I have stepped out of my comfort zone

 

I usually crochet the round type doilies and I usually only prefer

to use white or light color thread.  I have learned to crochet the round type doilies and am comfortable

that when I start a new doily......it will turn out the way I hope. 

But this time, I wanted to "experiment" .....to broaden my horizons......

to learn how to make motifs and then learn how to correctly crochet them

together to make lovely scarves and tablecloths.

I also decided to use red and green crochet thread.

( I noticed I did not lay it flat enough in the photo....the bottom corner would be even)

This is a 1944 pattern and it was a good one to start with to learn the technique I was wanting.

I am not at liberty to share this pattern, but there are many in old booklets and on the internet that '

if you wish, you can find .  

I will leave you with this link to a wonderful crochet web page, full of 

crochet history and such.

Vintage Crochet History 1944

Christmas time is upon us and the last days of this year are winding down

There is much I hope to achieve within  the new year that is to come........

new techniques.....new projects completed.

Here's wishing you a joyous and merry Christmas! 

So remember while December

Brings the only Christmas Day

In the year let there be Christmas

In the things we do and say

Wouldn't life be worth the living

Wouldn't dreams be coming true

If we kept the Christmas spirit

All the whole year through.

~Author unknown, c.1962

visit my cooking blog for the recipe for this creamy chicken dish

you can find the link here 

Skillet Chicken Florentine

Colonial Garden

 

Life is a garden, not a road We enter and exit through the same gate. 

Wandering, where we go matters less than what we notice.

                                               Kurt Vonnegut

****design comes from a vintage 1988 Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine. 

Titled "Colonial Garden" 

stitched this month on 18ct white Aida .  

Baskets of "Pretty"

 These early November days have me gathering my yarns  and heading out to the patio where the sun has just the right warmth and the day holds just the right light to work some crochet stitches with my hook.

Here,   I can linger and spend much time as I work the stitches, feeling the light breeze, watching the last of the butterflies and bees fluttering and buzzing in and out of the summer's remaining  flowers.   

They seem to know as well as I , that soon , these petals of beauty will be gone and there will be a long stretch of cold before they return.

 

The day ends in early darkness this time of year, and I spend the late afternoons inside my stitching nook,  turning bits of scrap fabric into little items for my vintage shop.  It never ceases to amaze me at what all can be created by one little scrap piece of fabric.  One only needs to research the internet these days to find a bounty of inspiration.

As I stitch, my thoughts are upon, the holidays , that ,although I have had a whole year to be prepared for, they seem to rush at me faster these short few weeks.  There are still outside things to be done, .........garden spaces to be cleared, seeds and bulbs to be planted, and the final things to do in the greenhouse. Best of all........it is the most wonderful weather to enjoy all of these things. 

Tell me, are you busy creating special gifts for loved ones for Christmas? , are you gathering ingredients for those wonderful family gathered meals?  In all of this busyness........are you taking time to enjoy these slowing down and lovely days?

Here's wishing for you pleasant and peaceful days.

Wishing you a happy Halloween

 

Gnome and elf and fairy,

Witch and ghost make merry

On this last of dear October’s days.

Lettie C. Van Derveer, Halloween Happenings, 1921

Sometimes I just want the color..........red

 I have been stitching on two different cross stitch pieces ........one on one week, one on the next week........and both are lovely.  One is not enough done yet to show.......but this is the beginning stages of my "red garden sampler"

I have a cross stitch book that I just love by a French needlework designer , Marjorie Massey.  Her motifs and designs are so pretty! 

I think I have shown this garden lady to you before.  I had cross stitched her on screen wire........but it proved to be very tedious and hard......but I knew I wanted to cross stitch her again.  So I chose her actually as the main theme for the sampler I wanted to create.  

I love this border and decided to cross stitch it for my surrounding border.  I had a garden poem picked out for the sampler, but I have always loved this quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  And right in the middle of stitching and getting ready to start the garden poem............ I had an idea for a butterfly that looks like it is flying "out " of the sampler.  So I cross stitched this quote instead

This is how it is looking at the moment and I am so happy with it.  This is the first time I have cross stitched a piece without a complete pattern to go by and with an idea of making it a "personal" sampler with the things I love about a garden.  I am not sure how much or what else I will add and I am not sure how large it will be.  I am just cross stitching what the day brings to my heart.

But I love the whole red floss look......do you?

Do you like one solid color embroidered samplers?  If so,

do you like red, or do you prefer black......or maybe a dark blue?

I would love to hear!

**** with it being October, I have a wonderful fall treat recipe.

For the recipe , just click onto this link:

Apple Crisp

Here's wishing you pleasant autumn days

Wool Felt Applique and Embroidery

 

I spent a little bit of time looking through some amazing books

that cover the art of wool felt applique and I just

had to try my hand (needle) at it. 

I have this design from a Trish Burr embroidery book and 

thought it would be great for a wool felt applique.

I love to do applique with regular cotton fabric, however, I

have never worked with wool felt........... have any of you?

One nice thing about the wool felt is that you do not have 

to turn under raw edges.  The wool felt does not ravel.

I was also a bit apprehensive about cutting out such small pieces 

and wondering how the wool felt would hold up to the floss and 

needle during embroidery.  

I managed to cut out the small pieces and after that,

the placement and the embroidery went well!  

There are many wonderful books and supplies available for this

fun kind of stitchery if you are wanting to get started with your

own project.  

Some craft stores have plenty of books and many online websites

have books and supplies needed. 

Your fun is only a click away! 

So tell me........do any of you work with wool felt applique 

and embroidery?  

I would love to hear........and see.

Suddenly it is September............

 

and although summer is almost at an end, the flowers 

are still vibrant, especially the morning glory 

and the wild aster.

Here the morning glory is just beginning to bloom at it's best

and the wild prairie aster grows and blooms in large clumps all 

along the garden fence. 

When I came upon the design in the first photo, I knew

it was perfect to embroider.  I also tinted it

to make it look more vibrant. This is a month by month design..........

I acquired years ago.......but can't remember from where.

I hope to embroidered each month starting with September.

Fittingly, this piece I just finished  is titled.....

"The Last Rose of Summer" 

This is a little motif design from Blackbird Designs

and  it seems to match my little rose bush blooming 

it's last blooms until the days grow cold. 

Fall is almost here and I am sure many of you are working

on projects that have pumpkins........maybe Halloween themed

designs on them?  I would love to hear!

A tribute........Blackbird Designs

 

As we  enter the new month of August, I cannot leave the month 

of July without a word , a tribute to Barb Adams of Blackbird Designs who 

passed away July 4th, 2021.

I felt the title of the sampler above fit for this sad time.

Barb Adams was part of the wonderful design company, Blackbird Designs,

 along with Alma Allen which started in 1999.

Over the years they have created designs for quilting and cross stitch

 loved by so many of us. 

For me, the ideas they created for all different kinds of samplers and the 

wonderful colors they chose for each pattern, is what drew me to their pattern company.

I have many of their patterns on my "stitch" bucket list waiting to be finished.

Many of you already know of this sad news.......but for those of you who do not,

here is a link with a  wonderful tribute post for Barb from her friend Alma, as 

well as a link for Barb's obituary .  This site also has links to Alma's and other Blackbird 

Design blogs for fans and information on charts and patterns.

Fans of Blackbird Designs

 If you search the internet

you will find many tributes to Barb and Blackbird Designs as well. 

My sincere condolences to Barb Adams family and to Alma Allen.

 

 

 

June blooms into summer

 

The days have been filled with extreme heat........bringing so many colorful flowers into bloom.  

I work in my flower beds in the early morning hours and then............

to escape the heat from outside, I prefer to let my needle create blooms with floss and fabric.

visit my cooking blog for this wonderful recipe

at this link

Blueberry Lemon Sweet Rolls

Wishing you gardens filled with lovely blooms!

The month of May is a time when

                                   nature really wakes up......from the wild flowers to wildlife

and everything  else that has been quiet and sleeping. 

No matter how harsh the past winter may have been,

everything comes back to life..........vibrant and lovely.

Now that the virus seems to be calmed down......all things we love to do

seems to be slowly waking back up. 

I have not spent a lot of my time with my needle to show you something stitched.

Instead, 

I have spent the past few weeks, waking up

my vintage shop.........which has been closed due to the virus.

Now that the virus seems to have calmed down, I hope to open 

to the public. Would you like a tour?

I started off by clearing things off of the floor, so that 

one can easily look at things without stubbing their toe. 

I also wanted the vintage glassware to be seen better and 

moved it to the middle table in the natural light.

As you can see, the cement floor is very worn.  It had been painted

by previous owners years ago and the paint has worn.

I chose an antique white paint for the floor and then stenciled

a design in a sage green

I left the futon/bed in the shop (on the left side of the photo)

so that if all of our children are visiting at the same time, 

there will be this extra space for them to come and rest.

I wanted the entrance in front of the door to have some kind of

rose design.  I painted an oval rug in this space.

It matches the sage green part of the wall of the shop.

The shop is full of tea cups

vintage dishware

vintage glassware

vintage kitchen gadgets

vintage cookbooks

vintage purses and jewelry boxes

and collectibles

and there are drawers and tubs full of vintage linens and crochet

The walls are also covered with needlework and paintings

One of my favorite things in the shop is this old mirror.

I had stored it away for years before I made the shop.

I just could not toss it and knew one day I would find the perfect

use for it.  

When I made the shop, my husband fixed it to the top of

an old dresser as decoration for the shop.  I have had the 

little porcelain butterflies for years and decided they would

be perfect to add to the mirror.

So now, while I wait for customers,

I will be returning to my stitching and  working with my needle. 

Do  you like vintage things?  

Do  you have a favorite shop to go roam 

and linger in? 

 If you ever

come this way.......my shop 

door will always be open for  you! 

It is April

 just like the droggy wild woods outside being awakened by the fresh spring rains, my creativity  has been awakened by my thoughts and inspiration of what I want to start to embroider on.........or the other things I want to get my hands busy in putting together.  Are you feeling the same?

I am not one to only super clean for "spring cleaning" .   I keep a clean house always and try to keep clutter......."uncluttered".  But I do love to go through my endless stash of things to start embroidering on and I love to re read and go through my collection of books to get inspiration to start a new project.  I had decided a while back that I would not purchase anymore fabric, embroidery floss , or yarn, until I have used up what I have.  For one reason.........I think I have more supplies than the local craft store......honestly! 

Because of the weather being pretty outside, I turned once again to my cement making and decided to make a few garden pieces.

I had noticed somewhere on the net, lovely cement spheres sitting in a landscape, and wanted to make some of my own.

I am thrilled at how mine came out.  I used cement dye for the colorful ones.

Now I am at a loss at exactly where I want to place them.

I am sure I will move these around to different places, until each piece feels like the perfect fit.

I also have stolen one of my husband's pink shirts............it is the most perfect shade of pink.  I had talked him into purchasing it, because I thought it would look wonderful on him, but, he is not a lover of pink as myself, and he did not like the way it felt.................so I was happy to claim it.  It is a bit over-sized..........but that is what I am wanting.

I am planning to wear it over a blouse, much like a light weight jacket.

 I decided to tint just a bit of the design and embroider with different hues of pink embroidery floss.  I will have more to show when I am finished. 

I finished my " Home"  embroidery.  I added lantana, hollyhock, chickens in the yard,

a sweet bluebird in the tree, and to top it off........hearts coming out of the chimney.

My children recognized it as our home right off. 

I have now only to stretch and frame it.  

I hope the fresh rain and air of spring has put spark of creative inspiration in you. 

 I look forward to hearing about the journey or process of your creative thoughts.....and seeing the many wonderful results and projects  that you get your hands busy  in creating. 

 

Wishing you a blessed Easter

 

And as He was resurrected

On that day, so very fair,

Let our thoughts be resurrected

From wrong thinking to God's care...

Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, "Easter" (1940s)

All Is Well

 

We made it home late yesterday afternoon.........with Zack. It is amazing at how no one stays in a hospital after serious surgeries these days!  The doctor felt that there was no need for us to stay in Dallas with Zack at the hotel, because he would heal better here at home. Zack was very much in agreement with that . LOL  He traveled well......and instead of sleeping all the way, he chatted more.  He is the same Zack we have always known........the surgery did no damage.  We are so thankful! 

Zack has a bit of time to heal and to recover........but he is doing well.

Thank all of  you for our prayers, your thoughts and comments with supportive words.

From our hearts........we thank  you. 

Here wishing you peaceful skies and happy days

Home

 

This is the first glance I had of  our home when we were

searching for a place out in the country to live.  ( the porch

was not as cluttered as you see in this photo) 

Something in my heart told me..........this will be the place

you and your family will live and grow for the rest of your

years.

I love the whole house, inside and out, and all of the grounds

in which my loyal dog and I wander and explore........

but the image of this front porch will forever be my favorite.

I am not the best watercolor artist, but I have always wanted 

to create a tinted image of the front porch..........

and I then wanted to embroider it and embellish the picture

with flowers that either existed or ones I dreamed would grow along 

the porch. 

   The first thing I had to embroider was my black cat.

I have had several black cats through the years.......they have always been 

dear to my heat.  Smokey, Salem...........and now

Taboo. 

And then, I started to embroider the existing Pyracantha bush and I have always wanted large pots of geraniums.......which I have never been successful at growing. 

I embroidered the leaves and berries on the existing Pyracantha

and Yaupon Holly bushes.

I have always dreamed of wisteria draping itself down

the front porch,

and there must be a large bush of antique pink and white

roses.  Which I am still in the process of stitching  

I have so much more to add..........and I have decided to title this piece

" Home"

for in just a few days........I will be longing for myself, my husband,

and our oldest son .....

to be home.

As you read this, we have since had the devastating news that our oldest 

son Zack, has 4 tumors on his brain.  One particularly large one must

be removed immediately.  

How much I want all of this to be just a bad dream that I soon awake from.............

but it is not.   We will soon be traveling, on the way to where Zack will be undergoing a long and tricky surgery within the next few days,

and we do not know what the outcome will be.

For those of you who have already known about this......

thank  you for your prayers and supportive words.

I ask that you continue to pray for Zack's surgeon and for Zack.

I do not know how long we will be gone.........so I will return here much 

later with hopefully...........happy news.

until then, take care, love all those near to you, 

and do not let one day go by without enjoying something

in it. 

Kathleen