Since the weather can’t seem to cooperate here in Michigan, I think it’s time to check out another part of the country. Bruce is keeping the home fires burning while we have a girls’ trip to Las Vegas. The weather will be perfect, reaching the high 80s while we’re there.  No punch needle will accompany me. I fear security might relieve me of my Cameo.

I have some finishes to share with you. Our son-in-law is just finishing his masters in art at Michigan State. His thesis presentation was at the Eli and Edythe Broad Museum. At my daughter’s suggestion, I did a PN of one of David’s paintings. He loved it, which made me happy also. Here are photos of the original and the PN.  We have several ideas of what the subject is. David says it is in the eye of the beholder. So, what do you think?

My next finish is slightly out of the ordinary for me. With this Vegas trip upcoming, I looked to the Southwest for an idea. I sometimes struggle with colors. I wanted vivid hues for the thunderbird, but also wanted the desert represented.  Here is the outcome.

Finally, for each of my children’s birthday this year, I recreated PN of paintings they did in elementary. For Sarah, it was Raggedy Ann. For Michael it was a ship reminiscent of the Nina, Pinta or the Santa Maria. Granted, the Raggedy Ann is a bit on the creepy side, but so was her original. Anyway, it’s all in fun, right.

Whatever your days hold in store,  I hope we shared a smile here and now.

Wow. Again I see how time has flown by since my last post. The Early Homestead Show has come and gone. I didn’t get many pictures. I will post one of our booth. It was fun to be a part of this great prim show.

Backing up, I see I still need to post a picture of my chalk painted bench.  Here is the before and after. Looking at different directions they talk about adding a coat of paste wax once it is complete. I didn’t do that. Now I’m on the prowl for more benches.

I’ve been busy preparing for my next class which begins next week. It is exciting to find folks who want to learn the art.

To all of you who look forward to the weekends, happy Friday to you. With the rain we have had the last few days the grass is greening up nicely. We are definitely ahead on the April showers. Be well and thanks for the visit.

Today I have a little patriotic finish. This was done with Valdani perle cotton #12. Even when I attach a piece to something like the dustpan, I don’t like to leave the back unfinished.  Using a piece of red cotton I machine sewed the entire outside with the right side of PN facing inward. I trimmed the edges to 1/4 inch and snipped the corners.  I made a slit in the back to turn the piece right-side-out.  Carefully I worked the corners to make as square as possible and then ironed the piece. I have read somewhere that you shouldn’t press the punch needle area, however I do all the time.  (I snapped this pic before the ironing)

The final step was attaching the piece to the dustpan. I used Tacky glue for this.

One more pic. I don’t think I am breaking any rules by posting this picture. I am using it to answer my query from yesterday. The whisk broom sheep is a Putz. Putz animals are German in origin and are highly collectible. This was my attempt to recreate the image.

Thank you for stopping by. What are you working on today?

Wow. Forty years ago today our son was born. It was a terrible ice-covered day with many people losing power.  But we didn’t care. It was an exciting time in the Schmidlin family. With Mike turning 40, I guess I must have been 10 when he was born. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Two more finishes for the Early Homestead Show.

This bunny is from a pattern by Betty Dekat.

Happy day to you. May your snow shoveling be minimal

February 19…I used to think this felt like the longest month of the year. Now, it is zipping by. We are due to see 50+ degrees today. And Lent has begun, so spring cannot be far off.

I have two photos today. The first one is aMagdalena Briner inspired piece. I found the chair back at the flea market. I think it is the perfect background.

This second one shows my primitive collection sitting on my Warren Kimball cow box. I guess you notice my love for horses.

So, what is happening in your world today.  I hope you are enjoying the day and looking forward to the weekend.

Every day brings me closer to the two spring shows I will be doing. March 12 is the Think Spring show at Royal Oak’s Farmers Market and March 19 is the Early Homestead Antique Show at the Karl Richter Campus in Holly, MI. As it gets closer I will post specific details. The Holly show is  huge with primitive antique dealers from Ohio, Virginia, New York as well as many Michigan dealers. I’ve visited the show as a shopper before, but will be there as a dealer this year. So, I should be posting finishes daily for these two commitments. Keep checking in to keep me on track.

I challenged myself back in January to see how long before I would have completed projects.  At that time I didn’t know I would be preparing for two shows in March. Now the challenge has a deadline. Well it’s February 12 and I have a few things to show.

This house with trees was based on a rug that was hooked by my brother-in-law, Hank. Hence the name ‘Hank’s House.’ I planned beforehand to use the Lincoln logs as a frame. The punched piece was supposed to fit on top of the side logs, but it somehow wound up being smaller than I planned. So this is also an example of not giving up and finding Plan B. The needle punch hangs freely inside the logs. Looking at the back you can see it is simply attached to carpet tacks. A crocheted floss string becomes the hanger.

Pineapple: the symbol of welcome.  Along with the punching, I also did the framing on this myself. In the next day or so I will post pictures on that process.

 Now, a sneak preview of the pull toy I am working on….

Thanks for visiting. Please come again.

Ok, let me just begin by saying I think I’m losing my mind. I want to post a picture of my completed horse pn, but I’m thinking I already did so. When I look I don’t see it either in my blog or in Facebook, so here it is. This was a great pattern to punch and I’m pretty happy with the results. I backed it in a brown homespun check and added a sleeve. I think it would look good if I shorten the dowel so it is hidden. So, here it is.