Embelished Clothing and Landscape

I purchased a plain linen jacket . . . I think at T.J.Maxx . . . several years ago.  A neutral, it goes with anything and everything.  I usually wear it with jeans and a t-shirt.  It needed some "jazzing up" with more than just accessories . . . so . . . I embellished it with some Quaker motifs from "A Quaker Christmas" by ByGone Stitches.  The motifs are not Christmas-like and I think it perks the jacket right up!  What do you think?  Should I keep going . . . add some more . . . cover the entire thing?  Been eying a few other linen things in the closet . . . hmmm.

Loving the new house!  Unpacking is a very slow process.  Well, it would be moving a lot faster if I wasn't spending so much time in the yard.  Can't help it . . . it's planting season!  Since we're in a somewhat rural setting, we have deer (and other animals) to deal with.  Our neighbors (who saw 14 deer in their yard a few days ago) have already lost their tomato plants to the deer.  Eight deer ran through our yard the other evening.  So . . . to protect my tomato plants, basil and marigolds we strung fishing line around plant stakes and tied cut up grocery bags to the lines to blow in the breeze . . . it's so attractive . . . not.  Think it will scare them away?  So far so good!

Of course I couldn't just plant veggies and herbs (tomatoes, zucchini, gypsy peppers, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and dill).   I picked up some flowers too.  The previous owners have planted a lot of shrubs . . . most of them much too close together and I have been moving things around.  Most of the flowers are just annuals this year . . . oh do I have plans for next year!

I found these petunias that start out a fuchsia color and quickly fade to an antique looking pink . . . I love them!  The butterfly bushes are blooming too . . . see them behind the bicycle planter?

The previous owners also planted 6 hydrangeas along the back of the house . . . they're blooming their little hearts out.  I LOVE hydrangeas!  So how could you not spend time out in this yard!

Maybe next time I'll have a room completely unpacked and put together to show you . . . don't hold your breathe!

Until next time...
Bon  ~*

My Heritage Sampler

   Heritage Sampler

I spent several months on Ancestry.com working on my ancestry.  It was a lot of fun and I discovered some very interesting relatives.  Seems my ancestors have been in America since the beginning of our country.   I have one who came over on the Mayflower in 1620 (on my mother's side).  His name was Degory Priest and unfortunately he died the first winter.  His wife and two daughters came later on the ship Anne in 1623.  She had remarried and traveled with her husband and infant son as well.  On my father's side we have Niccolas Martiau (a frenchman who obtained his denization in England before coming to Virginia) who arrived in Jamestown in 1620 and served in the House of Burgesses!  I also found out that we are distant cousins of George Washington and Queen Elizabeth (also on my father's side)!  Most of my ancestors were from various parts of the UK...heavy on the Brits on my father's side and Scotch-Irish on my mother's side.

So, this prompted me to create what I call my Heritage Sampler.  It's loosely based on a Scottish sampler.  They were usually stitched in bright colors ... mostly reds and greens ... I chose a lighter palette:  CC Mauvelous, GA Sweet Pea, GA Parchment, GA Evergreen, GA Old Brick and GA Lambswool.  The colors just pop on R&R Reproductions 18th Century Rook fabric (30 ct.).  I LOVE this fabric!  There's a light streak across the center and a real "aged" look to it.  One of the women at the framer's thought it was an antique!

Scottish samplers very often had peacocks (usually with seven tail feathers), illuminated lettering (those are the letters with the fancy curlycues), a house or mansion and sort of geometric looking trees.  I've placed crowns in mine to represent my "cousin" the Queen!   ; )

My father has a sampler that was stitched by his great-great-grandmother Margaret Matilda Baron dated January 29, 1834 when she was 11.  Wonder how she would feel to know that this still exists and is cherished today!

My next "mission" is to find out more about Margaret Matilda who married Samuel Tennyson in June of 1840 (making her 18 years old at the time) and had 8 children!

~*

Can You Say Biscornu?

First of all . . . I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy & Healthy New Year!

 Biscornu is a French adjective that means "that which has an irregular form, with projections" or "complicated and bizarre."   This Biscornu was a lot of fun to make . . . it's not complicated . . . maybe a little bizarre!  Makes a great pincushion or as shown here, an ornament:

Here is the chart.  You will need to make two of these.  Backstitch around the outside of the designs (this is where you will stitch them together)  I used Weeks Dye Works - Gun Metal Linen 30 count and stitched it with The Gentle Art (Sampler Threads) - Bluebell floss . . .one strand over two linen threads for the cross-stitch and back-stitch over two linen threads for the outline.  Any dark fabric with a light thread or vice-versa would do.  I used a small snowflake button from Just Another Button Company for the center of both side of the ornament.

 Once you have the two squares complete, you will begin stitching your biscornu together along the outline stitching.  You will begin stitching the two threads at one corner to the center outline thread on one side of the other square.  Finger press along your backstitching to make the joining stitching easier.

Continue matching each stitch, whipping them together until you reach the center/corner matchup.  Be sure to catch the two corner stitches of one square with the center stitch of the other and proceed matching stitches until, again, you reach the next center/corner juncture where, again, you will catch the two corner stitches to the center stitch . . . repeat this all the way around.


You will begin to see the zig zag design take shape as you proceed around.

 When you get near the end, begin stuffing.  You will need to stuff it full enough to fill in the corners.

Add a ribbon or cording (if making an ornament) at the very end as you close up the biscornu.  Once closed you will add a button or bead to the centers of both sides . . . pulling tight as you secure them.

  TIP:  If you are making this into a pincushion, you don't need to stitch the larger center snowflake on the bottom piece, just the four smaller corner snowflakes . . . unless you want it to be reversible.

HAVE FUN!!!  If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to help you.

In-House Store!

We bought this cabinet several years ago and it's been sitting in the garage waiting for some idea for it's use to pop into one of our heads.  Pop!  I decided it would be a good needlework cabinet to store my ever-growing threads/books/accessories.  I had, long ago, outgrown the plastic drawer storage unit.  It's like having a small cross-stitch shop in my home...right next to my "stitching spot".  The bottom drawer is locked...if we got the key when we bought it, it is nowhere to be found.  Suppose there's a million dollars stashed in that drawer?!?  We'll keep looking for the key!!!!

That's a spool holder hanging above that works well for my Gentle Arts threads, Weeks Dye Works are hanging inside the cabinet doors!

Cross-Stitch Design

Just returned from the Shepherd's Bush Cross-Stitch Retreat in Utah.  If you're not familiar with Shepherd's Bush, they are cross-stitch designers extraordinare!  They have a shop in Ogden, UT to die for!  The retreat is held every other year in Park City and is just heaven for stitchers!!!

This retreat the "Fun Girls", as my friends Jenny, Barbie and I are called (we were dubbed by Ann from R&R at a previous retreat), were in the track with the teachers:  Shepherd's Bush, R&R, and The Thread Gatherer.  Our projects are fabulous and I can't wait to finish them (will post those pictures when I'm finished).

I was able to show the gals from Blackbird Designs some of my "enhanced" work.  Two pieces I "tweaked" of their's.  They were impressed and told me I was ready to do some designing of my own!  It was like receiving permission to go ahead and do it!!!!  What have I been waiting for?

Here is a picture of a design of my own that I made up as gifts for my Fun Girl stitching sisters (didn't show Blackbird these...don't know why?):



Spent yesterday charting out another design idea.  I'm on my way!!!!!!