Sunday, August 26, 2012

This is Trouble

Trouble came to my next-door neighbor's house the other day.

Today Trouble found our house.
And crowned herself Queen.
 
And then she crashed.

And then she woke up and played, trying her best to wear Cuthbert out.
Trouble is chasing Cuthbert's leash, thinking what fun it would be to drag him around the yard.
 
Cuthbert keeps two eyes on Trouble.
Emmy, who was not born yesterday, keeps her distance from Trouble.


Cuthbert was eventually worn out by Trouble:

But, being a cat, Cuthbert eventually woke up and decided to go looking for Trouble.
But Trouble knows all about camouflage and laughs and laughs at Cuthbert as he tries to hide. Ha. Ha.
Trouble likes to taunt Cuthbert, staying just a few feet past the end of his leash.
Trouble soon tires of cat companionship and decides to go in search of his home.
Is it here?
Hmmm. Nope, don't think so.
Where O Where did I leave my home, wonders Trouble.
Trouble waits for the neighbors to come home from the day's festivities. And bring her some FOOD.
And Cuthbert, now that the coast is clear and he has me all to himself, hops up on my lap for some "me" time.
Yes, that is Cuthbert. Standing on my lap. Waiting for pets. And wondering if Trouble will find him again.


The End.

 
Trouble is a little kitten who has been the victim of wanderlust. She’s about 5-6 months old and just showed up the other day. She’s very friendly and the neighbors are keeping her until they find where she lives. If her owners don’t show up, they have found another home for her in the neighborhood. But she is very happy with the neighbors.

     Meanwhile, we will all play with her and spoil her silly.


 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

My B.E. Pincushion Factory

These are my Pincushions for Drizzles
Here in my Millefiori Brazilian Embroidery factory, I've been making them for other embroiderers to use while they are stitching - nice firm cushions for holding your needle so the drizzles will have good support. You can purchase them at my Millefiori-BE website or contact me via email.

I ran out of pincushions at our recent BDEIG Seminar and there was enough interest that I could re-open my Pincushion Factory:
The new and improved Pincushions for Drizzles are the same low price, but have been re-styled with cheery colors (read: "bright") and even better cushions for holding your needle.

To thank you for listening to my blatant advertising, I'm sharing one of my little designs here with a stitch you might like to try (I'll even show you how). It's called a "Barbed Bullion".
You'll thread two contrasting colors of floss into your needle, make (approximately) a 1/2" fabric bite and wrap the needle 4 times (bullion...). Then instead of going down and out at the end of the wraps, go down and out about 1/2" farther away. This makes the "barb". You might need to tug one color or the other to even out the floss.

I usually use Iris or Glory, but you can use any floss weight you want. The idea is that you use half as many wraps as usual (e.g., 4 wraps will give you the equivalent of 8 wraps when using two threads).

Now, I have another idea!   Look at that stitch. Think about caterpillars. You can use a heavier weight and a longer floss bite and make a nice striped caterpillar. See?
Of course, that little fuzzy critter would probably require a few more strands or colors of floss. But you get the idea.

That little Barbed Bullion flower is from a book I wrote a while back called "ABCs for Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery."  I collected all of the flowers from the book and a lot of the butterflies and bees and put them into a picture frame design (suitable for an 8"x10" frame). The design is called #904 "Alphabet Flower Sampler" and I also sell the print with all instructions in my Millefiori-BE shop.  Here's a picture:
Most of the flowers on that design are stitched with Iris and Glory.

By the way, if you enjoy using lighter floss weights, my most recent book, #955 "An Artist's Garden" is loaded with tiny traceable designs stitched with lighter-weight floss. Here's one of the designs from the book. Because it's close to 102 degrees here in western Oregon today, I thought you might like some watermelon to cool you down (or stitch...)

Stay cool, everyone!
Rosalie

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I Do Not Understand Cats

A picnic dinner outdoors.  Absolutely convinced that she is A People, too, Emmy patiently waits for her portion. Rich points out that she is even wearing her bib:
Cuthbert, on the other hand, is obviously "A Cat Who Could Care Less" ...
Rosalie

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery Veggies

Asparagus found growing in my Brazilian dimensional embroidery garden (no weeding required).

This is from my Millefiori "Veggie Patch" design (#829), a pillow top (or small kitchen quilt to hang on the wall next to the spice rack). OK - I'm still working on the website ...
     You'll also find instructions in my newest book An Artist's Garden by Rosalie Wakefield (and can email me any time for a copy of either the book or the design on fabric - with all instructions).

The asparagus is stitched with a Nova bullion. Glory lazy daisy stitches are added by bringing a smaller threaded needle up inside the bullion (you can do all sorts of things when you begin with a basic Brazilian dimensional embroidery stitch). 

The leaves are Glory straight stitches, couched with a technique I call "Carrot Feathers" -- a fly stitch across the longer straight stitch that has an extra long tacking stitch.  Then a second fly stitch is worked in the same way, but in the opposite direction, exactly across from the first fly stitch.

"Carrot Feathers" are an excellent choice, even when you are stitching carrots (big call for that!).   Lookie . . .
"Carrot Feathers" also make lovely filling when you need to fill an area with fine growth.
Rosalie

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Showy

My Showy Evening Primroses are showy in the MORNING as well as in the EVENING.
On a cloudy morning, I can look out the window and it appears that Someone has turned the lights on outside. They absolutely GLOW! 
Occasionally, my Showy Evening Primroses are viewed as camouflage by Emmy, here patiently lying in wait for little canary finches or chickadees to drop by for a swim.
Pathetic.
Rosalie