Fun at Thanksgiving

Oh, I'm so behind in my posting.....how are you out there? I'm sure you may be like me....running as fast as you can to get things done and feeling at the end of the day as if you haven't accomplished a thing. That's me. I'm not very fond of days that end with me wondering what I did all day, with nothing that 'shows.' Do you know that feeling? It's very similar to days when you grocery shop, spend a vast amount of money, haul it all into the house and realize that you don't have much to show for the amount you've spent and the energy it took to get it all home. So similar.

So....I've been very busy, but have nothing of interest to tell you about. I have spent the last hour or so looking at photos I took over the Thanksgiving weekend, choosing these to show you. When I am worn out and feel the need for something to make me smile....I think some cute guys always do the trick! How about these two?

As you may remember, my son Scott came for several days over Thanksgiving week. One of the things he enjoys doing is making bread and he did that at least twice during that week. YUM! A couple of days after Thanksgiving, in his sister's kitchen, he was making some bread and my great nephew, John Carter, was invited to 'help' him. (John Carter is six years old.) So, he made a small loaf of his own....doesn't he look cute in these photos? Well, they both do, actually. John Carter was so proud and pronounced his bread 'fun to make and good to eat.' And, Scott enjoyed having his little second cousin join in the bread making. Adorable.

Are you smiling now? Me, too. Time has passed and they are both back home now. If you will remember, I always dread taking my son to the airport to return to California. I made myself do better this time, but his sister boo-hooed like crazy. She and I may go see him next year....oh, what fun that would be! And, I'm sure more bread would be involved....well, I should lose weight before then...oh dear!

Hope you are all well.......and taking time to smile and enjoy the cute guys in your family....of course, the cute girls too!!!!! pat

Home Sweet Home

My Goodness! It's Thanksgiving already. Time certainly does fly and from my viewpoint, at least, the last few weeks have seemed to be going at warp speed. My favorite son has arrived and you know I am crazy about that....he looks GREAT! So....I want to enjoy this time with him and his sister, the grandson, the old navy man...and the rest of the family. Let this post serve as my wish to you for a very Happy Thanksgiving..however you celebrate it...have FUN.

I made this pincushion in 2009. I hope you enjoy seeing it again. Applique, embroidery and beading. Three of my favorite things to do...all in a little four inch pincushion. From my house to yours...stay safe and happy! pat

My Coin Purse Collection

Hi there! I've been a bit under the weather for the last week, but am feeling much better today, so thought I'd share some of my 'favorite' flea market finds with you. Yes.....I seem to have lots of 'favorites' and I don't know what to say about it. Earlier I watched an episode of "Hoarders" and while I don't 'hoard' spoiled food, garbage and whatnot, I DO seem to have a talent for collecting many different vintage things....such as these little coin purses.

These are the only ones I have with the exception of one I keep in my own everyday purse. (It's an odd pink and I keep a few trinkets in it that I like to have handy.) Most of these I've had for quite a while. The little brown leather one I found recently. Why do I like these??? I have no clue, but every time I find one...it comes home with me. I find them a sweet reminder of days gone by and evidently, I can't resist them.

The smallest one.....very tiny, as you can see by the seam gauge I've shown it with. So dear. I've had it a very long time and if I recall...I paid a quarter for it. Such sweet little embroidery.

I also wanted to mention the little boy's shoes. Well, I think they are boy's shoes and they are vintage. Yes, there is a collection of kid's shoes here at my place, although these are down at the studio right now...keeping me company for a while. Perhaps one day you'll see those....most of the baby shoe variety, including my own kid's shoes. These vintage ones...all dark black and brown...I simply could not leave the flea market without them. Would you? Oh, don't answer that.

I expect someday we won't be finding any of these little purses around....unless, like me, you save the ones you might have. I wonder who used them and where they lived?

Hope you are all well and looking forward to Thanksgiving. My son is coming on Sunday and I'm super excited about that....take care out there and I just may show you something pretty in a few more days! pat

Pretty Little Birds!

Hey there! Hope all is well with you. It's been a very busy week here, so I'm once again feeling behind in my posting efforts. I figure you understand....as aren't we "all busy all the time" these days.

Today I decided that I wanted to show you some very pretty little birds that came here to the Nest all the way from Japan. One of my blogging friends is Julie. She lives in Japan and often comments on my blog posts. I appreciate her (and her comments) very much. These little birds had been living in her house, so she decided I needed to have them....and they needed to fly, so she sent them on their way to me. I was delighted to find they had landed in my mailbox on a recent beautiful Fall day. They are dear.

They are very tiny....the largest about an inch high and an inch and a half wide. Beautiful little things too. They have little pins on the back...so I could actually wear them (and I might on a special occasion)......but I think I will find an appropriate way to display them here in the Nest.....and when I see them flying around, I will be reminded of my friend, Julie and her thoughtfulness. You can see Julie's quilt work here. I know you will enjoy it....tell her I sent you!

In honor of these tiny birds, I thought I'd post a couple of quotes I like:

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship." William Blake

"Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best." Henry Van Dyke

And, so....from a dear friend these pretty little birds came to me....I'm so very lucky and so appreciative...thank you again, Julie!!! take care out there, pat

A New Embroidered Painting (?)

Here's something I just finished. Oh, how I love the word FINISHED. It's always fun to do something 'new' and then, by the time it's finished, I'm thinking...."good - it's done, now what can I get into?" This little piece of art should have been done weeks ago....but, here it is now, thank goodness.

I have a little dilemma - I really am clueless as to what to call this kind of work. I don't know anyone else who does this exact thing. It IS embroidered quilt batting. It IS also painted canvas.
Do I call it an embroidery? Do I call it a painting? What to do? I know it's mixed media, but I'd like to call it by a unique kind of name. If you have an idea as to what this should be called, kindly let me know, as I would like a lovely little name for it.

The first thing I do when making one of these pieces is to choose the size canvas I want to use, then paint it. The second step is to paint the batting with some of the same colors used on the canvas. (To paint the batting, you must dilute the paint as you want it to sink into the batting, not just sit on the top.) As you can see, I have painted a small "leftover" piece of quilt batting and then embroidered it.

As always, there is a tree, one of my very favorite motifs to embroider, applique, quilt or paint.
This tree is really different as I've embroidered the tree trunk, then painted a vintage book page in orange and green. I've cut that painted page into tiny little leaf shapes. TINY. Then, with gel medium, attached the leaves to the tree. This step actually comes later after I have embroidered everything I wanted to embroider on the painted batting, I then gel medium the batting to the painted canvas and embroider around it. Lastly, I make the frame to fit the finished canvas, attach it to the canvas and paint it, add a hanging wire on the back, put a sealing coat of gel medium over the painted and paper parts and it's done. (By the way...this piece is 5 1/2" x 7 1/2.") (One other thing....on this piece, I removed the canvas from the wood stretchers, embroidered it, then stapled it back onto the wood stretchers when all the embroidery was done.)

So....knowing how it was done....what would you call it??? So, ok......I know you are wondering why I used paper for the leaves. My answer is "I just don't know....it seemed like a good idea at the time." Really, it just popped into my mind to use painted vintage book pages and so I did!

I'd love to hear your opinion on this piece and what you would call this technique. I've got it displayed at the downtown studio, but if anyone is interested in buying it....well, send an email and we can talk about it. Meantime....y'all continue to have fun and take care, pat

Roses and Crochet

Two pretty combinations: roses and crochet. Simply saying these words makes me sound like a 'grandma' type. Well, I definitely AM a grandma type....still to this day called "Grandmother" by my one and only grandchild. He's 26 years old. So...yes....roses and crochet....that's me. Grandmother.

The roses you see on this post were sent to me on my recent birthday....last Tuesday, by my favorite son, Scott. Aren't they beautiful? There's not much on this earth prettier than flowers, is there? And, a rose...my goodness. I've saved lots of roses that he has sent and even though those are dried now...they are still very beautiful. At one of my flea market raids, I purchased what I call a sieve - my husband says it looks like something you'd use to find gold in some river somewhere. When my roses start to look a tad wilted, I cut them off the stem, place them in my 'sieve' and let them dry naturally. It works. I'm saving them, although I really don't know what for except I still like to look at them and keep them on my dining room buffet in an antique rose dish. I thought you'd enjoy seeing my 'birthday roses' sitting on my dining room table.

You'll notice this is where the crochet comes in....that crocheted tablecloth on my dining room table has a story too. I made it myself. It's the only one I have ever made...or probably ever will make. And, I made it under circumstances that are rather unique.

So, here's the story: When my children were five and six, I insisted they take swimming lessons. She wanted to, but he didn't. I wanted them to know how to swim so they wouldn't be afraid of water. I couldn't teach them, so they took private lessons at a friend's home swimming pool during that summer. It was very important to me that they KNOW how to conduct themselves in water because their mother (ME) is deathly afraid of being in the water. I can't swim and don't like to be on boats, or drive over bridges. Yes, I know it's weird. So, the kids took their swimming lessons, learned to swim and love to swim to this day. That summer, after they learned to swim, I took them several times a week to the local pool. Now, this is me......of course, I couldn't swim with them, but watched as they swam and while I was watching....I crocheted this tablecloth. It took six weeks to crochet the tablecloth and when it was done...swimming for the summer was over. That summer, my kids became very good swimmers and I got a crocheted tablecloth out of the deal.

I enjoy knowing that my 'forty-something' children enjoy swimming and so does that only grandchild of mine. They LOVE the water. And, even though they think there might be too much of the 'grandma' touches in my home....they enjoy the fact that I LOVE my roses and my crochet and all the other vintage-y things I seem to 'drag in here' (as that old navy man says). Then, too, finding, making or collecting these things keeps me 'out of their hair, I guess! Yes, roses and my crocheted tablecloth....love 'em! And, I enjoy remembering how that tablecloth was made too....back in 1973. Hope you enjoy seeing them....take care, pat

My Birthday!!!

Well, tonight I am running a little later than I intended to....you know how the day just gets away from you...especially on your birthday! I want to announce the winner of my Birthday Giveaway, as promised....before the day ends. And, then, I want to tell you about the quilt shown on this post.

First, the Giveaway. As I've said here....I love to give something away on my birthday, so this time I chose the Candlestick Pincushion shown on my last post. I was astounded at the response I got to this giveaway...thank you all very much for your interest in the giveaway and for your responses! I do wish I could give you all something...wouldn't that be fun?.....but, I can only give away one. (Thank you, my old navy man, for choosing the winner!)

The lucky winner is BRENDA from Nebraska!! Brenda, I will be sending you an email as soon as I publish this post. And, for the rest of you....please remember, I will also be giving away a pretty nice gift for Christmas....so keep visiting!

Now, about this quilt I'm showing you on this post. If you'll remember, last post I mentioned I'd be showing you something that might make you laugh from a previous birthday. This little quilt is that item. It is 14 inches x 16 inches. The quilt was made for my 55th birthday by my great and good friend, Jim, or as I call him most of the time...Mr. G. At that time...he often referred to me as the 'Queen of Everything' and so was inclined to make me a quilt with that in mind. Of course, what he has done is put my face on a photo of Queen Victoria....and...look there....HIS head on a photo of Prince Albert. You'd kind of have to know Jim to 'get' this....and I do, so at the time it really made me laugh and now, TWELVE years later...I still laugh. Maybe even more.

Mr. G is really into embellishing his quilts...often using things other people would never think of.
He does embellish with embroidery stitches often....but sometimes, you will find things like these...a large pin, some shiny, rhinestone buttons, a crown button. And, then, there is the label on the back. You can click to enlarge and read it. Yeah....this is one of the more unusual birthday gifts I have received. And, one of my very favorites.

So, another birthday has come and is nearly gone. It's been a great day. Thank you all for visiting!! take care, pat