Slow Stitching - April 2025 - Week 3

K3N Cloth Tales - Comfort Coverlet - Week 3   

The theme for April is tea which I just love.

I added a tea house over my table of tea which I put in last week.

It is kind of modeled on a Japanese tea house.  I chose a dark grey floss for this addition to my composition.

Again, using the stem stitch to make nice even lines.

I am enjoying this composition.

Sewing Project - Wine Bottle Bag - Japanese 1

 I found a couple small pieces of this Japanese print fabric by Schwartz Liebmen Textiles Inc. in my stash. I believe it to be 100% cotton.

I chose to make the front of the bag be a panel of the gorgeous fabric.  I found some red that my sister gave to supplement to the size I needed. I sewed a piece to the one side but that made it tricky to figure out where to place the the handles.

I placed a row of brown twill tape along the top edge aligned so it would be centered for the purple accent. That was stitched with the wavy decorative stitch then several lines down vertically to quilt the flannel to the outer layer.

Now I would not have a back seam. I did manage the handles correctly but totally forgot about it for the box corners.  I did have to undo the box corners on the outer and lining pieces and then iron the piece well so I would know what was the front.  It had to be done.

With the bottom seams and the box corners now in the right place I could do my 2 rows top stitching at the top of the bag.  

I hand stitched the purple crochet element at the top of panel on twill then added a red button in the center.

I chose red thread and an off white polycotton lining.

Information on "My Bag" Line 

Cards to the Gallery

A beautiful piece of decorative paper in blues and purples.  This is alcohol paper designed a while back.

I mounted it to a dusty grey card. 

I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punchie in grape in the top left hand corner.  I used a marker to highlight the body.

I layered the band at the bottom of the card with a please of light blue then a piece of the same decorative paper.

The french greeting is a birthday one.  It was color printed in lavendar and punched with the Stampin Up Artisan Label punch.


I have included a few photo cards as well because I have sold a few based on inventory I did last month.

A beautiful Barn Swallow!

Gorgeous Sunflower!













This is my Sunlit Rose.


This makes a great guy card.  This is a close up of a stainless steel book end that I found at the Antique Mall.


I think this photo of the Bridge at the Japanese Garden would make a great sympathy card.

I'm starting to think November and December so I have included the Red Poppy and this red berries with beautiful leaf would do Christmas.

These are headed to the Gallery Gift Shop today.

Devonian Garden Visit

I took a day off and drove into the country to visit Botanical Gardens.  I knew that the flowers would not be as spectacular as mid summer but the end of the season has some beauty of its own.  They have a butterfly showcase with tropical plants.  The bees were trying to get to the last of the nectar.
This tree is magnificent! 

The Morning Glory is wonderful and it always reminds of my Mom growing them along the fence and gate with I was a kid. 
Sunflowers are always a favorite of mine. They were tall which isn't that tall for me, so between 5 and 6 feet. 
The Cone Flower Echinacea is sports great colors and holds it's own in the garden.

There is the Kurimoto Japanese Garden which features art, waterfalls, fish ponds, several bridges, a bonsai tree exhibit, a large bell and several pagodas.  

There are many benches to rest a while as the Gardens cover 240 acres so a lot of walking is involved to see all the different gardens.  I was there over 5 hours and took 400 photos. 

The day was overcast and quite cool but comfortable with a jacket. Despite the weather there were 2 wedding parties at the gardens and several families out taking fall photos which required managing where I was at any given time.  A couple of the features I was not able to get to because the demand was too high.

Sharing for Mosaic Monday hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.