out, but a plastic one. Last year, there was a splendor of blossoms. Wait and see what the oleander will be up to this year.

The Heritage Challenge

When my husband went to see his parents the other day, he took back a big bag of wool. "From Mom's neighbour. She doesn't use it any more." I thought of my stash in the bedroom drawer. When I found out that my favourite material is not on the market any more, I bought the last boxes in E-bay. I was one of maybe 3 customers interested in this wool. This craft is dead! But, as the last heir of wool embroidery in Germany (it seems), I get flooded with similar material.

I started another embroidery, another mini-quilt-like pattern. I don't have a plan; I just set rules. I chose a pattern which is much like quilt blocks and just let it go on without knowing the next step before I do it.
There is a risk that I won't like the whole thing; the challenge is to find a way to make it meet my demand. At the moment, I don't really like it yet; but after increasing the contrast, I feel it will work out.

Here is a detail of the stitches. Doing it all in one direction, it tends to distorting the embroidery; that's why I planned squares of 18x18 stitches and let the stitch alternate in a chessboard pattern way. As a quilt pattern, I think this is a nine patch + hour glass, or what is it?

Embroidery sold

I can't believe it. They are all sold. The second piece took me ages. It was done in a very fine stitch. But, after all, I did it for fun and would never know where to store all these things and what to create out of them.
I couldn't make a living on this, but I am happy someone likes it and will use it. It is quite amazing, because for 30 years I have been living on other jobs because it seemed to be impossible to sell art, be it paintings or whatever. I did some custom portraits, but only one of my paintings was sold in an exhibition. Maybe it was because I just couldn't give them away. My fault. I have always loved "real" things a lot more than money. From the point where I got what I urgently need -- a heated place to live, food, medical care -- I don't care about money.
I published these things in order for you to use it as a kind of marketing research, as I try to find out in Etsy what other people have been able to sell.

Penelope stitching

My husband won't be far from me as long as Ulysses was. And there are no applicants hanging around. But I spend the day silently and stitching. Yes, another biscornu.