This is a section between blocks where a rosette and pearl cluster were added to seperate theblocks.











This is another corner that is following the above design and falling gently into the sashing.

The rich colours in the sre on the block to the right is a pillow gone bad, proving it does pay to save all remants and scraps as they can working into anothe project very easily., not wasting precious silkribbon.






This is simple embellishment on one other of the blocks. I knew my friend was very religious and she had just finished a tea cozy so therefore parted with the precious tea pot in this block. Always there will be an angel hidden somewhere in the block.











Another vision of the blocks being seperated by antique looking roses with rose leaves all done in antique white satin and edged with beads and pearls.

This is the top left hand side of the quilt with some fancy ribbon rusching and pearl work. I also created the first block. The beautiful rusched fan in the block was a piece of rusched fabric sent by a friend ( Barbee ) to be used with a block and now I would love to use this type of rusching to add dimension at any time. I the key with the symbols above symbolize key to our heart and love.

Attached is a finished prayer quilt that was completed for a cyber sister. These prayer quilts are a pleasure to make as you think of the person the whole time you are doing a block. I had the pleasure of putting more than one of these together and will start and share some so that perhaps it might encourage you to do one of your own or to just do a small quilt.

This is the prayer pocket on the back of the quilt. It is a spare block that I made and attached with some fancy ribbons and it is open at the top. It is bound by the same fabrics that were used in the original quilt sashing and lined with peach/pink linen.

Finished Linen Purse

A while ago I shared a picture of the actual work on the purse and found in my files the finished purse. On the reverse it has a pocket that is opened and is lined with linen and worked in linen and eyelet linen. This was also given to a friend. She was kind enough to send me the book for my birthday and a request for a purse, so I adapted this from emrboidery to embroidery and silkribbon and love the adventure it created.

Destiny the Angel Bear

This special little bear called " Destiny " was designed while watching my daughter recuperate from an automobile accident.

She is made of fine red velvet and is heavily embroidered with silkribbon . She has an angel in her palm and beads embedded in the tummy and wear a proud bow tie and has wings of gold attached.

This little bear is jointed and was truly a pleasure to work. It is an original pattern designed for my daughter Sher.




Tummp and paw pads with bow tie.




Back View





Side view

Bedside ring Holder - Victorian

This is my version of a victorian ring holder. These were originally hung on the post of the bed or near the dresser and would hold rings.

It has a deep pocket and is all handbeaded and embroidered. I was inspired by a pattern and used my own adaption from a Cross Stitch and Embroidery magazine. I have also given this to a friend.

Chatelaine Challenge

This is a ribbon chatelaine that was part of a challenge on the silkribbon list some years ago. This one was sent to a special friend as a gift.

The larger portion on the bottom holds the scissors, the needle case and a thimble holder as well. The flowers are three dimensional ribbon work., and it would hang around your neck while you stitched. This is also an original.

Old fashioned boot Potpouri Sachet Large

This vintage boot is a personal design and is supposed to be filled with potpourri and batting. I have left it flat for photographic purposes. I love the style of the old fashioned boots and chose to put an oversized tassell on the back. I layered the lace so that it mimicked the design of the older footwear and worked my own version of silkribbon embroidery on both the lace and velvet portions. This is an original

- This beautiful fan shaped pillow with vintage buttons, charms, beads, sequins, paillettes and ribbons was from a kit from Victoria Adams Brown of Ribbon Smyth. I added a dark black jacquard background and learned so many new techniques in working on this pillow. It is my prized possession. I kept this one.






This simple little needlecase was made for a friend. It is all lined and has needle pages on the inside. The lace on the side is tea dyed and has been ehanced with large gold rocailles and the initial is done with silkribbon work. It is finished with black velvet backing and fully lined. I truly enjoy making these little jewels. It was given as a friendship gift.







This is the beginnings of a purse that I made for my stitching sister and turned into a purse. I adapted a pattern from a book she had given to me as a gift and rather than use just threads used my version of overdyed silkribbons and brought the flowers to life. I know she truly enjoys this as she told me she was the talk of the Sunday morning church service.




Far to precious to put a pin into is this beautiful design from Victoria Adams Brown and I loved it so much that I had enough fine fabrics left over to make a second one for a stitching sister and she loves hers just as much. No affilliation, but there is always more than enough in Victoria's kits to make and continue to make something more special.



This is the back of the same needlecase. This, along with the fan pillow from above sit on my special padded table in the hallway for admiration only.

Linda takes the time to full fill her emrboidery dreams

Knowing that unless I blog each step of the way that the projects that are in my mind will never make it to paper. Some will be left in draft form, others will be shared on line and I invite you to join me in my venture to do the following. It is time to start some stitching.



Materials:-



Box (1) - This can be a simple bankers storage box as it allows everything to be placed in order and left there as well as notes diagrams etc.





File Folders - Several - These will be used to keep notes, pictures, ideas, themes etc. of the project as I work along.



Baggies - Large to Small - I want 12 of each. All blocks will have a touch of something from each other block in this as well.







Threads:- These will be wound off onto wood spools so that they do not get creases in them from being around thread winders.



Ribbons :- Assorted from silks, satins, specialty and velvets.- These will be wound around the core from a tin foil or waxed paper tube. Before I will cover with acid free tissues.



Laces:- Both plain and fancy



Silk prints - Be they personal of ones that are copyright free or purchased.



Needlebook for each box. Can be as simple as a pot holder with pins ready to stitch.



Large baggie with one block in it ready to stitch and run for those last minute stitching times.



I will start my first box today and share what goes into this box by the first of the week. I have not decided which of my many projects I will start first, but silkribbon is coming to mind again and I have always wanted a Baltimore Albumn Quilt to hang on my living room wall.



Let me think red, green, yellow, blues, etc..........encased in vintage style frames or left plain. Plain or moire, silk dupioni or satin, whole quilt or pieced...........Designs to be started and fabrics set aside.



My goal this week is to set up the box with



Picture of what I think the quilt will look like.



Folders, baggies etc...........these will not be full.



Ribbons and ideas.



Quilting design for borders and around blocks will justify what patterns will be used.



Miniature quilts do not have to be real small, they can be of a size large enough to work on and hang on a nice quilt rack and have a lot of meaning. They will be admire for years to come.



I will share some of my reference books as I go along and my own personal finished blocks in small detail.



Have a creative day. I plan to.

Projects that Lin

Every now and then we take a look around at where we are as well as what stage we are in with our lives, families, responsibilities and desires. Normally this takes place during a traumatic or overwhelmed time in our lives and we realize that there are not enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month, etc. to accomplish all that we have set out to do in our personal and creative lives.



Looking at the abundance of ufinished objects in both my personal and creative life I have decided to journal where I am and where I would like to be within the next few years. Scholars and the likes have always stressed a five year plan and most of us go through life winging it.



After watching a very impressionable movie last night "World Trade Centre "; I could not help but be overwhelmed by the love that was shared in the last part of the movie. I cannot speak for the first three quarters as I have not had the pleasure of watching it through as yet, but you can rest assured I will. If this movie does not make us stop and think about life and what it has to offer as well as what we have offered it, then we have all missed the boat and all of the people who lost their lives needlessly in the event as well as around the world in both our country and other countries will have been in vain.



In our home, it is a personal decision and always has been to have an open door policy. Never close a door that you cannot open. Our door swings both ways, good news and bad news, we are here. It has worked well for us for over 37 years and will continue to be a major part of our own personal lives.



Having said that and now wanting to get to the crust of where I am headed I have always wanted to have a few attainable but on the back burner projects done and I am going to start a few of them right away. I am making a plan to do these in project form and in rotation so that one does not get bored with them all at once, and I am journalling my voyage to document my life in stitches.

Charity Knitting

This afghan is basically the same as the last one except there are stadium stripes placed in the rows.

This one was knit for a larger person and required more yarn, not sure how much as it has been a while ago that these were knit. I know that the needles were 100 cross and that the yarns were light grey ragg and a deep burgundy. This was also crochet edged in grey.

Charity Knitting

This is a very simple stadium style child's blanket.

ISM machine knit keyplate 3.5 or 5.

Materials - 3 - 100 gram balls of main colour.

3 - 100 gram balls of contrasting colour.

Crochet hook sized 4.50 for crochet edging as above.

Cast on 100 stitches using waste yarn. Knit 6 rows.

Add main colour and knit for ten rows.

Change to contrasting colour and knit for ten rows.

Continue until afghan is the length that you prefer on it this case 150 rows.

Edge with single crochet. Work 3 single crochets in each corner and then work half double crochet around to finish.

Charity Knitting

Here are several charity blankets that I have knit on the ISM knitting machine, but they can also be done by hand, and have edged with crochet.

Charity Knitting

Here are several charity blankets that I have knit on the ISM knitting machine, but they can also be done by hand, and have edged with crochet.

ISM Knitting machine on Keyplate 3.5 or 4. Hand knitting needles would be metric 5.5 or us 6.

Materials - 3 - 100 gram balls solid colour ( navy )

3 - 100 gram balls verigated colour ( blues )

Crochet hook sized "F" or 4.5 or knit in garter stitch.

Knit four panels, joining as you go or they can be hand joined later by slip stitch or crochet.

Using waste yarn cast on 45 stitches..

Knit 6 rows.

Change to navy and knit 50 rows.

Change to verigated and knit 50 rows.

Continue in the above manner until you have a total of 6 squares. Cast off loosely.

Make a second strip identical to the first.

Make two more strips but start with the verigated navy and then change to navy.

You will have knit a total of six panels. Either join as you go on the machine and or slip stitch

the seams together, matching the squares.

Edge around with a single crochet and work 3 single crochets in each corner. Repeat round with a double crochet, and finish with one more row of single crochet. This keeps all of the sides flat.

Block and allow to set.

Enjoy............ This is a great scrap yarn project.........as you can change each time you run out of yarn and make a very colourful lap afghan or childs blanket.

-----------

Threads of Love

Threads of Love

A little off centre, as the base of the leaves should point down, but it is getting there. I have had to sketch and resketch using the purple fad out pen as I went along as I did not want to use a permanent marker or pencil as I have a habit of changing directions mid stream.

This is in a six inch hoop and the actual line of the circle runs where the leaves are on the bottom in to the base of the crystallized ribbon and to the tops of the ribbon stamens and down the side. I am not sure if I will fill in or not or just let the beauty of the fabric show through. I love the way the petals jump off the background, and in this one I did use a metallic polish to tone down the colour on the centre but it is a reminder of a beautiful face cab from a beautiful friend.

I hope to work all in cabs, and may leave this one once the leaves are done and start on a smaller scale until I decide whether to mat or frame this one as the front cover. I chose the lily as it is the only flower I have ever been able to grow in my garden. I now have sketches done for pansies, roses, daffodils etc., but want to lean in a different direction white on white. and pendant sized using the same chain on each pendant, same swage so that when closed the book would look like a bookmark and each page would be a different medallion that would fit into the tassel beaded fringe and match the beaded chain. Oh, well, that is for today anyway.

Atkins Challenge

Finally taking some time to get ideas on the blog. This is the sketch that I drew to bring out a different type of crativity in the type of work that I do. Normally, I am very structured when it comes to beadwork, plan it out and have a plan before I start, and keep it simple.

My first thought on a journal was to keep it in the round, and seeing as I had some cd's lying around decided to see what I could do to take advantage of these. First I sketched the tiger lily in on the right hand side as I remembered how many times I had cut one out in sane quilting, so the sketching for this one was simplified. I then added a small face that was a gift from my special friend " Leslie Ehrlich ", hope it is spelled correctly this time, she is from pinyoncreek blog. I just loved it.

I then remembered reading about coloured pencils and crayones being used to do in backgrounds for a general idea on colours, so off I went for some orange, green and darker tones of green and then the inspiration for the visual leaves came into play. I had already decided on a ribbon that would float across the design, under the lily and then end as falling from beneath it onto a smaller crystal and using some french beading techniques.

In my case more is better so I added more leaves than I thought I needed and knew that somehow I was going to have to figure out how to make the petals stand out three dimensional.

I had just finished doing a few pieces from a Ruth Wilson book and in it she used a water lily with three dimensional petals as well as the outline stitch in a two to three bead drop, I loved it. I then knew how the stamens would be added.

On my first try it was all on white and no matter how hard I tried it did not jump out at me, so I pulled all of the beads off and decided to use some overdyed orange to pink silk as a top fabric and the pattern as a liner with some linen as a backing and I am pleased.

I have the face on, beaded around, all of the ribbon and crystals done, and leaves done as well. I just finished adding the petals and now I am working into what I want to do with this shape.....leave it round, or turn it into another shape, and that won't be determined until I decide for sure what size my next project will be as this could always be my journal cover.........and the next ones could be made smaller. I think this is probably the hardest part of the creating, trying to be original and keeping on track.

Challenge in Beadwork

Nearing completion for the beaded part of the challenge I have decided that I like to work in three dimension, but that if I plan on doing something major with this and incorporating beads into all of my works I will have to work smaller.

I have taken some photos of the initial set up and design and will share when I get the camera out again. I must admit that this has been so much fun, and a challenge in itself. Now, if I can just go beyond the borders and do some creative work with colours and sizes of beads.

Perhaps this time I will use a large face cab and work that into this piece. I will try and scan and share the finished model tomorrow, until then happy beading. Now off to sketch a design for a hooked mat that dh says caught his eye on televison the other night. The blessings of being able to create. God is good.

Challenge

I have decided to try the challenge of doing a journal page a month and seeing what I can come up with in beadwork that is original and realistic and useable for me. I am so conformed to basic shapes and art to wear that I have to try and break loose in order to justify beaded art.

I thought long and hard before signing up as this is a venture for a year and while I procrastinated in my mind my heart was saying you can do it. Everything in life does not have to be wearable or functioning in order to serve a purpose, and who said a journal had to open in one unit.

I will share my journey with you as I go along and share some pictures as well. I have decided to call this one " round to it ". I have so many designs and ideas floating in my head and so many little things that I have wanted to try and now I am allowing myself to break loose and take the plung and get " around to it ".

My first piece is " Tiger Lily ". I have used the cd shape as a disk for working on and I have sketched a tiger lily onto the disk in free flowing petals. I wanted to use some dimension so I plan on doing them three dimensional, thus the choice of background fabric......orange overdyed silk. I also want to wind leaves and ribbons in as well as other roundelles etc.

I gave this a good trial run on stiff stuff and was not pleased at how it would not be able to actually wrap around a cd when finished so removed the beads and the pattern and have started at square One again.

Materials for my first one include a layer of good muslin, a layer of stiff stuff with the pattern drawn clearly onto this, and a piece of overdyed silk placed on top of this. I then lightly traced through in case I change my mind while stitching.

I picked up my coloured pencils and shaded in the colours that I liked and now know which direction to take the colour in. A gorgeous little face given to me by a special friend " Leslie Urhlich of PinyonCreek fame is the focal point of this piece. I hope to work with assorted sizes of beads and shapes and keep all twelve pieces when done in journal form in a flat layout. I will also design a cover front and back. I know if I write this in here I have to make sure that it gets done and this also allows me to use more than one technique and grow in my beadwork, which is fast becoming my first love right in line with silkribbon work.

Happy Mother's Day

God bless the mom's of the world. May they have the courage to go on and the strength to raise their families in a world so different from most of their pasts.

I view being a mom as the most beautiful experience in my life. A child created out of love, nutured and cared for and raised with both parents having the ability to surround her with love.

My darling Sheralee, if you are reading mom's blog today, know how very proud I am to be your mom and to know that you have such a kind and caring heart. You have grown into a mature young lady of whom mom and dad are so very proud.

I am also proud to call our son-in-law Ken " our son ". He has given us a reason to not worry about your fears even though as parents we do. He has also given us the emotions to want to put the same circle of love around him as we have you.

Know how proud dad and I are of both of you and the greatest blessing that I have on this day is being a mom to you and Ken.

Travel safely, have fun and hopefully we will see you both soon.