The wonderful weddings....

 Maria T.  is a tiny little division of my life, and of our real business, (the one that puts food on the table),  the “Electric Hospital”.

It was born after helping 2 of our children plan their weddings, one of the most marvelous experiences I have ever been a part of.  When my daughters announced their plans to wed, we started planning immediately. It was a positive journey in every way,  always remembering the reason for the marriage. It was not about things, or money, it was about love, family, friends.

Both girls decided to come home and marry in our family church, by our family priest, surrounded by loved ones, who came from near and far. Aunts and uncles, cousins, grandfather and friends...they all traveled many miles to be present on that special day..

Paula flew from Chile, with her Chilean fiancee Cristian and part of his family.  Christine traveled from Washington, with her fiancee Jake, whose family lives nearby.  Both weddings were “home made”, and a family affair. From the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, made in our dining room table, to the church and parish hall decorations and food set up. The DJ was their little brother, now a man, engaged to a lovely woman himself. Andrew has that wonderful DJ voice, and a great talent for taking over the task and getting organized without a glitch. He not only plays music, he knows music.

Wonderful friends and family gifted each girl with their generosity. Sally surprised each with a beautiful cake, baked in their colors and themes.

Christine chose white roses...

Paula chose a marine theme...

The cake topper, used on both cakes, was saved from my wedding

For Paula's ceremony, long time family friend, Linda, with the voice of an angel, sung a selection of hymns and love songs accompanied by organist Keryn,  including an a capella rendition of "One Hand, One Heart", from West Side Story, as the couple spent time in prayer in front of the Holy Family altar. And Aunt Judy played romantic music on her violin, from the choir loft, where notes resonated throughout the church. Keryn also played for Christine, and accompanied friend Barb, who, with her soprano voice, sung the "Ave Maria" making the church stained glass windows vibrate! I still get emotional remembering those sounds. Our family priest, Fr. Karl, having known our family for a long time, was able to provide a true, personalized wedding for each, and even added Spanish language to Paula's, so the Chilean part of the family could understand and participate in the ceremony.

All wedding announcements were carefully chosen and worded. Each girl decided on completely different themes. One wanted a blue marine theme, while the other wanted white and traditional. I printed, painted, cut and decorated each of the 200+ invitations each girl chose. I kept in mind a piece of advice a friend gave to me: “Remember, it is THEIR wedding”.... and I never crossed a “t” or dotted an “i” without consulting before. As a result, we had full trust on each other...what a gift for a Mother.

                                          The invitations...

The programs...

The younger sister married first. Christine chose a simple white gown, and then we proceeded to change it.  Over 80 hours of machine embroidery, with silver and white thread, more than 700 pearls and Swarovski crystals and a finger-tip length veil, with it's share of crystals, turned the simple dress into a beautiful wedding gown.

Can you feel the love?

Just get me to the church on time!

Two cultures united..

 Paula also started with a simple dress, which was transformed into a luscious gown by embroidering large blue motifs around the entire length of the train, over a span of 90+ hours and over 800 Swarovski crystals. But this sister wanted things simple...when it came time to design her veil, she asked:  "Where is my sister's veil, I'll use it!" So we dug it out of it's box and a cousin proceeded to steam it and bring it back to life ... and instead of a tiara, a beautiful hairpiece was fashioned from tiny baby white roses that aunt Lynn had purchased to decorate our home ... how lovely they both looked in that veil.

Younger sister wanted pretty shoes that did not hurt, older sister, helped by cousin Amber, decorated a new pair tennis shoes by gluing shells and marine decorations … after all, she is a marine biologist!

A good friend, owner of one of my favorite restaurants, the Pancake Mill, gifted me with over an hour of her time to teach me about foods. What kinds, how much, where to place them on the buffet table.....where to order and how much to order, and what not to get … she was a life saver. Being in the food industry, Bev knows her business! It was a valuable gift that  I used for both weddings. Son in law Jake, from Washington, made sausage and smoked salmon, and brought a generous and delicious platter for his sister in law's buffet.
 

Our Holy Redeemer Catholic Church has a lovely group of Altar Society Ladies who help with the organizing, food, serving, cake cutting, parish hall and church decorations ... what a marvelous group of supportive and giving women. We all have seen each others' children grow up, gone to the same schools, same church, same track meets and band concerts.... they are an extension of our family.

Funny things can happen at weddings … I remember the loud conga line, dancing around the court yard and church, while another Mass was taking place...and thinking, there is a Mass going on at this time....I wonder what the parishioners are thinking!

And then came the time to say goodbye.   At each wedding, we gave the guests tiny bells for the send off. They formed a line as the bride and groom entered their car on the way to their honeymoon.

Ding! Ding! Ding!   (See the decorated tennis shoes?)

Thread Painting

Fiber Arts...
"A style of fine art which uses textiles such as fabric, yarn, and natural and synthetic fibers. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour involved as part of its significance ". Wikipedia.

Painting frees my soul. I have enjoyed this art since a very young age. My family has been kind to place their painted gifts in a place of honor.... Imagine how that inflates my ego! I have discovered that you can paint in many different forms. You can sketch a simple scene and make it come alive with just a few threads. For example, here is a study of a canoe in the reeds.... Free motion machine stitching....

Or you can use the quilting medium as a way to paint.... In this hanging quilt, that I made for one of my daughters, I first sketched the idea on paper and used colored pencils to choose my palette....

This was a truly enjoyable project. My daughter is a Marine Biologist and I knew that she would appreciate a marine theme. I used real "Limpets", the little hat looking shells, since she is an expert on limpets (among other things) I glued them at the bottom of the "shore", beaded other elements and applied pearls and crystal beads to resemble waves and foam.

The shore and Limpets....

And some "waves"...

And more waves....

And, always, a little rain must fall!....I used bugle beads for the look....

And when it is all put together ... a pretty little ocean scene... perfect for a Marine Biologist.... A fun house warming gift, completed just in time for Christmas!

The Impressionists

My grandmother Emilia was born in 1889. I find it unbelievable that Van Gogh was hard at work painting Starry Night at the same time that she entered this earth..... what a connection, I am in awe... and so very inspired....

I love the Impressionist Movement of the 19th century. Open composition, visible brush strokes, vivid colors, lights, darks, accuracy. I am a devout fan of Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cassatt, Renoir.... and so many other geniuses of that time. A few weeks ago, I taught a class on thread painting at our store. If the Impressionists can paint with a brush, why could I not paint with a sewing machine set to free motion, using the needle and thread as my brush and color? It was a fantastic experience. I chose 2 paintings, Van Gogh's "Starry Night" (De sterrennacht c. 1889) , and Degas "Two Dancers at the Barre" (Danseuses à la Barre c.1888). I started with a pencil sketch, chose the right color of fabrics, and using Wonder-Under, fused them to the muslin "canvas". And then, with delicious Floriani Thread as my color palette, I made my sewing machine smoke. For several nights I tested different stitches, the equivalent to a brush stroke. I studied the movement of the strokes on the real paintings, the color highlights, and humbly "replicated" them with thread. Some threads were strong to withstand the force of the sewing machine set on free motion, while others could not handle the stress. Floriani was, by far, the winner. The result was impressive.

Watch the process unfold....

Edgar Degas, Two dancers at the Barre (1888)

Testing colors....

Added hair and a dance "barre" ....

Doodled some lines and eyes....and now she can see!

At this stage I "painted" the ruffles to add a dimensional and full look to her dress.....

"Brushed" the background and shadows and gathered sheer green netting (tulle) on her dance dress, using Floriani gold thread I highlighted the pleats....elegant, isn't it?


And now I present...
Starry Night,
by van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh painted Starry Night while at a sanitarium. It depicts a view from his window at night, although he painted from memory during the day. The Village of Saint-Rémy, was partly invented, the cypress tree an afterthought...and the church spire evokes van Gogh's native land, the Netherlands.

Vincent Van Gogh writes to his brother Theo: "This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big."

The process begins...

Selecting the colors....

Watch the thread painting do it's magic....

Adding the cute little church

Studying the brush motion....

Stars and swirling clouds come to life....

There is so much movement in this painting....

Loving this....

A "comparison".... a humbling feeling....



VOILA!!!!

~A Maria-kind-of-day~

Welcome to my blog!

~A Maria-kind-of-day~ is a project that has lurked in my thoughts for quite some time. I became inspired by reading the blogs of talented fiber-artists, painters, weavers and knitters. One late night I found a knitting blog from a young woman, Jen Little, from New York. I began to wait for her weekly entries, pictures and patterns. She would write about her work, her home, her life and show tiny baby sweaters and hats, quilts and bags. "Looking Glass Knits" opened the doors for me to believe that I, too, could try and share my passion for the arts. The doors opened even wider when I came across the blog of Jane Thornley, a Free Range Knitter from Nova Scotia. In there, she would reveal, in detail, her knitting tours around the world, and her patterns, love for color and beautiful pictures would make my mouth water! And then I found Karen McTavish and her spectacular quilts. A talented artist, mother and musician, creator of "McTavishing", a quilting technique described as "wind or swirling waves".... Since then, I have increased my library of blogs and talented people, all willing to share their artistic gifts so the rest of us can learn. I am encouraged.

Stormy day in Pucon, Southern Chile

What's in a name?

If you are wondering what the name ~A Maria-kind-of-day~ means, it is simply an expression that I use often on Facebook to express my delight when the weather turns cloudy, cool, windy, stormy, rainy, breezy, snowy.... "It's a Maria-kind-of-day"! While I love all kinds of weather, Fall and Winter inspire me. And if it is stormy in the summer ... well ... that wins the ultimate prize!


What will this blog talk about? A little bit of everything...

Knitting

                                                                       

Fiber Arts

Heirloom Sewing

                                       

Painting (Quintero, Chile, where I grew up)

And friendships, weddings, quilting, cooking. It will have family and friends tidbits, information on different subjects and sometimes tutorials. I want it to be fun, colorful, enjoyable and, hopefully, as the blogs that I have treasured until now, inspiring. It will have a place for you to make comments and suggestions. I hope to create a community of friends that come together to make life better, as we help each other to be the best that we can be.


                                      ~The Beginning~

My magic wicker basket with the felt flowers on top

It all started with a little sewing basket that someone gave me on my 6th birthday. It was round, made of wicker, with felt flowers on top ...I did not know it then ... but it was a magic basket, full of never ending ideas and dreams ... and there are still more inside ... like this blog!

Grandmother Emilia and I

I remember carrying my sewing basket filled with little projects that my grandmother, Emilia Pastoriza Rousseau Vargas, born in 1899, would teach me how to make. I treasured the old black Singer needle books, a wooden egg for mending socks, a little pair of scissors. Today, when I hold my basket, I can close my eyes and be transported to more than 1/2 a century ago, the smells, the flowers in bloom.

The grape vine by my window, where the summer rains would resonate like a drum on the green grape leaves at night....

My little knitted cap with the white angora wool and my coat with velvet pockets

I remember holding a little ball of snow-white angora wool, that was a left over from a hat that grandma Emilia had made for me and the soft, black velvet pockets of my winter coat ... the feel of a sheer, starched, organza apron, with bright felt flowers on the pocket ... a rose color shawl, with little buttons on the front, that made me feel cozy-warm. And one of my favorites, that I kept in that basket, a collection of traditional children's stories, the condensed version of Gulliver, Snow White, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Goldilocks.... tiny little yellow books, of not more than a dozen pages, with black and white illustrations. I must have designed Cinderella's wedding dress a hundred times using the book as inspiration and would create little wardrobes for the Princess and the Prince ... and I would dream ... and be transported to other times ... and other worlds...

Much has happened since I received that little round wicker basket with the bright felt flowers on top ... so long ago. My children asked once if the world was black and white "in those days". Since then, at times life has been black and white, but at others, full of color.

So, on this first post of ~A Maria-kind-of-day~ I welcome you into my creative life. I hope to post, at least, once a week, more often if I can.

Congratulations to my friends Sue K. and Anna W. who suggested the name. I love it! You will both receive a little surprise, made by me, as my thanks to you. And thanks to all the friends who sent awesome ideas as well.   Special thanks to family and loved ones who gave me encouragement and believed in me, husband Joe who tries hard to make the impossible, possible, and for teaching me this word of Internet and blogs that I am so slowly learning. My children, who are my muses and models, my source of inspiration, my grandchildren, who keep my creativity in constant motion as I design one more piece for them to wear, one more mural to paint, one more hat to knit.


                                     I Christen this blog

                                ~A Maria-kind-of-day~

Maria at age 6 (after I cut my own bangs)