Just for fun, I got permission to share this “Word A Day”. If you like this sort of thing, scroll to the end to the hotlink to sign up for the free word-a-day.

This week’s theme: professions that exist mainly as surnames.

mercer (MUR-suhr) noun

A dealer in textiles, especially silk and other fine materials.

[From Old French mercier (trader), from Latin merx (goods). Words such
as market, merchant, commerce, and mercantile share the same origin.]

Then there is mercerization. To mercerize is to treat cotton thread or
fabric with caustic soda to enhance its strength and luster, and to increase
its affinity for dyes. The word is an eponym, coined after the calico printer
John Mercer (1791-1866) who patented it in 1850.

And calico — a kind of cotton cloth printed with a pattern — is a toponym,
coined after the city of Calicut in India. The city is now known as Kozhikode.

Today’s word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=mercer

-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)

“The success of the mercers was symbolised by the ambience and animation
of their shops.”
Daniel Roche; The Culture of Clothing; Cambridge University Press; 1996.

……

………………………………………………………………….
The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for
jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most
brilliant. -Salvador Dali, painter (1904-1989)

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Oh what fun it is to meet an internet friend in the real! That happened today when Jacquie Scuitto, aka the Quiltmuse, her hubby Lou and brother Don all came by Camden, Maine, to visit. Lou took a TON of photos at our house (more later when he gets home and sends a CD / jpegs!). We all enjoyed meeting each other and families (the boys and Paul were here, along with Yeti the wonderdog), then we did the requisite tour of the house ending in the best room—my studio!

I got to unearth a fair number of my quilts, including some that are still “under wraps” and share, and Leo took photos of Jacquie and me with most of them! I got Lou to stand in as my personal photographer and had him take this picture of Jacquie and me at “command central, aka my desk on the old Baker’s cupboard in the kitchen/dining area holding the postcard Jacquie sent me as a total surprise a while back.

Then we went into town and ate lunch at Marriner’s, the old diner on the harbor side of the main street that bills itself as the last luncheonette in Camden, “no ferns, no quiche”. Accordingly, we ate fried! Clams, scallops, shrimp, a Philly cheesesteak for me, and pie and custard for the Scuitto’s! Here we are, fed and happy (L to R: Jacquie, Don, Sarah and Lou):

They were all in Maine for a family memorial service near Bangor (about 80 minutes north of me) so I’m sad for the reason that brought them here, but was SO glad to be able to meet them all! Don told me it was the first time he and all his siblings had been together in the same place at the same time since 1946!!!! Too long! Next time, Jacquie, it’s my turn to come to NH!

I’ve mentioned before that I have a “site meter” on my blog which allows me to see generally where all of you come from…. I even added that cool little map on the right so you could see, too. Well, on Monday, June 26th, I got the last two states: Delaware and North Dakota! So now I’ve had visitors from all 50 states, DC, and a gazillion places around the world… way cool!As a former US diplomat, it makes me feel re-connected to folks all over the world. Thanks for surfing in and visiting!

For some reason, I like to write on my quilts. I’m a very verbal person (in case you hadn’t noticed — grin!), and I guess my first art form was calligraphy. In the first picture, you can see part of the school’s name, using the same font as the school uses on its letterhead. Now I seem to have this habit of writing on quilts with thread. The Christmas Tableau quilt is no exception.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to include words from the songs in the Christmas Tableau program, as well as some of the verses spoken by the angels and prophets in the play. When the overall composition was set in my mind (but still in progress on the design wall), I read through the program and music and selected passages what I wanted to consider including as part of the quilting. I decided to place these passages next to the figures in the quilt to which they referred. For example, the roof of the building just underneath the angel is quilted with the worlds in Latin and in English to “O Come, Emmanuel” since the angel announced the coming of the baby Jesus. In the stable roof above Mary’s head are parts of the verses that explain that a virgin will bear a child named Emmanuel, and that he was born in a stable. Here are some pictures of the parts of the quilt with words (trust me, they are there…hard to see, but there!).

Next to the angel and above the mountains is the first verse to Angels We Have Heard on High:

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plain, and the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains! Gloria, gloria, in excelcis Deo! (photo above).

On the left side of the stable roof, above Mary and surrounding Joseph, are the words of the Angel of Nativity from Isaias VII, 14:

“Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel”

and two verses from Luke II, spoken by the Prophet of Nativity:

“While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. “

OK…the writing is hard to read in the “live” version, so just trust me on this one….there IS writing on the print of the roof.

On the right hand side of the stable roof, are these words from Matthew II, spoken by the Prophet of the Kings:

“and lo, the star, which they had seen in the East, went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered h im gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

On the roof of the building beneath the angel, the one with the arched colonnade, are verses in Latin and English from O Come Emmanuel:

Veni, veni Emmanuel!
Captivum solve Israel
Quit gemit in exilio,
privatus Dei Filio!
Gaude! Gaude, Emmanuel, mascetur pro te Israel!

O come, o come Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel;
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel sahl come to you O Israel!

Below that, in the arched areas of the building and on the ground beneath it, are the verses for the shepherds from Luke II, spoken by the Prophet of the Shepherds:

“And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping wawtch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring youy good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sing for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

Wrapping around the manger (where Mary has just picked up her baby…how do we know? Why it must still be warm and comfy because the cat is trying to jump into it!), are the words spoken by the Angel of Prophecy, Jeremiah XXIX, 13:

“You shall seek me and you shall find me, when you shall seek me with all your heart.”

Finally on the bottom left and bottom right are the final two verses spoken by the Angel of Prophecy:

“For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans WIV, 17

and

“And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians IV, 7

In some ways this is all rather ironic, because I’m not much of a church-goer or big on organized religion. But clearly it resonates in a deeper way. Peace be with you all.

Hi all…. a brief diversion from the nativity quilt…

After I posted about using the circular Creative Grids plastic templates last week, Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs surfed in to read and wrote to tell me of an on-line retail source for the complete line of Creative Grids products. You can find them at www.creationssewclever.com. I’ve never ordered from them, but if Joan recommends them, they are OK! In the picture below, the solid circle on the right is one of Creative Grids. I also love and use their rulers (including the massive, expensive and worth-it 20 1 /2 inch square ruler) all the time–I think the 3 1/2 x 18 1/2 inch ruler is the most used, with the 6 1/12 x 24 1/2 inches ruler coming in second most-used.

Since many of my readers are, I expect, art quilters and not frequent denizens of their local quilt shops’ pattern racks, you may or may not have heard about Joan. Her company, Lazy Girl Designs, is one of the most successful lines of patterns in the quilting business! They are really fun to make (addictive?) bags (and also quilts and accessories), and her patterns are (unlike mine I fear?) straightforward, easy to make and to give. I keep promising myself that despite my perpetual urge to “do my own thing” I’m going to make a Gracie bag (click on the link and scroll down ’til you see the Gracie)! I also expect that once you see the patterns you’ll recognize them. Click on this link to see a gallery of bags other folks have made…as you can see, you can get pretty creative with them. And if youire really hooked on Joan’s patterns, you can even join her yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lazygirldesigns/ .

Not affiliated…just like her patterns!