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

Sunday, February 25, 2024

UPDATE Calico Cosmos

If you visited my previous post, I showed a link for an easy
applique method.....I will share it here one more time
I have now finished the embroidery that I wanted to do with the 
applique flowers.  I love to add spider and web whenever I can.


 

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Fabric, Floss, and Inspiration

 



Here in Texas, the temperature for these February days have been 84 to 86 degrees! The Italian Jasmine in full bloom and these very pretty days


have gotten me wanting to do some kind of project in a spring flower theme.
The cosmos of my earlier gardens came to mind.
While browsing Pinterest, I came upon this wonderful applique link that I want to share with you

Applique the Jilly Way  I hope you enjoy this. 
 Her technique is wonderful for getting small petals and leaves ready for applique. 
I decided I want to applique cosmos in different calico prints.
I followed what her video showed and in no time, I had enough petals and stems
ready for my project.  Cosmos do not have petal shaped leaves .  Their leaves are long and thin. I will embroider those on later. 
I did not have the glue that is used  in the video to tac the pieces in 
place so I baste stitched the pieces.  I did not want to use regular
craft glue. 
Now I have the flowers appliqued into place.  I am not yet finished with this piece. I will be adding embroidery to the flowers and a few other details as I go along. Hopefully by the time I return back here, I will have a lovely piece to show you.
Do you do applique?  What do you like to applique?.....birds, animals, or flowers? 
I would love to hear. 












Thursday, February 8, 2024

Valentine's Day Wishes

 

Who, being loved, is poor?  
    Oscar Wilde
Wishing you a happy Valentine's Day!



Tuesday, January 23, 2024

A new year, new ideas, with some old projects

 The new year is moving along at a rapid pace with the hours, the days, the weeks, all going by so quickly.

I have some new ideas for new projects this year, but I am also still working on last year's and other year's past projects. 

The cross stitch kit, "Peacock Tapestry" is a kit I have had stashed away for over
30 years and finally decided to start working on it last year.  I got sidetracked and placed it aside, 
but I started back  to stitching on it after Christmas and now, a peacock has started showing himself among the pear trees. My goal is to get this piece finished by the end of this year.  
This, at first glance, this looks odd, but it is something that I started about 4 years ago, 
put away, forgot about, and then came upon it this past summer as I was
clearing out my clutter.  What I have tried to achieve in the embroidery is a 
whimsical dark cloud blowing icy air that is forming into snowflakes...(made with white stitches and white seed beading)
that are drifting down into the bare woods.  
it's all part of a Christmas Theme miniature crazy quilt that I wanted to put together

using the different pretty Christmas fabric scraps that I have.
like this particular piece with vintage Christmas ornaments.
I have been embroidering on it this past week. 
I had actually started the quilt top with the candle embroidery that I had once designed and embroidered and wanted to find a way to use it for something.  For right now, I will be showing you the surface embroidery that I will be working on in different areas of the quilt top as I progress.  Then it will
be time to work crazy quilt stitches along the borders of each fabric piece.  So this will not be a quick finish......but a slow stitch and mostly for those days when I don't want to focus on counting with the cross stitch peacock.  Can you believe??........I almost considered throwing this into the trash along with another mini quilt top I had been working on.  I am so glad I decided not to.   I think at that time I was just in a "super clean and clear mode".  But thankfully, seeing the embroidery I had already stitched on it, me stop to think.....so I placed it back into a box. 
Which prompts this question to you......  Have you started working on something, after a while, decided you did not like it , and just tossed it away....and then regretted doing so?  
I would love to hear. Hope this finds all of you staying warm and creative.












Sunday, December 31, 2023

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

 

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,
We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago.
      And etched on vacant places,
      Are half forgotten faces
Of friends we used to cherish, and loves we used to know...
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "Christmas Fancies, Custer and Other Poems, 1896


Tuesday, November 28, 2023

November is almost gone

 and I have found myself drifting farther and farther away from the busy world of the internet and more into keeping my hands busy with my needle.  There is not much to do outside as the short sunny days hold a chill from the nights that are getting colder. 

Some of the things I have been stitching on are dish towel sets that I plan to sell in my vintage shop.
I want to accumulate a few sets then make my announcement to the public that they are ready
for purchase.
This certain set of towels have printed days of the week with different blocks of color.
I decided to match and tint the dish transfer design to the block color of the towel it was on.
Each dish towel set will not all be the same. Some days of the week will be embroidered, some designs will not be tinted. 
Along with this dish towel set idea, I have so many other projects that are waiting for embroidery.
I hope this finds that you all have had a blessed Thanksgiving day and are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas holiday season ahead!