Ribbonwork

My mom made this pretty little sachet from a kit she ordered at HelenGibb.com. Helen's books tell us that ribbonwork had its heyday in the 1920s. There are some beautiful examples of vintage ribbonwork currently at Vintage Textile: garters and an evening coat.

Love in the spring

(I apologize if this post is overly sappy -- there may be a surplus of such things around here over the next few months!) ;-)

Lily of the valley

Maybe someday we'll be able to transmit smells through the Internet, but until then, let me assure you that this little bundle of flowers from our backyard has the most heavenly scent!

Elegy

St. Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria

"Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mold'ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."

--Excerpt from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, c. 1742-1750

Tuesday

I know, it's actually Friday. But...


I finished my third dishtowel! Sunday and Monday are in my sewing gallery.

Carnations aren't exactly my favorite flowers, so I'm looking forward to starting Wednesday -- lilacs!

A baby dress for the cedar chest

This dress evolved quite a bit... originally I thought I'd embroider the collar, but then I didn't quite like the way it turned out -- too busy. I decided to let the pretty print of the vintage fabric speak for itself, so I kept the embellishment simple.


My buttonhole function is having conniption fits right now, but once I get that sorted out, these are the sweet vintage buttons from my mom's stash that will go on the back of the dress.


And look! The soft white cotton lining doubles as a little petticoat.

"An excellent mystery"

I am so excited that Douglas and I are planning to be married in a beautiful church in my hometown, St. Mark's Pro-Cathedral. The setting suits both of us perfectly and I pray the ceremony will be full of beauty, reverence, and truth. We asked the Dean if we could use the marriage ceremony from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in lieu of the modern liturgy, and he is willing and amiable. Here's a beautiful prayer from near the end of the 1662 ceremony:

O God, who by thy mighty power hast made all things of nothing; who also (after other things set in order) didst appoint, that out of man (created after thine own image and similitude) woman should take her beginning; and, knitting them together, didst teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those whom thou by Matrimony hadst made one: O God, who hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent mystery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church: Look mercifully upon these thy servants, that both this man may love his wife, according to thy Word (as Christ did love his spouse the Church, who gave himself for it, loving and cherishing it even as his own flesh), and also that this woman may be loving and amiable, faithful and obedient to her husband; and in all quietness, sobriety, and peace, be a follower of holy and godly matrons. O Lord, bless them both, and grant them to inherit thy everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Haydn

Douglas is visiting and brought a small fraction of his piano library. His dry comment: "Little did Haydn know that one of his worst piano sonatas would be memorialized in such a beautiful photo."