The New Year Has Begun!

Here we are already in the second day of the new year! This last year was a really hard one for everybody the world over. Now is the time to gather up our strength and look towards a better year ahead for all of us. We, as a nation need to put our trust back in God and hold tight to our faith in his son Jesus who can and will make all things new again, we need only to believe.

One of my goals for this year is to finish up some UFO's both in quilting and in cross stitch. Along with that I will also be starting my granddaughters HS graduation quilt. I have all of the fabrics for the front and should get started cutting it out in the next couple of weeks. I will have to get all of the Christmas decorations down, packed and back up to the barn first.

Another goal is, I want to try my hand at stitching on linen. Up to this point I have only stitched on Aida cloth. Sure hope I will be able to see well enough to do it. I love the look that linen gives to cross stitching. I will start out on something small and then hopefully graduate to doing my first sampler. There are so many wonderful ones out there, having a hard time deciding which one to do. Does anybody have a suggestion for me?

Sorry no pictures this time, I am having trouble with the camera on my phone. Actually this has me thinking about getting my digital camera out and start using it again. My brother left me a really nice, fancy, digital camera that I would like to be able to take a class on how to use it this spring. 

Hope you all have some goals you would like to get accomplished this year too. Goals, to me, sounds so much better than resolutions.

Continue to take care and stay safe!

Happy New Year Everyone and Happy Stitching!!

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 A Few of The Santa's I Have Made Over the Years

Here it is the day after Christmas 2020. It seems with all of the time it takes getting ready for this special day, the day it's self goes by so quickly. I know this year was a very different one for all of us. Many were not able to be with loved ones which really put a downer on celebrating this year. I had a few friends that didn't even put up a Christmas tree or any decorations at all. I find this so sad. We choose to go ahead, as always, and put up our little tree and decorations thru out our home and even some outdoor lights. It did me good to have the house look so cheery with the greenery and other decorations. I do have to admit that I didn't put out everything. This was not because of the covid19 issue, but because I am getting older and what comes out, must be packed up and put back. This week between Christmas and New Years is a time for me to just relax and enjoy some reading, catching up on flosstube and getting some stitching done. Oh yes and eating those yummy leftovers. 

I know this is rather late, but here are a few pictures of some of the Santa's I have made through out the years. It is so much fun getting them out each year and remembering the fun I had making each on of them. 

This is the little tree I have in kitchen. I decorate it with dried apples and oranges and of course popcorn.

This pattern is called Santa Barry, he is one of my favorites.

                                                         

                                             I wish I had not used the jute for this ones beard! 

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

We now can look forward to a new year and pray that it will be much better than this one has been, and that life can get back to normal once again. 

BLESSINGS TO ALL OF YOU AND  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 We Are Now Officially in the Christmas Season!

Getting a Few Things Ready for my Etsy Shop

Well I was unable to hardly get any cross stitching done these past two weeks. Life just got in the way. That happens sometimes. I did get a few items made for my little Etsy Shop though. There was a beautiful horse panel at the quilt shop where I work (one day a week) that I just had to buy and figure out something to do with it. The artwork on it was beautiful and I couldn't figure out a way of quilting it or even what to make out of it to quilt. One evening as I was about to fall asleep an idea popped into my head. Apply the pictures onto a stretched canvas. I have been going thru all of my Mom's art supplies and found several canvases. So the next day I tried it. There is definitely a learning curve to getting them on nicely, but I think I finally have it figured out. Here are the four that I have in my shop.

I am finally pleased with how they turned out. They measure 16" x 20".

Being a horse lover and owner myself , I just love all of them.

I did manage to make up a small Santa with his stick reindeer, called a Bean Bagger Santa from a very old pattern book called Kindred Christmas by Kindred Spirits. It is full of really cute primitive items to make for the holidays. Santa is made out of wool and his sidekick reindeer is out of wool also These are so much fun to make.

 Several years ago I made my brother this angel bean bagger. She is really cute too!

I also found another older pattern book called Santaberry Sauce by Joan Vibert &Gail Caso. These little guys are made out of an old cutter quilt. Several years ago I made up several Santaberry's out of wool and homespun, in different sizes. For some reason they just speak to my primitive heart.  

And last but not least are little primitive wreath ornaments that I made out of left over's of a Dresden Plate cutter quilt. I tea dyed these and the Santaberry's to make them look really old.

There are a few more things I would like to get made up, but time is already drawing nigh and I need to get my house decorated!

Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving and were able to be with some of your family and loved ones.

This has been such a hard year for all of us. Let's continue to count our blessings and look forward to the best season of all - Christmas, in celebration of our Lord's birthday.

Blessings to you all❤

My Re-found Love of Counted Cross Stitch

I've Found Cross Stitch...Again!

 Gosh here it is November, 2020!!! This year has certainly been a strange one with all that is going on in the world today. During this time of a pandemic,  I have rediscovered counted cross stitch. I follow Quilt Roadies on You Tube and she was talking about flosstube and what a wonderful community of stitchers they are. Well I went over to check it out since I had been thinking about starting cross stitch again. Oh what a wonderful place I found in them! I am hooked! I have done a few small projects to get started again and am loving it. I have never stitched on linen and I am gathering up my courage to try it. There are so many sampler patterns out there that I love, so trying to choose which one I want to start on. I have to admit I am a bit intimidated about working on linen, but I am going for it. Shanda of ShandaQuilting&StitchinginIdaho has given me some advice as to what count to start on. I love her flosstube channel. She is also a quilter and I love that too. Another stitcher/quilter that I really like is Bonnie of logcabinstitcher, she is also on Instagram. I am starting a new fall stitch for Thanksgiving. Getting a late start, but it is small and maybe I can get it done. Let me mention one more flosstube channel I really like and that is Country Stitches with Liz and Deb. They both do such beautiful work and are just fun to watch.

Here is the one that got me started again. I saw Kimberly on Fat Quarter Shop show her houses of the seasons and I loved them. So far I have only done the winter, can't wait to do more. I was a bit disappointed in this one because my snowflakes didn't show up hardly at all.

I have only gotten two bowl fillers done so far, just about to get one more done. I love the little bowl pillows, they are a quick stitch.

Pillow on left is a free Aurifil chart and the one on the right is from a very old calendar from the 80's. 

Here are two small finishes that I need to decide how to fully finish.

The one of the left is a Lizzy Kate Pattern and the one on the right I found in my old cross stitch patterns from many years ago.

 The pumpkin  has been a real challenge! Every time I would work on it I would end up having to frog out stitches. I have stuck with it and now it is almost done and ready to be made into another bowl filler.

This is from the same 80's calendar as the bee hive above.

And finally here is the new chart I just bought for Thanksgiving. It is so cute and trucks are so popular right now. I love turkeys, so I couldn't resist. I haven't gotten it kitted up yet. It calls for a lot of Weeks Dye Works floss and all I have right now is DMC. Trying to figure out if I want to invest in the Weeks. We will see.

 

This is all I have for this time. I hope to have some good progress to show you all in a couple of weeks.

Until then, take care and blessings to you all.

The Long Lasting Tomato Pin-Cushion

Hi Everyone. I'm sure that most of you sewer's out there has a tomato pin-cushion. I remember when my Mama put together my first little sewing kit for me. In there was this pretty red tomato pin cushion with pins already stuck in it. I had seen her's and thought that it was a really neat thing to stick her pin's in. Now I had my own and I was so excited. When my best friend came over to sew with me, I couldn't wait to show her my very own tomato pin-cushion. As I remember, she was quite impressed. Mama was teaching both of us how to do embroidery and how to make clothes for our Ginger dolls. We all had so much fun that afternoon sewing. I felt so grown up with my own tomato pin-cushion. After my Mama passed away, I was going thru some of her sewing things and came across this little pin-cushion still in the original package. Yup, that was my Mama, she loved to tuck things away and then forget she had them. Well, I thought about not opening it and just saving it as it was, but I decided I should go ahead and use it. I think of Mama every time I  use it and often of that afternoon, when I was about 7 years old, and sewing with her and my best friend.

I got to thinking the other day, wow, the tomato pin-cushions have been around a very long time. Well, when I got to doing some research on them, come to find out they have been around since the 15th century! 

The first reference to the tomato pin-cushion appears in the 15th century. Before this, as metal pins were rare and expensive, they were stored in a variety of protective cases made of bone, ivory or silver. During the Tudor Era (1485-1603) it became common practice to use fancy, stuffed shapes to store needles and pins. The familiar tomato shape evolved due to the folklore surrounding the fruit, which symbolized prosperity and repelled evil spirits. 

A custom revolved whereby ripe tomatoes were placed on the mantel to ensure future prosperity. As real tomatoes were not always available, people created fabric tomatoes stuffed with sand or sawdust. Eventually, the stuffed, decorative tomatoes were used as pin cushions.

The stuffed tomato pin-cushion was further popularized in the Victorian Era. As parlor rooms became more opulent the lady of the house displayed collections of pin cushions in various shapes (fans, dolls, shoes, fruits and vegetables, taking pride in their number and variety. The tomato pin-cushion became a familiar presence. 

In the early 1700's pin pillows came into use, the predecessor of the pin-cushions of today. They were beautifully made from fine fabrics and often delicately embroidered.

Soon the pin pillows became mounted on a silver, china or wooden stand or base.

As years went by, in many cases the pin-cushions became more common as a useful, functional sewing aid.

Article taken from Threads - for people who love to sew

It was fun learning how this very popular and very long lived pin-cushion came to be. Now, if one of your sewing friends ever asks you if you know anything about the tomato pin-cushions, you will be able to tell them all about them.

Blessings to all

Oh, How I Love Sunflowers!

One of my favorite flowers is the Sunflower. I remember them from my childhood days of visiting my Great Grandma's farm. When got there, they were standing tall in the fields with their bright yellow faces, saying "hi" to me as we drove down, what seemed at the time, a long drive way to get to her house.

Today I have the pleasure of having my own sunflowers growing on our own little farm. I must admit, I have never sewn a sunflower seed, the birds do that for me. They do a lovely job of planting them in just the right spots. The picture below is from one of the seeds they planted for me. 

I thought I would share some fun facts about sunflowers with you:

1. Each sunflower is actually thousands of teeny flowers. As many as 2000 can make up "the classic sunflower bloom". 

  

2. You should harvest sunflowers in the morning, not the afternoon.  If you wait until the afternoon, they may wilt.   

3. Sunflowers are native to the America's and were domesticated around 1000 BC. Even way back then people saw the value of growing them, which are still harvested for their seeds and oil.      

4. A dried sunflower makes a unique, natural bird feeder. 

The birds have almost picked all of the seeds out of this one.

5. Each sunflower can contain as many as 1000 to 2000 seeds.

6. There are about 70 species of sunflowers. Their genus name is Helianthus (which comes from the Greek words for "sun" and "flower") While many look bright and cheery, their shapes can be quite different. For instance these funny "Goldie" sunflowers look like puffballs.       

7. The French word for sunflower is "tournesol" which means turns with the sun.

    

8. The tallest sunflower on record was over 30 feet tall!

9. Sunflowers have been planted to help soak up nuclear radiation.  They are actually good at absorbing toxins.   

   These fun facts were taken from: www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a32638/sunflower-fun-facts/

Who doesn't like a pretty bunch of sunflowers to put on their table for a centerpiece?

My daughter surprised me with this gigantic sunflower the other day. It measures 9 1/2 inches across!

Here are a couple more pictures for your enjoyment.

One of my loves is sewing with wool, so I had to make up a little table topper with two of my favorite things, chickens and sunflowers.

Hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about these beautiful, happy flowers. This is the time of year that they are everywhere, please take a few minutes to admire their beauty and let them help lift your day.

I will close with a saying from Helen Mirren:

Blessings to all.