Tulsa Love

Made this quilt in honor of my beloved hometown.  Happy to be a Native.  Depicted on upper right is Cyrus Dallin's "Appeal to the Great Spirit", the last of 4 bronze equestrian sculptures from his "The Epic of the Indian" series.  The sculpture was cast in 1909 in Paris and won a gold medal for its exhibition in the Paris Salon.  There are 3 full sized casts of the sculpture:  One in Muncie, Indiana, One in Tulsa's Woodward Park and One in front of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

BTW: Current Chihuly Exhibit at MFA Boston: Fantastic!

-EE

Blue Dome

In the heart of Tulsa's downtown Brady Arts District is the much loved
Art Deco Icon:  Blue Dome.
Originally a 1920's filling station, turned center of club/nightlife scene, this historic Route 66 jewel is irresistible as a subject of local art.  I decided to try my hand at it and got to work with my V6 software...

 Embroidering Blue Dome was great fun but I didn't have quite the right shade of blue in my thread and fabric stash, so....

 I put some gloves on and got busy dyeing..one of my all time favorite pastimes. Looks like I need new gloves, as these had some leaks!  My darling daughter is calling me "smurf"-my fingers are still blue! 

 Silk, velvet & cotton velveteen..in shades of turquoise/royal

These will be for my next Blue Dome experiment: pillows & applique!

I even dyed some rayon thread while I was at it-dipped the entire cone to transform a pale neutral to this gorgeous hue!

All in all a terrific few days work!

Can't wait to get back to it and more local landmarks..

I have a big project in mind-details to come!

Happy May Day tomorrow!

-EE

Spring In The City

Flower/Taxi Art on Fifth Avenue




New York is one of my favorite places to go for FABRIC, FOOD and INSPIRATION!
Last week darling daughter and I made our annual hop to NYC. This time we dragged  P man along! 

Convincing him to drop everything in the middle of tax season (P's a CPA), proved less difficult than we imagined, particularly once we sweetened the offer with tickets to the high-flying, controversial and thus far, ill-fated Broadway production of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark! 


Sadly, no pics allowed in the theater, so this Playbill will have to suffice.  The show was entertaining, the "flying", spectacular! The villains, though somewhat silly to R and I, were "true" to the comic book according to P.  

We loved the elaborate sets and even liked Arachne, the spider enchantress.  Her voice was magnificent.  There was a dream sequence which was breathtaking!

Bryant Park

We visited our usual favorite places and many of our favorite restaurants, including Bryant Park Grill, Asia d Cuba, Patsy's, Carmine's plus a few new finds!

P likes the New Year's Eve ball

And the view UPtown from ground zeroWe returned to the site to pay our respects and to visit the 9/11 visitors center. Even the darkest moments in our nation's history are essential to remember, as they define us. Seeing, hearing and feeling in this place reaches you  at your very heart and core...

.

 

Grand Central Station

Pee-Wee

            Street Scenes

And windows....

Anthro Window-Rockefeller Center

                And more windows

Louis Vuitton

Fifth Avenue

And ahhh yes...the fabrics...

I believe I love the garment district even more than Fifth Avenue

Showroom after showroom of luscious silks, brocades, burnouts, stripes, beaded gorgeous handwoven masterpieces..just waiting to be snatched up, toted up the subway and back home to be stitched into...

 

call me crazy!! But these are beauties, don't you think??

by the way...ORANGE for spring! and yellow and ORANGE and green and blue and..did I say ORANGE??

happy spring!! -EE

Making Conversation

Two weeks of flu, snowmageddon (back-to-back record snowfalls of 2 plus feet), jury duty and little-if-any creative inspiration finally led to me face my (amazing) new giant screen laptop, which we fondly refer to as the "Admiral Twin" (after the historic Tulsa drive-in theater, think "The Outsiders" movie.....sadly, this landmark recently burned..), and my v6 software to make some last minute valentines!

sweet Bella girl

 

Embroidering the lettering, using London font, 

I stitch in the hoop, on layers of tear-away stabilizer and silk, 

 

 

 Then add layer of silk on top of hoop, which I tack down with large 4mm running stitch.  I then stitch outlines of the hearts, leaving openings to turn the hearts inside out after stitching, trimming and removing stabilizer.

 

After stuffing, closing and embellishing all of my little sweeties, 

I embroider a little red doily on which to place a couple of my favs.

Here is template for your own conversation hearts!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

-EE

Snowpocalypse

Covered under heavy blanket of blizzard, all is quiet here in the midwest/southwest....
airports mostly shut down-still!
Oklahoma is closed, Texas is stunned. Just heard on CNN that temps in Dallas are lower than in Anchorage, Alaska. Not good news for Super Bowl!

These 3 little birds on my back fence and the red one below are weathering the storm. Below O degrees last night.

They are about the only life and activity outside my door

Stilling, chilling and breathtaking...

keep safe & warm
-EE

Cheer and Vintage

Tracey's "diggin' it"

One of my dearest friends recently renovated the greyhound bus depot in historic McKinney Texas, just a hop, skip and jump north of Dallas. She has an amazing green thumb, a horticulturist by profession, and a fantastic eye for the out-of-the ordinary handmade, vintage and one-of -a kind treasures! Her new store "Diggin' It" is filled with whimsy, color, nostalgia and, like a breath of fresh air, gorgeous garden life to fill your home
(and recycle that CO2!)

Next to tree-sized spectacular poinsettias are handmade gifts from local artists, antiques and retro finds. Even lemon trees winter amidst the
HOLIDAY SPARKLE!

If you are in the Dallas area, drop by to see Tracey or visit diggin' it !

Happy Hip House Hopping
And Happy Holiday!
-EE