...family, friends, home and other tidbits of a blessed life

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Tribute to my BFF on her birthday!

One of the best things that came directly from working for Bernina was that I got to meet Charlotte Gallaher. She is the most creative person anywhere! I heard someone once say that she is smarter than (insert sewing machine company name). Her work is amazing. Flawless. Perfection. Inspiring. Amazing. This quilt hung at the Quilt Show in Huntsville, Alabama. Happy Happy Birthday my dear friend.
Here's Charlotte prepping for the PBS show Martha's Sewing Room. She sure taught me everything I needed to know about being prepared.
A pillow she created for a Martha Pullen Company heirloom book.
A stocking designed for Designs in Embroidery Magazine. Sorry the picture is not bigger, it came from their website.
She created this beautiful tassel from a pumpkin purchased at Hobby Lobby. Just look at all those threads and yarns!
I loved this jacket. Well I still love it, but Charlotte sold it. It was unbelievably gorgeous. No wonder Charlotte was handsomely rewarded for her work.
And here is the back.
This cotton jacket is so fun.
This is a class sample for a class that Charlotte taught at Martha Pullen's School of Art Fashion in Huntsville. I am the lucky recipient of one of my own, I know you've seen me wear it!
These are the beautiful porcelain tassels that Charlotte makes so meticulously. I have shown you one of the two that I have here.
Isn't this fabulous? Fantastic? Sew clever? I love this stocking. The instructions compliments of Designs in Embroidery magazine can be retrieved by clicking here.
Bernina came out with an embroidery design collection by Sue Box (an Australian artist) and Charlotte created a mini home inside a suitcase with the whimsical sewing mice.
Chocolate lovers beware. This jacket from brown and cream wool, dripping gooey icing made from fabric chenille makes me want to go raid a cabinet and find some chocolate pdq!
A beautiful bag made for the Martha Pullen Catalog.
This vest has always been my favorite. It's made with cashmere sweaters, lace and ribbon. Isn't it just define?
I love that wonderful edging on the bottom of the back.. and that ribbon bow is the perfect finishing touch.
I love this shirt. It's so beautifully made with antique laces.
Charlotte created all the beautiful edging on this outfit using sewing machine stitches. Can you believe that?
Love the old spools of thread on the handle, the picture of a Bernina on the front and the colors and the stitches and the whole piece. Luckily she made one for me too!
An embellished sweater...
a beautiful jacket...
A jacket and matching handbag...
love all that embroidery that just seems to match the fabric perfectly.
The roses on this collar are 3 dimensional and were embroidered while attaching the folded silk ribbon within the process.
A beautiful quilted piece. Look how perfect that stitching is.
The perfect summer jacket.
A favorite jacket.. the jacket is overlaid with silk organza and the leaves are trapunto stitching.
A gorgeous shirt with more off the edge stitching.
This is a great piece. Museum quality. Cutwork embroidery done with the embroidery machine, thank you Bernina for the attachment that makes this happen easily.

Charlotte does the most interesting techniques on the fabric before she does the embellishing making for a very artistic and creative garment.
The summer dress is topped with a fabric chenille vest. Perfect for sitting in those air conditioned dining spots in the midst of summer.
Woven ribbons create the fabric on this vest. Stunning.
Charlotte is a crazy patch artist. Simply breathtaking.
Can you believe this is a sweatshirt?? Isn't it so wonderful. I started one, but am not quite finished because I can't find a button trim for the bottom. I think I'll just buy this one and dye it!

Thank you Charlotte for being my inspiration, for being my friend and for making my life richer. Happy Birthday my dear friend. I found this poem and it so reminds me of you!

Another Year
I’m wishing you another year
Of laughter, joy and fun,
Surprises, love and happiness,
And when your birthday’s done,
I hope you feel deep in your heart,
As your birthdays come and go,
How very much you mean to me,
More than you can know.
By Joanna Fuchs

1 comment:

grammaterry6 said...

Oh my.....I just attended Martha Pullen's Bernina class at the end of March and had the great fortune to meet Charlotte, who helped me with a project I was struggling with. How embarrassing. She is such a beautiful person and so talented. I live on the West Coast and have really not been too involved in the sewing world, so to be perfectly honest...this was a huge eye opener for me....and I feel like I was blessed to meet on of the most talented brilliant women in the sewing field. I found Charlotte on Pinterest and was hoping to see more of her work....somewhere. I just drooled over her gorgeous jackets that she had on every day! So for almost 2 weeks that is all I have done....and finally just stumbled upon your blog through the link on the Bernina Yahoo group. And wow! What an absolute treat to see the pictures that you posted of Charlotte's work. You are indeed lucky to have her for a friend and to have had the opportunity to learn from Charlotte. And bless you for sharing your friendship! Tell her that I said hello and that she is really one of my sewing "idols". Teresa Moffitt stmoffitt@sbcglobal.net

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