Spring Flowers

The snow melted and the first of the spring flowers are blooming in the garden -- dwarf Japanese Iris.

Take a Stitch Tuesday 2 Week 1

I am a bit late with my TAST 2 Week 1 sample.  I tried to use Diamond Stitch on my evenweave sampler but I could not get the stitches to lay correctly on a grid.  After looking at some of the stitched samples on the web, I decided that a free embroidery piece was called for.  The sample is stitched in Crescent Colors floss on a piece of hand dyed fabric and includes French knots and bullion stitches in addition to Diamond Stitch.

First Temari Ball

When I was in second grade, my father went to Penn State for a year's sabbatical and we lived in an apartment in State College, PA.  While we were there, my mother made friends with two women from Japan.  One of them taught her how to make Temari balls.  I always wanted to learn how to make them myself and when Barbara Seuss started offering on-line classes, I signed up.  Yesterday, I finally finished my first Temari ball.  It is a Morning Glory design based on Barbara Seuss's beginner class.  The top and bottom look really good, the sides are a bit crooked but it is still beautiful and I don't think very many people will notice.