Lydia's Threads

The Free Motion Quilting Project: Quilting with Your Whole Heart

2012-01-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

The Free Motion Quilting Project: Quilting with Your Whole Heart. I found this blog post by Leah Day very inspirational. Leah is featured in the Feb/March 2012 Quilters Newsletter. Nice article about how she got started in quilting and her on-line business. She challenged herself to create a new free-motion quilt design each day for a year. She has created over 400! Leah also has videos of her designs. Its remarkable and mesmerizing to watch the designs come out of her needle! She is also self-published. Follow the link and explore her wonderfully inspiring designs.

Free purse sewing patterns

2011-10-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

I found this free download for purse, bag, and scarf patterns through the SewDaily website. The Sashiko saddle bag is really awesome. I haven't made it yet, so I can't comment on how easy the instructions are and the outcome. The Sashiko embellishment uses the traditional hand sewn method.

The other pattern that caught my eye is the Waterfall Scarf made with silk Dupioni. Each end of the scarf is embellished with 12 inches of shirring. If you haven't worked with silk Dupioni, you'll be amazed at how the colors shimmer because the horizontal and vertical woven threads are different colors. the shirring should really take advantage of the fabric's shimmer.

The other two patterns are Silk & Pearls Clutch and a Mosaic Silk scarf.

I hope this post has peaked your creativity!

'via Blog this'

Pattern for Dutch Fabrics

2011-09-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, I posted about a fabulous gift I received--a sampler box of Dutch heritage fabrics. I've been researching what type of block/quilt pattern that would best showcase these lovely fabrics. Big thanks for the comment received about how lovely these fabrics are to work with!

This picture is of a quilt top I made for a class I taught using layer cakes (12" square precut fabric sampler) and the 10" Twister ruler by CS Designs. The Country Schoolhouse website has great pictures of both the patterns, rulers, and book to give you ideas on how to use and buy these products.

Here's a quilt top I made for a class I taught. I think the large areas will show the beautiful Dutch fabrics better than some traditional block patterns I've researched. I don't want to cut up the fabrics into really small pieces and loose the overall pattern. Now, that I've decided, it's time to get busy!

Reproduction Dutch Fabrics

2011-06-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

I received the most luscious, yummiest present last week that I just have to share the news with everyone. Our neighbor returned for the summer from Italy where they are committed for a 2-year term for work reasons. We've been watching their place next door while they've been away.

While in Italy, the family has been taking sojourns to other countries, and one of them was The Netherlands. She found a quilt shop in Amsterdam called Den Haan & Wagenmakers B.V.
This company started reproducing Dutch chintzes which were originally made in India in the 17th and 18th century. Their collections of fabrics are inspired by the original chintz fabrics brought by merchants to the Netherlands.

I was presented with a wonderful gift box of 50 pieces of 11.5 inch squares of chintzes and tone on tones called Gift Box "Amsterdam." The colors are exquisite and the patterns are unlike anything I've seen before. The fabrics, mostly printed with floral or fertility symbols or designs of trees, is great for quilts, clothing, and interior design.

Now that I've pawed through and examined each piece very carefully, the next question is what will I do with this gift. The online description of this collections says it's suitable for "Japanese Puzzle," "Dear Jane," or "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler" quilt patterns. I recently made a Twister Quilt using a really cool plastic template made by Country Schoolhouse in Superior, Wisconsin. I made the quilt using the large template using layer cake fabrics and the small template using a charm pack. Layer cakes are 10" squares of fabrics of a particular collection of fabrics, and charm packs are 5" squares of fabrics. I think the larger template will work very well because each piece of the fabric will be large enough to see the beautiful fabric patterns.

I found a very good description complete with step-by-step sequence for making this quilt on Modalissa blog. This was my first visit to this blog and not my last! Anyway, I've made the Twister quilt with layer cake. This is a VERY fun quilt to make and very easy. I've taught 3 classes on this pattern; two with the large template, and one with the small template. The class attendees really enjoyed making the quilt. It's a relatively fast quilt to make because you can't stop until it's done. Quite addicting.

HoopSisters Goosetracks Quilt

2011-05-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm leading a class for the 2011 HoopSisters Goosetracks. This is a quilt-in-the-hoop project which means the entire block from backing, piecing, and quilting is done in the machine embroidery hoop. These are 8 inch blocks (5 inch is also available). This is a 10-month block-of-the-month project available through participating quilt and sewing stores. Check out the HoopSisters website for more information on this and other available quilt projects.

I have all the regular quilt blocks completed and the horizontal rows assembled. I will also be stitching out the optional Goostracks borders which will add one additional block all the way around. While my embroidery machine stitches out these blocks I'll work on sewing sashing to the back of these completed rows, then adding the border blocks, and finally sew sashings to the back of the verticle rows. I have lots of work left to do, but the results are beautiful and make it worthwhile.

Pictures never do any embroidery design or traditional quilt justice. There are very sophisticaled decorative stitches on the leaves and inside the circular designs. Choosing the colors for the project looks difficult, but really if you start with the geese, sky, and background colors, everything else goes together well. I chose colors that are way outside of my comfort zone, and I LOVE it!

Field Trip!!

2011-05-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a group of 27 women from the Kitsap County Clothing Textile Advisors went on a field trip. What fun we had.

Our first stop was in Elma, Washington, to visit the "Home of the Largest Fabric and Craft Store in Southwest Washington" the V&S Variety Store. They weren't kidding about being the largest! We were warmly welcomed and quickly got to the business of browsing the fabrics which were organized by color and by type. They have a large selection of batiks, florals, panels--well, they have a lot of everything including a "retired" fabric section. They have such a variety of things that if they don't have it, you don't need it. The craft section is really large and accommodates any type of craft you can imagine. V&S Variety are on Facebook and deserve a "like."

The next stop was The Warm Company home of Warm & Natural, Warm & White, Warm Bond, Warm Blend, Warm Tater, Insul-Bright, Steam-a-Seam products, and more. We saw step-by-step how batting is made from raw materials to the finished product. All their raw materials are from the United States, and they sell their products world-wide. Their head office is in Lynnwood, Washington, with manufacturing plants in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and Elma, Washington. Our tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and answered all our questions. What a great opportunity we had in seeing products being manufacturered.

The last stop was to a quilt shop in Shelton, Washington, Sue's Stitch in Time which is in the process of being renamed to Annie's Quilt Shoppe. This is a very nice shop where I attend the Thimbleberries Block of the Month (BOM) program and in August I'll start another BOM. Annie purchased the shop from Sue about 1-1/2 years ago. Annie has put a lot of her own personality into the store while maintaining LOTS of programs and classes. Check out the web page for the classes she offers and her on-line store. I purchased more fabric for a HoopSisters project I'm doing. That detail is for another post.

Sorry no pictures were taken that would be interesting to post. Another time!

Table Runner for Auction

2011-05-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share the table runner I made to donate to the local Rotary Club fund raiser Saturday, May 7. The table runner is 18" by 48" and is an adaptation of the pattern called "Waterfall." Unfortunately, I can't put my fingers on the actual pattern or I'd tell you who created the original. I had lots of fun being creative with this pattern. The pieces in the middle are 2-1/2 and 1-1/2 strip pieces about 9 inches wide. The inner border is free-form rotary cut in easy curves and then raw edge applique'd to the center floral strip section with decorative stitches from my sewing machine. The thread is a Sulky multicolor metallic. After completing the decorative stitches, I carefully cut away any extra fabric. The outer border was quilted with a wavey machine decorative stitch using a walking foot. I used another Sulky metallic thread and sewed these stitches in a random fashion to give the illusion of moving water. Finally the binding was put on with yet another decorative machine stitch with a polyester thread.

I like this runner so much that I'll make another for my table! Wish my runner luck on attracting lots of bids. Proceeds from the auction will go to a local charitable organization.

Serger Club Plans

2011-04-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

I've been urged by more than one person to pick up my blog again. I do believe blogging is a terrific way to keep in touch with friends. After reading other blogs and enjoying the contributions others have made that have sparked my own creativity, I decided maybe I do have something to contribute. So here I am, again.

For the past few months, I've been leading/teaching the Serger Club at Quality Sewing & Vacuum in Silverdale, Washington. We had fun making a quilt-as-you-go ruffled serger quilt. I was inspired to bring this quilt to the serger club after seeing it made on a recent Fons & Porter TV show. The entire quilt (except for the binding) was done on my Babylock Evolve serger. The wave stitched was used on both sides of narrow strips of fabric and then the chain stitch was used to ruffle the strips and to attach the strips to the 5" strips. The link to this project can be found at the Babylock project website. What a fun project this was! More exciting projects from Serger Club as well as other classes I've taught and projects I've made will be coming soon.

Quilting with Machine Embroidery

2010-03-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have too many quilt tops laying around waiting to be finished. What was I waiting for? Putting the sandwich together! This is a real pain for me, until I watched a series of on-line videos on The Quilt Show. So off with the pins and on with the quilting basting spray. To make a long story short the basting spray is working out well for me.

Next is getting the actual quilting done. I decided to experiment with embroidery quilting patterns I've purchased here and there online and elsewhere. Armed with the quilting patterns and my Husqvarna-Viking Designer Diamond's ability to design position, and the Do-All Quilter's Hoop, I am well on my way to getting the quilting completed. The design positioning made it possible for me to place the design onto the quilt in just the position I wanted.

Okay. No more excuses! Git 'er done!

Easter Treats

2010-03-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

This is a creative update from the project posted on the Husqvarna-Viking website. It was originally supposed to be an Easter basket. I've very cleaverly made it into an Easter bag. Well, okay, so I really didn't read the directions very well, but it still turned out very well. The pattern is also available on the HV website and uses the texture hoop. The fabric is upholstery velvet which resulted in very little hoop burn. I found some ribbons and yarns that were then attached to the texture hoop with special clips. It was really a breeze.

Machine Embroidery Cutwork

2009-07-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've done come cutwork embroidery by hand, not a lot though because it takes quite a bit of effort to create a beautiful table runner. I'm always fearful that after all that work on a table runner that something would spill on it and ruin all that work. Voila! Machine embroidery to the rescue! I had a great time recently attending a day-long machine embroidery class with Alix Graham-Michel where we made a cutwork table runner on white linen. During the time that the machines were busily creating the cutwork design, Alix showed us her lovely work. We learned how to finish table runners, napkins, pillows, etc. I am amazed at how well my table runner turned out, especially the edges of the runner done with decorative scallop stitches built into my sewing machine. We learned how to keep the scallop stitches straight by using the stop-start button on the machine rather than the foot control, using the stitch guide to ensure the design returns to its original position, and sewing one design at a time. It was very easy to get the scallops incorpoated into the main design, and by doing one scallop at a time it was easy to rip out a bad one and resew it. Alix' trunk show provided me with lots of inspiration to make beautiful gifts and simple ideas to make my home beautiful.

Beautiful Hydrangeas

2009-05-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

It's difficult to say which is my most favorite flower. The daffodils are just about gone, and the beautiful tulips are starting to fade. Now the rhoddies are starting their show. My neighbor has a magnificent yellow rhoddie that is about 12 feet tall and just as big around. The hydrangeas at the area nurseries are in full bloom and a few of those found their way to my house. There's something mesmerizing about the colors in those delicate hydrangea blossoms.

I found a beautiful quilt pattern called "Picnic Quilt" from "Simple Things, Small Joys" published by the Acorn Quilt & Gift Company. I hadn't visited their website until I started writing this post. Nice site; and, better yet, the pattern book I used is on sale! I was lucky to find the same fabric as the center piece of the quilt and then bought fabric to inner borders and the pieced outer borders. The reason why I chose this patter, other than the fact it has hydrangeas on it, is because of the scrappy, mitered outer border and the beautiful look of the scalloped edge. Well, it's one thing to make a mitered border come out right--and I'm pretty confident I can accomplish that--but it's entirely another matter for a mitered-corner-newbie to attempt to match the scrappy squares in the miter! Oh, well, each corner will be an embellishment opportunity. Now, I'm a bit skiddish about the scallops!!

I also got a bit of machine embroidery accomplished recently. I had a denim vest that I've wanted to embellish for years. The plan was to add some interesting had stitching on it, but now that I have an embroidery machine--well, let's just say it's more likely that clothing embellishment will actually happen. The tulip design was modified in my embroidery software by copying the design, mirror imaging, and adding additional pieces to make the design look the way I wanted.

This will be my first time posting pictures through SmileBox. Let's hope you can see the pictures of my recent projects.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Cut Work Embroidery

2009-04-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of Handanger and other embroidery using cut work techniques. The actual cutting part can be a little nerve wracking so there are a few rules. Don't cut when you're angry or tired, work with good light, and have nice, sharp scissors with very fine points. After cutting then you have the ground fabric threads to wrap creating the "holes."

Well, yesterday I had fun making cutwork with my embroidery machine using an Anita Gooddesign butterfly. Using a 100% cotton ready-made towel, hoop it with sticky, water soluable stabilizer, and stitch the first color of the embroidery design using polyester threads in the needle and bobbin. After the first color is finished, take the hoop off the embroidery machine but do not unhoop the fabric. Using a produce called Fiber Edtch apply a small amoung along the inside edge of the areas to be "cut" away. After the Fiber Etch has dried, an iron accomplishes the magic of cutting the unwanted fibers out. Since the stabilizer was cut away as well as the fabric, a scrap of sticky stabilizer is needed on the back of the hooped project. Put the hoop back into the machine and finished the design, and Voila! you have a cutwork project completed. I found a great demonstration on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ySucm_Aqs8 that shows how to use the product.

I am really pleased with the results and my brain is figuring out other designs to try. So the new rules for cutwork are . . . who cares about the old rules!

Enjoy!

Pillows, pillows

2009-03-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

I love little pillows! I have just a few that I've made hanging around the house, but I want more! I thought I'd post some of the pillows that I have made in the past, and three new ones where I've incorporated machine embroidery designs.

The first picture shows some very small pillows! The square pillow is done with silk ribbon embroidery on pre-made doilies. The needle roll is about 5 inches long and done on linen with cotton threads. The needleroll commemorates my grandson's birth.

I made three small pillows using Thimbleberries fabrics as well as their machine embroidery designs. Machine embroidery designs are a relatively

new offering from Thimbleberries. Check out their website to view the designs and download their free designs. The pillow in the

background uses a corner motif, and I added lettering with Husqvarna-Viking 4D Professional embroidery software. The anchor pillow is done in applique, and the pillow in the for

eground uses an unaltered design.

Last November I took a three-day Martha Pullen Heirloom sewing class in Gig Harbor. What an event that was! That's a story for another post, however, on the subject of pillows, I made a lovely heirloom pillow. The pillow is made of off-white cotton batiste, ecru laces, and ribbon and was all sewn using a serger. Who would have thought a serger would be capable of creating delicate heirloom sewing!

Crab-Apple Hill designs are absolutely fun! The pieced pillow on the right is based on one of their designs that I purchased as a kit. I was lazy about stitching out the design by hand, so 4D Embroidery to the rescue! I found some flowers from other design and created the wording in the software. I experimented with fancy buttonhole designs--although these buttonholes are not functional. I sewed the antique buttons on top of the button holes. Shhh! Don't tell anyone.

The green pillow is a traditionally sewn Hawaiian applique pillow. The green design is needle-turn applique'd and all the quilting including the echo quilting was done by hand. For my first design I chose ulu or breadfruit. Even though I do know quite a bit about Hawaiian tradition from my life-long Hawaiian friend, for t his post I researched the design at the Hono Hale website. Ulu is "chosen design for a first quilt because of its importance in traditional Hawaiian life. It is believed that the making of an Ulu quilt insures adequate food and a lifetime of prosperity for the maker. " Also accoring to tradition, I left a stitched "puka" or hole in the center of the design to allow the spirits to enter and exit.

On this note I'll leave with with Aloha and Mahalo for reading my post. I hope you've had fun reading it as I have in creating it.

Sewing & Stitchery Expo

2009-03-01T10:05:00.000-08:00

What fun at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo! I've only been to the sewing expo three or four times in the past as I was more interested in hand needlework and the expo targets quilting and sewing. But I've grown and expanded my interests.

This year I volunteered three mornings at the expo along with my fellow Clothing & Textile Advisors assisting in the fashion shows and classrooms getting patrons seated, handing out papers, etc. I learned so much by listening and learning new techniques. And the vendor booths! Oh, my.

I bought Jenny's Heritage quilt by Jenny Haskins. What a spectacular quilt this is. I had the opportunity to see and touch it. Absolutely stunning. Each of the 16 blocks is constructed and them machine embroidered. All the embroidery designs are included, and the book gives lots of new (new to me, anyway) techniques such as applique decoupage. In this technique the embroidery design is stitched directly onto stabilizer and then cut away from the stabilizer. The final step is to then applique the design onto the square. A really neat way to "cut" away the design is to use a stencil type cutter to melt the stabilizer away from the design. This technique works when you stitch with rayon thread and a stabilizer that melts and doesn't burn.

I'm most excited about trying the applique decoupage technique to embellish ready-to-wears. I get nervous about machine embroidering directly onto a sweater or jacket because I'm afraid to ruin it. No matter now many articles and books I've read on fool-proof ways to get this done, there's always a chance your machine will have the hiccups the day you try. This technique gives me great confidence.

The quilt also has numerous blocks that are three-dimensional with flowers embroidered onto a stabilizer-organza sandwich and then cut out. Multiples of individual flowers are stacked onto the quilt block and then stitched into place. Some blocks have furry spots, others have lace.

Here's the website to see and learn more about this beauty: http://www.rnkdistributing.com/jh-Heritage.htm

The Ripper!

2009-02-23T23:31:00.000-08:00

I have been quite remiss in not posting to my blog. Instead of posting to my own blog, I've been quite entertained and inspired by other people's blogs on quilting and fiber arts. I didn't think anyone would notice or care about Lydia's Threads until I received comments from three people who asked if my blog has been updated. I have been doing quite a lot of sewing, quilting, stitching--playing with lots of threads! So, now I'll try to catch up.

I don't know about you, but I sure do unsew a lot! In needlework it's called frogging, you know, "rip-it, rip-it!" In quilting and sewing language it's called unsewing. Pictured is a 60-inch center for a Thimbleberries scrappy quilt that I'm doing through a local quilt shop. The center block is made up of 6-1/2-inch squares with a 12-inch middle block. There are two rows of 12-inch blocks to add and several inner and outer borders to add. It will be king sized when finished.

I had gotten a bit behind in my monthly club "homework" so I really applied myself to get the rest of the blocks sewn and then stitched together. I carefully, or so I thought, followed the diagram for laying out all the blocks. After each row, I would double check to make sure that all was well--that, of course, after unsewing multiple blocks from a couple of rows. I was so happy to get the center done, get a picture taken, and have some new stuff to blog. The happiness turned to disbelief as I discovered after looking at the photo while posting that there appears to be two more blocks to unsew! Oh, no! On the left side I can see two blocks that appear to be turned the wrong way. Grrr! Looks like the Ripper will be out again in the morning.

The Ultimate "Threadplay"

2008-09-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Libby Lehman is reknown in the quilting world for her creative art quilts. I had the opportunity to sit in on her three-hour seminar hosted by Best Sewing in University Place, WA, on September 15. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak or take a class with her, do it. She's a friendly, entertaining, funny, and down-to-earth quilter who kindly shares her knowledge with others. Her seminar covered a lot of the details in her book, Threadplay, interspersed with jokes, trivia, specific applique techniques, and her unique ribbon illusions. With technical assistance from her computer, projector, and video camera she demonstrate how to create the ribbons. I don't think I've ever had such a great personal learning experience with 40+ attendees!

She brought several of her quilting masterpieces and explained how she created them. Now this lady has experience with threads! In each quilt she has numerous types of threads and thicknesses like DMC pearl cotton, macrame cotton, metallic, polyester, cotton. She loves varigated threads (who doesn't?) and she knows how to use them. She graciously allowed us to take pictures of her work. You can visit Libby Lehman's website to see examples of her work and her class schedule. I'm so inspired! I hope you will be too.

Quilt Shows

2008-08-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks for me running about the country in search of the greatest thread art!
The Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival in Loveland, Colorado, created an opportunity to have a girl friend weekend to Denver. This relatively small show held August 23-24, 2008, displayed all 300+ quilts, garments, dolls and accessories in the 2008 Hoffman Challenge. Each year, Hoffman, a fabric manufacturer, selects one print to be the featured fabric in an international contest challenging entrants to incorporate the fabric into an originl quilt, garment, or doll. It's not possible to describe all of the imaginative ways people used the challenge fabric. The quilts and clothing were made with a very close eye to detail. And speaking of detail, the dolls were intriguing. "Tribes of the Moon" is a prime example of the detail I saw. Her facial expression captured my attention. A special treat at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Show was a display of quilts by David Taylor from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His quilts are so exquisite that you think these are painted masterpieces instead of finely hand appliqued fabric and machine quilting. The docents at the show kindly displayed the back of his quilts which were so carefully done that the detail of the front could be seen. Imagine my surprise when I picked up the September issue of American Quilter magazine at Barnes & Noble to read on the airplane ride home and found a feature article on David Taylor! I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do.

The Pacific Northwest Quiltfest is the largest quilt and fiber show in the Pacific Northwest and is held every two years in Seattle, Washington. This year's event was held August 8-10, 2008. My commute to Seattle began with the Bremerton-Seattle ferry, followed by a bus ride and then a short walk to the Washington State Convention Center. There were about 70 vendor booths and hundreds of quilts and fiber arts on display. The feast for my eyes and soul was pure gluttony, and my camera was busily capturing as much as possible so I could savor the event at my leisure. It would be difficult to post all the pictures of the quilts that stirred something within me. A pictorial quilt "Green Thumb" (#1023), though not very large (18"x45") intrigued me with its bright colors and expressive face. I guess I'm a sap for expressive faces.

I'm still sifting through all the information, patterns, books, and thoughts from these two events. That should provide lots of fodder for future blog posts. More to come!

Hollyhocks

2008-08-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

The first time I was introduced to Hollyhocks was in a needlework class to make a needle case called A Secret Garden Needlework Necessary by Lauren Sauer of Forget-Me-Nots In Stitches. The cover of the case is a stitched representation of an heirloom garden complete with a gate, bumble bee charms, various flowers, and Hollyhocks. For some reason those plants really captured my imagination, and I desperately wanted to see one in person.

Several years later, my friend, Joyce, and I were awestruck by a large bed of Hollyhocks (also known as Alcea rosea or Althaea) at a restaurant in Spokane. Those plants were about eight feet tall. The double blossoms were vibrant and beautiful. From the spent flowers, I took a few seeds and kept them stashed away with my needlework. Last year I planted those seeds in peat pots and planted 12 outdoors. Only four plants survived the winter, deer, slugs, and whatever else munches on plants, and this month I was rewarded with four blossoming plants one each in white, red, and pink. I hope you enjoy both the needlecase and the flower as much as I do.

Mason County Fair

2008-07-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

For years I've had great fun in entering my needleworks at the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. I've come away with some pretty impressive ribbons and awards over the years for hand stitched samplers and three-dimensional needle cases all done on linen with beautiful threads of silk and cotton, silk ribbons, beads, charms, and buttons.

I retired two years ago and bought the appropriate machines (yes, more than one!) to take up sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery. I completed several projects in each of these categories and, with my husband's encouragement, decided to venture into new ground and entered an item in the Mason County Fair. My entry was an heirloom Christmas tree skirt that I made in a machine embroidery class embroidered with a snowman, winter trees, and numerous snowflakes all done in various colors of metallic threads. I used Grandma's antique buttons, beads, Swarovski crystals, and metallic gold and silver ribbons to further embellish the skirt. Gold fringe adorns the outside edges and ribbons are used to tie the skirt around the tree base.

The skirt received three awards: A first premium blue ribbon, an honorable mention rosette, and a MEOW Award rosette. MEOW stands for Machine Embroiderers of Oregon and Washington. I was very pleased and honored with these awards. I'm encouraged to continue my long-standing practice of participating in local county fairs but with new-found

way of using beautiful threads.