Spring Embroidery

Spring!  By the time I reach mid-February, Spring is the only thing I can think about!  Bunnies, chicks, pastel colored eggs and flowers!  Oh, and Robins!  Like most of us, I've now reached my point of having had enough cold, cloudy, dreary, grey days and I'm ready for sunshine and warmer temperatures.  I can't wait to see tulips and daffodils!

My stitching of course, is an example of where my thoughts are.  My current project is definitely Spring related:

I hand painted the lace flower applique which I had to cut apart into pieces to make it work where I wanted it.  This goes back to the "layering" effect that I was talking about last week.  Layering lace on top of fabric, and then more lace on top of lace and then embroidery and embellishments layered on top of that, adds texture, color and interest to any type of collage work.

The tatting lace on the bottom right hand corner is vintage.  I find vintage tatting and other lace pieces at flea markets and antique shops.  Thankfully, those places are in abundance where I live in northern Illinois!  And flea market season starts in April!

This sweet little Easter Bunny piece is now ready for embroidery!

More Crazy Quilt Hearts

I spent most of yesterday morning stitching and completed this little green Crazy Quilt Heart:

I'll spend some time over the weekend getting my last few projects sewn up and finished.

Here are close up photos of the embroidered seams worked with my Waste Canvas Technique:

And speaking of Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments, I will be starting on Volume 3 of my EBook next week!  Many of the borders that you've been seeing here on my blog will be included in this upcoming book!

Our 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan

I'm putting together an online class for Maureen at Maureens Vintage Acquisitions.  I spent most of yesterday afternoon working on it and didn't have much time for stitching.

So, for today, I thought you would enjoy seeing some new photos of our 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan.  We had to take new pics for our insurance company so here they are:

This car started out as a rusty, crusty, ugly mass of moldy oldie metal:

This thing had bullet holes in it from someone using it as target practice.  But now, it's a gorgeous streetrod!  We still need the side windows but the windshield and visor is on!

Scott did the majority of the work himself with just a little bit of help from me.  He works at Friendly Ford in Roselle, Illinois and Friendly Ford now does Classic Car restorations!  If you live in the Chicago area, be sure to stop in at Friendly Ford.  It's a beautiful Ford dealership!  If you need a car restored, Friendly Ford is the place to go!

Crazy Quilt Hearts

It's so nice to wake up and not be freezing!  The new furnace is working great.

I finished stitching up my little pink Crazy Quilt heart yesterday:

I'll sew this into a hanging pillow that will go with this:

Basically, this wall plaque get hung on the wall and the pillow hangs on the knob.  I made a couple of these last year and then forgot about them.

Here's my next little project:

And this hanging pillow will go with this wall plaque:

Very cottage style huh?  I love pink and green together!

Pink Heart

I'm sitting here, all toasty warm, drinking coffee.  My new furnace is in and other than the bill, I'm a happy camper!

I did a lot of baking yesterday just to have the oven on.  A double batch of Chocolate Chip Muffins and a double batch of Cornbread Muffins.  My laundry is done too!  I did anything I could think of to get a little heat in house.  The installer had it running by 6 pm so I slept good last night.  No waking up at midnight, freezing and shivering! 

Oh and my poor little kitties.  They kept looking at me like, "MOM!  What's up with this no heat thing?!!"  I had Nightmare and Simba wrapped up in quilts on the bed and I had Lucy out here with me on the heating pad with my stitching lamp shining on her.

I felt so bad for them.  They're all older and have some health problems.  Nightmare is has a heart condition, Simba has Colitis and Lucy had that stroke just before Christmas.  And I hate that I can't explain things to them.  But I managed to keep them warm as best as I could and they're no worse for the wear today.

In between baking, I did do some stitching.  This will be a little heart shaped door hanging pillow:

I used the corner of a vintage hankie for the center.  I think it needs some vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons now!

In other news, the Spring issue of Pat Winter's Gatherings magazine is now available for purchase:

Is that a gorgeous cover or what?!!!  Preview and order from Magcloud.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone!