My tiniest quilts yet........

I have been stitching the late afternoon hours away,

placing hundreds of stitches, by hand,  

onto layers of design, batting and backing fabric

and have finished 3 quilts. 

3 very tiny quilts.  Each one measures 7" X 71/2"

each one different and pretty with the hand stitching on front

and with that crinkle quilt look on the back

and they all came from this fabric which is close to 30 years old.

I purchased this fabric a long while back, with the intentions of 

making tiny quilts .......but along came other things in life

to keep busy with and the fabric was placed away.

I came upon it a few months ago and decided to start to working 

the printed quilts into miniature quilts. 

I will hang some for decoration, use some for the doll boxes I 

make and who knows what others can serve a purpose for?

I know that some of you are still keeping busy at home, working, homeschooling, 

parenting, and other many tasks that this time has thrown upon you,

but do you spend a little time stitching......or doing some other kind 

of creative work?  Have  you found something stashed away, years ago , and have started to work on it?   I would love to hear!

In early June the world of leaf and blade

and flowers explodes, and every

sunset is different

John Steinbeck

Bless My "very little" Kitchen Lord

I love making miniature things.......and I love creating miniature scenes.

Much of my miniature decor, I have made with things that I have on hand,

so of course if you look closely you will see it is not perfect and there are 

many flaws.  But I make these things for the enjoyment..........not for competition.

A poem that is often seen on kitchen keepsake plates is what inspired me to 

make this scene:

Bless my little kitchen Lord, I love its every nook.

 And bless me as I do my work, Wash pots and pans and cook.

 May the meals that I prepare Be seasoned from above

 With Thy great Blessing and Thy Grace But most of all - Thy Love. 

As we partake of earthly food The table Thou has spread,

 We'll not forget to thank Thee, Lord, For all our daily bread.

 So bless my little kitchen, Lord, And those who enter in. 

May they find naught but joy and peace And happiness therein. 

                                                 Amen

Since I am on the topic of kitchens, I want to invite you over to my " My Country Kitchen"

blog to share a wonderful cool and delicious recipe with you.

This is such a wonderful dessert/fruit salad for those hot days of summer

and for get togethers.  It would be wonderful for this Memorial Day 

weekend!   Just click onto the link below

Peach Gelatin Salad

for this wonderful recipe! 

Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend.

Try to remember..........

Forgiving people who have hurt you 

is your gift to them.

Forgetting people who have hurt you

is your gift to you.

(author unknown)

And......

from the inspirational words of Helen Steiner Rice.......

You cannot change reality, but you can control the manner in which you look at things. Your attitude is under your own control. Weed out the negative and focus on the positive!”

Wishing you positive, bright days ahead!

An Oriental Tea Garden...........38 years later

I hope this finds all of you well and that you have not suffered from this dreadful coronavirus.

I hope you all have found a way to "hang on" and to get through this difficult time. 

As many of you have seen through the news media, one positive thing this virus has brought out......

is the spark of creativity in many. I hope after this has all passed, that everyone will still hang on to 

their imagination and keep creating.  

I decided this year that I have 3.......yes 3, embroidery 

projects that I want to work on and finish  by the end of this year...........

are many of you chuckling at this thought??  It's okay.....

I completely understand that 1 is probable......but 3??

Anyhow, I purchased this lovely kit 38 years ago.....just before marriage,

3 children, and a life detour away from this kit..............now ....dear husband has slowed down.....children have grown and flown,

 I dug it out of my stash.......still pristine......unopened........

and ready. 

It is from the Sunset company and titled, Oriental Tea Garden.

I fell in love with it at the needlework store the instant I saw it so many years ago.

I have always wanted a lovely pond.......a shaded place to enjoy fish and lovely flowers.

Southwest Texas is not an ideal place for such a luxury.

This is our actual pond...........crooked mesquite trees that give an interesting look, hang over the pond,

but do not offer much shade in the 100 plus Texas heat.  However, it is a wonderful quiet place to sit in the early morning/late afternoon.  I have tried to plant various flowers along the pond edge......but

with these wild woods.....many varmints eat everything I plant.  So I try to make

wildscapes that go with the area instead.  

There are pretty gold fish that I enjoy to watch

and out here in the middle of "dry" nowhere,  bullfrogs

come to visit the pond

However, through the years of embroidery, I have discovered that I do not like to 

embroider with yarn......such as in crewel work........which this kit was meant for and 

it came with all of the yarn. But if you have hung around and have read my blog over the many  years.......you know........I always change things around and embroider the way I would like the design to be. At least with this pond scene, I can add anything I want with needle and thread.........no heat, no varmints can take it away.

I matched embroidery floss with the colors of the yarns.  The first thing I decided to embroider 

was the tree.  And I am pleased with how it has turned out.  But then........I realized.....there is so much green, brown and gray in this project.........I want more color, 

so this is where I started changing things up.........a bit.

This is how the package photo shows the finished design.  If  you look where I placed the arrows,

I did not like to have just green bushes in front of the window.  Also, I did not like the faint blue

roof top.

I decided to add french knot flowers and daisy flowers underneath the window instead.

I  chose a brighter color for the roof, and I used perle cotton floss for the rocks. 

I have not worked with perle cotton floss much.....but for large areas such as this, it worked great.

I also wanted to see Koi goldfish and lilypads on the stream. However,   I did not want the embroidered goldfish to look like they were laying on top of the water, and I felt that would happen if I satin stitched them.   With the fabric being tinted and shaded, I drew a few fish and worked a simple outline stitch on them to make them look as if they were under the water.  I then made some lilypads.

This little "change up" I am happy with.

If you look at the piece from a distance, the fish do not glare out

......which is what I was hoping that they wouldn't. 

I also worked the bridge......pretty much as the pattern shows.

This has been such an enjoyable piece to work on. 

So now..........tell me........have you been side tracked with the virus

and have found creative time on your hands?  

What are you creating?  Are you embroidering, crocheting, knitting, 

.......painting? 

I would love to hear!

Stay safe dear friends! 

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest.

Homekeeping hearts are happiest.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

No matter how much time I have spent , lost in my stitching,

the worry of the uncertain times the coronavirus has 

placed on our health, our well being, and the stability of our

nation/world,

 still looms over me like a cloud.  So many people

suffering and struggling.  All we have is each other

and our faith to get us through this. 

I finally finished the cross stitched roses on linen that I had started a while back.

I am pretty sure I will frame this piece. I had at first thought

about placing it on the back of an antique chair.  

But no....I will frame it.

The weather has turned warmer and the gardens

outside need my attention. There is so much that is needing to 

be done that I will slow down on my stitching to enjoy

the outside world.  

However, in the late afternoon and up into the night,

I will once again have my needle for company.

For if my faith in faith be strong,

No doubt can enter in

My mind to make me ill and sad,

And let old Satan win!

Gertrude T. Buckingham, "Have Faith in Faith"

. I hope this finds pretty weather on  your shoulders and  

that  you and your loved ones are all safe and well.