Days have been busy here at Yooper Trails preparing for the show tomorrow in Holly. I’ve enlisted our good friend Jeff in making hornbooks and by husband Bruce in painting them. I do a limited number of shows each year and it’s always exciting getting ready for them. This is being hosted by Cari Cucksey (Cash and Cari) and the Holly Vault Collection. The address is 111 College Street, Holly MI. The time is 10AM until 5PM and admission is $5. Hope to see you. Here are a few pieces I’ll have there.
Greetings to my Irish friends and all those who are Irish today. Back home in Yooper country this was the day anticipated that last big winter storm of the season. I understand there is a potential of 8 to 26 inches of snowfall across the Upper Peninsula over the weekend. It’s a good thing they know how to manage that much snow.
Days have been busy here as I prepare for the Vintage, Antique and Handmade Show on April 1 sponsored by Cari Cucksey fron the Holly Vault. 111 College St. Holly, MI . The hours are 10am until 5pm and admission is $5.
If you have been following my posts you know the story of my search for my rocking bowl wedge. Happily it has been found and has become the base for Yankee Doodle to come to town riding on his pony. This is my design and it is the second one I’ve done. (No more old bowls laying around the house, so I might not do another.
This next piece is a reproduction of a hooked rug done by Madgalena Briner Eby, who was a prolific rug hooker from the 1800s. I do a lot of prims because I love the style. This particular project was a bit challenging. (Tip for you punchers out there, don’t cut those tails immediately because it’s easier to push them to the side as you fill in the spaces. Punching around all those tails on the tree is a slow process as you don’t want to leave any blank spaces. I ran out of some colors but then thought, back in the 1800s women didn’t run to the store for more supplies. They mostly used scraps to begin with. So, I did the same. I mounted it on a stained plaque. I’m adding a picture of the back to show how it will hang. I glued two buttons and will tie waxed jewelry string to provide a hanger. (I didn’t want to wait for the glue to dry to post pics.)
That’s it for today. Hopefully in a few days I’ll have my Family Tree, pattern from Rebecca Lindquist at The Simple Quiet and my bunny and tulips sitting in a Kraft cheese box, freebie pattern from Colleen King Collaizzi . Thanks for stopping by.
My piece is almost complete. I still need to sew the bottom closed, but I couldn’t wait to post a picture. I was really pleased at how easy the arm sewed up. I used my sewing machine to stitch most of it and then inverted it and hand sewed the remainder using just a a bit of fiberfill. One thing that helped was using homespun cotton for the backing. Homespun has a little more give than regular cotton fabric. Whenever I make stuffed pieces I use the least stuffing that is necessary to give it dimension. I don’t like tightly stuffed items. Again, thanks to Rebecca from The Simple Quiet for this pattern.
What a great idea and efficient plan. Unfortunately not one I have developed over the years. I fall more under the “Where did I put that (fill in the blank) My mother always said to look in the closest spot. That sometimes helps, by the way.
So, all this really does fit into a punch needle story. I even have a few pictures of WOPs. Let me continue with my story. I’m preparing for a show in Holly. MI on April 1 (Vintage, Antiques, Primitives and Handmade Goods Show) I”ve been working on some ‘smalls’ available and discovered a great method of presenting them. I sew on rusty wire to create a hanger. I gives it an aged look, which I like and it also keeps the piece from sagging when you hang it.
Along with my smalls, I decided to replicate a piece I did from Rebecca Lindquist. Rebecca is my punch needle hero/guru/inspiration. Years ago I punched a rabbit riding a sheep and mounted it on a wedge/rocker I cut from an old wooden bowl. I had a second wedge from the same bowl, which I’ve seen in my house regularly through the years.
As this story is getting long, let me summarize. I looked ‘everywhere’ for the wire, finally gave up and ordered some more. I moved on to finding the rocker wedge. After two days I decided to use a white doorknob instead to mount my make-do rabbit/sheep piece. Since then, the bowl rocker simply appeared on my workbench and the next day the wire appeared right on my desk in the middle of our living room! Can you say gremlins?
Here are a few sneak previews of current projects. All four of the smalls came from Punch Needle Primitive Stitcher magazines. All I have to do is sew on the wire hangers. The second picture is the make-do piece of the rabbit and sheep. Sewing a back on the arm is challenging. I might hand sew it or else machine sew 60% and then invert and hand sew the rest. Along with my where did I put game, I’m finding little ‘updates/changes to the format on my website, causing me to take three days to get this short post ready. So, wish me luck and I should return with some finished projects by midweek. Enjoy your Sunday.
It has been a bit of a dry spell for punching for me since the Elf Shelf. I have done some Christmas decorating which is always fun. After the years of Covid interfering with plans, I happily await having family here for Christmas Eve. There is a good news, bad news story here. The bad news is my husband and I are reaching the end of a covid episode ourselves. The good news is we are far enough away from Christmas to be past it all.
I just have a few pictures to share. These are all little candles that were popular back in the 50s/60s. The bauble head Santa in the center I bought at the Beaumont Hospital gift shop the first year I moved to the city. He is probably older than many of you reading this. The punch needle pieces don’t exactly fit, but that’s ok. It’s where they live.
Below is a portion of my Santa’s that I’ve collected over the years. The hanging quilt I made during a trip to visit my sister in Nebraska many years ago.
Thanks for stopping by. Keep a good spirit as we move (slowly for me) into the Christmas days ahead.
Good morning on the eve of Thanksgiving day. I predict this will be my last posting until after Saturday. It has been a crazy busy time for me lately. It almost feels like I’m young again. Hah! Tomorrow we have family coming for dinner. One more reminder of the Elf Shelf Saturday from 9am until 4 pm. I believe the admission is $5. It is the fiftieth year the Troy Women’s Association has sponsored this craft show. I don’t know the actual number of vendors, but I do know they fill the gym, the cafeteria and line the hallways. Stop by and see me there.
So I’ll close now by wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving filled with family, gratitude and football. Enjoy your harvest blessings.
Well, I’ve discovered that posting about punch needle is more difficult than punch needle. My photography skills are not the best. I already had to delete one photo because my lovely kitchen garbage filled the bottom of the frame. But, let’s move on.
Let me start with Santa’s Midnight Ride. This was from Jeannine Happe at Two Old Crows. Punching this one took more than a few nights, but it was a fun project. Much of the piece is punched at a deeper loop, which really makes it pop. I backed it with a brown cotton print and a sleeve of the same fabric. I stained a dowel and used buckskin cording for hanging.
This next picture shows another neat idea I tried. I found a site on the internet that had rusty wire. It works well for hanging pieces. The tautness of the wire keeps it from sagging which I was looking for. Also, it’s cute and primitive looking. I’m sure I’ve mentioned how I love prim.
I found this little blue enamel child’s baking dish. I punched a little feather tree (or Swedish Christmas tree, as my friend Judy says,) sewed a back on it and then used tacky glue to adhere it the tin.
One more for today. I hope I’m remembering correctly. I’m pretty certain this pattern ‘Noel’ comes from Tara Guernsey from Perfect Prim Punch.
That’s it for now. These are some of the pieces I’ll have at the Elf Shelf on Saturday.
Greetings on this fine November Saturday morning. Today I have two pictures showing the difference you can make with the same piece. This little sheep was done with DMC floss in the background the the sheep itself was done in Valdani P4. Usually when I punch with the varigated Valdani threads I don’t do anything to the finished piece. Some people use strong coffee and will soak the piece in water, squeeze out the excess and then soak it in a bowl of cold dark coffee. After a few minutes remove it from the coffee and squeeze it out. If you leave it wadded up you will get random spots darker than others. So, that’s one way to achieve the aged look. I like to use walnut crystals. I purchased a little bag 8-9 years ago and mixed a few tablespoons into a pint mason jar of water and haven’t used it up yet. Of course, I don’t age everything I punch. I use a paint brush and brush the liquid walnut crystal water over the piece. You can use as little or as much as you want. If in the end you just don’t like it you can soak your piece in water and the stain comes out. I probably mentioned this before, but I steam press all my pieces before finishing them. (Always with a pressing cloth. Mine is a linen dish towel I got as a wedding present from my cousin 50 years ago. Pressing directly on weavers cloth will melt the polyester muck up your iron.) Steaming it seems to ‘pull’ it back into shape. It also helps the errant loops showing on the front side. Those loops can be snipped or you can use your punchneedle to push them back to the back side. Anyway, this is about staining, so let’s continue. Toggle the arrows to see each picture fully. You decide. Which do you like. If you like the prim look, here’s how to get it.
Good Tuesday morning to you. Today I’m explaining how I finish a piece with a frame. Awhile back I attempted to video my process, but that didn’t work too well. So I’m just going to write it out. Supplies you need include 1/4 inch foamboard, quilt batt, brown shipping paper, screw eyes, double sided scotch tape and double sided acid free tape, a point pusher and waxed jewelry string. I purchased the Stitchery Tape probably 8 years ago and haven’t used it up yet. You measure the foamboard to fit snug on the inside of the frame. I glue a piece of quilt batt to the foam board which puffs the punch needle slightly out from the frame. Place the finished piece on top of the batt and test it inside the frame. Often you will need to go back and punch a little more on the outside edges. You don’t want the white weavers cloth showing.
Once you are satisfied with how the piece fits in the frame, run a strip of the stitchery tape on each side of the foam board. When you take off the top protective layer you can press a little of the weavers cloth onto the tape and check the placement in the front. If you need to adjust the placement you can pull the weavers cloth back from the tape to move it around without losing the stickiness.
Once the punched area is positioned in the frame, press down all the excess weavers cloth onto the tape. You can fold the corners in and use the point pusher to hold it all in place.
I use double sided scotch tape applied to the frame and cut a piece of brown wrapping paper to cover the entire back. I use an exacto blade to cut the paper even with the sides. Measure 1/3 of the distance down the sides and drill tiny holes to screw in the screw eyes. Finally, I use the waxed jewelry string to make a hanger. Reading over all I’ve written it seems like a lot of directions, but I like to be thorough. The next picture shows the finished back and the jewelry string. (Worst case scenerio, if you still see a bit of the white weavers cloth on the front you can carefully use a colored marker and stain the cloth.)
This Father Christmas holding a lamb is from a Christmas issue of Punch Needle Primitive Stitcher. I hope you found it informative.
Wow, it has been so busy here lately. Veterans Day came and went without mention. So, a belated Happy Veterans Day to all. We began the day with donuts and coffee at the VFW home post here in town. Then attended the ceremonies at the eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month, which if you did not know is when the armistice ending World War I went into effect. Then back to the post for a nice luncheon.
Two weeks from yesterday I’ll be at the Elf Shelf at the Troy High School. So I have been punching like crazy here getting ready. Bottom line, I already tanked on my challenge to myself to create a post every day for however many weeks. AT least I made many days. Oh well, I’m back.
I have three pieces on frames. I’ll share Harvest Blessings from Julie Zakrzewski at My Primitive Heart. I’m down to punching the stem on the black pumpkin and filling in the background. As has been the case lately I’m going to run out of the background color before I run out of background. Grrr!! I used my wooden frame with carpet tacking to hold the cloth in place. The blue and white covering is made from steering wheel covers and helps keep you from poking yourself with the tacking.
Enjoy your Sunday, Friends. We had snow in the air last night, but it melted.
yooper trails 