Needlework

Washington Antiques ShowBTCAn exquisite needlework exhibit and a diverse selection of antiques that appeals to the new and experienced collector highlight the 43rd Washington Antiques Show today through Sunday at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.With the theme "A Celebration of Needlework: Patterns of Our Lives," the show offers rarely seen examples of fine applied needlework, many with a presidential provenance. And 44 prestigious antiques dealers offer their wares. Also featured are educational seminars, lectures and docent-guided show tours.

Needle artsFor a look at more than 1,000 pieces of needlework entered by professional, amateur and junior stitchers, travel to Woodlawn Plantation in Mount Vernon, Va., the home of George and Martha Washington's granddaughter, Nelly Custis Lewis. Featured in the exhibition, which opens Friday, is the collection of needlework ornaments that decorated the Christmas tree in the White House. The ornaments, all stockings, represent every state.The annual event was established to honor Nelly Custis Lewis, an accomplished needleworker who created many substantial pieces for members of her family.

Over the work table belonging to Nancy Ogletree of Snydersburg hangs a bumper sticker that reads, "Whoever dies with the most fabric wins."Quilts hang on her walls.On plate hangers above the windows hang a series of 12 plates depicting -- quilts.In the living room a music box shaped like an old-fashioned Singer treadle sewing machine plays "Buttons and Bows.""I just love quilting," she said. "I'm going to have a quilt-related house."Mrs. Ogletree is a devoted volunteer. But, like her home's decor, all her volunteer projects are related to quilts.

IT IS PROBABLY SAFE to say that few U.S. troops are ravenous for recipe ideas, concerned about cholesterol or fed up with futile campaigns to shrink saddlebag thighs.So it is odd to see so many issues of Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times and Weight Watchers Magazine on the periodicals rack at one of the U.S. Army's biggest stores for soldiers here in Eastern Saudi Arabia.You want a Sports Illustrated? Sorry, none here, hardly ever get 'em in. Newsweek? Out of luck again.But you want a McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Good Housekeeping or Country Living?

Soon after a massive tornado devastated Moore, Okla., last month, a Linthicum seamstress leaped into action, formulating a plan to help the victims. Kathy Furth began reaching out to thread-savvy friends from her parish and a local sewing organization to gauge interest. She asked them: Do you want to join forces to make clothes for children who lost everything in the disaster? The positive responses to her inquiries were overwhelming, she said. "It just spread like crazy," said Furth, owner of Sew Many Seams, a business that specializes in creating one-of-a-kind liturgical vestments.

Engelina van Opstal remembers having a problem with the air conditioning in her apartment at Charlestown Retirement Community and calling for someone to come repair it. "John came," van Opstal recalled Thursday, "and he got it working. " That would be John C. Erickson, who 30 years ago opened Charlestown on the grounds of a former seminary in Catonsville, the first of what would become a chain of 16 retirement communities in nine states. Erickson, who sold the company in 2010, returned Thursday for what he called "a big homecoming" to help residents and staff celebrate Charlestown's 30th anniversary.

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey.... Did you ever ask yourself why Miss M. used a tuffet instead of a chair? Convenience, that's why.What piece of furniture has ever proved as moveable and adaptable as the lowly footstool, also known as a tuffet? It's close to the ground, so kids love it. It's nice to put your feet up on while you read the paper. It's great in front of the TV; you can sit on it rather than squat as you look at all those miniscule numbers while you program the VCR. It's also a magnet for napping cats, supper settings and magazines.

The 15th annual Needlework Exhibition will take place Friday through Oct. 23 at Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg, Va. Needlework artists from the Eastern seaboard will participate in the exhibition, which includes adult, junior, amateur and professional categories. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The fee is $6 for adults, free for under 12, and includes tours of the mansion and gardens. Oatlands is six miles south of Leesburg on U.S. 15. Call (703)

Bettye Fishbein, a homemaker and longtime active member of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, died in her sleep Thursday at Ruxton Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pikesville. She was 94. She was born Bettye Berman in Baltimore and raised on East Fayette Street. She attended Eastern High School and worked as a seamstress in Baltimore's old Garment District before her 1930 marriage to Sidney W. Fishbein, a city high school teacher who died in 1993. The longtime Pikesville resident was a member for more than 45 years of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, where she was a member of the sisterhood and headed the temple's Braille book bindery.

Sarah Lawrence Fairman, an internationally known needlework artist who grew up in Annapolis, died Oct. 27 of heart failure at her home in Annandale, Va. She was 95.Born Sarah L. Cooper on July 14, 1901, on Prince George Street in Annapolis, she was the daughter of architect Philip Benson Cooper, who helped design the Naval Academy's Bancroft Hall.She was known as Sallie and was educated at home. During World War I, she enlisted in the Army and served for a month before the Armistice. She was discharged with the rank of private.