embroidery

Half of the inspiration for this project is in Denyse Schmidt’s book. She sewed some scraps together, set a smaller photo on top (so you can see some of the background), and put the whole thing behind glass (she used a clip frame).

I thought this was a stellar idea. Then I saw this card at Paper-Source.

A project was born, which loosely combines the two.

And here’s how it finished up (with a photo of me, for the minute, because it happened to be in the workshop and will work for demonstration).

The frame is five by seven inches (the bobbin in the photo at the top of the post gives a bit of scale).

Here is a close-up of the embroidery. I assure you it’s not fancy, but functional.

When B was a teenager, his family lived in Clarkston for awhile. There he made a friend, JM.

When I was in college, I took a year of French. In my class was a girl, JS.

JM and JS met and married.

And last Sunday, they welcomed Owen.

We took a care package* over to their house last night. It was too much fun to pick out stuff for them. It was interesting to try to imagine what someone with a brand-new infant would need/want (other than sleep).

Now, crafters, you know that I couldn’t *not* make something for him. Just a small something, mind.

It’s a sachet (they can add their own potpourri or lavender or other nice-smelling stuff), and also a “baby sleeping” signal.

The fabric is from Superbuzzy. I embroidered the letters, and the handle is simple grosgrain from Joann.

Front view

Back view

*
What two people who do not have children think of as a care package:
Lasangas from Trezzi
Not-exactly-health food
and a variety of Burt’s Bees mom and baby potions and lotions (we bought them at Huckleberry’s)
Buttermilk bath for baby
Samples of goodies for baby
Foot creme for mama
Hand creme for mama
and of course…fresh flowers.

The strawberries I planted have fruited (that doesn’t sound right). I got the plants from Seeds of Change.

Here’s B examining them (nice slippers, eh?).

I tried some embroidery (might end up as pouches, we’ll see). I was inspired by some Paper Source rubber stamps. There are some variations, obviously. Some are intentional, and some were…surprises.

The name of each one is a link to the Paper Source rubber stamp that inspired it.

Peony

Dandelion

Branch

Wateroak

Flower