Last Tuesday was the scheduled day for the city to pick up leaves from our street, but Mother Nature had other ideas. I can’t remember the last time we got snow before the leaves were gone. Now we have a messy mix of snow and leaves and some temperatures that I’m not quite ready for. I guess it is a reminder of what we can control and what we cannot. Speaking of control, let’s talk about what I saw when I opened my blinds on Thursday morning. It was the beginning of a lovely weekend of celebration.
I am happy to be joining ‘A Magical Early Homestead Christmas’ in Holly, Michigan on December 7, part of Holly’s yearly Dickens festival. Busy days!
I finally found something to make for this toy iron I’ve had for years.Some vintage cookie cutters and toy tins.These little guys stand on quilting thread spools.Santa’s Midnight Ride done in browns and tans is 9×14 inches. It is a pattern from Two Old Crows.Still not completely finished. I need to add the ribbon for hanging Wynter and also need to hand stitch the bottom of the little bowl fillers which I’ve stuffed with balsam needles.
If my site were a physical entity, I’d need to dust if off before using. Wow, where did the summer go? I hope it was a relaxing enjoyable season for you. I had the opportunity to do some travelling to the UP three times, to Las Vegas and also to Atlantic City.
I am celebrating the beginning of the autumn with an open house this Saturday, the nineteenth from one until four pm. I’ll have many new punch needle pieces on display and for sale. Stop in for a visit and a ‘cuppa cider’ and sign in for a chance to win a whimsical Halloween piece. It would be great to see you. The address is 1117 Lawndale Drive, Royal Oak, MI 48067.
Thanks to the wonderful designers Lori Rippey, Donna Munson, Betty Dekat, Rose Clay and Julie Thomas for these lovely patterns.
Hello Punchneedle Friends. I have been making some progress here preparing for the Early Homestead show. My ‘finished’ group is larger than my ‘need to finish’ group. I’m working now on a freebie from Lori Brechlin at Not Forgotten Farm. Here is a sneak preview. I am still undecided on a background color. What are your thoughts? I’m leaning towards Valdani P4, which is called Aged White, but it is actually an variegated ecru. This was a great project to use up my small bits of color that I’ve accumulated. After working on pastels I realized how much I love these darker color tones.
Well, tomorrow morning I leave for my sister Carole’s home. Saturday morning we’ll wake the birds and head out to Lowell, Indiana for the Spring Run show. It is always exciting to meet with people and share my love of punch needle. The weather looks to be perfect. I like to have a project started to demonstrate punch needle. This is what I came up with. Enjoy this lovely late summer weekend.
Summer visited with some great sunshine, lazy days, sweet corn, tomatoes, morning coffee on the deck, evening wine on the deck. I blinked my eyes and summer is gone like a melted Frosty Snowman. Reading posts on Facebook this morning I found multiple pictures of youngsters heading of to the first year of school and the last year of middle school. Exciting times for both children and parents.
Preparation here continues for the Spring Run Harvest Fest on Sept 16. Spring Run Farms is in Lowell, Indiana. I’m looking forward to doing the show with my sister, Carole who will have a booth also. Visit Carole’s Picture Trail by clicking here to see her beautiful cross stitch and quilts.
I have a few finishes to share with you. The first is Mr Turkey standing on a pumpkin. This is a Cathy Sowers design, that I hope I did justice to. I used crushed walnut shells to stuff this.
Halloween cat arrives on her little whisk broom, ready for the season. Not all that scary, but full of fun. I sewed on a brown plaid cotton backing. I was able to just tack in onto the broom with a few stitches on each side.
Pretty Tressie inspects the work of the human. She hasn’t yet given her nod of approval. She just wonders why her favorite spot has been invaded. (Note the dog collar. Corky has been gone for many years, but his memory remains.)
Now I put punch needle aside and prepare for a pre-anniversary get-away with my wonderful husband of 45 years.
I need a day to ‘rest the wrist’ so it is a good time to post a blog entry. I love the fall colors for punching. The oranges and golds and browns… I remember reading once that the change of colors was the tree blushing before dropping leaves for her winter sleep.
So I finished Lori Rippey’s Little Jack. I tried make the background reminiscent of the Magdalena Briner style. Little Jack will become a cupboard hanger and will be available at the Spring Run Farm on September 16. Lori’s patterns are available. Click here.
This is a second version of my Three Witches.
I found the antique cookie cutters at Kathy Makers Primitive Homespuns when we visited Frederick, Maryland. All you punchers know that you need to be careful to reverse your image when punching or else you will end up with a mirror image. I’m happy to say that by pure luck that didn’t happen to me.
My next focus will be finishing Cathy Sower’s Turkey on a Pumpkin make-do. Stay tuned for more pictures.
Thanks for the visit. What are you working on today?
It is difficult coming back from being away and settling into a daily routine. Setting aside my ‘must-do’ list, I’ve started some punching for my fall show at Spring Run Farm.
I purchased two patterns from Lori . The other one is Little Jack, a pumpkin head. I’ll post both finishes when I’m done. If your interested, check out Lori’s Picture Trail here This is all done with Valdani #12 perle cotton. I find these threads so easy to punch with and the colors are so vivid. Now to decide on the finish for this one. Stay tuned.
Royal Oak High School PTSA presents their annual holiday arts and crafts market this Saturday, November 19 from 10am until 4pm. The high school is located at 1500 Lexington Boulevard. Royal Oak 48067. Lexington runs into Crooks Road and is less than a half mile north of 13 Mile Road. Stop in and find me in the cafeteria at Booth 120. Here is a sampling of pieces I have been working on.
As promised, here is the picture of the giraffe with the background antiqued. I think it looks much better. That light background I started with was too stark. However it shows how you can fix things.
yooper trails 