The end of the year....... looking forward and ahead

Here it is.....already the end of the year.  I have kept my hands busy

stitching the hours away throughout 2020.  As I look forward to this new "uncertain"

beginning of the year............I have more than a year's full of days

to keep my hands busy.  The above photo is of a 

lovey vintage dresser runner......

 with much of  the embroidery worn and missing.

I have many old pieces like this......they are still in good shape.......

and only need some new embroidery stitching added

and they are ready for another life of being used and loved

I also have a love for empty boxes.......

and have started making "scenes" out of 

each one......making "room boxes"

most of them I make to go with vintage dolls 

so that I can sell them in my shop

some doll boxes are just for collectors

and some of my scene boxes are for collectors only

but some boxes will be play boxes for little girls

as I have many little pretty vintage dolls waiting to be sold in my shop

I have many ideas for many different boxes 

and some will be made for special uses........

as in the case of this lovely vintage wood box. 

I have decorated the outside with vintage needlepoint and lace

when it is opened, the lid has sewing accessories 

accented with vintage lace, doilies, and buttons. There is enough

room in the bottom of the box to hold the project that is being stitched on.

There will also be a handmade needle book

to hold special needles during a stitching project. 

When the cold winds of January start to blow........

and the "wolf of uncertainty" comes howling at the door

I will be inside.....with warmth and a sense of peace

stitching away the worries and hours.

My prayer for you as this year ends, 

is that you will not look back, but that 

you will have much good and happy times to look 

forward to in the new year to come.

Seasons Greetings

Mistletoe and gleaming holly,

Symbols of a blessed day...

Louisa May Alcott, "Merry Christmas," in The Horn of Plenty, 1876

 

It's that time of year................

 

to bring home the perfect tree for Christmas!

I cross stitched this in early September as an  early finish before the holidays. 

 Not from a vintage book, which I usually love to stitch, but this pretty design was very easy and quick to cross stitch and can be found in last year's Dec. 2019 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

  14 count Lt. blue aida was used for this piece. 

Instead of framing this piece, I decided to use it for 

a wood serving tray. 

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

 

O Infinite Father, I'm grateful to Thee

      For the moon and the stars and deep rolling sea;

      For beauties of nature, where e'er they may be...

For the handclasp of friends, so firm and so true;

      For sunrise and sunset and glistening dew;

      The fleecy white clouds and the Heavens, so blue;

      For these wonderful gifts, dear Lord, I thank you!

~Gertrude T. Buckingham, "My Song of Thanksgiving"

There's is comfort in hand stitching

 

the hours away, slowly in the late afternoon.

Do you agree?

Even when you are tired........or things may be heavy 

on your mind ........or heart.......

the stitches of colorful floss and the time

you have to say a prayer or sort out

the day's stress, while you stitch,  

come through in such a beautiful way. 

Summer set lip to earth's bosom bare,

And left the flushed print in a poppy there:

Like a yawn of fire from the grass it came,

And the fanning wind puffed it to flapping flame...

Francis Thompson

Wishing you comfort and peacefulness 

as you stitch the day away. 

With the end of the year and the holiday season upon us

I have spent these days going through my fabrics

and cutting out new dinner napkins.

The present dinner napkins are looking very tired and worn.

With the help of my vintage sewing machine, 

and my supervisor, Taboo, watching over me,

I am able to quickly get the linens sewn and 

finished in a day. 

Hand stitching these would have taken forever.

However, I do like to hand stitch a decorative blanket stitch on my napkins.

They look prettier and the stitching keeps the edges lasting longer.

I managed to get a good amount of table napkins to last

for the year.

They are perfect for mix and match 

either on new dishes

or with a table set with vintage dishes.

Vintage plates seem to go with any fabric chosen

for a napkin.

I also crocheted new dishcloths........these

get very tired after a while of dish scrubbing.

It is also a great way to use up all of my scrap yarn.

Wanting to try something new, 

I crocheted, soft, cotton wash cloths

These will be perfect with a pretty bar of soap 

tucked into a basket for a gift for a friend.

However.......

 I think I am at the phase in life where

gift giving is not important.

I would rather have a chat/visit, 

an email to catch up, over a gift any day.

Sharing and catching up with friends  over a table set with pretty dishes and linens

and the warmth of friendship

just says 

"Come, Sit, Stay"

 

OCTOBER

 

We stood at the edge of the forest,

The friend of my heart and I,

Where the sunset glow of the dogwood

Met the sunset glow of the sky.

The breath of the coming winter

Came down from the pine-clad hill;

Its shadow crept over the landscape

And over our hearts its chill.

Edith Palmer, "October Violets," c.1872

The color orange

Our first apartment, when my husband and I started our lives together,  had the color orange almost everywhere on it and in it.  We were just starting out and the apartment was very reasonable for our budget, and so the little white 2 story apartment , with very bright orange trim, became our home.  

I am not sure whether the landlord found a great deal on orange paint, or whether his interior decorator wife just loved the color, because the carpet was burnt orange as well.

Yet, it was a happy sweet home for the newlyweds, but I knew in my heart that I would never buy orange paint for anything that we would come upon later.

As the years passed, I found a passion for growing pumpkins..........mostly because of their large beautiful green leaves and the way they stretch over the grounds................then it happened.............

my first beautiful orange orb sprouted and grew and grew.  My heart was never the same!  I fell in  love with pumpkin growing and with the color of orange.

I am in awe of the shades of orange and tangerine in the 

early morning sunrise and the late afternoon sunset

I love it for decorating the dining room table

and I enjoyed every stitch in my latest cross stitch

because it had so many shades of orange.

This is another vintage pattern that I have had tucked away

with the floss, waiting for me to cross stitch.  

It is cross stitched on 14 count fiddler's cloth .

The pattern comes from a vintage Leisure Arts magazine

from 1994.

And as you can guess by now.......I love the color orange.

How about you?  Was there ever a color you at first did not 

like, and then all of the sudden, you grew to love it?

I would love to hear

Just for the moment, a thought, to ponder

With the hot days of August bearing down,

I have found myself content to sit in my sewing space and have let my needle and imagination take  me along cool shady paths of the Oriental Tea garden.

I have spent hours there, letting my needle make colorful and swaying trees, flowers, and grasses, in any color that I would like if I had my own tea garden space. Not always going with the suggested stitches or colors as the pattern directed.
I embroidered the house roof with a little bit of a brighter color and instead of straight stitch grass for the flower beds, I worked french knots and daisies into those spaces.

I used embroidery floss instead of the crewel yarn that came in the kit.  I like the texture and definition that floss provides over yarn. I  worked the boulders with a cotton pearl floss and I added lily pads and koi fish to the shaded part of the pond.  I added a flower bush of purple bullion stitch flowers and maroon french knots flowers to the bottom stone.

I grew quickly tired of all of the greens in the suggested pattern.  So I made the french knot pink and white tree, that was supposed to be on the other side of the bridge in place of the suggested green bush.

I also added french knot flowers and french knot greenery along the bottom of the stone.

I loved the color suggestion for the background trees, but did not want to work them in straight stitch or french knots.  Instead I worked them in what I like to call a free hand cross stitch, where I just place cross stitches throughout the design to give the tree more of a leafy look

When I saw the tree in the back ground, behind the bridge, I knew it has so much potential .  I wanted a tree to look like the ones in old paintings.   At first I thought it would be a simple weeping willow, but then I just had to add some color to make it look somewhat of a wisteria.  

This tree was supposed to be the pink and white french knot like the one I worked in the front section.  Instead, I chose to work it in colors of purple/reds.  

The suggested iris's are lovely, but I always love to see iris gardens with the soft yellow and light purple and I wanted them to look billowy.  

not to say that my ideas are the perfect way to stitch the project, but I really enjoyed the different stitch technique and colors as I worked along.

Now this once forgotten and stored away kit  has been completed.  After I finish up the stitching on the border and sign my name, I will work on getting it framed .

But where to hang it?  I have several options but have not made a final decision yet

And I have already started something new.........can you guess what it is?

Hint.......it is full of things I love about Autumn......in which I am anxious for it's arrival. 

How about you?

if you would like something crispy to enjoy visit my cooking blog for this wonderful easy and crispy cookie!  You can get the recipe at this link

My Cousin June's Sugar Cookies