Silk Pincushions

Silk Pincushions, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

After a few weeks with almost no time to stitch, I've enjoyed a couple of days where that is almost all I've done! In addition to finishing up a round robin block, I was able to finish these two pincushions from my "unfinished items" list.

Shades of rose and pink silk are the foundation of this pincushion. I made a similar one a couple of years ago, which you can see here. These millinery flowers have been in my sewing basket for ages. It's so nice to use them for something special!


On the base I played with a new "signature". My daughter has joked with me that I should pronounce our last name "Bunny" since I like them so much. When I was a school girl, I used to draw bunnies like these on the margins of my school papers!


For the green and cream pincushion, I started out with two varieties of variegated purple and green threads, one dark, one light. The delicate lace seemed to need little embellishment, so I simply attached it with a feather stitch. As I shaped the pincushion, I realized it needed something else, so I went looking through my box of trim bits and found the ribbon violet that I'd made years ago but never used. Some ombre green ribbon made lovely prairie point leaves. What a perfect embellishment!


I just love when a project comes together so perfectly like this!


For the back, I tried out the new signature again! Though I think I need a template to keep the lettering in line, I'm pretty happy with the whimsy of it!


Another bit of stitching I've finished recently is a little stitched bag to hold the small bible that I carry in my purse.


Above the patchwork I stitched the words, "Hope Peace Love" in split backstitch.


The inside of the bag is lined with a watery colored cotton. It's just a simple little bag, but it should help protect the pages from getting damaged by the other things I carry in my bag.

Fairytale Hour

Fairytale time, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

As the season changes, the light shining down the hillside at the end of the day lifts my heart and makes it sing. I love this time of day. It's the time of day when my imagination can see the wood fairies peering around trees, springing off a blade of grass, making it bounce when all else remains still.


The light sparkles through the leaves and the stalks of aged flowers, whose bloom is long past, suddenly turn silver as they dance across the meadow.


The leaves of the oak play a little too, with fragile aura's of light defining each lobe.


The light sends me racing for the sketchbook and watercolors, and I quickly attempt to capture the colors of green and light, of purple shadows and the glint of amber. I'm not there yet, but the journey is delightful!