colorful easter fun

my little town has an Easter Parade every year

my favorites are the tractor club old guys:

 and then there's the Sauerkraut Band:

and the lady who dresses up her llama (I sometimes see her walking him around town):

then there's the High School marching band:

and my favorite band member (my oldest daughter - she's in the long braid):

and walking back home we were all looking up:

and I took my eggs out of their overnight natural dye bath (tutorial courtesy of Patty):

a colorful day

one so colorful that we can almost forget that winter ever happened

Happy Easter to you and yours

with love from me and mine

xo  :)  xo

today's work

this work I do is sometimes such a surprise to me

... what comes out ...

the unexpected thought rises up

it's done ...

and I'm done ... toasted ... fried ... dot dot dot

it's been a long week of lots of school activities

(for instance: track meet this afternoon, science fair tonight)

and the only spot of peace has been my peaceful stitching 

a moment here

a moment there

and believing that we ARE on the backside of winter

in spite of hail yesterday

snow today

and tomorrow -?- who knows

as they say around here:

"if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes"

how about:

"if your life has gotten crazy, lose yourself in some handwork"

how I stitch teabag paper ...

... it's not as fragile as you might think

*

first of all: 

no knots

knots are too bulky and sometimes pull right through

I lock the first stitch in with a single backstitch and leave a bit of a tail

secondly:

use a running stitch 

if you punch in and out, stitch by stitch, you are more like to get tears

a running stitch keeps the paper more stable

third:

lock in your last stitch with a single backstitch

do this, whether you are done and will be cutting the thread,

or as in these hexagons, if you are turning a corner and need added strength 

 finger pressing is all that is needed for these somewhat fragile seams

so this is the back:

and this is the front after quilting:

there isn't much to tell about the quilting

except: a running stitch is best

also: you will find that the more stitching you do (as in sashiko)

the stronger it all becomes

I will show more pictures as I fill this in with sashiko type stitching

Sashiko: a form of decorative and functional stitching from Japan. 

Used in mending and reinforcing worn fabric or areas of fabric destined for wear (and tear).  

Most frequently used is white thread on indigo fabric.

piecing

tea bag quilt top

dictionary page baffle

muslin backing

I've been doing the slow stitch

sometimes it's all I want to do

and look at the forsythia - swoon time

happy friday!

something lovely

winter is slowly being displaced by spring

just as summer's glory was displaced by winter

and the new growth is hidden in among that faded glory

something lovely

hexagon love

I've been repairing a vintage hexagon quilt top I picked up in the fall

and I'm in love

I was working on it over the weekend

and now that it's Monday, my thoughts returned to my art

... and it occurred to me ....

the hexie love can continue

and continue it does

... a tea bag paper hexagon quilt in it's very earliest beginnings ...

gift wrapping

I packaged up something for the mail today and took pictures along the way

I gift wrap everything that I send out

but it's not the typical sort of gift wrap you might expect

I try to be as green as possible

(unfortunately I still need to use bubble wrap and tape in the final package)

 today I'm wrapping these matchboxes (as seen above)

I've stitched a little pouch of several thicknesses of magazine paper

some from an old canadian readers digest (1967) and some from a rose catalog

I stitched all the way around and tore away the excess paper to show the layers (see below)

tied it with a raffia bow, added a little note and my card - and it's ready to go

and these little bags below are made from storybook pages and wax paper

the ribbon at the top is from silk saris

the sari fabric has been recycled by tearing it into strips of ribbon

I bought mine on Etsy from Felicia and her shop: Flea's Fibers

thanks, as always, for stopping by!

I have lots of catching up to do

I was down for the count this past week with a doozy of a head cold

but I am feeling much better now!