Take One Big Step Back

You all  have responded so wonderfully to my idea on Anniversaries of the Heart.  Thank you so much.  And thanks too for the compliments on the pictures.  Very sweet.


I hope I can live up to your confidence in me.

But someone should have ratted me out.  It's been bothering me for a few days now - I think I kinda sounded like a sewing snob when I said that you should be a confident sewer before you tried this idea.  Well, I thought it sort of sounded snobby to say that.


So I thought it might be a good idea to revisit what I said.  I AM a confident sewer - when I am working for myself, have an idea burning my biscuits - I just blaze into it with both feet.  Sometimes I don't fully think things through though.  And that is what happened in this project where I ended up not having the additional inches for framing on the outside linen pieces.  So, flying by the seat of my pants I decided that in the end I will add a border to make up for that.  It was a good save - as I call it.  But, I don't think a confident AND competent sewer would have made the mistake in the first place.  Fortunately, I've never made a mistake like this when sewing for someone else.  I think everything through, nine ways to Sunday before my scissors ever touch a thing; usually I do a little blow up sketch which is what I should have done for AotH.  Live and Learn!  And if I sounded snobby in any way, I am really, really sorry.

I have no progress to show, so will leave you with this:

Staghorn Sumac on a Rainy Day in the Fall

The above photo is of our eastern native, Staghorn Sumac.  It is not poisonous in any way.  Many years ago I saw two lovely middle eastern women near my house harvesting the berries from the sumac.  I stopped and asked what they used it for and they told me cooking.  Huh.  On Wiki-Recipies I found that the outer covering of the berry is used to make a spice powder that is deep red and "has a sour taste [that] is used in some middle eastern countries." (much like the Indonesian tree Myristica that produces a larger spice berry, the outside used to make Mace, the inside is Nutmeg).  It went on to say that "in North America, the smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, and the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes [outer shell of the berry] in cool water, rubbing the active principle off the drupes, then straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures."  And besides all that, it is very pretty in the fall.