Reflections

Lights on the water at twilight. What could be prettier?

Click for larger image

Rose Petal Heart

I wasn't feeling at my best last week. I recovered some energy over the weekend and was able to go out for my morning walk. It's warm and breezy outside today. A beautiful Idaho morning. I was so grateful to be out in the midst of it.

Walking on the asphalt on the way home, I walked by this heart-shaped petal that had recently detached itself from a dying rose. I also found a heart-shaped rock.

After a storm, love.

Letter Snow

While I was feeling under the weather last week, I started this counted cross-stitch design, Letter Snow by Hillside Samplings. This is one of my 18 in 2018 goals. I'm happy with my progress.

Here's what the finished piece will look like.

The Thinker

The Thinker by Rodin has been photographed over and over. I'm in good company.

Here's my take on the masterpiece.

Father's Day Card

I've seen variations of this design on Pinterest. Thought I'd give it a try.

Dale wears three-piece suits with white button-down collars to work. And adds a tie that matches his pocket handkerchief and cuff links. I tried to re-create the look in paper. Those are real buttons on the collar. The tie tack is a gem sticker. the pocket square can be removed from the pocket.

I even got to use a little hand-lettering on the inside. My practice is beginning to pay off.

There are lots of tutorials on YouTube to show the technique. This is the one I used:

Bloom Where You Are Planted

I am not feeling well today. #throwbackthursday of my past stitching projects will have to wait until tomorrow ... or next week. Today I plan to sit a lot and do quiet things. Stitch. Watch YouTube and recorded TV shows. Read. Rest.

I am carrying forth with my morning routine, though as a modified, shortened version. Write one page instead of three. Not think too hard about what I'm grateful for. Do a three minute meditation instead of one lasting 15 minutes. You get the idea.

Following was part of my morning devotional/reading. It certainly speaks to my station in life right now:

Being a late bloomer means that you have the time and the opportunity to revise and revamp if you experiment with life and fall short of your dreams. We late bloomers can risk more because at this point nobody really expects anything spectacular from us anymore. We can reinvent ourselves or give birth to our authentic selves as we rediscover and reclaim our essence.

We must bloom where we are planted.

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach 

Bluebells growing curbside

 

Worn Out

I'm tired today.

This boy touched my heart.

That's probably a non sequitur. But I swear, there was some kind of connection between the two in my head when I sat down to make this blog post.

Rodin

We had the opportunity to go to the Rodin museum while in Philadelphia. I found the anguish exhibited in this piece mesmerizing. Rodin's depiction of strong, huge hands fascinated me. Being at the museum and talking with the docent made me want to learn so much more.

This statue is one of the figures on "The Burghers of Calais."

In 1346 the English king Edward III laid siege to the French port of Calais. Eleven months later, Edward demanded the surrender of six of the town's leading men, or burghers, in return for sparing its citizens.

Rodin's sculpture commemorates this episode and emphasized the internal struggle of each man as he walked toward his fate wearing a sackcloth and rope halter. The burghers were later spared thanks to the intervention of the English queen, who feared that their deaths would bring bad luck to her unborn child.

Columbine

I have a purple columbine in my yard (hiding under some weeds right now). This bright red columbine is in a flower bed I pass on my morning walk. Gorgeous!

Over-the-Top Cuteness

Grandpa said it. It must be true.

Melody on her first birthday last month.

Suppertime

Independence Hall, the upper room
Philadelphia, PA

Flowers for Friday

I saw these on my daily walk through the neighbourhood and they stopped me in my tracks. Gorgeous.

Throwback Thursday - 2000 (Part 1 of 4)

The year 2000 started out rather slowly on the stitching front, but picked up in October. Altogether, I finished 19 small projects.


Monogram Lace Hardanger Sachet

January started out with another small foray into the Hardanger technique. This cutwork technique was a challenge for me, and I never did quite get the hang of it or use it often. However I'd been given a gift of this small kit, so thought I'd give the ol' Kloster blocks a try again.

In Hardanger, after you stitch a series of satin stitches, you can then cut the fabric close to the stitching to create holes for a lacy look. The inside of each Kloster block is open. I lined the finished sachet with a pink fabric that shows through those holes. The top of the sachet has kind of a scalloped edge.

I still use this sachet in my sock drawer -- and it still smells good. The finished item is about six inches tall.

Valentine Heart

This pretty heart was stitched in February as a thank you gift for my EGA secret sister who had given me many lovely items throughout the previous year. I finished it as a pillow -- a first for me. The design was a freebie from Candamar designs. I think I may still have this chart in my stash. It's so cute that I may stitch it for myself, since I like hearts so much.

To make the pillow, I used some wonderful soft dark brown Ultrasuede to frame the stitchery, then added some piping around the edge that mimicked the pink in the stitching. (See the truly sad photo of the finished pillow below).

Victorian Heart

By April, I was ready to attempt Hardanger again. This may be the last piece I stitched with this technique. I love the combination of Hardanger lacy bits, silk ribbon embroidery, beading (small white beads in the intersections of the lacy bits), and metal heart charm. The design was from a kit by Lorri Birmingham. All the materials in the kit were lovely and very nice to work with. The fabric is an evenweave called Monaco.

Believe it or not, this beautiful heart lies in a box in my Studio, still waiting to be finished. I even have the backing fabric. I think I eventually want to frame it and display it in our guest room which we call The Love Nest. The room is decorated in all manner of heart decor.

I'm thinking that one of my 19 in 2019 Goals will be to do the finishing work on the many projects where the stitching is done, but the projects are not yet ready to display. That is an ambitious goal!

Cherished Teddies -- Bob

I won this adorable Sailor Bear kit as a door prize at a stitcher's gathering in May 1999. I stitched it for my brother-in-law. He and my sister collect bears. My brother-in-law was a Navy man. I thought this bear was fitting. I'd intended to use this piece as part of a three-panel bell pull and present it as a gift to my sister.

Alas, the other two sailor bears never did get stitched. Little Bob sits in the box with the Victorian Heart (above), abandoned. Now my sister is downsizing ... so I'm not sure such a gift would be welcome. I'll come up with some idea to give Bob a home.

God's Promises

This little pillow was from another kit I received as a gift. The finished piece is about 4 inches square. I made small alterations to the original design, such as the yellow bars on the sides and the sky made of half-cross stitches in a vertical zig-zag pattern. I thought that helped it look like rain.

I completed the piece in June and gave the finished pillow to a friend from church who was moving to the Seattle, WA area to begin a new job. I thought the message on the pillow and the fact that she was moving to rainy Seattle made this an apt gift.

A Writing Kind of Day

I was at it in my Studio for over five hours. Feels pretty good. My mascot kept me company.

Fly Away Home

Otherwise titled: Get Me to the Church on Time

Walking the Neighborhood

My neighbors have some of the most beautiful yards. This, I think, is a dogwood in bloom. The magenta tips on these white blooms offset by the green leaves make this a show stopper.

Meditative Spots

and

and

Baby Day!

Look who came to spend some time with Grandpa, Aunt Jeannie, and me!

Melody had lots of fun exploring the drawers and shelves in the kitchen and living room that had items set up just for her. She especially liked ringing the bells.

photo credit to Melody's mom Julie Otto

Then she let Grandma rock her to sleep in her great great grandmother's rocking chair while she took a little nap.

More Architectural Details

I was a menace on the sidewalks of Philadelphia because I kept stopping in my tracks to look UP!

Throwback Thursday - 1999 (Part 3 of 3)

Words to Live By Banner

In the middle of June, 1999 I finished a banner for my friends Roberta and Rosemary, a couple nuns I came to love through church. They were moving on to a new venture, so I wanted to give them a special gift.

They'd both done some ministry in Africa over the years. So when I saw these African-inspired designs, I decided to use them. The symbols represent Togetherness, Unity, Harmony, Adaptability, Knowledge and Wisdom. All those are excellent descriptors for these two marvelous women.

The patterns can be found in the January 1998 edition of The Stitchery Magazine.

Prisms Christmas Ornaments

These two ornaments were stitched for an outreach project. Our local EGA decorated a giant Christmas tree for a local nursing home. We were each asked to stitch two ornaments. 

I chose this design from a needlework newsletter. It's called Prisms. They are stitched on aida and backed with craft felt.

Memory Stocking

This little ornament was stitched as my own annual Christmas ornament. The design is from Just Nan and was found in the 1999 Christmas special issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. 

I love the coloration and the roses. For the cuff, I used a small snippet of lace that had been my mom's. I edged the stocking with gold cord and used gold beads as embellishments. I hang this ornament on my tree each year.

Julie's Stocking

This is the second of three stocking ornaments in the kit from Titan Needlework. Like the first, it's stitched on 14 count aida with a cotton batiste backing. Julie wanted a little "LUV" on her ornament.

Dale's Stocking

This is the final project I stitched in 1999. It's the last of the stocking ornaments from the Titan Needlework kit. I finished it before Thanksgiving that year -- meaning all the family ornaments were completed in time for Christmas! 

(I think I'm still patting myself on the back for that).