Nature Journal: Bracken Fern

TAST: Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

The background was created on the embellisher from one ply of a paper towel (used to clean up after a painting session) sandwiched between a used dryer sheet and a piece of Kunin felt. I used the embellisher to hold the novelty yarn in place before adding the crossed buttonhole stitches. The size is 4 x 6 inches and will be used as a background for further work. This was a joy to stitch!

Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acule)

These are gorgeous native plants in the orchid family. DH put the little frame around them when they sprouted so we wouldn’t inadvertently step on them.

TAST: Butterfly Chain

Here’s a really quick row of butterfly chain stitches using metallic beads and gold thread on black Aida.

Seven Things You Always Wanted to Know About Me and Are Probably Sorry You Asked…

Luci tagged me for the “seven things” thing so here goes:

1. I have been a vegetarian for thirty years. My last meaty meal was a pork roll sandwich on the Ocean City boardwalk. The very next day I read the book, The Vegetarian Alternative (out of print), from cover to cover and our lives were forever changed.

2. I am an anti-vivisectionist and try to purchase cruelty-free products whenever I can.

3. I believe, with all my heart, that all animals go to heaven when they die - and there will be ecstatic, rapturous reunions!

4. My very favorite poem in the entire world (and one that resonates within every fiber of my being) comes from a book of Jewish prayers first published in 1947 called The Language of Faith (out of print). I hope I don’t get in trouble for quoting it here:

With all my strength and spirit, I adore
You, Truth, aloud and in my secret core.
I hoard your name. And who can rob this spoil?
He is my love. What other could I crave?
He is my light. How could my lamp need oil?
How can I falter, leaned on such a stave?

They mock - and do not know that mockery,
Because I praise your name, is praise to me.
Source of my life, your praise shall sound as long
As I can breathe my fervor into song.

5. I am very interested in Mideast politics and am currently reading Joan Peter’s highly respected and well-documented book, From Time Immemorial. I would recommend that to anyone interested in countering the media’s anti-Israel bias.

6.Politically and culturally, I am a Libertarian and an iconoclast. And I find the current climate of political correctness very disturbing. I also don’t believe in sacrificing freedom for security.

And last and maybe least -
7.I started to collect fashion dolls last year. I have several Gene Marshall dolls based upon the film actresses of the thirties and forties. Because of those dolls and my interest in vintage clothing, DH and I have recently begun watching old films when we get a chance (lots of costume design inspiration!) and are really enjoying them. We especially love Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis. DH has such a crush on Rita - what an exquisitely beautiful lady she was! As I write this, I’m singing “Put the blame on Mame, boys…”

TAST: Basque Stitch

I love this stitch! Here, I tried it out as an outline for appliqué and as a little flower with a button center. Again, the background is the ubiquitous paint rag…

Doodling Designs - Lesson Four (WIP)

This is the start of my fabric collage for lesson four of the Doodling Designs course. I’ll be adding embroidery and beads. The cat figure was cut from one of my old paint rag scraps – I’m sure getting a lot of mileage out of those babies! Anyway, the working title is “Binky’s Garden” and it’s meant to be a tribute to the sweet cat who used to live next door. Speaking of sweet cats, I’ve been spending the past few glorious spring afternoons out in the screen house playing with little Blake and Bridget (see post below) who are both completely made of sugar…

Unbearable Cuteness...

The black male kitten was hiding in a plastic pipe next to the shed on Sunday afternoon. Later, after midnight, DH went out to the woodpile to get more wood for the fireplace (it was unseasonably cold) and thought he heard another kitten crying in the woods across the street. So we both bundled up and took a walk in the woods, meowing as we went. The female calico kitten came right to us. We took them both to the vet this morning (boy, were they ever a hit!) who said they were probably between five and six weeks old and seemingly very healthy. They are under quarantine in my studio, pending the results of their blood tests, after which they will be integrated into the rest of the household. And so it goes…

TAST: More Stitches

I had a chance to do a little more with the woven and whipped wheels. I found directions for the fun woven picots in Judith Montano’s book, Floral Stitches (page 77). This tiny sampler (2 ½ x 3 ½ inches) was stitched on a scrap of a paint rag fused to Peltex.

TAST: Woven Wheel

Here is a silk ribbon spider web rose (my very first) for this week’s TAST. The motif is from a book by Deanna West Hall, 101 Iron-on Transfers for Ribbon Embroidery.

The Same Dang Doodle…

Today, I used the same stamped image from yesterday’s post and manipulated it in Corel (when I should have been working!). I’m sort of intrigued with the endless possibilities, here… I will try printing these to fabric when I get a chance.

Doodling Designs - Lesson Three

I carved a stamp over the weekend for lesson three of the Doodling Designs class and just got around to printing it this evening. The first image is the inked proof on paper; the second image is a print using Jacquard Neo-Opaque paint on PFD cotton.