Haggard - Blended embroidery: combining old & new textiles, ephemera & embroidery

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Roxane Cerda

Managing Editor: Liz Aneloski

Editor: Kathryn Patterson

Technical Editor: Debbie Rodgers

Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

Production Coordinator: Tim Manibusan

Production Editor: Jennifer Warren

Illustrator: Valyrie Gillum

Photo Assistant: Rachel Holmes

Cover photography by Bryan England Photography

Interior photography by Bryan England Photography

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

Acknowledgments

Thank you, reader! Obviously, there is no point for books or authors without you. Your continued support inspires and drives me to share my work. To the students in my classes, thanks as well. Sharing my love of this art form and seeing the joy it brings to others is satisfying to the soul.

I proudly acknowledge that my body of work represents my vision, my concepts, my view of the world, and my executionboth artistically and technically. But sharing the journey from started to finished pieces takes a dedicated and capable team, a team whose members are increasingly skeptical of the utterance, This shouldnt take too long.

Marianne Able and I spent many weekends (because we all have day jobs) translating the visual nature of what it is that I do into text that succinctly yet completely conveys the inspiration, how-to instructions, and tips for you. In her own right, Marianne is a capable artist and crafter, and this experiencealong with her facility with language and her logical thinkingwere invaluable. Bryan Englands photographic prowess captured my work beautifully, and his skillful photo editing is evident in the images you see. We spent two sweatshop-like days upending the studio and wrestling the subjects, props, and furniture into submission. Bryan endured the task professionally and in good humor. Cathy Frankss artistic quilting enhances my work brilliantly. Cathy is a much-lauded and award-winning quilter and artist in many media. I am always 100 percent comfortable handing my work to her with instructions to do what you do, assured that the result will be thoughtful, impeccable, and perfectly complementary to my work.

My husband, Kevin Head, quietly helps me keep the chaos organized and makes sure that the minutiae are lined up and accounted for. In addition to being a sure and steady sounding board, he is always on hand to feed and hydrate the team.

Kaye England, besides being an amazing and loyal friend, is my career GPS. One of the Grand Dames of the industry, Kaye helps point the way to opportunity, steers me toward the must-dos, and flags me away from the distractions and detractors. Her crisis management skills are spot-on. When I am certain that the sky is falling, shell bluntly point out that it is, in fact, not.

My dear aunt, Diana Fricke, shared her writing skills to pen the background story that embodies the spirit of my inspiration and evokes an image that is the perfect segue into the subject of blended embroideries.

Of course, I am grateful to Amy Marson, Liz Aneloski, Roxane Cerda, and the rest of the C&T team for their continued support and enthusiasm for sharing my work.

I am incredibly fortunate to have wonderful family and friends who are ever supportive of my artistic pursuits and always present through thick and thin. With each new book, Im reminded that Janet Brandts encouragement set me on this path. Ive known Chris Opsahl all my adult life, and her unwavering love and guidance have carried me through the great, not so great, and really bad. My good friends Jody Baker and Kathy Palmiter are my very best embroidery-stitching buddies. Sally McHugh is my very best cross-stitching buddy in addition to a devout friend. Back Door Quilts co-owners Linda Hale and Teri Dougherty are friends and always eager to promote my latest endeavor.

Finally, my parents, Rich and Deb Haggard, not only passed along their innate raw talent but also encouraged my artist endeavors from the earliest age. I love that they want to see me realize my full potential and are still genuinely interested in everything that I do.

Etta Mae's story

Written by Diana Fricke

The much-anticipated restoration of Great-Grandmother Etta Maes Victorian mansion is nearing completion. It has been a true labor of love, and my heart is full to bursting as my eyes drink in the restored beauty of my familys birthplace.

I cant express the delight I have experienced exploring the mysteries of this old house. Among the many heirlooms, I have discovered wonderful pieces that have shared their tales of the familys history with me.

One such rare treasure was hiding in plain sight in a third-floor storeroom. The original purpose of this area was for storage of visitors various trunks and baggage. Over the years, it also became the receptacle for those things of no use but yet too dear to let go.

I remember the day we started clearing this room. The sun shone through the streaked windows as best it could, and dust billowed and danced in its broken beams. Curiously, one shaft of light chased across the floor and seemed to direct our attention to a far corner of the room. There, in the beam of light, I saw a wooden trunk. Its battered sides gave evidence that it had seen better days, but a rich patina still glowed through the grime that was covering it. The metalwork was tarnished, but its stylized and intricate design suggested it must have had an affluent and genteel beginning.

Thinking it a piece of luggage left behind by an absentminded guest, I was curious about its contents. With some effort, I pulled the trunk into the center of the room. The detailed hardware was green with oxidation, but I was able to make out engraved vines spiraling along its borders. Cracked leather straps clung to the sides of the trunk like barnacles, and no amount of prying loosened the petrified leather laced through the buckles. It was as if the aged leather would not willingly give entrance to the secrets contained within. But, with perseverance, the ancient straps gave way, and I was finally able to lift the heavy lid and peer inside.

Lying on top of several packages and wrapped in yellowing tissue paper was a small leather journal. Embossed flowers spilled across its cover and intimately entwined with the initials E. M. On the first page, in a beautiful, looping script, the little volume declared itself to be the private journal of Miss Etta Mae.

I recall my grandmother telling me the story of Etta Mae, the namesake of my own dear great-grandmother. Sadly, her tale was a short and tragic one. Etta Mae was the younger sister of my great-great-grandmother, Ada. As the story goes, she had been a great beauty with raven hair and sparkling blue eyes. The local swains competed fiercely for her attention, but their advances were rebuffed. She had set her heart on a young cavalry officer. Shortly before they were to be wed, he was killed in the fighting at Shiloh. Etta Mae died, only a few months later, of the fever. Many said what she had really died of was a broken heart.

Scanning through the pages of the small tome, I realized what lay before me. To my astonishment, what I had was Etta Maes wedding trousseau. Her wedding garments, so lovingly assembled for her happiest of days, lay packednever worn, never used for their intended purpose. This old trunk contained all of the hopes and dreams she had held for her future.

I carefully began removing the tissue-wrapped items from the trunk. As I did, the faded scent of roses filled the air, mere ghosts of the ancient blooms. I uncovered table and bed linens embroidered with their entwined initials. Etta Maes silver hairbrush and mirror were wrapped with a blue enameled box that held her dainty jewelry. And most precious of all, I found tucked away in a compartment in the top of the trunk a box of tintype portraits. Etta Maes portrait was there, as well her sister Adas and many others. What a gift it was to find so many of my ancestors pictures!