Bittersweet Needle and Thread

Bittersweet Needle and Thread

Monday, October 24, 2016

Baskets and Tea Towels

WEDDING BASKETS
When I was visiting with my brother and sister-in-law in Hawaii, I spied a few of my baskets that I haven't seen in a long time.  



 The larger of these was for my niece, the flower girl, in their wedding.  It is made out of grapevine, willow and cattails.  The green ribbon around the handle was their wedding colors.  The smaller basket has a handle from an old embroidery hoop that was my great grandmother's.  I wove it with denim and reed.



This wall basket has a beautiful grapevine handle and willow ribs.  I wove it with reed and tapestry fabric.  The flowers in the basket are from their wedding. 

It's like seeing old friends again!

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 I haven't been idle.  Here are three tea towels that I've finished up.
 


Right now I'm hand tying a quilt for my sister and finishing up an old vintage quilt that was given to me.  I love all my projects.

Thanks for visiting,
Cinder.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Aloha!

FUN IN HAWAII

I had the opportunity to take a trip recently and I chose Hawaii.  My plan is to change jobs by the end of this year, if possible, and I wanted to use up my vacation days.  With my current job I have a lot of flexibility when I go and how long I can be gone and so I said "What the heck!" and bought a ticket to Oahu where my brother and his wife live.  Actually 2 tickets - my son went with me.  We had a very lovely time.  Here are some pictures:

We stopped at a scenic beach/picnic area.  There were always clouds in the mountains.  This was the view in one directions...

And this was the view in the other.  The island is called Chinaman's Hat.

A Portuguese Man of War was laying on this beach.  I thought it was sooo cool until later in the day one stung me.  It turned red and blistered up but barely stung.  I think it was my initiation onto the island!  Cool!

Morning sunrise...


Beautiful color of the water and I love watching the waves crash on the lava.

Little did I know that my brother lived by a famous landmark.  Gillian's Island!  Also known as Coconut Island.

We did a lot of snorkeling and I was lucky enough to see a sea turtle or Honi as they call them there.  We also toured the USS Missouri Battleship, the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Bowfin Submarine at Pearl Harbor.  Took a stroll in Waikiki and visited the Bishop Museum. 

An then there was gift buying...


       Shirts for my grandson's.  I didn't want anything too flowery!

 

       Sarongs and flowers for their hair for the granddaughters.

           For me: an over the shoulder tote bag 


 and a beautiful purple dress.

We had a great time and both got sunburned.  

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Three of our granddaughters came to visit over this past weekend and we made a trip to the Renaissance Festival.  I made a dress for the youngest.  She was a lovely Princess in her sparkly beige dress with pink under sleeves and pink ribbon.


 Later that day we made jewelry with the shells and coral I brought back.


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I wanted to thank my brother and his wife for putting up with us for the week, so I made them this green and beige rug for their house.  The colors fit right in.



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I have been doing a little sewing and will show my projects in my next post.   

Mahalo (Thank You)
Thanks for visiting,
Cinder