Go Oft To The House of Thy Dear Friend.....For Weeds Choke Up An Unused Path

Today, my dear friend Dee brought out two old projects that I had made for her years ago, and I thought I'd share them with you.  I love the old fashioned feeling they both have.

Both patterns are from an old needlework magazine that she bought in England while traveling.  The first is a needle case made from four cardboard hearts.  I had such fun making it, and she has treasured it ever since I gave it to her.  The saying embroidered around the edge is:  "Go oft to the house of thy dear friend....for weeds choke up an unused path."  So true!

 

 

Two of the hearts are cut into halves so they fold, and the two whole hearts are padded with batting on the inside, to hold needles and pins. The four hearts are whip stitched together.

 

I braided strands of pearl cotton in a lavender color to make the ties that you use to tie a bow to close the hearts.

The second project is a travel laundry bag that she takes on trips.  It was hanging on a peg in the closet when I visited her, and she says she uses it all the time.

 

It's made of muslin on the front, and yellow gingham on the back and lining.  I changed the pattern to write "Ocean City" on the towel on the clothesline, since we had vacationed there together.  Here's a closeup of the embroidery.

I'm flying back home tomorrow, and will miss Dee very much.  

Here's a picture of one of her quilts that we worked on together this week.  It's now a completed quilt top, and I just love it.  We have very different styles in quilts, but it really inspires me to visit her quilt room, and see all of her projects.

The circle making the "coffee" in the cups is the cup fabric, but the wrong side of the fabric!  So clever.  She machine buttonhole stitched around each cup.
I think it's so cute!  

I will be flying home tomorrow, and am going to be working on redwork in the airports.