On Building Beauty or My Friend, Natalie

A million years ago (2010) I first wrote a review on Natalie Chanin's then new book, Studio Style, and today I have the pleasure again of digging into her latest work, Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns, to share my insights.  What has me feeling like the luckiest girl though, is that the process of this sharing involved having a custom garment made and photographed on moi.  Oh the work.  It is so hard.  I suffer.

I said then, a million years ago, and I say now, that my friend Natalie does not design clothing, she also builds it.  He process of creating the imagery on her organic cottons is like nothing else, and it remains like nothing else, despite her so selflessly and so inspirationally teaching her process to the world.  What comes out of her heart, and her studio is a stand alone collection of art, in the sea of disposable, anonymous sameness rampant in the fashion world.  All of her 3 prior books string together the complete story of her unique process of embellishment and construction, down to every last detail.  What is particularly special is how her books offer such a sense of place, that absorbing the skills taught within them is that much more crystallized.  And you finish the reading having experienced her process as much as you have read about it.

If I could succinctly characterize this new book, it is that it graciously gives that extra mile of instruction that I would assume was never possible to do in a book.  Instructing garment sewing from a book is tricky.  But Natalie does it in a way that investigates the basics (and also every combination of altering those basics) with just the right amount of detail and technique to make it informative, but also with just the right attitude and encouragement to make it approachable.  And just like her first three books, it is a stand alone compendium on style while being a reverent guide to the handmade.

When it came time to choose a garment to have made, I just pointed to the amazing princess seamed long sleeve tee on page 51 made from indigo-dyed cotton and said THAT.  I feel beautiful in it.  But I also feel so very comfortable.  Thousands of stitches made by a pair of talented, hardworking hands simply feels different than anything else you will ever wear.

This post was meant to be published a full week ago, and in my hurried, frantic schedule of getting the doors to Craft South open, I failed to complete it on schedule.  I texted Natalie to apologize, and her reply was such a comfort: "Nothing is ever late in our world".

Thank you, Natalie.  Thank you for your patience with your own process (and with me).  You remain an inspiration, a friend, and a source of hope in the way that our world works.  This book is the icing on the cake for your fans, and I am personally grateful that you took the time to make it.

xoxoAnna

In Classic Form

In classic form, the time of year that has me going in several different directions, mentally and physically, is also the time of year that I almost bonk into where I am headed due to being entirely distracted -transfixed- by the gorgeous thing that happens to Tennessee between October and November. It is that transition that seems to represent the humanness of nature. It burns and burns all summer, full force, exhausts itself, reflects softly on what it has managed, before settling in for a nap....finally being okay with letting things lie a little dull for the sake of a rest.  I could benefit by taking such a suggestion.
We enjoyed such a good time at Quilt Market last month, never less work than the time before though we continually assure ourselves that THIS time we have it down to a science, and the set-up will go SO much faster.  No, not really.  But it doesn't matter. Most of what I enjoy about the whole production is getting the opportunity to speak with shop owners one on one and in the Schoolhouse groups about what I was thinking when I dreamed up this or that.  The chance to clarify my efforts as a designer, and to help them with ideas about how best to use and present my fabrics once they have them in their shops is very gratifying.  It might simply be those lovely nodding heads as I talk that feels a bit more gratifying that the typing noise that I hear now....
It is no secret that I have been over here on the blog less, a lot like the rest of the world and the rest of the world's blogs, maybe.  I am able to get out so many small bits of my day to day words and images on Instagram that my sharing bucket gets filled up in smaller doses, rather than this more comprehensive dose.  And I will admit that the addition of building Craft South, literally and figuratively, over these past months (and more to come) has placed some limits on my time compared to early in this year.  The Spring had us planning it all, the Summer had us doing the pop-up version month after month, and now we are almost to where we will be launching the online Craft South shop in just a few weeks.  We hope for the actual physical shop to be open late March or early April.  In addition to choosing all the inventory and ordering there is so much planning going on behind the scenes that involves all of the workshops/events we will host, space design, branding and packaging goodies, product development and so forth.  In general I have about 8 massive lists.  I think what I am loving so much about this process, despite the load of work, is that a whole lot of it is completely outside of myself and my own brand, and that it is requiring something new of me.  I am acting as a curator of other goods, and it is very gratifying as a lover of so many types of crafting and making.  I love it.  But yes, it is yet another job title.
So.  That's the short story.  In other news I have new fabrics.  A new free quilt pattern.  I am getting deep into work on my 2015 fall fabric designs for.  I am knitting cables.  I am trying to decode Mary Anna's babbles on a daily basis and wishing I had the amount of clarity in understanding them as she seems to have in her delivery.  I am waiting everyday at the bus stop for Roman, and inhaling the smile he has for me as though it were oxygen.  I am cutting Nicolas's very long hair today at his request.  I have caught Joseph who just turned 15 telling Mary Anna how much he loves her when he thinks no one is listening.  I am floored by the amazingness of this coloring book self-published by my Juliana.  I laugh every time someone thinks that my 13yr old Isabela is my college graduate daughter.  I am thankful that Eleni loves taking care of Mary Anna in the afternoons as much as both Mary Anna and I love her wanting to.  And there were some rocks being thrown at my studio window over and over again the other day when the kids were playing out in the setting sun.  As I looked down to shout at them to stop I found my boyishly charming husband standing there instead with a giant grin on his face.  I cranked the window to say something sweet, but as soon as I could hear him singing "In Your Eyes" it was so ridiculously goofy that I just shook my head at him and rolled my eyes.  Returning to my chair with a small jump I my heart and entirely smitten that he is willing to be that stupid for me still.
And so much more. xoxo Hoping you are well, Anna

How To Remember Your Childhood

A book review of How to Catch a Frog: and other stories of family, love, dysfunction, survival and DIY by Heather Ross

I need to disclaim that Heather Ross is a dear friend of mine, and that is a fact I only wish had not been true while I was reading this book, so as to maintain- even just for her sake- as objective an opinion as I could of this truly illustrative memoir of her less than typical upbringing. But I will get back to that. A good review removes oneself, so here we go then.

This memoir of Heather's is shared from the perspective of a woman who has survived childhood- not a “normal” one if there is such a thing- but one where she and her sister manage to understand where they belong and what belongs to them for mere fleeting moments of their upbringing only to have the rules change on them again and again. In a broad stroke, Heather's style and her choice of vignettes keep you keenly interested on what happens next, have you watery-eyed both through laughter and through heartbreak, and have you as enthralled with the highly descriptive details of how she physically managed to survive her extreme, element-exposed childhood in rural Vermont as you are with her intensely lyrical and charming descriptions of the characters that populate this book- the characters that populate(d) her life.

The timeline of the memoir is one that jumps around a bit, but not in a really deliberate or highly methodical way that becomes overly scheduled so that you are expecting the four pages of present tense right after you've read the four pages of past tense. The hopping around is organic- much like how you would remember something about your own life, which would generate the more recent or much older circumstances that would naturally be called to mind. In other words, it is crafted just like a story that you are listening to as if you were sitting next to her.... where the conversation takes turns as necessary to paint a full portrait of a person and their path to here. 

There are almost no instances in the book where Heather takes the opportunity to describe her struggles of upbringing in a way that asks you to pity her. She seemed to so quickly take what was not good in her life and make it something else, and admits readily when what she made instead was a good decision or perhaps one a bit misguided.  It is the latter that truly reveals to her story-telling genius.  Any family, even a less than exciting one, has it's share of stories and circumstances that makes them a book of sorts.  It is specifically what Heather chooses to share about some family members and not share about others that gives rise to two figures who, in my mind, are heroines of her girlhood.   Her Aunt Jane, despite her shortcomings and delusions, became one of those within this paragraph and perhaps within Heather's life:

I ran into the bathroom and sat on the side of the tub, trying to hold back tears, my stomach and my chest pounding and aching.  Jane opened the door and quietly sat next to me, her hand on my back.  At first she said what she always said, trying to get me to smile, but I was past the point of needing just a cheerful chin-up.  What I needed, at that moment, was for someone, just once, to tell me that I was right, that even though I was a child, I was right, that this thing that felt so unfair was, indeed, unfair, that what was happening to me- the mother who was barely holding on, drinking more and more, dragging me along on her poorly planned adventures- wasn't O.K.  And Jane, for the first and only time in my life did that.  She pulled me up onto her lap and held me as tightly as she could and told me that she loved me, and then over and over again, her voice cracking, she said just one thing.  "I know," she said.  "I know, I know, I know"

I see the other, somewhat less described, heroine in her life- or maybe protectress is a better job description- as her twin sister, Christie.  The very fact that she is a little less described I think exemplifies who sisters are, in fact.  There is no need to go to a lot of trouble when describing them, because you yourself know them so very well, and everyone else should too, because they know you.  Or in this case, because Heather is telling of herself, she is also telling you about Christie.  One instance, much more comical than Jane's rise to heroism, where Christie shows herself as a truly motivated protector is this (and to preface, Heather's twin had just received a few oil paintings rolled into a tube and mailed that are of Heather who earned some extra money in Mexico sitting as a nude life model):

Upon opening them, she drove straight to the bank without even taking a minute to put on her shoes and deposited money into my account.  I returned to California in the spring certain that it was possible to make a living as an artist but not having any idea how.

I can honestly say, even from the perspective of someone who has heard a few of these stories- and even some of the back-back-stories to these from my friend Heather personally, that I was sad when it was over.  It is such an entertaining, and ultimately honest read. You will be overwhelmed with the fulfillment of watching a talented, seasoned artist allowing herself an honest look back at her life-  which I know was a very hard thing to do.  She has inspired me to jot a bit more down as memories soar over my head unannounced.  Not in sad ways, not in ideal ways, just in ways and with words that reflect exactly what I can remember.  I think she might inspire you to do the same.  There are so many more vignettes, including saving a couple of lives, meeting her husband after a string of people who would not do this lady (or any lady) any service as a husband, having her daughter, sprinkled with related DIY that concrete this book as something that will stay with you for a long time.  I ended so entirely glad that she is my friend and so happy for her that she managed not only to get through her life until this point, but that she got through the very, very good writing of it as well.  We are lucky for that.

I love the book so much that I bought 3 dozen copies!  But those are for the book signing that I am hosting for her at Craft South next week.  If you are in the area, stop over and visit with Heather and get your book signed!

xoAnna

Breaking

The middle four are all home for two weeks of Spring Break.  I have been coming and going, starting and stopping, planning then rearranging plans.  I traveled to my parents house last week to spend some time with them before they headed to Houston to investigate new treatment options for my mama.  My brother and my sister came to do the same.  I think we figured out that it has been about 20+ years since our little Demacopoulos family of 5 has been together - only us together - in one house.  And even longer since the 5 of us have packed into the car to make the drive out to Big Ed's Pizza, where daddy now carefully guards the red pepper shaker to prevent my brother from covertly unscrewing the lid.  It was so good to be together.  So, so good.  Much laughing, card playing, handwork and smokey scotch too.  You can likely sort out who did what.  This week my Eleni, Roman and I are getting over a little bug which put us all in bed with fevers and yuckies.  It didn't keep me down too long, but you know how your brain frets a little when you take away a few days from plans you had made.

Walking down the hall to check on snoozing Eleni yesterday I was ushered by the lazy sounds of a radio playing softly. Arrived to catch this glimpse of Isabela stretched across her bed managing the perfect Spring Break afternoon with a ziploc of potato chips, a sketchbook, markers, and pajama pants.  Her little sister heavy breathing through some much needed sleep in the next bed.  I aspire to have such simplicity, and to remember to just take what's right there in front of you and mess around in it.  Loving it.  Later that night I read Twelve Dancing Princesses to Eleni while she took another rest in the living room.  I have forgotten that I can still read to her now that she is such a good reader herself.  Why did I forget?  We both loved it so much.

back with more going-ons tomorrow, xoxoAnna

Sewing (and stitching) RED!

I am interrupting my quilt top sharing this week to paint the blog red!  I am so proud to be a part of a lovely book by Laura Zander called Sew Red.  It's the follow-up title to Knit Red, both of which remind us to take care of our hearts, and send a portion of their proceeds to help fund the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in support of Heart Truth.  My project contribution is called "Target Practice" which offers a patchy-style belt that surrounds an embroidery pattern that I completed using red crewel wool a cream background. 

In addition to my project there are loads of lovely garment, accessory, quilt and decor sewing projects by many of my friends in the industry.  Also of course a whole bunch of talented people I don't know!  Additionally each designer offers a little personal experience whether it be a heart healthy recipe or a way in which heart disease has touched their lives, as it has mine with the loss of my maternal grandmother years ago.  I think she would have loved my project.

It's an all around good book, put together by good people who are doing good.
Take care of your heart! xoxo, Anna

*Sew Red by Laura Zander, published by Sixth&Spring Books. Photo by Rose Callahan copyright © 2012 by Sixth&Spring Books/Soho Publishing. Used by permission

Layers of Lovely

In just two or so weeks, I have enjoyed an overwhelming amount of goodness.  We prepared so intently and then hosted an amazing Needleworks Nashville weekend here to celebrate the launch of my book.  It was shared with an unbelievably delightful group of women who got right to work, right to friendships and I hope felt right at home for 3 days with me (some of that in my home!). So lovely that I feel this sort of event will have to happen at least annually.  It might also be obvious then, that I have received and stroked and absorbed advance copies of my 3rd book!  I am so, so pleased, and I hope that you will be too.  My new Field Study rayons, voiles and velveteens sample yardage are all here, and we are sewing through yards and yards in preparation for Quilt Market which is just two weeks away now.  My living room project which grew into an additional family room project are both now complete and being enjoyed.  All the children have been home from school for more than a week on fall break.  I have quilted.  I have have patched.  I have draped.  I have drafted. I have embroidered.  I have taught.  I have been inspired.  I have photographed. I have eaten movie popcorn with extra butter (or whatever it is that they put on there).  I have had the crap kicked out of my shins by taking part in Eleni's soccer practice.  I have soaked bruises in an epsom salt bath.  I have made baklava.  I have felt autumn roll in like a steam train, and breeze through with a crisp, smokey beauty.

And now I have written to my friends to catch up.  I am hoping you are well.
with love, Anna Maria

ps. the above is a shot of a new quilt pattern called Flight Map and a new bag pattern called Escape Artist that I will be debuting at market.  Both shipping in January.  I love that I had anything (and actually quite a lot) to do with this photo.  And naturally photos to follow of all of the above mentioned except the bruises.  In due time.

Found

I found a sketchbook from college.  There are several, but haven't seen this one for a while, must be about 20 years old exactly.  So many drawings are of my young Juliana.  I can vividly remember this sequence of sketches.



She was in such a spoiled slumber, way deep in the corner of her bed which was also the corner of two walls.  Curled up, still in play shoes and a jacket from having run around outside before collapsing.  Her sleep was such an opportune time.  Practically because of the stillness and quiet.  But such an invitation it was to explore her and to listen to her breathing, slow heaving sighs of needing the sleep so desperately to fuel everything that life would bring.  That day, and onward.



I moved around all sides of her.  Drawing whatever seemed most provocative from each angle.  But it's the sound of her sleeping that I recall most when I look at these.  I am grateful that I learned to be a mother during such young, raw, formative years in learning to be me.  I have enjoyed the experience with each of my children, as I've aged, no less.  And I do look through my sketchbooks and writings from so long ago and give myself a loving roll of the eyes, acknowledging what a fledgling youth I was, an art student no less, where fabricated drama of being such and actual reality necessarily coexisted, but come clean now on these pages.  I can still feel what was felt then though, however far reaching.



On nearby pages there are a few photos of her sleeping torn and attached, I am guessing from one of my photography classes.  I had written down an excerpt of a poem by Anne Sexton underneath that leaves me breathless reading it even today.  Her words are an amazing account of coming to terms with the rawness of new motherhood and also the human spirit.  So here they are for you today:

Yours is the only face I recognize.

Bone at my bone, you drink my answers in.   

Six times a day I prize

your need, the animals of your lips, your skin   

growing warm and plump. I see your eyes

lifting their tents. They are blue stones, they begin   

to outgrow their moss. You blink in surprise

and I wonder what you can see, my funny kin,   

as you trouble my silence. I am a shelter of lies.   

Should I learn to speak again, or hopeless in   

such sanity will I touch some face I recognize? 

love, Anna

Counting the Days....

Book. Mine. Soon. Can't complete sentences. Too excited.


For realzzz, here's the front and back cover for my new embroidery book, which will be set to pop in just about a month! So exciting. I am so proud of this collection of works and words and I can't wait for you to see/read it. We have a presell set up at the shop for signed copies. I particularly love to personalize books, so leave us a note on your order page and I will write a mini novel to whomever you like.  I'll have more to share about it as it launches, but for now, just one more little detail shot from one of my favorite projects....



Oh, and some of you asked about the "home" pillow from my previous post, that's a book project too. And speaking of home, my Needleworks weekend workshop is only a month away too, and guess what? We had one space open up last minute due to a cancellation, so whadya say? Anyone want to come join me in my HOME town of Nashville and spend the weekend eating, sewing, drinking, laughing, repeating? Word has it a few special friends might be joining us as well.... All the info is in this pdf, so just email pierrette@annamariahorner.com if you'd like to nab the spot!

Happy Monday, lots of love. Oh and here's a photo review of my past weekend. It's been a while since I chased baklava with beer two days in a row, but really it had been too long. xoxoAM

Add stitching and combine gently

I am happy you guys enjoyed some of the foodie love I offered yesterday (and to answer a Q, that table linen is 4 yards of gorgeous fabric that I found in NYC last fall... cannot remember the name of the store, but it was a shop in the garment district that is nothing but linen).

I was thinking today about my go-togethers. I have favorite movie genres that I pair with various types of handwork that depend on the focus needed for each.  I should make a chart sometime (it's right there in my head, I just need to write it out). Jeff and I have exhausted almost every single British period piece available in the Netflix instant streaming offerings.  We were so sad to come to the end of all of the Catherine Cookson novel adaptations (where even the low-budget ones are 10x better than most anything on the television).  All the drama.  So entertaining.  The typical British kind.  Wealth.  Poverty. Getting knocked up out of wedlock, etc.  (Why do we relate so well?  Hm.) I get frustrated when I have lots of handwork to do and Jeff wants to watch something with subtitles.  Although, maybe not as frustrated as he does, because he begins reading the movie out loud to me if he notices that my eyes are cast on the fabric and not the screen.  So funny.  He really does love me.  Documentaries are really good for handwork that requires a lot of focus because while its nice to see everything, it is just as good to listen.  Today I've been watching (listening to) Wild China.  Utterly fascinating so far.  I'm finishing up the works that will be featured on the front of my new embroidery patterns.  Anyone who drops by, lives or works in this house will tell you that I pretty much always have something in my hands.  My left arm felt no pain, not even a twitch, at holding a candle through midnight service for 3 hours at Easter because it is so used to holding a hoop up to my face.  It might become permanently bent.

But before it does.... I have a big announcement!  I've been working away to put together a really, really fun needleworks weekend for this fall!  I love Nashville.  So why don't you come here?  I am so excited about sharing it with whoever is able to join me.  And I am loving my new book so far too, so I am beyond excited to celebrate it's publication during this special weekend.  I've put together preliminary information here.  I'll also be sending out an email to everyone on my mailing list today.  I'm letting you know a week in advance of the workshop being available for purchase so that hopefully anyone who is interested will have time to plan and see if it's a possibility.  I can't wait!  I plan to post more info on that store page on Monday that will hopefully answer any of your questions.  Stitching goes really well with friends.

I'll be packing my needles and threads tomorrow to head for a weekend at the Biltmore with my mom and sister.  Just the three of us.  I am hoping they will speak English so I can keep my eyes on my work and not read the subtitles under their heads.

smack.  AM

Brain via Bullets

* hihowdyho

*I'm sorry this post title sounds like a surgery documentary that I would cover my eyes through.

*That Anna (the other one) is too nice. What started as her making fun of me to my face (which is what helps her keep her job) ended with her saying very nice things on my blog.

*She was promptly scolded for that.

*Kidding. I wuvher.

*If you were to photograph the inside of my brain right now, I am certain it would look exactly like the above.

*That is my book cover.

*Kidding again.

*Last night I walked by Isabela hunched over the dining room table trying to draw something with her left hand and I overheard her mumbling I wish I was both-handed.

*Good thinking, I told her. Then I spent five minutes staring at the ceiling and wondering if I were both-handed would I also then have enough coordination to be able to type with one hand and sew with the other? Which would do which? Hm.

*I am so looking forward to getting on the other side of my book deadlines for many reasons not the least of which is the fact that I can actually hear that giant expanse of prepared soil that I worked on all last summer begging me to plant, plant, plant. I hear it. It has a kinda whiny voice. That could be my own voice in my brain I imagine.

*But reporting back on how that cardboard method of weed control is going: AMAZING! Just a few weeds that are the springy type kinda sitting on the surface and really easy to yank out.

*We are planning a vegetable garden in the back yard which we've never done, and thinking it will be a built raised bed, and also the kids' responsibility. The weather is telling me we better get going. They seem excited, and especially when we all talk and plan together. I'll report back.

*The neighbors are getting chickens.

*No fair.

*I told the kids if they take good care of their vegetables this year then we will consider chickens next year.

*I know that chickens are not much like vegetables. But they will both be in the back yard. And they do taste delicious together. Although we just want their eggs. And to give them swanky old fashioned names. The chickens, not the eggs. Yea. I'll do some reading. Promise.

*Some kid called the house the other night and asked for Nick

*I told him he had the wrong number

*Pause

*Pause

*Is this #xxx-xxxx?, he asked

*Yes, I said (duh)

*And Nick Horner doesn't live there? he replied.

*ooooooooohhhhhhhhh NICOLAS? I exclaimed. I'm sorry I thought you said MICK.

*I didn't think he said MICK. I made that up fast because I was too embarrassed to admit my denial and therefore mental incapacities with regard to my son's NICKname. I really had no idea who that kid was talking about. Nick?

I do hope you're having a good day, xoxoxoAM

The Devil Wears Pajamas, Chapter 1

Hi Folks!

Anna here. And by Anna, I mean Anna Michelle, not Anna Maria. That's right, today while Anna Maria Horner is in crazy-person-writing-a-book-on-a-deadline mode you get to sit through the ramblings of her intern Anna Michelle Johnson.

Some of you may have read our interview from this past summer, and know that I started habitually reading this very blog several years ago - which means that I was completely, totally and absolutely over the moon when I had the opportunity to become an intern. I had a general idea of what a day in the life at designer's studio would look like, and the thought of working alongside someone as known and recognized as Anna Maria was literally a dream come true for me. So naturally I felt every initial fear and insecurity that would expectedly come from a young girl meeting and working with her role model. Luckily for me, those feelings were all completely unnecessary, and quickly overcome. Unlike my expectations, AMH has made it evident from day one that her goal is not running a business but simply to create beautiful things, and inspire others to do the same (and I think we can all agree that she more than lives up to it). This has made for an extremely interesting and rewarding work environment for me.

On any given day I can be found cutting fabric stacks, helping AMH prep for classes and trips, assisting (or modeling) in photo shoots, or filling orders for the shop; so basically it's an ideal job for a fashion design student and all around craft lover like myself. However, you might also find me picking paint from a quilt market project out of my hair and fingernails, sweating in the attic over boxes of pillows and patterns, or chasing down an escaped dog (or toddler) or two. Glamorous, I know. But despite how much fun and how useful it is for me to be getting this much experience in my field (or out in her field), that's not the reason I've stuck around to graduate from summer intern to part-time. I keep coming back for the craziness that is Anna Maria Horner. She's kind of a freak, did you know that? Mother, wife, daughter, friend, business woman, painter, stitcher and all around magician. Now how many people can say that they've successfully accomplished all of those things? And all before the age of (don't tell her I told you this) 40! How does she do it? Well, after almost a year of close examination, I have made almost no earth shattering discoveries. She is just a woman doing what she loves and was called to do, and she has motivated me become that kind of crazy as well.

So whether or not it comes as a surprise to you, my "Devil" wears pajamas. All day, almost everyday. And in fact, she would encourage anyone to do the same.

And now back to Isabela painting my nails for a book photo shoot which Anna asked me to do once she saw what I was wearing today. She is waiting impatiently for my nails to be ready as the sunlight fades. She's doing that in her pajamas.

xoxo
Anna Michelle

Keeping me up at night

Above is a detail (really small in comparison to the whole thing) of one of the wool tapestry blankets that was made by my Yiayia (my Greek grandma). I haven't had enough muscle around here yet to get it up for a full shot, it is incredibly heavy (and of course extremely warm). At the same time mom told me more about Great Grandma's quilt blocks, I asked if dad could tell me what he remembers about his mother working on these blankets. Of course typing that himself would have thrown off his entire equilibrium so my mom typed it for him. In fact if I got an email from my dad which was also typed by my dad it would throw off my whole equilibrium. I would never have an equilibrium again. If I ever even started with an equilibrium. Ahem. Here's what she errh he errrh she says:



"As for Yiayia's loomed blankets: You may remember seeing the loom in that back storage building behind the original house. Dad says that in the years she was using it that it pretty much stayed in the lower level of the house where she worked on them. He remembers her doing it for a few years. The blankets were made primarily for dowries for the daughters, but there was a stack of blankets in a bedroom in the "new house" that was as high as the "doulapi" (I think this means cupboard maybe- dad? I dare you to type a comment yourself and answer that question for us), so she also made them for the granddaughters. Artisans came around to the villages and "set" the looms for the design. The wool is primarily from their sheep, but Dad says she may have also needed to purchase some wool. She did spin the wool after cleaning it. Dad thinks that she also did the dyeing and assumes that she purchased dyes."



She purchased the dyes? What a slacker! Kidding, of course. Seriously let's all take a moment to process that process......

There. Gracious. She had 6 children running around her home (hmmm sounds familiar), but what she managed was quite remarkable. I am going to be including some images of her work in my upcoming book, and will share more here eventually too. The above detail is a snippet of one of the needlepoint projects from the book. My feeble attempts with beautiful wool- wool that is not raised nor fed nor herded nor sheared nor spun nor dyed by me.

I do however feel Yiayia's presence in the blur of my hand working the surface, late almost every night. xoxoAM

ps. does that young buck look familiar?

Needleworks (in the works)

I've been writing this blog post in my mind for a few months now. This fall will see the publication of my 3rd book title, Anna Maria's Needleworks Notebook. I've casually mentioned it here and there, mostly in other interviews, in some talks I've given, in some conversations and so forth, but its time to talk about it a bit more officially, I imagine,- especially in the string of what I'm looking forward to this year. Because I am really, really, really thrilled with this upcoming book. It is so different than the other two, I think entirely in a good way. Just like hand work is different than sewing machine work- that sort of difference.

This book has come about very slowly, I sort of had half the projects designed before I even knew how I wanted to present them. The idea of a book about 18 months ago, just made me sleepy. Not bored, I was just all too aware of that process and how you live it eat it breathe it until its complete. And I guess I just didn't feel willing, as gratifying as it can be. But then as I logged stitching hours (crewel, embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, hand quilting and so on), jotted notes, made drawings, and dreamed of ideas.... the format of a book, a different sort, just came about. It made the most sense, as long as I could dictate the styling be a little different here and there, I felt I could make it just right. And my gracious publisher, was very willing. Which entirely surprised me. I don't know why, I guess I just thought that the style of books I have written already is such a fixture now that it has become the only way to do it. And I piled onto myself the obligation to suddenly become the official authority on all forms of needlework to qualify me for the task. So silly. That is already available, if that's what you want. So my collection is a personal one of favorite things to do with thread, needle and cloth. Designed by me, sometimes embracing, sometimes ignoring, but always adoring tradition (sorta like how you treat your family).

It will be physically different than the other two - maybe more relaxed, maybe more inspirational, slightly more free-form, but still loaded with projects. And how its going now, the writing and the sewing that is, the book is feeling like my friend already, my companion, my journal, following along in process. I didn't quite feel like that with the others, maybe because this one has been a slow, careful realization. Again maybe just echoing a different type of work than more technical sewing. In the end, the finished work, I hope, is just that- a record of ideas and inspirations, that comes from a very personal place that I'm hoping you can relate to, respond to with your own work, and enjoy for a very long time.

How's that for verbose?
Thanks for reading all that. I'm sorry if you're more confused about anything than you were about 4 minutes ago.
More soon, xoox, Anna

If what I think is happening, IS hapening, it better not be.

("sinister swarm" print detail in progress)

Hoooa No. Man. Thanks for all the moth info. I think. Ick. No really, I'm glad to take a sampling of all the common denominators in those comments and figure out our plan of attack (defense?).

In other maybe not so unrelated-to-icky-moth news, I am here to talk more about boys. The boys I currently have in the house- 39, 13, 11 and 2 - keep me exposed to everything from heart-achingly wonderful to utterly disgusting. You can make your own assumptions about that limited information. I knew enough about boys when I was first pregnant with Roman to know better than to actually want another one. After all I was (and still am) married to one and I was (and still am) raising two others (errhhh- am I raising all of them....?) But I did really, really hope that he was a boy before I knew. I dreamed that he was. I felt like I had figured boys out and was finally over the fact that I can't put dresses on them. It was like a whole new appreciation of boy personhood was opened up to me. Boys are wonderful. Just as beautiful as girls in their own way, and warm your heart in an entirely different way. I am so lucky to have them. Smelliness and all.

Speaking of lucky, here is our winner of Sewing for Boys + some cuts of my new flannel:

8:09 PM Jamie said...I have had my eyes on this book from the time the ladies announced its impending arrival on their blog about a year ago. Add this to your amazing flannel fabrics and who wouldn't be in line for that?

Congratulations Jamie, and email us with your home address to claim your loot!

Shop news! We've just added the Loulouthi Needleworks and my new Rose Era linens. I am so pleased with how both collections turned out, and didn't expect that both of these cross stitch inspired groups would be launching at the same time. A happy accident.

back to the drawing board, smooch, AM

(ps. does anyone recognize this post title...name that movie? Its my favorite movie line of all time and sums up the life of a mother (especially of boys) like nothing else. Are you cussing with me?)

I heart Boys

What Shelly Figueroa and Karen LePage got so right with Sewing For Boys is the keen combination of simple but slightly rough around the edges that is so completely perfect when sewing for the young lads in your life. I think you know by now that I don't share anything here that I don't truly adore, and I get shown many, many books. I share only those that I would be purchasing myself anyway, and this one is definitely in that category. I have already set aside cut lengths of my new (soon to be released) Loulou Flannels to make the Goodnight, Sweetheart PJs, plus some bias binding for the adorable piping detail. A long way to go to put a rowdy boy to bed? Not at all. The patterns are so straight forward, doting just enough on the details that make it worth home sewing to begin with. Roman has just outgrown most of the patterns in Handmade Beginnings, so I am happy to have this sweet and inspiring resource as staples for him. Who wants a copy? You will love it, leave me a comment and I'll draw a name next week for a giveaway.....I'll even throw in the above flannels just for fun.

In other news, I was honored to be a featured FACE (a super smiley one) of Nashville on the StyleBlueprint online mag today. It is a very well curated site, and as a mere coincidence, my friend Ashley Hylbert was hired for my photos. She took the first headshots I ever quivered my bottom lip through about 10 years ago. What I love about Ashley is she's talented, she's really fast, and she'll suggest something that I think is goofy, I whine, she talks me into it anyway, I do it, she looks at the photo and says things like, "No, you look stupid", or "I don't like your face in that". The world needs more honesty like hers.

What else..... OH! Those crazytown super wonderful people over at Sew4Home are giving away a serious pile of my loot! (This suddenly sounds like a local furniture store liquidation sale, but) Seriously lots and lots of stuff, so go enter for a chance to win. I don't even care if you don't want it, save it for Christmas gifts.

Think that's it.

I had Asian chicken for lunch today and it made me really thirsty. So I keep drinking. And I keep going to the bathroom, which is all the way downstairs. Its cutting into my work time.

Okay. That's really it. I couldn't guess where it would go from here anyway.
xo,Anna

Reading, Writing & Arithmetic

I only recently reacquainted myself with the feeling of what its like to have only my work before me. No interruptions. No distractions. Just work. Enjoyable as most of my work is, I have always been one to work best under pressure or to be most prolific when incredibly (unreasonably) busy- not as though I've had the chance at anything else, really. This week has been strange. New. A little uncomfortable. Today's brightest light was the sunlight twinkling in Roman's eyes as he giggled out a proud smile after successfully yanking his shoe over his bulbous little heel. Over his new school socks (because no other pairs are actually pairs at all, just two socks). Today's deepest, darkest, tiniest, and perhaps irrational fear is that maybe for some years now I have forgotten how to just be single, whole, complete and only me. Or worse, that maybe, that's not as interesting as it use to be. It was a surprising amount of comfort when I stacked some things up for a ticket-for-one weekend trip. It was. Having to remember how I would like to occupy just myself. I wasn't sure I remembered...
~Jeff told me after reading Half Broke Horses that he knew I would relate to the toughness of the heroine. And Glass Castle might be the best book I've ever read. So.
~One of the children has snatched the bookmark out of The Rhythm of Home, but I realized that I am fine with the prospect of reading dear Amanda's (or Steve's!) words more than once- such practical and specific direction to nurturing your family with more than simple affection.
~And COLOR ~ a book that actually offers a history of color, really a novel about color "and reveals how paints came to be invented, discovered, traded and used". It is so unbelievably fascinating, I will never think of that gianormous topic the same way.
~And topping my stack is a handful of cross stitch works in progress on every shade of my new Aida cloths. I have been designing and writing new patterns for lots of handwork....which will appear in several forms....all requiring simple, correct arithmetic of design. Which is a completely different way of composing arrangements of color and form altogether. No harder. No easier. Just not the same. I adore it.
My stack of me.
have a good long weekend, see you on the other side of it xo, AM
Oh, and Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Such a favorite.

Tending To Two

I tended to two gardens this weekend. Only a tiny bit more of this, indoor, patchworky one (oh, but the joy found there). Much, much more time spent on the outdoor gardens. And not the charming kind of tending either, more the chainsaw, electric trimmer, 2000 sq ft of black plastic kind of tending. We've needed to trim back trees and wayward undergrowth from trees for a while, as well as hedges, limbs and all that. I also decided that I was finally going to do what I've been wanting to do forever with our front beds and that is increase them by about ten times. I currently only have narrow borders about 3 or 4 feet wide along the front walk and house perimeter, and I find that perennials just overtake one another, and quickly get shaded by the flowering trees, etc. I just need more space. Everything needs digging up, dividing, and replanting in a more thought out arrangement. So the process has me trying to kill about 1500 sq ft of grass without using chemicals. Without doing any research (typical Anna fashion) I decided to just sweat out the grass by using lawn staples and black plastic sheeting to cover all my desired new flower bed space. I'm hoping by next weekend that it'll be dead, and ready for tilling, clearing. Kill stuff naturally much? And effectively? Any input appreciated.

Being the genius that I am, I thought this was the best sort of thing to do in 100+ degrees.

Eleni picked this little bundle for me from our surprise Zinnias (that just showed up again after an annual seeding last year, I guess they dropped some seeds for me....someone needed to do it) and also some from two bougainvilleas that I have potted on the front steps. Thats about all the work I've managed outside this year until this weekend.

So. Back to the indoor flowers. And patchwork. And books and you.

Our randomly chosen winner for the wonderful Block Party book is:

Marika said...

I got some Liberty coming my way too and I can't wait to receive it !
What you made with it is really nice :)

7:27 PM

Congratulations Marika for winning a copy of the book, send your address details to amATannamariahornerDOTcom.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!

xo, Anna Maria

Invitation to Improvise

I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely Alissa Haight Carlton at Quilt Market only weeks ago, and the feeling you get from her is just the feeling that I get from her new book, Block Party, which was written together with Kristen Lejnieks. And that feeling is one of approachability and warmth. After talking to her for a only a bit, I wanted to sit next to her and sew. The book, after reading a few pages, makes you feel just the same way. You just feel invited. Not in the fancy invitation that comes in the mail and requires a new dress kind of invitation, but a hey, come over here and join us kind of invitation. The best kind.



The book covers 12 women who formed a modern quilting bee so that each would contribute a block to one person's quilt concept each month. All the blocks would be sent to that one person, and she would get to assemble the quilt and keep it. By the end of the year all twelve of them had done the same, each keeping a piece of history and the work of 12 minds, 24 hands. I love thinking of how every block in every quilt was created during a completely separate set of circumstances within each quilter's life. And that they each, doubtlessly, struggled more with one block than another, experienced successes and emotions that they wouldn't have otherwise had. Some days I imagine that making the block was the most peaceful part of their day- I'm sure other days, they forgot to get to it all together, and stressed a bit to finish it. Each one different. Each one a record of time. Each one perfecting a skill they already possessed or pushing them into a new one. And all together the quilt then, an expression of many. I do believe that is the heart and soul of quilting.



I took note of my dear friend Denyse's introduction to the book, most specifically where she writes that "the best way to learn something (to understand it viscerally and not just intellectually) is to make it happen with your own hands." That, in addition to all the wonderful inspiration, and perfectly clear instructions is what had me chopping up my Liberty stack faster than you can say bee (which doesn't take long at all). I was so inspired by the Confetti quilt because it felt most different from what I typically do. More improvisational. I see a lot of quilts. Lots and lots. And the moment I see them I either get it and move on, or I get it and I want to try it. Or better still, I get it, want to try, and even meditate for a while on how I might interpret it to see it anew. So here I am, improvising within the boundaries of this lovely Confetti block. Instead of using all white for the solid background, I decided to show off all the irregular strip widths by using 3 solids from my voiles (sixpence, midnight, river rock). And because I can't leave well enough alone, in addition to the 3 background solids, I decided to interject one of my own prints. The good for me thing, in addition to it being a scrap + solid style block, is that its perfect for special fabrics that you'd like to use a bit sparingly.



So after only messing around for about an hour or so this morning, I am finding myself entirely charmed with this process, remembering how much I love to wing it, and loving how this one little block is a microcosm of the quilt it will become. And even each component of the block, its own abstract composition- beautiful and unique. I've decided that I need a little tiny bit of this freedom on a regular basis, so I think I'll do one every Saturday morning. We'll see how that goes. I'm glad to have the company of these talented women every time I open this book.

Would you like to open this book? I get to give one away! Leave me any ole comment and we'll get a name chosen at random on Monday of next week. For more wonderful write-ups about this book, follow along on the blog tour:

6/21/2011 A Quilt Is Nice
6/22/2011 I Heart Linen
6/23/2011 Tallgrass Prairie Studio
6/24/2011 Oh, Fransson!
6/25/2011 All Buttoned Up
6/26/2011 West Coast Crafty
6/27/2011 Connecting Threads
6/28/2011 Crafty Girls Workshop
6/29/2011 Whip Up
6/30/2011 Pink Chalk Studio
7/1/2011 True Up
7/5/2011 Block Party Bee Blog
7/6/2011 Anna Maria Horner
7/7/2011 Craftzine.com

happy quilting, xo, Anna

A quick change to the Quick Change Trousers

The Quick Change Trousers is undoubtedly one of the most popular patterns to make from my Handmade Beginnings book. I think its obvious why: they are sweet, simple, reversible, easy to make and easy to wear. It almost deserves a flickr group all its own, because there are so many adorable examples on the book's flickr page (along with so many other great sew-ups)! And in my book, (not sure if that pun was intended) any great, straight forward pattern calls for some fun adaptations. In fact all patterns call for this to me. Having a pattern is great, but it is always just one way to do it. So today I thought I would share another, really simple way to do up these trousers.



Making the shorter variety of the trousers is an obvious adaptation that really requires no explanation or change to the pattern other than amending the length. Great. Yay. Got it. But Roman's wiggleyness, and activity level these days really makes me on the constant lookout for one piece clothing, so that his clothes will stay on. (Almost all childrenswear manufacturers stop that at 24 mos for some reason, what the heck? It drives me nuts.) And though the book pattern for the Quick Change Trousers only goes up to 24 mos (no space for more!), because it is so simple to begin with its also pretty simple to grade up in size. Roman is slightly taller than average for his age, but he can still wear the 24 mos size in this pattern due to being pretty narrow through the hips, and we don't do the cloth diaper thing (do you? wow, I am so proud of you. sigh.)



Here are the main components of amendment to turn your Quick Change Trousers into overalls:

- Transform the front leg pattern piece into one continuous leg + bib front piece. To do this you are really just adding a rectangle to the top waistline edge of the front leg pattern that extends to cover your baby's chest. This will mean the center front seam of the pants will continue up in a straight line to the top of the bib (how long this line will extend depends on your child's height and how high you'd like the bib to be). The top horizontal line of the bib is at a 90 degree angle to the center seam line. The bib width will not be as wide at the width of the front leg but stop a few inches short of that- really just depends on how wide you'd like the bib to be. The side edge of the bib, at least Roman's, is a straight line just until it is a few inches away from meeting the waistline of the pant leg again, and then it curves out towards the side to meet the waistline. Of course, just try it first on paper, and pin it to your annoyed toddler's shirt to have a look.

-You'll also need to make some straps. Roman's are a finished 1.5" wide, which I think looks nice and supports the 1" wide buttons well. His overalls have a few extra inches of finished strap (the button end of the strap behind the bib) to allow for some button moving once he grows a bit. To make the straps, I first cut the straps extra, extra long, sewed them right sides together with one finished end, turned them out, pressed them, then stuck the unfinished ends into the back of the pair of pants he was wearing, crossed them across his back and then over his shoulders to judge how much I might need to shorten. In all instances I firmly believe in messing with your kid to get it right. No reason for you to suffer alone, I say. Struggle brings two people together. Team work is worthwhile work.

-Where was I?

-The assembly of the overalls will follow the exact assembly of the trousers, with the exception of:
-sew the straps into the back waistline seam before you join the inner and outer pants together
-only create an elastic channel on the back of the pants between the outer edges of where you have placed the two straps, and anchor the elastic in place at both ends of the channel
-double sew a pair of buttons on opposite sides of each finished strap end to keep them reversible (total of 4 buttons)
-create button holes in top corners of bib front



We used an adorable Kokka print (covered in chalk above) that I picked up at Purl when we were in NYC earlier this year. Roman loves this print so so so much. For the months I waited to get started on the project, he would bring me the fabric and gesture for me to spread it out on the floor so he could lay on it. I need to go cry now. I'm back. He is such a stinkin widdle sweetheart.



And because of that I put hugs and kisses on his butt. Fabrically, not literally.....but well, his little tush has been loved. Oh and the reverse, is made all from this print, which is adorbs, but haven't gotten him still again lately to show you that. We've made a few pairs now, and all have been worn shirtless too.

have fun, lots of love, Anna

Crochet Chronicles (3): Poppy, Gray, Mint

But while she was here we crocheted. A lot. I think I've mentioned this. What I haven't mentioned is that the happiness that it gives me is something hard to describe. Its simple and its complex maybe, too. Its this: it is a feeling of laziness, happiness, fulfillment and duty all in one. It gives my lungs goose bumps and I feel like nothing will ever sadden me ever again, because we've sat busy, together, working away and enjoying. (Please make fun of me now, roll your eyes, or click to a worthy blog or get back to work or something. I understand.)



On the same shopping trip where I bought knee socks and pajama pants she made the more ambitious purchases of mint green nail polish and poppy red lipstick, which indicated that she was the more likely of the two us to get off the couch at some point and do something with people who do things. This scarf that she made is just the continuous pattern of whats referred to in my go-to-crochet-book as the strawberry stitch. And if I weren't obsessed with cropped photos of late, and had I asked her to spread the layer out, you would see the repetitive strawberry motif. But I didn't, so you cant.



But anyway, she only began this scarf for herself after she had made precisely one Amigurumi animal for each sibling as a Christmas gift. The kids have been begging me for (uhhhhh) two years to make these, and it took Juliana being here for someone to do it. As she worked on them in plain site the kids would bombard her with whines, wimpers and whys about how they wanted one too, because Juliana insisted that she was making them for her friends. Sorry I don't have a pic of them at present, but they are loved and scattered around the house.



Smack. Right on that cheek. Juliana is the family crochet fairy. The kids were so excited by the little owl, duck, penguin, coffee mug, turtle and octopus. Sigh.

In other news:

* Dear sweet Judi has posted a little Q&A we did over at her SewRetroBookBlog today, and (thats a big AND) I'm giving away quite the pile of sewing loot and she is giving away a copy of her lovely book over there too! So head over and say hello....I think she has a question for you to answer in the comments, so be good and follow instructions, or you will be sent to the back of the line.

* I am so excited to have been asked to be a judge for the Handmade Olympics created and hosted by rikrakstudio. I will be judging the blog category, so go make your nominations now! There are over $2000 smackers worth of prizes, so better yet, have your friend go nominate you!

* I'm sure you and your kindness have already been directed towards flood relief efforts for Queensland, but please also visit Toni Coward's MakeItPerfect blog to support all the blog auctions that she has listed there. There is gorgeous stuff up for grabs and all for a good cause, of course. If you can't purchase anything just directing some of your own readers or pals there will be so appreciated. I plan to post something for auction here tomorrow, so please check back!

*Okay kids, I think that's it.

*Oh wait. This isn't nearly as important as those items listed above but yesterday at the Verizon's after being told I was due for a completely free Droid, and went through all the hutzpuh to get it, I actually heard this statement come out of Verizon girl's mouth: "Okay, so your total for the free Droid comes to $130.17". I repeated it back to her hoping she would find the humor in it by placing an emphasis on the word "free". She didn't laugh, but said something about a rebate that I can't remember. Which I think is part of the plan.

lots of love,
Anna Maria