Hello, 2021: What's New?

 Working on unfinished projects is a large part of my "New Year's Resolutions". I have been cleaning out work-bags and miscellaneous boxes lately, and have found a number of projects that were rolled up or folded before they were completed. One of them was a surprise that I was making for a young girl who loved penguins.  Unfortunately for the penguins, the child moved away suddenly and left no forwarding address.  So the penguins got put away and forgotten. When I found them, they just begged to be finished. An adult penguin has brought several baby penguins to see the summer sun, which they had never seen, rising from the sea to mark the beginning of the Antarctic summer. There are dimly seen icebergs in the background, against the colorful sky lighted by the Aurora Australis, or "Southern Lights". It was fun to make. I hope you enjoy it, too. (This is a storybook kind of picture and not meant to represent reality.)

A new year promises new beginnings, new ideas, new projects — even in the midst of serious problems and heavy burdens left over from the previous year.  J. D. and I outlined some projects in the recent Early Winter Q. and A. (December 14, 2020), and are now "fine-tuning" some of the activities we have mentioned in past issues and are introducing others.  We have done some things that extend previous endeavors and will show some of those in this post.  There are also some projects we have not had recent occasion to show you that you may enjoy.

Small needlework hearts, ideas for use, April 10, 2017

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Here are some photos of past projects that we have done for it.  

The Heart in Design, January 30, 2017

Also our next post will feature new ideas and patterns for the occasion in time to get them finished.  It is easy to get young children involved in Valentine's Day activities.  Please do so, even if it means some clean-up — in which the child should take an active part. Even older ones may get interested if they are challenged to come up with something new and different.  (Can you make a spiral Valentine or write and record a Valentine song or make a memory jar for a grandparent or turn "I Love You" into a wind chime?) We hope that concentrating on familiar things will help us all get through the coming days.

Building "Hearts Afire", December 22, 2014. Also see Heart with "Love" chart, January 21, 2020

 

Moravian star

Have you ever looked long and hard for something and then found it, as the saying goes, "right under your nose"? I found what I was looking for this morning right above my head! A few months ago we did an article on symmetry and indicated that we would continue it some time in the future. In that article we discussed how squares, rectangles, triangles and hexagons could be used to construct more complex designs in both 2 and 3 dimensions. I was going through my files, looking for a design with which I could start a new article, but I couldn't find just what I wanted.  I walked into another room, and there, hanging from the ceiling in my stained-glass collection, was just what I needed. This piece is a Moravian star. See how the smaller right triangles edge the center hexagon, and how "sliding" each one forward around the hexagon produces the star? This article will take some time to put together, but it is definitely ‘on the way’.

Animal prints in progress

We have continued to add to our collection of animal prints, and there are new ones in preparation. We do both black-and-white and color prints in various sizes.

We have a dear friend with whom we always exchange holiday gifts. She knows that I make items of warm clothing, puppets and stuffed toys, etc. for various children's charities and that I start on ones for the next year as soon as the ones for the old year have shipped.  This year her gift box had a handmade cap and scarf on top with a note asking me to add them to this year's collection. I was greatly touched by her generous gesture. Her passion is rescuing and finding homes for abandoned and abused animals, so we are going to see what we can make and/or do for them this year.  Knowing about each other's passions and helping with time, effort, or money is a trend we hope to see spread.

We have been asked to return to some previous topics with new stitches, projects, and suggestions. One of these is a return to the "World of Crewel". We plan to show more stitch ‘families’ and samples of them in use, including some close-up color photos of selected areas of completed articles so that you can see the actual stitches in use. We are also going to include some new border designs that you can trace or turn into hot-iron transfers.  Another thing we want to emphasize is the difference in appearance achieved with conventional wool embroidery stitches as opposed to the same designs done with different flosses.

Something else we have emphasized over the years is making arts and crafts easier, so that older people, or anyone with eye or hand problems, can continue to enjoy these activities on a different scale. Here is an example of what I mean. This piece is worked on rug canvas in knitting yarn. The canvas is stiff enough to hold easily with one hand while you stitch with the other. The yarn covers the canvas well and gives a 3-dimensional effect to the surface of the work. I prefer a plastic needle for this type of work because it doesn't tend to damage the fibers of the yarn.
 

Another very popular topic that is frequently requested is "Optical Illusions". We have decided to have a division of labor when we next approach that topic. Since my stitchery takes more time than J.D.'s photography or computer designing, he will do the fool-the-eye tricks, done his way, and I will stick to my stitching.

We will continue to feature science articles like the “All About Color” series and features like our Earth Day and Arbor Day messages, so watch for those. We also plan to continue to expand our Extras section with new tips, activities, and encouragement. J.D. is working on a format that we hope will make it quicker and easier to find specific topics. We also hope to include the occasional "fun and games" issue like the ones we did for Thanksgiving and New Year's. We welcome your questions and comments.  Let's work together to make 2021 a much better year than 2020, and  — while we are at it — make the world a little better place.

Stay safe and well.  Best wishes,

 

and J.D.     

      

Try scrolling just a few lines up and down to see the illusion.

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.