Back from Galena

I'm back! And I wish I had a ton of nice pictures for you to see but unfortunately, the minute we got there, it started raining! And it rained all day on Saturday. Sunday was a little better because it was sunny but it was windy. Terribly cold wind. And then yesterday, it was cloudy and cold. We actually left a few hours earlier than planned because I got tired of being cold but we did stop to take a couple of photos of the countryside on the way back:





I wish there were something I could have done to these pictures in my graphic software to make them look a little better but I think you can certainly tell that it was a cloudy, dark day.

The scenery is actually breathtaking! And I think my camera takes panoramic photos but I can be a bit "technology challenged" at times and it didn't occur to me to figure out how to do that. Galena, Illinois actually looks like photos I've seen of Ireland. Just rolling hills as far as the eye can see!

Scott offered to take me back in December for my birthday but I'm not sure I can tolerate the cold then. I asked him if we could play that idea by ear.

BTW - if you're waiting on an email reply from me, I'll get those emails out as soon as I can. I'm having email issues due to a problem with my ISP. As soon as that problem is resolved I'll send out my replies.

Berlin Work Patterns

I'll be away from my computer for the next couple of days. Scott and I are heading out first thing in the morning for another long weekend up in Galena, Illinois. I'll be back to blogging on Tuesday.

In the meantime, I thought I would share something really special with you. Does anyone know what wonderful thing happened in the needlework world in 1804? A publisher in Berlin by the name of Phillison created the very first charted pattern! A design created on a grid where each square represented a stitch.

The patterns were drawn by hand and then transferred to copper plates for printing and then handpainted. These designs were used for petit point, cross stitch and half stitch (needlepoint). Eventually, this type of embroidery became known as Berlin Work.

Shortly thereafter, many publishing houses in Germany began to produce these patterns and Berlin Work became the most popular form of needlework during that time.

Several years ago, I was poking around some old papers in an antique shop when I found 3 original Berlin Work patterns. I knew right away what they were but felt my heart move into my throat just before I turned them over to see the price. I had no clue at that time what they were worth (and to be honest, I still don't know) but I expected them to be beyond my means. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they were marked only $1.00 each! I'm sure they're worth more than that!

Anyway, I thought you would enjoy seeing them:







I scanned these at 300 DPI in case anyone wants to attempt to stitch from them. I'm sure that's large enough to stitch from but you'll have to carefully chose your own colors. Click on any of the images to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large versions.

If anyone is interested in more information on Berlin Work, the only book I have on the subject is called Embroideries and patterns from 19th Century Vienna and it's by Raffaella Serena. My edition is copyrighted 1998.

Enjoy these everyone! I'll be back with more Galena photos on Tuesday!

Even More Crazyquilting

First, I would like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who sends me emails and leaves comments for me here & on my Flickr site. I'm very happy to know that I have so many readers who enjoy my blog, my patterns and my photos everyday! Posting to my blog is almost like writing a little magazine article on a daily basis. I enjoy thinking about what to share each day and it's become an important part of my daily routine.

I completed the green santa ornament yesterday. It just needed a few more do-dads:



I really just added a few snowflakes in the corners and that completed it. I'll be sewing the ornaments up next week.

Once the santa was completed, I started on this pillow for my mom. It's a 10 inch block and doesn't quite fit on the scanner so I'll do the next update with the camera. In the meantime, here's the photo of what I've done so far:



Ok, I didn't get very far on it! I actually had another seam covered but decided I didn't like the way it looked so I pulled it out. And as you can see, the lace piece that I was playing with yesterday has been changed. It didn't quite work with my grandmothers necklace which I have to somehow incorporate into this so I went with rose appliques instead.

You'll get to see the necklace next week sometime. I haven't quite decided on where to put it yet but I think I'll have to somehow weave it in with some silk ribbon embroidery which most of you know by now, is not my favorite needlework technique to do but I love the way it looks.

I find SRE to be rather fussy. It's not supposed to be that way. It's supposed to be a very forgiving technique. Maybe I'm too picky about how mine comes out and I've found that a Laying Tool helps when working with it.

More Crazyquilting

As you can see, I made alot of progress on this project yesterday. At first, I was a bit sorry that I covered all the seams with red but once I started adding beads and sequins I was quite pleased with the results:



Just a few more do-dads and this one will be complete. I'll sew all 3 of these Crazyquilt Christmas Ornaments up next week.

My next project will be a Christmas gift for my mom. She doesn't read my blog so I don't have to worry about spoiling any surprises:



The little boy in the photo is my grandfather. I never met him because he passed away when my mom was quite young. Mom's been telling me all my life that I look just like him and that my mannerisms are much like his. She also told that he had the same inability to sit still that I have!

My grandfather was Irish and that too could be where my love of shamrocks and anything Irish came from!

I'll make this into a pillow when it's complete. The photo was traditional black/white so I gave it a sepia tone on my computer before printing it up on commercial inkjet fabric. I plan to use lots of the dusty colors on it and I have a necklace that mom gave me over a year ago that belonged to my grandmother. She asked that I work it into something for her but she doesn't want me to cut the chain or alter it in anyway. This will be a challenge but I do plan on working it into this piece.

Thanksgiving Ornaments (Doorknockers)

I did the finishing on these over the weekend and just listed them in my Etsy shop in case anyone is interested in having one.







I wish the scanner and camera could pick up the sparkle and dimension on these. They are just so pretty in person!