The Larkspur around the patio are starting to bloom

and when I see these wonderful blooming stalks, I am drawn back to the memory of when I first discovered Larkspur. We were living in a small house, on a loud and grumpy corner lot, on a busy street in town. Along the back of the house, was a large gully, that ran down behind the other blocks in the neighborhood. When it rained, it would fill with murky rain water.  One spring, I had gone out to dump trash in the alley, when I noticed tall color stalks in lavender, blue, white, and pink. I grabbed my shovel and soon dug up and transplanted a good portion of these flowers to my flower garden. To my delight, they flourished and for many years, I had an enormous garden of larkspur. Since moving out here, I have had little luck in getting Larkspur to sprout. This year, I tried containers on the patio.............and now once again, I am enjoying the pretty blossoms.

In the coaster set I am trying to finish, I had previously stitched this coaster design with my beloved Larkspur................

I am hoping they last through the summer and into our warm fall like they usually do.

I am hoping that by fall, my coaster set will also be completed.

How about you?

What's your favorite flower and when was the time you discovered it?

I would love to hear!

Somewhere, at sometime...............

someones grandmother, aunt, or mother,

patiently worked, with hook and thread...........

in the late hours of the evening..........

after the days work of laundry, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children was done,

after the hot hours out working in the garden was finished,...................

and created these lovely works of art. Maybe she placed them on the dining room table, hung them in the kitchen, or placed them around the living room and bedroom...........

she decorated with her hand work..................

These pieces, in the photos above are just a few of the ones I have collected through the years..........

where I have stored them in the trunk that once belonged to my grandfather, along with my embroidered linens..............

but now they have a new place.............this wonderful little case, that my childhood friend brought to me while on her visit. It belonged to her Grandmother, who was very dear to me and who I always just considered to be a grandmother to me as well. Her name was Lila Josephine.......

her name and address is still on the traveling tag, which I am not going to remove

The inside is still intact, and although I restored and papered my grandfather's trunk,

I want to leave this little case just as it is. She used this little case to travel with while she rode on the bus to her relative's homes.

And now, the crocheted pieces will have their new home in this wonderful case.

And the little case will sit on top of the trunk, where, as I pass back and forth during the day, can see it and remember my special times with my childhood friend and Grandma.

To read the story about this special lady, visit my country blog,

Eggs In My Pocket

How about you?

Do you love old crocheted pieces?

Do you display them, or have them in a special box...........or case?

I would love to hear!

My butterfly is finished

and I had the right kind of project I wanted to fit it into.............

 I made it into a mason jar pin cushion!  I love mason jars...........

do you?

I then started filling the jar with some of my favorite things from some of my collections.

Old wooden spools with the thread still on........which by the way is still excellent thread!

Also a small pair of scissors.

which I just replaced with an older metal pair............

much better, don't you think?

I love shaped beads so a beaded flower was perfect to go with the butterfly..........

don't you think?

I also added an old thimble and yes, there is an old square  mother of pearl button.

I had another mother of pearl button...........I love those things!

I also added a twirl wire with a beaded flower to hang on the outside of the jar.

And then to finish it off, a jeweled heart charm...........

to represent the friendship I share with a friend who is coming to stay for a few days..........

who loves butterflies and is an excellent quilter...........

and is the only one I would share my collections with......

the whole reason I put the jar together!

The wildflowers and butterflies are all over the grounds here at the farm

and just as butterflies and flowers go together..........

so do friends and sewing projects.......

don't you think??

How about you?

Do you still have friendships from way back when you went to school?

Do you see each other often.........or maybe once a year?

What do you do when you get together?

 I would love to hear!

I finished the sweet peas

which is actually one of 12 of the different flowers in a coaster set I have been working on for a good bit of time. I work on the set a little, then get lost onto another project. Do you find yourself doing this?

This is a work in progress that I am hoping to finish in a couple of days.

How about you?

Do you find yourself in the middle of a project and yet still have other works in progress?

No matter how much time I know I have, I always wind up doing this...........the reason...........

I really don't know why.................I don't get bored stitching the same thing......................

What do you think?

Wishing you a very happy and blessed Easter!

Angels, roll the rock away;
Death, yield up thy mighty prey:
See, He rises from the tomb,
Glowing with immortal bloom. 

Thomas Scott, "Easter Angels"

This week, with all of the spring flowers blooming across the prairie as my inspiration,

I have started embroidering a small cluster of sweet peas.

When I had just started my journey into surface embroidery many years ago, these tiny designs would have made me feel very intimidated. However, through practice and perseverance, I have managed to accomplish even the smallest of designs. Above the bud is worked by using the satin stitch......with 1 strand of floss. The leaves are also worked in satin stitch, with a darker green used to work a "Whipped Backstitch" down the center for the vein of the leaf.

If you are not familiar with the Whipped Backstitch, there are two wonderful video tutorials to show you how by clicking onto this link.

http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/11/whipped-backstitch-video-tutorial.html

I often rely on the Whipped Backstitch to give me the detail I want, especially when embroidering small twirling vines as featured in the photo above.

As you can see, I am still not quite finished with this design. I am still filling in the areas with stitches to bring it to life. But if you click onto the photo, you can see the vine and the leaf veins worked in the

whipped backstitch.

How about you?

What interesting stitch have you learned and now work with to get your projects done?

I would love to hear.