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Liminal, the word, is from the Latin word limen, meaning "threshold." So here we are on the boundary between 2022 and 2023. "Liminality" is that state of passing from one thing to another. Not-still-fully-there, and not-yet-fully-here. A challenging state indeed. Last week I retrieved a quilt I made 40 years ago and put it on my bed. I love this quilt and loved every stitch I put into it--all by hand.  Grandmother's Fan pattern quilt, hand-stitched and hand-quilted by me in 1982 from scraps of my own worn-out hand-sewn cotton blouses and other cotton fabrics. Dedicated to my grandmother, who gave me my love of handwork. I'm The final photos from Deerfield's (MA) Memorial Hall Museum. Enjoy. See the previous 5 posts for the rest. This post has some additional textiles and some non-textile surprises.  Dragonflies. I loved this one but I don't have the title or year. Probably late 19th or early 20th c. In the permanent collection.  Another very large and amazing embroidery. This one is on the cover of the book I showed in a previous post (day 5).  Another set of fabulous embroideries from the permanent collection. For their true colors, see the photo in the larger picture above; I'm not sure why the colors are so altered here.  Wonderful design and execution of embroidery from the permanent collection.  So much amazing blue and white embroidery on display. The permanent collection.  These embroideries are so lovely and so well designed. All of them. Permanent collection.  And last but not last, some arts & crafts style furniture with a trompe l'oeil effect. Wonderful!  The final quilt photo from the August exhibit and some Arts and Crafts style furniture.  This is one of the publications I forced myself to resist buying while I was there ogling quilts, beadwork, blue and white embroidery work, furniture, and antique sewing machines. Even the sewing machines are individual works of art. More photos from the recent show which included pieces from their permanent collection, at the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, MA. See the previous four posts for more goodies.  I'm pretty sure this was called "The Last Rose of Summer," and is in their permanent collection. Embroidered.  Embroidered Tree of Life, with appliqué  Another exquisite embroidered Tree of Life from the permanent collection.  Linen on linen blue & white embroidered drawstring bag, acanthus leaf, circa 1900. Part of permanent collection.  Even the permanent collection of early sewing machines are works of art, and this isn't even a decorated one. I just liked the shape. Most have elaborate gold scrollwork painted on. Beautiful textiles from Deerfield's Memorial Hall Museum continued. This is the fourth installment--and there will be at least two, possibly three more.  Iriquois bead embroidery. I believe this is a needle case. Late 19th or early 20th century.  Another beautiful piece of bead embroidery.  Not bad for a 7 year old...  Quite tongue-in-cheek for the 19th century.  This quilt (1885) was magnificent. And, here we go with more wonderful textiles and other goodies from Deerfield's Memorial Hall Museum. Some are particular to this exhibit which I think is over by 8/31 but others (most of these today, I think) are part of their permanent collection. If you want to see the first two posts I did on this, they are from yesterday and the day before.     A typical stunning blue-and-white Deerfield embroidery.  There was just no way to get a better photo of this. Arrgh!  A basket of pomegranates (1911). I totally fell in love with this one.  My cheapo, mass-produced bedspread. Last--and very definitely least (by comparison), here is my own bedspread. It's mass-produced and frankly, cheap. But when I was making my bed this morning, in between working on this blog post, I suddenly "saw" it for what it is--a pale imitation of these blue and white Deerfield embroideries that I've admired for decades! And I never even made the association before. DUH! It gave me a huge laugh. Stay tuned for more Deerfield treats over the next few days. I look a LOT of photos. A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original.
--Louis Armstrong More from the Memorial Museum's current exhibit in Deerfield MA. For the start of this series, see the previous post.  This may just look like a fussy quilt. But look closer. And look at the next 2 pictures (the white orbs are reflections of ceiling lights--the quilt is under glass). The closer you look, the more impressive it gets. Although I still wouldn't choose to own it, I can admire the EXTREME workmanship. See next photo.  Yes, that is my index finger NEARLY but not quite touching the quilt. I would not touch a textile of this type and age at this point. The finger is there to show you the size of the pieces. Smaller than my much less than 1/2" wide fingernail. I mean, these pieces--all hand sewn together--are 1/4" or LESS in size. Now go back up to the first picture and have another look at how many pieces this quilt contains. Mind-boggling. Story of the quilt in the next photo.  OMG. Enough said. Last week I saw some truly lovely textiles at the Deerfield Memorial Museum. Here's a small portion of what I saw. I'll post more when I can.  But first, lovely flowers in bloom just outside the entrance.  Embroidered and quilted crazy quilts, late 19th or early 20th century. (Sorry I didn't keep better notes on when and quilter's name)  Since this is election season, here is an antique President's Quilt, made by a woman from Poland who came to the USA as in immigrant and became a citizen. All of her quilts have a patriotic theme. Early 20th c if memory serves me correctly.  Modern quilt (2019) created by the Sisters in Stitches Joined by the Cloth, an African American quilting group in the Boston (MA) area. Details in the next photo. This quilt was the sole reason I went to the Museum, but I spent a long time looking at the other treasures once I got there.  |
ABOUT ME I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), a long-time meditator, a certified meditation teacher and coach, and focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 
Certified, 2021
Certified Unified Mindfulness Coach Level I, 2024
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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