My Buffalo gals, the Millers amazing woodwork accessories and Jackie's Ode...

I began this post after I finished my pre-stitching, before I actually attended Jackie Du Plessis's 'Ode' finishing class, in Buffalo, NY last October of 2016. My Ode is to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of JA's death this year, 1817-2017. Ode is a 'miniature writing desk' box (made by Miller Carpentry Creations) filled with hand embroidered finished smalls pictured below. Note, all the design's shown in this post are copyrighted. Any questions or interest in a project should conclude by contact with the accredited teacher, to determine the 'where and what', of her teaching schedule...Some classes may no longer be available but these talented ladies will be very obliging...

Ode is opened with a fob. I modified Jackie's key design to duplicate the key to St. Nicholas church. The box floor is a miniature sampler, mostly over one thread, no not JA's sampler...but similar in style to English band samplers.

A fabric band of linen edged with Hedebo scallops holds tiny bottles, who in turn hold tiny mother-of-pearl finishing buttons. Mine has included an ink bottle from the Winchester Cathedral gift shop, along with it's matching JA inspired pen and pencil. Note the plaque on the lid in the picture above. It is inscribed with a JA quote from one of her prayers, along with a thread spool holder, housewife, pin keep, sweet bag and needlebook to store inside the box. I tucked in other treasures such as a deck of JA playing cards. It's a very tight fit!....Very fun!!.. I also changed Jackie's housewife a bit with the addition of my dedication and 'signature' below the alphabets depicted in the top most picture...I hope both Jackie and JA approve...

Jackie's class has prompted the following discussion on finishing....Finishing can take on quite a few different meanings to different groups of embroiderer's. To someone such as myself, I enjoy historically inspired embroidered items. After I complete a reproduction sampler, I do not commission a framer. I finish my edges in hemstitching (like early 16-17th century samplers) mount it on a linen covered foam core board and stick it in a frame, myself...The example below is a reproduction sampler from The Scarlet Letter. Note the neatly finished edges around the perimeter, also the background filling stem stitch of the center 'boxer' band. In addition the bands of queen stitch, montenegrin, rice, bullion and satin filling stitches all added to the interest of this sampler originally completed by Rachel Jarrett at the age of eleven. What is even more interesting is that she completed it in 1768, and the band designs were actually popular motifs a century earlier. Rachel's sampler is actually a reproduction sampler in it's own right! I pace myself by working each band over a month or two period. Too long at work on 36 and finer linen causes eye strain. The magnification and lighting investments of some embroiderer's is beyond the scope of this blog...ha ha...

Next, I want to discuss a few of my favorite teachers and finishing classes. Realize, before I consider investing in a class, it needs to be worth my time, money and foremost intellectually stimulating. An example is an Elizabethan sampler class of Nan Tyson Euler. Arbella is a fictitious sampler inspired by the Jane Bostocke sampler (the oldest known 'signed' sampler to date 1598, V & A). Arbella has interesting stitching techniques with Holbein and goldwork but what was worth the two day drive and hotel stay???.... I learned, along with a discussion on ciphers, a tack/lock stitch which anchors the thread used in tiny singular stitch/knot's. I have experience with this stitch in crewelwork but the concept of a different use was eye opening...That tack/lock stitch is invaluable for reversible embroidery work!

Let me describe other classes with wonderful teachers I have taken over the years. More than a decade ago I finished Merry Cox's 'French Bonbon Box', pictured below. This was my first experience with French seams and techniques which employed both linen and card stock in finishing this silk drawstring bag.

Next, Betsy Morgan and her wonderful twisted cord and tassel finishing classes. My 'Four Season's Pin Cube' and 'Edinburgh Sweet Bag' are below. I also attended Betsy's 'Toy Chest Etui' class in 2010, (poop, that's a long time ago). An embroidered etui chest inspired by Pennsylvania Dutch painted motif''s, the sub-title is, 'A big girl's box of toys', and it flipping is.... I have to finish this while I'm still in PA....

Then...Sherri Jones, from my home state of Michigan and her skillfully designed classes, with more of a Victorian flare. Below is the 'Ring of Roses', a bag constructed of rings covered with a silk thread Hedebo technique. Also, pictured below, a Tulip Tray, Hare Box, and Blue Ribbon Sewing Box (woodwork by Miller Carpentry Creations). All are great finishing classes, in techniques I can utilize for my caskets. Sherri also has a 'Button Lover's Brag Book', which became an Ebay crazed pastime for me, I may post that too, once finish!

Barbara Jackson, who has graciously passed on techniques in Crewel embroidery obtained from the Royal School of Needlework in preparation/mounting of embroidery work, combining wool and silks and over all very traditional and professionally appealing designs. Crewel work and punched needle will be my techniques of choice as my eyes age....

Catherine Theron offered a 'huswife/wallet' finishing class with a very traditional Irish stitch design I completed this for my son's High School graduation. Yes real men do sew...!!...

        


Marcia Brown Smith has written finishing techniques for Dr. Tricia Wilson Nguyen's projects over the years but has had great examples of box finishing of her own right. Two of her classes are shown below...

CA Wells taught the first finishing class I ever attended the Acorn Etui. Also pictured below, a Sampler Storage Roll and Sailor's Valentine (JA casket motif???). CA's classes are very entertaining.. She will usually keep you interested by story telling or twisting cord, by hand... I was completely engrossed and deeply concerned to keep up in class, but somehow, tangled my threads on my cardigan buttons and fell behind.. I made a complete mess and distinctly remember the day because of it....

Catherine Jordan, who along with her dyeing and fiber classes has fearlessly crossed the creativity line by combining paint in her embroidery projects. I have two embroidered maps and accessories which utilize this technique. Rae Iverson is a master in etui designs...as I finish her kit's I will post. I have a set of Williamsburg etui's of 'The Needlework shop' and 'Bruton Parish' I am determined to complete before the Williamsburg AGM in 2019...and a Shaker box with a matching herb garden housewife...all so wonderful...add to the masterful written kit texts, quality materials and Rae's accompanying well informed historically inspired lectures they are the icing on the cake!!

Enough contained in this post, which has inspired me to return stitching...

The Men's Club and reflections on the decision to marry.......

This post begins with an admission of what has prevented me from sharing updates of my casket progress. With my children grown and moved on in their college careers, I have been deep in thought of what I would still like to accomplish in the next decade. The casket project, has been top on my priority list for some time, almost six years! The thought provoking study behind this goal has made me completely analyze my life. What was Jane Austen's goal with her novels, other than the cynic's answer, 'to make money'? I have revisited plans I had in my teens and early twenties of what I wanted out of life. As such, I have had a life changing realization. In analysis of my marriage and compared with other couples of my acquaintance over the past four years; I am aware I spent thirty years in an unsupportive marriage. I spent most of 2015 in a terribly hurtful divorce and 2016 recovering and now enjoy complete freedom. I have made many decisions this past year, on my own, which I had been told the past two decades, I was incapable of...

I have settled in, and am very happy in my sweet little condominium. I now have a room for my craft storage I finished for ME pictured below. Something I have always wanted but never had.

A walk-in closet with a sweet faux crystal chandelier light and wall of mirrors, I installed, which has just enough room for my clothes ALONE!

I hung the huge brass light fixture, pictured, in my first floor dining area and installed shelving in the loft area upstairs.

New pots and different varieties of plants adorn my front door.

I love my granite counter tops, and counter stools, I assembled, and amazingly my new dishes coordinate very well.

                                                   

Yes, I love IKEA, and am acquainted and very skilled with a cordless drill and wrenches! It has been crazy moving everything I own, plus my children's belongs in and out of storage (two to four times), in search of a permanent home. It's wonderful to be finally settled in an area with gobs of history, supportive friends, and like minded casketeers! This is enough for now, while I finish my casket and rebuild my life...

All of the female heroines from Austen's novels are caught up in compromise due to societal forced dependence. The male characters patriarchal roles, as in real life, always have their demands met, and in most cases it is for their physical and/or financial benefit. The female characters are forced to compromise and weigh their options to find a 'match' and hopefully a happy life. Discussion from papers and the 2014 JASNA AGM in Montreal incorporated undertones of slavery and misogyny in Mansfield Park, an issue which has made me very uncomfortable at this point in my life. I do believe the last form of slavery in this country is marriage. I do not remember where I heard this first, 'marriage is the one institution so easy to enter into and so extremely difficult to escape'. It's rare to find a marriage where the couple 'are equals'. One person tends to submit to the other in an uncompensated role..... slavery. In most cases it will still be the woman who is left the burden of caring for children. Growing up I questioned why the majority of biblical stories were about men. We are brainwashed into misogynistic thinking in which men are somehow more important than women. Now I realize............... men are simply immature and selfish by nature, and the stories reflect this. A majority of the females show intuitive judgement for the good....my favorite is loyal Ruth. The recent 2016 Presidential election reflects the resurgence of patriarchal control and misogyny. If women were more in control, I'm certain the world would be a better place. Women are just created more perfect and virtuous than men....which I believe is what unnerves men.

I do believe it is best to spend a life alone, rather than with unsupportive people who are hurtful and lack understanding. I decided over the past several years to methodically disengage from negative people as they show themselves. I am towards the end of my struggle and am amazed how peaceful my life is becoming. A vast amount of insecure people have a sole purpose to make all issues, whether great or small, a complete issue of control. Allowing others to have such an influence over your path is in itself a call for elimination. Now as I evaluate my future back into the workforce I hope I can avoid an unsupportive role and find a place that I can enjoy, contribute and benefit from.

My story....I grew up in the 70's when women were just beginning to, we thought, 'encouraged' to, enter into more non-traditional career paths. I always enjoyed 'fine' and 'industrial' arts, and believed Architecture would be a great career path for me. I actually won an 'honorable mention' in a Detroit Free Press sponsored competition in High School for an Architectural submission. Years previous to this, before I was allowed to enroll in drafting, unlike the boys, I was forced to the Principal's office to make my case. I was labeled a 'troublemaker', to enroll in drafting rather than the traditional 'home economics' classes. I'll say it's ironic that I actually do enjoy home sewing and fine hand embroidery, incidentally, most technically educated women do. An education should, however, broaden your knowledge and challenge you. Or look at it this way, baking is chemistry and I had that class. I dream in color, can easily read a blueprint and tell you what parts of an engine are rotating and which are stationary, my brain just works that way. At the time, I foolishly, wanted to belong to 'the men's club' and be considered an equal, a partner, a team player. I ended up with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, had just a bit of savings, and thought I would work and put myself through a Masters degree in Architecture as time and money would afford. My father's concern was that I would put a MAN out of a job. He belonged to 'the men's club', not exactly a more abundant life thinker. Perhaps he just wanted me to consider how insecure average men may feel. On many occasions I would explain, 'I had the degree' and if they didn't 'have a degree' they did not deserve the job. Now, here is the ugly reality which every woman my age or older knows too well..... We always made less money than our male counterparts. We intentionally were paid less so the possibility of living an independent life and affording tuition or a down payment for a home was not easy. Women were constantly forced into a life of dependency, always some excuse of why we as women deserved less. The recent election I fear is a return to this narrow minded patriarchal past.

So what, you ask, has this to do with Jane Austen and the concept of virtue.... I believe the original quote may have been Madeleine Albright, but here is my interpretation. Very average men can get along in life, but women are always held to a higher standard, it's the double standard. My point is, the pressure of society to force people to seek a permanent relationship for life is completely unreasonable, and I'm talking about the treatment of women. I feel marriage limits an individuals growth and should be abolished. Marriage if created for 'the procreation of children' and ease in care of them, is not accomplishing this goal. Almost 41% of US births in 2012 were in single family homes, from a 2013 pole by National Review. The institution of marriage only benefits men and should be eliminated if women are to be treated as equals...Marriage is the harbinger of misogyny and male dominance.

I'm happy I have the freedom to share my thoughts on past relationships between men and women and my personal reservation as I reenter the workforce after 25 years as a 'stay at home mom'. I admit my decade of work experience was in the 80's, in a society I resented, where most institutions were geared toward men. I can only hope I have a place in the now......