Three Grown Women Sitting Around Colouring

Three grown women sitting around my kitchen table colouring.  We came up with the idea on Tuesday during a trip to the Bay area to visit Colleen's sister, a trip that was in the works since October, when I met Rosa Mae.  

My attempt to make an old design not to "artsy fartsy."   My interpretation anyways.  I am not sure I succeeded and can hardly wait until I get my embroidery going on it.  Don't get me wrong I love "artsy" this piece in my mind needed to stay more plain and to period that it was created.

If you have not guessed these pictures are kind of backwards in time.  Beginner here,  I really do need to spend more time in the tutorials....

I taught my dear friend, Colleen, to embroider after she learned all about colouring mediums, fabrics, stabilizers - Oh, yes, the whole nine yards....  She wanted to learn and that is all I/we  needed to hear.  All my drawers were opened to her and some even dragged out.  It was like Christmas!  She is a very fast learner and has some projects lined up in her imagination, and she are going to make them happen as her time and energy allow.

Colleen is one of my angels.  We were bonded together for eternity when she helped me through my first round of breast cancer.  When my hands hung down she lifted them.  It is my hearts desire to do the same for her.  Last week she was mentioning that all of her time commitments were completed and she was wondering what she would do.  No, she is not a quilter...  We ended up talking about embroidery as a possibility, and she tucked that away in her mind.  After our trip to see her sister and her work, plus stopping off at a quilt shop on the way home, she said that all that night she dreamt of doing the stem stitch and colouring fabric.  She also said, that she does not usually remember her dreams.  Figured it must have been a "sign."  :0)  She was in on the embroidery/colouring - so we planned to get together on Saturday.  Marie was in too.  

I have a treat of a slide show of our "field trip" last Tuesday, to visit her sister in Concord.  Rosa Mae, quilter extraordinaire, whose talent is amazing. Stay tuned in the next week, for a treat you will not  want to miss.  (I have to figure out how to do a slide show...)

Marie and Colleen chatting and working away.

Something I admire about Marie is that she has a talent for not being afraid to try something new.  She is does circles around me in researching things and she is the queen of gathering supplies,  Well, actually, Kim might be first.

Stuff I dragged out.

More stuff.

Some of Marie's stuff.

To be honest, this is not half of the stuff, and the process we went through.  We all had piles of books,magazines, colouring supplies, and fabric.  Yes, we were in heaven. It took us about an hour to wade through it all before we actually began.  But then it always takes time to prepare and gather, well for mumwua. (sp?)

Sorry, I did not have before and during our process/procedures pictures.  It was like Christmas and I forgot to take pictures.  Kim, I am getting there, but slowly....
Would you believe that three grown women were sitting around my kitchen table, colouring, yesterday afternoon?  We were and it was so much fun!

We are going to do it again, and you are invited.

Tea Towel for Eileen

A while back I shared with you the teeny tiny acorns that my blog friend, Eileen at My Quilting Porch, sent to me from her yard in Maryland.  Oh, they are so cute and I have them in a special place to enjoy every day.  As a thank you I embroidered this Tea Towel and sent it off to her.  My students got to see it last week, and now that she has it in her kitchen, I can show you it.

  

I love acorns and thought that you might enjoy seeing these.

Friday night coming down here and I am watching the end of Pride and Prejudice, the one with Matthew MacFadyen, our MI-5 guy :0)  So I'll wish you a peaceful weekend, I have my feet up after a long day and my embroidery beside me ready to go.

Thank you for stopping by.  

Munch and Mingle - Singing Angels

Once a month we have Munch 'n Mingle.  When I retired I looked forward to adding this event to my calendar.  We meet at 10 am and end with a light luncheon.  Each month we do something different.  This month Sue brought her ukulele and electrical key board.  During the month we each gave her the name of a favourite song.  She then looked up the music and words, and prepared hand outs.  Today Sue played each song and together we all sang along.  Before each song the person who selected the song  shared why the song was a favourite.  During many a song there was not a dry eye among us.  Some were light and sassy while others brought special meaning and memories of events of days gone by.  What was mine you ask?  Green Sleeves.  It was a melody that I selected to figure skate to at a figure skating event I performed in when I was a young girl.  Yes, back in the old country.  The melody reached deep inside of me as a young girl and still does today.  I had not heard it in a long time.  

  Sue singing along as she played.  

  Not shown is the dessert of brownies, chocolate chips cookies, and peach ice cream sundaes.   Yummy, to top off a hot dog, cole slaw, potatoe chips, olives and carrots.   

I think when we look back on the year this will be a highlight of some of the things we did.  The lives of each of these ladies is legend in each of their own paths.  It is a blessing to know them and share these times together. 

Give Away

Give away

In May 21st post:

http://www.silverthimbletalk.blogspot.com/

First Visit in a Long Time - County Fair

The following photographs are from a trip to the County Fair over the Memorial Day Weekend.   It has been years since we have gone and when we heard that "seniors" got in free, DH and I looked at each other and decided it sounded pretty inviting.  We enjoyed ourselves so much we are going to make it an annual event from now on. 

   The Roseville Opportunity Quilt was on display and of course the opportunity to purchase a ticket to win.  These ladies are very dedicated quilters and they were fun to visit with.
  An award winner.

 Another award winner.
   9 patch project by the River City Quilters Guild.  A friend, Paulette, volunteers for this project and teaches many children at the fair to make their very own first quilt.  She said, "It's so much fun." 

The following are pictures of several spinning guilds and the theme was Hawaiian dress.  Do they have sheep in Hawaii?  We were thrilled to see the exhibits because DH comes from family that traveled far and wide in the old country doing Sheep to Shawl competitions.
Working hard!
 Beautiful!
Well done!
This is very nice to see.  All indoors and air conditioning.  In the old country they do it out doors in the fields.


Happy carders.
 This shot is for Kim.  I was disappointed that Vince was not working this shift....
  Beautiful glass.
 Cute pillows, neck pillows and slippers.  This is the company that makes the cute flamingo slippers that a blogland buddy has on in her ID photo.  They are cute.  I looked for a pair like Kim's bunny slippers but they don't make them.
  This company make silk flower thingys that all the girls are wearing on hats and pants.  My daughter in heart makes the cutes ones to go on headbands for our little grand daughter who is one.
  People watching.  And, yes, she gave me permission to photographer her.
  Lots of young riders.  Brought back memories of years and years of Ride to Walk, a therapeutic horse back riding program our DS participated in.
  More people watching.  Got to love the hat.
  DH and I fell in love with the wheel barrel gardens.  Since DH is now planting out in the back forty, I call him my gentleman farmer now.
This one received the first place ribbon.
  I hope you can read some of the signs in this wheel barrel.   Dead, Alive.....
Cute ideas.
Sorry, I ended up with two of these.

We had a great time, wondered around to our hearts content, had our share of greasy food and headed on home.

Thank you for stopping by.

A Cause Worth Supporting

I received this from Crab-apple Hill this afternoon and am passing it on to you.  This is a joy to behold and a treat to see.  I pass it on to you for your consideration.

So many people around the world care about those of us who have struggled with breast cancer, so many people what to end breast cancer and work from deep in their heart, sharing their talent in the fight against it.

Thank You.

Forget-Me-Not Raffle Quilt

 

 

Click on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure link above

and it will take you directly to their website page where

you can purchase a "raffle ticket" that will give you a

chance to win this quilt!

 

A Give Away

http://yellowbirdart.blogspot.com/

Yellow Bird Art

Cute Site.

To Honour and Remember

I hang this flag:

• to honour our son who has just returned from being deployed for a year over seas.
  
• to honour his continuing service - for many years before that and his many years ahead.
• Thank you Andrew - it is an honour to be your mother. 
  

So You Want to Trace a Pattern by Hand - My Two Cents Worth

 Sewline Fabric Pencil

 Karisma Fabric Pencil

 Gelly Roll Pen - Fine

  Pigma Micron Pens

Here is my Two Cents Worth:

A blog land friend, Yvonne, emailed me with a great question. She is not happy with what she is using to trace her embroidery patterns onto fabric and from the sound of it, putting out good money "trying" different things to get a satisfactory end result.

Pigma Micron Ink Pens

• I like Micron Pigma Archival Ink Pens.
• Micro Pigment Ink for waterproof and fade proof lines.
• They come in many different colours.
• I like the 005 size. (That is the size of nib/tip of the pen.)
  
• Many stitchers find size 01 (which is a bit thicker) just fine.
• You can find the pens at your local art supply store and/or your local quilt shop. I have known people who have tried unsuccessfully to find them at their local fabric chain store and then travel on to a chain craft store only to find they did not carry them either.
  
• If you can afford only one, brown is your colour.
• If you can afford two and you do redwork, yup, you guessed it - red.

Gelly Roll Pens - Fine

• I like them as long as they have a fine tip and they are permanent ink.
• They come in assorted colours also.  Follow the above suggestions.

Tips for when you are using the pens -

1. Light touch is best.
   
2. Never use a Sharpie as the ink just spreads on the fabric.
3. For long lines, you do not have to make a long hard line, try light dashes. However, you do have to remember that is what you did. Perhaps make a pencil note on your master paper pattern to juggle your mind when you get to doing your stitching.
4. To mark stitches like french knots, cross stitches and lazy daisy leafs when your are tracing onto your fabric, make a tiny or small dot.
   
5. Be sure not to hold your pen tip down on the fabric for long in one spot.
6. Freezer paper ironed onto the back of the fabric before you trace your pattern will stabilize the fabric if the fabric is a loose weave, ie., some linens.  Now having said that sometimes with wiggly type fabrics I tape the fabric down with masking tape over the pattern and hold the fabric firm with my other hand in the area that I am tracing.  I am afraid, on some fabrics, that the little bit of wax that might be left on the surface will not let the Pellon stabilizer fully adhere to the fabric. Yet, that is just me.  With todays good quality quilting fabrics I do not use the freezer paper on the back of the fabric.
7. A friend, Pat, the one pictured in the STABLE post, is taking my class, and told us that she puts her pens in a plastic bag because it keeps them from drying out. Another friend, Marie and her canine buddies, who dropped by last night, said she keeps fabric ink pens in a plastic bag and keeps the bag in the bottom of her refrigerator. Guess where my pens are now. I suppose I should put my markers for scrap booking in the refrigerator too. Now the trick is to make room in the refrigerator, but for sure the Pigma pens are in the refrigerator now. It just makes sense.

Karisma Fabric Retractable Pencil

• It is not your regular everyday pencil lead that is known to smug and not erase away fully.
• It is a fabric pencil lead made in Japan, and comes in white, yellow and lead colour.
• I use it when I want to mark (lightly) on my quilt tops and be able to erase the marks away. Yup, it really does erase away.
• It works well for those who do not have a steady hand when tracing embroidery patterns and are making "mistakes" when using the Pigma or Gelly Roll pens.
  
• Keep the lines light and thin.

Sewline Fabric Pencil

• Same information as the Karisma Pencil.

Ink Jet Printer

• That is a whole other process that I will blog about another time.  I just wanted you to know that you can do it on some fabrics, with not too bad results. 

I apoligize the pictures are all at the top of the page as I am still wrestling with their placement.

Please let me know if you find "My Two Cents Worth" helpful.

This information can not be copied and/or posted without my permission.

Thank you for stopping by the blog.

Friday Baking Challenge - The Bakewell Tart

My angel standing guard over MY Bakewell Tarts.

I did a lighter amount of glaze.  We voted here that the 

glaze was just enough.  A neighbour, who owns a deli,

popped by for a minute and was happy to take one home 

for his evening snack.  I will be very interested in his

thoughts on the tart.  My DH (the aspiring breakfast

chef) just came in and said that he  gives it 

a three out of three thumbs up.

Friday Baking with NotQuiteJuneCleaver

The Bakewell Tart:

Pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour 6 ounces Unsalted butter, soft 1 Egg yolk 2 teaspoons caster sugar Cold water as required – only a couple of teaspoons probably

Filling:

4 ounces Unsalted butter 4 ounces Caster sugar 2 Eggs 2 ounces ground almonds (you can do this in a coffee grinder – clean of course! or food processor) 2 ounces Self Raising flour 1 teaspoon Almond extract Strawberry jam

Icing:

2 cups Confectioners Sugar 1-2 tablespoons water or whatever you need to make a glaze Glacé cherries (half for each tart)

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and sugar and mix with a knife (it’s more effective than a spoon). Add enough water to bring the dough together – you’re aiming for firm but not hard. I always use my hands to do this as it gives you better control. If you’ve added too much water and the dough is sticky, don’t panic – just add a little more flour. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes no more than 30.

Preheat oven to 400°F grease 12-14 individual pie tins or use a couple of muffin tins (12 muffin size) – Roll out the pastry using as little flour as possible.  Using a cutter slightly bigger than the diameter of your  tin, cut out circles. You will have to re-roll the pastry to get enough but it’s very good natured and will re-roll several times.  Line the greased tins with the pastry circles, crimping the edge as you would for a pie and spoon some jam (about a teaspoon) onto each pastry.  Now make the almond filling. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, and after each egg, add half of the ground almonds. The mix will curdle but don’ panic – as soon as you add the flour it will correct itself.  Add the flour and almond extract and stir well. You can just mix it – there’s no need to fold or be careful. Spoon this mix into each pastry and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. This is because the pastry is fragile when fresh from the oven and firms as it cools.  Mix together the Confectioners sugar and water until smooth and glossy – adjust the measurements as required to get the right thickness for a glaze. You’re aiming for thick but still runny, opaque and glossy.  Spoon onto the top of each cooled tart. Before fully set, add half a glacé cherry on top – LOVELY to behold, LOVLIER to eat!

Happy Baking Everyone!