Rosebuds in March

A few of my quilting friends and I have started an embroidery group which we call "Needleplay." I suggested the name from Erica Wilson's book of the same name. 

I worked on this little piece today. The rosebuds are done with pink silk ribbon and the feather stitch circles are done in pearl/perle cotton. To give you an idea of size, I used my thimble to trace a circle for the rings. The center is a lazy daisy stitch flower done in embroidery floss, 2 strands. 

I've been working on a mystery wallhanging at Back Roads. These strips aren's sewn together and I'm not sure if these are the order in which they will be sewn. The snowmen circles were cut with a Go Cutter which our group owns. Fast and easy! I had some lightweight interfacing on the back of the fabric and ironed them onto the background fabric. I used a machine blanket stitch around each shape. Each snowman will have a scarf and a hat. Buttons down the front for coal, a carrot nose of orange fabric, and french knots for eyes. 

I try to bake bread on the weekend so I will have tasty bread for my lunches all week. I must have had something else on my mind yesterday, because I put dough for three loaves into two pans! I thought they were really puffing up nicely and as I was putting them into the oven I remembered, oh no, this is a three loaf recipe! Oh, well, still tasty!

I ran across this little piece yesterday. I have an old photo which I printed onto fabric. The face in the center is the schoolteacher and the children are holding kittens. Very dear. I have another strip of triangles to go on the bottom. Don't know why I never finished this, but I want to. 

Recently we had a sew-in weekend at our Back Roads meeting place.  Betty showed us how to make a disappearing four patch quilt. My friend Donna thought that block would be good for a miniature. Each disappearing four patch block is made from four squares of 5 inch fabric and then cut to make a sort of nine patch. If you used 3 inch squares the block would be quite small and sweet. It would be fun to try that and pair it with my miniatures above. Here is a link to show how to make the disappearing four patch.

Enjoy!