August Musings

July was full of extremes this year, from lots of record-high temperatures to the occasional flood warnings, which we take very seriously due to the damage Hurricane Helene left behind two years ago with very little advance warning. Most of us suffer from constant allergies as well. I am never without my Kleenex box!

I started the month with a colorful July 4^th celebration that brought our entire neighborhood together with lots of good food and drink and fun in the shade. The evening was spent keeping all the pets calm due to lots of noisy fireworks nearby. We have recovered, and I am now getting ready to celebrate my birthday with some special events.

My first visit this year to the Brevard Music Festival was to enjoy Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The last time I saw it was as a teenager many decades ago at the Mozart Festival in Salzburg. It was an outdoor amphitheater performance on very uncomfortable stone seats. That explained why many people were wandering around town with cushions under their arms!

It was a lovely moonlit night with excellent acoustics, and I remember it well. This updated rendition in the comfortable Opera Section of the Brevard Music Center did not disappoint. It was sung in Italian with English subtitles overhead, and the festival atmosphere on the stage easily spilled over into the audience. Mozart never disappoints!

My first restoration job in July was to complete a vintage lace dress that was accidentally ripped by getting too close to a doorknob. I was able to line up the torn edges and carefully reconnect them so they blended perfectly into the established lace pattern. It was fun to see the tear come back together so beautifully.

Shortly afterwards, I received a message from the UK asking about a restoration on a doily with a Solomon’s Knot center and border sections. The center was in perfect shape, but the border sections were torn and needed to be reconnected and restored.

I advised the prospective customer that I do not accept work from overseas due to one bad experience with a job for a Canadian customer. Several years ago, I returned a restored thread lace tablecloth to its owner in Canada, and customs agents tried to charge her a hefty import sales tax because they were convinced it was a new item. It took legal intervention from my UPS Center for the customer to receive her property.

Yes, I had filled out the form properly explaining that this was a restoration. The agents in Canada simply thought it looked too perfect to be used. So, I avoid dealing with borders.

The UK customer tried to find a restoration service within Europe that could restore her Solomon’s Knots, with no luck. I felt bad for her, and we found a way to avoid further problems. My customer paid a customs charge to send it to me, and after restoring the doily, I returned it to a relative in Chicago who was traveling to visit her and could carry it back in his luggage. Problems avoided!

In the middle of July, the Southern Highland Craft Guild held its annual Summer Show at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville. I love volunteering to give several artists a lunch break each day and enjoy speaking with visitors about the art that interests them.

Later in the afternoon, I take a seat at the Educational Outreach table in the center of the arena, which is a fancy title for an information booth! We appreciate our visitors from far away as well as our local community, which continues to support our artists. Our attendance numbers are almost back to pre-Helene levels.

During that time, I pulled some special yarn from my stash to replicate a wrap I sold during my June demo. It is one of my special designs combining three of my favorite techniques.

During the demo, I created a long piece of Tunisian Cross Stitch lace, turned it one-quarter turn and crocheted four rows of thread lace star stitch along the side. I then added two rows of large Broomstick lace, followed by two rows of smaller Broomstick lace, making the loops and stitches smaller toward the shoulders. This creates a curve that keeps the wrap from slipping off the shoulders.

I premiered the wrap at my July demo and sold it on the second day. I love working some of my pieces from the bottom up, and I am already dreaming of another one with more interesting changes.

Just yesterday, I received a beautiful and unusual veil for a complete rebuild. It had been cut in half to shorten it, and now the family wishes to restore its original full length. I will purchase new tulle and transfer all the embroidery, border and dotted accents from the cut pieces to a new ten-foot-long veil. A full report and images will come in the next Musings.

August is here, and I am looking forward to my musical birthday treat in Brevard. Yo-Yo Ma is making a stop on his farewell tour to give us a beautiful season finale to the annual Music Festival. I especially enjoy the sound of his cello in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor. It will be bittersweet, but it will bring back wonderful memories.

I plan to enjoy a fun birthday month with no shows or demonstrations, just a little time off for special things!

I hope you do the same. Enjoy all the beautiful fruits, wash them well, and have a watermelon seed-spitting contest! The joys of summer are upon us, so enjoy some lazy days and take time for yourself.

Happy summer!