Hobbies

 Do you have hobbies, things you like to pursue in your free time? I have many, enough to keep me busy all day every day.  Birding, reading, drawing, and photography are some of the hobbies I faithfully follow, but the one constant over the years has been embroidery.

As young girls, my sister and I would spend time visiting with our grandmother.  It was our grandmother who decided it was a good idea for we girls to learn the art of embroidery.  We started with simple designs done in an outline stitch on muslin dish towels that my grandmother would hem in bright colors.  It was the perfect way to start; but in the years that followed, I began experimenting with drawing more intricate designs on all sorts of things.  When I find a picture I'd like to embroider, I download it from the web and print it out.  Very few of my embroidery patterns are original designs.  After choosing the design, I draw it on whatever medium I've decided to use -- dish towels, pillows, aprons, and bags.

Recently I've had people asking to see my embroidery work.  Unfortunately, I have very few pieces in my possession.   Once a project is finished, I almost always give it away.  I decided to post some pictures of my favorite projects.  Most are done with a satin stitch, but some are still done using the simple outline stitch.

For fabric to back my pillows, I weave ribbons together that I make from strips of fabric.  The pillow with hands and buttons, pictured below, were traced from my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons.  For the bags, I first draw the picture I want to embroider on linen fabric.  Next, I fill in the design with embroidery stitches.  After the stitching is complete, I tie-dye the fabric and then machine sew it into a tote bag.  The hands on the dish towel below belong to friends and was given as a wedding gift.  And I always crochet dish cloths to go with my dish towels.  It pleases me to make gifts for others.