January Stitching

It's been so long since I've blogged!!  January turned out to be quite a busy month for us.  But I was able to get some stitching done and even completed a few projects.

The lilac dish towel above was a gift to my mother's friend, who, on occasion, gave us lilacs from her beautiful yard. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the finished project!  
For the lilacs I used DMC 208, 209, 210 and 211.  A mixture of DMC 704 and 702 was used for the leaves.

While working on the lilacs, I had to have a "back-up" project.  I can never do just ONE project at a time...there have to have a few different projects going at once.  Any more than two days working on a single project and I get antsy for something new.  I think it's a form of crafter's ADD.   So I stamped this little bird wearing a raincoat and stitched him along with the lilacs.  I used my metallic threads for the first time (on the puddle and rain drops) and while struggling this beautiful thread, I learned some very important lessons.   (By the way...I'm not sure this metallic thread is even made for hand embroidery.  It's most likely made for machines.  However, it should surprise no one that I didn't let that little factoid stop me from trying it on hand embroidery.) 

Lesson #1 
It is best to work with this thread in a room absent of little ears.  No matter how calm and even-tempered you may be, this stuff will make you curse like a sailor.  Okay, maybe it's not quite THAT bad, but it IS a pain in the #$%^&*.
Lesson #2
In an effort to preserve my sanity I will never again try to use the metallic thread by itself.  I found it difficult to work with when used alone (especially if trying to use two strands).
After much trial and error, I find that it is best to use one strand of DMC cotton floss and one strand of the metallic thread.  The combination works like a charm...although still a bit more difficult than just DMC floss would be.
Lesson #3
In the words of Yoda, "Challenged you will be.  Patience, you must have".  Much patience is needed when working with this type of metallic thread.  But it is worth it!  The results are really cool and you'll receive oooos and aaahhs of envy from your stitching friends.....  

Skeptical Kitteh says, "Really?  I don't think so."

....Okay, maybe not.  But the results ARE pretty cool.

The little birdie towel isn't quite done in the picture above, but I do plan on finishing him.

Until Tomorrow,
Have a happy stitchy day!!

French Knot Art

Last week I purchased some brightly colored floss and am I ever having FUN with it!!

Here is the latest project I've been working on.  Awhile back I saw a quilled paper project similar to this and thought it would be fun to try it with french knots.

I wrote the word "Color" in bubble font letters and began surrounding the letters with knots.  It doesn't take as long as I thought it would.  I started on a Sunday afternoon and by Sunday evening had up to the green done!

The silver ring (bought at Office Max) holds the colors I am using for this project.  It keeps them in order and together...that way I'm not always saying, "now where did I put that blue?"  

I have just a little bit left to do and it will be complete!  I think I will put it in a hoop and hang it above my crafting space.

Until another day...Happy Stitching!

New Embroidery Floss

This week JoAnns had a sale on DMC floss.  So, I grabbed my checklist and off I went for a mini-shopping spree!  I found colors on the bottom row of shelving that I had never noticed before!  I picked out many pretty, pastel colors, and all together they look like little Easter candies for the eyes. They are inspiring me to start thinking about some spring stitching...maybe some bright easter egg tea towels, some little flowers or something like that.

Why yes, I always photograph my new floss.  Don't you?

Autumn purchased some Aunt Martha Denim Dan #3919 iron-ons for herself. 

I purchased a set of squirrels. 

No!  Not those kind of squirrels!!

These "Sassy Squirrels #3750" of the Aunt Martha Pattern Family.

 

 

 



So, we picked up a few shades of brown that we didn't have as well.

Now the fun part is winding all of the beautiful threads onto bobbins and finding room for them in my floss box.  I may even decide to organize my floss boxes again this weekend, which is always a fun time.  Half the fun of this hobby is organizing the supplies!  I'll keep you posted on that.

Until then,
Have a Happy New Year Everyone!

Redwork

One of the things I'd like to learn more about in 2013 is redwork.  There are many websites online that teach about redwork, but I really like the site prettyimpressivestuff by Rissa Peace Root.  Rissa gives us a little background information on redwork embroidery, the best threads to use and tips and tricks. 

Last spring-into-summer I made some window valences for my kitchen with red gingham on the bottoms of each valence.  I made two cafe curtains, one for each side of the window above my kitchen sink.  I transferred some fruit motifs onto them using Aunt Martha iron-on transfer "Fanciful Fruits for Tea Towels" #3749.  I started embroidering them in red thread...so I figure this could be considered redwork.

It's a UFO (unfinished object) as I have just a little bit left to embroider on this curtain.  Oh, and one more whole curtain to embroider.  But you never know, I just might finish them this year! 

Happy Stitching Everyone!!

Cowboy Dog Embroidery

This dish towel is one I whipped up for a friend for Christmas.  I had so much fun with this one!

On his lasso rope, I used a chain stitch.  Almost everything else was done in stem stitch.  I enjoyed using a bit of DMC Gold thread (that I borrowed from my daughter's stash) on the belt buckle and buttons.  And this was an easy patten to do too!  It only took a couple of hours to stitch!

   Have a happy, stitching day!

Cats

The patty-cake cats to cheer you this morning. 
A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and it makes me laugh everytime I see it!  Enjoy!

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone.

Out of the Frame

Been thinking a little bit about train travel today.
If I am ever able to travel by train (and I hope that someday that I will), this is one of the songs I would listen to.

I love this song and it is easily in my to ten picks for best songs of all time. 
Call me crazy, but the rhythm of the song reminds me of a train. 
And suddenly, I'm in a passenger car rolling over the Montana plains (Philip Aaberg is from Montana, so it only makes sense that the train would be there also).  We passengers would see grassland, fence lines, and maybe a pickup hauling a horse trailer.
As the train rolls through a small town we glimpse for just a second a view down main street and busy people going about their lives.  Perhaps we see a man stopping by the post office to get his mail, another man stepping out of a blue pickup, and a woman watering some storefront flowers.  It is a moment, a tiny slice of someone else's life that passes by our eyes so quickly.
Then at about 5:20 (in the song) the train begins to slow and then stop.  People on the platform below look up at us through the window and wonder where we've come from.  We folks in the cars have seen miles of country in just a few hours, while those standing still on the platform have seen only their everyday routine of morning donuts, coffee and the two block trip to the railway station.  
I myself am getting off at this station.  This looks like a quiet little town.  As I stand on the platform, I turn around to look at the train that brought me here and the people who are now sitting in my seat.  Their adventure is just beginning.  Soon they will be moving quickly and I will be the one left standing still. 
Steadily, the train begins to pick up speed.  I watch as it continues on it's journey across the prairie until, like the music, it slowly fades away.

Yep.  I like that song.

My Caldecott Picks for 2013

It's December...and that means I'd better start thinking about my Caldecott picks for the year of 2012.  The winner and honorees will be announced on January 28th, 2013.  It's like my Academy Awards.

The first two books pictured below are the two books that I'd like to see win.  If the judges choose either one of these, I will be a happy camper.

Extra Yarn Written by Mac Barnett and Illustrated by Jon Klasssen

And/or The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore written and Illustrated by William Joyce.
I love this book!  Even if is doesn't win...the illustrations are top-notch in my book.

This year, I had a difficult time choosing a runner up.  But I do like the simplicity of  This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.  It's kinda cute.

This year I'd like to see something with richer, thicker and more detailed illustrations win the Caldecott....a book so heavy with ink that it weighs 3 pounds....a book so detailed that each time I look at it I see something I hadn't noticed before!  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is just that kind of book!

We'll just have to wait and see.

Until another day,
Happy Reading Everyone!

Checkin' In, Quilled Flakes, and Stevan Dohanos

Just checkin' in.  It's been a busy week...plus it's been a "full moon" week (those of you who work in an emergency room or work with children know exactly what I'm talking about *wink*). 
My evenings have been spent quietly quilling snowflakes, and doing laundry.

Here are some of the flakes I've been working on.  Some of them I did in October.

 

Hobby Lobby had some little hot fix crystals that are meant to be ironed onto clothing. But I've found they can easily be glued onto the flakes to add a bit of "bling" and sparkle to a few of them.

 

I've been listening to a station on my computer that plays Traditional Country Classics from the 1940s--1970s.  Here is the LINK if you'd like to take a listen.

I like it because they really do play the oldies such as Hank Snow, Hank Williams and Marty Robbins.  It's neat to think that these songs could be the songs my grandparents listened to when they were my age.  There were a lot of sad songs...cheatin' songs, and songs about lovin' another, etc.  But there were some funny ones too! 

Like this one from Roger Miller called "Dang Me"

                                      

"Roses are red, violets are purple, sugar is sweet and so is maple syrple"....Dude must have been smokin' some wacky tobacky when he wrote that one.  Haha. 

 

Wanted to take a bit of time to share a bit of art by Stevan Dohanos.  Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Stevan Dohanos.  He painted 123 covers for the Saturday Evening Post and many paintings for different companies and advertisements.  He was born in Lorain, Ohio.

Here are just a few of his Saturday Evening Post Covers that I enjoy looking at. 

This one is a gal and her friends in the middle of a bridal shower.  Don't even get me started on how they just aren't the same as they used to be....now-a-days the bride seems to have most everything she needs before she even has a ring.  But I love that she received a set of 4 Pyrex mixing bowls!

 

This one from 1944 is entitled "Penny Candy".  It's a cute one and reminds me of the little grocery store we had in Epping. 

This one, from 1952,  is one of my absolute favorites.  Going outside to fetch the laundry is something so everyday, so mundane and yet in this painting it is so interesting.  I like the shadows made by the late afternoon or evening sun, I like the woman's scarf and the fact that even though it is cold, she's wearing a dress (Women back then usually did).  I like the yellow glow from the window, although I can't tell if it is the glow of light or just the color of the curtain's lining. 

This one speaks volumes!  Look at the calendar it is June 1945 and just after victory in Europe.  The picture of the hands holding up a loaf of bread hint at a future of prosperity.  No more rationing!!  The baker looks like this is just one of many wedding cakes he's made this year...just look at those arm muscles, he's iced a few cakes, I'd say.  The cake topper gives us the hint that this cake is for a soldier and his bride.  The future looks bright again.

 

Well, that's all for today.  Until another day,

Have a Happy Vintage Day! 



I'm Not Into Black Friday...And I Despise The Idea of a Gray Thursday!

As much as I love Thanksgiving Day....I don't like what's happening to it.
It seems that Thanksgiving is becoming synonymous with black Friday. I don't like the words "black Friday" either...it brings thoughts of plague, dread, dust, and death even though I know it has nothing to do with any of those things. Black Friday is actually about money, stores making a profit, and being "in the black".

For the last 10...maybe 15 years I've noticed this black Friday phenomenon boom (some say it's been around since the mid-70s). I've read news reports of people being shoved, bruised and even trampled to death (yes, to death) by eager shoppers rushing through the doors of a discount store to do what?  Save 10$ on a blender?  Really? This is where we are headed as a society?

I didn't mind so much when the line between Thanksgiving Day and black Friday was clear. Ten years ago or so it seemed that sales usually started at 5AM Friday morning (long after the turkey coma had worn off).  This didn't seem greedy, it seemed good for business, good for the economy, and good for people who like to get their Christmas shopping done early.
But now the line has begun to fade...stores want to be open earlier to gain the hard-core bargain shoppers.   And now, it is greed. 
A few years ago one well loved discount store even started to open their doors ON Thanksgiving. Now, more and more stores are following suit. Soon we'll be glossing over Thanksgiving completely, lumping Thursday and Friday together as one giant day of greed instead of thankfulness. How opposite can we get.

I'm reminded of the dad in the movie, That Thing You Do and his quote about the local discount store, Telemart.  "Open Saturday ten to ten. Open Sunday twelve to six... open on Sunday from twelve to six! You know, I don't believe I want to live in a country where you have to stay open on Sunday to business. You shouldn't have to work on Sunday to support your family."

I feel the same way about stores being open on Thanksgiving.

This quote was floating around Facebook the other day and pretty much sums my feelings towards black Friday.

It's meant to be cheeky, but it really does say it all...doesn't it?

Again, our grandparents who lived through the great depression and the years of WWII would probably click their tongues in disgust if they knew the chaos of black Friday.

Tomorrow's post will be more cheerful (I promise) I just HAD to get that off of my chest.
Until tomorrow,
Have a Happy, Vintage Day!

Thanksgiving Books for Children

Here are some wonderful children's books for the Thanksgiving holiday ahead.

Yesterday, I posted about the song "Over the River and Through the Wood" and now, here is a beautifully illustrated version of the book by L. Maria Child and Matt Tavares that I found on Amazon.com.  If you follow this Amazon link and then click on the book you can view the pages inside!

Here is one that Autumn and I like very much.  And even though she is older now, we still grab it off the shelf to read it every week before Thanksgiving.  The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing, and Illustrated by Tammie Lyon.  You can see it here at Amazon.com.  The book is all about the hustle and bustle that accompanies Thanksgiving for the family in the book.  They bake, watch a bit of the Thanksgiving Day Parade, play with their cousins and finally eat. 

 

 

Here's another cute one for Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland and Illustrated by Sonja Lamut

 

And finally, this is one of my favorite books for the fall and winter season.  It's not necessarily about Thanksgiving but it does make a person thankful for the folks who have braved the prairies back in the 1800s.  We are here because of their hard work and perseverance.
It is a My First Little House Book called Winter Days in the Big Woods.  It was written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Illustrated by Renee Graef.
You can take a sneak peek here on Amazon.

These are just a few of my favorite books to read during the time before Thanksgiving and  I hope you enjoy them too!  I'm sure there are many many more that I haven't discovered yet!
Until tomorrow,
Happy Reading!