A Give Away, A Gift and A Golden Oldy

Hello everyone, and greetings from soggy, swampy Florida!!  Tropical Storm Isaac - and the influx of Republican conventioneers - are upon us.  Nothing sinister from either one so far, though things are just today getting underway in both cases.

However, I was delighted to find early this morning that Isaac did land me a day at home, something I was more than happy to have.    About mid-morning the doorbell rang, which was a little surprising on such a wet Monday.  It was the mail carrier!  And she was delivering a big box....from Jeanne!

Molly couldn't wait to see what was inside...and neither could I.

So we opened the box together. Here's what we found:

And this....

Needless to say Jeanne, I'm thrilled to pieces - what a day brightener!  I just love the fun project bag and the needle pillow, both of which I'm sure are your own work.  Molly may have her eyes on the shortbread - do dogs and Brits both call them biscuits? - but they'll be safely kept out of paws way.  Thank you so much, Jeanne.  Talk about paying it forward!

So while we were taking pictures this afternoon, I thought I'd get some of the coolest gift I received recently.  Tampa has a chance to showcase itself during the next few days - weather allowing, that is - and one of the things the city is best known for is its booming pre-WWII cigar industry.  There are still remnants of it in the old buildings and unique culture around town, but one of the easiest things to identify with are the cigar boxes.

This one was given to me by my coworkers as part of a going away gift.  I was thrilled to see how beautifully finished the inside of it is.

It's already perfect for keeping stitching tools and treasures safely away from puppies who like to chew on things they shouldn't!

But it's also set the wheels inside my hot little brain turning...why not finish another box with a squarish stitching design on the inside lid??  I've been hoarding other cigar boxes left over from my old stitching guild days like the treasures that they are.  And goodness knows, I probably have at least a few charts and fabric that might work....ha!    So something else may be underway soon...I'll keep you posted!

And last but not least, I wanted to share this not-so-great picture of the first sampler I ever attempted on linen.  It's my way of honoring Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum, who passed away recently.

I don't remember now the name of the design, but I do recall how impressed I was with myself for choosing to do something so elaborate on a fabric as complicated as 28 count linen.  I tip my hat to Marilyn for the design that challenged me to take what seemed like such a big step forward.  The date I stitched on this piece is April 4th 1987.  My daughter was born in December of that same year, and she'll be 25 in 4 months.   Thank you Marilyn, I've had a needle  - and increasingly smaller linen counts - in my hand ever since!

Happy Birthday, Julia!

So let me say this right up front - the video I'm about to post is NOT directly stitching related.  But if it thrills you the same way it did me, it won't matter one bit.  In our house, Julia Child is something of a rock star.  I'm sure she's cooking for Elvis these days.  After watching this so many times I'm embarrassed to admit, my reaction ran for charmed and amused at first to mesmerized and touched .  Bon appetit....and Julia, you rock!!



 Now, on to the real deal....what's been going on in Jean Rattray's garden!  Since the last time I posted, I'm managed to complete the entire border - whew!!! - and get the Tree of Life in too.  Here's how she looked this morning:

You can see I've got a small start on the grove of pine trees that sprouts up in the middle of the bottom portion.  There are also some big flowering urns on either side to add in too.  I think I'll work on them as the grove of trees gets tedious.  There are nine trees in the grove, all identical in the same forest green shade.  Even though some of them also have a few birds and other wildlife perched in them, I'm anticipating a bit of a slog to get them done.  Margaret commented on the funny little figure on the left side of the garden and so I've tried to research a little more on the symbolism of it.  I vaguely remember reading somewhere (??) these little guys will sometime turn up in Adam and Eve samplers as another representation of Satan.  It's confusing though, because isn't that what the serpent is for?  Anyway, I don't remember now where I read that and all the looking in my stitching references didn't turn anything up.  If anyone else know something more or finds a good source for it, please share! Being the history geek that I am, I've delayed the actual start on my Atocha sampler until September 6th, because that's the date the actual shipwreck occurred.  Nerdy and sentimental.... yes, I know!  But there just seems to be honor it beginning a piece dedicated to a specific moment in time on the anniversary of its occurrence.  Delaying the start has given me a little more time to focus on Jean's Garden of Eden. It's also allowed me to go a little crazy choosing a complete color palette for the piece. Originally I was planning to use some of my hand dyed silks.  But since I'm making a full conversion with the colors, I wanted to have a broad range of choices within the "Gulf of Mexico" vibe.  After rummaging around in the DMC boxes at my local Michael's, here's what I'll be playing with:

Can't wait to get started - come on, September 6th!!

Here's hoping everyone is managing to stay cool and good natured during these dog days.  Tampa is about to be overrun with Republicans for the upcoming RNC.  Should be an interesting few days, but I'm not planning to go anywhere near downtown!

Off to find a nice glass of chilled Chardonnay and  make some progress on that grove of trees....