on deck

my first art project

concrete stool (seat) mosaic, vista mar school, daly city CA, circa 1959. photo by thomwatson, whom i do not know, september 2007.

eta: feb '09--i'm going home in april and have already contacted the school in hopes they'll give me access to take somepictures, since the photographer of this one so kindly completely ignored me when i messaged him on flickr.

gazing at my panel before the crit

when i'd finished i asked him what would he change, how did he think it looked?

"damn good," he said.

my panel

click on picture for jumbo detail.

(originally posted to ravelry.com)

they’re here! general lecture last night; can’t wait for today’s workshop!! i had been worried as the shop that’s brought him seemed rather clueless about what he’s all about…f’instance they had us buy yards of 20 different shades of one colorway and precut 6 diamonds of each so we’d be “ready”. i bought 40 basic pallette 99 cent fat quarters at joann’s instead and turned those into 6 diamonds, or half of them i did and then asked kf/bm after the lecture. of course, they said no, don’t cut anything yet!! and i felt much better. he said he can’t wait to see how we mix ours with his fabrics and the shopowner piped up “oh, it’s going to be all your fabrics, kaffe, we love them!” to which he replied “then we’ll just pull some others down from the walls and mix things up!” (just as i was leaving bm whispered to me “if you’ve got any fabric at home bring that, too!” alas, i had to confess that i didn’t as i’m really a knitter in mufti.)

the room turned out to be a wedding tent out near the pool with a noisy generator powering the ubiquitous air conditioning; i saw kf sitting out by the pool near it, very still and mild, and somehow i just didn’t feel i could approach him, continuing to think maybe i’d made a big mistake raiding my savings for this weekend at this clueless shop and there he sits so still and seemingly biddable….WRoNG!

so i needn’t have feared, kf was wonderfully commanding and himself. in response to one of the few questions he said he doesn’t really plan what to do next but just flows creatively. whereupon bm couldn’t stand it and mentioned that actually kf’s diary is filled 8 months in advance and he has no cllue; kf admitted what one needs to flow creatively is to have a brandon:)

turns out he’s one of those performers who can (must, probably) turn it on and off like a current and i suppose he was simply in rest mode storing up (if you can imagine kf sitting alone by a pool outside a quilt venue and absolutely no one, including me, approaching him! on reflection, that in itself is pretty commanding, isn’t it.) first thing he did when on was call for the a/c to be turned off (thankfully, as far as i am concered.) but you should have seen the room still, i’m sure they all thought they were about to to die in an unmediated state. and then he just marked time until it did, indeed, go off, and only then then slides started.

so good to hear him ramble over the familiar images. although he seemed to sense part-way through that people were looking bewildered, which i hadn’t noticed, not looking at people (they always seem so to me) but very hard at slides, me. but the main thing i learned by example, i think, is that i, personally, need to be more intellectually aware of the things that are around me, to allow them into my mind as well as my eyes; i know from experience that they go into receptor storage without me knowing anyway, but i can’t really think about them that way, now can i. f’instance: i think of this place as being featureless tasteless corporate targetmart, but kf congratulated tampa on its appreciation of color. i didn’t realize tampa appreciated color; whenever i use any eveybody falls all over like they’ve never before seen such a thing. of course, he probably congratulates everywhere he goes on something, but still. if i had to recommend someplace to go to see something, or even just to dinner, to someone i respect artistically–anyone i’ve known, for instance, or say kf/bm, as an exercise– i wouldn’t be able to do it. i’d probably say the tampa theatre. or the columbia in ybor. lately i stay in my studio and make my own world as compensation/deflection. not that i want to change that part so much but i do need to become a bit more aware, i think. kf was sitting by the pool in the off mode and he was probably looking, not at dreadful social phenomena, but at the colors.

the lecture was wonderful and marred only by a near-total lack of audience participation, which ended things a full hour early. i don’t think there was one person in the audience under 50 and i have no idea what the rest thought–possibly entirely about air conditioning, i don’t know. i then bought some kf fabrics (i had planned to do so to augment the basic pallette fat quarters): six 1/2 yds for about $27, which i thought quite good, and i plan on allowing myself carte blanche (emphasis on the carte) no matter what comes up at today’s workshop. we’re doing the diamond pattern and i don’t want to make a quilt per se, but rather a 30” wide banner (+/- 10 ft?) of sorts for my “classroom” (probably giving the shopowners apoplexy) but i’m so psyched and relieved to find the actual kf i had expcted and more! got my glorious books from the 80s signed last night: 6 hours today, i want every second!!!!

one other thing? it’s so GOOD to hear my home accent again. genuine mid-20thC northern california via shakespeare –there seem to be so few of us left!

(videos of the final crits are on eezeye.)

kaffe workshop stash

 

autumn in the hall

 

the view from here, now.

testing friendfeed

does this show up?

black beauty comes home

 

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

found in the bowels of The Closet: my mother's machine

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

it IS a featherweight!

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

it has ephemera!

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

The standard model has a shiny black finish, called 'japan'. The bed of the machine is decorated with gold decals. Non-crinkle AF serial-numbered machines in original condition will have a chrome plated scroll design faceplate and a silver handwheel rim. Non-blackside AG serial-numbered machines also have a chrome plated scroll design faceplate and either a silver or black handwheel rim. After approximately AG818000, the handwheel rim is predominantly the shiny black japan finish....the plated striated faceplate...was introduced on Featherweights during the AH serial number series in 1947.

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

Singer's Role in WWII

Prior to !WWII, employment at the Elizabethport, N.J. Singer factory totaled 5,000. The 113 acre factory comprised 48 buildings with a combined floor area of over 2.6 million square feet. The self-sufficient plant included a foundry, wire drawing mill, hardening and tempering facilities, as well as machining and press operations. The factory produced its own nuts, bolts, springs and pins, tools, gauges and fixtures and contained a photographic and printing plant as well as metallurgical and chemical laboratories for the testing materials.

Increased demands for family sewing machines, repair parts and needles began to be felt in late 1939. The Singer factory in Scotland was engaged in the war effort and shipping throughout Europe was limited which resulted in Singer sales outlets normally supplied from Scotland turning to Elizabethport for family sewing machines and machine parts. By 1940, France had fallen and England was on the verge of collapse. Demand on Elizabethport was further increased by sales outlets attempting to build stock in anticipation of the United States becoming involved in the war. Through 1941 Elizabethport met the demands for family sewing machines, parts, and needles and increased their volume of war work and industrial sewing machine production.

During this period the use of materials such as copper, iron, steel, and aluminum became critical and production of civilian goods such as family sewing machines was completely stopped by order of the War Production Board. The order stopping family sewing machine production—Limitation Order L-98—became effective June 15, 1942. Between that time and July 1945 production of family sewing machines at Elizabethport was completely stopped and only limited production of repair parts and needles was allowed by War Production Board regulations. The halt of the supply of family sewing machines to sales outlets for a period of over three years presented a critical problem to the sales organizations. In addition to the stoppage of family sewing machine production, the board ordered the majority of existing stock of completed family sewing machines frozen and earmarked for use by government agencies. Releases of frozen stock were authorized throughout the war, most to South American countries in promotion of the National Good Neighbor Policy.

Elizabethport personnel who were released from working on family sewing machines due to Limitation Order L-98 were absorbed into the factory's war production effort. Singer's American factories were responsible for the development and production of a variety of items for the war effort including:

* .45 caliber automatic pistols
* M5 Director equipment to control the fire of 37mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns
* B-29 gunfire control computers
* Hydraulic servo assemblies
* Subassemblies for the M7 Director 90mm anti-aircraft gun
* Gun turret castings for the B-29 bomber
* Castings for aircraft engine piston rings
* Gun sights for the Mark XV 3-inch, 5-inch, and 40mm anti-aircraft guns on naval ships
* Caliber .30 M1 carbine receiver
* Director M5 parts
* Parts for the Sperry Directional Gyro and Artificial Horizon instruments
* Housings and covers for the A3 Automatic Pilot
* Parts for the T-1 bomb sight
* Ammunition boxes
* Time and percussion fuses
* Variable pitch wooden propeller blades
* Special types of motors for fire control and other ordnance equipment

As a way to acknowledge the importance of the industrial workers to the war effort, the Army-Navy Production Award "E" Pennant was created. Awarded to a plant rather than a company, it consisted of a flag to be flown over the plant and a lapel pin for every employee within the plant. In NovemberNavy 'E' Award Poster 1942 Singer's Elizabethport, New Jersey plant received the Army-Navy "E" Pennant in recognition of its outstanding production of needed war material. In July 1945, Elizabethport Works was cited for the fifth time, and a fourth star was added to the pennant.

Because of its foundry, tool room, and press and screw machinery, Elizabethport was also able to provide assistance to other manufacturers engaged in the war effort:

* Thread milling cutters and motor castings for the Lawrence Aeronautical Corporation
* Rumbling barrel castings were made for Springfield Armory
* Ball reamers to International Business Machine Company
* Surgical instrument forgings were supplied to Brandenburg Instrument Company
* Cast iron bars were made for American Gas Accumulator
* Thread chasers were supplied to Reliable Machine Screw Company.
* Prisms were ground for an optical manufacturer and shafts were ground for Simmonds Aerocessories, Inc.
* Parts were oxidized for Taller and Cooper Company, Jersey City
* Eight-inch projectiles were sand blasted for Crucible Steel
* Stator and rotor plates were heat treated for Allen D. Cardwell
* Dental chair castings were produced for S. S. White
* Taper pins and spring pins were made in large quantities for Babcock Printing Press, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Western Electric, Excello Corporation, Submarine Signal Company and Worth Engineering
* Thread milling hobs were made for American Type Founders, National Rubber machinery and Webendorfer - all working on 40 mm and 75 mm guns - for *Carl M. Norden, working on bomb sights; for Eisman Magneto Corporation and National Pneumatic, working on gun tubes and shells; also Farand Optical Company, Guilbert and Barker Company, National Broach and Machine Company, Diehl Manufacturing Company, Williams Oil-O-Matic, Miller Printing Machinery and the Dictaphone Corporation, working on a variety of war jobs
* Hobs and ground thread taps were produced for Textile Machinery Company, Sperry Instrument Company, Delco Division of General Motors, Teletype Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Maxon, Inc.

* The source Singer in World War II - 1939 to 1945, published in 1946 by Singer Manufacturing Company, lists the name as Carl M. Norden; the correct name is Carl L. Norden, founder of Carl L. Norden, Inc., Manhattan, New York.

singer standard 221

singer standard 221, originally uploaded by elithea.

AL172243 makes it 1952.

she got it to sew for me.

"About as rare of (sic) a Confederate Civil War document as you will ever find concerning the State of Florida. The 10 x 15 inch document is from the detachment of the Confederate Coast Guard in Tampa Bay,Florida. The document reads as follows: Muster Roll and Pay Roll of 1st Lt. Michael L.Shannahan's detachment of Coast Guards into the service of the State of Florida by Brig. General Joseph Taylor. All of Shannahan's men are listed and the document is dated September 13th 1861. Lt. Shannahan is complaining that his men have not been paid and they will sue the Confederate Government for back pay...This document came from a deceased St. Augustine Army Colonel who bought it at a junk shop in West Virginia...in the 1960's."

window wols

a la audobon

a la rousseau

caribbean project

Jazz Fest 2008, originally uploaded by Often Absurd in the Humid City.

invisiballerina

casualties of the art world 2

my cold, dead hands

An Extraordinary Gift from the Extraordinary 'e', originally uploaded by GraceD.

lucy