Applique' and Crochet - Five on Friday

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are 

having a good Friday and looking forward

to the weekend ahead. 

I have lunch and an antiquing day 

planned on Saturday with a dear friend. 

I will be keeping my eyes open for 

all things 'Green' for St. Patrick's Day,

coming up. You know how I like to 

re-decorate my kitchen for the holidays :) 

Any holiday will do! 

An Irish holiday is a favorite, 

as both my Grandfather, and Ramblin' Man's 

came from Ireland. 

The same county, too - County Cork! 

We might be distant cousins......haha! 

Click on the link and you can read more about

this beautiful place. 

As you can see from my photo above, I have replaced

my glass 'coffee table' with a padded 

storage chest because of the Grand-babies. 

Ethan - 22 mos. 

Gavin - 3 mos.

That would be these two.....

Walking toddlers and glass tables do not co-exist

easily. I have filled the chest with toys :) 

You can also see the ever-present dog bed on the floor.....

And that would be for these two - the top photo 

is Kai  and the other is Whitey Bear. 

Are they on the dog bed? 

Or any dog bed? We have 3! 

No - they would rather fill my carpets with dog hair. 

They like to attack the vacuum cleaner, 

so are always giving me reasons to get it out :)

That's about the only exercise they get these days.

They are getting quite portly. 

We all need to go on a diet..... 

So let's get on with my Five on Friday! 

The first thing I want to show you is this 

applique' wall-hanging I made a few years ago. 

It's been folded and stored away because 

I can't seem to find a place that I like to hang it.

You can see the crease I didn't get out when I ironed it. Ooops. 

So disregarding the crease.....I have hung it 

here for now. I am thinking it might make a good pillow. 

What do you think? 

Maybe with a new border in soft green. 

Then I can put it on my green sofa. 

Or use it for my 'Irish' decorating. 

Hey, these might be Irish birds :)

A couple of 'love birds', one holds a key

to the other one's heart. 

The second applique' to show you is this 

basket of berries I made years ago.

 I had fun making this one - finding 

all the fabrics and stitching it together. 

I haunted fabric stores and thrift shops 

for snippets of fabrics in the 'discount' bin

or old clothes that I could cut up. 

I made two of these - one for my Dear Mum, 

and one for me. 

This was my inspiration......

The title page for this book....

When I was a young Mother,

trying to make ends meet, 

I would create dozens of these little applique'

stitchery's to sell at a country shop 

in the next town. 

Chickens were a favorite, but I made cows, sheep, 

pigs, ducks - you name it. This is a farming community

and they were very popular. 

3.

This one never sold, so I kept it. 

It is actually one of my favorites. 

A kite flying over a late fall hillside. 

It hangs in my laundry-room. 

This was the inspiration in the book. 

4.

This is another one that never sold. 

It is a little odd :) haha! 

It's supposed to be plants in a window

with the moon rising. 

This was the inspiration. 

Somehow it didn't 'translate'....

It is a conversation starter, though! 

Crafting styles come and go........ 

I have always been drawn to the 'Primitive' style

of the American pioneers. 

I love reading books about these adventurous 

founders of our country, especially the women, who threw caution 

to the wind to settle in unknown territory, 

traveling hundreds, if not thousands of miles

over wilderness with the bare essentials, 

in their quest for independence and their own land. 

I can relate.......

Fabric was a sacred commodity and every little snippet 

was saved to make quilts and other essentials. 

The creativity and desire to embellish even 

the smallest things is endlessly inspiring to me. 

The fifth and last item I would like to show you

is this little sweater that I made for Gavin at Christmas. 

This is a very easy pattern that I have used 

for the third time now. (The other two were for Ethan). 

I used this yarn. 

It's acrylic and so very soft. 

Most importantly, it is washable! 

It is made entirely in half-double crochet. 

It was one of those free patterns that you find

in the yarn section of the craft store :)

Here is the pattern in case you would like to make one. 

I may have smeared a little chocolate on it :) 

It's still a little large for Gavin, but when he fits into it, 

I will share the photo with you :) 

Well, that is my Five on Friday!

I want to thank-you for your dear visits and comments
to my humble blog. I love getting to know you a little
more each time you visit and sharing in your thoughts
and lives. We truly are 'Kindred Spirits'!
xoxo

I hope that you have a lovely weekend, Dear Friends! 

xoxo

Today I am linking with:

Love Made My Home - Five on Friday

Won't you join the fun?

xoxo