Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas Presents from dH




I know I'm going to make a lot of my friends jealous by posting these pictures, but they are just too lovely not to post! The box is actually an ammunition box that I am keeping jewelry parts and charms in. What I think is neat is that the knobs on each drawer look like little spools. Each drawer has two compartments -- the second picture shows only one compartment of a drawer. The last picture is of a lovely restored Victorian era frame that I may use some day to house a crazy quilt. Click on this picture to see the wonderful details of the frame. I just love them both.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Pin Cushion

Here is a pin cushion I made for a Christmas exchange I've been doing for several years on my Cyberbees group.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Tea Dying Experiment


I did some tea dying yesterday and it was a blast! I used blueberry, black cherry, peach, and pomegranate raspberry flavors (left to right, top to bottom) and dyed a couple different muslin along with a variety of lace. Yummy! Here's the results:

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Gerry K.'s "For the Birds"


At the CQI retreat this year, Gerry offered to do one of my "For the Birds" blocks while she was at the retreat. I had asked her to be in the round robin, but she was too busy at the time, so of course I said "Yes!". Here is a picture of the block. She asked me for the picture so she could tell you all a little about it, so you will see it on her blog as well. (-;

Lace Luck





Here's some more of my good fortune.

Lace Laziness


So today I spent a good part of the afternoon ironing lace. I bought a good chunk of lace from a lady in Denver's estate sale. She made wedding dresses in her lifetime and I was lucky enough to be the first to stumble upon her huge stock of silk and satin and lace. As soon as I got it home I hand washed it, but then came the tedious job of ironing. I procrastinated doing this for several months. Today I don't know why I waited. You can see how this piece started out being a lump of lace and ended out being a lovely piece of lace. It was like opening a present each time I ironed a different piece!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Crazy Quilter's Challenge!





Ladies - I highly encourage you to wander over to http://www.cqjp.org/Index.html to check out a crazy quilter's challenge to make a CQ journal in 2012. If you take on this challenge, you will make a block every month to stretch your CQ abilities. At the end of the year, you can choose to make them into a journal or some other CQ project of your liking. You will be participating with many other CQers and will have the chance to see some fantastic eye candy as they finish their work. There are rules, but you can see those on the website. I am soooooo excited as I have wanted to make a journal for about two years now. I think I already have a plan as to content. I hope you will join me and all the others. (-;

Happy Veteran's Day


Adolph Stebler (28 March 1889 - 18 Feb 1956) was my granduncle and is a veteran of WWI serving from 1917 to 1918. When he was called to service he had been a setter at the Brace and Hurger Company Saw Mill in Seattle Washington for seven years. When he returned to the states after the war he continued as a Saw Mill setter in Milwaukee, WI but only briefly. He returned to Seattle where he married in 1922 and remained there until his death. He is the hat-less one kneeling in the top picture with the crazy wavy hair! Remember a vet today. (-;

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Seam Treatment Book




This is the seam treatment book cover I made for the chinese auction at the CQI retreat. Laurie B. ended up with it! The book is a hard covered notebook with graph paper inside.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tatted Heart


I tried doing a simple tatted heart for my second project -- used a finer thread with this one -- definitely trickier, but not too bad. It really is symmetrical - just didn't quite lay it out properly for the photo. (-;

Lace Book Worm


How do you like my little book worm? I made it in class the other day at Rocky Mountain Crazy Quilter's meeting. I made a mistake that I won't point out (if you can't see it, it's not there!) -- besides, it just gives him character and keeps me humble!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Bobbin Lace





After my first lesson in bobbin lace, I bought some books to try to learn a little on my own. This is my second bobbin lace project. It wasn't too hard.

Tatting - my first project


Here's the first real project I've ever done in tatting. I think I'm finally catching on to this. (-;

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My New Etsy Shop!


I have opened a new Etsy shop where I sell lace, trims, small hand dyed pieces of silk/rayon velvet, books, and sewing patterns. Eventually I will put on some vintage cards and such. I hope you will visit my shop and often! Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbellishmentBliss

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Bobbin Lace



I went to the Rocky Mountain Crazy Quilting Meeting today and tried Bobbin Lace making for the first time. Linda and Mary were great teachers, and although the lace I made is very rudimentary and humble, I had a wonderful time making it and look forward to trying more! There are 3 different "stitches" in my bookmark - I'm not sure they're called stitches. I ordered some beginning bobbin lace books tonight!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

It must be my birthday!





So after Shari and I raided the jewelry box, I went home and found a package from Eileen, http://noiseynana.blogspot.com/ , in my box. She sent me a cute little pillow she made to thank me for running the pillow swap -- I love it and have it hanging in my sewing room now. There is nothing like having things your friends made you surrounding you in your place of refuge. I look around and see love all around me. But there was something else in the package too! Her husband Frank made me a beautiful small chest out of wood. Frank recently retired and Eileene evidently found him something to do! Thanks so much Frank and Eileene. Feist your eyes on these lovelies.

Stitchmap Mod Swap - mine came!




Yesterday Shari came over to work on the pillow swap with me. We spent too much time (me showing her stuff) and got very little sewing in. Then she made me go shopping for jewelry pieces. grin. Ok - I took her to see a friend of mine who collects and sells jewelry pieces. At any rate, getting back to the story at hand, she brought me this wonderful crazy quilted bag she made for me in the Stitchmap Moderator Swap!!!!!! I am thrilled. It is an awesome bag - lined with a zipper and there are so many wonderful CQ motifs and stitching on it that it took a while to digest it all. Thanks Shari! I love it.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Laurie's English Garden II block

This is the stitching I did on Laurie N.'s English Garden blocks.

Janet's "For the Birds" Group Block


This is the block that Lisa would have worked on if she hadn't had to drop out of the round robin. The rest of us, myself, Cathy K., Cathy L., and Nicki Lee worked together on this block.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Honoring my Dad for Memorial Day!



My Dad, Harold, better known as "Sarge" during those days, served in the Army during World War II and during the Korean War. He enlisted when he was 18 years old, on his birthday. He was inducted into service on 5 June 1943. For a year he trained in parachuting and gliding as a private in Fort Bliss, Texas with the airborne troops. The Army decided not to put so many men into airborne because they were losing too many men, so he was transferred into the infantry. Good thing or there was a good chance I'd have never existed. lol!

He went overseas on 12 Aug 1944 and joined Company F, 110th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, 28 Division as a replacement. The 28th Division was in France at the time and they liberated Paris after he joined them. He also participated in the Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. He was a Platoon Sergeant.

He was wounded twice. The first time was shrapnel from an artillery shelling and the second time he wasn't sure what it was, but he thought it was a sniper's bullet. The second time he was evacuated to Paris, France and then to England for medical treatment. He wrote his mother on 8 November 1944, just 3 months after arriving in Europe, that he was in a hospital in Paris with a slight injury.
On 21 May 1945 he wrote his mother that he earned the oak leaf cluster on his purple heart from a concussion and back injury when he had actually been shot in the leg. He didn't want her to worry.

On 7 May 1945 he wrote his mother "Well the war in Europe is over. Sure am glad of that. " He was just paid 6 months pay - $490.00. He saved $40.00 for a pass to Paris and sent the rest home. After the war his unit occupied Saarbrucken, Germany until his return to the states. He wrote his mother "I'm starting to put on weight. I was down to 160 lbs. which was 36 lbs. less than when I came overseas".

On 25 June 1945 he wrote "Well I got 2 more battle stars yesterday and that gave me 3 of them and 57 points. Now if I get the other one it will give me 62 instead of 63 points." He needed 85 battle points to go home. He was just appointed as a Platoon Sergeant and had 33 men under him. He talked about his old job as machine gun section leader where he had 2 squads under him. With the new job he would have 2 machine gun squads and 3 mortar squads under him. The new job would give him a TSgt rating which drew about 115 dollars in the states and 150 dollars overseas. My Dad was offered a battlefield commission of 2nd Lieutenant but turned it down. He returned to the United States on 26 July 1945 and was discharged on 20 Nov 1945.

For his service he was awarded the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with Four Bronze Campaign Stars, a Purple Heart Medal with One Oakleaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, Good Conduct Medal and American Theater Ribbon. In the late 1970s, early 1980s he was also awarded the Bronze Star. In August 2002, just two months before his death, he received a certificate from the French government for his role in liberating France.

During the Korean War he joined a reserve unit in Baraboo, WI that had been activated. "Sarge" was recalled into active duty on 23 Jan 1951. He spent time at Camp Carson in Colorado training in engineering and then did some construction work at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was trained in The ENGR School at Ft. Belvoir, VA as well and spent time in Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland renovating World War II bases that were abandoned after World War II. One of those places was in Sondrestromfjord in Greenland. He again was offered a First Lieutenant's commission because of his experience in WWII, but he turned it down again. He was discharged 1 Nov 1952 as a Master Sergeant.

My Dad passed away in 2002 and I miss him dearly. I am very proud of who he was. When I drive past Fort Carson I think of the time he spent there. (-;

Saturday, May 21, 2011

My Winnings!






I received my winnings from Kathy Shawkl's Mother's Day give away this week. This girl knows how to pack a goodie bag. I was shocked at how much she could stuff into one small box (I couldn't get it to fit back in after I had dumped it out on the bed to sort through it all!). The lace! You would drool. The fabrics - yum! The threads - the silkies - the beads!!!!!! My favorites have to be the Judith Montano threads and silk ribbon, the venice lace motifs, and Kathy's very own spider kits! Check out her shop, Shawkl Designs here: http://www.shawkldesigns.com/ Thanks Kathy for your generousity. This is actually the 2nd time I have won one of her give aways. She usually advertises them on her blog ( http://www.shawkl.com/) and she never disappoints!