I cannot count my day complete
'Til needle, thread and fabric meet.
~Author Unknown

Sharing a common thread with those who love the art of hand embroidery

Monday, September 29, 2014

Come, little leaves, Said the wind one day;


Come to the meadows
With me and play.
Put on your dresses
Of red and gold;
For summer is past,
And the days grow cold.

Soon as the leaves
Heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering,
One and all.


Over the meadows
They danced and flew,
All singing the soft
Little songs they knew



Dancing and flying,
The leaves went along,
Til Winter called them
To end their sweet song.
Soon, fast asleep
In their earthy beds,
The snow lay a coverlet
O'er their heads.
Words by George Cooper



Friday, September 19, 2014

Is there a last stitch at the end of the needle??

Well, yes..........probably,
if I would stick to stitching on one project at a time........
instead of 3 ......or more.

Don't worry, you are not seeing double......well in a way, you are.
I started these "flower of the month" a long time ago. I am stitching two sets at a time, on a large cloth, because I want to sell one set in my vintage shop and I want to keep a set for myself.

So I pick a day of the week, and devote it to stitching on this project.

Another day of the week,
 I focus my stitching on this vintage tablecloth that I found a while back in a junk store. It also has a few holes that I am repairing a long the way.


There are only 4 motifs, which were pre- printed on this cloth
one in each corner..........
and I decided to stitch them in different colors ........

because of the different dishes I have.

I am almost through with this motif and have only one more motif left to stitch.

On another day of the week, I work on 
 another wonderful tablecloth that I found in a junk store. 
It is linen and  4 napkins to match. 
I used a morning glory design for each corner
and since the cloth has lavender and  purple on it,
I am stitching lavender and purple morning glories on it. 

Many of you might remember me posting about this shirt......
which I call my garden shirt.

I embroidered the pocket on the outside and a little bit on the inside to make it look like the flowers were spilling from the inside of the pocket.

So yet, on another day of the week..........
I have been working a large panel of morning glories across the shoulder and dipping down the front and a little down the back

and going down the top shoulder of the sleeve.  This is taking me longer, because I am still deciding what I want on the shirt and where I want to place the design. 

and in between all of this............I make pie.........what could be better??
This is a Cherry Crumble Pie.
If you would like the recipe just click onto this link
and it will take you to my cooking blog.
So maybe in a while I will be able to show you 
the last stitch at the end of my needle..............
however.............
in all honesty............I don't ever want to see the last stitch of my needle.............
I want to stitch up until my last breath.........
How about you?
Is the last stitch in sight for your projects?
I would love to hear!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Her name was Laverne.............

and she kept her fingers busy..........working beautiful pieces of needlepoint.
I found this information about her from the estate sale lady who contacted me about these beautiful pieces of needlepoint. 


Each piece 

is perfect and beautiful.


She also hand embroidered...lovely runners.........

and dresser scarves.........

her choice of floss color is so cheerful and vibrant..........


I also found other beautiful linens at another sale, 
still in the box.......unused.........

is a large rectangular light pink damask  tablecloth with 8 matching napkins.........

and another, in it's box.......unused.......

a pink Irish linen rectangular tablecloth with 6 matching napkins............. 



and more hand embroidery. 

The drawers in my shop are overflowing with lovely linens.........
waiting for someone to take them home to enjoy.........

I  have always thought that I would like to try my hand at needlepoint........I have a lot of pattern books, and some canvas and yarn............but I have never yet picked it up. 
I think it is because I prefer floss over the yarn because of the color variation I can get from embroidery floss.  That is why I love cross stitch. 
Is there any one out there........of  you wonderful readers.........
who works needlepoint?
If so, what kind of yarn do you prefer?
How long does it take for you to finish a piece?
What do you do with the piece when you are finished?
I would love to hear!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

All my scattering moments...........

are taken up with my needle. 

Ellen Birdseye Wheaton, 1851

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

I was given a push by Mother Nature

to get back to work on my mosaic projects......
A wild visitor broke one of my favorite tea cups...........
you can read more about this on my country blog

and I decided to create a mosaic tea cup from the broken pieces and I was even able to incorporate the teacup handle as well.
This is a plant dish that I actually made from cement
It has a flat surface for the mosaic and has these little wiggly feet for the bottom so that the dish stands up off of the ground.




And now instead of plain and dull cement, it has a pretty and decorative surface.
don't you think?

Since I had all of my mosaic supplies out, I decided to finish my first piece that I have posted about a while back.  It is also a planter dish made from terra cotta

and I placed some of my most loved pieces of broken china into it.

and it is very pretty holding my plants..........don't you think?


Another one of my cement creations is this fish and I usually use them as stepping stones for my pond path

but I decided to use some decorative glass rocks for the body,
 and  broken china for it's top fin

and for it's gills.

I used the broken scalloped edges of plates for it's tail

I wanted the face to still have a more 'fish look" and just painted it and placed a glass rock for the eye.

Now it lies in my garden making it whimsical and cheery.
How about you?
What little things do you like to add to your gardens?
A scarecrow..........or maybe whimsical figurines?
I would love to hear!