Busy-Busy

Busy-busy days! Tax time in US and the end of financial year in Japan. No time for life at all! Only work! I have not more then 45 minutes to stitch yesterday, but still want to share some progress. There it is – new pouch coming!

There is something I want to show you also. Few days ago they sold out on e-bay vintage tablecloth. The price was way too high for me, but I saved couple of photos and want to show it to you. Don’t you think it is beautiful rouses?I wonder who did such a gorgeous needlework?
I found similar designs by Ellen Maurer-Stroh and want to display it here.

Love you all!

Pouch For My Camera

I almost forgot to tell you! I am still craving for spring, so I decide to make something with flowers yesterday. It is small pouch for the camera I have in my purse. Now it is protected and covered with some roses. Just for spring! Isn’t it lovely?

I also choose to make another pouch for camera, with the pockets for an extra batteries and cord – I think it will handy to have for travel! There it is new roses start growing on the blue linen! It will also some ribbons, lilac and bunny!
And finally I made pillow with birds and some tartan-like fabric on the back of it. Oh, I love red and gray!!! I still continue to look for new ideas and designs…

Two Hours Project

A biscornu is an eight-sided embroidered pillow that can be used as a pinch cushion, ornament, or key chain. Sometimes they filled with dry flower petals or herbs to make a sachet... Not mine - but it is good idea!
There are step by step instructions. It took for me about two hours to make small biscornu, but I took time to make tea, talk, walk, watch TV in between – I wasn’t busy, I just enjoy to do something new.

First step – I stitched two squares, they suppose to have same size. It is important!Then I cross-stitched two designs. The designs do not have to be identical; in fact it is better, if they are not. More excitement!

Next step is to find a middle of top design and joining the corner of one side to the middle of the edge of the other side is what creates the shape of a biscornu. (It was hardest part of the project!)

Then I made a stitch by passing threaded needle underneath the backstitch of the previously-marked center of the second square. When assembling a biscornu, the needle should always be passed through the backstitching without ever piercing the fabric – that’s what somebody told me! But… It is not easy… I missed a target couple of times… Please, keep the secret!

I stuffed my biscornu and make sure to push stuffing into the corners. And finally I sew on buttons. The thread should go from one button, pass all the way through the center of the biscornu, and then go thorough the other button. Simple!

And voila – my first in the life biscornu hanged next to the others broderie rouge – not like I speak French! I just love sound of it - broderie rouge… Fancy, ha?

PS. It is no snow in Russia – all snow immigrated to the Michigan! We woke up in the winter wonderland! What a lovely gift for my husband’s birthday!
Next week I will have b’day also, and together we will 100 years old!!!! I can’t get it out of my mind! I still feel like 15… I will three times 15, actually!

Lovely Lousy Day

esterday was lousy day. But a lovely one!

My cold almost gone, even so - I am still too lazy to start any new projects. I return home, collapsed on the couch in front of TV and pretended to be blooming couch potato!

Actually, I love it! Despite my usual attempt to keep busy, I always happy to have time for doing nothing…

Doing nothing really means to me to have time to write (and I did! I wrote two new articles for the Russian magazine!); it is also meant to exercise in painting – and I did it also!

It's turn to be not too good - but oh, well... I do it for pleasure, not for being famous. And I truly enjoy making mess on paper! I want to learn how to paint roses now.

I also continued to stitch my cherubs. They have more vines now and soon I will need to find more room for birds in between vines.

But the biggest pleasure of yesterday’s evening came from the animated film version of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. We spent lovely evening in front of TV, and I want to share it with you.

Amazing music together with the stop-frame film, directed by Breakthru Films and director Suzie Templeton, offers new and intriguing interpretation of the story… Poor duck didn’t survive, but you still can listen her quacking inside wolf’s stomach! Two hunters look like a maniacs, so Peter decide to safe life of wolf and let him go… Most of all I was surprised to see unbelievable beautiful puppets – in some way it is hard to imagine they are not alive! You can watch part of trailer on-line and read more about how the animation was made.
We are often spent time watching PBC or University of Michigan channels – what a source of good music, art, and entertainment! It is coming to blame on TV for low-cultural events and bad taste. I can’t – these two stations like a fresh air for us…

Fairy of Sewing Machine and Muse of Stitching

airy of Sewing Machine and Muse of Stitching visited me last weekend.

I will not tell they came in time! I have cold and chills, and my stomach is hurting, I sound like a wolf in the morning, my nose is red from constant whipping; my eyes are crying and red also (in celebration of Easter Bunny, of course!).
All what I can do last few days - just sneeze and snooze.

But Muse and Fairy didn’t ask my opinion, they just came! They made me open my Singer (oh, how dear they are!), they made me to take out of closet all my linens and stock of fabric and start working. I wasn’t happy about it – but what can I do???
We canceled Easter dinner with our dearest friend Marian, because I don’t want to give her my cold. It is only time when I am greedy and not able to share joy of getting sick with my friends. So my hubby ordered perfect Easter dinner from Chinese restaurant near, and we didn’t kill for food any Easter baby lamb, bunny or chicken – I am so proud of us! We had sweet-and-sour pork and the hottest soup in the menu.
I took leftover of soup with me to the office today and will continue my treatment – nothing, believe me, nothing can be better then hot and spicy soup now! I still have cold and chills, but I feel slightly better…

Is it soup or Muses helped me? I have no idea… But there are photo’s of some new staff I made. Unfortunately the Muse of Camera left me, in danger of get infection, and I made really lousy photos. Even worse – I can’t find half of them… Sorry… I will wait when she will back and make more pictures!

I made four pillows, using mix of vintage and new linens. Muse left me on the middle of making them – first two turn to be much better looking then second two. Oh, well – it is all her fault! I just try to do my best!

A few bowl fillers, shaped as a heart (of course!) with birds and blooms.

And two last red embroidered hearts finally stitced and staffed. Then Muse and Fairy left me for good.... I slept like a baby after all!

Time to Appreciate Routines

es, it is time, when I finally solve another small part of happy-life equation! I think the key to it in routines.

I should tell you first, of course I love, I absolutely LOVE un-expectable (seems like I misspell it, sorry!) nice and good things happens to me. Things like a first flowers in the garden, kiss of the very first winter frost on my cheek, phone call from my friend, good book…
But lately my life became more stressful, much more stressful then I really can handle. My car starts smoking once and I swear! Oh, gosh – it was the most horrific and dreadful swears in Russian! Likely, it was nobody around who can understand it! Then I found myself crying in the shower one morning few months ago. After all I found I can’t see local news anymore – story of Kwame Kilpatrick finally rich a point, when it is time to make a Hollywood thriller. I even wrote series of articles on Scandal for my Russian audience! But I can’t and I don’t want to know about it anymore!

Economy going down, gas prices up, war is still here, president’s campaign having crazy twists every single day, our medical bills coming every second like a snow flakes at Christmas morning, my daughter’s car have recall, bla-bla-bla… NO!!! Stop it! I want routine! I don’t want any changes in my life anymore!

And I do have routines, which give me comfort and illusion of static life! I worship them!

I brush my teeth every morning (just joking!). Not THAT kind of routines I talking about!
Tea for example! I love to came home and make a tea – not from tiny bags, (Shhh, I call them “Tea in the condoms”) but real, reach in flavor and color loose tea I keep in the special tea-box, decorated with roses and blooms. I love time of tea!

It is ritual. I boil water, I preheat my old green teapot form Prague
(I just realize, this teapot already 23 years old and travel with me thru the countless places all over the world!), I carefully measure small spoon of tea, I wait precisely 3 minutes, then I remove leafs of tea. I took off the shelf my favorite green cup, put in two slices of paper-thin sliced lemon, add spoon of sugar and … ahhh… it is my time after all! I repeat ritual once more very late in evening. And so on – every day of my life.

And sure, my needlepoint is another routine. I sip my tea and make few stitches, more sip and more stitches… It is almost perfect time of the day, what can be more pleasant!

However it can!

Another routine – treasure hunt! But it is guilty pleasure... I try to give up an addiction of checking thrift stores and flea markets around. Anyway I can’t buy all linens and china I love ( don’t get me wrong – I want to! I just can’t afford to buy ALL of them!) But I still do shopping, and still feel guilty...

There is some new treasures I found Monday - honest, I didn't mean to buy them, but I can’t resist! And who would be?
Who can resist having prettiest small tea-set? It is smaller then posy next to it! And each cup, and creamer, and saucer decorated with roses! Look at this!

Who can resist having $2.00 crispy clean runner – blue and cherry-red! It promised me endless possibilities – I can make bag for pajama, two tote bags or I cover my diary in lovely linen… I must have it!

The routine of ironing vintage linens – ahhh… It is only time when I enjoy to take an iron in my hands. Well – I think it is normal… I think… Do you think so? Who would be happy to iron piles of shorts or pants?
But linens - Oh, I love ironing linens!

That’s why I didn’t move too much with my needlework yesterday – I only have time to stitch tiny bird in the bottom and fall asleep early…
Happy Routines to you too, my dear-dear friends!

Post About Nothing.

hat’s right! Nothing happened since yesterday. I didn’t sew, stitch, cook, clean or even read. I have a migraine! Best what I can do just fall asleep and try to sleep as long as possible. So I did. It helps little bit, as usual.

Early in the morning I received e-mail from my daughter with BACON. She knows how much I love bacon! Who doesn’t? There it is:

The photo of bacon doesn’t have any special meaning in my post. Sorry – it just make me smile! Who was this crafty woman, who weaved bacon strips?!! I have no idea, but I should admit – it is fun!

I make photos of couple my old projects and want to share with you.

It is two socks, or stockings (I still not understand difference, even I open dictionary …). Usually it takes an evening or two to finish them. In winter they hold dry lavender or ivy. In summer, I place small, vintage apothecary bottle with water and keep fresh flowers from my garden. Either way it works and looks good!

Another is holder for the cinnamon sticks – oh, I love this one! Sometimes I found pattern I love, and in excitement, I start stitching without thinking HOW actually I will use it! That was one of such projects. Surprisingly, it is one of my favorite.

Ooops! Cinnamon sticks mysteriously disappeared, I just noticed it. What happened??! I have no idea…

My David Austin roses came, and I even didn’t open the box.

I don’t know what to do now – it is still cold in Michigan. I can’t plant them… I don’t have garage to keep them… Our tiny garden house (in reality it is just a shed to keep lawnmower and tools) too cold, I suppose, and roses will not survive… Besides, I can’t keep them at home – it is too worm, buds will reinforced to grow. Is anybody can tell me what I suppose to do now?

What I dreaming about...

should admit – I am a Dreamer. Big one!

Every night, when I going to the bed I close my eyes and dream about… Ahh, I have so much to dream about!

I dream to travel – if you only know how much I would love to do it! The day I would win big lottery ticket I will pack small back pack and purchase dozens tickets to the any destination in the world. One problem – I always forgot to buy this lottery ticket! (Please, somebody, remind me!) Australian beaches called me! South of France and my favorite Normandy crying of me!

Cottages in Devonshire bagging me to see their beautiful gardens! Newer mind, thre are also New Zeeland, Alaska, Venezuela and my home – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia! I would love to do it!
I even made pajama’s bag for travel. And I almost newer used it. Only once I took it to my trip to Chicago last August.

It is SO wrong!

I made the bag from vintage ticking with roses, cotton for quilting, and, of course, some my cross-stitch.

Another my dream is to have house in the fields of lavender. I newer will tired from lavander-blue. I can close my eyes and picture my white dream home, surrounded by waves and fragrances of lavender. I imagine english roses, creeping to the wall; little white bistro table in the cool shadow of old three; small creek on the bottom of hill; cat sleeping on the window... And heavy forest surrounding my little farm.

Quiet, only sound of mucking bird from the sky…

I dream to write short novels, and it is only one of my dreams, which actually slowly coming thru. I write in Russian, and I am not bad at all! But I am dreaming (again!) to improve my English enough to be able to ....

I am hopeless dreamer…

But my biggest and only one really important dream is - I wish (oh, I wish it so hard!) my daughter will healthy and newer-ever sick again. I dream she will meet “the one and only”, married and (oh, I am so selfish!) will have kids. I would happy to read them Russian fairytales, teach them to paint. I would build tiny play house in my garden and let them have all puppies and kittens in the world. But I will OK if she only will healthy, that’s more then enough for me!

Vintage linens for my home

One kitchen towel can make a difference in the bedroom. I always purchase vintage towels, runners, bedlinen or tablecloth. Even they slightly damaged or have some spots. I still can find what to do with them. There are two cushions for my bedroom, made from one tea towel and leftovers of fabric my darling sister-in-law gave me. It took about an hour to put it all together. You probably already know my absolute passion for bedlinen and anything embroidered. And if I don’t have enough, I always can make mine own. Like a this one:

Or this one, with monogrammed “E”, because my real name is Elena, even everyone call me Lenka. I made it in same colors as the violets and used same fabric.

More birds and some roses

My daughter's gift - the birdhouse and Chicadee for Mothers Day. They look so good together!

There is always more rooms for the birds in my garden and house. Every day we feed them.
Dozens of small fellows coming every morning and waiting for me to refill bird fitters. Dozens of them meet me, after I return from job and will feed them again. A few squirrels looking to my windows bagging for food as soon as they can see light in the house. Sometimes two raccoons come to take lunch next to the squirrels. One single, and totally unmarried bunny, and one opossum, who’s family’s history we don’t know, often visiting us. And one neighbor coming to the time of feeding, and makes nasty comments from the other side of fence. One more wild animal we have. I should feed him too, perhaps… Or call animal control… Like a Scarlet O’Hara I always tell myself “I will think about him tomorrow!”

Today I show some more birds from my home collection. First is mosaic ( Hi, Penny from Lavander Hill Studio! I love your blog!). This is fist what I see when I wake up every moning. Oh, no - my husband always first, then mosaic!

I think it is newer enough eggs for Easter, so I have more now!

This two pillows I made few years ago. Titanic project I hardly finished, but I am glad I did – love them!

moment to spare, so I'm here writing another post.
Couple days ago I found stunning blog, unfortunately it is in French. (I don’t speak French at all – what a shame!) However I can enjoy photos – it is understandable! Design and choice of colors absolutely incredible! Awww, I wish I can be so good… Shown below a few picks from blog named EHOUIMAPOVLU7

Finally I finish part cross stitch with the birds, but still don’t have any idea what to do with it. Oh, well! It can wait!

I also started another heart for Valentines and I can see some progress.

Day off

We have snow last Friday, so much snow! Whole 3 inches – make me smile. I am Russian girl, I know what it’s mean to have lot of snow. However, out company decide to give us day off – what a joy! It seems like I had vacation.

I drove to Ann Arbor and spent two wonderful days with my doter. She is delightful, full of energy and projects. Despite her brain surgery, she doing more then well at university – she will have TWO diplomas next year! And she looks so beautiful and healthy. I pray so hard every day, I hope her tumor newer will grow back, I hope it newer ever will turn to be malignant… She sure loose weight after all, now she is size 2, I guess. So we did some shopping for her, we stop for long-long dinner at Panera; it is place to take your laptops and browse… And we talk, talk a lot about her dreams, her life, everything what happened in past couple weeks. It seems to me that I have one of the happiest days in my life…

And I even have time to do some needlepoint too. There are two finished projects – heart for Valentine’s Day and sheep with snowflakes. Both inspired by internet search, mostly it was French blogs this time.

My sweet little needlepoint

"In the glad morn of blooming youth
These various threads I drew,
And now behold this finished piece
Lies glorious to the view.

So when bright youth shall charm no more
And age shall chill my blood,
May I review my life and say
Behold my works were good."

I don't know who wrote it, but I love this short poem, it is about me. I making few stitches every single evening. Well... May by I'm having couple days off during the year, but it is sad days.

Something bad must happened if I didn't take needle in my fingers.

Many designs I "borrowed" from old traditional samplers, some designs pop up out of nothing and I just quickly put them on a wool. All of them different - I newer was too committed to any single style.

I have mood for Quakers, Ukrainian, German or New-England today, but tomorrow it can be new idea and new design. I didn't use somebody patterns most of time, but often use them as an inspiration.

You can click on picture and open it.