A number of people expressed interest in seeing the pieces I use to illustrate a particular stitch I’m demonstrating during my YouTube videos. As I’m showing how to do a stitch, the camera is focused on my stitching, and doesn’t pull back enough to see more than a few inches of the piece I’m working on, so I made a “Studio Tour” video.
Which got me thinking about the other question I get a lot of, “Where do you find your inspiration?”
And the answer to that is – everywhere.
What follows are a few things that have inspired me over the last few weeks. I’ve included a couple of quick tours of buildings that caught my eye on a recent stroll I took with my husband a few days ago. These are just random buildings that we pass all the time as we walk about our beautiful city. Inspiration is literally around every corner. Welcome to the beauty and inspiration of Manhattan!
This is the cheesecake I made for our very small family dinner on Easter Sunday. It reminds me of the Raised Cup Stitch. The recipe is from my mother. I cannot remember where she got it from. Perhaps she will remind me!
The beautiful iron work grill above a doorway right around the corner from where I live in Manhattan. One of thousands – a building’s facade reminding me to look up!
Built in 1906, I couldn’t find out anything more about what this building once was; it is now an office building.
Built in 1900, this building was originally a button factory. But look at those lion’s heads. Amazing.
New York City has now earned the dubious distinction of being the epicenter of the pandemic. I know 6 people whose doctor’s believe they are sick with COVID19, though without the ability to test anyone unless they are incapable of breathing on their own, it’s impossible to verify, and another handful of people who are sick and suspect they have it, but again, have no way of knowing for sure.
What I do know is that here in New York City we are a population of more than eight and a half million people, living tooth by jowl, and like the rest of the population in the US, had hoped all of this would pass us by. Except it didn’t. And here we are.
It is bizarre it is to be able to stand in the middle of what is normally a busy street filled with cars and pedestrians and see no one.
At least a week before my gym closed I developed a cough, had some other weird symptoms and called my doctor’s office. I asked if I should be concerned and if it was worth getting tested, just to be safe, but was told they had been sent 10 tests, as had all private practices in New York City, with no indication of when or if they would be receiving more. Ten tests for a practice that sees thirty times that many patients in less than a week.
Obviously my rookie symptoms were not a high priority and so I began self quarantining, before it had become a thing. But it did make me wonder at the whole – Have you traveled to China? Have you been in contact with someone who tested positive? – the litmus test for knowing whether one should worry. The first question was easy to answer, Nope, haven’t been to China in the last month, but the second question was a bit harder, because technically, no, I hadn’t been around anyone who’d tested positive, on the other hand, I hadn’t met anyone who had been able to get tested period, so how was that even a question anyone could accurately answer? How can we know how many people are carriers? How many people are asymptomatic? Wouldn’t this be good to know? In fact, isn’t this essential information to have?
I meant to write an upbeat piece about how we New Yorkers are resilient in the face of difficulties, but once I began writing, that idea took a back seat, because what we are experiencing in New York City right now is what much of the United States may be facing in the coming weeks. And while most of us will be just fine, there are a lot of people who aren’t and won’t be, particularly those who are on the front lines trying to save lives. To all those people – please know that we are staying home thinking about you and appreciating all the risks you are taking for us.
I leave you with some lovely photos taken on my walk with my husband over the weekend, which was the last time I stepped outside, donning the now mandatory face mask and latex disposable gloves, our new normal when venturing out these days. Stay healthy and safe everyone.
Here in New York City we are in a self imposed lock down, of sorts. Yesterday I had to get my driver’s license renewed. This is 7th Avenue & 29th Street at 10:45am yesterday morning.
7th Avenue & 30th Street Thursday at 10:45 am
When I’m not preparing, taping and editing new videos, I am searching for things to make me smile. The following are a few things that made me do just that, and one that is downright hilarious. A couple of these are bittersweet, as they are a direct result of the pandemic we are facing, but are interesting and uplifting never-the-less.
First is The Ellen Show – laugh out loud hilarious, so if you haven’t seen this yet, take a look. I was laughing so hard I cried. And Ellen’s commentary on the whole thing is equally funny.
Next is this image from the canals in Venice, Italy where dolphins are now being spotted swimming in the canals.
And then there’s this satellite view of China comparing pollution levels a year ago versus this year.
And finally who doesn’t love babies and their dogs?
Grateful to be inside with lots of projects and videos to make. If you haven’t yet, please go over to my channel, Ariane Zurcher ~ On the Other Hand. I have videos for beginners, left handers, right handers, with tips that I’ve picked up and learned along the way. My latest YouTube video covers 3 knots – The Colonial Knot, The Chinese Knot & The French Knot. I even threw in a bonus demonstration of a Beaded French Knot!
My version above of a meme by @stitchesnquilts that I saw on Instagram the other day and it made me laugh so I wanted to share my tweaked version of it. Because boy do I crave laughter right now. The meme below, another that has been making the rounds, made me smile. And who doesn’t suddenly feel invisible bugs are crawling all over your face? Or is it just me?
Another meme making the rounds that made me smile
It is impossible to write about anything at the moment and not mention the current pandemic. I live in Manhattan. An island that is home to more than 1.6 million people. That’s a lot of frightened people crammed into a relatively small space all trying to stock up on supplies in case they need to stay inside for a month (or by the amount of peanut butter, broth and toilet paper being bought) perhaps people are thinking longer term, it’s hard to know.
As I write this, I am aware of how little traffic I can hear, and it’s the middle of the day on a weekday. A time that is typically filled with the cacophony of city life: sirens, irritable drivers making their discontent known, honking horns, shouting voices, music blaring from passing cars, alarms going off signaling a truck backing up or a car whose space has been invaded. People are out and about, but the mood is noticeably different. People are standing a little farther apart, not like the push and shove that New Yorkers are known for. It has the feel of a 4th of July weekend (without the TGIF anticipation and relief) when huge numbers of Manhattanites leave for their country or beach houses and the city empties out, except the vibe is a whole lot eerier.
The mayor announced Sunday that all schools are now closed. New York City’s museums have locked their doors. Broadway is dark. Times Square, usually a haven for tourists, is eerily quiet. Store fronts are dark, their iron grates locked down. Think Will Smith’s apocalyptic thriller, I am Legend, minus the tumbleweed. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it is weird out there. And I keep wondering – how does one find the balance? Knowing that this is serious and life has changed, things will not be going back to what they once were any time soon, and yet steeling oneself from the contagion of panic and even hysteria.
Manhattan – the city I love
Someone compared these last few days to 9/11, but it doesn’t feel at all like that to me. In the aftermath of 9/11 there was a mourning mixed with horror and the awful knowing of just how hideous humans can be toward one another. Yes, there was the same kind of bleary eyed realization that all our lives had irreparably changed, but this feels different. Perhaps it’s how things are changing so quickly hour by hour with no end in sight. Perhaps it’s that there is no “containment,” no focal point, it’s everywhere and everyone feels at risk.
When times are tough, I have always found joy in creating. These past few years, that has meant in stitching and playing around with fabric, wool, silk, velvet, linen, ribbons, and threads. There is a zen-like state that I feel when hand stitching that is both meditative and incredibly calming. Time moves at a different speed, worries recede. There’s a whole community out there of fellow stitchers who know what I’m talking about. I’m so grateful for that. Community at the moment feels that much more precious.
From @stitchesnquilts on Instagram
A few weeks before life as we know it changed, I launched a YouTube Channel: Ariane Zurcher ~ On the Other Hand, where I demonstrate embroidery stitches, tips for sewing things like needle turn applique, how to make a perfect circle, emboss velvet and lots of other things I’ve learned along the way. The idea is to go through Sue Spargo‘s Creative Stitching book with the goal of doing a video for each stitch. Many of the stitches I’m demonstrating are not hand specific, in other words, whether you’re right handed or left, the stitch will be stitched the same way, but many of them are hand specific and for those stitches, I am demonstrating them for left handers specifically, though I’m also teaching myself to stitch all of them right handed too. I’ve received a wonderfully, enthusiastic response so far from both left AND right handers, and am working around the clock to keep up with the many requests I’ve been given.
My recent tutorial
I love the comments people are leaving. It is life affirming to have a community, and now, more than ever. Thank you to all who have subscribed and commented and liked and watched. It feels good knowing that there are so many of us out there, stitching away during such surreal times. I think of all the people who know what it means to be passionate about textiles and thread, who are calmly stitching while a tumultuous world swirls around us. And there’s balance in that.
A month ago I taught a 2-hour stitching workshop exploring shapes and stitches at my quilt guild. It was a huge success, and lots of fun! I prepared squares of wool and precut circles in different sizes. More than 20 people attended and each person got to pick a wool square and some circles, which they then whipstitched on to their wool base. As most of the participants already knew how to do some of the more basic stitches such as the Running Stitch and Backstitch, I taught how to do the Bullion Knot and a Cast On Bullion stitch. (We only had two hours) It was a lot of fun! I really, really love teaching.
Through one of the participants (who also happens to be a friend) of that workshop I was introduced to one of the owners of the last remaining quilt shop in New York City, Gotham Quilts – New York City’s Quilt Shop. It was a terrific meeting and as a result of that meeting, I will be teaching a 6-hour Creative Stitching workshop playing with shapes using many of Sue Spargo‘s techniques in April. If you’d like to sign up for it, you can, by clicking ‘here‘. The workshop is on April 25th from 11:30 – 6. Everyone will get a “kit” which will include precut circles, a wool square base, wool thread to whipstitch the shapes onto the background, needles, lots of different kinds of threads to play with, tons of Perle Cotton threads, a piece of silk velvet, some stabilizer for the silk velvet, a sampling of beads, buttons and silk ribbon. I am SO excited and hope some of you will join me!
For those of you unfamiliar with Gotham Quilts, it opened in 2014 and is located at 40 West 37th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in the heart of Manhattan and just a block from the Garment District. Two friends, Andrea and Ivete, own and run it. Over the years they have expanded what began as a tiny shop on the second floor, to a multi level space, carrying a wonderfully curated selection of fabrics and notions as well as Bernina Sewing Machines. They are now open six days a week, everyday but Sunday, from 11 – 6, and on Thursdays until 7pm.
Gotham Quilts
I hope to see some of you there!
Have you checked out my latest YouTube video? My channel is: Ariane Zurcher – On the Other Hand where I give tutorials on all things involving stitching, sewing, design and creating. I will be doing videos that are for Left Handers, but others that are not hand specific. So join me, and stitch along!
Tutorial: How stitch the Pekinese Stitch
How to stitch The Coral Stitch with 2 (okay 3) variations!
Recent comments