Summer Days.......

I hate summer colds! I had a lovely vacation back in the midwest but caught a cold on the way home unfortunately. I think it was the germs at the casino I visited in Minnesota - but I won $150 so I guess it was worth it! Husband and I flew into Minneapolis and rented a car - we put over 1000 miles on it traveling through 4 states visiting various family members in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin & Illinois. Aside from the rain and humidity which we're not used to much anymore, everything was nice. We really enjoyed taking a lot of the smaller highways around and relaxing in the peaceful farm country. I stopped at 3 quilt shops but didn't buy a whole lot - it's just fun to see different things.

I picked up my framed Peppermint Twist piece right before I left on vacation so here it is - they did a nice job with it. Now it's just wrapped up in tissue paper waiting to come out at holiday time. :)

My adrenaline is going ......I am getting near the finish line with Plymouth Sampler - woohoo! I am about 90% done I'm guessing. I worked on it during the plane ride and when I could while husband was driving (some roads were too bumpy to do 40-ct stitching!) Luckily we got upgraded to first class both ways on our trip - oh it was so nice and spoiled me for next time! There is so much more room especially if you want to stitch. Here's a sneak peak at the pilgrims from Plymouth Sampler - hope to post a finish soon!

I must tell you a little story about the photo below. My mom taught me to embroider when I was about 8 or 9 - she got a pattern of ducks doing housework and we ironed the transfers onto those white flour-sack dish towels like people did back then. They were supposed to be for my "hope chest". I can remember sitting with Mom learning and her telling me to make my stitches smaller and neater. :) Well, I didn't get married young and the towels went with me when I moved out for a single life in Chicago after college. They got used and gradually thrown away when they got stained and old. For sentimental reasons, I cut out and saved the embroidery part from the last towel before I threw it out. You can see it here looking old and stained. For the last 4 years or so I looked online to see if I could find the patterns - searching vintage embroidery sites and eBay. No luck - my ducks seemed very obscure and weren't published by any of the major brands back then. A few weeks ago I was buying something on eBay and did my usual search for vintage embroidery duck patterns - up came my patterns! I almost fell off my chair. Since these old embroidery patterns are out of copyright now people are recreating the transfers and selling them again. I ordered the set of 6 for $5.99 and here they are! I am so thrilled - I've ordered myself a new set of towels and I plan to recreate my set. The seller says these patterns were sold out of newspapers which makes sense - I recall seeing those little ads in the back pages of our local newspaper when I was a kid - you could buy all sorts of crafting patterns for around 50 cents so my mom must have sent away for the transfers. Can you believe I found the same set of patterns after 46 years?!? I feel like I've come full circle!