Designing

I am sitting here trying to design a new textile, when a commerical comes on for "shake weights".  Another exercise designed for those who do not really want to get up and sweat.  I wonder if they really work. 

At any rate, here I sit drawing some of the plants in my house to see if I can make some good textile prints from them.  I have a lot of time to design now that it is tax time and my husband works late and I am on furlough from my job.  I am thinking of designing something with tropical plants that can be screen printed on shade cloth for outside use.  I have a canopy frame that needs a new top and I was thinking that if I screen printed these plants on the cloth it would make an interesting top. I think I will put palm fronds on the top.

Well off for now.

When I was a little girl my paternal grandmother taught me how to do hand embroidery.  I loved it right away.  My mother also taught me new stitches and sometimes we would all stitch together.  Over the years I have embellished clothing, made pillows and table runners with those wonderful embroidery stitches. 

I find sitting and embroidering something while watching TV or listening to the radio to be soothing.  It is a wonderful pasttime when it is too cold outside to garden, my other passion.  When I broke my ankle in 2002 embroidering was my salvation, along with my sister, who is a natural mother hen. 

In 2007 I was introduced to machine embroidery by my best friend Janet.  She purchased a Brother 270D embroidery machine.  We would spend hours with that machine.  Janet is a visual person so I would have to go over and read the instructions and show her how to use it.  She had most of it figured out before I got there but I think it made her feel better to have me with her.

I now live in Ogallala, Nebraska, far away from my friends and family.  I moved to North Platte, Ne  Dec. 2007 and moving to Ogallala March 1, 2010. Janet and I share machine embroidery patterns and sites and I keep up with family by email and facebook. 

Since moving to Nebraska I started working at Buffalo Bill State Historical Park.  I work with two other girls girls, all over the age of 40, two of us on the back side of 50.  Between us we keep the historical home maintained while regaling visitors of the history of Buffalo Bill and the surrounding area.  If you are ever in North Platte, Ne, come out and visit us Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Go to outdoornebraska.org for more information.

As publish to these pages I will share with you many of the items I have embroidered.  Some will be for sale on another website I will set up.  So, please feel free to share your stories and pics of your embroidered items, either hand embroidery or machine embroidery. 

Remember to
Keep your sails set through the night

Ella
The Cedar Chest

Some of you may remember the avon

Bottles.  These are a set of Chess pieces my mother collected.  She has a collection of the Dolls that avon came out with in the 1970's.  She also has a collection of cars.