Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing every one a happy Thanksgiving.

Smiles to you.
Linda

TAST

Over on http://pintangle.com/ this week the TAST stitch is the strait feather stitch, and the plaited feather stitch. Here is my practice -

These would make real nice borders on something. I think I have just the place for it.

 I also made a little heart with chain stitch in DMC 6 stand floss. I used 3 stands, then laced it with Pearl 5.  I can't show you the rest of this cause it's a gift. but I suppose it's okay to give sneak peeks at what stitching is going on.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

A good old sewing machine

I cleaned my sewing machine and dripped oil in all the little spots. I have a Dressmaker sewing machine that I got at a yard sale about 30 to 35 years ago for $20. (Where does all the years go?)  I can't recall the last time I cleaned and oiled my machine, but it was way overdo.  It gets used a lot, especially this time of year.

The red symbols on the front is pictures of different stitches, and each one has a number next to it.  The number matches a number on a plastic gadget (cam?).  To make that kind of stitch I open the top of the sewing machine and insert the plastic gadget, close the top of the machine, adjust the needle, and slowly stitch along.
A lot of bother to go through for something I enjoy doing by hand. So those "cam" things are still like bran new cause I never use them. The body of the machine shows a lot of dings and small scratches from years and years of lots of use. It still runs good, and still gets lots of use.  My kids, all grown with families now, learned to sew on this machine. I have made costumes for civil war enactments on it. I made prom dresses with it of fine satin. And even made a heavy canvas tee pee lining on it.  Over the years it has handled anything I have slid (shoved, crammed, jammed, stuffed,) under the needle, and still does.
It was probably the best $20 I ever spent.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Cold weather and a few more needle books.

Brrrrrrrrr.  Not used to this cold weather that came on so fast.  The cold weather says Christmas is getting closer. Even had a few snowflakes last night. So I made some hot tea and snuggled into my warm confy chair in my favorite pajamas and stitched while I listened to the wind outside.  (All day)

I worked my way through my stash of fabric pieces.

And through my stash of lace.

Little bits of this and little bits of that. And lots of felt.

As you can see - it was a pretty productive day.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Sick cat

I been busy this week with a sick cat. He has been my buddy for 14 years so I was real worried about him. Scratched himself till his skin was raw and was throwing up. Poor guy looked plum miserable. Turned out he was having a reaction to the carpet shampoo I had used last week. He is doing lots better now. Still looks a little wore out but a lot better than he did a couple days ago.  I had to re clean the carpet to get rid of any residue from the other shampoo. And Gizzlefig had to have a good bath to get any residue  out of his fur and off his skin. He DID NOT. In big capital letters, DID NOT, appreciate the bath.

Last night I was able to get out my sewing and I made a couple needle books.

Thank you for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda