Looking back on a year full of stitches

I started to work on this Irish linen tablecloth and matching napkins in January

I also made heart pockets for the upcoming Valentines day

I made spring chick napkins to match 

a little salt and pepper set in my shop, 

and I crocheted a dish cloth and designed and hand embroidered a dish towel to match a 

a very vintage cup in my shop that I turned into a scouring pad holder.

I spent a few weeks in March making two sets of dish towels using a very vintage embroidery transfer, 

and as most of you  know.......I  LOVE  the insect world and get much of my inspiration

from their color and their whimsy-ness 

and capturing it in embroidery in April

In May, I re purposed vintage pillow cases into wonderful his and hers hand towels,  

In June I hand embellished a bath towel with this embroidery 

to match this vintage wall hanging set in my shop

In July, the publisher of Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine, Pam Kellogg, contacted me, to publish my miniature crazy quilt in her fall issue!

In August, I finally finished two sets of flower of the month coasters.

One for myself..........one to sell

In September I hurriedly designed, embroidered and quilted a baby quilt for my new great niece,

baby Taylee 

In October, I focused on more designing of roses to match some of my vintage dishes

In November I embroidered a hankie for a new grandmother

and now it's the end of the year and I am just almost through with the tablecloth and napkin set......

so Janice, in San Francisco......... it is almost ready to fly home to you!

Here's the best wishes for the best stitches to all of you in 2016!

It's a quiet time of year.............now..........

all of the wild, hard to tame grounds.........are entering their sleep phase......giving me more inside time to do my stitching. 

I look back over this year.........realizing just how much I had planned to do.........

yet didn't get near to getting it done.

It's this way every year..........and I am always frustrated with myself the next year as I 

work away at what should have been done so many months earlier.

I look over at my work basket............full of " UFOs" .......(unfinished objects) 

and wish I had two sets of hands to get them all done.  

But in stating all of this................I realize..........it's not how fast or how much I can get stitched and finished........

for me it's the process of creating and watching the piece

"bloom"

So with the ending of this year and the starting of the new one.........

my basket will still "runneth" over , but 

I will enjoy each stitch along the way.

This is my new year's resolution for my "work " life.

What is yours?  I would love to hear!

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a 

peaceful New Year!

One of the 12 " Flower of the Month Coasters" that I have embroidered........December

How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?

Dr. Seuss

Vintage plates have such a rich history..........

This lovely plate comes from Harker Pottery Co. circa 1940s-1950s.

The shape of the ware, called Royal Gadroon, has a raised pie-crust edge. 

Benjamin Harker, Sr. immigrated from England and settled on some land in the Ohio Valley near East Liverpool, Ohio to become a farmer. But the clay in the hills above the farm became a major source of his income. Finally in 1840, he decided that he could make more money by selling finished pottery than the clay and so he built himself a kiln and a small workshop on the river just north of the village. He hired a potter to teach the trade to his sons. And so began the oldest continually run pottery in the United States and the founding of an industry that exists to this day. 

For 131 years Harker Pottery produced everything from dinnerware to bathroom fixtures. After fighting years of flooding on the western bank of the river (left, postcard of Ohio River showing East Liverpool with Harker Pottery), Harker moved across the river to the east bank in Chester, WVa. (right). It shipped dinnerware across the nation. In the 40's and 50's, you could get your Harkerware as premiums at stores and in theaters. 

This is just one of the many lovely plates I have in my vintage shop.

No matter where I might be...........if I see an old plate for sale.........

I have to grab it up to place in my shop.

How about you?

Do you have a favorite plate or china design?

I would love to hear!