Embroidered Basket Tutorial Part #1

I recently asked my Joyful Embellishment Facebook group if they would like to embroider a basket of flowers together and there was a lot of interest!  To start the project, simply right click on the image of the basket of flowers and save it to your computer.

I printed mine out to see what size it was and I decided to reduce the image by 75%.

Now you can decide between two different ways of transferring your image.  I usually transfer my image to Golden Threads quilting paper.  You can lay the paper on top of the image and trace it or….

You can cut a piece of freezer paper into an 81/2’’ x 11’’ size and iron the same size piece of Golden Threads paper to the shiny side.  You can then run it through your printer and make a copy of the basket on to the Golden Threads paper.  

Remove the printed pattern from the freezer paper and baste it to the fabric you using to embroider your basket of flowers!

See you on Wednesday with an update on my progress!

Happy Stitching,

 

Santa Fe Trail Adventures!

Good Afternoon!

For many years now, I have been a proud member of the DAR, Daughter’s of the American Revolution.  To become a member of DAR you must be able to trace your lineage back to a patriot who fought in the Revolutionary war.  For some, the process is easy and for other’s it can be a little more challenging to find the documents you need to join.  My application was fairly simple because I had a great aunt who was a member.

When you join DAR, you suddenly have a lot of sisters which is so awesome!  I have made so many friends through this organization and it has been a huge blessing in my life.

Several of my DAR sisters have a passion for the Santa Fe Trail and because this is the 200th anniversary of the trail, a group of us decided to go on a road trip to found Santa Fe trail markers.  In 1906, the DAR placed 96 trail markers across Kansas that follow the trail.  Can you image trying to find out exactly where the trail went in 1906 without GPS?  It must have been a full time job/passion to get these markers placed across Kansas!

One bright, beautiful day in April, 4 of us loaded up in a pick up truck and made our way to Kingsley, Kansas.  We picked that town because we knew they were several in the area and we wouldn’t have to drive as far to find them.

The first stop was actually in the town of Kingsley outside of the Edwards County Historical Museum.  In this picture are two of my DAR sisters, Deb Miller and Deniese Fawcett.  Not pictured is our wonderful National Chair for the Santa Fe trail, Dee Saddler.  

This marker was a little harder to find!  I should have known it would be when the driving instructions included longitude and latitude with it.  With some patience we found it in the middle of Peace Lutheran Cemetery.  We didn’t stay there very long as there were a lot of snake holes!

Next stop was Fort Larned and the Santa Fe Trail museum.  We toured the museum and I couldn’t resist taking pictures of these beautiful quilts!

I thought this baby buggy was just darling with the crazy quilt!

Next stop was Pawnee Rock which was know as the half way point between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Originally the rock was about 150 feet tall and you could look out over the prairie and see the Arkansas river.  A lot of it was cut down when they built the railroad, so it is now 50 to 60 feet tall.

Another marker is found!

All in all, it was a beautiful, fun day spent with my dear DAR sisters!  I can also tell you that is was very addictive to rise to the challenge of looking for the trail markers and I am ready to go again!

Talk to you soon,

Val

It’s Been Awhile!

Hi there!

It’s been quite awhile since I checked in here.  I have been busy with a project or two that has kept me busy!  All my deadlines have been met and I have some time to spend doing other things.  I love to take short drives places and see the sights in our great state of Kansas.  You may think, what is there to do in Kansas?  Well, there is more to see than you think!

This weekend, I wanted to go somewhere and take a hike, so I decided we should go to Osawatomie, Kansas.  I had checked it out and decided to give it a try.  It was a short 2 1/2 hour drive for us and the weather was beautiful!  

Osawatomie is home to the John Brown Museum which houses the 

Adair cabin.  Florella Adair was a half sister to John Brown, and for a brief period of time, he made his home in the Adair cabin.  Of course we all know that John Brown was a staunch abolitionist and participated in a period of time called Bleeding Kansas.  Kansas was a scary place to live during that time as both sides of the slavery issue were fighting to claim Kansas.

Here’s a peek inside the cabin.

Florella’s husband, Samuel Adair was a minister and the church that he started is still standing.  I just love old buildings like this!

We then headed to the Flint Hills trail.

The Flint Hills trail runs 117 miles across Kansas and mile zero is in Osawatomie.  We thought it would be more of a hiking trail, but it really seems more like a biking trial.  The weather was lovely and we hiked it for about 3 miles.

Such a beautiful day!

All in all we had a great day!

Talk to you soon,

Val