Putting Life Into Embroidery

This time of year in the area that I live in, the flowers seem to be the most vibrant. The cool weather drop and the rain showers have brought  relief from the harsh Texas heat and now every thing has life in it.

The Zinnia in my garden are so cheery, that I had to sketch one off and embroider it...............and this plain version is pretty.................

however..................when I see this in nature..............

I see this in my embroidery.  It takes longer...........but it brings that flower to life on my linen. A cluster of french knots in the center, the yellow lazy daisy ring around that and then shading in with hues of pink for the petals, using the long and short stitch.....................that is embroidery to me!

 What do you think?

If you would like to try this............just start out with a small flower..........and then use the long and short stitch to fill in each petal. Make short stitches...............then add long stitches with the darkest shade of thread first............

Then on top of that, add short and long stitches in the lighter shade of floss.  In no time..........you will have petals that are flowing with life from your needle! You can find more information on the long and short stitch on the Internet or in any good embroidery reference book.

****MORE INSTRUCTIONS

But just give it a try................I know you will love it!

Don't you think??

Thursday...........

the last day of the set to show you since I have posted all of these last Friday. I have to say.........this is my favorite design out of the whole set.

These are my favorite dishes out of my collection..........Homer Laughlen, Virginia Rose. I have loved this since I first saw it at my Grandmother's house.....when I was young, ..............so many years ago..........

Any time I am lucky enough to find a piece of this, I grab it up, even if it is chipped.  The embroidery is finished on this set, I still need  to embroider the decorative stitch on the bottom edge of each towel. I am going to keep this set for myself and hang each one every day of the week in my kitchen. I might embroider another set for my shop at a later date.  For this week, I will leave this set of embroidered towels to go over once again..............then maybe my mind and my  needle will have created something new after this week is over.

Have a great creative week ahead!

Wednesday............

a gravy bowl and the bowl to pour the gravy into............how cute is this?

Still embroidered in the jade green with the pink rose and blue forget me nots.

The closest thing I have to a gravy bowl like this is from this set that I have had for years.However, I use it for cream and the bowl for sugar,with it's lid.  I forget where this kind of pottery comes from............I think it was mail order...........maybe you can remember ?

 I do know that honey or cheese came in one bowl..........which I do have the lid for, I also have a teapot and cups, along with some larger bowls.

Tomorrow is Thursday, the last one of the towels in this set to be seen, since I started this last Friday. I hope you can stop by to see what the design is............can you guess?

Tuesday..................

silverware................no table setting with beautiful china is complete without it .I embroidered the silverware in gold, rather than silver, because it goes with the gold on the other embroidered pieces, and my silverware, actually looks more gold than silver.

Have you noticed.........the new silver.........well stainless steel ware, has no design........no charm? 

I have to say, I love shiny things............especially old silverware. It is one of the main things I search for when flea marketing. I am thrilled to find pieces that have an initial engraved onto it!  I have several mix and match pieces, but not a whole complete set.

But that's OK...........I love to mix and match and I love to see my guests look to see what the next person's fork looks like when they are seated.

I think my favorite piece of silverware is the little dessert forks. They are so charming when served with a piece of homemade pie. Don't you think?

How about you?

Do you have a complete set of silverware?

Or do you have mix and match pieces?

What is your favorite?

I would love to hear!

I hope you can stop back by tomorrow to see what Wednesday's design will be!

Monday.............

a sugar bowl...............so cute and short...........and full of sweetness.........if you know what I mean.{:

In all of the group of my sugar bowls, I think this is the only one that has it's lid. It seems every time I see a sugar bowl in a market somewhere..........the lid is usually missing.

 Is this true for you?

I was given this sugar bowl along with the matching creamer and teapot years ago. It looks to have  hand painted violets on it, which adds to it's charm.

Do you have sugar bowls..........along with their lids?

I would love to hear!

I hope you drop by tomorrow to see what design is for Tuesday!

Sunday............

today's design.............a darling little creamer. Again, another great thing to collect, there are so many different types! Again, the same jade green embroidery, the same rose.........

I have a few other creamers, not any like the one I embroidered. However, this one, I found one day, while visiting an antique shop. It was lying outside on a dirt covered shelf, with quite a lot of Texas dirt stuck on the inside.  Somehow, no one noticed it's beauty, and tossed it aside. I came to it's rescue.........I love pink!

And now, it shines from my shelf.

How about you?

Do you collect creamers?

I would love to hear!

I hope you can come visit tomorrow, although it is a work day for many, and see what Monday's design will be!

Saturday..........

Salt and pepper shakers..........another great thing to collect! For this Saturday design, the shakers are embroidered in the jade green, the roses are worked with the closed buttonhole stitch, and the tops are embroidered in gold thread.

These set of salt and pepper shakers were made by a local woman who owned a ceramic shop. She used to sell her wares at the arts and crafts show each year and my dear friend bought them as a gift for me. I love them!

I have a set of Noritake china, with roses much like the ones on this salt and pepper shaker set........, they go along perfectly.

How about you?

Do you collect salt and pepper shakers? I would love to hear!

I hope you stop back by tomorrow to see Sunday's design!

Friday,

Here it is..........a cherished tea pot, stitched in jade green with gold decorative stitches on the lid and the spout...........with a rose in the center.

Teapots.......don't you love them? I do, I have quite a collection that I have gathered over the years. Each one is dear, but the one pictured above is very special. It belonged to my husband's grandmother. It was given to her on her wedding day, in the 30"s from her father. When she discovered that I loved teapots, she sent this home to live with me........I feel so blessed that she did.

I love the rose design and the intricate scalloped lid decorated with gold, as well as the top of the teapot lid handle. The spout and the handle also have gold on them.

I embroidered this set of tea towels with not too much fancy stitching, just basic embroidery, except for the rose, it is worked in a closed buttonhole stitch.

On designs such as this, I like the way simple and basic embroidery looks, don't you?

Now, how about you?

Do you collect teapots? Do you still use them?

I would love to hear!

 I hope you stop back by to visit tomorrow to see what Saturday's design will be!

A Week Of Embroidery And Vintage China

As most of you know, I love vintage china...........actually, who among you doesn't? Am I right? {:

Over the years, I have collected little pieces here and there, from flea market visits and from friends and family handing pieces down to me. I have always loved the jade green Fire King coffee mugs and the lovely pieces of Jadeite.......is that the correct name?..........I need to research.

I have always longed to own a whole set of this lovely green china, but I am happy with the few small pieces I do have. As you can see, this is what has inspired me to embroider the set of towels I will be showing you this week.

I have a transfer of a set of dishes, with the names of the days of the week on them.

I think this was supposed to be a pot holder design, however, it is perfect on a tea towel. Starting tomorrow, I will post the the stitched piece for Friday, then the one on Saturday, and all through the rest of the week. Each one is so pretty and I have a piece of vintage china to go along with each design.

I hope you will drop by to visit each day of this weekend and coming week to see the newest design. That is if the computer and life work with me.

How about you?

Do you have a favorite pattern of china?

Do you love the days of the week tea towel sets?

I would love to hear! 

A pocketfull of colorful stitched strawberries

stuffed into a heart stitched pocket

make up the "Spring" design for the Seasonal Clothesline I have been working on these past few weeks.

Then, a handful of picked daisies..........

along with that same delightful little bluebird found in all of the designs,

with an old fashioned bonnet, make up the "Summer" design.

As you have already seen in previous posts,

the "Fall " design.........

and the "Winter " design...........

have already been stitched.

Now the set is complete and the clothesline is ready to hang. Not only was the bluebird present, a heart found it's way into each design as well.

This set is just so decorative and eye catching that  I stitched another set to sell in my Etsy shop.

If you would like to browse my Etsy shop, I have some embroidery items for sale............just click onto the link below.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yesteryear61

There is just something about clotheslines and the era before the old faithful dryer, that makes everyone stop and smile back on that time.

I still have a clothesline, I love to hang fresh washed sheets and pillowcases out on it. Nothing can beat that fresh air fragrance.

How about you? Do you remember Mom or Grandma hanging clothes on the line???

Do you use a clothesline now and then?

I would love to hear! 

There is a cardboard box in the storage closet

with the word "GLOVES" written across the side in black magic marker.

Gloves for the garden, for outside work and for those once in a while snow storms in Texas, are within it. Going through it, I found a pair of tiny woolen mittens, the pair connected with the yarn string..........once worn by one of our children...........long ago, when they were once very small.  Such a sweet remembrance of  sweet family times.............so long ago, yet it seems like it was just yesterday.

I really enjoyed stitching this second part of the "seasonal clothesline" . As you remember, in the last post, I showed you the fall design.............this is the winter design. I am almost through with the spring design and will be showing it to you next week............can you guess what the item might be?.  I am really enjoying this cross stitch pattern. I can't wait to get all 4 pictures cross stitched and framed to hang in my laundry room.

How about you?

Do you have mittens or baby clothes saved from your little ones?

Maybe even shoes or little hair bows?

I would love to hear!