Lace cottage II

The big decision today was the lace for the cottage and I went through a lot... If it had the right pattern and texture it was too heavy... If it was the right weight the pattern was too large for the small cottage... The one perfect piece was really too small (see arrow).... It was a tiny remnant of very old lace which was gifted to me by Cathy Kizerian during my visit last winter... Because it was the perfect weight and texture AND a gift from a friend I was determined to make it work...



It took some creative piecing and may need a vine to cover a spot or two but I am soooooooooo happy with it.. I can see right now finding perfect lace for cottages will jump to the head of my list... and there will be more cottages as I do love them and have a large file of pictures.. The lace for the thatch (roof) was easier and it needs to be tacked in place more. I also picked out laces for fences, gates and maybe an arbor... I will put a blanket stitch along the roof ridge and satin stitch the chimney...On my first lace cottage I put the lace on and then tried to put the windows over the lace and it didn't work well.. This time I put some bonding tape on a piece of black silk, cut out the window, ironed them on the cottage before I put the lace on and it worked much better... I basted the lace around the windows, edged them with a chain stitch and then cut out the lace... Next time I will use a piece of dark grey or blue for the windows....the black is a bit harsh... All in all a good start....

With all the mess of finding the right lace and other CQ stuff lately I've fallen down on my "good wife" intention that I promised last fall... that of keeping the table cleared enough that DH could eat a meal sitting down... Luckily I didn't feel too guilty because it was cool enough tonight that he could eat outside.....