Happy Halloween!

Gnome and elf and fairy,

Witch and ghost make merry

On this last of dear October's days.

Lettie C. Van Derveer, Halloween Happenings, 1921

 

Let your worries slip away with every  stitch.

                                    

 

For Giving.....

 

Whenever someone comes to visit......be it friends or family, 

I like to open my "linen drawer" that is in a space in an old Hoosier cabinet

in my kitchen and offer them an embroidered dishtowel and matching crochet dishcloth

that I have made to take back home with them. 

I have let my stash of give aways dwindle down and now I am in the process of making more applique, embroidered, and crocheted items to be able to give away.

I decided to make a simple applique towel with a teacup design

and then added some embroidered vine and an appliqued small "broderie perse " 

flower spray.

I added some embroidery to the teacups 

and stitched a simple edging to the towel and then crocheted a matching dishcloth.

I also like to add a cookbook for a special occasion.

I have added some pretty fabric on some of the dish towels.  I plan to 

embroider something in the middle of each. 

 I never have a steady flow of visitors, which gives me time to get a stash accumulated. 

Since covid....I have noticed that the giving of handmade gifts has grown  ........yet

some do not like to offer handmade........and some do not like receiving handmade .

I am thrilled with a handmade gift.  For me, it says, the gift came from the heart.

How about you?  What are your thoughts of giving or receiving handmade gifts?

I would love to hear! 

Vivid colors and inspiration

 

came to me while we were on our adventures in Washington/Oregon and Hawaii. I decided before the plane landed in our home area that I was going to work an applique project. 

Now that our traveling had ended and I have settled back into a normal daily routine of a quiet life, I have returned to my creative space and picked up my lonely needle. I am catching up on some 

"gift embroidery" but I want to start to work on the images and colors I saw while on our trips.

I have turned to this book of wonderful applique patterns......or should I say.....the patterns are on the CD included.  This book is "Mi Amor, Legacy Applique by Margarete Heinisch.(2014)  You will need to  have a CD reader if you want to work patterns from this book.  I was at first frustrated about this because at the time I ordered this book, I did not have a CD reader and I did not realize the patterns were not tucked into the book as I am usually accustomed to.  However, CD readers are easy to find and easy to plug into your computer and the CD is well filled with lovely patterns.  

The book itself is well written with clear instructions and inspiring photographs of each project. I do not plan to applique the whole patterns in this book.......I just want to use some of the flower patterns for my project I am dreaming up. 
 Not many are visiting here at this blog any longer and I miss your visits and your comments. When I traced back through the years on this blog and visited your blogs.....so many have not posted in years and some blogs are no longer there.  I hope that somehow you return and tell me what your busy hands have been creating!  I would love to hear from you!

Hawaii

 I'm going to have a vacation!

      I'll leave all my housework behind,

      And not have to do any cooking;

      I'll forget all the daily grind!

I'll bask in the sunshine—don't worry!—

      And so all the things that are right;

      I'll enjoy myself every minute,

      And I'll go to a dance each night!

But when my vacation is over

      And I pack my glad rags, alone,

      I'll be happy—so very happy!—

      For, really, there's no place like home!

~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, "My Vacation," 1940s

We are back home........but I think upon Waimea Bay and the time we spent swimming and basking in the sun there.

Perseverance

 

And now...........a finish!

Mushrooms In My Garden