Crocheting Comeback

My grandmother was an amazing woman.  She lived with my mom, dad, sister, brother and me, and was my like my second mother while my mom worked.  She was great at everything, it seemed, especially cooking and baking. Her specialties were delicious cakes and strudels.  Gram, as we called her, loved shopping, going out to lunch and spoiling her three grandchildren.  She had quite a sense of humor and loved to watch her soap operas which she fondly called her "stories".

She taught me many things as I was growing up, and one of them was how to crochet.  She used fine crochet thread and created beautiful doilies.  Gram used the doilies on the arms and backs of our chairs to help protect them from daily wear and tear.  She also put the doilies under lamps in the living room and floral centerpieces on the dining room table.  I always had an affinity for these doilies and still do today, using them as table runners, and under vases of flowers.  I love these crocheted masterpieces not only because I love all things Victorian, antique and lacy, but especially because they just make me think of home, and Gram.

I noticed that crocheting with crochet thread has made a comeback and crafters are adding crocheted edging to tea towels and pillowcases among other things.  Although I usually crochet with heavy acrylic yarn, I haven't crocheted with the finer thread since Gram taught me way back when. 

The youngest of my grand nieces will turn a year old in September, and since hand making my gifts is something I love to do, I planned out her gift, that I knew would include crocheted edging.

 

 

 

 

I bought a little lime green t-shirt and added crocheted edging along the bottom of the shirt, then painted a jumping bunny and added some hand made crocheted flowers. I made a glove bunny with a crocheted flower collar.   I bought a little canvas bag and painted my niece's initial on the front of the bag, adding, of course, some more crocheted flowers with button centers.

Although  I like trying new techniques, I love rediscovering old ones. When the old techniques stir up some happy memories in the process, well, that's icing on the cake!

 

 

Petals and Pillows

Wedding season is upon us.  Ah, to be a summer bride....beautiful sunny days, flowers in bloom, photos on the lawn.  The planning takes months, searching for the perfect bridal gown, bridesmaids' gowns, flowers, venue, centerpieces and favors. 
I recently attended the wedding of my nephew in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  A beautiful wedding, unfortunately in the middle of a heat wave, but that didn't deter anyone from enjoying the lovely weekend's festivities. 
It amazes me, that of all the weddings I have attended in my lifetime, not one of them was exactly the same. Even though many of  the wedding ceremonies and receptions had similar traditional elements, each wedding was a personal reflection of that couple.
My daughter got married almost three years ago, but whenever I hear their recessional song or the song they danced their first dance to, I am reminded with joyful tears of that beautiful time in both her life and mine.  I made the bouquets for her and the bridal party, the boutonnieres, the centerpieces, the cake topper and other decorations.  She made her own invitations, save the dates, and assorted signs and props for the photo booth.  For her, it was a piece of cake, since she is a graphic designer, and since I am an art teacher and crafter, I was overjoyed at the thought of helping her create her dream wedding.
I was inspired by that whole experience and with a little prompting from my daughter, I opened my artfire shop.  I wrote an earlier post about all the things I made for her wedding, but this time I want to highlight the accessories for the little ones who are possibly the only ones who could steal the show from the bride and groom on their wedding day.  That would be the flower girls and ring bearers.
Although my daughter didn't have any little ones in her wedding, I do have quite a few things in my shop for the flower girl and ring bearers. I'd like to share a few of them.

 

 

 

 

Midsummer Daydreams



It's July.  Is your glass half full, or half empty (of ice cold lemonade that is)?    To a teacher, that's an interesting question. You might be of the mindset that the summer is still in full swing, another month and a half or so of fun in the sun, and lazy summer days by the pool with a good book (not a text book, of course).  Or, you could look at that question from the opposite viewpoint, that the summer is half over and the new school year looms large in the not too distant future.

 

I, personally, sit on the fence.  I love the summer for its creative freedom, but I also love being a teacher with the promise of a new year coming up, new students, new projects, a whole new beginning.  So either way, I enjoy the place I'm in, whatever month it is.  Yes, and when I was a student, I actually enjoyed doing homework and did it as soon as I got home from school.  Some things never change I guess.

 

Since I am enjoying the glass half full of my creative freedom, I have done lots of projects so far, and finished a few that didn't have time for during the school year. 

 



I like to try a few new things over the summer and combine some old techniques or materials.  Like most crafters, I sometimes find myself wandering aimlessly through the craft store in search of materials that speak to me, often finding, after I have purchased them, either that idea didn't exactly work, or through trial and error, I came up with a better solution.  So, those materials get pushed to the back of the drawer until I rediscover them at a later time.




My puppy, yo yo quilt

 

 

In my latest baby quilt, I wanted to add something special that would give it a little spark, in addition to my hand painted puppy squares.  I always like to include some hand painted squares for a personal touch.  At first I was going to use lace as an accent for  the quilt, but couldn't get enough of the exact type I needed. I thought about using embroidery, but didn't exactly know how I would incorporate that, and then I thought about using yo yos, those lovely little puffs of gathered fabric that I wrote my first blog post about, that I made a vest and purse out of in my high school years, that I taught my sewing club girls how to make into flowers by adding buttons in the center.  How could I have almost overlooked that wonderful technique?  So that was it, my quilt accent.  I searched for ways to attach them to a quilt and found one using a blanket stitch with embroidery floss.   That looked very pretty, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Yo Yos made by my students

 

 

I made lots of yo yos in white and coordinating colors.  I love making yo yos!  They are very therapeutic and I highly recommend making them!  I played around with the placement of the yo yos once they were all done, and decided to stitch them to the corners of each square.

My next venture is to add crocheted edging to the baby quilt I am currently working on.

 

 

Paint Can Baby Shower Centerpiece

 

I also created a baby shower centerpiece for my artfire shop that I had sketched out a couple of years ago when I was creating some baby shower centerpieces for someone having twins.  I kept that idea in the back of my head until I stumbled upon a paper mache paint can last week and just knew I had produce my idea and here is the result!

But, I haven't forgotten about the half empty portion of the glass setting on my work table.  I have already started filling it with lesson plans and lots of project ideas for my students in September.  Being on the fence, sometimes, is a very a good thing! Refills, anyone?