The Talented Kelli

I want to share a marvelous quilt with you made by the very talented Kelli P:

Isn't it fabulous?  Kelli says

We've never met but I am a HUGE fan of your work.  For many years, I followed your adventures without yet having the "nerve" to try your techniques.  Finally, several years ago, I worked up the nerve to improv a project and it was a epic failure - except that I learned two things.  I learned that I was way more dependent on someone else's patterns than I had previously thought and that improv was a lot harder than it looked.

Fast forward to earlier this year when a good friend of mine was injured and I yearned to make her a quilt.  I had purchased your book Word Play and decided to use it to make her something.  I have attached a picture.  It is my first improv project and I love it.  The wordless borders are extra long so that she can use the quilt on her hospital bed and still read all of the words.  I call it "For Adina: Do Something".

The finished dimensions are roughly 120"x 89. Kelli won 2 first place ribbons at the NJ State Fair.  Well deserved. Woohoo! You can find Kelli blogging at HobbyWhore - Too Many Hobbies, Not Enough Time.

The thing about doing an improvisational quilt is that you have to be prepared for some failures. You never know how something is going to turn out until you do it. I've certainly made my fair share of dogs.

I've been getting envelopes and packages in the mail. Makes me so happy. These are blocks for Pokey's quilt from Nifty Quilts:

Joe Tulips Quilts,:

And Debra B:

Debra also included wonderful gifts for the kitties. Bibi getting that catnip high:

Look at how well Pokey's quilt is coming together:

The colors are wonderful, a great balance. I really do want to just put this together kind of randomly so it's not love love love in your face. Thank you so much guys.

The deadline for getting me Pokey blocks is Columbus Day, 'bout the first week of October. I can't believe how soon that is coming up.

On a completely different topic, are ya'all aware of the upcoming AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids, Michigan? Well worth going to. There are two special exhibits that I would love to see: quilts from Gwen Marston's Liberated Medallion book by Gwen and her students (woohoo!) and Stitch Like an Egyptian. The latter is tentmaker applique pieces that are truly stunning. Two of the tentmakers will be there in person. These are some photos I've taken of Tentmaker work.

Time to get back to work in the coalmines. Later.

Tentmaker Applique and the Baby

Just a quickie post to let ya'all now that Pokey is doing great and everything is good here. I'm still spending loads of time with her - as much as she'll let me. She has a check up on Friday so after we get the results of the blood test from that visit we should know even better how she's doing. But trust me, she's herself again.

We did find out yesterday that her pancreas is working well (that's a relief) and she doesn't have leukemia or any frightening disease like that.

Here are a couple of pics I haven't shown you before of Pokey lying on an Egyptian Tentmaker Applique quilt from Cairo. These photos are from a year and a half ago.

I was actually trying to take a pic of the wallhanging, not Pokey, but you know how that goes.

Color Thready and Ibis Applique

I needed a project to do by hand, so I started a new thready last night. Thready is my name for an embroidery where I start out with a piece of fabric and entirely cover the surface with embroidery floss in running stitches. Previously I've couched down yarns and other fibers, but not this time.

Last night I basted on bits of fabric too small to piece with, primarily batiks. I won't completely cover the fabric areas with stitches. I added more fabric after taking this pic.

And this is what it looked like just minutes ago. It's hideous and disjointed now, but there is a lot (I mean a LOT) more to do. Why is it that I love projects which have so much hand stitching or quilting in them?

My big news is that I am now a member of the Planet Textile Threads group blog. My blog goes on as usual, however my posts also now appear on the aggregate blog, along with the other members. That includes Pam RuBert which about makes me want to pass out with joy. I've been reading her blog for two years.

The reason I was chosen had a great deal to do with my love for and frequent posting about unusual textiles. I may have to rehash previous posts to get material, but at least today I've got something new for you.

This is an Egyptian Tentmaker Applique that my friend Susan bought in approximately 1982. I love the enormous ibis, much larger than the man, standing on the Nile River. I don't recall seeing appliques with borders like this one, which was appliqued, not pieced.

A lotus flower and an Eye of Horus.

A closeup of the ibis.

And three tiny pyramids off in the distance.

I haven't been feeling especially great the last few days. I think I now have too much thyroid medication in my system. I thought it would give me all sorts of energy and I'd get so much accomplished but instead I just feel jittery and overcaffeinated (which I'm not). Should have the lab results back tomorrow so the doc can adjust my meds.

Birds and a Palm Tree, of sorts

This is a friend's place in the States with an older Tentmaker Applique and a new light up Palm Tree that we gave her as a gift a while back. She's loads of fun and loves palm trees, so we thought it was appropriate. I think it's supposed to go out in the yard, but it's way more fun inside.

I got a couple of emails from folks saying they couldn't get blogger to let them post comments in my last two posts. It wouldn't let me either, for what that's worth. Let's hope I have better luck with this entry. [You can make the comments box open by doing a right-mouse click and then choosing open. Glad some of my friends are smarter than I am...]

We've leapt over more of the beaurocratic hurdles in our way with only one glitch. I discovered that the German lab doing the rabies testing on our cats got Pokey's microchip number off by one digit. I'm sure it was just a typo (or an inability to read my sweetie's handwriting) and they'll send us a new certificate. Fingers crossed. This doesn't affect our rentry into the states, just France...

The days are blurring together for me and I'm not quite sure what has happened when. I used to know what day of the week it was at least when we had the tv (if it's Friday, then Medium is on etc). My friends are doing a great job of keeping me entertained so I'm not just rattling around at home.

Turns out our lazy, overweight, sluggish boys aren't as pathetic as we thought. Both Howler and Habibi have managed to leap up to the top of the china cabinet from the buffet, now that the easy access cat tree is gone. Who'da thunk it. My sweetie would never have believed me if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

I didn't go back to the bazaar, so I didn't make any more purchases of tiles or evil eye charms. I suspect I'll have more opportunities for badness before we depart....

I'm sorry, but during the last couple of weeks I've done a terrible job of providing links to folks doing the Take the Leap Challenge. I apologise. Here is one tho that really caught my eye. I LOVE Force Majeure Farm Kim's De-funked Xs and Os. It is large, glorious and free, much like the Gee's Bend Quilts. It's a style that I admire so much, but never seem to loosen up enough to do myself.

And a new blog for you to check out. Dianne of California Girl in Oz is going through a huge move, only even more miles are involved and even more cats than my own move entails. Dog lovers in particular will love the blocks she recently showcased.

Scaffolding on Tentmaker Street

A few more pictures of my trip to the Khan last weekend. I've mentioned before that this is one of the oldest areas in Cairo with incredibly old buildings. They are doing some work right now on Tentmaker Street.

I'm fascinated with the scaffolding here. Lumber that is just tied together with rope. You'll also see workmen running around wearing their flipflops. And hardhats? Forget about it. Not that anyone was doing work the day we were down there.

That's a pre-printed tent fabric there on the right. The other items are Beduoin carpets.


I took a day off the day before yesterday and watched DVDs and hand-quilted. I finally got to see the new version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly all the way through (I watched the first half on an airplane once but it was coming in really poorly and I gave up in frustration). Loved it, but Keira is waaaaay too gorgeous to be Lizzy, tho she was perfect in every other way. I still love the BBC miniseries, but it is definitely more sedate and the actresses playing the younger sisters are waaaaay too old. Nice to have both options.

Also watched another episode of my beloved Kolchak the Night Stalker and a Moonlighting. I'm not even sure I made it all the way through the latter, but it doesn't really matter - not one of the better ones.

I have now finished the third go round of freehand fans on Terms of Endearment. I'm really happy with it.

Applique Illustrations

Sorry, I don't know the name of the artist who created this particular tentmaker applique. It's another example of an image formed using arabic letters, although this one looks a bit more like it's cheating to me.

To answer some questions and comments about yesterday's post. I have actually watched an older man sitting cross-legged on the floor doing needle-turn applique at quite a rapid clip. Much faster than I work. The applique is traditionally done by men, passed down from father to son in particular.

One time I was down at Tentmaker Street I saw a pretty young blonde woman sitting side by side with one of the men as they both worked on an applique. I so wanted to stop and ask questions, but didn't want to be rude.

Remember a while back I showed you the inside of Fattoh and Sons applique shop? Well, they did the illustrations for a book on Goha, a middle eastern character that I only know of from the appliques I've seen. An article about the book can be found here. And yes, I know in the article the name of the shop is written as Fatouh but that's the problem with transliterating from arabic to english. Even on government signs you'll see placenames transliterated inconsistently into English. Anyway, I used the exact spelling from the business card they gave me.

For anyone who wants to see more examples of tentmaker applique, you can use the "search this blog" funtion in the upper left of this blog. That works pretty darn well. You can use the term "tentmaker" and get almost every post I've written on the subject.

Debbie, we don't have a chat room, but we certainly chat with one another through our blog entries and comments. Just start a blog and you can come play with us.

Fattoh and Sons Tentmaker Applique

Just for ya'all I got special permission to post pics on my blog of one of my favorite tentmaker shops. I could have taken so many more pics, there's so much to see, but I had to draw the line somewhere. I did get pics of the four main types of applique designs: traditional, islamic, pharoanic and rural.

This is Fattoh and Sons. I believe it's Hany that is pictured here, proudly showing one of the appliques he made. My friend bought this one - it's a beauty, isn't it. They all are, I know. The work behind his head has lovely detail work - embroidery around the edges of the pieces to give them definition. It's an unusual design as well.

Remember the bird that I showed you that was formed out of arabic letters? The boat with the rowers there in the middle right side is made the same way. The marketplace scene above it is embroidered and painted to give such incredible detail.

This islamic piece in orange and reds with lettering in it is just georgeous and fiery looking. I just love the deep colors in the piece below it.

Some more traditional-style appliques. The top one was just stunning on the wall. Very few colors but very dynamic. There are actually orange butterflies in each of the corners, but I could only tell that by looking closely.

And how about this incredible large work up on the wall with the lattice border? So stunning. Not my colors at all or I'd have been in trouble.

This is a pharoanic design on top - a recreation of the Day of Judgement, a very famous scene recreated in papyrus and on temple walls. The dead person's heart is being weighed against a feather. Look at the recreation of the heiroglyphics. My friend LJC bought one similar to this, but hers has turquoise cobras along the top.

Along the bottom are rural appliques - depictions of musicians and a whirling dervish.

And here's a close-up. Remember Thoth, the ibis-headed god? That's him writing down the results there on the right.

Fattoh and Sons is located at 29 El Khayamia St in case any of you are in Cairo. Their email is hasmo95@hotmail.com - I expect you could work out arrangements with international money orders and Fed Ex to make purchases...

Word Bird

Boy oh boy, you all sure do get excited about the Tentmaker Applique. Guess I've gotten a bit jaded. I'll try to answer some of your questions.

The work starts with a piece of canvas which is a creme color. I've been reading too many cookbooks. Cream colored.

Almost all the rest of the work will be done with solid-colored cotton, which is fairly loosely woven. Some makers do use patterned calicos for very expat oriented work such as Santas and sometimes organza will be used for a watery effect over appliqued fishes. But for more traditional work it's solid cotton.

Depending on what final effect the maker wants, the initial canvas can be covered with a layer of colored cotton. That's the base. The applique is then worked onto that. There's no batting, but the work will be finished off with another layer of cotton on the back and a binding. It won't be tacked or quilted in any way.

One of the wallhangings I showed yesterday would run you about $125. Of course you'd have to pay the airfare to get here as well so it would end up costing a bit more than that :) Prices will vary according to how well it's made and how complicated the design is.

We have a couple of shops here selling Tentmaker Applique, one of which I showed you a pic of yesterday. The vast majority of the shops are located in downtown Islamic Cairo on Tentmaker Street, appropriately enough. I haven't made my way down there recently, not since September. I'll get down there one of these days, but the friend I usually go shopping with is out of town. I've been trying to work up the nerve to go all by myself, but haven't done it yet. I'm a little bit nervous about getting lost down there. It's not like the streets are signposted.

I don't have a lot of tentmaker work myself. I have the completely non-traditional Santa on a Camel and Santa on a Flamingo as well as the large piece that I commissioned in my favorite colors. I do however have this one:

I haven't shown you this type of applique before. I'm going to try and explain this and I may get it wrong. Figures aren't shown in Islamic art, that's why you see so much beautiful tile work in the Middle East. One way to work within this restriction is to show a figure that isn't really the figure. For example, the above piece looks like a bird, but it is made up of arabic letters. I can't remember exactly what it spells out (and it can be hard to decipher even for someone who knows arabic) but I'm sure it's something religious.

It's beautifully done, isn't it. This particular piece had a layer of white cotton placed over the canvas, since I dislike off-white. I'm so fussy, I know. I had to take the picture at this weird angle so that I didn't get the flash going off on the glass.

How's this for gorgeous?

This is an applique that a friend of mine bought downtown on Tentmaker Street. Isn't it smashing?

I love the colors: cheddary yellow, red, two shades of green, and three shades of blue. The color is truer in the top photo. Almost looks Pennsylvania Dutch to me - like a hex sign.

I don't know the details of how it was made, but I can tell there is a foundation of heavy canvas and then I suspect the cheddar was basted over the top of it and all of the work was then stitched to the cheddar, with only a few stitches going all the way to the back of the work. The narrow bias is maybe a quarter of an inch thick, if that.

This work is a perfect example of "don't sweat the small stuff." When I look at it up close I kind of freak out - the applique stitches are large and the thread doesn't always match the fabric. Some of the fabrics are really poor quality and gauzy. It's definitely not square and I had a hell of a time sewing on the sleeve (I only volunteered so that I'd get to take photos for ya'all, so I hope you appreciate it). There are stray threads everywhere that need to be clipped: so tempting to just tug at them, but who knows where that would lead.

But as soon as I step away from it and just LOOK at it, ah, I LOVE it and wonder why I was ever concerned about the workmanship. I wonder why I didn't buy it myself (okay, other than it not being my colors, tho I do love them). I've got it hanging up in my hallway right now and it's gonna stay there until my friend visits.

On the personal front, nothing new going on with me. My next task is to sew together a backing for my lettered bed quilt (see my July archive if you've never seen a pic of it and want to). Initially I was planning on handquilting it, but I've come to my senses. I don't want to spend the next ten years quilting it myself. So one of these days it'll go off in the mail to Bonnie. The only thing that's holding me up is that backing. Oh, and I decided it just wasn't long enough, so one strippy row at the top. Won't be much work, I just have to DO it.

Santa Riding a Camel

In July 2003, my sweetie and I packed up practically all our belongings and proceeded to live out of suitcases for the next six months. Lots of fun for so many reasons.

Here we were in Egypt and it was much colder than we were expecting, setting aside the fact that we'd expected our belongings to arrive earlier. So besides not having the proper attire or blankets, the biggest problem for me was not having any of my Christmas stuff. You know me, I LOVE decorating for the holidays, especially when they're spent far from home. Makes me feel settled. Like where I am IS home.

Luckily I discovered that some of the enterprising Tentmaker Appliquers here have made all sorts of creative things for the expat/tourist market. I went on a bit of a buying binge. First off is a wallhanging with Santa riding a camel:

Isn't this great? Notice the itty bitty pyramids there on the bottom right. This really appeals to me cuz I try to collect Santa travelling in unusual ways. (Still trying for that sleigh drawn by kangaroos, but I'm definitely on the wrong continent for that.) I love Santa's face - very simple and folk-arty.

Muhammad was sweet and made up stockings really quickly for my sweetie and I.
That's my name in arabic at the bottom (so they tell me). I love the scale of this one better than the one above - all crowded in and more details in the sky. And of course the sky is BLUE not neutral. Just so you can get a really good look at it:


By the way, these stockings are HUGE.

Tentmaker Applique

I mentioned that last weekend I went with friends down to Tentmakers' Street in the Khan al Khalili. The applique here is so beautiful and so underpriced for all the work that is involved. But labor is inexpensive here and the cost of living low, so gorgeous pieces are available at probably a quarter (or less) of the price that an American quiltmaker would rightly charge.

But remember how I said I'm rigidly inflexible about MY colors? I am. And those aren't colors used in Egyptian applique. So I commissioned a piece from Muhammad Fouad here in Ma'adi. I gave him some solid fabric swatches in my favorite colors, and then chose details that I liked from his other pieces: lotus designs and islamic curves. He came up with the wallhanging. You'll have to forgive the pic - the color is a bit more intense than in life and part of the treadmill is in the way...

It's a great blend of cultures, isn't it. The inner bit is rather ancient Egyptian but with Amish colors and the border is Islamic in traditional Islamic colors. I love it.

And in completely unrelated news, the doctor punctured my knee with the big giant needle today and gave me a new, strong anti-inflammatory to try. I'm crossing my fingers - I'm tired of hobbling around.