C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 31, 2009, 1:38 pm
Northern California Bay Area stitchers, mark your calendars for March 1, 2010. I will be leading a textile talk and trunk show for the Valley Stitchers and Fiber Arts Guild in Pleasant Hill, CA, to be...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 29, 2009, 11:38 am
Continuing on with the Olympus sashiko kit project from earlier this month, here are some updated pictures. So far I have completed the sashiko portion of the project. I still have plenty of thread l...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 24, 2009, 5:50 pm
Well, you knew that already. Seriously though, the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine features Japanese textiles, crafts and textile artists here in the US, including me! The kurotomesode kimono on th...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 20, 2009, 11:16 am
Autumn is upon us here in Northern California, with fog greeting me at the door every morning as I head out for the paper. I’m currently in a scarf-making phase right now, which means new purse...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 16, 2009, 4:07 pm
My photo studio is generally anywhere I enough space and adequate light. These days that means the back yard, amid humming birds, wild rabbits, squirrels, scrub jays, and the occasional red tail hawk....
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 13, 2009, 3:57 pm
Very few people are aware that I started out 20 years ago as a jeweler, working with metal and stone instead of silk and cotton. For ten years I plied my trade on the Pacific coast from Seattle to Los...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Oct 12, 2009, 3:26 pm
Many of you have requested I do a tutorial with the Olympus sashiko kits I carry in my shop, so a month ago I picked one out, chose some thread and picked out a needle… then things fell apart in...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Sep 30, 2009, 8:27 pm
We’re preparing for Dad’s memorial service, so everything else is a bit behind right now. I hope to be back to regular posting soon. Thanks for staying in touch, everyone.
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Sep 29, 2009, 11:21 am
I’ve had a difficult time coming up with blog topics lately. Sales in the Etsy shop have been brisk, and I’m only just starting to restock this week. New vintage items are being listing in...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Sep 10, 2009, 8:27 pm
My father passed away peacefully early Monday morning. I am grateful I could be with him in his final days. To customers waiting on orders, I thank you for your patience. To customers waiting for ne...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 31, 2009, 1:48 pm
After four years, numerous prototypes and much procrastination, I have finally finished a basic kit for hinagata (”miniature”) kimono. When I set out to complete a kit myself and document ...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 30, 2009, 1:57 pm
You amaze me. You really do. All those crazy, wonderful, beautiful projects you create out of just about anything. And if you made something special out of materials from my shop or somehow include me...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 29, 2009, 2:48 pm
I wanted to explain why my postings have been so sporadic again. Last autumn my family and I were dealing with moving out of state and losing my mother to Pancreatic cancer. Since July we’ve bee...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 24, 2009, 11:04 pm
Congratulations to Karen of Mystic Wynd for winning the Doll Kimono Kit giveaway! More information on the kits will be forthcoming very soon. Thanks for your patience while I work the kinks out of th...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 17, 2009, 1:55 pm
More freebies! Going back to a project I started years ago, I’ve been playing around with beautiful fabrics and dolls this weekend to come up with a kit that you can do at home. Used for decade...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Aug 13, 2009, 4:14 pm
After listing two new panels of kimono silk recently, I realized I’ve never posted about yuzen. Yuzen as a technique was first developed by Miyazaki Yuzensai, a fan maker in Kyoto in the early p...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Jul 28, 2009, 1:20 am
Cut, by a vote of 7 to 3. Thanks all for participating in the mini poll! The winner of the fabric pack is Lauren of ABC Rags. Congratulations, Lauren, let me know where you’d like me to send yo...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Jul 21, 2009, 7:19 pm
Just curious… before I take my seam ripper to these two silk meisen kimono, do you think I ought to keep them intact, or cut up to sell in pieces? They have been sitting on the shelf just a litt...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Jul 21, 2009, 2:31 am
Earlier today a friend challenged me to stock a specific number of items in my shop by 2 a.m. (it’s after midnight as I write this). Occasionally I get stuck in a rut and crawl into a corner wit...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Jul 14, 2009, 7:39 pm
It was 100 F in the shade today, but I braved the sun and took a few dozen photos of new items before hunting down a cold cup of tea and a cozy tile floor to lay down on while spraying myself with Tum...
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C Z. posted an article on The Ardent Thread - Jul 11, 2009, 1:49 pm
Remember that post about lead in silk I wrote ever so long ago? Well, it came in handy this week. Seeking to finish (at long last) my Bachelor’s degree, I’ve applied at Mills College here ...
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