weekend

A weekend of puttering about.

Local air show watched from the side of the road.

Ingredients for eggplant lasagna from a roadside stand.

I dyed "mill end" wool from a local factory with Black Cherry Kool-Aid.

Finished Dandelion embroidery, now what will it become?

road trip

Tomorrow morning my brother and I are heading out on a road trip.

I'm scrambling to get packed, it must be done before I leave for work in an hour!

One thing that I've been a bit obsessed with lately is this book

of illustrations by Charlie Harper.

We've had the book in the store for about a month now and I often 

found myself wandering over to the table for a quick flip through during the day.

Now I've purchased it and couldn't be happier, I highly recommend it.

The bold and simple renderings just seem to resonate with the embroidery

work and little paintings that I've been doing, we'll see what becomes of it!

So off to the mountains of Western North Carolina we go.

I won't be back for about a week but will surely have many photos on my return.

Take care and enjoy the 'dog days of summer!"

xo, j

green summer rain

Outside my window Common Sunflowers droop from the day's steady rain.

I wonder if they grew from seeds I threw out for the birds and squirrels this past winter?

Sorry for not posting this week, I've been impossibly busy.

The embroidery is all I've been able to work on lately, a little Day Lily sachet, not quite done.

Thanks so much for the kind comments and words of encouragement on the needlework.

They have lifted my spirits!

xo, j

sunday handiwork

There was another heat warning in effect today

as the the heat index rose to the high 90's.

I stayed at home and did some very fast cleaning

so I could get back to my embroidery!

(Dave, leave the white gloves in Florida!)

The unplanned style of the garden required more time 

to work out but I kept reminding myself "this is just a sampler."

It's all very basic but now I have plenty of ideas.

I made a refillable cheesecloth bag and stuffed it with lavender.

It felt great to complete something in such a short amount of time

Hope everyone had a lovely summertime weekend.

xo, j

Food for Thought

I just received my January/February issue of Selvedge magazine.

There is always something to delight between the pages.

This time it's embroiderer Karen Nicol and her book Embellished: New Vintage

I haven't read the article yet; I like to take it in small delicious morsels!

Will definitely have to check out the book.

A featured quote,

"It's of no benefit to mindlessly copy.

We have to add the magic of our way of seeing."

Knitting Cases

A couple of years ago I decided to make my own wrap case

for double point needles, crochet hooks and general knitting notions.

This morning I uncovered some that I had tucked away, 

the second is the one that I use everyday.

I'm not picky about every stitch being straight,

something about a little wiggle that gives the pieces life.

Thinking about making another couple...

they feel quite similar to my paper cuts.