Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Sashiko and Changing Swans To Snow Geese


 Have you heard of Sashiko?
It is a Japanese form of embroidery
used for mending.


I thought that I would try it
on this old pair of pedal pushers.
Hey, you're never too old to be cool :)


They will make cute gardening pants.
I prefer patches to holes, LOL.


This photo is from Pinterest.

I want to apologize
to these beautiful creatures
for getting their names wrong in my last post. 


 They are not Swans, they are Snow Geese.
But whatever you call them . . .
they are magnificent :)

 The Snow Goose is a white-bodied goose
with black wingtips that are barely
visible on the ground but noticeable in flight.
The pink bill has a dark line along it,
often called a "grinning patch" or "black lips."
(that I got from Google)

Here's wishing you all a wonderful day . . .
I hope you do something today
that brings joy to your heart.

Keep Smiling!

Your blogging sister,
Connie :)



53 comments:

  1. I'd seen that kind of mending before but didn't know what it was called. I know the perfect pant that would benefit from this beautiful stitching. I think I'm going to give it a try.
    xx Beca

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    1. I am so excited that I've inspired you to try this. Check out You Tube . . . I learn so much from You Tube Videos.

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  2. Connie, I like your patches. Yikes, I would never want to see that many geese. LOL. I can hear them in the sky when they are flying over here. They can be noisy. Blessings, hope it's sunny there. xoxo, Susie

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    1. Oh, they are noisy, but beautiful sitting on a lake or flying overhead in their military "V".

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  3. Good morning Connie! My fun thing to do today is I have to be at the dentist at 9:00! Actually, I don’t mind going to the dentist, but I could think of other things I would rather do. Ha! I actually have tried sashiko. It was taught to me by a Japanese lady in Aomori, Japan a few years ago. Unfortunately, I haven’t used it and have forgotten most of what she taught me. Yours looks beautiful! Wonderful job! The snow geese are gorgeous. I looked up the area that I think you’re going to be camping in. It looks like it may be south of Moses Lake? We have a sweet young couple who lives in Moses Lake that have been staying with us for the last month or so. They’re moving to Spokane and have bought a house that hasn’t closed yet but the new job hs begun already. That area looks beautiful over there. Have you ever camped at the dunes area just south of Moses Lake? Have a lovely day Connie.
    Blessings, Betsy

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    1. We have never camped in the Dunes, but we used to go swimming here all the time when we were first married. Moses Lake has changed so much since then. You used to go out there and practically have the whole place to yourself. Now, it's wall to wall dune buggies and off road vehicles.

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  4. I love Sashiko! I'm with you on the holey clothes. Don't get that trend at all. :) Your mending is so much nicer. The snow geese are gorgeous and that's a fabulous photo of them all grouped together.

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    1. I love learning new things. You never know if you'll enjoy something new, if you don't at least give it a try :)
      It's good to stretch the old brain cells, too. LOL.

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  5. I've been thinking of trying sashiko - but for embroidery not mending purposes. I must say your mending efforts will make you a very stylish gardener!

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    1. I've always thought that you can dress modest and age appropriate and still have a little fun with it :)

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  6. I knew of sashiko but not for mending. What a good idea! I shall file it at the back of my mind for next time I have a pair of worn jeans. x

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    1. It seems to be the style again. I don't like holes in jeans and I never liked rhinestones jeans, but I think patches can be fun, if not over done :)

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  7. Hi Connie! My mom watches the huge flocks of snow geese that visit the potato fields in Washington. Gorgeous! I love your mending. I've seen that on Pinterest and I think it's wonderful! Take care, friend!

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    1. Your mother reminds me of myself. There is a hay field across the road from us and it is my view from my kitchen window. I love that view . . . it changes with the seasons just as trees do. Instead of blossoms, buds, green leaves, colored leaves and bare . . . the fields go from seedlings, to green plants, to golden, to harvest, to birds migrating, to blankets of white snow and then back to brown earth. Their is a circle of life right outside my kitchen window and I get so much pleasure from watching it do it's thing :)

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  8. It looks beautiful, I would love to give it a try when next I have some jeans that need mending. The snow geese are such an amazing sight, stunning.

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    1. The sun is shining here today and I worked outside for a while. Oh, it felt so good and it was warm enough in the sun that I took my jacket off. It's still cold in the shade, LOL. It has been a glorious day. I love how the earth wakes up in the Spring :)

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  9. I love patches on worn denim and your sashiko looks fabulous. You most certainly are never too old to be cool.

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    1. Amen sister! I will never forget being in the Seattle Art Museum one day and over at the side of the room was a lady sitting on a bench. She was probably in her 80's and she was wearing a red dress and red shoes and I fell in love with her at first sight. My mind was telling me, "that's the kind of older lady that I want to be". You know, the kind that even though the body ages the heart doesn't :) Young at Heart.

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  10. That's a really cool way to patch those holes. I've never heard of it before

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    1. It's fun to learn something new . . . they will be fun to wear this spring and summer when the weather warms up.

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  11. I've never heard of sashiko mending before but it looks like you did a great job with it.

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  12. I've never heard of sashiko but what you embroidered looks rather nice. The Snow Geese may not be swans but they have their own beauty.

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  13. I have a pair of jeans that need mended. I'll have to try that.

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    1. Have fun . . . you can turn those old jeans into stylish ones :)

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  14. Love your patches! I want to try Sashiko, but I haven't made it a priority yet. We went to see some migrating snow geese a couple of weeks ago, but my pictures aren't nearly as nice as yours!

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    1. We were just in the right place at the right time and the lighting was right. It was pure luck :)

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  15. I never knew the name of that type of patching but my ex-mother-in-law taught me to do that back in the 79s. However, she went back and forth both ways so I guess it would have had a different name to the type of patching. You did a very nice job on your repair patch.
    The snow geese spend a bit of time with us on the bay-as they travel from north/south.
    Hope you have a good night- xo Diana

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    1. I don't think it matters if you go one direction or two . . . I think it's still called by the same name. Are you still living on the waterfront where you can enjoy the wildlife?

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  16. Connie, I LOVE this sashiko! Thank you for sharing it. I like embroidery, but this looks like more fun - functional.
    Long time, eh!

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    1. It is so good to hear from you, it has been a long time. It's very simple, basically a running stitch. Have fun with it . . . again so good to have you stop by:)

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  17. Hi Connie, Never heard of that patching but your patch looks pretty! My kids pay good money to buy jeans with holes in them! How times have changed! The Snow Goose is beautiful whatever you call it! Have a good rest of week. Nancy

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    1. Hi Nancy, This has been a nice week. The drive on Sunday was wonderful, yesterday I had a dentist appointment that went very well and then today the sun was out and it was warm enough to work outside. I got some of my flower beds raked out so that I can see the tulips popping up, they are looking forward to Spring, too, :) Tomorrow I am going to visit with one of my very dear friends. She emailed me last week and told me that her daughters have decided to move her to Idaho so that she will be closer to them, so I want to spend some time with her before she moves. She and I used to play guitar together, I've learned a lot from her besides always have fun . . . I will miss her bubbly personality, but we can still email.

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  18. Clever -- I used the same idea for hubby's jeans recently - ( found the idea on Pinterest -always an inspiring sourdce for me )
    Such lovely photos Connie!
    oxo Susi

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    1. I love Pinterest, too . . . that and the videos on You Tube, I had learned a lot about quilting from them.

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  19. Connie, you are just the coolest! Now you'll have sashiko mended pedal pushers to walk around. lol I love old jeans. So comfortable! You are just the best! The Snow geese are interesting, and pretty. Strange how they group together like that.

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    1. It was so good to get out and take a slow Sunday drive . . . just what I needed to chase the blues away. This week is suppose to warm up. It might be another tease, but I'll certainly enjoy the warmth and sunshine while we have it :) I'm delighted that you like my jeans.

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  20. I have a pillow case that has a small tear I noticed when I was folding laundry yesterday. I'm going to try that method of embroidery. It's on the back of the pillow case so it won't show if I don't do a very good job.

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    1. Carol, I know you and you will do an exceptional job. I can see you loving it and wanting to do a larger project when you've finished :)

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  21. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I love the stitch. I have never seen that before. Now I want to do a pair of my jeans that way.
    Im glad you figured out what the flock was going on. LOL. Had to say that.
    Lisa

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    1. I didn't get it at first . . . but then I am always the last one to get a punchline, LOL. Give this stitch a try, but watch out all your girlfriends will be bringing you their jeans :)

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  22. I had not heard about kind of embroidery but I am with you, I would much rather have a pretty patch to a hole in my pants :)

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  23. Pretty and useful, thank you for sharing the embroidery stitch.

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    1. Thank you Karen for stopping by, it is a pleasure to see you. Have a lovely weekend:)

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  24. The snow geese migrate to the Skagit Valley. I love driving up there to see them. I like your patches,very cute. I am sorry I haven’t been by in a while. I was in an accident.

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    1. I just visited your blog and read what happen. I am so sorry and you are in my prayers. We do not know what turn our lives might take each day, so we need to remind ourselves how precious life is. It sounds like you have a long road to recovery, but that you have friends and family at your side. I am so impressed and proud of how your children are stepping up and helping. God bless you.

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  25. Hi Connie! Thanks for stopping at my blog.
    I have never heard of Sashiko, but I really like it! What an interesting way to mend something.
    The snow geese are beautiful.

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    1. They are beautiful, it was amazing to see so many of them gathered on the water like that. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit, I love making new blogging friends.
      Connie :)

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  26. Love sashiko stitching. I made a whole quilt once using this method!
    Thanks for showing us the beautiful snow geese. I have a childhood book still about the snow geese!
    Thanks also for visiting my blog and leaving lovely comments!
    Blessings,
    Suzy

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    1. Hi Suzy, it is always a pleasure to have you stop by . . . have a lovely week girlfriend.

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  27. Didn't know about Sashiko ...
    Thank you.

    All the best Jan

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