Finished the garters...one to keep and one to toss.  They and the guest book are going into the mail on Monday.


 Now there is only one project for the wedding to finish and it is top secret and will take a while... a hint:  it involves a lot of pictures..

New technique for attaching book covers.

I finished the antique lace cover I made for my granddaughter Madi's guest book for her wedding  in March.  I'm so happy to be able to contribute to the big event.  She is my oldest son's only child.  The laces are all from my most treasured stash and the button on the front is also an antique which I hand painted.

Here is a view of the back.  Unfortunately all of the beadwork does not show up in the photo.'

It opens nicely and lays flat.

I tried a new technique to anchor the cover to book.  In the past I have used filet crocheted lace to attach  a cover.  This time I bought cream-colored, knee-high nylon tights and cut a length that would slide tightly over the cover.  Then I anchored the finished cover to the nylon.  It works beautifully.  The nylon tight section stretches tightly over the entire cover and on the inside is  barely noticeable.  Very tidy indeed.

I blogged about trying this technique October 22nd when I started this project not knowing if it would work... delighted it did.  I can see great possibly for this technique in other book making applications.

 on

Prepping my way- Guest book for wedding.

I NEVER take short cuts when prepping my work... Over the years I have developed what works best for me and find a direct correlation in the quality of my finished work and the prep time I put in. 

First when cutting fabric I allow ample margins as often I have had to shift a design and having that extra fabric  has been a godsend.

Second I clearly and carefully baste   critical guides.  Always in red is the all important "stop" line.  All beading and motifs end here.  Nothing is more demoralizing than cutting off beads and needlework when you are finishing a piece.  Having this stop line prevents this.  I do this every single time on every single piece...

The green line is always my goal of the actual size of the finished piece which may vary a bit but I need the line for a guide.  I also do this every single time on every single piece...

On this piece I have a third line which will be the fold line when applying it to the cover of the book.  I only rarely use this step as seldom are edges folded back.

Instead of using the usual filet crochet for my base, this time I am using a piece of fine silk backed with knit interfacing bonded to the back. This is something new I'm trying and am totally making it up as I go along.

I usually use elastic cord to keep a cover taut but I wanted to try a new technique that may give a more finished look.

I bought a pair of women's knee-high nylon stockings.  These are a little denser in weight than ordinary nylons.  My plan was to stretch them over the cover and sew the finished lace cover  to the stocking.  Will it work?  Hope so!

I cut off the heavy elastic at the knee and the rest stretched quite firmly over the cover.  This is not a large guest book...7"x9". Not sure about the next step but so far so good...

I am not a lace snob... Just because some lace is machine made does not mean it is inferior to handmade lace.  There are some really crude handmade laces and some truly exquisite  machine-made laces.  Below is an example of the latter.  This is the sleeve from a very expensive silk  peignoir found at thrift store and is just lovely.  It blends perfectly with the silk and will be the base for the rest of the laces.  I have marked the center for the spine of the cover.  Do not forget to allow extra fabric for the spine.  I can see all my guide lines through the lace. 

I went through my finest laces and picked out the most delicate ones and antiqued the ones which were too white and now I will give them a good pressing.
And below is the picture I will print on fabric use on the cover..  Madison and Ryan... soon to be wed.

One has to begin somewhere!

It has been so long since I posted I'm not sure there is still anyone reading but one has to start somewhere.  Same with stitching....I haven't threaded a needle since March but I am ready to try again with new lights, magnifiers, and most important a new attitude and determination.

Since I have to begin somewhere it will be doing a cover for the guest book for my oldest granddaughter's wedding in March.  I will be using all my "good stuff" on this project..  You know - the stuff you save forever because it is too precious to use... Tomorrow I will trip on out to the barn to go through my favorite silks...

Those around for a while will remember posts about this particular adventurous granddaughter, Madi.   Madison has traveled all over Europe, Asia and South America  SOLO with a backpack, a budget, youth hostels and cheap transportation.  When she ran out of money she stopped and worked and then kept on. I was wondering if she would ever settle down.  She had plenty of scary encounters along the way.

But now at almost thirty she has found her "fella" and he loves traveling and the outdoors as much as she does.  To propose he took here back to the first mountain they climbed together....how romantic is that?

From great-great- grandmother to.....

I started this piece in 2010 when I ran across this picture of my grandmother  and my granddaughter at the same age and realized how much the world had changed for a young woman.  My granddaughter had college, travel and a chance to make decisions about the future.  At the same age her great-great-grandmother Margaret had to quit school as her father had arranged a marriage for her to a farmer 20 years her senior. Her mother had died when she was very young and her father thought he was providing a secure future for her. She had 4 children in rapid succession found farm life with a stern German immigrant unbearable.

In her day one of the few ways young women had to communicate was with a fan… The  difference between their lives was as great as the difference between the fan language and the cell phone.  Thus the inspiration of this piece of needlework.

I waited until my granddaughter had finally settled and has her own home to give her this for Christmas.

I actually disassembled a cell phone to put the numbers on this piece so you can  see how even cell phones have changed since 2010.  The text message on the phone roughly translates   

Dear great-great granddaughter Madi,   Your life is so awesome.  Between you and me, you are so lucky.  You go girl.  But “TGAL”think globally, act locally as even the smallest things you do affect everyone. From the bottom of my heart I love you. Love, Great great grandmother Margaret…

I wanted the colors to make a transition from somber and dark to vibrant and light. I stitched the  opposing corners first and the hand pieced the transition colors.

If you didn't notice, take a second look and check out the variety of fans I created and I   had some great seams on this piece.. You can see at this point of construction that I put down ribbons and trim over seams and then embellish them.

My adventurous granddaughter

My 25-year-old granddaughter Madison has traveled a lot in her life but the last few years she has been doing it  SOLO with a backpack, a budget, youth hostels and cheap transportation.  She worked all summer in Alaska and now plans to spend the winter seeing South America.  

This morning I heard from her.

I have been in Columbia for almost 3 weeks. I have been  from the white sand and turquoise water beaches to the amazing jungle. I did a 5-day hike to the Lost City and am now in the city of Medellin.  In a few days I'll head south to the coffee farms to do some hiking and exploring then to Cali to catch a 20 hour bus to Quito, Ecuador.

She has started a blog to journal her travels and to give tips and advice to others with wanderlust.  I usually find out afterwards when she's gone into the Moroccan desert alone or up some jungle river on a raft in Cambodia.    She's much braver than I am...   I chuckled when I read her list of things to put in your back pack and among the very few absolute necessities was a bottle of polish for her toe nails...

Mind Wanderings

DH will be out of town this weekend and I'm looking forward to some catch-up time and some house cleaning... As I'm finishing the CQJP blocks I am definitely tired of pastels... Whatever I do for 2014 will have to allow for some color variety..  After 3 years of the dark suffrage colors, a year of Morris black and white, and then a whole year of pastels I'm hungry for a real blast of color.

My granddaughter Madison took this picture in Morocco a while back and I absolutely fell in love with it.




I actually pieced a block to use with it... I tried Martha Greene's crumb method of piecing but wasn't happy with it at all and it went into the UFO basket... Maybe this spring I'll try another block.  What makes this photo great is all the repetitions of squares and rectangles and then that spot of blue... Something to think about and look forward to.  I have wanted to do this for her ever since she took the picture.