KATE'S GARDEN: 2006 and beyond

Monday, February 13, 2006

2006 and beyond

HI all,
Well, I haven't been on line here for a while but the end of the year is always a whirlwind for me. Prepatatiosn for the Christmas holidays, church events, and Family Reunion at my home is enough to keep anybody running for weeks . I come from a large family, 12 brothers and sisters, and I make 13 ...and well, since I'm 3rd from the last, and 53 1/2 -- there are also lots of children in our family as well. We had a great time again this year, and it seems every year it gets bigger and better -- but that's a good thing. Love spending time with my family. We all live in the same general area in New Mexico, and it makes it much eaiser for us to be together -- though we all lead pretty busy lives.

Since 2006 has started, and I might add, at a running pace, despite my resistance -- I have a few updates to share. I have been busy, but unfortunately some of it has been with doctor appointments for health issues. I am getting things under control here, so hopefully life will begin to feel al ittle more normal before long. That said, it has not kept me completely from my stitching and that is a good thing. I have been working diligently on my Quaker Huswife, which needed to have the front panel finished by the end of February so we can put the whole piece together. I am also working on the inside parts (the lining and the pockets, needlebook and pincushion) that have to be finished before I can assemble the front and back together. The Pincushion was my first attempt at putting this piece together, and thankfully (whew!) it did come out nicely. I'll be sharing a picture with you here in a second .....I'm setting up the next part of the assembly process on the Legacy Embroiderer's Quaker Huswife SAL section tonight, and will be working on it between Tuesday and WEdnesday (14th/15th Feb.) and posting pictures, so I will also update my Blog, so you can see my progress. It has been a great project overall, and challenging in some respects. Pushing foam through silk dupoini fabric is not the easiest thing of all to do. Tends to want to grab onto the silk and not budge . So you have to be persistent..that too can cause fraying ..so you also have to be careful . Needless to say it could make a person a little frustrated as you try to put things together. I'm learning though that using a serger can be very beneficial with this project . Thankfully I have one, so will use it in the remainder of the assembly. For now, here is a picture of the Pincushion I put together, and I hope to add more pics soon.

This is a picture of the pincushion and the photo from the chart that shows how the inside portion of the huswife will look...and also a small portiono f my stitching on the Quaker huswife. You can see that the ribbon matches the thread. I had it specially dyed by Vikki Clayton, the Silk and organza ribbon as well. She does a great job of dyeing and I love using her silks.

Below is an update of my Marquior Sampler. I hope to finish the 5th Block, start and finish the 6th block (the bottom corner) this month and finish all three of the top row in March. My commitment to myself is that this piece will be taken in for framing on March 15th this year. It means a lot of stitching in March, but well worth it!