New business!

I've got a deal with the neighborhood restaurant to make these pillows - a brainchild of one of the owners. My plan (Julie's idea) was to go there and stitch one day a week... have lunch, then SEW SOME SEEDS (for business) as well as some SEAMS! Well, the owner saw me stitching and asked if I could make pillows for her niece's three children, who call her "Auntie Pillows." While we talked, she thought about registering the name and selling them in the restaurant! So I'll be madly sewing pillows for a while! I'm very excited about this!

The center section is hand-embroidered, and I purposely chose a simple quilt block pattern for the outer portion to cut down the time it takes to complete each pillow since the embroidery takes so long. I'll be changing the design a little for the store owner's three pillows. She requested that I make each pillow with the kids' names on them so they say:

name
love,
Auntie Pillows

This particular pillow will be for display in the store, with a sign that says customers can order pillows in their own colors.

I'm hoping I can sell other items through her shop as well - pin cushions, small quilts, tea pot cozies and napkins, soap, greeting cards...

My Light Table

Here's the "light table" I use to trace my patterns onto fabric for redwork. It's homemade - just a piece of Plexiglas and one of those lights you mount under a cabinet. I started using it about 10 years ago for calligraphy, and what I like best about it is that I can adjust the angle to suit me as I go along. The board rests in my lap (it's not heavy), and I can move it a little or a lot as I trace a pattern. It measures 19 by 24 inches. I got it at a hardware store and it must have come pre-cut because I would never ask for those measurements! The light rests on my desk top (it's not hot), and the bulb seems to never burn out!

When not in use, I store the Plexiglas under the desk and the light on a shelf behind my desk. (It stays plugged in.)

Front view - from over my chair


Back view - so you can see the light fixture better. It measures 12.5 inches long.

Pinkwork for Deena

My friend Deena LOVES pink! And we both love tea parties. Here is a pillow-in-progress I'm making for her; it's almost finished. I'm stitching the dedication on the back of the pillow, then I'll sew front to back and put a pillow form inside.

The floss is two strands of DMC (not sure what color number). It was fun to stitch this!

Redwork stuff

I have been collecting Redwork patterns for about a year now.

I keep a jar of vinegar and water on my shelf and put handfuls of floss in it at a time. I don't take the wrappers off while the floss soaks so the skeins don't tangle when I take them out. Recipe: 8 oz water plus 1 Tbsp vinegar. Soak floss for 8 hours or longer. Then rinse with cold water till it doesn't smell like vinegar, and drip dry. My favorite red is DMC #304.


Here is some floss, washed and dried, ready to go. Also some red buttons, in my vintage enamal pan with red stripe. Surrounded by glass jars holding dog biscuits and buttons, and pictures of my son, age 5 or 6 (that was about 12 years ago) on the French bulletin board behind the shelf.


I keep my Redwork info and patterns on the CQ and Embroidery shelf. Everything goes into the notebook asap so I can find it when I want it! I do try to read all the info before I put it in the notebook, so I know what's in there.


...and some copyright-free patterns I printed from the internet yesterday, on my desk, waiting to be filed in the Redwork notebook. I got these flower and alphabet patterns here: http://www.ladiesinred.org.

Calligraphy Pens and Hand Made Cards

Here is all my calligraphy pariphernalia and my hand made cards. Part of my ongoing project called "Clean Up the Studio So You Can Find What You Need." These things were already in order, but now they're documented, too!

All my nibs (on my closed laptop)



Calligraphy stuff back in the box and the box on the shelf.







Many of my hand made cards are here, in a cabinet in my studio. I keep them in recycled tissue boxes and file by subject (wedding, baby, some all-occasion cards, too) so I can find an appropriate card quickly when I need it.




I keep my favorite dip pen, some black ink, and quite a few cards in a basket I can take to another room. It's handy, portable, useful, and decorative. I usually have what I need in this basket. There are also some other pens, in case I feel like writing with them, but only pens I really like!

Paper Bag Folio for Cards

I was writing a thank you to a dear friend on some lovely stationery and my dip pen the other day. I decided I really didn't like the plastic box the stationery came in, so I made a rustic looking folio from a paper bag, labeled it with the dip pen, and tied it with some selvage from a quilting project.

double-sided tape to stick the sides down.



dip pen and my favorite mug with tea

home at last!

FINALLY, I'm not working outside my home any more. Finally, I have "free" time to spend creating, to nurture my soul to benefit my family. This is what I was meant to do with my life - create beautiful, functional things and share them. Perhaps there will be a way to earn an income, too. My life-model is the Proverbs 31 woman. She provides food and clothing for her household, invests her time and money wisely, and brings honor to her family.

I have been suffering with minor health problems for a couple of years now, and being out of the corporate world will help with that tremendously; I already feel better. Hubby is very supportive; what a blessing! There's a lot of healing power in handwork - definitely a different rhythm to the hours. I was meant to live at a slower pace than I've been able. I've spent the last few weeks adjusting to my new life, and I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I have many sewing projects in progress and many more in my head for the the near future. My goal is to spend as much time as possible each day in creating, sewing. This will require some re-organization of my two (!) sewing rooms.

A friend gave me good advice recently: "Get your housework done by 10:00 every morning, and the rest of the day is free for sewing!" I'm shooting for 9:00 on the days when I actually DO housework - heh heh!

I will figure out this blog thing and get some pictures posted soon. After all, too many words are boring!

SEW STRONG; BE STRONG!
This is my motto for life.