A Little of This and a Little of That

I just finished a design featuring one of my favorite historical "stitchers". Can you guess who it is???

Betsy's House
Plum Street Samplers
36 count Vintage Examplar using called for fibers

Betsy's House was such a fun stitch. I only wish the fabric color was showing up better. The fibers are so beautiful on the Examplar.  I just love stitching "patriotic" pieces this time of the year, don't you?? It's not know for sure if Betsy Ross made the first American Flag, but I'd like to think so, all the same!!!

Another little piece that I caught my fancy this Spring is Bouquet Violettes Et Myosotis from the Collection Tralala.  I stitched it on 36 count Edinborough Flax and used the DMC conversion. I'm planning on having it made into a flat fold.

I really enjoy collecting and stitching all the Island Cottage Needle Arts Hearts. This is the Spring Heart Hop Hanging Ornament. It's stitched on 35 count Beige Weeks Dye Works fabric with the called for fibers, buttons, beads, and ribbons. My finisher always does such a fantastic job finishing these for me.

 

Here is the Love Notes flat fold from Plum Street Sampler that she finished for me.

Like I said, a little of this and a little of that. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and found time to stitch.

Linda

Flock News

Hi Friends! Just wanted to catch you up on a series that I've been stitching. It's the Little Sheep Virtues from Little House Needleworks, Shepherd's Bush's conversion. Their version includes the patterns, a gorgeous piece of Shepherd's Wood linen, over dyed fibers in their own special palette, buttons, complete directions, and needles.

They are so much fun to stitch and each month I can't wait for the next pattern to arrive. As you can see, I'm stitching them on one piece of fabric. Here are the first three "virtues".

You can see some of the over dyed fibers here. I'll add the sweet buttons when I'm finished with the series. I just love the planning that went into this series. The colors looks wonderful together and I'm sure the position of the sheep facing each other on either end was no accident. Each design contains a "heart". The heart on the "Peace" sheep is too cute!!! 

There is such attention to detail with this series. Notice the cute pink ribbon that the over dyes are held together with. 

I'd like to thank Faye for bringing my attention to this wonderful little design featured in the January/February 2013 Just Cross Stitch magazine. The original design by Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance is done in Crescent Colours Belle Soie espresso. When I saw Faye's "red" conversion, I was hooked. I stitched mine using Belle Soie Sister Scarlet. I replaced the gold charm that was used on the original with the red heart in keeping with a monochromatic look. This was another design that was so much fun to stitch.

Just want to leave you with a sneak peek at what I'm stitching now.

Three Tulips

design by Brenda Gervais

Thank you so much for visiting. As Tina and Teri would say:

Linda

The Tale of Two Samplers

Hi Friends!
 Just wanted to do a quick post to update you on some of the designs that I've been stitching since my last post. Mercy Mercy, a new design from La-D-Da  released at this year's Market, just spoke to me.

Mercy Mercy

La-D-Da

30-count R&R Reproductions  Foglifter linen

Weeks Dye Works fibers

I love everything about it. The color of the fibers on the fabric, the wording, and those fantastic birds!!! I especially like the peacock!!!

Like so many of you, I've really been attracted to samplers with a "pop" of red.  Mary Edmondson 1812 really knocked it out of the ball park for me. It was such a joy to stitch, and like Mercy, Mercy, the colors really stood out.

Mary Edmondson 1812

Pineberry Lane

An Antique Reproduction

36-count Lakeside Vintage Navy Bean

DMC fibers

There's an Easter surprise and another small framed piece to come. Until then, happy stitching!!!!

Linda

All Hearts Come Home

Hi friends! I hope you had as much fun as I did stitching for Valentine's Day this year. I found some really great designs, and best of all, some of them were already in my stash!! First are my Tweet Hearts from the For My Friend booklet by Blackbird Designs.  I love these little hearts. Part of the reason that they were such a joy to do was that they were stitched with Simply Wool fibers by Gentle Arts.

I really like this year's Brenda Gervais Valentine Sampler pieces and I definitely plan on stitching them. Until then, I was able to finish last year's Be My Valentine Love Bird Pincushion and Love Letter Needle Keep.  The needle keep is so sweet.

Love this Nan Lewis design. Endless Hearts from Threadwork Primitives. I think that the Weeks Dye Works Cayenne fiber worked so well with the  R&R Dark Cappuccino linen.

Speaking of Nan Lewis, I joined the Ladies Prim Society presented by Dyeing to Stitch. I am so pleased with our first design. It's an original sewing pouch design by Nan called Wynter Peacocks. Every thing needed to complete this beautiful pouch was provided right down to the button!!!!  I can't wait for our next project!

I'm trying to stitch Christmas ornaments through out the year and not wait until the last month or so. My first is Jenny Bean's Christmas Ornament 2009. It's stitched on 40- count Cream Linen using Belle Soie fibers. My friend, Karin, stitched it and when I saw hers I knew I had to stitch it as well. 

My thoughts are with our friends who are experiencing such hardship this winter. Here's hoping that spring is just around the corner. Happy stitching!!!
Linda

2012 Finale

The year is quickly coming to a close so I wanted to take this opportunity to post some of my final projects. Earlier this year I stitched With thy Needle & Thread's  Hilda's Alphabet Brew. It was such a fun stitch that when Letters For Santa was released, I knew I'd be stitching this one, as well.

There is another sampler pillow, House of Blues & Browns. I just know that I'll be fitting it into my rotation sometime next year!

Here's my final ornament for the year. It's a Plum Street Sampler design from the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Special Christmas Issue.

Good Tidings and Great Joy

40- count Vintage Tundra Newcastle from Lakeside Linens

Gentle Arts Sampler and Shaker Sampler Threads

I'm so happy that I decided to photograph this piece before sending it off to the finisher, LOL!!!  Have you noticed my error???

 OOPS!!!  I forgot to stitch the "Y" and "Z".  Better correct that before the clock strikes twelve!!! This is Threadwork Primitives' Holly Sampler Pouch. Because it's so "gray" here today, the colors are just not showing up as they should. It's a really beautiful piece and hopefully that will show up next time. 

I have so enjoyed reading all of your blogs this year and appreciate all the support that you've shown mine. I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!!! There are so many beautiful new designs out there that I want to stitch and I can't wait to share them with you.

Fondly,

Linda

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!!!

 It indeed  is cold here today in the sunny Midwest. While our neighbors to the North have experienced snow, we have not had any.  We're heading for a record for going the longest without any snowfall  if we get to the 16th of December.  I'm still hoping to have some by Christmas.

I've taken advantage of the sun today to snap some photos of recent finishes. Up to now, it's been very gloomy and I've not been able to do so.

Threadwork Primitives

Be Ye Merry

32 count Belfast Clay

I always look forward to stitching Nan's designs. This one just says "Christmas" to me!!! 

Milady's Needle

Partridge in a Pear Tree

40 count heritage Newcastle linen from Picture This Plus

The 2012 Just Cross Stitch Special Christmas Issue had such pretty ornament this year. This is from this issue. Each year I stitch an ornament  from the song  "The Twelve Days of Christmas". I'm hoping to have a tree full of them some day.

Blackbird Designs

Peace

30 count Abecedarian blend linen 

R&R Reproductions

Oh my goodness. As soon as I saw this design, I knew I had to stitch it!  I think that it's just lovely and I plan on keeping it out all year!!!  Here's the back:

The Marking Samplar

Christmas Collection

A Christmas Sampler

34 count Legacy Cafe su Lait

Belle Soie Berry Cobbler

Don't you love these little sampler ornaments!  I'd love a collection of these, as well!

Heartstring Samplery 

Baby, It's Cold Outside

35 count Weeks Cocoa

I hesitated to share this picture with you because it just doesn't do justice to the piece. The Coco fabric is a rich color with red modeling throughout that works perfectly back to the Pomegranate color of the house.

It was a really fun piece to stitch.

Lastly, it wouldn't be a post without a picture of my latest Word Play. This is just the cutest piece. I have one more to go and that's January. I think I'm going to miss stitching this series every month.

I have a few more surprises and hopefully will be able to post before the end of the year.  Until then,  I'm wishing you and yours the merriest of holidays.

Linda

A Quick Autumn Post

I've been busy working on my Christmas stitching projects, but these just arrived from my fabulous finisher, Deb, and I had to share them with you.  First up is a Brenda Gervais piece, On Pins & Pumpkins.

This was such a fun little project and I'm thrilled with how it turned out! The pumpkin stem is real, BTW.  Deb is so good about finding these things! It's stitched on 40 count Antique Cotton linen with the called for over-dyed fibers. I really enjoyed stitching on this fabric and hope to use it again, soon.

Here's my October Word Play:

 

I ran out of rusty pins and I really miss having them on this piece.

Wishing you all a wonderful week, filled with time to work on your favorite stitching projects!!!

Linda