Happy Easter

I've been seeing some smocked items on a couple of blogs here and here which makes me think of my Mom who was a sewing teacher and at one time taught smocking. I always put out my Easter basket and eggs this time of year.

She taught me to sew but she was teaching this art after I left home so I never learned how to do it. I don't know how she did all those little stitches with such precision.

No two eggs are alike and there is a lot of detail in each one.

The basket must have taken her forever to make and I treasure it. I hope you all enjoy your Easter. Ours will be cold and still snowy!

Christmas Corners

Here are some more of corners of my home with some treasured Christmas decorations.

This is the tea pot, sugar and creamer that matches my Mom's tea cups. My sharp eyed daughter spotted these years ago at a yard sale.
Speaking of daughters, these are my daughter's first pair of ice skates. No double runners for her-she started out on single blade skates when she was about 5 years old. She had a little lawn chair that she would push in front of her for balance but she was quite the skater. My husband built a little rink next to the garage and would go out there and put water on it for nights on end to get enough ice built up. They loved it and I loved not having to drive them to local pond for skating.
These Christmas balls were made by my Mom. She was a sewing teacher and one of the arts she taught was smocking. I have a number of her ornaments on the tree but I like seeing these on the dining table.
This year I put a tree on my kitchen island. I stole the idea from Mary at Little Red House. I tied cookie cutters onto it and draped it with an aluminum garland that was on my tree as a kid. Then plopped it in a crock. I love how it looks in the kitchen.
Now show me some of your Christmas corners.

I'm Seeing Red

I'm seeing red-not because I'm mad at anyone or anything like that! I have been seeing a lot of red leaves appearing all of a sudden as they do in fall in NH. So it was time to change this. Time for a new color theme. I had some of these red kitchen items and I bought some of them when I was in Maine this summer.
The hens came from my Aunt's farm.
And then there's my Fire King collection along with this odd bottle of crushed red pepper flakes.
The red pepper flakes have a story. This bottle came from my Mom's house. I don't know how old they are but if they had a price on them it would probably be $.05. Somehow my sister ended up with them. When she was downsizing and moving this past winter she didn't have the heart to throw them out but didn't want them cluttering up her kitchen anymore so I ended up with them. So here they are as part of the red theme. I think they look kind of cute. Whatever you do, don't put them on any food!

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day. I had a wonderful day here with my family, my husband's mother, his sister and family, my daughter's in laws and of course my beautiful one month old grandson. How he has changed in one month.

I did manage to finish this table runner this weekend from a pattern that I got from The Happy Zombie. It is a very easy pattern. I just changed the applique from cherries to flowers since I am calling this my summer table runner. Please don't look too closely at my machine quilting. It is a skill I am practicing and it will take me a while to get better. But I think it looks great on my kitchen island.

More Easter Decorations

My Mom was a prolific sewer and crafter. One of the needlearts she was a master of was smocking. I posted at Christmas about the smocked ornaments she made. Well, she also made Easter eggs which I have proudly displayed in my home now.

I love looking at these every year. The detail is incredible. I was able to pass some along to my daughter and daughter-in-law so I had quite a few of them.

The pretty candy colors are so wonderful this time of year and just looking at all those little pleats she pulled her needle and thread through brings back so many memories of her.

She also made the basket that the eggs are in. She was a sewing teacher and taught me to sew along with many other crafts but smocking was something she started after I left home so I never learned that from her. I just have lots of little girl dresses, Christmas ornaments and Easter eggs to treasure and remember her with when I get them out every year.

Smocked Ornaments

Ranae of Ewe Creek Cottage asked for some closer pictures of the smocked ornaments that my Mom made so here they are. She was a sewing teacher and this is one of the skills that she taught.