Cely's Quilts - in New Orleans

While cruising the Rhythms Festival I admired Miss Cecelia's quilts. She had only a few on display. I wish I had spoken with her longer, but I had to run off for some previously scheduled errands. Reading her web page, I see that she is quite prolific and talented. I noticed while standing up close to her work that she uses a combination of hand quilting and machine quilting.

Miss Cecelia has traditional quilts and some like paintings; I copied these two examples from her web site to illustrate:





Taken from her web site, she provides this information about herself and her work:

Cecelia "Cely" Tapplette-Pedescleaux, a self-taught quilter, grew up surrounded with women that were seamstresses that did all sorts of handwork lace, crocheting, beading, tatting and much more. Her passion for quilting bloomed when she purchased a quilted apron/dish-cloth kit she bought to make Christmas presents in the late 1960's. From there she was hooked on quilting.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in downtown 7th Ward New Orleans, to Jean Phillips and Albert Tapplette, Cely attended public schools in New Orleans, Louisiana State University in New Orleans (now University Of New Orleans) and Southern University in New Orleans. Cely has three children; Louis Keith, Lance Kyle, and Cheka Bahiya.

As a youth director for her church, Beecher Memorial United Church of Christ (Congregational), Cely made quilts for the youth graduating from high school, college, or getting married. As the years progressed, she began combining her quilting with African design and history. She

started quilting researching in old cookbooks, winemaking, agricultural, and architectural books that had comments on enslaved people's handiwork. Cely's love of New Orleans; which she considers a melting pot of nationalities, flamboyant colors, fragrances, and sounds serve as a catalyst for her creations. She uses brilliant colors, beadwork, and embroidery on her quilts.
Cely teaches quilting and the history of African American quilting to the public through the Beecher Memorial United Church of Christ Quilt Guild, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, The New Orleans, Jefferson and surrounding school systems as well as through speaking engagements local and abroad. Her quilts have been on exhibit in many galleries, colleges and universities, festivals and quilts shows.

Cely expanded her love for quilting in fashion when she created tor outfits for Worn Again (2009, 2010), a fashion show that show artist creativity by giving them old clothing to recycle into new garments.

Articles about her works have appeared in numerous publications. Quilter's Newsletter Magazine printed 'Missing New Orleans" in the July/August 2006 issue. Les Nouvelle- Patchwork et Creation Textiles de 1'Association France, Patchwork Magazine December 2008.

Cely has been the recipient of several awards since she begin quilting and speaking about quilts. In 2001, Cely received the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's Artie Award for Visual Arts, an honorable merit award in the Satchmo Art Show, and the National Conference of Artist Outstanding Artist Award in 2003.

Nine of her quilts were in a French exhibit, "A Patchwork of Cultures: Traveling Exhibit from Louisiana to France," sponsored by the U.S. Ambassador to France (Paris) and the French Patchwork Association in 2008-2009. The quilts made were also in an exhibit at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum (DAR), in Washington D.C. entitled "Honoring Lafayette Contemporary Quilts from France and America in August 2010.

OMG, I started cruising the Facebook page for the Beecher Memorial United Church of Christ Quilt Guild that she mentioned on her web page. I want to get involved, but jiminey Christmas, I can't add another project to my list of things to do. I can't get done what I already have on my plate. So frustrating!

Hand-washing dishes could prevent allergy development in children

How fabulous is this?! I wonder what the effect is if you hand wash some of your dishes, but not....

If your home doesn't have a dishwasher, it could actually have health benefits for your children.

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics found that children whose families hand-wash their dishes are likely to have fewer allergies. Researchers believe that many children's environments are actually too clean, which harms the development of their immune systems.

Scientists at Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Sweden surveyed the parents of 1,029 Swedish children ages seven and eight. They found that in households where families hand-washed their dishes, the children were less likely to have allergies. Twenty-three percent of children whose parents hand-washed dishes had a history of eczema, compared with 38 percent of children whose families used dishwashers.

The researchers believe that hand-washed dishes may have more bacteria on them, so exposing children to more germs at an early age can help strengthen their immune systems.

I took this from The Week Magazine and it seems to have been written by Meghan DeMaria.

MsCrochetjig Creative Crochet

I was amazed and delighted by the crochet work of Ms. Roycelyn Dequair. I walked in to her booth at the Rhythms Festival in New Orleans because of the crochet. I was interested because I like the idea of crochet very much, but I'm not one of those lighter-than-air, hippy-dippy sorts who model lacey shawls - which are all the crochet patterns I ever see.

Well, let me tell you - her work is wonderful. She is making purses and clutches with brightly colored string and the tabs from soda or beer cans. In New Orleans, the City does not recycle, so one can find cans all over the place. She indicated to me that her neighbors and festival volunteers will bring her bags of the tabs. I thought to myself, this is brilliant, she is helping with the issue and making money. I suppose one day the Crescent City will get their act together and have recycling, but in the meantime, she is doing a small part to remove some waste from the land fill.

In her own words - taken from her web site:

I was born in New Orleans, La. I have been married for 24 yrs. stay at home
housewife who loves to crochet and read. I have a great passion for
crocheting, so I decided to create my own business. I have been crocheting
for over 28 yrs and love to learn new things. I decided to research more about crocheting and found that women in Brazil was crocheting with pop tabs! Wow I thought to myself now how can I do this and make it not only a business but my career!!!! So I begin to go out on the street and collect cans! Started practicing and after many mess ups, and long hours of practicing it became a passion! Each tab is washed , sanitized and sanded by hand, crocheted together and uniquely designed by me! I also crochet photos into fabric!!!!!!!! My teacher Todd Paschall is the founder of this technique and I was very interested so I once again begin practicing and taking it to the next level in my business! All of my work is done by hand carefully planned out and with love!

Ms. Roycelyn has used top designers for her inspiration. She mentioned to me that she had seen a purse by Dolce & Gabanna for over $2,000 and she is selling one inspired by their design for $450. (I pulled an example of a crocheted purse by D&B below - not that the image I found is the same, just that I found one and have just learned how to post it on my blog!) She indicated that she was certain that at Jazz Fest here in NOLA in April 2015 she will absolutely sell the purse. (If I were fashionable enough and not so frugal, I would pay that easily for one of her hand made purses.)

Dolce & Gabbana Miss Charles Jeweled Crochet Shoulder Bag (see more chain strap purses)

Now, if only one can figure out what to do with the rest of the can.

Over 2,000 Pageviews, and I missed it

Dang!
Oh well, feeling pretty good about reaching that level, though.

Artificial Sweeteners

One must cut out the sugar and anything sweet in it's entirety if one wants to be healthy.... But, if one does make that sacrifice, foods that now might not seem sweet will again be sweet, like bananas and strawberries.

Artificial sweeteners may be just as bad. A new study indicates the additives can alter the body’s metabolism to make weight gain more likely. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science found that three sweeteners widely used in low-calorie snacks and drinks—saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame—raised blood sugar levels in mice, increasing their risk of glucose intolerance, a condition linked to obesity and diabetes. Sweeteners, the report found, “may have directly contributed to enhancing the exact epidemic that they themselves were intended to fight.”

This little article came from the 12/31 The Week Magazine.

The government thinks you should probably drink more coffee

Taken from The Week Magazine again.... This time they seem to give credit to Peter Weber.

Not that I am obsessed with coffee or anything, it's just a fond memory I have of my father, (and I *do* enjoy it) so I will continue to mention it. We have discussed it here and here, previously.

When an expert U.S. panel released new dietary guidelines last week, its embrace of the egg got most of the attention. But the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee also weighed in for the first time on a topic near and dear to many American hearts and brains: Coffee.

"Currently, strong evidence shows that consumption of coffee within the moderate range (3 to 5 cups per day or up to 400 mg/d caffeine) is not associated with increased long-term health risks among healthy individuals," the panel wrote. "In fact, consistent evidence indicates that coffee consumption is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in healthy adults."

In interviews, panel members were more effusive. "Coffee's good stuff,” Cornell nutritionist Tom Brenna tells Bloomberg. "I don’t want to get into implying coffee cures cancer — nobody thinks that," but the evidence points to benefits, not health risks.

"That's great news if you're already drinking between three and five cups each day," notes Roberto A. Ferdman at The Washington Post. But "you probably aren't, because people in this country actually tend to consume a lot less than that. On average, Americans only drink about one cup of coffee per day." It's Monday morning and the weather is probably terrible: Have another cup. Peter Weber

Gluten Gets the Boot

I have learned that I am not allergic to gluten - I paid for the expensive tests - but it's elimination does make a difference in my digestion.... I follow the Primal Blueprint as best as I am able, though I screw up a lot, too, but I am doing my best.

The gluten-free craze hit critical mass this year, with a third of Americans claiming they avoid the ubiquitous wheat protein. Food makers have been quick to catch on—and cash in—creating a $9 billion industry. “At least 70 percent of it is hype,” the Mayo Clinic’s Joseph Murray told The New Yorker. “There is just nothing obviously related to gluten that is wrong with most of these people.” But the proof is in the gluten-free pudding, said one convert: “I know that I’m intolerant, because I gave it up and I felt better.” The Week Magazine, 12/31/2014

I am not thrilled to learn, though I am not at all surprised, that this is the next commercial food bandwagon for chasng the profit. Gosh, if we would just support our local farmers - and do our own gardening (gardening is like printing money!) - we would eat so much better and be so much healthier.

Rethinking fat and cholesterol

OMG, The Week Magazine having changed their on-line presence I now need to jump when the new magazine comes out if I want to share anything with my readers. I have been cutting and pasting to share, but it seems that now they are not providing everything on line for an extended period of time, so if I dally, I loose.

Anyway, how incredible is this below? Now we have come full circle in our thoughts about cholesterol and fat. Mark's Daily Apple has been telling us this for a long time, and now conventional wisdom is catching up. In my humble opinion, it's those dang processed foods which are killing us.

A bad rap
For decades, health experts have issued stark warnings that foods high in fat and cholesterol cause heart disease and other illnesses. But new research has determined that these guidelines, which prompted millions to shun red meat and eggs, were not supported by good evidence and were, in fact, in error. In the late 1970s, Americans were encouraged to reduce their fat intake to about 30 percent of their total daily calories. But after reviewing the research available at that time, a team of British scientists has concluded there was never any evidence that eating less fat would help reduce the risk of heart disease. When Americans were told to avoid meat, dairy, and fat, they increased their consumption of simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white bread, pasta, and processed foods—the real drivers of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. “The obesity epidemic basically began with the first dietary guidelines,” points out Nina Teicholz, who’s written a book on that topic. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is no longer classifying cholesterol as a “nutrient of concern.” The decision, which reverses four decades of government advice, reflects recent research suggesting that eating foods high in cholesterol does not significantly raise cholesterol levels in the blood or increase the risk of heart disease. Genetics, it turns out, has a much greater effect on cholesterol levels than diet. “We got the dietary guidelines wrong,” Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic tells USA Today. “They’ve been wrong for decades.”

We all need to return to eating just meat and veggies with some nuts and fruit thrown in for fun - in my humble opinion. (I just wish the pasta, bread, cookies, etc. didn't taste so good!)