A silver dawn in the Ottawa Valley

By on 1-17-2011 in Original photos

I woke to a brilliant Mars in a clear deep blue sky. Predawn drew me outside to watch a silver sun rise. A perfect, snappy winter morning in the Ottawa Valley.

Silver Dawn
As the sun appeared above the horizon, clouds moved in to reflect the light, creating molten silver.

sun through oak tree
Our old gnarled oak tree framed the silver rays as the sun rose higher…….

sun through apple tree
along with the crab apple tree.

snow post
Snow lies everywhere, the day so cold the snowflakes are individually frozen to the post as natural diamonds.

Vintage Night Owls….a very cute pair of ‘hooters’

By on 1-13-2011 in art quilts, Embroidery, Vintage Patterns

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Two more owls for everybody. Every time I see an owl somewhere it reminds me of my late mother-in-law. These are for her. This pattern was published in the McCall’s fall/winter 1972-73 magazine, decoupaged on a wooden box purse. Wouldn’t they look great painted onto a silk scarf or maybe appliqued onto the center block of a little wall quilt. They would also do justice to an embroidery block, especially redwork.

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Christmas in January

By on 1-31-2010 in Christmas Patterns, Embroidery, Vintage Patterns

Balsa Wood Ornaments above, Embroidered and Beaded Ornaments below

The first Christmas vintage pattern. I hope to bring one new pattern each month….that will be a total of 12 new patterns in the year, free to download with suggestions and/or photos of how I have used them through the years.

The original patterns were used to cut and paint balsa wood ornaments. I immediately fell in love with these Mexican themed ornaments. They were included in the McCall’s Christmas Make-it Ideas magazine, Volume X, 1967.

I chose to embroider and bead them on muslin, back them with a piece of bright red felt then fringe the edges beyond the seam. When I embroider on muslin I back the pieces with flannelette which gives them dimension when finished as well as hiding any back stitching. I then do not have to use a hoop, but can embroider them simply by holding them.

Hand work is my favourite technique, giving me the chance to unwind and design as I go. Usually I’m not sure what I will do with a piece until I’ve actually started it.

Balsa Wood ornament

You can find all the patterns in this 590kb pdf document:McCall’s Christmas Balsa Wood Ornaments