Happy Memorial Day weekend!

I made this for my Dad, a WWII veteran who was in the Rainbow Division.  Freeing the survivors at the Dachau Concentration Camp was just one of the horrors he had to endure during the war.  Only in the past 5 years, has he been able speak about these things.  He became a member of a wonderful veterans group who meet for breakfast and lunch once a month and take trips together to different memorials.  I will be visiting my parents in June and can't wait to give this to him.  I hope he likes it. It's so appropriate for this weekend.

Plum Street Sampler - Freebie

French Vanilla RR Linen

Needlepoint Silks - I matched the red to the poppy then picked a blue and white

A couple weeks ago, our guild had a Saturday stitch in.  I love going to these and seeing all the wonderful pieces everyone has finished and all the ones currently being worked on.  Ann M., one of our members, gave a great talk on the needle books she stitches for her family.  After downsizing she ran out of all available wall space for samplers so she switched to needle books.  These are some of the ones she has completed.   Ellen's With My Needle has a post from May 15th if you are interested in seeing more photos.

These are some more pieces that members have completed.  They are so nice to see in person.  Samplers that you see in person look so much more impressive than the pictures on charts.  It gives you a better feel for what they would be like to stitch.  Inspiring too!



Thank you for your comments. I really do appreciate them.

Marsha

Engaged

I had a fantastic Mother's Day.  My middle son, Adam, celebrated his birthday and asked his lovely girlfriend to marry him.  We are thrilled. 


I

Marsha

Peony Hill

If Lily of the Valley is my favorite flower, Peonies run a very, very close second.  There is nothing like a vase full of peonies filling the house with their scent.  Lord have mercy, there is nothing like it.

Every year it's a toss up how they will do.  This year the rain has them all hanging their heads and they are blasting.  Meaning, they are blooming and shortly thereafter losing their petals.  It will be a brief peony season.

A year ago Martha Stewart had an article in her magazine 'Martha Stewart Living' on her peony beds at her Bedford home.  OMG.  Rows of the same peony strain planted double wide.  Row after row with hundreds and hundreds of peony bushes.  I can't imagine what that is like when they bloom.  A little piece of heaven I suspect.

I finished 'Peony Hill' in late fall so the timing wasn't right to show it off.  But now...
Here she is,

By the Bay needlework design on a stash piece of linen with DMC threads as charted.

The area behind the fence and in front of the house (lighter green color) called for all french knots. Oh 'hell' no.  I do like french knots and don't usually have a problem with them but I just couldn't face a big bunch of them.  My framer did an awesome job.  The frame has a green tone to it that matches perfectly.  Which, of course, you can't see in the photo.

Off to breath in that peony perfume.

Marsha

Happy Anniversary

36 years ago today, I gave my heart to Richard.

11 years ago on our 25th anniversary I planted this hosta call 'Silver Anniversary'.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It's huge.

 The cat mint is blooming among the catnip.

The chives are blooming.

I don't remember the name of this tiny plant but I love its tiny leaves and tiny pink flowers.

Hosta leaves are gorgeous in the spring when they first unfurl.

I love the way rain beads up on Lady's Mantle.

Buddy likes the garden too.  He's the only dog I've had that actually buries bone treats.  It cracks me up.

One of my most favorite flowers is almost done blooming.  Smells so heavenly, the Lily of the Valley.


Marsha

Ohio Soapmakers Gathering

This past weekend I attended the annual Ohio Kentucky Indiana Soapmakers Gathering in Wooster, Ohio.  It was lots of fun, informative and it was great to see old friends and make a couple of new ones.  This is picture heavy so, if you're not into soap stuff, you might want to skip this post.

Here is a small group of the soapers. Marie up front in the orange hosted the gathering a few years ago.  When I went out of the soap business I sold her one of my big molds.  When I asked if I could buy it back, she was gracious enough to say yes and not think I was being rude.  My mother always said, 'the worst they can say is no!'  Good advice.

A few more attendees who also happened to host gatherings.  Kim in the middle is a fantastic knitter.  She has hosted more than once.  Looks like those that sat at this table were busy buying and swapping. 

Our second demo of the day was making bath bombs.  Here we have Christy demonstrating how the ingredients should look and feel for a good consistency. It was a rainy day which is not ideal for making bath bombs. 

The first completed bath bomb.

Polymer Clay soap dishes were another demo.  You can't just make soap, you have to branch out to keep the customers interested.

 While demos are being conducted you can also shop if you wish at the vendors booths that come and set up.  Essential Depot came all the way from Florida.  I sure hope they made enough money for their time and gas money.  I wish I had smell-a-vision for you.  While their are lots of different oils to buy, the main attraction is usually the fragrance and essential oils.  Their scents waft all throughout the room as everyone opens and sniffs all day long.  Not to mention the scents from the demonstrations. 

A swap is also conducted during the day.  You can make up to 5 items and then you take home 5 items.  Very nice work is shown.  I did not have enough time to make items for this year's swap.  It's always a highlight.  (sniff)

My favorite demo was column color swirling.  I had not heard of this before so I was happy to learn something new.  I was picturing something else entirely.  An actual solid column is placed in the mold and different colors of soap drizzled over the top.  The pictures speak for themselves.

After unmolding, (a day or two) here is the result.  So cool.  Can't wait to try it.  Thank you Rhonda.

We had another demo on soap coloring and over pouring and using silicon molds for the spheres.  Here is the end result before curing and cutting.  Modern art.  And cosmetic glitter on top - I always love the sparkles!

After the scrumptious lunch, buying, trading, garage sale selling, massage and demos, the last event of the day is the door prize giveaway.  Everyone wins something.  I won a gift bag from Essential Depot with citric acid, argan oil, shea butter. lavender and ylang ylang essential oils.  Everyone had a great time and we look forward to next year's get together in Ashtabula, Ohio.

.

Marsha

Stash Report

I see blogger is switching things around again - sign.  Please stop.

Anyway, as promised here is my stash report.  It's hefty but you have to realize that I waited a year to come back here and get the things that I didn't have a chance to get last year. 


First up, however, is a wonderful Easter card and Easter surprise that I got from my Secret Stitcher from the guild.  It arrived in time for Easter but I procrastinated taking its picture and posting it.

A new purse pattern and lovely fabrics to go with in my favorite cool colors.  Thanks a bunch Secret Stitcher.  I like this a lot.

While looking at purse patterns one of the vendors recommended this new product to use instead of fusible fleece.  She had purses there to feel the difference and the one with this felt wonderful, had kept a nice shape (does not collapse) and is actually lighter than the fleece.  My friend and I had to try it out and can't wait to sew with it.

Zippers from one booth (who did not want to take my debit card - do you want to sell stuff or not?) and Russian doll  and bird fabric from another.  I was on the lookout for the doll fabric.  It was on my wish list.

The other fabric that was on my wish list was the booth selling real indigo fabric.  It was so hard to choose.  There were so many to pick from.  I will be zigzagging the edges and laundering per instructions as it bleeds quite a bit.  I'm in love and can't decide on a project for it.

My needle book project led me to look for different fabric choices and I found a booth with Thailand, Chinese and other far eastern choices.  I'm thinking of making another needle book in a different colorway so this neat little package will give me choices when I'm ready.

Some gorgeous silks for the inside cover or lining of a different project.  Maybe a piece for a giveaway?

This little yo yo purse came from the same booth.  So so cute!  I'm a purse nut, so I could not resist and the price was crazy reasonable.

I was surprised and happy to see Karen Kluba there with all her Rosewood Manor things.  I had tried to get this at the January stitch away but they were out of the chart.  Lucky me got it here and the gorgeous lupine linen to go with.

Lastly, the wool for my needle book pages.  There were quite a few vendors selling wool this year.  It must be all the rage and I was glad I had a lot to choose from.

Marsha

International Quilt Show part II

I broke this up because I have such a hard time waiting for the pictures to upload.  Makes me crazy - I could be stitching!  Here's part II:

These first couple are from Quilts: A World of Beauty show, but don't quote me on that.

Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild Presents:  A Modern Spin on the Ohio Star Block.  It was really neat to see the different quilters take on this theme.  (Love Turquoise and Red!)

another celebrate spring, with a close up.  I am so in awe of quilters, their ideas and then execution.

The 3 dimensional Tactile Architecture Artist Village.

My friends and I particularly liked the Twelve by Twelve show.  Every two months the same 12 artists were given a word, theme or color and then designed a quilt block depicting their interpretation. (such as; eggplant, community, etc.)  Actually, there was a Colorplay Series and a Theme Series - 12 for each. Those blocks were then put together in the same order as a quilt.  Below are pictured the 12 artists and they are in the order that their block appears on the quilt.

It took us a while to figure this out but it was interesting that each of us were drawn to the same artist/s.  I particularly liked Terry Grant's blocks.  She was in the middle of the second row. 

I love bees so I REALLY liked this one - theme DANDELION.

The last I am going to show you is 'Dixie Dingo Dreaming' in the Festival Gallery of Quilt Art: Good for You.

We really liked the use of all Australian fabrics and the minute detail.

Hope you felt like you had a tiny tour of the International Quilt show.  Next I'll show you the stash building I did - Yikes!

Marsha