Back to embroidery

 I finished #8 out of 10.

Then I finished #9 and #10 out of 10.

Both got this same edging one in blue and one in green.  

Yeah for a finished project...unless of course I buy more towels. 

Minnesota weather:  High was 2F  or -17C  Low was -11F or -24C.  Chilly for sure. 

So far in March we have 19 yes count them 19 medical appointments. It will be a long month.

Far Side

Embroidery

 Embroidery is sometimes challenging, but I have managed to get a few more towels done.

#6 of 10 projects

The funny little bird that makes me smile.

I decided it was a Bluebird:)

I had an eye Doctor appointment yesterday which resulted in just one more appointment.

So it goes.

Far Side

Weekend Finish

 I finished the two dish towels my Mom left for me to do. I started on some of my own stamped designs that have been languishing in my embroidery box for a while.

Nice to have some completed projects. 

We had a quiet day, in the afternoon we watched Flipped it was a good movie.   Toward evening the Great Grandchildren were here to liven up the place! Andy made loaded nachos for supper. 

Far Side

Old project

 My Mom left me two of her old projects.  I have been carting them around in my embroidery box for almost two years. 

Time to BE busy!

Mom made many of these embroidered dish towels...designs were apples, peaches and cherries.  These were stamped but not embroidered...so it was on my list of things to do this Winter. 

Minnesota weather: Sunny then partly cloudy and warm!  High was 39F or 4C  the low was 13F or -11C eh!  It was a nice snow melting day!  

Far Guy and I went out for lupper after his infusion...and we had bacon, eggs and hash browns:)

Far Side

Tiny Mistakes

 I started a new project, first transferring stamped images to dish towels, and then embroidering them.  

I was rocking the project and then bam...some small words were transferred with my image.  Huh...well ya big dummy everything that is in the image will transfer with the heat of your iron. 

Oh well I can always use it myself ...or cover it up.

Some little cross stitches covered it up quite nicely. 

Far Side

Dresser Scarf

I unearthed a very old project.  I used to embroider quite a bit.  I wanted to perfect my chain stitch.
So I began a dresser scarf. 

One end is completely finished.

The other end not so much.

Now I have to find the right embroidery floss to finish this project.  It is J & P Coats floss.  This was way before  DMC was even an embroidery floss company.  Needless to say the numbers on my one bit of floss are no longer used....apparently they started a new numbering system.  I must have antique floss!

So I shall be looking for floss to finish this project that is about 40 years old.   I can match some of the colors quite well to DMC floss but I used a shades of red only made by J & P Coats, the floss is variegated goes from pink to red.

I will have to look around a bit to see what I can find.

Does anyone even use dresser scarfs anymore?   I used to use them...I would switch them out every month.  The dirty ones would be washed...sprinkled and put inside a plastic bag to condition before  spraying them with starch and ironing them smooth.  Then folding them just right creasing the fold with an iron and putting them in the drawer that was specially reserved for dresser scarfs and doilies.

I have quite a collection of old dresser scarfs.  So if I cannot find the right floss I will probably toss it.

In other news I finally got the naked Christmas tree upstairs put properly away.   However the Nativity Set is still out.   I inventoried the deep freeze and the fridge freezer...now we know exactly what we have...our trouble is that when we take something out of the freezer we don't always take it off the list.

Far Side

Redwork

Redwork was popular a long time ago.  Penny squares were purchased with designs stamped on them to embroider, typically designs would be of women in huge hooped skirts.  Young girls were taught to embroider, because it was a life skill they would use..in handiwork or patching clothing or in gaining employment as a maid. 

I learned to embroider when I was about seven or eight..I had my own wooden hoop, threads and needle..being admonished to never lose my needle. I recall getting knots in my thread, and going from one side of my hoop to the other on the outside of the hoop, cutting my thread too short so that I couldn't tie a knot, pulling too hard on my thread..making holes in my fabric..not pulling hard enough and having lazy threads that could be snagged.  Searching for hours on my hands and knees on the floor for the needle that I lost. Always looking at the back of my work, after all the back should be a pretty and neat as the front. Learning different stitches, the lazy daisy, the satin stitch, the chain stitch. Proudly adorning the corner of a flour sack dish towel with a flower design, never getting to do a dresser scarf or pillowcases till I was much older. 

I taught our daughters to embroider, then I taught them to Cross Stitch..Trica even knows how to crochet!!  Life skills..I did not do so good teaching them to cook..but they could sew on a button. 

My Cousins group makes a quilt every year to give away at the family picnic in August. Tuesday we got together and began quilting it.  We each embroider a square and Diana puts the squares all together with borders and we put it on a frame and hand quilt it.  If you notice yellow marks..that is the marking pencil I used to trace around a dinner plate for part of the design. 

This is our first adventure into Redwork, using only red embroidery thread. We chose "old timey" patterns instead of  ladies in fancy dresses....I like anything red, so I think it is just gorgeous:)