I received this award from Moonsilk Stitches and Stitches of Life this week. Thank you Marj and Lelia, I was just thinking that I was speaking to myself, but this makes me feel very good!

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

My favorite blogs are:

JLC Studio,
Moonsilk Stitches,
Threads of Desire,
The Beauty of Life,
In a a Minute Ago,
Annie's Crazy World, and
Allie's In Stitches

I realize I am giving it back to the two people who gave it to me, but what can I say? I read everything they write. (I won't get to notifying you until after the holiday!)

Hungarian Embroidery

I have a small piece of Kalocsa embroidery from Hungary. The satin stitched flowers are done with perle cotton. According to the web-site above, this is a happy color combination. Blue flowers are the color of mourning. The color work is definitely done by hand, but I think the lace surround is done by machine. I think it was probably done on a wash-away stabilizer, or something similar. I can't see individual stitches.



It is very pretty, though, and I like it.

Hardanger Ring Bearer's Pillow

Today’s item is a Hardanger Ring Bearer’s Pillow that I made for my daughter’s wedding. I found a pattern I liked, interlaced hearts in pastel pink and blue. It coordinated very nicely with my daughter's wedding dress, which had light blue embroidered flowers on the front. The finishing touch is the organdy ribbon ruffle around the edge. It really is as sparkly as the picture shows.



They didn't use it for the rings, because 1-year-old P. was carrying it, and they thought it (or any rings that might be attached to it) would probably end up on the floor. It was a beautiful accessory, though.

I will see if I can get pictures of a couple of my other Scandinavian country items, since we seem to be in the region of Norway.

This is a mosaic I made through Mosaic maker. The pictures were chosen by searching Flickr with the answers to the questions listed below, picking a picture from the first page from each search. I did cheat and search again on a couple of the questions. The middle figure is Tarzan's friend Jane, but I like the picture, and the thought: buttoned up on the outside, but not necessarily on the inside.




1. Jane, 2. Krispy Kreme Donuts, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Winter afternoon at Mar del Plata, 7. 040621-N-6536T-104, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Lavender Sunset Surprise, 11. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 12. Charleston Resident, 13. harrisonford002014. Not available15. Not available16. Not available
1. What is your first name? Jane
2. What is your favorite food? chocolate
3. What is your favorite color? Turquoise
4. Favorite drink? Café con leche
5. Favorite dessert? Vanilla buttercream
6. What high school did you go to? Mar del Plata Day School (This isn't a picture of the school, but of the ocean, taken in the winter.
7. Dream vacation? Cruise in South America
8. What you want to be when you grow up?
9. What do you love most in life? My husband Greg (That's not actually us in the silhouette, but you get the idea.)
10. One word to describe you? Needlewoman
11. (added) Second Favorite dessert? Cookies!
12. Your flickr name? Jane from Illinois (I don't know where this picture came from, but I like it.)
13. Who is your celebrity crush?

French "Four Seasons" Sampler

I got this sampler as a kit from The French Needle with the natural linen and big hanks of red and ivory DMC floss. The kit came from France, and the instructions were in French, but with my high school French and the judicious use of a dictionary it was a breeze. The pattern was very nicely formatted and this piece was a real joy to stitch.




I really like this sampler. Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise you have "A, B, C, D" and Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I love trees to begin with, and to have a 4 seasons tree was a treat. The stitching went very quickly as well, without all those pesky color changes. This is another piece destined for my master bedroom, when some day we redecorate. It will fit in perfectly with the "Country French" mood I have in mind.

After our unhappy pet week last week, we took the plunge, and adopted Jake. He's 12/13 weeks old, and very eager to please (for now). Today is his first day home alone while we are both at work all day; I hope things are going okay. (He was an excellent puppy!)





"Threads of Desire" author posted this on her blog, and I decided to play along. I don't have too much blogging history, so feel free to post other memories as well.

So who reads my blog??
1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we've never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.