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Monday, September 15, 2008

Lavender Sachet


Wow, two weeks since my last post! Things have been so busy with back-to-school etc. I always think that I'll have more time once the kids get back in school but somehow all my personal time gets taken up with grocery shopping, house cleaning, and errands! But I have managed to finish one project I began last spring and am currently hard at work finishing another one. The second is an illustration for a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson titled "The Swing." My grandmother used to sing this poem (to a pretty tune that I don't know the origin of) whenever my sisters and I played on our swings, and I did the same when my own girls were swinging. My oldest daughter reminded me of it recently and how much she liked that song, as did we as girls. I have never seen it published in song form anywhere, and decided a nice fabric illustration may be in order. Most of the background work is done but I am still working on some details, as well as the child on the swing! I hope I will be finishing and photographing it soon. In the meanwhile, here is a lavender pillow I finished last week (another 5"x5" journal-type quilt, only stuffed with lavender). The top is layered with burlap (stained lavender with watered-down acrylic paint) and two sheer fabrics and hand stitched with floss to make the flowers, leaves, and stems. The back is a sheer lavender fabric that allows the scent to come through. I like the fact that the burlap fringe eliminates the need for binding. I will have to find a quicker way of putting these together if I want to make a bunch of these for the holidays. Maybe some kind of quick piecing, like a log cabin or something, embellished with free-motion stitching, lace etc. (I wonder if I'll really have time to do this...)