olderrose

 It is less than a week now until we leave on our long awaited and long planned anniversary cruise.  I wanted to do something special for the 40th anniversary and  it became my most beloved piece of CQ.  ..  

The inspiration for this project was a piece of cross stitch I did for our first anniversary.   So I began  by doing the main focal point  of a floral heart and bluebirds.

Now what to use for a foundation?  I had an vintage tea table cover of lace and linen.. The linen had several holes and was stained spots.  I had just waiting for the perfect project...  The linen center is about 20" square so it is a substantial piece.  It not a piece I can carry about to work on.






I had been collecting hankies for years and had all these lovely hankies.. and with all the hearts and roses it seemed like a match made in heaven.  Many of the hankies belonged to my late mother-in-law.

Once I got started the rest just seems to follow...I surrounded the focal piece with laces and began the secondary bluebird images. Except for replacing one hanky that didn't work, there were really no big problems or decisions...  It all just flow from my heart.  I never worked on it that I didn't think of our marriage and all the memories.

Our first date was Halloween 1976 and we eloped 3 weeks later Thanksgiving weekend...flew to Hawaii and got married..  Everyone thought we were crazy but it has been the best decision I ever  made...