Wedding Bells

When a milestone anniversary 

comes around,

you shake your head in disbelief.

Was it really 40 years ago

that I married my best friend?

1973

What a blessing!

Until Next Time-

Vacation Time

The best part of summer is being

able to travel.

Pack up the station wagon,

  get a new coloring book and crayons,

and stop by the Five & Dime

and get a couple of tea towels to embroidery.

That's what I did

as my family headed up north in Michigan

 in the 50's and 60's.

 With that tradition deeply ingrained,

I still think of vacation and embroidery going hand in hand.

With some travel plan ahead,

I got some stitching ready.

This pattern has been on my to do list 

for quite awhile, actually

ever since I saw the design had

both rick rack and dingle ball pom poms.

What could be more vintage.

Tracing the pattern onto the fabric

always takes more time than I plan on,

but it's one of those steps

that's important for a good finish.

  

So I always remind myself to take my time.

I've had the fabric for quite awhile.

The base fabric is a Sweetwater print

 by Moda. It's a very narrow

grey and white stripe.

The directions on the pattern 

call for tons of french knots and

X's to acts as fillers in parts of the design.

I didn't want to take that much

time and effort for this project,

so instead

I matched floss and crayons

and decided to color in the areas

and add some X's and knots to

add texture, but not be the source of the color.

It's the same crayon technique that I used
when I stitched this
springtime pillow,

Sweet Violette.

This is going to be fun design to stitch.
It's fun and bright and even kind of silly,
just like a summer vacation should be.

Until Next Time-

Movin' On

With the flip of the calendar page,

spring is transitioning into summer.

 I'm transitioning

 to being at home

and getting into some kind of routine.

And it's time to transition into

some new projects.

 I've been able to finish a few tops

that I've been working on for quite awhile.

It's so liberating.

Along with my sampler,

I finished the last of the buttonhole stitches

on the wool applique pattern,

 

Folk Art Album

by Primitive Gatherings

Seeing that it's wool and flannel and

I'll quilt it with perel cotton,

it'll have to wait until fall to be completely done.

The other top that's finished, but will 

still need to be quilted, eventually, is 

 

Midnight Silhouette

by Blackbird Designs.

It was the perfect project to work

on during all those Nanny nap times.

When this quilt was started in October, 2012,

I divided the 

quilt into 8 small monthly goals.

And now it complete through

perseverance and good nappers.

I really thought I had bought a backing

for this quilt, but after spending the last week 

searching for some piece of mystery fabric

that had to be folded up somewhere,

I gave up.

But as I was digging, 

I did find a Sandy Gervais panel and some

older Halloween fabrics, including some ancient

Debbie Mumm and decided

it was time to do some back art.

There were even a few spare blocks to add.

Constructing a backing is a lot more work

than sewing one center seam especially,

if you want it to end up the right measurements, 

a rectangle,

and not give your machine quilter fits when

she goes to put it on the machine.

I think it will be cute with the front.

So Now what?

I'm not sure.

Until Next Time-