Tomato Pincushions

 I love pincushions of all kinds, but tomatoes are just so classic. So, I was thrilled when Theresa Venette of Shakespeare's Peddler and Kittenstitcher on Flosstube accepted an article and project for tomato pincushions to go in the second edition of her Samplers Yesterday &Today Zine. If you haven't seen the Zine, check it out. I love the articles and history she gives on samplers and designers.

 Both issues have sampler patterns in them and a selection of other lovely patterns. She also includes a recipe and craft project in each one. If you love cross-stitch and samplers, you really should check it out.

The tutorial for making the tomato pincushions includes the pattern for stitching the "Pins" tag as well. To go directly to issue 2 of the Zine, click here. And no, I don't get paid for directing traffic her way, but I'd really like to see more people buying the Zine so she keeps producing more!

Craft Brain Dump for Monthly Planning

A brain dump is simply writing everything in your head down on paper. I like to do a craft specific brain dump at the end of each month looking forward to the next month.

Here is a list of triggers to get you started jotting down things you want to get to next month.

* WIPs
* SALs
* To finish
* To work on
* To start
* Focus piece (what one thing do I absolutely want to finish this month)
* Gifts to make in the next 3 months
* Gifts to finish this month
* Exchanges
* Smalls
* Christmas ornaments
* Bowl fillers
* Supplies to Purchase
* Supplies to Use Up

I keep a full list of WIPs divided by type (cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting, crochet, quilting, etc.) in my craft bullet journal. I also have a separate page just for SALs where I can keep track of whether I finished that month's stitching or not.

Sometimes there are other pages as well. For instance, I have a page just for Farmgirl's #stitch9challenge where I mark that I've spent at least an hour on each item for each month of the year. My goal is to do at least that much on each of the nine items and I'm probably going to have to do at least a month of what I call "stitch 10 daily" for each.

"Stitch 10 daily" is where I have a goal to focus on one piece by making at least 10 stitches in it every day for a month. Now, any of you stitchers know that it is practically impossible to only make 10 stitches in a piece so I usually end up doing more and even finish the piece that month sometimes.

Can you think of any other craft triggers? How do you plan your craft schedule each month?

A Few Lovely Blogs

These are blogs I enjoy reading and just seeing their colorful, cozy pictures. They are happy blogs. Even if you don't craft, the pictures are still lovely to look at and you may get some creative ideas anyway.

Attic 24

Coco Rose

A Little Happy Place

Jenny of Elefantz

Nana Company

All of these bloggers make lovely little things that will brighten any home. Some offer free patterns or tutorials, too. Do you know of any other lovely bloggers out there?

Flowers

On a recent trip to the Myanmar border, my husband took me through a plant nursery and I got to take some lovely flower pictures.

My First Quilt

Spool Quilt: Kind & Lovely

Quilts are lovely things, don't you think? I'm told my great grandmother could sew almost anything. My grandmother inherited a bag of fabrics with some of these spool pieces already cut out when her mother died. The fabrics were from dresses she and her mother had made and worn. They were mostly polyester blends. Not something most people would think of as quilt material these days, but my grandmother was born just before the Great Depression and lived by the old adage:

Use it up, wear it out,

Make it do, or do without.

I learned how to mend clothing from her as well as how to sew my own clothing. A seamstress I'm not. I don't enjoy using a sewing machine, but I do love hand stitching. However, being able to make and remake my clothing comes in handy. And, I can use a machine when I want to.

My grandmother passed on a huge trash bag of polyester fabric along with a a brown paper spool template her mother had drawn on an old grocery bag. She showed me how to cut out the pieces and then how to sew the curves on the sewing machine. She started me out on her old treadle machine and then switched me to the electric sewing machine once I got the hang of it. 

I sewed the top together until I was out of fabric and then I used a worn-out blanket for batting and an old sheet for the backing and zig-zagged the edges before cutting close to the edge. Then, Grandmother showed me how to tie the quilt with yarn. Almost 30 years later, the quilt still has a place on the bed. I can even recognize some of the fabrics from pictures of my grandmother and great-grandmother. 

A lot of love is in that quilt and it's lovely because of that love. The colors are mostly soft pastels which are very different from the bright colors I usually choose, but they are colors my grandmother loved. It's also lovely because of the resourcefulness of it. So much is wasted today. This quilt is a symbol of the importance of using every piece. But, it's also lovely because it was used to pass on a cherished skill through several generations. 

My grandmother taught me to crochet, sew, embroider, cross-stitch, and tat. I learned creativity from her and I learned how to love through giving from her generosity. My grandmother has always been one of the loveliest ladies in my life and I am grateful for the lessons she taught me.

A Kindly Word

A Kindly Word

by Grace B. Maxwell (1909)

Just speak a kindly word

To those who love you best,

'Twill help them many a time

Bravely to stand life's test.

It takes so little time

To smile and just to say:

"That was well done, my dear,"

And then it cheers all day.

Wait not until tomorrow,

Till setting of the sun,

It might be all too late--

The race of life be run.

The saddest thing in life

Is what you might have been

To those just nearest you--

Your dear and blessed kin.

Then speak a kindly word;

'Twill help you most of all;

For ev'ry kindly word

Makes plainer Heaven's call.