Stitched-Up Wildflowers

Wildflower Morning's topic for this week's wildflower event is Stitched Up Wildflowers. It can include anything that has to do with wildflowers that is made with textiles in some form or another. As I've looked around my house, I've found many items that will fit into this catagory. Instead of posting them all at once, I've decided to post something on this theme daily during this week. So, stay tuned!

Morning's Glory

This tea towel was one I stitched and sent to a friend for a swap sometime last year. I was excited to try the coloring technique as an addition to embroidery, as I had never done it before. It's actually quite simple. After the outline is drawn onto the fabric, take a children's color crayon and lightly color or shade the design as desired. Then take a place of clean paper and place it over the design and then apply gentle heat with a warm iron. This will fuse the color into the fabric. Once that is done, use embroidery stitches as desired to make the outline of the design.

By the way, I love morning glories! I know that they are sometimes considered 'weeds', but they are pretty when they are in the right spot! They weave here and there around objects in their pathway, creating gentles curves and lovely curliques. Instead of a weed, I claim them as a wildflower. I've even discovered the domestic version for my home garden. Each year I plant several different colors of morning glory's along the dog kennel. The abundant green growth provides a lovely shade for the dogs during the heat of the summer (although they don't spend much time in the kennel, as they are really house dogs). The colors of the morning glory blossoms are mixed together, as I usually plant vibrant pink, pale blue, white, and purple seeds. It's always fun to observe the amount of 'openness' they have during a twenty-four hour period. They close their blossoms up tight for the night and gently open their faces to the sunshine in the early morning. As the evening shadows fall, their faces close up for a good night's rest. A good lesson for us all.

Constant Friend

"A constant FRIEND is a thing rare and hard to find."

Plutarch

Libby and Coco enjoy a day in the sunshine! Although now all grown up, they still relish their time outdoors. Libby went home with my friend, Bonnie, when she was just a little tike. Coco is my constant companion and has the nickname of "Baby" whenever I talk to her. She truely is a constant friend!

Wildflowers in the Home

It was very difficult for me to decide what to post this week for the Wildflowers in Winter event that Elizabeth Joy is conducting at Wildflower Morning. Her theme this week is wildflowers in the home. As I looked around my house, I discovered that flowers of some sort are everywhere and many of them are wild! I probably come by this naturally, as I grew up in a home where flowers were highly valued and always present. I never thought about it very much, but accepted it as a fact of life and adopted this pattern in my own home --- until a friend who visited frequently made a comment about all the flowers in my house. She doesn't like flowers and has none in hers. Her comment stopped me in my tracks! I can't imagine living without the beauty of flowers to cheer each day.

The first item I selected which incorporates wild flowers as part of home decor is this pale blue tea cozy with an assortment of wildflowers in a checked pattern. It goes well with my blue and white teacups and teapots.


I looked around some more and found this luncheon set; a tablecloth and napkins made by my mother. She painted snowdrops on each of the four corners of the tablecloth and on each of the napkins. She painted eight or ten flower luncheon sets (for tea parties) and each one features a different flower, but I think this one is my favorite.


Looking further I found a sign painted on a heart-shaped, carved stone. I usually keep it on a hook outside my back door but have it inside for the winter to protect it. It's message of "Sit long, talk much, laugh a lot" was also painted by mom.


And how's this for an oldie? My mother kept this picture of me on her bedroom wall. I was in my early twenties when this was taken. The location is Mount Rainier National Park, in one of the meadows on the mountainside. My sister and I both wore our long 'granny dresses' for the photo shoot. We felt somewhat strange being dressed up when others were wearing shorts, tank tops, and tennis shoes!

This is one of a two that mom also made. They are felted wall hangings of shooting stars. Sometimes wall space becomes sparse, so these could also be used for hot pads. I think this would be pretty on a lavender tea table and a nice place to set a teapot.

I couldn't stop here --- so I'm doing one more post on this subject --- to follow below.

Wildflowers of Canada

I enjoy my wildflowers of Canada plates. This one was given to me by Dad and Alma as a gift they selected for me on one of their across Canada trips. They took my Dad's older sisters with them on one of these trips and stopped to visit their childhood home in Manitoba. To this day they talk about that trip. They visited relatives they'd never seen before and had a grand time together!

This wildflowers of Canada plate is a recent acquisition. Like the one above, it shows the wildflower of each Canadian province. I found this plate at Goodwill for less than $3.00.


Since Goodwill also had a wildflower plate from Alberta (also for less than $3.00), I decided to pick it up as well. Finding it gave me an idea for a project that I will probably be working on for a long time as I seek the specific plates required. I would like a 'wall of plates' that represent the birthplaces of family members. This one from Alberta represents my mother. She was born there (in her grandmothers house) on a snowy day in June! Now I'm looking for decorative plates from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchuen. And of course --- a price similar to the ones I've already found would be fantastic! I can only wish. A project like this is all about the hunt. . .

Valentine Swap

I received a lovely package from Revee yesterday. It was filled with smaller packages neatly wrapped in white tissue paper and each was tied in red satin ribbons. The contents of these packages were so sweet and just perfect for a Valentine treat! Revee made me two of her beautiful hand-hemmed napkins, each adorned with a heart-shaped medallion. They are exquisite! Such beautiful handwork! Very lovely! They will be perfect for a Valentine tea. Revee also included a package of Morning Rose China black tea from Sterling Tea Company and a notepad with a small fridge magnet in the wrapper that says "Home is the Heart's Resting Place". Also enclosed is was a beautiful photo frame with three-dimensional roses, daisies, and forget-me-knots in lavender, yellow, and blue. Thank you so much, Revee. I am enjoying the contents and will think of you every time I sip on the Morning Rose tea and use my new sweetheart napkins!