First Anniversary

It's hard to believe it's been a year already. We spent a nice evening with Nathan and Danielle celebrating their first anniversary. We had a surprise for them.

When Danielle saw it she said, "Yay! Our very own!"

I'd made the one on the right for Frank and I in 2006. A reader of that post was very excited by the pattern and asked to borrow it. There didn't seem to be any reason to hold on to the pattern once I finished our sampler so I mailed her the pattern. But then when I had a married son I wanted to do the sampler for him. What you're looking at is the original cross stitch on the right and a high quality photo on the left. I took it into PhotoShop and changed the date. Once it was matted and framed you can hardly tell the difference. They love it. Nathan checked it out for a long time, "How did you...? That is, is that...?"

Yes, the intersection of domestic art and digital art.

May Blossom

This rosebud started to open Memorial weekend.

May 31, 3:00 p.m.


June 2, 7:00 a.m.

June 2, 5:30 p.m.

June 3, 7:30 a.m.

June 4, 7:30 a.m. after a rain shower

This year more than any other it seems, rose bushes in our town are exploding in a mass of blossoms. This little rosebush only manages one or two blossoms a year. But I admire them each day.

Getting Another Top Done

Last August I went to a Craft and Sew Day held at a local church for ladies that wanted to sew or scrapbook. I went with a quilt friend and made a Streak of Lightening quilt top using Bonnie's method. I got the piecework done that day.

It wasn't until late May of this year that I finally put the borders on.

You have to sit with some things for awhile until the time is right. :)

Hollin's Jerkin

Hollin wanted to make a leather jerkin. He started out by buying a tanned cowhide from the internet a few years ago, but wasn't quite sure how to turn into what he had in his mind's eye. He asked for my help. I've never made a leather jerkin either, so together we sorta winged it. We started with a draft, I traced his torso onto fabric.

He cut it out and sewed the shoulder seams.

Then we trimmed and shaped it to his body.

After we got the draft the way he wanted it, we took the shoulder seams apart and used it as a pattern. Hollin cut the leather with a new pair of kitchen scissors we had; that worked pretty well. We made a trip to the fabric store and he found leather lace to use on the sides and shoulders to lace it together.

I should've taken pictures of the lacing up the sides and at the shoulders. It turned out close to what he had in mind. Maybe he'll wear it to Ren faire. But this year's theme at the Christian camp he's working for is Gileadrial: Sword of Truth, so he'll fit right in. I don't think we ever outgrown the fun that comes with dress up!

Pieced Tam

Hollin and I were digging in my box of patterns for something that might resemble a man's pirate blouse or tunic for a project he had in mind when I came across this and inspiration struck!

I'd just gone through Kathy's scrap bag and wanted to work in her bright palette, what a perfect chance! Hollin worked on the tunic and I pulled fabrics; we spent the afternoon in the sewing room together, working on parallel projects.

Hmm... how big is my head anyway?

View D uses pieces one, two and five?

Sometimes I make patchwork clothing... then I get asked how I did it. This isn't really a tutorial, but shows several steps of the process.

Once the patchwork pattern pieces were made I just followed the instructions to put it together.

I had no idea when I got up that morning I was going to make this. Now that was fun!

Airport Security

I recently flew out of Logan airport in Boston. I had plenty of time to go through security and get to my gate so I wasn't worried. But I was surprised when the security officer took my carry-on off the table and said, "Step this way please m'am." He opened my bag and pulled out my posture pleaser and my therapeutic heat pack filled with rice.

Picture from the internet

"What are these?" "That's for posture correction and that's a heat pack for tired muscles." "We're not sure what these are, one moment while I check with my supervisor." I wasn't too worried... but it took several minutes for him to come back and say I was all clear. He was just doing his job and I thanked him for his help. I found out later that the 9-11 terrorists flew out of Logan so you can't blame him for being careful. Maybe the posture pleaser looked like a bomb I was going to strap to my chest. But do I look like a terrorist?? Do you remember this group from the late 80's?

Maybe it's not funny anymore.

Forest and Vineyard

I finished the recent continuous strip quilt. I named it Forest and Vineyard because of the mood of the quilt.

A surprise birthday gift for a dear friend. I think she'll like it.

I create my quilt labels on the computer and then print them on muslin treated to receive the deskjet ink. This method lets me say a little more than if I was trying to hand embroider the information.

More Potential

At the garage sale I also found a large jumper with a gathered skirt. I wasn't interested in the jumper, but the fabric sure caught my eye.

Two yards of hand woven Guatemalan fabric. Nice. I'm having a hard time deciding what to make; a vest, shorts, a tote? But I have a lot of totes.

12 cents. Can't beat the price.

Sunday Hike

Spring has sprung. We got out to the lake for a hike and picnic.

After being on water rationing last summer and longing for rain, the water level is higher than we've ever seen in 15 years. The picnic area is under about 20 feet.

This is a composite image DH put together, the source photo was taken last spring.

Here's the same spot this year.

You can just see the roof of the picnic kiosk in the middle of the picture.

Views from the trail.

The air was so fragrant with wildflowers, each step held a different sweet aroma.

After the hike, food sure tasted good!