Back to the Back of Mom's Hamsa

Stitching detail on the back of the Hamsa piece.

I finally finished stitching the back of my Mom's 80th Birthday Hamsa piece.

Now I need to add beaded loops and a couple of beads at the corners. I'm thinking about using some African white heart beads (red with a white center). They will go well with the red stitching.

Here is a photo of the front of the piece with the special hamsa I designed for my Mom.

I will be journeying down to Savannah in early August to escort my parents up to Maine for our annual family reunion. I know she will be happy to finally have the finished piece.

The Searching for Roy G Biv Challenge continues through midnight tomorrow (Saturday)...so there is still time to post some yellow photos.

Searching for Roy G Biv Challenge: YELLOW

Banana Glow

Banana Portrait

Still Life with Lemons (this one is for you, Laura B. L.)

Yellow Tiger

Used Tires

Yellow Hibiscus (the photo that started it all!)

Yellow Challenge Fabric (Carved blocks and block made from toothpicks). You are eligible to win this if you play along!

It's that time of month again! Hope you had a successful search for YELLOW.

To play along, just post up to five YELLOW photos on your blog, website or Flickr page and leave a comment here. I will continue to update this post throughout the day with a link to your photos. If you do not have a blog, website or Flickr page and still wish to play along, I will be happy to post your photos. Leave a comment with your email address and I will be in touch.

The Challenge will continue until midnight, Saturday, July 21 Eastern Time USA. Drawing for the Yellow Challenge Fabric will be on Sunday, July 22.

Be sure to check out Jennifer's blog for more YELLOW.

Looking forward to seeing lots of YELLOW today!

Some YELLOW from my friend Joan S. Thanks for playing, Joan.
Apologies for some of the photo orientations, they don't seem to want to cooperate with techno-savvy-less me!

Hamsa Redux + A Squeezer + A Teaser

Here is yesterday's progress on the hamsa. After taking the photo, I am realizing that I need the larger, center eye (in the palm) to be strong to counterbalance the eyes on the fingertips.

The Squeezer...

The Washington Nationals (The Nats) vs. The New York Metropolitans (The Mets). A pitching duel until the 9th inning when crazy excitement broke out with a disputed three-run homer by the Mets. I took this photo as it's an unusual occurrence. One hundred degrees at the ball park and I swear that the dark blue seats were radiating heat even after the sun went down. Lots of sweating going on--literally and figuratively. The home team (The Nats) pulled it off in the bottom of the 10th inning...bases loaded and a wild pitch to bring the winning run home. Whew!

The Teaser...

A glimpse of the Searching for Roy G Biv Challenge fabric for this month. Hope you will join in starting tomorrow, July 19th. You have until midnight Saturday, June 21 Eastern time USA to post some yellow on your blog, website or Flickr page and leave a comment here or on Jennifer's blog. Or email your photos to me and I will post them for you here.

Hoping for lots of Yellow tomorrow!

Hamsa Redux: Eeking Out Progress and Other Thoughts

I was in a hurry this morning to take photos of my progress on the hamsa piece. I had to work at the bead shop yesterday to fill in for another person. There was some aggravation involved in giving up one of my weekend days, when I'd rather be in the studio stitching. I did manage to get some work done when I got home and eeked out a bit of progress on the piece.

This morning, I read an inspiring article in the Washington Post, about a man who works for the Metro (our mass transit system). He spends his days at Metro's printing plant where he is in charge of running the machines that print out thousands of pocket guides and maps as well as packing them up for distribution through out the Metro system. It seems like a monotonous job...I know it would seem that way to me. But this man, Aurelio Bello, an immigrant from Cuba, spends his time singing as he works and writing poetry during his breaks.

He is 87 years old (young).

When asked, Why don't you retire? He replies:
I tell them I am not working for the money. I am working because I feel useful. And not only that-- at my age I need to exercise my muscles and my mind. I can't sit in a chair at home, waiting for death. 

This story really hit home for me. I am watching my parents and in-laws age. I am very aware of the transitions that are happening. There are health issues both mental and physical.

I am also aware of how important it is to have some form of creativity in one's life...making the time to write a poem, to pick up a needle and thread and do a bit of stitching...

Hamsa Redux: Starting to Stitch

I finally had the chance yesterday to start stitching on the new (and hopefully, improved) version of the hamsa piece for F.I.N.E. We are having a meeting this coming Wednesday and this needs to be completed or at least VERY far along.

I pulled out my embroidery floss and started auditioning colors. I had a pretty good idea about where I wanted to go, but the subtleties of the colors required a bit of thought.

I also wanted to try some stitch variations for the eyes on the fingertips, including: back stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch and chain stitch.

I actually liked the look of the back side of the back stitch which appeared as a looser version of the stem stitch. Rather than working from the back, I decided to do a less regular stem stitch. The finished sample eye is what I'm planning for the final piece.

Here is the progress so far.

There is still much to do.

Yesterday's entertainment while stitching included watching/listening to Mystic River and part of The Shining...what a strange combination...wonder if it had any effect on my stitching!

Hamsa Redux Continued

Hamsa fused to purple background

 Yesterday was happily a full day of working in the studio. I was able get more done on the hamsa piece for my exhibiting group, F. I. N. E.

I backed the orange fabric with Mistyfuse. I haven't used this product before. I don't really work with fusibles generally, but the Mistyfuse seemed to work quite well.

After backing the fabric, I placed the hamsa design on a light table and traced the design with a colored pencil. I then cut the hamsa out with sharp scissors and fused it to the purple/dark green fabric.

I again put the piece on my light table and lined the fused hamsa up with the design so I could trace the circle behind the hamsa onto the purple fabric.

Hamsa on light table so I can trace circle design.

Circle design traced with colored pencil. Now it's ready to cut out.

After cutting out the design with scissors, I placed it on the canvas just to get an idea of how it would look.

Finally, I fused the hamsa to the light green fabric.

Next step is adding stitched details. I plan to do that this weekend.

July Roy Reminder: Mellow Yellow

The Searching for Roy G Biv (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) Challenge is just a week away.

This month features the color yellow.

I've been spending time today working on my yellow Challenge fabric which will be sent to a lucky winner.

Printed a texture layer over the yellow background. The flowers are covered with freezer paper masks.

This was an extra sample where I tested out some ideas. You will have to wait until July 19th to see what I decided to do for the final challenge fabric.

But, you have to play the game to win.

Click here for more information about how to play this game with me and Jennifer.

It's a lot of fun, just grab your camera and start your search.

Post your photos starting on Thursday, July 19th.