And the winner is.........

JOYCE CLARK FRANK

Vallie was not cooperating this morning so I had to use the number generator and it came up with the number 33.  Joyce was that lucky number and if she would please get in touch with me, I'll get her winnings out to her asap.  I want to thank all of you for entering this giveaway and keep watching for a major one whenever I hit 500 followers.  It's getting close so it shouldn't be too long now.

Everyone have a great weekend and get in some serious stitchie time.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

A beautiful dog

A friend sent me a picture of his beautiful black lab, Sam.  He is huge but such a gentle soul.

Also, Vallie will be picking a winner of my giveaway tomorrow so check back.

Hope all your worries are teeny tiny ones today.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

Lovebird Pillow Finished

When I was at my LNS after she came back from market, I spied this little pattern over in a corner of the table and what caught my eye was the red.....of course.  Upon closer look, it turned out to be this adorable little red cardinal sitting on a spool of thread.  It was love at first sight and it came home with me.  Because it was designed by Just Another Button Co., there were 4 heart buttons to add to the finished piece and a little black button for his eye.  I stitched it on 30ct. Creek Bed Brown linen with DMC floss and finished it into one of my little pillows.  

I received in the mail yesterday, a piece of linen I purchased from Nina and she was very gracious and sent me two samples of her beautiful hand dyed cotton floss.  She must know my colors because they are pinks and greens.....lovely indeed!!!  I have a little Jardin Prive design that calls for these two colors and I'm using them to stitch it up.  It will make a beautiful little pin cushion and I should have it finished this week.

I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend and getting in alot of stitchie time.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

Springtime Giveaway

I promised a giveaway starting today and in celebration of Vallie getting her stitches out and getting rid of that dang cone, here it is.  I've included some really nice things that I think all of you will enjoy.

First there is 2 patterns from Little House Needleworks.  One is called Home (I stitched the pillow) and the other is My Lady.  I've included a skein of HDF silk for the Home one and it's in shades of blues and greens.  I've included a piece of homespun linen for the Lady.  You also will find a journal with a matching pen for keeping those important notes on projects.  To top it off, you will receive a bag of Easter Corn.  I have tasted this and its scrumptious!!!

Now for those pesty rules. 

1.  You get your first chance by commenting on this post only that you are a follower.

2.  You get your second chance by posting another comment on this post only that you have posted about this giveaway on your blog.

That's all you need to do and I will have Vallie pick a name next friday to see who wins.  Good luck to all who enter.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

"Home" pillow finish

When I purchased the Little House Needleworks Heart Pillow at my LNS after she got back from market, I was very surprised to find a free chart in there that was a Nashville exclusive.  I stitched this sweet design on 28ct. ant. white Cashel linen using HDF silk called Faded Glory.  I absolutely love how it stitched up.  For finishing I added some of my favorite things....blue/cream ticking, braid, buttons and a bow.  

Remember me saying that I was going to have a giveaway starting this week.  Well I will post about it on friday and this pattern will be one of the items in it.  So check back on friday to see what other goodies I come up with to celebrate Spring!

Also, I want to thank all of you ladies for your wonderful birthday wishes.  I made it thru the day and that in itself is a remarkable achievement.  Thank you all!!!

Blessings as always,

Barbara

Two finishes and unfortunately....a birthday

First off I want to welcome my new followers and to say thank you to all of you that sent me well wishes for my baby, Vallie.  She gets her stitches out on Thursday and I'm sure she can't wait.  She hasn't been herself for several days now and I can tell she's super depressed.  Nothing really interests her....not even food.....I'm worried.

I want to say first off that I absolutely loved stitching these two designs.  The first one is from LHN and I stitched it on 28ct. tan Jobelan using the required Crescent Colors floss.  For some reason I just couldn't get the hand of how she finished the rick rack around the outside, so I just attached it without the gathers.  I think it looks fine and lets face it.....nobody has to look at it but me. :o)

 This second design by Shakespeare Peddler I stitched on star sapphire 28ct. Jobelan using the required Crescent Colors floss.  Because I stitched my two designs on 28ct. I was concerned about running out of floss...which I did of the green.  It called for the buttons to be stitched so instead of doing that, I used real mother of pearl buttons.  Personally, I like this much better.

 As you can see, the stitching goes all around the little pillow.  I also didn't finish this the way the designer called for.  I just didn't like how she finished it so instead I sewed a tube of a pretty coordinating fabric with draw strings at each end.  I stuffed the tube and then sewed the cross stitch piece onto it and then attached some of the green rick rack.  

Now about that birthday.  It's tomorrow .... the 19th....and I absolutely hate the fact that I will be 60 years old.  Where or where did the years go?  Also, it's dawned on me that I have very little time to finish all the hundreds of designs I have planned to do.  LOL   I've purchased a Kindle Fire and I'm still getting the hang of it.  The resolution is fantastic on it and it's very quick on the web.  This was my bday gift to myself and so far I'm loving it.  I'll let you know more after I've had it for awhile.

I hope all of you are having a fantastic Sunday and that you've been able to get some stitchie time in.  I'm planning on having a giveaway starting this week so keep watching.  I have to get everything together....and that's all I'm saying for now.  :o)

Blessings as always,

Barbara

A Beautiful Surprise!!!!

 What a surprise I received when I visited my mailbox today!  There was a large manila envelope with a return address I didn't recognize right off and yes, it made me very curious.  After opening the package and the card inside I discovered it was from Sweet Sue who just happened to know my birthday was coming up.  You can see above how prettily she wrapped her surprise for me.   I just hated to disturb it but curiousity got the better of me.  

 Inside was the sweetest little pincushion/fob stitched on a stunning piece of 40ct. linen....and what makes this so cute is that Sue and I were talking about her trying 40ct. and I offered to send her some.  :o)  Well she stitched this in burgundies and golds which are my favs and attached a sweet little heart charm to it.  I love it Sue!!!!!  and she wasn't finished.  She also included some candy (which suits my sweet tooth just fine) and 3 pieces of the most beautiful India silk for my finishing.  I am really going to have to stitch something worthwhile of these silks.....I just wish you could feel them!!  And she even remembered Vallie, who today needs a special treat.  Vallie loves bacon and this little chewy is just her size.  Thank you Sue....your friendship means alot to me and you were able to surprise me when I needed a pick me up the most. 

I also received this in the mail today....a gift to myself.  If you haven't seen this book, you might want to check it out, especially if you are into primitives.  There are quite a few patterns in it that I have on my list to do of which one will be a giveaway very soon so keep watching for it.

Also, thank you to all of you who commented about Vallie and hoping she has a speedy recovery.  She is doing pretty good and hasn't left me out of her site today.  I've been stitching alot and she's right here beside me on the couch sleeping which is probably the best thing for her.  Again, thank you.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

A Vallie Update

Well I brought our baby home from the doctor and as you can see, she's pretty much down and out.  I gave her one of the pills he gave me and she was out like a light for about 3 hours.  The above picture is of her finally waking up but not moving.  Poor little thing is super sore.  The people at the store were super nice....which isn't surprising...and even found her a pink cone to put around her neck so she doesn't bother her stitches.  She has to wear this for 10 days till she gets them removed.

Above you can see her wound.  This is about 2 inches long and they shaved a circle about 5 inches all around it.  When I first saw her, it didn't look this bad but when I went back to get her, I was shocked.  I just hope she gets some sleep tonite and lets me sleep.....knowing her she'll be up bouncing all over the bed wanting to play.  Oh the love of a dog.......I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

A Stitcher's Heart Finished

I've started working on the new designs from this year's Nashville Market and my first finish is from Little House Needlework....A Stitcher's Heart.  I haven't done the finishing yet because I want to stitch the companion piece to this "Gentle Stitches" from Shakespeare Peddler.  

They are both stitched with the same colors of Crescent Color floss but I'm doing them on different colors of Jobelan.  The heart I've stitched on tan jobelan and the Gentle Stitches one will be stitched on Star Sapphire.   

I read on the HDF forum that Simply Necessaries in Europe was having a great sale on their Gander Linen and I just had to take advantage of it.  I've ordered cream, light blue, olive green 38ct. linen and I'll be sure to show you it once I get it.  I absolutely love 38ct. Gander Linen and I do wish more shops here in the US would carry it.

Today has not been a good day for Vallie.  I took her this morning to Petsmart for her monthly trim and bubble bath treatment.  Well the guy who was doing the trimming cut her back and she required stitches.  They have a vet right in the building who explained to me that she would have to be knocked out to do the stitching, so it was taken care of immediately and of course they are paying all the expenses but my baby has been hurt and I'm hurting too.  I don't get to pick her up for another 2 hours and I really miss her.  She's my buddy during the day and lays right beside me when stitching and if I'm in my sewing room, she has a bed in there where she lays till I'm finished.  Needless to say she will be babied when I pick her up tonite.

I hope your day is going better.....

Blessings as always,

Barbara

In memory

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. It was also the second deadliest disaster in New York City – after the burning of the General Slocum on June 15, 1904 – until the destruction of the World Trade Center 90 years later. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged sixteen to twenty-three the oldest victim was 48, the youngest were two fourteen-year-old girls.

Because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a common practice at the time to prevent pilferage and unauthorized breaks – many of the workers who could not escape the burning building jumped from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors to the streets below. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the ladies union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.

The factory was located in the Asch Building, at 23-29 Washington Place, now known as the Brown building, which has been designated a New York City landmark..

We have all heard of these sweatshop conditions and I just wanted to draw attention to the lost lives of these innocent women who were only trying to make a living.  I know the needlework that we do doesn't come close to the work that these ladies had to perform on a daily basis, but I think as fellow needlewomen, we should remember them....they deserve that.  If you would like to read more about this tragic accident, please visit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

Blessings as always,

Barbara

Ort Bag is Finished!!!!!! and WIP

Today has been a very good day!!!  I finished Rhonda's Ort Bag and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.....I hope she is too.  I changed the finishing a little bit from what the designer called for but only because I have ways of doing things that I know work for me and I really didn't want to try anything new with something this major.  I've taken pictures so you can see the process I went thru to construct this beautiful bag.  

First I separated the cross stitched panels and xeroxed one of them to get a template for the Pellon.

I then ironed on the Pellon on the lining pieces as well as the cross stitches pieces.

I then basted the edges around to the back on all 8 pieces and then pressed them to get nice sharp edges on all pieces.

Here you see all the pieces with the lining sewn unto the backs of all the cross stitched pieces as well as the bottom piece.

I started by stitching the bottom of all the pieces unto the square bottom piece.  After that, all the sides were stitched together on the outside.

Here you can see the finished piece with the twisted braid woven thru the loops.  

As you can see, by stitching it together on the outside as the designer said to do, you really have a nice crisp edge on the bag.  I'm going to make one of these for my daughter, Jenn, but make it with Mirabilia patterns which she loves.  I'm thinking of the petite designs she has of the flower girls....still working on that idea and hope to have one started by fall.

Well now that I've finished this it's on to something new.  I'm thinking of a BBD design since I have their new book or maybe an Easter design.  Decisions.....decisions.....

I hope all of you are having a great week and that all your stitches lay perfectly.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

 - 

Edited to include my WIPocalypse for March.  Not much done on the Fallen Roses but I have finished other ones on my list which can be found under the page above.  Thank you

A Stitch in Thyme finish

I've had this pattern from Little House Needleworks in my "to do" file for about a year now and I figured it was 'thyme' to finish it....pardon the pun.  It says for it to be finished into a needlebook but I thought it was too large a finish for that so I made a little 'project bag'.  The design I stitched on 32ct. Days Gone By linen using Crescent Colors overdyed floss that it called for.  

I then attached it to the little 7 x 7 inch bag that I had made.  I made a tomato pincushion like the one in the design and also lined the bag with the same fabric.  There are little bees on the design so I added a JABCo bumble bee button to the flap of the bag.  There's also a pocket inside the bag to hold your scissors or whatever you desire.  I have so many of these that I've decided to sell this one and you can find it in my store.  

The wooden thread keeper my DH made for me and is not included in the set....nor are the scissors.

Well I've been working on Rhonda's Ort Bag but really haven't gotten much headway.  I'm hoping to get part 3 finished this weekend....fingers crossed.  I'm not going to start anything new until I go to my LNS tomorrow to see what she brought back from market.  

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend with lots and lots of time for stitching.  My prayers go out to all the people in the midwest who are having such terrible weather with the tornados.  Let's pray that this spring is a mild tornado season for these folks and that no one else loses their life.

Blessings as always,

Barbara