Spring Reflections

It's that time of year: beautiful flowers, green grass, lovely butterflies and BIG bumble bees. Time to smell the flowers and admire their beauty, and watch the insects do their job floating from one flower to the next.

I like to take the time to also float from one book to the next: needlework books of all kinds. I ponder new projects, changes to old ones and improve my knowledge of needlework techniques and history. I recently won two silk ribbon books as a raffle prize at the SAGA Boston Stitch Party Retreat (thank you, Ingrid!!). And how wonderful, two that I didn't have in my collection. The Art of Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Judith Baker Montano, a preeminent silk ribbon artist and teacher.

It has a wonderful section on the background and history of silk ribbon work. Of course projects, stitch combinations, beautiful photographs and ideas abound. Good reading, lots of inspiration.

Satin and Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Lesley Turpin-Delport is another unusual ribbon book because the author uses satin ribbons for larger scale embroideries (as seen on the cover of the book). Perfect way to photograph the lovely peach roses on the book cover next to my big tulips!

There are shoes with satin roses (great for a bride), pillows with big roses on stems, but there are many projects with silk ribbon, too. Even an embroidered trinket box! There are instructions for working with satin ribbon to make the larger flowers and roses, along with stitch glossaries for "crewel" (what I call basic embroidery), and silk ribbon work. All in all, a very good read and an interesting resource to have on hand. A quick internet search reveals that both books are still available for sale.

So, on with my perusal of my books, antique ladies magazines and personal idea notebook...with beautiful Spring flowers to accompany my journey!

Easter Nightgowns Finished!

I absolutely love it when I get a project done! Especially if it's just in time for Easter. I was smocking on this pink nightgown while traveling to and fro from the SAGA Boston Stitch Party Retreat just a few days ago. I smocked in the airports and on the planes, at night in the hotel rooms....just to get them done in time to ship to the grandchildren.

This pretty pink nightgown is for our oldest granddaughter. The back is also smocked in a different, faster-to-smock design in the same colors (just like the yellow ones). She can wear either design as the front...whichever she chooses. The fabric is Imperial Batiste ( a cotton/poly blend) with a cotton/poly lace. Of course, there's a matching gown for her 18" doll with designs that mimic her gown, but in smaller scale. Both gowns are my patterns.

So the yellow nightgowns I wrote about earlier are for our younger granddaughter. These pink ones are the favorite color of our older one.

Now it's off to the Post Office to mail the gowns and some Easter candy to the grandchildren......and on to the next project!

A Quilting Adventure

On my way up to Boston for the SAGA Boston Stitch Retreat I took a side trip along with my good friend and fellow teacher, Jeannie Baumeister of the Old Fashioned Baby. It was her idea to do the side trip (thank you Jeannie!) and I'm grateful for the opportunity to visit Keepsake Quilting as I had a project laying in the wings waiting for the perfect fabrics. I have ordered from them in the past and always wanted to go to the store.

First of all we had an interesting drive up into the lake district of New Hampshire after landing in Boston (GPS worked most of the time....). Beautiful scenery, piles of snow, lovely forests and interesting New England architecture were the order of the day. This is the building across the street from the Keepsake Quilting store. Notice the "widow's walk" on the roof.

 Here's the actual Keepsake Quilting Store. So big and SO full of lots of beautiful fabrics!!!

Inside the well-lit store are bolts, bolts and more bolts....and even an entire sale room filled with bolts, kits, backings and other goodies. Here's one view of the main store.

And another....

They also had wonderful "jelly rolls", charm packs, books and beautiful baskets made in New Hampshire.

So much to see, so little time, but we managed to make it count. I think we spent about 4-5 hours in the store. I found the perfect fabrics for my quilt. I'll share those in my next post!

Infinity Baby Bonnet

Who doesn't love to see a precious bonnet on an infant? Beautifully stitched, lovingly embroidered and tied with soft silk ribbons? I enjoy making them because they don't take long to make as a small project. I always use motifs from the outfit, whether christening gown or dress, so the bonnet matches.

Here's the one I made for the Infinity Christening Gown:  sweet, simple, easy and, very importantly, adjustable with the casing in the back.

The lace is mitered at the front corners.....

The bonnet is perfect for the gown: elegant and simple at the same time, perfect for a boy or a girl!

The instructions and supplies for the bonnet are included with the kit for the Infinity Christening that I'm teaching at the Boston Stitch Party Retreat. Sign up and join us!

Pin Tucks

Pin tuck...what the heck is it?

It's exactly what it says: a tuck that's tiny...as tiny as a pin's width. I like stitching them by hand. They're pretty easy, kind of monotonous: it's a rhythm thing. The kind of stitching that can be done watching TV.

I use a fine, cotton sewing machine thread and a #10 sharp needle on the batiste. I draw the fold line with the blue washout pen, fold the fabric along the line and begin the tiny pin ticks with a split back stitch on the underside of the tuck. I take tiny, even running stitches along the line, rocking the fabric onto the needle as I go.

This is the result on the unfinished bodice front...vertical triple pin tucks on either side of the machine pintstitched lace.

Pin tucks are another heirloom technique I'll teach (part of my Infinity Christening Gown Class) at SAGA's Boston Stitch Party March 30-2 April 2017 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bedford Glen, MA.
Come and join the party!

That Featherstitch!

I love featherstitch! Some people don't. They think it's difficult. I don't, but then again I've done a lot of it.

The names are sort of confusing...single featherstitch, double featherstitch, even triple featherstitch! But when you look at a "Single" Featherstitch it doesn't look single. It looks like two rows of "U"s.


Featherstitch can be used in so many places: crazy quilts, baby clothes, blouses, linens. Love it! But the best place of all is a Christening gown...tiny, lovingly placed featherstitches to decorate that special gown for the most important of baby occasions! Here it's used in the bodice of my Infinity Christening Gown in the infinity symbol.

I will teach the featherstitch in my Infinity Christening Gown class at SAGA's "Boston Stitching Party Retreat" March 30- 2 April 2017. Come and join in the fun with lots of other fellow stitchers and sewers!

Trailing Looped Bullions

I'm so looking forward to teaching at the Smocking Arts Guild of America Boston Stitch Party Retreat March 30-2 April 2017! I'm teaching my Infinity Christening Gown class complete with bonnet. It's such an unusual gown, perfect for a little girl or boy...restrained and elegant. There are two rows of feather stitch and the Trailing Looped Bullions on the gown's skirt.

Trailing Looped Bullions are an element that I saw on an antique christening gown about 10 years ago and it fascinated me. They "completed" the serpentine row by trailing the thread from one bullion loop to the next because the carrying thread shadows through the Swiss batiste. Very unusual and interesting and something I'd never seen before. I decided to use the design element but changed it by enlarging the serpentine rows.

I'll be covering this unusual technique in the class in beautiful, soft floche thread.  So easy to do and a big impact at the same time! Come to Boston and learn this technique with me and lots of other hand and machine techniques!