Orchid Show

We are finally seeing an end to winter here. The temps are in the 40's (finally!), but we are not completely out of the woods yet. A few weeks ago when spring didn't seem quite so imminent the Minnesota Arboretum held an orchid show.

Each one is so delicate, exotic and colorful.

The one above was one of my favorites. It was in a glass case as part of a collection of smaller orchids.

I have tried to grow them, but have never had much luck. The cat knocking them over probably didn't help.

I am in such a mood for flowers that I completed a set of eyeglass cases covered in blooms. These go to California and will also be for sale on our website soon. Here's to Spring!

Embroidery Project

I decided to revisit a type of needlework I did years ago; a purely decorative item for my first 'bedroom' piece. The samplers I did in the past were mostly cross stitch. This one is truly embroidered using satin, stem,chain, and french knot stitches. The design is original and I still have some work to do in the corners.

When I finish that I will stretch and frame it and it will be ready to hang. I think the next bedroom piece will be embroidered pillow cases with possibly crocheted trim.

OWOH winner

Congratulations to Zan Asha of beyondvagabond.blogspot.com, the winner of this year's giveaway! Her name was selected using a random number generator. I enjoyed this year's event and thank everyone for stopping by and visiting. Thanks to Lisa for another successful year, I hope to do it again next time.
Our new website/online store is up and running. We will be adding new products all the time and hope everyone will check it out often! www.manitobagifts.com- it is also on my sidebar. The next posts will continue my household chest projects. See you then!

One World One Heart 2010 Giveaway

I am participating in the One World One Heart Giveaway sponsored by Lisa Swifka again this year. It runs from today to February 15th. My giveaway this year is another handmade (by me!) pincushion. To enter just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on Feb. 15th. The purpose of the OWOH is to give the blogging community a chance to visit other blogs with the added bonus of winning something fun! Click on the badge on this post or my sidebar for more information and the how-to to participate. Good luck!

Homemaking Chest

I recently did a little redecorating on my porch ( there was a large, unusable table at that end of the room). The walls were already a sunny yellow and the two new rockers make the room more accessible. I had the beautiful burgundy bark cloth in my stash and decided to use it to recover the seat cushions and make pillows for these chairs and the other two rockers in the room. There is an electric cast iron stove in the corner which has turned a chilly room into a very inviting one. I love making things for the home and am reminded of the hope chests of the past. Of course these were started by young girls with the goal of marriage rather than just accumulating items for a beautiful, comfortable home. I would bet that if they didn't marry these things did not get used or were passed on to someone else. How sad. Even though I have lived in this house for 28 years, raised 3 boys I am giving myself the challenge this year of making items for a housekeeping chest- linens and decorative items for the average home.

I am going to divide it up by room, starting with the kitchen. These things were made recently to sell in the shop and I will have some of them for sale on etsy and our new online store when we have it up and running. The above are appliqued flour sack towels using print fabrics and batiks.

These are my crocheted potholders- both useful and decorative. I have a few of them hanging in the kitchen near the stove. By using perle cotton I can make just about any color.

The fastest and easiest things to work up are the crocheted dishcloths. These sold very well in the shop and can be done while watching TV. I use 100% cotton yarn for these.

And since I love flour sack towels I had to add some embroidered ones. I think I will do some bedroom linens next and continue throughout the year. I collect old household manuals and cookbooks and will refer to them for what was traditionally included in a household chest to offer some comparison. Nowadays, no marriage required!

closing shop

This is our last month in our physical shop. We have had a wonderful 3 years here, but the economy and expense of running a shop has gotten to both of us. It will be a pleasure to spend our time doing what we love which is creating our own items. We will do some shows and markets and will be updating and improving our website online store- as well as continue on etsy and artfire. I will miss our loyal customers, it has been a pleasure working with them. I will also miss this beautiful porch and the summer days spent stitching in those rocking chairs! On to new experiences and Happy New Year!

Lavender Pincushion

A new pincushion using some of the overdyed wool from a shop in St. Croix Falls. I made two, one went to California and one went to Lanesboro. We drove down there yesterday to make a delivery-Cornucopia Art Center is a beautiful gallery. We are looking forward to being members there.
As you can see from the sidebar I will be participating in One World One Heart blog giveaway again this year. It is a great way to find and visit others blogs. Last year my giveaway was one of my pincushions and it will be again this year. I now just have to decide on the color and design! Click on the badge on the sidebar to get all the details about participating. OWOH starts on Jan. 25th and ends on Feb.15th. Thanks to Lisa Swifka for all her hard work hosting this! And please come visit, Leave a comment on that particular post and maybe win a pincushion!