Finding Life Valance
Now that the Celebrate Doilies exhibit is up and running. I’m taking a break to make other stuff. Yep, I can’t stop making.
We live in the country, and no one is close enough to peek into our windows. That’s why in the three and a half years we have lived in our house, the windows have been bare. As much as I like the no-fuss nature of bare windows, they do look a little austere. This summer, I decided to make valances.
A lady from Germany lived in San Antonio and loved to sew. When she died, her children went to their former German language teacher, Mary El-Beheri, asking, “Do you know of someone who would use and value our mother’s sewing things?” My mother, also a German language teacher, was Mary’s friend. Mary asked her if I would like the German lady’s fabrics and books.
The fabric and trim for our new red and white dining room valance comes from the German lady’s collection. Thank you to the children of the German lady, for so thoughtfully taking care of their mother’s possessions.
These filet crochet triangles must have been sewn to a table runner or dresser scarf. The crochet along the sewn edge was frayed, possibly when someone took out the stitching. But that’s okay, because those frayed edges are hidden in the fabric top of the valance.
This was a square table mat, which I cut in half to make the valance.
These are from a crocheted chair set—they were meant to cover the arms of an upholstered armchair. They make a lovely window treatment.
You can find the vintage instructions for making the crocheted pineapple chair set
here.
More curtains to come—we have a lot of windows!
Celebrate Doilies Opening Reception Today
We’re celebrating Celebrate Doilies today, July 22, with an opening reception from noon to 2 p.m. at the Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council, 204 River North Boulevard, in Stephenville, Texas.
Just look for the big doilies on the front of the building. The one on the left is made from macrame cord from my mom’s stash. Thank you, Mom!
The doily on the right is from my dad’s stash of baling twine. Thank you, Dad!
A friend saw this photo of me with the baling twine doily and wrote, “You look so tiny.” That was sweet, and it gives you an idea of the relative size of this doily.
Once inside the gallery, turn to the right to find the Doily Panel, made by participants in a workshop at my studio on July 8–Anna, Ella, Janetta, Royce, and me.
And there’s more: doily heritage, doily art quilts, and doily poetry. Come and see for yourself!
Celebrate Doilies Opening Reception
We’re celebrating Celebrate Doilies tomorrow with an opening reception from noon to 2 p.m. at the Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council, 204 River North Boulevard, in Stephenville, Texas.
Just look for the big doilies on the front of the building. The one on the left is made from macramé cord from my mom’s stash. Thank you, Mom!
The doily on the right is from my dad’s stash of baling twine. Thank you, Dad!
A friend saw this photo of me with the baling twine doily and wrote, “You look so tiny.” That was sweet, and it gives you an idea of the relative size of this doily.
Once inside the gallery, turn to the right to find the Doily Panel, made by participants in a workshop at my studio on July 8.
And there’s more—doily heritage, doily art quilts, and doily poetry. Come and see for yourself!
The Week Ends on Wednesday
The week ends on Wednesdays for my 16-week Christmas in July project. I admit it’s a head game. The lazy part of me doesn’t like having the week end on a Sunday, because if for some reason I’m waiting until the last minute to finish, then I would have to work on the weekend. It’s silly, but it seems to make me more relaxed about the week’s work.
July will be underway for another 10 days, so there’s still time to start a Christmas in July project. Here is an outline for creating a Christmas in July project plan:
- Decide on a project.
- When does it have to be finished? By December 24th, just in time to give it as a gift? Or around Thanksgiving, so you can use it for holiday decorating?
- From now, count how many weeks you have until your deadline. Alternatively, simply decide how many weeks you want to work on it. I chose 16 weeks for my project, because it will be done in plenty of time for decorating, with leeway in case another urgent project comes up, like it did last year.
- Divide the work of the project into the number of weeks you have. Remember to leave time for finishing, like sewing blocks together, weaving in ends, blocking, starching, and so on. Be reasonable as to how you divide the work, because the idea is to finish without feeling burned out or overly stressed.
- Make a list with each week number, the date the week ends (like my weeks end on Wednesdays), and the portion of the project to be finished by the end of the week.
- Get started and enjoy yourself throughout the process.
- Remember this is a tool to help you. Don’t use it as a tool to beat yourself up.
I finished my work for Week 2 at the last minute, on Wednesday the 19th:
Christmas in July 2017
Pacing myself to finish a Christmas project worked so well last year, I’m doing it again this year with this cute felt kit by Bucilla.
Boringly named “Train–Wall Hanging,” Bucilla kit number 86365 features Santa driving a steam train engine decorated with toys, gifts and ornaments, with a snowman catching a ride.
The kit, which I bought at Herrschner’s, my favorite mail-order needlework company, has 147 pieces printed on felt. When you see a piece marked with a solid line, you consult the instructions to find out which stitch and floss color to embroider the line with. Dots show where to attach sequins and beads. Dotted lines show where other pieces are to be sewn.
It’s such an indulgence to have everything marked and thought out ahead of time by someone else! Kits like this include the felt, floss, sequins, beads, and needles. You provide a small amount of stuffing and other bits. “Train” requires chenille stems and cardboard for stiffening certain pieces.
For the next sixteen weeks, I’ll be working on nine or 10 pieces a week. And I’ll report to you here and on Instagram, which help motivate me to keep up with the plan.
And here’s the first week’s work finished:
Week one. 
For more frequent updates, follow me on Instagram @suzannthompson.
Sacred Threads in Herndon, VA, through Sunday
As you walk through the Sacred Threads art quilt exhibit, you can listen to a recording of artists talking about their work. (More about the exhibit below.)
Coming up with a one-minute commentary about my piece, A Worthy Accomplishment, was a new challenge for me. I wrote and *cut and practiced reading,* and repeated between *s several times. That’s a reference to knitting and crochet instructions, in case you were wondering.
The volunteers at Sacred Threads set up a telephone recording session, where artists could call in and record their speech. I was able to listen to my recording and decide whether to save or re-record. It took me about three tries to get it just the way I wanted it.
* * * *
Sacred Threads is an exhibition of quilts that express life’s journeys. Through their art, quilters express joy, inspiration, spirituality, healing, grief, and peace. Read lots more about this thoughtful and interesting exhibit at www.sacredthreadsquilts.com.
The project is run by volunteers, like these two who were hanging the quilts for the 2017-2019 show, which debuted in Herndon, VA. This photo from the Sacred Threads Facebook page is used with permission.
The exhibit will be at the Floris Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, through Sunday, July 23. After that, A Worthy Accomplishment is coming home, but thirty-six of the original 300 quilts in the Sacred Threads exhibit will travel around the United States through June 2019. These are the venues so far:
- Flint Festival of Quilts, Flint MI – September 2017
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HeART Gallery, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Toledo, OH – October 18-30, 2017
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Grace Episcopal Church, Gainesville GA – November 1 – December 15, 2017
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Voice of the Spirit Gallery, West Raleigh Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, NC -January – February, 2018
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Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum, Carrollton GA – March-June, 2018
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Good Shepard Episcopal Church, Hayesville NC – July, 2018
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The Rectory Cultural Arts Center, Norcross, GA – August, 2018
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Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg VA – September-December, 2018
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Best of the Valley Quilt Show, Lindsay, CA – April, 2019
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A World of Quilts, Danbury, CT – May 2019
If you or your venue is interested in receiving a portion of the 2017 exhibit, please indicate your interest by filling out the Traveling Exhibit Interest form.
If you aren’t able to see the show in Virginia, I hope you will like to read the speech about A Worthy Accomplishment:
Hi. I’m Suzann Thompson, talking to you from Comanche County, Texas.
I’ve met a startling number of people who feel unworthy.
I think our culture feeds this perception. As a society, we seem to admire enormous wealth and power. We marvel at technology. And then we go to the movies and see heroes swooping in to save the world!
Those are BIG, IMPORTANT things.
My quilt, A Worthy Accomplishment, draws attention to the SMALL important things that most of us do every day. We take care of ourselves and others, work at home or away. We are kind and thoughtful. And sometimes, we take time to make something, like a delicious meal or a quilt.
We probably won’t become famous or rich for doing these things, but I think they are worthy accomplishments and because we do them, WE ARE worthy. I hope you think so, too.
Read more about this wall hanging in this blog..
Doily Yarn Bombs
The Celebrate Doilies exhibit of art, poetry, and crochet culture, opens in two short days! Yay!
But let’s dwell for a moment on the past.
My parents have raised cattle for a long time, and cows need hay from time to time. Mom and Dad buy big, round hay bales, which used to be tied up with yards of blue and white synthetic string called baling twine.
My dad can hardly stand to throw away anything that might be useful someday, and so he has a tub full of baling twine. “Suzie,” he has often said, “you could knit something out of that baling twine.”
Yes, I could knit something with baling twine, but as we say in my little family, “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”
All that changed when I was looking for a good fiber to make a doily to yarn bomb the Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council gallery during the Celebrate Doilies exhibit. I tried crocheting the baling twine. It was kind of stiff and springy, but it could definitely be crocheted.
And here’s the baling twine doily at about row 13.
My mom offered a softer option: macramé cord that had been among her craft supplies for about 25 years.
I started with two 60-yard Kelly green hanks, and you can see how far those went. The 100 yards of white cord was a little heavier. I ended with 100 yards of the spring green, which was heavier still.
In this photo, my assistant and her assistants are stretching the doily on a length of PEX pipe. The doily measured about 4 feet across when stretched.
A Celebrate Doilies Interview at March On! Texas
I met writer and historian Kelly McMichael at a town hall meeting of our U.S. Representative last spring. It was a nice surprise to find out that Kelly is a textile artist, too!
Kelly offers a different spin on the Celebrate Doilies exhibition in this post at the March On! Texas blog.
Celebrate Doilies March On Texas
Dr. Kelly McMichael reveals a whole new spin on Celebrate Doilies at March On! Texas.
Crochet Bloggers Spread News of Celebrate Doilies!
I am very honored to have the Celebrate Doilies! exhibit featured in two well-known crochet blogs! Please follow the links and read new information and a behind-the-scenes look at Celebrate Doilies!
Rachel Choi hosts the popular Crochet Spot blog, where readers can find crochet patterns, news, and tutorials. “Taking a Chance on Doilies” is the name of the post about Celebrate Doilies! Chance comments and other coincidences figured strongly in the making of the exhibit.
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Kathryn Vercillo is the author of several books including Hook to Heal! (100 crochet exercises for health, growth, connection, inspiration and honoring your inner artist). She studies and practices crochet and other crafts as therapy. Her blog is Crochet Concupiscence, where you’ll find Help Fiber Artist Suzann Thompson and Friends Celebrate Doilies.
Read lots more about the Celebrate Doilies! here on my blog.
Please contribute to the Celebrate Doilies Kickstarter campaign if you can.
Find exhibit dates, venues, and other details in the Exhibits tab in the menu above.