Reason to Smile

I just noticed that this tatted collar and cuffs set looks like a big smile the way I have pinned the pieces for blocking. That smile pretty much represents the way I feel about finishing the tatting on this project--now I have to design the top to go with it. I've gotten inspired from some of the offerings on etsy.com to create a top that is not at all granny-ish. Wish me luck.

The collar and cuffs pattern is from Barbara Foster's book "Learn Needle Tatting Step-by-Step." One of these days I'll take the online shuttle tatting class, but in the meantime, I'm happy with what I can create with a needle.

I'm starting to work hard on our Gallery Walk, scheduled for June 5. There are still a lot of decisions to be made and people to be talked to. It is shaping up into a big, fun event with a lot of different things going on in downtown Bedford. Put it on your calendar for 5-8 p.m. and go have a nice dinner afterward.

You're gonna LOVE Barbara Lynn!

I'm really looking forward to Barbara Lynn's exhibition at our center, which opens with a reception on Friday, May 15, from 5-7 p.m. Barbara is one of the most naturally creative people I know, and her work always brings a smile. I get a big kick out of this gourd clown, and the gourd mushrooms pictured at oldjailarts.com. I haven't seen everything that is going into this exhibit, but I know there will be a lot of happy surprises and I know you're going to love Barbara's work. Put the opening reception on your calendar and come celebrate with us.

I'm pretty much finished with my tatted collar and cuffs, but haven't found time to block them yet, so stay tuned for a photo.

What can you make with 2,688 tiny patches?

This quilt! I finished the top today and am ready for a celebration. I started this quilt on another continent, in Tbilisi, about four or five years ago, in the downstairs sewing room with my kids. The fabrics are scraps from thirty years' worth of sewing projects, my husband's old shirts, clothes I wore as a kid, worn-out sheets, and donations from friends and relatives. Each patch started out as a 2" square, sewn into 16-patch squares, sewn into 64-patch squares...well, you can see how it turned out. And now to get it quilted.

Streamcliff Farm near Commiskey

I haven't had much time for needlework in the couple of weeks since my last post, but I wanted to let you all know about a lovely place about an hour east of Bedford called Stream Cliff Herb Farm (check it out at www.streamclifffarm.com). We went there last Sunday to celebrate DS's fourteenth birthday; he loves plants and good food, so Stream Cliff, with its gourmet restaurant and huge plant selection, was the perfect destination. In addition to a wonderful lunch (the berry cobbler a la mode was a high point in a lunch full of culinary delights), we enjoyed walking through the greenhouses and gardens; some of the adults among us had fun sampling wines at the winery. The farm dates back to 1821 and has been in the same family for six generations. Its success is living testimony that there is a market in southern Indiana for wonderful things.

In the pictures you can see our family grouping testing the weight limits of a little Monet-style arched bridge, and my niece enjoying a walk through one of the greenhouses. We were expecting rain at noon but it held up until late afternoon, when DS's new plants were all tucked away in my brother's van and several bottles of wine rested on the back seat of our truck. With DH at the wheel, I allowed the windshield wipers to lull me into a soothing nap all the way home.