A Special Guest

For the past 2 days, I have had the pleasure of taking a fellow stitcher on tours of special places.  Darlene Lara, owner and designer with The Marking Sampler, was in Greensboro, and we had 2 beautiful Carolina Spring days.

On Friday we started with a tour of the Greensboro Museum. It is the home of Dolly Madison's red velvet dress.  The dress has just returned home after many years at the Smithstonean. It will only be on display  for a short while, before it goes into storage, maybe forever.  Also, some other pieces of her belongings were out.  All of the objects were found in a trunk several years ago.  The photo below  is one of the motifs from a silk tablecloth.  There was a water stain in the center where Dolly had turned over a vase of flowers.  I found the workmanship very beautiful, even though it was probably a professionaly made piece.  These motifs were couched or appliqued to the gold silk, and it was very hard to see any stitches.                                                                      

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day antique shopping.  Sad to say, we did not find anything to tempt our money from our wallets.  Maybe that was a good thing.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed ot to Salisbury, NC, with the Piedmont Sampler Guild.  Fifteen of us began our day shopping at Spring Robin.  What could be better than a Needlework shop. Robin, the owner, had invited Threads of Gold to hold a trunk show.  So, in addition to shopping, we got to view some wonderful antique sampler.

Lunch was at a great sandwich shop downtown.  After a short walk, we enjoyed sitting outside in the beautiful weather, while eating our sandwiches.  

After lunch, we walked another coulple of blocks to the Dr Josephus Hall House. What a beautiful place.  The home had been built in 1820 as a girls school.   Dr Hall and his wife bought it and refurbished it in 1859.  It remained in the family until it was donated to the Salisbury Historicl Foundation.  You can visit www.historicsalisbury.org, to find out about upcoming events at the house.

The image above is of the house, and the image to the left shows the iron work gate.  The same motif is used on all of the columns an railing on the house.

After touring the house, Darlene, my daugher Robin, and I headed out to find an antique shop we had been told about.  Sadly, it had closed.  But, we had another unexpected treat in store.  The shop had been located in Spencer, just down the road from Salisbury.  The NC Transportation Museum is located there.  They were having a big steam train event, and we got to see the old steam engine go by. 

The photo is one that my husband, who is a train buff, took yesterday.  He did a bit of manipulation Awsome, isn't it?

More soon.

I wanted to share this with everyone.  This wonderful blog was shared by a friend. My Fairest Flowers series is based on Elizabethan gardens, and I really thought this article was inspiring.  The Elizabethans were very proud of their gardens, and they put them on their clothing and into their homes with needle and thread.  You can find the article here:
Flowering by Embroidery

Sunday Afternoon

What a lovely afternoon.  Maybe Spring really has arrived.  As you can see, Mama B knows what you are supposed to be doing on a day like this. 

Unfortunately, she is in the spot where I stand to put in my contacts.   I had planned to  stitch after posting.   So, you know who had to move.                        As for the blogging, I continue to have issues.  Like trying to get a consistant alignment, and trying to make paragraphs.    If I hit the enter key, it goes all the way to the bottom of the page.   It also took over an hour to figure out why my photos were not coming through from the new ipad to my e-mail.  Turns out my password was not entered, even though I had put it in yesterday.

I was so excited yesterday.  My new fabric samples from Wichelt came in.  Now to decide which one to use for Autumn Whimsies.  The colors shown do not do  them justice.  I worked with them a bit, but still they are not quite correct.  They have a bit more yellow than shows.

Time to stitch.                   

Fryes Mill

Thought some of you might like to visit this site.  They really carry some nice things.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Frye-s-Measure-Mill---Spring-2013-Silent-Auction.html?soid=1103001797014&aid=nYjoMDKW3YM

New Toys

Just bought my mini iPad . I have been debating about buying a new phone, or upgrading my iPad. The iPad won out. Much easier to carry around, and now, hopefully, much easier for me to update my blog.

My son is being a sweet, and helping me with this. Now to get on to some current news.

I have been busy since Nashville. I have the fifth Fairest flowers stitched, my Christmas ornament for JCS finished, ready to mail. I am currently working on the limited release piece for this Fall. Some of the decisions I have to make, threads, lining fabric, and the linen color. Some linen choices on their way from Wichelt, and the threads and lining are shown in this photo.

See you soon.

Back from Market

Nashille market is always an exciting time for me.  First the stress of what to make, then after that, the desiging process, stitching the piece, or getting my daughter to stitch it for me.  Then, if necessary, assembly, and finally, kitting it all up. In the final days before leaving, packing, and checking the list twice, to see if I have left anything out.   It seems I always leave something home.

Arrival, after the 8 hour drive is just the beginning of an exciting weekend.  Seeing all the other vendors, catching up from the last show, unpacking and setting up, selling, talking and talking and talkng, learning, and seeing all the new products keep me busy for 3 days.  Then it is the down side of repacking, and the 8 hour drive home, that seems to take forever.

And then it starts all over again.  So, I am brimming with ideas for the next show, which is in Aug, in St Charles.

In my last post, I talked about the monthly flower series.  I took 4 to Nashille, Jan, Feb, March, and April, Borage, Passionflower, Pansy, and Iris.  My "Fairest Flower" garden is growing.  I have all the images on my web site.

One of my limited kits for Nashville was "Rites of Spring".  A courting couple, tulips, a bunny, and other spring motifs were stitched on 32 ct linen.  The kit included everything, but the stuffing. 

Will do my best to post more often.  Now, I want to play with the new linens and the new thread colors released Weeks, Creasent, The Gentle Art.  Have a great day.

It's That Time of Year

It's late, it's late, for a very important date. The flu during December has put me a couple of weeks behind and I have to catch up.   Nashville market is only 2 months away, and although I can sort of plan in my head, I just am not the type of person who can stitch Spring models in December.

One of my plans for 2013 is a series, that can be stitched individually, or all together to create a large sampler.  Like the Feathered Friends series last year, I will put out one small design each month, only this time,they will be deigned to all fit together,should you wish.



I will stitch mine on one piece of linen.  At this time, the colors of the linen and the threads have not been chosen.  My theme this year is flowers, but not just any flowers. After a lot of research, I have chosen flowers found in an Elizabethan Garden of the 1600's.  It has been so interesting reading about the different flowers, and what they did with them besides displaying them.  I am attaching some photos of a couple of classics, and one not so well known.  The Borage is really a pretty flower.  There are some pretty examples on the Plymouth Jacket.

It appears that I cannot get these photos to go where I want them.  

 

They move every time I try to type.

Did you ever wonder why a carnation is called a Pink.  It is not the color, but rather the pinked edges.

I love the scent of an antique rose.  We have a bush at my son's house, our old house, that only blooms once a year and smells soooooo good.

Have a great week. Louise