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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

As many of you know, I often make quilt blocks for illustrative reasons for magazine. After all, it is impossible to own every possible kind of quilt that I might want to write about, and there are literally thousands of both pieced and appliqué quilt patterns. In this Sampler Quilt below, I have combined blocks that were “hanging around the house,” waiting to be made into something. I have based my color decisions on the Charles Ives Color Circle as described in my new article about Color Theory.

Sampler quilt by Patricia Cummings

Sampler Quilt, designed by Patricia Cummings, using traditional quilt blocks. This is in the process of being hand-quilted.

Every block has a history of its own. I am fond of how these colors work together and I like the design layout. I made my fabric and block choices and placements, as I went along.

When I cut two borders too short by 1/4″, I remedied that by adding an extra piece of fabric that says, “Die Gedanken Sind Frei,” a German phrase (and the name of a song) that means that one’s own thoughts are “free.” There are no mistakes in quilting, just situations that call for clever remedies!

I asked Jim to take a photo of this quilt today so that I will feel guilty enough about it not being finished and will resume work on it. I’d really like side effects of cialis and viagrathis quilt!

No matter what kind of quilt I could put together, it could not equal the magnificence of God’s creations of which I am always in awe. For example, a leaf just blew onto our windshield, and I saved it.

This leaf is a harbinger of autumn, already. Just yesterday, I noticed that the wild Goldenrod plants were beginning to show yellow in their composite flower-heads, another sign that the fall season is not that far away, according to old Yankee thoughts.

leaf

An artistic rendition of a leaf, by “God.” Be inspired by Nature. In quilting, it is our greatest teacher!

Patricia Cummings
, our main website that features the new article on Color Theory – Part I

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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

In the book I wrote about Ellen Webster, I mentioned a company that made oilcloth. Oilcloth has become the buzz word in textiles and everyone is wondering what it is and how to make it at home, or if they can make it at home. A new company, , has had requests for this type of cloth, and provided this link on Facebook:

If you are not a member of Facebook, you are missing out on some great social networking. It is a fine place to keep up to date with what your favorite friends are doing, and to meet new friends. People often post video links, tutorials, links to their blogs to see photos, hear music, or learn about their organizations. The more you network, the more fun you will have.

I have a personal page on Facebook, and Quilter’s Muse Publications also has a page where you can sign up to be a “Fan,” so you won’t miss any of the latest announcements.

The more we all use Facebook, the more we know, particularly, if our friends post quality information, which mine, do!

On another matter, Jim Cummings is busy posting new recipes, everyday, and providing photos or outline stitch designs. Check out his .

Patricia Cummings

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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

I am in the mood for Irish music this week so have just posted two more songs: “The Rising of the Moon,” and “Mrs. McGrath.”

You will see that a lot of traditional Irish ballads have “war and turmoil” at their center. It is heartening to know that I come from a sturdy race who were not afraid to stand up for themselves.

When I posted the term “Fighting Irish,” yesterday, Jim had to look that up. He found a number of references including current sports teams, especially the football team at Notre Dame. Other references include the Irish regiments who held back General Robert E. Lee’s forces at one of the major Civil War battles. It is speculated that Lee himself gave them the name, based on their ferocious and brave fighting, no holds barred.

The etymology of words and terms is most interesting and I provide that knowledge, whenever I come across it, as you will see in another of these Irish music files.

If anyone has any photos of Ireland that they can legally share with me, please send them to and I will add them to these music files. I would especially appreciate landscapes, seascapes, and photos of architecture.

Enjoy!

Happy to be Irish,

Patricia Cummings

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Monday, July 20th, 2009

They call the Irish “the Fighting Irish.” There is a reason for that, and if you look at Irish History, you will find that Irish Music is very much linked to oppression by the English, religious disputes, and the rich v. the poor subsistence farmers. The great discrepancy comes between the industrialized North and the agricultural Republic of Ireland.

I grew up viewing the videos on television of school children throwing rocks at other kids of a different religious persuasion. It is clear to understand that hatred in ingrained by parents and passed from generation to generation.

Well, between yesterday and today, I have recorded two Irish songs, “e,” and “.” In both, I do not use an instrument other than my own voice because I want you to hear the words clearly.

I have much more to learn about Ireland but my studies of it so far have been enlightening and grand. Let me remind you of an exhibit of that we saw and photographed for a few years ago, when they were shown at the Craftadventures Show in Springfield, Massachusetts, along with many Irish-themed crafts. It was a delight to be able to see what Irish women are making today.

“… and still I’m on my way,”

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Today, I have added two new files to my website:

Color Theory I

“Miranda” – the Non-Fictional Story of a Memorable Childhood Doll

Both files are accessible from the home page of our website, linked below.

I feel very productive. Getting these files together helped to take my mind off of the physical pain I am experiencing, and you get to benefit! I hope you enjoy these.

Patricia Cummings

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Saturday, July 18th, 2009

I have been on a roll to “clean house” this week, and it is not my house that I mean. I have been deleting files off of my main website for various reasons. Some have been there for a long time, and were so lengthy they had become un-formatted, with the size of the font having changed because of computer gremlins, I suppose, or whatever happens in the internal workings of the machine. So, a number of files that were previously available are simply no longer there.

Other files have served their useful life or I would like to re-work them, at some point, to tighten them up. I also removed the four full-length books that had been there previously, and some music files that I would consider recording again at some other time. So, I am going through files, deciding what I want to delete.

We previously wrote and offered full step-by-step photo instructions for construction of Home of the Brave quilt blocks. Since all of the state coordinators, quilt shops, and others have already copied our directions onto their own websites, it seemed ludicrous to leave the file up, so we have removed it. With any luck, the war will end, and no more bereft families who will need to be comforted with a tribute quilt made in memory of their beloved son or daughter.

In addition, I dismantled my large yahoo group. I decided that it was becoming too cumbersome to deal with all of the bureaucratic ministrations needed. We had a lot of fun while it lasted. All good things, even life, come to an end.

Our website continues to attract international attention. Just last night, someone from Argentina wrote to me to inquire as to how I happened to have recorded, “Zamba de Mi Esperanza” to place on the site. He is researching the distribution of the song and how it has reached other countries. I learned it in Spain from a friend from Puerto Rico. I happen to like the words.

Argentinians have a distinctly different accent that, in fact, varies throughout the country. One example is the manner in which they say, “Yo” (it sounds like “Joe,” the way it is pronounced there). Also, the “s” sound is obliterated or aspirated. I am fascinated by the differences of pronunciation in the Spanish-speaking world.

YouTube has an example of Argentinian Jorge Cafrune playing guitar and singing the song. Compare to my version, if you wish. “.” I have translated the words on the web page.

We continue to receive a lot of requests for information about where to find thus and such of a pattern, and queries about quilt history and embroidery.

I am looking forward to the November issue of side effects of cialis and viagra magazine that has our latest article that is sure to please. It is visually-beautiful, and the art layout person did a superb job of formatting the pages.

I feel as though we are transitioning, right now. Bear with us. We will be adding some more fun files before long. Don’t overlook our challenge to make yourself an adult bib, just for fun!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Saturday, July 18th, 2009

When the Beatles broke on the American scene in the 1960s, no one knew what to think. I had the privilege of viewing their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ed was a showman, or would that be “shoeman”? At the end of each show, he would announce that it had been a very good “shoe.” At least that is what it sounded like to me. Perhaps those words are his lasting trademark.

Here were these kids who looked very different, with their long, straight hair, their tailored suits, ready for the BIG TIME, and America was ready for them! I was in junior high school at the time, and I remember being thrilled to see their movie, “A Long Day’s Night,” at the old theater on Elm Street in Manchester, NH, a building that has long since been torn down.

As I write this note tonight, I am thinking of some of the Beatles lyrics. Of course, the classic song was “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” and that had teens swooning from coast to coast. However, as the group advanced in their songwriting, they explored deeper topics in songs like, “Imagine,” and “Eleanor Rigby,” two of my favorite Beatles tunes.

John Lennon got in trouble with people who are religiously-bent due to the lyrics of “Imagine.” I guess they did not want to imagine that there might not be a heaven, and that instead, there might be people who prefer to live for today, and in peace, with no boundaries of country or religion. The song has a lot to say in its brevity, but people like to stick to their narrow-minded thinking and cling to whatever prejudices they have previously savored.

It always comes down to “them or us.” If you ain’t with us, then you’re agin us.” There is no in-between, no real understanding, no negotiations, only the wish to exclude anyone who thinks differently or does something to shake up the norm, the status quo. People want to be free to make mistakes and have them glossed over or not noticed, at all. They always have to be “right,” rather than “just.”

This problem has happened over the centuries. The need to feel superior can be seen in Hitler’s regime of Aryan supremacy. He wanted to create a genetically-altered German master race and rule the world, and the only way to do that, in his demented mind, was to order millions of Jews and others to their death, among his other crimes of war. He left his own legacy: a good example of what NOT to do, if you’d like to change the world for the good.

We can look at History and come up with tons of misguided ideas that led to the actual death of multitudes of innocent people. Consider King Henry the 8th sending his wives to the guillotine, and the hatred of the English toward the Irish, especially during the Irish Potato Famine. Think about Darfur, and Bangladesh, and the innocent men murdered in the Dominican Republic by the Trujillo regime. Recall the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, and then, though not murder, think about the “shunning” that occurs in various religious groups from the Amish to Jehovah’s Witnesses. You will begin to see a pattern of human behavior that follows a trend.

Yes, John Lennon was an artist and a visionary. “Imagine all the people, living life in peace. Oh, you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one …”

The dreamers and those who seek justice in the world are those who are most persecuted. So, while we may dream of peace and want to imagine it, the reality is that we must be prepared to defend ourselves at all times, even, even, if that means putting a bullet in someone else’s head, in self-defense. Shocked? Don’t be. Believe me, that kind of action happens every day. We are at WAR. Peace is a nice thing to imagine. If only John Lennon had had a gun on the day he was murdered!

Patricia Cummings
– our main website

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Saturday, July 18th, 2009

Patricia Cummings

Patricia Cummings, quilt historian, photo taken 2009

Develop the habit of gratitude for individuals who touch your life. We are here only a short time. It is difficult to be thankful for difficult people. Yet, they help us to grow and to define the person we want to be. They can shake up our thoughts, and that is good. They can make us more responsible, and make us strive to be more, and to do more, ourselves.

In today’s world, there is a lot of disrespect. Kids in public school think nothing of swearing at their teachers. People who should know better send business correspondence addressed only with a last name. Whatever happened to “Mr. and Mrs.?” Everyone looks out for #1, “me, myself, and I.”

Business is a cut-throat deal as magazines and newspapers deal with a dwindling readership while many former readers turn to the Internet for news and information. Print materials are quickly becoming like dinosaurs, and their pages are becoming thinner and thinner. New devices, like Kindle, are being developed as an alternative way to read a book.

“Please” and “thank you” are also becoming archaic remnants of the past. America is becoming a country of “no manners.” The individual is not honored, unless there is a way for an organization to make money from the work of that person. Even then, honor cannot be expected. There is no honor for the sake of honor, except perhaps to those stalwart men and women who are serving this country with honor in the Armed Services. Yet, veterans come home to what? Have we become ungrateful even to those who keep us safe from harm?

The rude and the bizarre and the untrue are celebrated. To be a celebrity, one often has to be a freak, dressing weirdly and drug-addicted.

A laurel wreath is placed on the heads of people who dishonor scholarship by not imparting true information. The untrue is upheld. The truth becomes non-true in the double-speak of academia. A blind eye is turned towards actual facts in a world of talking heads who have to maintain that they are right, even when they are dead wrong.

This behavior is but a reflection of society as a whole, where mediocrity is what is valued most. Gifted children are shuffled off to the side to fend for themselves because, it is reasoned, they will make it in the world, anyhow. So, more money and time is spent on the challenged, the lazy, and those who expect to be given an “A” for “D” work.

On the home front, if someone goes to the trouble to cook a meal, be grateful for it. Don’t tell the hard-working cook that you would rather have “take-out.” That is an insult, and is insensitive, crude, and low-brow. Holier than thou people could take a lesson in civility. Cooking for someone or performing any work in the home is a labor of love, not to be taken for granted.

ALL work has intrinsic value whether it is done by a street sweeper, a hamburger flipper, or a trash collector. Everyone is needed in society, and while some jobs, particularly human services, pay very little, compared to more high falutin’ positions with big titles and big money, the work of everyone is valuable. No person is “better” than anyone else, either by their looks, their youth, or their station in life. We are all equal under heaven.

Look around today and be aware of just how much other people do for you, and in your heart, replace your sneers and your looking-down-your-nose attitude with a profound sense of gratitude. None of us is better than the least among us. Everyone deserves respect, freedom from want, and an appreciation of their service.

In one lifetime, there is always too little love.

Patricia Cummings
owner,

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Friday, July 17th, 2009

For the benefit on non-historians, I thought that I would take a moment to explain some terminology. When I say that my specialty and area of interest is the 19th century, I mean the 1800s. People always think that 19th century means 1900s, but the 1900s are actually the 20th century. Likewise, the 18th century is the 1700s. That is confusing, I know.

In the seventeenth century (1692), they hung “witches” in Salem, Massachusetts, and crushed one man to death, who was presumed to be a witch. All were innocent, but were killed because of little girls who told lies. In the 21st century, the Taliban executed women in Arabic countries. It is a wonderful thing to live in the 21st century in America, where we are supposedly free from oppression. I say “supposedly” with a candid view that oppression does still exist for women in America, and sometimes the oppressors are other women, believe it or not!

Well, on the subject of time frames, let me get back on track here. I was in an antiques shop the other day and spotted a table with items of great interest to me. While I hate the idea of a “cutter” quilt, a dealer had taken apart a 19th century quilt that had a few turn of the century fabrics, (early 20th century fabrics, that is). She stated that the items for sale came from a 1930s quilt. That does not seem likely, unless the quilt had been made in the 1930s from an older scrap bag, and if she had clear provenance (knowledge of the background of an object). A quilt is always dated by the LATEST fabric included in it.

She has made two sided pincushions and was also selling detached squares (Hmmm … “detached squares” could be a good name for some of the people I unfortunately know, but that is another story altogether, ha, ha, ha!).

I couldn’t resist buying some pincushions, large and small, and a package of quilt squares. I had a little time tonight to edit a few of the photos that Jim took for me earlier today. I wanted to show you some fabrics and how distinctive authentic 19th century fabrics are. A trained eye can spot them right away.

19th c. fabrics

In this square, you can see two Black and White prints. One is an all-over, geometric repeat; the other is a striped shirting print. Brown cotton fabrics were popular although many that we see in old quilts have disintegrated due to the iron mordants used in the dyeing process. In this square, we see a color of blue not made until shortly after 1870, called “Cadet Blue.” Stripes and plaid fabrics, and lots of geometric prints were popular in the late nineteenth century. Often floral designs are superimposed over lines and other there are background designs like pindots, etc. There is a “lot going on,” usually.

19th century fabrics

This half-square triangle unit is comprised of a fabric that features the Crescent Moon, a very popular motif and an ancient one, with specific meanings. The red and white calico is indicative of the red and white craze, seen also in Redwork embroidery within the last quarter of the nineteenth century. “Quarter” means 25 years, so if I say “last quarter, nineteenth century, I mean from 1875-1900. Redwork was most popular from 1890 on, and followed the Crazy Quilt trend of the 1880s.

19th century fabrics

This particular pincushion features Navy blue, a perennial and ancient color derived originally from dye from the Indigo plant. There is also a very distinctive gray color called “mourning gray.” The mourning and half-mourning fabrics were made so that women could denote their status as widows and the period of grief they were enduring. Victorian women followed the trend of Queen Victorian who mourned her dear Prince Albert forever after. In this pincushion, the pastel pink color stands out as a 20th century print. Pastel colors were not made until after the turn of the century and became most popular in the 1930s.

Now, all this talk about centuries brings to mind a poem by Emily Dickinson that is one of my favorites. I will provide the first and last verse of the poem, and if you are interested, you can hunt down the rest. There are six stanzas in all. The poem is numbered “712.”

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…

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circa 1863 (“circa” generally means 10 years on either side of a specific date)

Have a great weekend!

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, July 16th, 2009

My husband, Jim Cummings, has spent his life taking care of people who were in a hospital or in homes for the mentally-retarded. He has worked in the state mental hospital, and later, in the forensic unit that moved to the state prison and became known as the Secure Psychiatric Unit. He also went through the Police Academy, a number of times, and worked in just about every part of the state prison. He received a commendation for his heroic and prolonged attempts to breathe life back into the lifeless body of an inmate who overdosed. He holds a four year degree in Behavioral Science, but more importantly, he has used his training for the good of others. His present employment is that of working on an Alzheimer’s Unit of a local nursing home. This background information is preliminary to a short story.

Jim in Maine in 2008

Jim Cummings in Maine in 2008

A few years ago, Jim was caretaker of 51 year old severely-retarded man, Frankie, who was tube-fed. Jim would bring Frankie home with him, from the group home where he lived. Whenever he did anything for him, he talked to him first, and would always say, “my good buddy.”

No one had ever heard Frankie speak, or at least not in recent years. But, I was sitting in my living room while Jim was taking care of Frankie, and I heard Frankie say, with my own two ears, “my good buddy,” to Jim. It was a first and last time, but amazing! One never really knows how much good they are doing or what is filtering into the brain of someone who is generally mute.

When Frankie died, Jim went to the funeral parlor where he’d been asked to say a few words. A more touching speech I have never heard given. Jim really cares for all the people he helps. By now, I bet he can’t even add up the numbers of them.

There should be more people in the world like my husband, Jim. He is the most kind, considerate, and thoughtful person ever! Frankie was lucky. Some people find it easy to abuse others who have less power or strength. Others, like Jim, nurture the sick and the infirm and the disabled and bring out their best qualities. When I count my blessings, Jim comes first.

Did I mention that Jim also served in the U.S. Army?

Patricia Cummings

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Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster –

Ellen E. Webster was New Hampshire’s Early Quilt Historian!

by Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings, quilt historian

Who was Ellen E. Webster? Perhaps you have never heard of the woman who was named as New Hampshire’s “outstanding authority” on quilts in a 1940 book, side effects of cialis and viagra. Mrs. Webster was a wife and adoptive mother, a quilter, a quilt historian, a quilt judge, a published writer, a leader in her community, a professor, a musician, a scientist, a teacher, and an expert ornithologist.

She reproduced more than two hundred quilt designs, on a paper product that resembles heavy cardboard. She called what she had made, “charts.” Some were quite small, and some were as large as 20” x 30.” She cut templates from cloth and occasionally, wallpaper, and sometimes, she used paint to re-create antique designs. The purpose of the charts was to illustrate her quilt history lectures. She understood that she was “saving” quilt patterns, and knew the historical importance of that action. Often, and usually on the front of the charts, she penciled in notes about the provenance of the old quilts she copied. Her other lecture notes have been lost to posterity.

As a follow up to my study, I have visited places Ellen E. Webster went, and I have even paid my respects at her gravesite. Though separated by time, she and I are kindred souls, and I feel a profound sense of gratitude to her, for her work and for her ability to touch so many lives in a positive way. Now, her work continues through my writings as a quilt historian. It is nice to see this sense of continuity.

CD cover designed by Pat and Jim Cummings

CD cover designed by James and Patricia Cummings

e-Book Available

An 355 page/ 340 photo e-book on CD, prepared by Patricia and James Cummings, is now available for purchase and will run on any computer.
Information about this e-book has been printed in side effects of cialis and viagra, The Appliqué Society Newsletter, side effects of cialis and viagra magazine, and the side effects of cialis and viagra.

We “print on demand,” and will be happy to take your order for this unique, scholarly, fun, and captivating e-book record of Mrs. Webster and her wonderful works, including photos taken by James Cummings of her precisely-rendered, colorful quilt charts. To order, use the easy Paypal button on our website.

Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. Patricia L. Cummings,, Concord, NH.

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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

First, let us turn to the dictionary for an explanation of the word “angel.”

angel (n): a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God, conventionally expressed in human form with wings and a long robe.

Yesterday, while antique-shopping near Rutland, Vermont, I found a wonderful old print of “Angel’s Heads,” a famous painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, b. 1723.

by Sir J. Reynolds

My delight in finding a tangible document, that I could reproduce to show you, was about on the same par as finding this image rendered in Redwork, in a Maine antiques shop, a number of years ago. I have re-created a usable line-drawing, for Redwork, for anyone who would like to order it and embroider their own design.

The Redwork version presented a conundrum and was nothing like we’d seen before. It features the words, “Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest,” derived from Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” of course. If you are interested in ordering this pattern, please contact me at:

Angels are often found as stone carvings in cemeteries. Perhaps, they help to transport a soul on their heavenly journey.

The most interesting point about Reynolds’ painting, held by the National Gallery of London, is that the angels’ head actually represent only one little girl, his model, Miss Frances Isabella Gordon. To him, she looked like an angel.

Looking at the reproduced Redwork piece, one would never guess that the angel represents the same little girl, from different angles and affects.

Victorian Angels Redwork pattern

A question remains: Why was this piece re-created in Redwork? One answer is that the image could be ordered from a 19th century catalog for stamping patterns. The second reason might be the Victorian Era’s preoccupation with Death and the occult. The piece in our collection may have been used within a coffin, or on top of a coffin, at the time that funerals were held in the front parlor. When we purchased it, the white cloth was very dirty, almost as if it had been buried, at one time.

Since then, a few times I have seen this pattern worked with Black embroidery thread, but the angels did not look angelic at all. Rather, they looked demonic, a large sway from Sir Joshua Reynolds’ original intent to paint a beautiful little girl and “save” her for posterity. We are so glad he did, and I hope that you agree that it is fun to see the original work from which derivative pieces in needlework came forth.

We never know what will turn up in the antiques shops of New England. The “hunt” is the fun part of the game. This was a serendipitous find. We hope you will enjoy it.

I will be making the pattern available on the Products Available page on our website, when I can get around to having more copies made, which involves a trip to a copy shop. Hope your day will be a good one!

P.S. – We are making some changes at Quilter’s Muse Publications. The change we made to this blog is to do away with automatic feeds to subscribers. Please bookmark, to visit our posts. One reason is that too many subscribers had changed their e-mail addresses and every time we posted a blog, we’d receive notices from the Mailer daemon. It was a real pain.

In the future, we will not be posting one word comments that individuals make as a response to posts, side effects of cialis and viagra they can list their own blog’s address. If you don’t have something substantive to say, don’t bother trying to leave a comment. I hope that doesn’t sound just awful. I am sick of being used for everyone’s else’s self-promotion. Whom I choose to promote because of their quality contributions is another matter. Thanks for understanding.

We do our best to bring great information to you and important public notices. We will continue to do so.

Patricia Cummings

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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

First of all, let me say that I have never been a fan of Michael Jackson, simply because I was not familiar with his music. The inescapable fact is that he was omnipresent in the media. Unfortunately, stories did not focus on his apparent talent, but rather who his friends were, and the growing number of surgical operations he underwent to change his appearance.

Last night, I watched the “first” of the television coverage (for me). I turned on “Dateline,” in the evening, and saw the review of his memorial service that had happened earlier in the day in Los Angeles. The service featured impressive accolades and tears, big-name stars, and music, as the gold casket covered with red flowers sat at the front of the hall. The whole event was “Michael.” His image was projected, time and again, and I could see why he had so many adoring fans. In his earlier photos, he has an almost effeminate, vulnerable demeanor. One image, an illuminated view of Jackson, strongly resembled Christ on the Cross.

As a youth, he was very cute and very talented. As an adult, he was his own person, with a unique look, a super dance style, and he was a composer as well as a singer.

In spite of his success, he appeared to be a very troubled individual who did not quite like himself. The doctors who operated on him so many times, for no reason at all except his vanity, if the media is to be believed, should be ashamed of themselves. I suppose anyone will do anything, if the price is right, no matter how outrageous. Before our very eyes, he was disfigured in an irreparable manner, and in recent news footage, he looked gaunt and worried, at a trial in which he was acquitted of child molestation charges. Seeing him going to and from the courthouse was like viewing a specter of his former self.

When someone dies, it is true that we often want to forget their problems on earth, in the hope that they have achieved peace in a higher state of existence, namely, heaven. I don’t know if “MJ” believed in heaven. With all of his money, he could not create heaven on earth. Apparently, he could not even create tranquility in his own life, and that is truly sad. For many superstars, the face they show to the world is not a true reflection of their private struggles.

A barrier to being happy is having an addiction to fame and/or money. Once the addiction is in place, there is not enough fame and there is not enough money … ever! Neither of those (gifts?) can save a person from himself. It seemed as though MJ may have been his own worst enemy. If he had realized just how much he was loved, would he be dead, now? There are many questions to be answered. More than anyone else, I am sure his close friends and family hope for some answers, so that they can better accept this loss.

Like Elvis, Michael Jackson died young. That can be a blessing. No one has to see him getting creaky, walking with a cane, or sitting in a wheelchair. The autopsy results are still not in. I would take a wild guess that he was not a victim of anyone else, only himself, and perhaps inadvertently. If fans are mourning, I believe that they are sad to lose the “image” that Michael Jackson presented to the world. His unique talent has been removed from us. In the end, to the casual observer, he seemed to be a tragic figure. If he were 92, would thousands be sad at losing him? Somehow, we always mourn the most those whose young lives are cut short, unexpectedly.

Fame and money are false friends. Like life itself, they will leave you. People only live on through the memories of those left behind, and even that is a fleeting state when those people are no more. Oh yes, buildings and highways are sometimes named for famous people.

No doubt, Michael Jackson was a super star! He has left behind videos, recorded music, and children! I appreciate the fact that he helped to open the door of opportunity for others, by paving the way with his own actions. All of these things comprise his legacy.

Having achieved all that he did, we have to give thanks for his life, but not more so than for any life, even that of a sparrow, for all that live on God’s green earth are special in their own right. Always, when we acknowledge death, we think about what “could have been.”

“Do not stand at my grave and mourn – I am not here …”

Michael Jackson, “Rest in Peace.”

Patricia Cummings

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Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Hmong Hearts bed quilt

Hmong Hearts bed quilt made by Pat Amundrud of Canada, with squares purchased in N. Thailand

7/7/09 – Today, we received the following note:

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side effects of cialis and viagra

Here are the other photos of Pat’s wonderful quilt that she calls, “Hmong Hearts.”

Quilt with Hmong blocks

Vertical view of the quilt

detail of quilting

Details of hand quilting in alternate blocks

Thanks so much for sharing your work with our readers!

Best wishes for continued joy in quilting!

Patricia Cummings
– link to our main website

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side effects of cialis and viagra

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Press Release
Media Contact: Lori Wright
603-862-0574
UNH Media Relations
July 6, 2009

Monica Chiu photo
Photo of Monica Chiu

DURHAM, N.H. – Monica Chiu, associate professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, has published a book on the history, culture, and role of Asian Americans in New England, the first collection to address Asian and Asian American contributions to the region.

side effects of cialis and viagra, published by University Press of New England, explores 19th century Chinese American friendship albums, Japanese American acrobats, the 20th century influence of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts on regional and national Asian arts collections, contemporary Vietnamese American community art, and the construction of Asian Indians and religion in New England, among other topics.

book cover
Cover of side effects of cialis and viagra

The collection highlights a broad range of Asian American communities and historical experiences. From the poignant writings of a young Chinese immigrant to the influence of hip-hop in a New Hampshire Lao American community, the collection seeks to establish a regional template for the study of Asian American lives and art far from the West Coast. The essays provide a record of particular achievements, as well as an understanding of the rich Asian American culture in New England, along with an analysis of the depiction of New England Asian Americans, one of the fastest growing minority populations in the region.

“If we look back to the region’s reception of ‘Orientals’ at the turn into the 20th century, we find curious New England audiences intrigued and surprised by Asian visitors, many of whom had never seen Asians before. Their reception and visibility afford us a window into understanding what political, economic, and social practices influenced New Englanders’ acceptance or rejection of Asian visitors and later second-generation Asian Americans and Asian refugees. What Asian Americans in New England created from that reception, as well as from their own creative integration into regional citizenship, are the artistic and cultural legacies presented in this volume,” Chiu says.

Chiu’s book has received critical acclaim from her colleagues.

“A sparkling collection of essays across disciplinary formations, ‘Asian Americans in New England’ reveals the reciprocal impress of New England and Asian America. Moreover, this foundational volume illustrates how spatial distinctions, whether regional, national, or transnational, are human creations and as such invite observance and transgression,” said Gary Okihiro, professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and author of side effects of cialis and viagra.

“This collection deals another crushing but healthy blow to the West Coast-centric Asian American Studies paradigm, all but assuring the continuing growth of this vibrant field in race and ethnic studies. The book’s contributors challenge the dominant historical images of Asians in America as manual laborers, shopkeepers, and victims of crude nativism, without minimizing the impact of racialization and orientalism on community and identity formations,” said Evelyn Hu-DeHart, professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University.

Monica Chiu is the director of the University Honors Program and an associate professor of English at the University of New Hampshire. She specializes in Asian American literature, criticism, film, popular culture, and twentieth-century American literature. She is the author of side effects of cialis and viagra (2004).

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, space-grant and community-engaged university, UNH is the state’s flagship public institution, enrolling 11,800 undergraduate and 2,400 graduate students.

Another book by Monica Chiu

This press release is offered as a public service announcement by , with permission from UNH Media Relations writer Lori Wright.

Coincidentally, and as a point of interest, a current article in the September 2009 issue of magazine, written by Patricia Cummings and photographed by James Cummings, focuses on the Genesis Center of Providence, Rhode Island, and their exhibit of Hmong textiles (at RISD, last Spring). The embroidered pieces were made by refugees from Southeast Asia, namely, Laos. This article is Part 2 of a series, the other issue having been published with a July 2009 cover. Contact us at:

Patricia Grace Cummings, University of New Hampshire class of 1973

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