It's not just the embroidery

that catches my attention when I am searching out vintage linens..............

I love the  intricate crocheted edges that can be found on dresser scarves and pillowcases. The quality and beauty that was worked into finishing embroidered pieces just amazes me. The pillowcase above has no embroidery............

just an elaborate and beautiful crocheted insert. There was only one pillowcase, but it will serve wonderfully for a guest............don't you think?

As many of you know, I have my own style of embroidery, where I add quite a few stitches.

However, this set of pillowcases, makes me want to go back to my roots of hand embroidery

and return to the simple technique. Sometimes, less, speaks so much more beauty in pieces like this.

There is a beautiful crocheted edge on this set as well.

I was thrilled when I discovered this dresser scarf, underneath a large pile of tablecloths.

The embroidery is worked in basic stitching............but it just seems to come to life

I love the way the embroiderer stitched the fence, don't you?

The colors she chose are wonderful. Now I am inspired to do one simple piece...............

how about you?

Do you find that sometimes in your creative work............the simple designs, speak the loudest?

I would love to hear!

It seems sometimes, that the days fly by so quickly,

and even though, I spend a good part of the day..........

stitching........

I don't always make a lot of progress..........but this is the path of hand embroidery.............

so much time spent, working hundreds of stitches.

As you might remember, I showed the speckled pink flower in a post or two back

as I work on a new pillowcase design. I don't have a color scheme set out for this particular pattern. 

I love how the color of orange can perk up any design.............

don't you? 

I am picking a section that I want to stitch and then pick the colors for that section as I go.

Blue and yellow always seem to go together well.........

don't you think?

I am enjoying this process and anticipate a pillowcase set........

full of color.

I am hearing that a cold front is moving in, the wind has already started to blow...........

and I often think of this verse on cold days as this..............

 

Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
The days pass quickly when I am sewing.
Author Unknown

 

I hope that this finds you in warm and pleasant weather.............

or somewhere, warm and pleasant.........

stitching the day away!

I love to hear!

Un-embroidered linens, lying underneath and in piles of vintage embroidered linens,

always get the chance to come home with me when I am at a sale. In fact, I look for the vintage stamped linens, that someone started to embroider on years ago............

and for whatever reason, never got to finish. These pieces speak to me and I often wonder about the stitcher............what was she wanting this design to look like when she was finished?.............what colors would she have chosen?

Last week, I came upon one such piece. This piece in the photo above, has the most wonderful design.......with only a little bit of existing embroidery.

And as most of you know.............I usually always remove the previous stitching..................

but not on this one......................

I just felt this stitching needed to remain..............the remnants of someone else's dream and imagination.................with the stitches of my imagination to go along with hers.

Whoever did embroider this, did a very nice job.

As you can see, only the black trellis was stitched on this design.

So with the black as my background to build upon, I chose the larger flower to work with first.

As you can see, there are only 7 spaces for french knots in the center.............

I always like to start embroidery in the center of a flower................how about you?

As many of you know..............I never stick to the original design,..........I added a few more french knots..............in a light shade of yellow,

 

and the "painter" side of me added a darker shade of yellow french knots for a more "real " effect.

I used a few shades of pink................and the flower.................

bloomed!

I love lazy daisy designs, but once again..................I have to breathe some life into the design,

(click onto photo for a better view)

by adding a lot of lazy daisy stitches...........and a lot more french knots in different colors.

Once again, the same lovely design .............

once again, more stitches than what the pattern calls for and more shades of color.

(click onto photo for a better view)

Here is one bottom end finished! I love the subtle shades of the flowers and the blues of the french knots...........don't you? I have the other end to finish and then I will embroider the clusters of flowers that run along the sides.

The black trellis looks perfect for the flowers..............I'm glad I let it remain.

What would the one who previously stitched this think, I wonder??

Now it's your turn!

Go out and find some un-embroidered piece and let your imagination lead your needle to breathe life into the embroidery!

If you do, I want to see and hear all about it!

 



I have loved tomato pincushions for as long as I can remember..........

I have seen them used by so many seamstresses and artists. They have held pins and needles  for the dress maker, the school costume maker, the quilter, and the embroiderer.  I love to collect them.

But..............

why a tomato and a strawberry...............

to keep our pins and needles in check????...............

Have you ever wondered?

Well I do, these are the kinds of things that keep me awake at night................

amongst stitching..............

Well, here is the answer..............

The most popular design in pincushions,  a tomato with a strawberry attached,  was most likely introduced during the Victorian Era. According to folklore, placing a tomato on the mantle of a new home guaranteed prosperity and repelled evil spirits. If tomatoes were out of season, families improvised by using a round ball of red fabric filled with sand or sawdust. The good-luck symbol also served a practical purpose—a place to store pins. Typically, the tomato is filled with wool roving to prevent rust, and the strawberry is filled with an abrasive to clean and sharpen the pins.

So now you know...............

And so do I!

 

How about you?

Do you collect these or is there another type of pincushion you like best?

I would love to hear!



There are a few "works in progress"

that I need to get to "work" on and to make "progress"with in my embroidery.

I have stitched on this set of flower coasters off and on for way too long. I don't have a reason for taking too long............I just start on something new and forget to finish...........

do you do that??

There are 12 to the set.

a flower for each month. I am stitching two sets as I go. One I hope to sell in my Etsy, the other I am keeping and using .

 

I am stitching both sets on a large cloth all together, and after the embroidery is finished, I will cut the coasters out and away from each other.

Along with that, I have just started another pillowcase set. This design is rather large and full of the most prettiest flower designs. I always like to try something new and different in the way that I embroider.............I wanted a speckled look to the flower........much like you would see in an Iris or Day Lily............I think it looks pretty this way..............don't you?

I will show more of this set as I go along and get it embroidered.

How about you?

Do you have a work in progress that has taken way too long for you to finish?

Is it embroidery, sewing, or painting perhaps?

I would love to hear!

I have added the extra touches to the pillowcases

that I posted about last week.

 

(click onto photos for a better view)

I added a lace trim and a bottom floral print edge..........

I was going to crochet the trim.........but this lace looks like hand crochet........don't you think?

 

Now the pillowcases have a cottage/nostalgic look to them............

what do you think?

As many of you know........I love Homer Laughlin dishware. My favorite is from my grandmother's dishes........... Virginia Rose...........in which I only have a sugar bowl(missing it's lid) , and two teacups. I have found little dessert plates and 1 small saucer.  I have loved this pattern since way back and I can't remember when.

I wondered if there were ever any dinner plates.

Yes...........there is!!  While rummaging through the dusty shelves of one of my favorite hang outs.......on the shelf were 4 dinner plates with the Virginia Rose pattern.

You can just imagine how I clung them to my chest and ran to the cashier!!

Isn't this the most beautiful pattern ever??

 

Now I have a wonderful set to serve my meals with! Oh yes, I am absolutely going to use them and cherish them!

 

 

Best of all............I have had these napkins...........stored away...........they still have the tags on them.

They are edged in a coral color.

I have never embroidered on them, because I felt that maybe one day, I might find the perfect dishes to go with them.............. and I could embroider a matching design...............

 

Now I am going to incorporate this pattern into a embroidery design for my napkins.

I think I will make a spray of the flowers............

maybe on the corners.................or should I embroider the centers??

what do you think??

I would love to hear!



I love the vibrant and petally Poppy flower..........

Yet it is the one flower I cannot seem to grow.

I know they grow in my climate, because a dear friend of mine once had them growing along her grounds. That is the first time I saw them and fell in love with them.

Have you ever grown these flowers before?

Whether they are growing in a garden,  dancing along in a field, or their beauty is captured on postcards or in books............

I think they hold a nostalgic and graceful look to them. They are what made me realize that the color red was really beautiful in embroidery.

Don't you think so?

I have several vintage designs of poppy flowers, so I decided to create a design using a tall poppy in the center, with a poppy bud on each side. I then filled in the area with small yellow daisies and grass.

I then placed a smaller poppy design on the right side along with more daisies and a few french knot flowers.............

and I then did the same on the left side.

(click on photo for a better view)

I then placed and embroidered this design onto a set of pillowcases. Now the stitch work is done, I still need to add a crocheted edge and perhaps a bottom floral edge.............

what do you think?

 How about you?

What was the one flower that caught your attention the last time you visited a garden?

If you have had luck growing poppies.............what is your advice on such?

I would love to hear!