Cute As A Bug

I love to stitch flowers......but I also love to stitch butterflies. The day Monica's hand spun thread arrived, a pale yellow butterfly was flitting in and out of the flower beds. I thought to myself....that needs to be stitched!

The color of this thread is called peach....
as you can see the hints of pink throughout the yellow. I stitched this in closed buttonhole stitch. Visit Monica at Just Ducky bloghttp://justducky48.blogspot.com/


While I was out walking the grounds, I spotted this cute little bug! I thought to myself.....he needs to be stitched! What are your favorite kinds of bugs? Butterflies...lady bugs...bees? I cant wait to hear.

Lovely Hand Spun Thread

I received the most wonderful surprise in the mail the other day. Monica from Just Ducky blog http://justducky48.blogspot.com sent me some of her beautiful silk floss that she hand spun herself! Monica, thank you, thank you!!
I have recently had the opportunity to work with Monica's lovely thread and was thrilled at how durable it was and how beautiful it looked in stitches. This color is peach and she has a whole palate full of other beautiful colors that she is selling in her Etsy shop. So please stop by Monica's blog and tell her hello. You will just love visiting her.

The Paths We Take

When I was a very young woman, my head was filled with dreams of traveling the world.....

and becoming a writer.......also........ deep inside my heart........ was a dream
of living on a farm,

raising lots of chickens.....


and lots of children.

One day, I met the man of my dreams....tossed my traveling, writing ideas out the window.....

and started a family.....much smaller than my first idea.




Then........

One day....it happened...we moved to our country home....which I am trying to make into a farm.
(yes, this is our home and that is a real rainbow I captured right over it!)




I still write....when time permits.....

but I took a path in life that has me cooking and baking,

doing the laundry,

and pursuing my other passion...embroidery.

A wonderful path where morning glories bloom,

pumpkins grow....

ducks waddle,

and chickens roam.

As I sit out in the late afternoon.....I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I had taken another path.....













But I am glad that this is my path in life.....

and I am happy about where that path will lead me.


So now......all of you.....go back ...what were your dreams and plans....why did you choose to do what you are doing now? I can't wait to hear!

Candy, Grains, or Seeds?

I get my love for antiques from my mom. When I was very young, my parents would pack my brother and I into the car, load a picnic lunch and take off on any old country road they might find. These were the days before tresspassing and vandalism got to be so bad. They would find and old house that was just about ready to fall down and search the grounds for old treasures. On many of these trips, old canning jars would be unearthed.

I have always loved old mason and ball canning jars. I remember how pretty these jars were filled with tomatoes, blackeyed peas, and peaches.My mom found me another one of these pretty blue jars the other day and brought it to me!

I have several blue jars and several white jars. My mom gave them all to me one Christmas many years ago. She spent days baking cookies and candy and packed these jars full of those sweets. Plus she canned homemade salsa from her tomato harvest that year. I want to put something in them. I think they would be so cheery with candy sticks, cinnamon and butterscotch disks, and gumdrops in them. However, there are still hungry teens running around my house. I don't mind them eating the candy, however, they are not careful with antique dishes. I just know that it would not be long before one of these jars would be broken from constant handling.

So I am thinking my only solution is to put something in them that will still look pretty, but not tempting to eat. Maybe dried beans and peas? Corn or popcorn? I was thinking buttons, however, these are in my kitchen, and I want to keep the kitchen/ food theme going. What do you think would be good? Do you have clear glass containers? If so, do you use them and what do you put in them? I can't wait to hear!

The New Girl Scout Cookies Remind Me Of Grandmother's Buttons

I am sure there are a lot of you who cherish old buttons, and like me, probably have a few of Grandmother's or Auntie's buttons tucked somewhere away in a jar.
I remember while visiting my Grandparent's I would be allowed to go through Grandma's button basket and play with these beautiful pieces. I could sort and stack for hours. I also would string them on a string to make them spin....I bet a lot of you did the same?

Yesterday I took a little trip out of town and on every corner there were adorable little girl scouts waving their arms at traffic along with their moms and dads. How can one resist and not pull over? I picked out the usual favorites...mint thins, caramel deluxe, peanut butter,....and then my eye caught the delightful daisy box! How cute they looked.One of the moms told me that these were the first time to sell for this year. I just had to buy them as well.

They come in individual wrapped packages......

and they are a little bigger than large buttons! Look at the detail...aren't they precious? They taste like animal crackers. I just love them. They reminded me of my grandmothers buttons....the favorites that look like flowers.

I think this one came off of a coat, I would love to knit a sweater to use this on!

and don't you love the detail in this one? I'm not sure what it came off of, again, I would love to use it on a coat I make.

As you can see, the cookies fit perfectly with the buttons!

They are also perfect with a cup of hot tea on a windy cold afternoon! And now my question to you..... do you have pretty buttons from some loved one? Do you plan to use it or just admire it? What is your favorite type of girl scout cookie? I can't wait to hear!

Making it a little more feminine

First of all, thank all of you for your suggestions on the types of towels you think the embroidery on the last post would go good with. You are all such a wonderful help!

While shopping the other day, I noticed this beautiful pink cotton shirt in the ....men's section. Is is just me or do any of you find that it is hard to find a women's shirt in this color? Where I live, that is how it is. I could not help myself. I love men's shirts for only a couple of reasons. They are made of better quality cotton, they come in prettier shades of colors and they are spacious enough in the arms so that I can do my outside work comfortably. However, they are sometimes just right in some areas and not right in others. I want the oversize comfort and the casual look, but I don't want to look like I am wearing a man's shirt.
So with just a few simple tools and a few minutes of time.... this shirt can be made to look a little more feminine.

I wanted to cut the low hanging shirt tail of the shirt off and make the shirt even all the way around. I use a clear ruler and decide how much I want to remove.

I then make sure the line is clearly marked.

This is the scary part......
I button the shirt up and make sure seam sides and ends match up. I then use a rotary cutter to cut through both front and back at the same time.

I make sure to leave enough fabric to make a nice hem.

To give it that extra touch, I either place lace on the top of the pocket or crochet a small edging on top.

I decided to crochet the edging for this.

I think the thread color and the size of the edging is just enough to say "ladies shirt".

I love to wear broaches or pins! My husband buys me one every year at Christmas or when we are out somewhere. This is one of my favorites.

I also cuff the sleeves. I can also wear a t-shirt underneath this since is is over sized.

As you can see, the ends are even and it doesn't quite look like a man's shirt. Do any of you feel the same way about women's clothing when there is not access to very nice stores? Do you have a favorite pattern to sew perhaps? I would love to hear!

I finished the little embroidered strip I had started when the cold ice spell set in.
I love the colors of burgundy and pink together. I think this little strip will be perfect to dress up a guest towel.

Now.....the towels. This is where I love to hear your ideas. I have this pretty mauve/pink check,

It would look like this with the embroidery.

This is a moss green towel, though the color did not show up well in this photo,

This is how the embroidery would look with it.

And then there is a larger plaid mauve towel,

Which the embroidery looks like this with it. What do you think the better one would be? I would love to hear.

I am thinking about this green towel for the pansy I showed you all a few posts back. It seems to bring the colors of the embroidery out well. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I love to hear from you!