It's Back - I Say - Back to the Old Blogging Board!!

Yes, it's been AGES since I've posted, probably a month or so!!  But we're home now from visiting Washington D.C. with my best  friend Sherry Craig (whom I consider the sister I never had) and her husband Joe (who unfortunately had to work while we played!)  I can't decide yet how much to include in my posts about D.C. - perhaps just a few photos and highlights from each day.  But the first thing I wanted to share with you is the "happy turtle" my granddaughter Isabel embroidered on the drive up there. What do you think?

Isn't she adorable?  Her name is Tabitha Turtle.  I stitched Isabel's name and date on the bottom because she wanted it in cursive, but Isabel chose the colors and stitched the rest.  I got the idea from a picture drawn by Joe Craig's niece, Abby, which I noticed was proudly displayed on Sherry's refrigerator.  I was immediately captured by it's sweet simplicity so I quickly drew a similar version of it on a piece of cloth and Isabel did the rest on the trip!!!   I'm so proud of her! And I have to say she was really an excellent traveling companion, not once getting fussy or bored, despite the 9 hours we drove the first day!

This piece, and many others like it, are all intended for one of my latest projects.  I call it my Embroidery Memory Quilt, which will basically consist of various-sized pieces of embroidery and stitching I'll piece together to form a sort of "memory collage" of the fabrics lovingly stitched by the ladies of my family. I got the idea from the very talented artist, Pam Garrison, who created one called her big crazy summer journal quilt (see her blog post here:  http://pamgarrison.typepad.com/pamgarrison/2010/09/and-just-like-that.html. 

As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it and knew I had to make one for myself!  The best part is that I'll now have a place to show off all those stitched pieces that we (or at least I) tend to hide away in drawers because there isn't much use for them.  I can't bare to let them go because they're so full of happy memories, but now they can be admired once again!  When I explained it to Isabel, she wanted to make sure she had pieces included (As if I would exclude her!)  So just guess where the Pledge of Allegiance and Tabitha Turtle are going?


Well, that's it for now. I've got to get back into this "blogging thing" a little at a time, but more to follow soon! Have a lovely evening and may you all have a wonderful day tomorrow! 

May God Bless, Jan