Friendship is a Sheltering Tree

Today I was able to get some concentrated stitching time in on the Tree project, and I thought I'd share the process here.

The goal for today was to embroider the words Friendship is a Sheltering Tree in the open space.

I am not the world's most competent free-hand artist, so I knew that I would have to use Word and find a font I liked.

I didn't want to risk writing directly on the fabric, so I traced the phrase onto cheesecloth and basted it into place on the hanging.

Once it was on the piece I did a simple running stitch along the words.

and when I was finished I trimmed the cheesecloth close to the words and pulled it away.

After the cheesecloth was removed I went over the running stitch with a wrap, filling in the spaces, and was left with this -

The last decisions are whether or not to add more leaves and whether to stitch just Coleridge or Samuel Taylor Coleridge below.
I think just Coleridge would be best, but I do get caught up in the what-ifs of designing...

Keep Calm and Craft On

Joining Nicole today for KCCO.
Here is the quilt top for the elementary school project I started in December.
The blue is the back, but I think I need to get a little more and use it as a border on the front.
I hope to finish up the quilting and binding by the end of the week.
What's on your work table today?

Weekly Stills (a day late)

I spent the weekend with The Singers on a singing tour of central Minnesota.

We sang with some really talented and committed young people. It was terrific fun!

We didn't get back until after 8 yesterday, and as the baby hadn't taken much liquid nourishment since I left on Saturday (still resistant to the idea of a bottle, but don't worry, she eats solids) I spent the evening nursing said sweet babe.

Consequently, I am a day late with my weekly stills.

The Youngest is taking a few shaky steps here and there. 

Reading.

Sewing.

I got these peg people for the kids to paint. They jumped right in and though the dining room table is a paint-covered mess (along with the floor) fun was had and the little people are sweet.

We drove back from Baxter, MN, where we spent our second day of touring, through a pretty exciting snow storm. Our driver was a pro, and he made great time getting us home.

This is my favorite kind of snowstorm. So very beautiful.

What's going on in your world today?

Joining Emily with Weekly Stills

4 of 52

The Youngest tried eating with a spoon for the first time this week with moderate success.
The Eldest was working on a sewing project on the bed this morning.
The Younger wasn't interested in being photographed, so he hid behind his favorite book.
Joining Jodi at Che + Fidel for 52 portraits.

Weekly Stills

Since I spend the most time with her, The Youngest is the star of Weekly Stills
1. Crackerface
2. Ice Fishing on a 40 degree day, not too brainy...
3. My dream home is for sale. Now to win that powerball.
4. Bundled for a sleepy walk.
5. Gloomy view from the fifth lamp down.
6. Downtown from the fifth lamp south.
7. The Youngest dressed like a polar bear (alternate from yesterday's 3 of 52)

Joining Emily for Weekly Stills.

3 of 52

Joining Jodi at Che + Fidel for the 52 portraits project.

Walking home from the bus with The Elder
Dinner with The Younger, who runs hot and never wants to wear his shirt.
The Youngest home from a walk, dressed like a polar bear and preparing to eat a shoe.

Driving with the Youngest

The Youngest is teething. These four words have dire consequences for the sleep in our house. The morning naps have been few and far between and the afternoon naps almost non-existent. This afternoon after 3 failed attempts at a nap I decided to go run errands. As I pulled up to our first stop I went to get The Youngest and she had fallen asleep. Rather than wake her up I got back in and drove home. When I got there I realized that her best interests would be better served by staying in the car so we went on a drive around the neighborhood. We live by a lovely riverside drive, so we went through the woods and by the lake, and saw these intrepid people ice fishing on a 40 degree day.

A little later we drove by Harriet Island -

Then we finally arrived back home after about an hour and then it was time to meet the Elder and the Younger at the bus stop.
We had a lovely walk home and now it's time for a snack.
How was your day?

900

My hubby thinks I place too much value on perceived milestones.
For example, yesterday was the 18th anniversary of our first kiss. I think that's pretty significant. Let alone the fact that we were 18 and so that's half of our life ago, if we hadn't had that particular kiss we probably wouldn't have the life we have, or our beautiful children.
He still thinks I am a little more sentimental than necessary.
Last week I had a little milestone in my blog.
I wrote my 900th post on Friday (which was the anniversary of our first date 18 years ago, by the way).
900 is almost 3 times the length of an Austen novel. It's the longer than Game of Thrones.
I guess the number just made me take stock.
Anyway, I celebrated the fact that the temperature today was nearly in the 30s by having a little jaunt up to the Fifth Lamp to snap a shot.
I don't even remember the last time I went up there, but I need to get back into the habit.

The Youngest is teething and so she declined her usual 8:30 nap. 

She wasn't all that impressed with the alternative

Thanks for joining me for these past 900 posts, and I look forward to sharing many more with you.

Treasures

Yesterday I made a pilgrimage to one of my favorite junk/antique shops - The Mall of Saint Paul.

I was on the lookout for a typewriter that was more functional than the one we currently have. Unfortunately, though I went in willing to pay between $15 and $20, they wanted me to pay between $50 and $99, so I didn't come away with one.

Some other things that didn't quite make the cut - 

 The Hubby loves his Baileys on a chilly winter night, but as these were a sugar bowl and creamer I opted not to get them (why anyone would need a creamer and sugar bowl for a Baileys is kind of beyond me...) he thought they were creepy anyway, so I'm glad I left them there.

 Cooking With Soup. I don't know why I was so tickled by this title, but I was. Perhaps it is the photo?

This map was my favorite thing, by far, though it was far outside my price range and it was huge so I don't know where it would realistically go in my house.
In the end I did get a new juicer for me and a super fun mailbox toy for The Youngest.

So it turned out to be a productive trip, even though I didn't get what I was looking for. Next time, perhaps.

Stills: A Weekly Collection

So one of the awesome things about this internet is meeting people with similar interests who are far away.
I met Emily last week through the 52 portraits project and was introduced to her weekly collection of stills.
I have started a 365 project on flickr, and I thought it would be a nice way to keep me on task if I joined in.

1. This typewriter doesn't function anymore, except to fascinate my lovelies.
2. A misty morning drive past the cathedral.
3. A visit to the fish at the zoo.
4. This cow changes its attire for each season, I can't wait to see the next outfit.
5. An early morning grocery trip for birthday breakfast.

2/52

I realized this week that I rarely get to spend time with The Elder, This was the best photo of her this week.
I'll need to remedy that next week.
Joining Jodi at 52 portraits.

Applique Project

I posted a few weeks ago about a fun project teaching 2nd graders embroidery.
After finishing up some pre-Christmas stuff, I jumped back in to the assembly of our tree today.
Now, in a perfect world, when you want to applique something with felt you apply wonder under to the felt prior to cutting it out and then you can just iron it on.
With the kids, however, we just cut out the felt. We avoided having beautifully embroidered sticky sides this way.

So to apply the wonder under I arranged them face-down on parchment paper and laid the fusible webbing on top, then when I ironed the lot I didn't get sticky glue all over the ironing board.
Then I could cut out around the leaves and also catch the little hanging out threads away without having anything fray.
Now I just have to arrange the 105 leaves on the tree, and attach them. Should be lots of fun.
The hearts above will be a flower garden.
Can I just say that the kids did amazing work on this stuff? I am so impressed with everything they made.