French Beaded Flowers

My *new* hometown library has a case with monthly displays. This month is featuredthe ancient craft of  French Beaded Flowers . These were created in the 1970s by Shirley Kopkowski who sold them at craft shows.

Shirley told us that one lady saw her flowers, blanched, and turned and walked away. Later she returned and told her that in her country these flowers were used for memorials at grave sites. She had a sudden rush of memories upon seeing them.

Learn more at http://www.rosemarykurtz.com/  or https://blog.etsy.com/en/2013/history-lesson-french-beaded-flowers/ or http://www.deesbeadedflowers.com/index.html

Shirley is in the weekly quilt group I have been attending. This lovely quilt was also in the library.

 

This embroidered and quilted hanging was made by Thayne Neff of Clawson

Magnificent Minds: Contributions in Science and Medicine by Women

"Why has woman passion, intellect, moral activity--these three--and a place in society where no one of the three can be exercised?" Florence Nightingale in "Cassandra"

Florence Nightingale conjurers up an image of  a compassionate woman tenderly caring for war wounded men. She is remembered as a nurse--a role consistent with social expectations of women as mothers and nurturers. We may know that she revolutionized hospital care and inspired the founding of the Red Cross, but how many of us know that she loved mathematics and employed statistics in her research and created pie charts for her reports? Or that 'Crimean fever' left her in extreme pain and often bedridden while she continued her crusade? Nightingale was the founder of modern nursing based on evidence and experience--and mathematics.

Nightingale was selfless and devout, like the Victorian model of womanhood. But her brilliant mind and willingness to go into the filth and gore of the battlefield and hospital instead of expected marriage and motherhood set her apart as a 'remarkable woman'.

Pendred Noyce's book Magnificent Minds:16 Remarkable Women in Science & Medicine considers women from across history whose curiosity drove them to achieve important advances in physics, astronomy, chemistry and medicine. 

The book is beautifully presented with  an historical time-line for each woman, a concise biography including both her private life and career, illustrations, and side bar explanations. The achievements of each woman is understandably presented in context of their time and from a historical perspective. 

The women include:

• Louise Bourgeois Boursier, 1563-1626, France, Midwife 
• Maria Cunitz, 1610-1664, Poland and Germany, Astronomer
• Marie Meurdrac, 1610-1680, France, Chemist
• Laura Bassi, 1711-1778, Italy, Physicist
• Augusta Ada Bryon, Countess Lovelace, 1815-1852, England, Computing Science
• Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910, England, Mathematics
• Mary Putman Jacobi, 1842-1906, United States, Medial Science
• Sophie Kovalevskaya,1850-1891, Russia, Mathematics
• Marie Sklodowska Curie, 1867-1934, Poland and France, Physics
• Lise Meitner, 1878-1968, Austria, Physics
• Emmy Noeher, 1882-1935, Germany, Mathematics
• Barbara McClintock, 1902-1992, United States, Medical Sciences
• Grace Murray Hopper, 1906-1992, United States, Computer Science
• Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin,1910-1994, England, Chemistry
• Chien-Shiung Wu, 1912-1997, China and the United States, Physics
• Gertrude B. Elion,1918-1999, United States, Chemistry

Each loved a challenge and desperately wanted to work and contribute to improve society and expand our understanding of the world.

I was kept interested throughout the book and it left me wanting to know more. Happily, the author includes a reading list so one can learn more about each woman. This is a wonderful book for classroom use or to share with young women to encourage their dreams.

I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Magnificent Minds: 16 Remarkable Women in Science & Medicine

by Pendred E. Noyce

JKS Communications, Tumblehome Learning, Inc.

ISBN: 9780989792479

$18.75 hard cover

Publication March 1, 2015

NBC 1964-65 Souvenir Star Guide

1964 marked the height of my television addiction. I sent away for a STAR ALBUM about the new season. 100 pages of colorful, full page photos of NBC's big stars!

It must have been my favorite channel--Channel 4 out of Detroit--because I sure watched a lot of these shows. Like the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. (Only we didn't have a color tv yet...I would not get one until 1985.)

Some of my favorite shows included Bonanza 

 and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Mom watched Dr. Kildare and I always watched what Mom watched

 And my brother and I still enjoyed Mr. Magoo

 We watched Daniel Boone

And Flipper

 And even Hazel

I think Mom watched Mr. Novak

 And Tammy

 Mom stayed up late, but she watched old movies instead of Johnny Carson

 But I remember the  Huntley-Brinkley Report

I remember getting excited for Saturday Night at the Movies

 Then they added Wednesday Night at the Movies.

 Danny Thomas I knew from Make Room for Daddy

The News was big. NBC had 17 correspondents. 

Their programs included the Today show, the Huntley-Brinkley Report, the Morning Report, the Day Report, the Mid-Afternoon Report, the Afternoon Report, Meet the Press and Sunday. Now we have CNN and continual news 24-7.

What was your favorite NBC show this season? If you don't see it let me know and I can upload the photos!

My Flea Market Haul

On Sunday we went to the Royal Oak Flea Market--just because. After months of single digit and low 20 degree temperatures it is warming up and we feel like getting out again.

A lady was closing out her shop here and offered me a great deal on her entire stash of linens, handkerchiefs, gloves, napkins and tablecloths.

Souvenir handkerchiefs from San Francisco (nylon) and Winnipeg (hand painted silk)

Tatted edged hankies

a whole lot of gloves!

1970s towel

Bluebird embroidered table covers

 embroidered linen table cover

embroidered doilies

embroidered table cover and napkin set

napkins of all kinds! 

crochet work with "M"

embroidered His and Hers pillowcases with orchids

A sachet?

Table cloth

Tablecloth

Lacy things

The entire haul

NOW... what shall I do with it?

Landscape Impacting Art: Art Quilts of the Midwest

On the historical timeline Art Quilts are relative newcomers. One could argue that the Crazy Quilt fad of the 19th c. produced quilts for show, not use, but the term as we employ it today refers to art studio quilts to be shown in exhibitions and collected by museums. They are designed with no functional use in mind. They are fabric based, usually several layers somehow tied together, but also can incorporate found materials, embellishments, and can be three-dimensional and asymmetrical. They are always the viewpoint of an artist, a statement, something encountered and experienced.

It may surprise some to know how important the Midwest is to the development of quilting and art quilts. Not to those of us from the Midwest! Consider:

• The American Quilt Study Group based in Lincoln, NB
• The American Quilt Society and the AQS museum in Paducah, KY
• Quilts National/Diary Barn Arts Center
• Nancy Crow, Ohio quilt artist and the Quilt Surface Design Symposium

And this just begins the list. In 2013 the Grand Rapids Art Prize went to quilt artist Ann Loveless for her Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore quilt. The American Quilt Society show at Grand Rapids has brought art quilts to West Michigan, as well as the traveling Mancusco Brothers World Quilt and Textile festival when it came to Lansing, MI. We Michiganders are very aware of the impact of environment on art quilts!

Art Quilts of the Midwest by Linzee Kull McCray looks at twenty quilt artists from the Midwest to explore how environment impacts their work. Our environment influences us in many ways, from childhood memories and nostalgia to our values and customs. The Midwest is primarily rural, endures seasonal extremes, was settled by pioneers and immigrants used to thrift and the necessity of hard labor. It also incorporates diverse ecosystems, from the Great Lakes with its beaches and great inland seas, its deep woods, to the vast open prairies and big skies.

McCray interviewed each quilt artist about influences and techniques behind their work. Each artist has a close up and page sized broad view of a quilt and a broad view of a second quilt. Artists included are:

• Marilyn Ampe of St. Paul MN
• Gail Baar of Buffalo Grove, IL
• Sally Bowker of Cornucopia, WS
• Peggy Brown of Nashville, IN
• Shelly Burge of Lincoln, NE
• Shin-hee Chin of McPherson, KS
• Sandra Palmer Ciolino of Cincinnati, OH
• Jacquie Gering of Chicago, IL
• Kate Gorman of Westerville, OH
• Donna June Katz of Chicago, IL
• Beth Markel of Rochester Hills, MI
• Diane Nunez of Southfield, MI
• Pat Owoc of St. Louis, MO
• B J Parady of Batavia, IL
• Bonnie Peterson of Houghton, MI
• Luanne Rimel of St. Louis, MO
• Barbara Schneider of Woodstock, IL
• Susan Shie of Wooster, OH
• Martha Warshaw of Cincinnati, OH
• Erick Wolfmeyer  of Iowa City, IO

As a quilter I don't view this as merely a coffee table book, but as a source of inspiration, a reminder that one's art is only limited by one's imagination. I want to try some of these techniques! No, there are not how-to instructions, you cannot recreate these works of art. Yet it is by studying the Masters that artists learn, and the same holds true for quilters.

I received the ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Art Quilts of the Midwest
by Linzee Kull McCray
University of Iowa Press
ISBN: 9781609383237
$24.95
104 pages, 60 color photographs, 8x9 inches
Publication Date: March 15, 2015

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