On a quest

Today DH and I took what we fondly refer to as a 'sanity day' and headed off to do some thrifting.  I was hoping to find some old tarnished silver pieces that I could use in my studio to store things like pencils and such.  I lucked out and found one piece that I loved...

As you can see, it's already been pressed into service!

I saw a few other pieces but they were too small to be of any use.  The search will continue.

Today the quote is from Mark Twain  "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover." 

Embroidery that's out of this world!!

I had heard (and read a little bit) about the costumes that have been created for the television show 'Game of Thrones' and, although I don't watch the show, I was intrigued enough to find out more and oh boy, did I!!!!    I have to share the link with you so that you can go and be amazed and the absolutely incredible detail that went into items that were probably only seen fleetingly in the show. 


The quote for today is from Og Mandino.... "I will love the light for it shows me the way.  I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars"

Road trip!

Today we went on a little road trip with our friends and I thought you might enjoy seeing just a few of the sights we found along the way...

We visited several different places where the water was absolutely stunning.  The sound and the fury of water is something that has to be seen to be believed.

This is only a sampling of the scenery!

We stopped at a wonderful place where there were tons of wood carvings.

I could have brought several of them home quite happily!

All of these things, plus the bestest Thai food for

lunch!  

A wonderful day!!

Today the quote is very fitting and comes from Patch Adams.... "Nature tops the list of potent tranquilizers and stress reducers.  The mere sound of moving water has been shown to lower blood pressure"

Another section, and collaboration

Here's another section for my second white cloth...

Several parts of this were taken from vintage dresser scarves and small tablecloths. 

The 'thing' on the middle left is a padded form that I then wove with crochet cotton and then surrounded with bullion knots.




As always, you can click to embiggen!

For the 'collaboration' portion of this post, here's a picture of a Prayer Shawl that I completed for a friend.  She loves to knit the squares in various patterns, but doesn't care for the putting together aspect of the project.  I put them together and crochet an edging.  We have done a number of these and I finally decided I should show you one.




Today the quote is from Sharon McAuliffe.... "Better to bloom late in life than to not bloom at all....to dry up as a bud and never release what has been hidden"

Gifted treasures

A friend of mine is moving away and has been downsizing her stash of creativity fodder and today she gifted me with these special treasures...

My friend is in her 80's and she said that the tatting book, shuttle and the lovely little motifs (there were several) were done by her mother.  Although I can't tat, I felt very blessed to become the caretaker for such treasures.  The book was copyrighted in 1944.

Here's a close-up so you can hopefully see the details a little better (click to embiggen!).  The bracelets are more recently made I think, but I'm not sure about the collar.  I think it's crocheted using metallic thread, but it could be a form of weaving.  Unsure of the possible age of that either.

One of the tatted motifs will be making an appearance somewhere on my current white cloth.

Today's quote is from Henry Thoreau.... "The question is not what you look at, but what you see"

Poking, proding, bloodletting....and knitting!

Yes, I've been knitting.  #1 son (the one with the big feet that can't buy slippers in a store) put in a special request for a new pair of the felted slippers that only his loving mother can make, so...

Now I have a special request to make another pair for our daughter-in-love.  She'd like hers in opposite colours and it crossed my mind that she would like them different so they wouldn't get mixed up.  Hah - her feet are little bitty so there's not a chance!!

While I was at it, I used up some of my leftover felting yarn and made this little bag...

Both are made using Paton's Classic Wool yarn and the pattern for the slippers is the Felted Clogs from Fiber Trends.  The purse is the Dumpling Bag pattern by Sharon Dreifuss which can be found on Ravelry.

The poking and proding and bloodletting portion of this post refers to the yearly visit to the doctor that I had to do today.  Always a joyful proposition, but I have to say our doctor makes the whole process actually a good experience.  She's definitely a gem!

Today's quote, from William James.... "To change one's life:  Start immediately.  Do it flamboyantly.  No exceptions"

progress on white

I spent much of the weekend updating my labels in my sidebar so if there's anything there that you might be interested in exploring further there might be some new content to see.  It was a mind-numbing process for sure but long overdue. 




This shows another completed section of my second white cloth.  I love the peacock which is a very vintage embroidery piece.  It needed a bit of repair so I could use it (for some reason his feet and beak had gone awol!).

And this piece is the beginning of a new section. 




Today the quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson.... 'Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm"

problems with comments?

Is anyone else having difficulties with leaving comments on blogs?  I have noticed two things that are driving me nuts.  The first being that I type a lovely comment, click to publish it and am sent to sign in with my google account (that part is all normal), and then when I go back to finish the publishing process my comment has disappeared and I have to re-type it.  It only happens on a few blogs and there's no rhyme nor reason as to which ones and when it will happen. 

The other issue is that the word verification seems to be messed up - when I look for the 'word' I am presented with a picture instead of the usual gobbeldy-gook that we are supposed to type in to prove we are not a robot.  I end up having to click on the little icon to the right that looks like a circle with an arrow in order to get a useable verification code. 

Am I going nuts (well, more so than usual!);  is it my computer; or are any of you noticing the same problems? 

Wildlife and sewing

Over a year ago I made a denim throw for the back of our couch and hadn't gotten around to recovering the pillows.  Finally made it my goal for the weekend and here they are...

You can just see a corner of the throw in the background.

Last night we had a flock of 37 Canada Geese right below our balcony window...it wasn't long ago these were just little balls of fluff!

The quote for today, from Gwen Owen.... "You can't lose weight without exercise.  But I've got a philosophy about exercise.  I don't think you should punish your legs for something your mouth did.  Drag your lips around the block once or twice" 

Just a little bit

Yes, just a little bit of stitching today....

I'm starting into a bigger section than what the last couple have been so they will take me longer to complete.  This one measures about 8 x 17".

Do you know what this is?....

It's called a puff ball, which is a type of wild mushroom.

They can grow to be about two feet around but 

the majority of them seem to be about this size or a 

little bigger.

Jack peels them, slices them about 1/2 to 3/4" thick and soaks them in milk for a few hours.  He then drains them, and fries them in butter with a little garlic.  Sometimes he adds onion that he has pre-fried.  See.......

Yummy!!

Today's quote is from Elbert Hubbard.... " A friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you just the same"

and......another one!!

Another section for my second white cloth is finished.  The piece on the upper left was embroidered by my maternal grandmother who died in the early 60's, and I think the tatting on the outside was done by my mother.  I don't remember my grandmother ever tatting, but it was something my mother did when she was young. 

Today the quote is from John Muir.... "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings:  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into flowers, the winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms, their energy and care will drop off like autumn leaves"

and...another one bites the dust (needle?)

Despite how it looks, the lines ARE straight!!

Benjamin Franklin once said.... " Wealth is not his, that has it, but his who enjoys it"

Knitting (for a change of pace)

I actually have made something that will be put aside for giving at Christmas (yes, I know...that's not a word we want to think about this time of year!)....

Yarn is 'Boutique Chic' from Red Heart

and the pattern is on the ball band.

Today the quote is from Mae West....  "I never worry about diets.  The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond"

White....again!!

Over the weekend I began another section for my second white cloth and here it is...

This area began with a vintage hankie pocket/holder.  I added some 'extras' to it, for additional interest, plus embroidered the names and wedding date for the intended recipients.  

Here you can see the pocket flap lifted up.






Today the quote is from John Maynard Keynes...  "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones"

More progress on white

Over the weekend I completed another section for the latest white cloth.

If you want to see more of this cloth, or the work I did on

the first cloth, click on either 'White' or 'White 2' in my

sidebar!

Today's quote is from Robert Louis Stevenson.... "That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much"