Christmas Eve

Seasons Greetings to all. Want to end this year showing you some of my last minute finishes. I was lucky enough to be part of of Country Sampler's Stacy Nash Handwork Club this year. We received so many beautiful and unique kits. This pinkeep was the most recent.

There is a sweet little ornament that comes with it. It will definitely get finished in 2014.

I always enjoy stitching Linda Lautenschlager's Chessie & Me designs. I was fortunate enough to take one of her classes. She so interesting and informative as well as a great designer. Here is Scarlet's Christmas Sampler. I chose to stitch my own name at the bottom of the piece.

Here is a sweet little Lizzie Kate piece from last year that I finally got around to this year. I plan on doing her new piece from this year Snow.

My stitching buddies are determined to stitch Christmas to the very end of the year. Here's what's in my project bag now:

It's a designe called Love Letters from the Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book. It was meant to be the cover of a Token Box, but I've decided to make it into an ornament. I'm in love with the PTP Dill linen that it is stitched on.  Speaking of project bags I love this one from Faye. She make the best bags! Love the little zipper pull and the inside is as beautiful as the outside.

I gave one to all my stitching buddies this year and they were thrilled!!!  Thank you so much Faye!!!


A big thanks to all my followers. I've appreciated all your wonderful comments this year.  I'm wishing you each a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy, new year.  Looking forward to a great year of stitching along with you!


Linda

Snow Bird

When it feels like 1 degree where you live,  one might be tempted,  like the affectionately named "snow birds", to head toward the warmer climes of the southern regions of the U.S. Since that wasn't possible today, I took the opportunity to stay in and finish my Snow Bird piece. I was one of the fortunate ones who was able to get this darling Brenda Gervais design.  And I'm really happy with the way it came together.

I really love this design and the fact that it's housed in this snowflake base made it even more special. Isn't that little bird's wing just the cutest!!  I am definitely not a finisher, but Brenda's instructions make it easy for me to manage.

I have one more "find" to share with you. When I'm stitching with multi-stranded threads, I like to use a laying tool to help keep my threads from twisting.  Imagine how excited I was to find this beauty:

What really caught my eye, were the Celtic designs carved into the sides of it.

Thank you as always for visiting. Hope you are staying warm and are able to stitch during this busy time of the year. Wishing you and yours warm wishes this holiday season.

Linda

Birds of a Feather!

Here I go again showing you pictures of another finish featuring "crows"!!! What can I say???
My latest finish is Away We Ride from Blackbird Designs. This is an amazing piece and was so much fun to stitch.

There are so many great motifs in this design that it is difficult to pick a favorite. 

Just had to have this this guy to mind my needle!

I want to conclude by sharing this picture with you.

To say that my stitching buddies and I loved the Brenda Gervais Pink Sparrow design is an understatement!!! Here are four of our finished pieces framed or in the process of selecting a frame Four finishes. Each using a different fabric, stitch count, or frame. And each equally beautiful!!!! I can't help but smile when I see them all together like this!!! You know that Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other"? Can you spot the one that's different?? 

 Our friend Pat loves reproduction samplers. She tends to select designs that have a date within the pattern. Here's how she made Pink Sparrow her own:

Since the original needlework dates to around 1840, she replaced  two of the birds with that date!!!  We were all blown away by her creativity!!!!!

Thank you for visiting. Hope you are all enjoying stitching some great Autumn designs.

Linda

Autumn Stitching

We've been having beautiful Autumn days here in the Midwest. Perfect days to stitch for season. One of my favorite designs (and there are many) is Beggars Night by the wonderful Nan Lewis. 

I asked the ladies at the Dyeing To Stitch shop in Virginia Beach to kit it up for me and they sent me the most beautiful piece of Abecedarian fabric, along with the fibers and trim. I love everything about this design, but the white pumpkin made it a "must stitch" for me.

I was fortunate enough to take a trip up to the Country Sampler shop in Spring Green, Wisconsin, with my stitching buddies this past weekend. They all have a wonderful eye for fabric and helped me chose the backing for this design. They also always seem to manage to find something fun with a crow design on it for me. Thanks guys!!!

I belong to the Ladies Prim Society through the Dyeing To Stitch Shop and was fortunate enough to win a give away.  A scissor fob personally stitched by Ann. The fob matches one of Nan Lewis' pin keeps that was designed for the club.  I was just thrilled. It's just so beautifully stitched and finished. Thank you again, Ann!

Thank you so much for taking the time to view my blog. It's always so much fun sharing this fantastic obsession we all have!!!

Linda

The Perfect Summer Sampler

I just finished the Pink Sparrow Sampler  from With thy Needle and Thread designs and I must say that I enjoyed every single stitch of it.

The themes really appealed to me. I loved the birds, especially the sparrow with his pink legs!!!

The flowers are just lovely. Not to mention those two darling little dogs at the bottom of the piece. But most of all I LOVED the colors of the fibers. They are gorgeous and made the piece so much fun to do.

Several of my stitching buddies are doing this piece, as well. What made it so much fun is the fact that we all made it our own by converting to a different  linen.   I used 36 count Lakeside Vintage Lentil  and substituted CC Frosted Sage (1 strand of floss over two threads) for the GA Shaker Lexington Green .

This sampler is undated but it is thought to be from around the 1840's.  It never fails to amaze me that something so old continues to be so current. I like the thought that something that graced the walls of someones home over 170 years ago, will now find a place on mine.  Yes, it was truly the perfect Summer Sampler!!!

Hope everyone had a great summer of stitching!

Linda

America

America

Threadwork Pimitives

Original Design by Nan Lewis 

I'm feeling really blessed today!!! Happy 4th of July!!

Sweet Surprise

My new Little House Needleworks Sheep Virtues arrived today from Shepherd's Bush. I always look forward to seeing what special touches they'll add to each pattern.

 The button that they chose for Simplicity is an adorable little bee. Take my word for it, it's ti-nee tiny. I just took a close up so that you could see all the detail. And of course, they sent along a beading needle. That's the thing with Shepherd's Bush. Every thought is put into making this the most pleasurable stitching experience possible.

We are half way through the series and along with the pattern came a very "Sweet Surprise".

Are these not the cutest scissors!! And the ribbon is just darling.

I'm so happy with the "Sheep Virtues" club that when I heard that they were also doing the Mystery Sampler by Little House, I just knew I had that join that one too.

It's going to be a great summer of stitching for me!!

Hope everyone is enjoying all of your stitching projects. I'm wishing you all a very happy Fourth of July!!!

Linda

Framed!!!

Sometimes good things do come in Big packages!!!

Today I received my pieces that I sent off to Jill Rensel  for framing. Jill's studio is in Utah and when she ships your pieces,they arrive safe and sound. Her packaging is astounding!

And, here's what was inside:

Three Tulips

design by Brenda Gervais

The detail in her work is phenomenal and her frames are beautiful!!!

Some days the sun just doesn't cooperate, so please forgive the poor quality of the photos. I was anxious to share my "good fortune" with you!

Mercy Mercy 

design by La-D-Da

Jill's artwork is  beautiful and just enhances your piece.

 It was a great "mail" day! Now I get to find just the perfect spot for my pieces. Thank you, Jill!!!

Linda

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