Artistic Inspiration From Far Away--May BJP

This piece has been done for quite a while, but I've been a blogging slacker. Bad Marty! Or maybe that should be busy Marty. I've done some sewing, which involved lots and lots of fitting and alterations. Photos will come later, after the grand debuts of the outfits.

I realize that I keep going on and on about our trip to Turkey in April. To repeat, it was super-fabulous! And this BJP was inspired by some of the things we saw in Turkey. I showed some of my photos here and here and here. Think turquoise. Turkey. Turquoise. The sea, the sky, the tiles. My inspiration for May.

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with Azure Blue Dye-na-Flow.

The piece started with the two vintage 30 millimeter bugle beads. They were on a short piece beaded trim given to me by a friend. Thanks, K! Other beads used are 8/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, charlottes, triangles, smaller bugles, hexes, twisted hexes, and some drop beads.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch.

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

I used AA C-lon thread in turquoise.

What I Was Thinking:

While I stitched this piece, I remembered the beautiful Iznik tiles from the 16th to the 18th century we saw in Turkey. If want to splurge, you can buy reproductions here. Or you can just look.

Issues That Came Up:

It was harder than I expected to work around the large bugles. The piece didn't turn out at all as I originally thought.

I kept remembering the June 2009 piece here, and wanting to make sure the two didn't turn out the same. I did not get the older piece out, but when I see the two photos, they look quite similar. The beads must know what they want.

I used C-lon thread in this piece, as well as in my April piece and in the soon-to-be-finished June piece. I prefer Nymo. For me, Nymo seems to stay twisted better than C-lon.

So now to finish June and then to think about July.

Emerald Hope Stone

If you look carefully, you might be able to see the word HOPE etched on this stone. Hope Stones are given to cancer survivors at our local American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

The stones are intended to give a survivor hope when he or she needs it. Survivors are encouraged to pass along a Hope Stone when there is someone with cancer who needs this physical symbol of hope.

This stone is emerald green glass. I mounted it on Lacy's Stiff Stuff, backed it with UltraSuede, and added the edging, fringe and ribbon for hanging. I donated it to our Relay for Life to be used as a door prize at the dinner for survivors. I wanted to give someone some extra hope.

You can see some of my other Hope Stones here.

April BJP--Robin's Egg Blue for Spring

If keeping up with this blog is an optional--no obligation--activity, why do I feel guilty about being a blog posting slacker? And why does the blog nag at me when I ignore it? Enough of the philosophical questions and on to the April BJP.

The April BJP was completed in May. I first blogged about it here in early April on the day we left for our super-fabulous trip to Turkey. At that time, I counted 32 different kinds of Robin's Egg Blue beads in the lower part of the piece. As far as I can tell without using a jeweler's loupe or making myself crazier than usual, I seem to have succeeded in making each column a different kind of bead. There are a few additional kinds of beads in the top part. I'm not going to count them mostly because I don't want to know exactly how many different kinds of beads I have in this color. Too embarrassing.

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with Dye-na-Flow, probably a combination of Azure Blue and Emerald Green.

Although we weren't going to discuss this further, I think there are close to forty different kinds of beads in this piece. An embarrassment of beads. The largest ones are five lentils. The smallest are 15/0s.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch and a bit of couching in this piece.

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

I used size AA C-lon thread in turquoise.

What I Was Thinking:


This Robin's Egg Blue color is a nice color for spring. Robin's Egg Blue is definitely a 50s name for a color. My mother used to describe this shade of blue as Robin's Egg Blue. When our older grandson was about five, we found a robin's egg (already hatched) on the sidewalk in front of our house. It was this color. Finding an egg was very exciting so we brought it inside and put it on a table in the living room. He didn't take the egg home with him, so about a week later we disposed of it.

But seriously, I was thinking about the trip to Turkey--both before it and after it--as I stitched this piece. It was the Best Trip Ever!

Issues That Came Up:

I wrote in the earlier post about my Persistent Goal-Directed Behavior. I do suffer from it. I'll try to learn to embrace it.

And then there was the embarrassment of beads. Get a grip, woman!

The May BJP has been finished for several weeks and the June BJP is about 3/4 complete. Both are blue. Watch for another post in a day or two.

I Haven't Been Blogging Because...

I've been jumping. Look carefully. My feet are totally off the ground.

And look again. See the basketball on the ground. And the backboard almost hidden behind the man. I put the basketball through the hoop. By throwing it. Woo-Hoo!

This was taken at the Madison Wisconsin Komen Race for the Cure. Our team had five runners and two walkers. OK, so I was one of the walkers. I'll admit it.

The two grandsons raced in the 18 and under age group. Nine-year-old grandson number one was the fastest in the family with a time of 26 minutes 25 seconds. This was his first 5K run. He hadn't trained at all, but he plays a lot of soccer. Seven-year-old grandson number two had a time of 30 minutes 27 seconds, his fastest time ever! Out of the two 5Ks he has run. Woo-Hoo for the guys!

And special thanks to She Who Shall Not Be Named for organized the festivities. And for providing the totally stylin' pink socks for the female team members.

Artistic Inspiration from Far Away

We recently returned from two-and-a-half weeks in Turkey. It was a fabulous trip! We spent a few days in Istanbul before joining a Rick Steves Europe Through The Back Door Tour. After the tour we went back to Istanbul for another two days. Our great group of tourmates made everything fun. Our wonderful guide taught us a great deal--and he was fun, too!

It was Istanbul's Sixth Annual Tulip Festival. The tulips were gorgeous. We had fun walking in Gulhane Park, watching parents take photos of their kids with the tulips. It seemed very familiar... When someone sat down in the tulip beds for a photo, a policeman blew a whistle to tell them to move along.

Everyone thinks of the Netherlands when they think of tulips, but tulips actually originated in Turkey. Tulips came to Holland (Netherlands) in the 1500s, and by the 1630s Tulipmania erupted. It was a period of wild financial speculation when a single bulb could cost as much as a house.



This is a window in a tailor's shop in Istanbul. I couldn't resist the combination of wooden shoes and a sewing machine.


The tulip motif is everywhere in Turkey. These are some beautiful pillows in the Spice Bazaar.


A lovely rug with the tulip motif in the Arasta Bazaar in Istanbul. I would have liked to get a closer look to see the construction techniques. From the street, it looked pieced, but it may have been woven as a tapestry. The salesmen were quite enthusiastic, and Dr. Mathematics, my associate traveler, and I decided just to look from a distance.



A tulip motif from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. It was in a display case. I can't remember why exactly it was there--so I've got to go back!


Before we left and since we returned home, we've had a number of questions about safety in Turkey. We NEVER felt unsafe in Turkey. We did keep our passports, credit cards and big money in a money belt, and we looked both ways before we crossed a street. Turkey is legally a secular democracy, although not quite like the USA. We found the people helpful and friendly, the food delicious, and the scenery stunning. The history of Turkey is long, complex, and fascinating. If you have a chance, go to Turkey!

More Artistic Inspiration from Far Away

Fresco at Chora Church, Istanbul. Notice any quilt block patterns?


Tiles in the Harem at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul




Handwoven Turkish carpets at the Hereke Carpet Weaving Center, Capadocia, Turkey

Even More Artistic Inspiration from Far Away

Fantastical rock formation in Capadocia, Turkey


Sailing on the Mediterranean


View of the Aegean Sea from Starbucks, Kusadasi, Turkey


Sunset over the Aegean Sea in Kusadasi, Turkey