Winter Reading

 Winter!  Brings some boring days..--more so now, that we are cooped up--no sunshine days and cold temperatures--time to sit by the fireplace with a cup of tea and a good book.  I have so many to choose from making it a hard decision what to read first. I have many books on my Kindle, which I read when we travel.  I really love to have a physical book in my hands instead of a back lit screen!

There are more on my list but I chose these four to begin with--

Brad Thor, The Last Patriot--

"Navy SEAL turned covert Homeland Security operative

Scott Harvath must race to locate an ancient secret

that has the power to stop militant Islam dead in its tracks!"

This book #7 in the series--I found it on paperback swap

JJ Rusz's first book in series of 5 surrounding life in

Texas Big Bend National Park--The Window Trail--

I love reading books that take me to locations I love!

David Limbaugh's book "Jesus is Risen"

This is a great book to read along with the book of Acts in the Bible--

the story of Paul.  As I listen to Bible Recap podcast, I also

read the Bible and this book chapter by chapter--makes Paul

journey come alive.

Richard Osman "The Thursday Murder Club"  a mystery along

with some comedy--this has been fun reading.

This takes place in a peaceful retirement village with four

unlikely friends that meet up once a week to investigate unsolved

murders!  These are not just any friends but ones in their 80's!

British humor for sure!

Click, Click, Clack

 

Needles are flying in the evening!  My hands are working as fast as my pains allow!  I so enjoy knitting--but happier when I finish...................

Using stash yarns is the best!  This one began with three

yarns held together-two yarns were medium weight and the

third was light/fuzzy--worked with those till the fuzzy gray

ran out--onto the brim of the hat--simple easy to knit--actually,,

mindless!

Stash yarns again! holding two yarns together--sure

uses up those small bits that you don't know what to

do with--

Chicken Scratch????

 What the heck is Chicken Scratch Embroidery?!!  Here is the answer.....

Chicken Scratch embroidery (also known as Broderie Suisse, Australian Cross Stitch and Depression Lace) is a variation of cross stitch that is traditionally done on gingham fabric using perle cotton, mercerized cotton thread or stranded embroidery thread.  The gingham squares act as stitching guides and help to form a lacy pattern..

So why is it called Chicken Scratch anyway?  One thought is the main stitch looks like a chicken's track.  One story suggests the technique started during Great Depression when a woman wished to add lace to her plain gingham dress or apron (many of these aprons can still be found in antique shops)  So with only floss, she began to add lacy look to her plain gingham fabric.  Of course, husband thought it looked like "chicken scratches"!  

As stated above, this type of embroidery can also be called Amish embroidery, or snowflake embroidery.

Here is your chance to participate in a study of this interesting needlework-

Wise Craft is presenting a year long study in Block of the Month--

look at the details on the web page.

Siddi--Recycling.........................................................

 Siddi use an art form of recycling old garments into new useful items.  This was an interesting topic to research--So, who are Siddi people?

The Siddi (pronounced [sɪd̪d̪iː]), also known as Sidi, Siddhi, Sheedi or Habshi, are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. Members are descended from the Bantu peoples of the East African region. Some were merchants, sailors, indentured servants, slaves and mercenaries.

  .

This video shows one way they use old saris to make bedclothing or mattress pads for sleeping.

Pam Holland has an excellent blog on this type of textile art--

and check out Debbie's blog on this subject!

So Far So Good

 It's called progress!  Pulling out all my 2019/2020 UFOs--deciding which to tackle first--maybe, just maybe--the mojo is back!  It went away for awhile....................

This is my first start from 2021 Year of Stars by Piece and Quilt

I decided to use my  hand dyed fabrics--which I have a bucket full!

Some are natural dyed--like the blue is indigo

and the yellow is Osage orange

Finished Little Village designed by Jessica Dayon---  It was fun to make all these little houses with

different settings.

Yay!  Finished!  Well, sort of--need to quilt and bind;

that will be some handwork to do later--this has alot of 

small pieces but I managed!

OOPs!

You'd think I knew better!  I've only been quilting for zillion years--

but this one slipped right by me--

I usually make my binding right after I put the borders on the quilt top--

then press and binding is ready for the quilt--

did it this time too--Now, I'm ready to sew binding onto the quilt

after all the quilting work is finished and guess what??

Binding was short about a foot!

What to do?

There isn't any of this fabric in the major stash-

Thinking, thinking what to do--If there is any small amount of fabric left,

I chuck it into the bin along with all the other scraps.

I'm frantically, searching the scrap bin--pulling out all sorts of fabric

until...................I reach the bottom and there it was

just enough to make a 2.5" cut across and finish up the binding!

Whew!

Now and forever on, I'm measuring my binding to make sure there is

the right amount to bind the quilt!!

 

Anyone For Tea?

 I love tea!  Hot tea in the winter--cold ice tea during hot days.  Today I'm talking Hot Tea!  and how to keep it hot when you bring the teapot to the table.  

I have plenty of teacups!  Been collecting for years!  There were times, I'd pull

out a different cup and have a 'spot' of tea during mid afternoon.

Some of my cups are antiques, some were collected on trips to England, Wales,

Scotland

And teapots!  Glorious teapots!  Love those of different shapes and sizes.

again, a few are antiques, some newly made by pottery folks--never can

go wrong when you purchase a teapot!

To keep your tea nice and warm, you need tea cozies!

This is just one of ten free patterns from Noble Knits

Here are a couple of my knitted ones--look a little lost without the teapot!

This is one of my favorite tea cozies!  It is felted wool from a workshop back in the days!  this is the front..............

This is the back--I inlaid ribbon with beads--

The cozy is reversible!  The back side is inlaid with silk paper on wool felt!  On the left is other side--I just love, love this cozy--hope to make another one soon..

This s the cover I need most often--it seems most of my everyday teapots

have lost their lids!  Someone pours and lid falls off and breaks!

I've been working on this cozy for about a year--Cut out the pieces, place

them on blank surface and leave for several months--

This is the back--finally!  did some stitching and sewed the pieces

together with binding--then I forgot!! you need to make the inside.....

let's hope, I don't wait another year to get it done!

The recipe for the cozy came from this book--I'm not so elaborate as Rebekah is

but I like it--great book with super ideas--I might 'get around to' some day!!

Here is something to go along with the Tea!