Thursday, January 17, 2008

Embroidered Cottage Portrait, Continued

This place truly is my favorite subject...
My Uncle Hal remembered Sunday morning church services on the porch shown in this picture, back in the 1920's...back then the services would rotate from cottage to cottage along the row all through the summer.
There were Fourth of July parades conducted with great pomp as well, with fireworks blown up over the water at night.
My dad had teen-aged parties there where he charmed one and all with his piano playing...he went there with my mom for their honeymoon....one of my brothers died there when we were children ( I wouldn't let my own boys go near water without me watching them like a paranoid crazy mommy for years because of that)....my own summers there were the light of my youth, even when all hell broke loose in my family, beginning with Freddie's drowning...
....and still the place never changes. It exists outside of time. I go there now as a member of the older generation, finding such peace and love and beauty as my extended family has knit back together in our renewed appreciation for one another....

I added a tiny bit of blue Tsukineko ink, mixed with clear aloe gel to keep it from speading, into the sky area above the roof peak...and I've got to redo that stitching along the edge of the porch on the right...then I'll be ready to work on the CQ frame.

On another note, and looking forward towards my next big project.....I found a new blogger who does a painting a day using oils. Manjiree's work just really speaks to me. I wrote her and asked her if I could use a few of her images to transfer onto fabric for my next project...which will be about gardens and the food we grow in them....and she graciously gave permission, also to letting me post some of her images here. Do visit her blog so you can see more of her work.
Thanks, Manjiree!!!

Won't they look FABULOUS in a crazy quilt?

12 comments :

atet said...

That cottage is amazing! I love the detial you have in there with the stitching. Thanks for sharing this.

Possibilities, Etc. said...

The cottage is a dream - and the new subject matter is truly something to look forward to. Thanks for the new link!

Barbara said...

I love your cottage Allie - it's absolutely beautiful!

Barbara C said...

The cottage is such a special place--what powerful associations it has for you. I'm glad you've decided to memorialize it this way.

I love the idea of your garden project. I look forward to seeing what you do with these lovely images.

Granny Fran said...

Your stitching is so perfect for that enchanted cottage!

Those paintings will be wonderful in a CQ. She is quite good.

Susan said...

What lovely hand-me-down memories you have of this place. I hope they are recorded somewhere. It looks like the loveliest place to visit! That's where you went last summer, when you met Pat, and taught the other ladies in the family a bit about stitching?

Karrin Hurd said...

Love the cottage project, it looks like such a peaceful place. The garden project looks fun as well.

Rian said...

I did visit her blog, wow, what an artist! And so prolific!

I am loving your cottage piece...thanks for sharing your memories of it. If walls could talk, eh?

Debra Dixon said...

Your cottage piece looks as nostalgic as your writing illustrates it to be.

Love the work of the Indian artist--very cool. I will be watching this one with interest since I have a food quilt planned too!

Kay said...

You've made a beautiful, nostalgic picture of this place with all its memories.

Deb Hardman said...

Oh Allie, it's so beautiful it makes me want to cry.

I can't tell you how it's moved me. I had a young cousin drown in Lake Michigan when we we kids, I still can't go there without thinking of her.

Marty52 said...

So many memories, both sad and happy, are tied up in that little cottage. How wonderful for you and your family to have it as an anchor.