Spring is in her glory. The crab apples are in full bloom.

My peach trees are full of tiny sweet blooms just waiting to turn into large juicy peaches. Just thinking about how that happens makes my head hurt. The miracle of nature!

Tiny violets are peaking up through the blades of grass.

After our winter, these are very welcome. Some of these offer a great bonus. Many flowers are edible. Make sure your flowers have not been sprayed with pesticides. Use them sparingly. Some can cause digestive problems. (Click on edible above to get a listing of flowers good for this process.)

Grab a clean paint brush. Put an egg white in a small dish and add a tablespoon of water. Whisk until foamy.

Paint the egg white mixture on the front and back of each petal.



Sprinkle fine sugar on the flowers. I only had the regular sugar, so I ran it through the Cuisinart food processor using my metal blade.

Violets, pansies and johnny jump-ups are all great flowers to use.


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the flowers on parchment paper. Slide the parchment paper onto a baking stone. Turn off the oven after the 30 minutes and leave the flowers inside the oven for another 4-5 hours until they are dry. Remove the stems and use the flowers to decorate a frosted cupcake or cookie.

These turn out so sweet. Great way to celebrate spring!


Here's my progress on Elizabeth. I have to admit I feel a bit guilty working on this sampler. I have so much work I should be doing....but I am really enjoying this one! I just keep looking at it and can't believe I have gotten this far.

Above is the pattern cover for the last Anniversary of the Heart series. It went to the printer today....so it will ship out to the distributors in a week's time. Look for it soon. The previous blog shows a picture of the bonus pattern that is included in this pattern.

Until later!

Alma

Barb and I met over the weekend at Bottom's Up. No...we weren't going to a "gentleman's club"....and I use the term Gentleman very loosely.... and we weren't doing the Cancan at the Moulin Rouge. Just the thought of Barb and I doing the Cancan makes me want to say OUCH! No Dancing with the Stars for us. We were involved in free-wheeling and decadent entertainment of the antiquing kind.

The first weekend of each month is a gala affair down in the historic west bottoms of "Cow Town." The old buildings around the stockyard area of Kansas City are slowing being converted into antique havens. Bottoms Up is our favorite one. It's packed with vendors who bring the best stuff. I will have to take my camera next time so you can visit too.

As we were getting ready to leave, Barb pulled the linen pictured above, from the front seat of her car. Thought I would give you a peek. This piece is the final bonus pattern which will be included in #12 of the Anniversary of the Heart series. I'm working on the pattern today. It will be ready soon.

My Elizabeth Scheffield is coming along too. Love the green parrot. Thank goodness the parrot is over two threads! I think I'm going to stitch my Mom's name on this one. I might add some flowers on the stem behind the parrot. It looks like it needs a couple there.

And....my books from Bonnie Slotnick came on Friday. Great weekend reading!


I'm going to have to try the taffy. I purchased this book in memory of my father. I remember him making taffy at Christmas time and thought it would be fun to try.

Well...have to go. Work is calling. Will show the final pattern for Anniversaries of the Heart soon.

Until later dear friends!

Alma

So many places to visit...and so little time to do it in. Edie and I ran from place to place. We used the subway and walked miles and miles. I know we might have gone faster in a cab, but I felt more like a New Yorker navigating the jungle of subways.

Luckily, the hotel gave us a city map with subway stops. Do not count on NYC giving out a single subway map. Every station is out of them. Must be a best seller!

After visiting the American Folk Art Museum, I saw one of the reasons why. The gift shop had wallets for sale made from the subway maps. (In all fairness....maybe the company making the wallets print their own maps. No research on the map problem was done by me! I just pointed the wallets out to Edie and made a snide comment about where all the subway maps were going. I'm digressing here....time to move on to more fun in NYC.)



Are you looking for vintage trim or ribbons? Then Tinsel Trading Company is the store for you!

After purchasing French General's book Treasured Notions, all I could think about was seeing the shop for myself. Believe me, this place is the mother lode of trim, notions, ribbon, buttons, flowers.....you name it. I'm sure what ever you want is somewhere in this shop.





I had to purchase a couple of items.


I've been searching for vintage sequins. I saw them sewn onto the background of an antique sampler and wanted to experiment with the idea.


And....you know me. I love the idea of the vintage trims for props in photography.

The picture at the beginning of this post is from the quilt show Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts. The redwork birds are so sweet!

More shops to come!

Until later,

Alma