May is my favorite month.  While I come from a small family, there are only 24 of us, but for some strange reason, 7 of us have birthdays in May.  It must be those waning days of the previous summer. . . . May has Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and the summer breezes calling to each of us.  See the entire list, courtesy of https://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/blmaydayslong.htm or see some of my favorites at the bottom of this posting.  What a wonderful month!

I guess I am into pillows this week, and this one is an idea I have had hanging around for at least 6 months.  I just was not sure how I was going to do it.  Frankly, even as I was setting up to do it, almost nothing was in place. 

I knew I wanted to do some sort of Free Standing Lace (FSL) and I wanted it to be a really unique item and have lots of ‘pop’ to it.  I knew I wanted to incorporate ribbon in it somehow, and with little more than thread and an extra pillow, I set out.

I selected a design which is actually an awareness FSL.  I did it in pink to represent Cancer Awareness, one of the causes near to my heart, but I could have done it in the colors of any awareness group.  I wanted to do Autism because it has affected my life, but the ‘color’ is a mix in a puzzle design.  I hope you support issues that are important to you.

The FSL is courtesy of Embroidery Library and has a 3 section design.

I sewed three sets of them for a total of 9.  I naturally used my favorite water soluble stabilizer, Badgemaster.  I had no thread breaks, no problems and each design was perfect with just a single layer of Badgemaster.  Yawn, it is a no brainer and I can qualify for that!

After I soaked my designs in water, the stabilizer was gone in about 20 minutes and I used my brayer to remove most of the water.  I would never squeeze FSL, it could well alter the shape and cause real issues.  I also use the brayer to flatten it between two towels.  I feel certain that my items will be flat, shorten drying time and not stretched.

When the design was dry, I placed them on my pillow and added a small dot of glue on the back of the design so that it would attach to the pillow.  I use a fabric glue called Beacon’s 3 in 1 which is quick drying and easy to use.  It does NOT clog up the output point of the bottle (happy dance).

I went through my ribbon drawer and found this great nautical rope left from another project and felt it was just perfect for my ready-made pillow.  I just used a simple square knot and my project is complete.  I really liked the outcome, and hope you do as well.  Not including drying time, it took me a mere 2 hours of stitching out, a really quick and gorgeous item.

My pashminas make a great throw/coverlet and are now available in great pastel colors:  yellow, light blue, light pink, white, and a terrific violet along with the colors already listed.  These make wonderful cover-ups for pool and beach outings, especially for those young ladies who need to be covered up!!  The yellow shown is even sunnier in person.

It is not too late to pick up a gift for mom.   Remember that there is no shipping on my pashminas!  The new colors that may not be listed are from left:  Lemon Yellow, Violet, Light blue, Rose, Pink, Tangerine, Summer Grass and White. 

·         Last but not least, here are the celebrations for May, I think my favorite is Blueberry Cheesecake Day, but then again, there is Dance Like A Chicken Day as a close runner up!  I will definitely celebrate “International No Diet Day” with great enthusiasm.

Month Long Observances

·         May Is American Bike Month

·         Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

·         Asparagus Month

·         Asthma & Allergy Awareness Month