{ ~ NEW Book! ~ }

Hello Friends & Folk ~

 

I am pleased to offer you a brand NEW book from Notforgotten Farm ~

 

 

" CHICKEN SCRATCH "

 

 

Inspiration to HOOK ~ PUNCH ~ STITCH
from the sketchbooks of Lori Brechlin

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while...

offer a 'peek' into my personal sketchbooks and help inspire you to create your own

project for rug hooking, wool applique, punch needle or primitive stitching....

 

Inside, there are 10 pages of hand-drawn motifs reflecting my folk art designs,

and this book was designs to represent the late Spring/Summer...

 

I will be offering more of these books, with motifs for other seasons/holidays...

 

You can find them NOW

...in my ETSY Shop

 

...so what are you waiting for?

 

get inspired and start creating something!!!!

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

{ ...diversions... }

 

sometimes I just like to make things...

no plans, just make something.

 

while I was in Joann's the other day, I saw one of my favorite magazines,

'Mollie Makes'

so i had to buy it.

 

it just so happened to include a free kit

(as most every issue includes a free kit of some sort)

this one was for a little oil coth purse.

how cute...

 

 

 

sweet, but I didn't want to use the oil cloth included....

(i'm crazy like that)

 



pretty, but I wanted something 'different'....

so....

 

I opened the little kit package and took out the supplies:

purse clasp

oil cloth

paper twine

 

 



 

I was thinking of something more like this...

using some of my beautiful, nubby, washed silk matka in a beautiful shade of mushroom....

 

so I sewed it up...

 

then I turned to my trusty threads...

...these are my Gutermann threads in my favorite colors ~

 

 



turned the little purse rights sides out ~

(a little wonky-looking, but hey....)

 

 



grabbed my scissors,

cut out some organic shapes from tiny scraps of wool

...and began freestylin' :)

 

 



I like to change out the colors of my threads to clash/compliment my wools

and I use a variety of simple stitches...

colonial knot

stem stitch

whip stitch

straight stitch

 

 



 

after a bit of staining, then attaching the purse clasp to the top,

...it is finished.

 

 



 

I'm happy with it...

plop in a few coins and save for a rainy day.

 

~ have a beautiful weekend my Friends!

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

{...stitching, stitching...}

and...

...stitching!

 

in my last post I shwoed you how I dip-dye my threads...

I did get quite a few emails & comments regarding a few things I forgot to mention:

 

oven temp for drying/scorching: 350 (but stay close to the oven!)

time in oven to dry: about 20 minutes if the threads are really saturated.

where do I get my walnut dye: I make it from our walnut trees...
take 2 black walnuts (either in their green husks, or not) and plop them into a pot of water.

boil until the water becomes as dark as you'd like.

skim off the 'yuck' on top and let cool.

remove nuts/husks from dye bath.

now you can add water (or not) to make a stronger/weaker dye.

WEAR GLOVES!

 

and

here are a few closeup snaps of what I've been working on....

you can see some of the dip dyed perle cottons in various colors ~

(oh, and PLEASE excuse the cat hair!!!! Iggy loves to 'help' me work with wool & threads!)

 

 

I don't 'do' a blanket/penny rug stitch at all...I simply whip-stitch....much more fun & folky looking.

I like to mix cotton fabrics and wools,

I like to mix perle cottons and linen thread for my stitches...

 

 



simple, yet interesting with different textures.

(my stars, is there any hair left on the cat?)

 

 



I'll soon be adding different stitches such as this tiny colonial knot ~

 

 a patchwork of cotton & wool

 

these photos represent two seperate projects I'm working on...

 

 



different colored perle cottons against wool, on top of checkered homespun cloth...

when in doubt, always add a touch of blue!

 

 



blue ~ my favorite color

(seriously, where is that naked cat?)

 

 



love to mix it up!

tiny prints, tiny stitches, bold colors, large stitches...

whatever fills your heart ~

 

no rules, no 'wrong' way...

just enjoy your process and let your work come from your soul.

that is FOLK ART....

 

 



happy stitching!

 

{{{reminder to self: find the lint roller and/or make the cat wear a spacesuit.}}} 

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

Switching Gears ~

I am working on that deadline ~

and am working on some wool applique designs ~

 

so I have grouped my wools and need to get my pearl cottons in order...

 

 

like most of you, I favor certain colors and have my own palette...
they are a little too bright, so I will dip-dye them in my homemade walnut dye ~

 

 

I lke to keep them in their 'twisted' state and dip them half-way down into my dye jar...

dipping them only halfway lets some of the threads stay undyed

so when finished,

 they will have a variegated look.

 

 



'poison' greens now take on a more mellow look...

I'm happy with that!

 

 



here they are all half-dyed and waiting to dry...

 

 



 

 I placed them on a cookie sheet and out into the full sun they go,

to dry just a little bit...

then I'll pop them into the oven to dry completely.

the oven is what gives them that 'look' I like :)

 

after drying in the oven for a bit,

the walnut dye 'scorches' on the cookie sheet,

...and then I flip them over to let that happen again ~

 

 



 

once they're completely dry, the scorch marks lighten up a bit...
giving the threads a nice, old look.

 

 



 

and since I dyed them whilst they were twisted,

the effect is perfect...

not too much, not too little.

 

 



 

now I'm ready to hang them and begin stitching with them...
I can't show you the finished project that I'm working on,

... but I can take some 'secret' snaps and share them with you tomorrow!

 

 



 

did you know that you can use these in your medium-sized Cameo Ultra Punch needle?

use all of the strands together, like you would with regular DMC floss (like I do with all 6 strands)

the finished look is really nice & old looking!

 

Hoping you enjoyed my little tutorial ~

let me know how your Pearl Cotton comes out if you try this technique!

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

a few loops ~

I pulled a few loops last night,

haven't had much time to work this weekend ~

I am under the crunch of a deadline....

 

...but I did want to show you my slight progress.

horse is all hooked, now I want to add a little background...

 

 you can see that I am using a Miller hook,

I love using this with my wide, hand-cut strips...

 

great little hook!

here are some of my strips...

some are wider than others, but they are all between 1/2 & 3/4 inch strips.

I love the look they lend to my work ~

 

 



varying widths of my wool strips by hand cutting them...

 

 can you see how the large strips, when pulled through the linen with a smaller-shanked hook,

give the loops what I call 'rolled shoulders'?

 

 

dark outline completed around horse

 

when the larger strip of wool is pulled using a smaller-shanked hook,

the edges of the loops don't really pull completely through the linen,

...giving an almost knotted, or rag-rug appearence to them...

...I love this look!

 

 

loops pulled high through linen, and because of the wide cut strips, hooking goes faster :)

I'll finish hooking the dark outline around the other motifs,

...then start to 'block-fill' in the background.

 

notice the purple wool in the flower below?

the original rug has hints of purples in it, but I think these might have been reds or blues

that faded to lavender over time...that's the look I'm wanting to achieve...

 

 



little by little, loop-by-loop ~
 

what hook do you use?

do you hand cut your strips?

 

off to the post office & bank for me today ~

then I will get back to work on that deadline!

 

have a beautiful Monday my Friends!

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

A little inspiration ~

I know that many of us are inspired by our surroundings ~

and it only takes a quiet look around to see colors and textures

that would be good in a new design...

 

that happened to me today!

 

while working in the shop this morning,

and rearranging all of the beautiful new wools we have
(from Rebecca & Besty)

my mind kept wandering to a certain rug in one of my older books on rug hooking...

 

 

big old cupboard stocked with wools

heaven !

 

another cupboard, this one is an old hoosier ~ packed with wools

delicious !

 So I grabbed the book, Joel & Kate Kopp's book to be exact,

and found the rug I was thinking about....

(I made a copy of the photo from the book, so I wouldn't have to lug the book around with me)

and got to work designing a large adaptation of the one in the book.

 

 

my adaptation of the antique ~

then the fun began!

...choosing the wools for this design would be a challenge,

 because I'm using mostly as-is textured wools

but with the help of friend Joan,

I think we did a good job at picking just the right ones...

 

 



is there anything more fun than playing with wool?...nah, didn't think so.

I never include my initials in any of my work,

choosing to either sign it or add some kind of label to it...

but

for this rug I wanted to include 'LB'

 



initialed and ready-to-hook !

as you can see by the photo below, there are LOTS of motifs in the antique rug ~
I chose the ones that I liked best and drew them in my "style"

...more whimsical than the original, I think...

 

 



birds, urns, horses...tulips, roses, vines...berries and leaves!
 

I will block-hook the background in browns & blacks,

... as the original was done.

 

I already have the horse hooked and flower above it,
and the lower portion of the tree-trunk hooked too...

 

will work more & share a few snaps of the progress in tomorrow's post :)

 

Peaches has become quite comfortable here with me...
he comes into the shop to work when I do ~ so be sure to say hello to him!
(we're trying to get him talking!)

Yesterday he entertained us by dancing to Country music on the radio...

(the little goober dances better than I do!)

 

have a beautiful evening.....

 

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

Say hello to my little Friend!

Hallo!

my name is Peaches....

happy to meet you folks!

 

 

well hello there Peaches!

 I am Lori's new Quality Control Inspector here at Notforgotten Farm...

one of my job titles includes checking all of the fabric.

Each & every piece must be thoroughly inspected for frayed edges
(with so much fabric here, job security is NOT an issue)

 



Hmmm....this one seems ok...

I also have the daunting task of being continuously adorable.

(very tiring indeed)

 

 



sweet peaches

 When there's need for a paperclip, have no fear!

I am here to serve....

 

 

 

oh how clever you are!

Thank you Peaches.

of course, during breaks,
I get to play & eat snacks...

so many perks to this job!

 

I was born on October 11th 2012 ~
I am a Sun Conure who loves to snuggle under my Momma's hair.

I can 'step up' when you hold out your finger, and I give kisses on demand
(and mom is rather demanding with them!)

I give great manicures and pedicures, and can check your entire person for freckles in a flash.

(of course, I also try to remove said freckles from your person as well)

 

 



 

I will live for another 20 to 30 years in good health,
and I will have quite the vocabulary too...so please talk to me when you visit!

(hopefully I won't pick up any...um, 'colorful' words from my Mom!)

 

My beautiful feathers are rainbow colored, and I keep them extremely well-cleaned by preening constantly...I also love to preen Mom's hair too...

 

I am so excited to meet you all in person!

Now i am off for a nap....*yawn*

(((I'm only 6 months old remember!)))

 

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm

Taking a Break ~

yesterday evening I decided to take a much needed break and go for a walk ~

I brought my camera along in case anything interesting was snap-worthy...

 

you decide ~

(but be warned, there are lots of snaps, and a few surprises too!)

 

 

little wild viola

a clump of wild violettes

strutting

yearling on the ridge

big-boy

new wisteria



lemon balm spilling into the path

shop garden



rockin'

bumber-bee on my redbud tree

 

a look back...

 

 

sunning his wings

 



dandelion

 

can you see who's in the picture below? 

 

take another look...

 

 



a young blacksnake

 

 



we can see you now!

you don't scare me....

 

new buds on an ancient oak

graveyard of the Proffit family

 

 



twisted wood

 

 

our guinea hens

bobby & nocchi

hay wagon at rest



old pump house

 and as promised,

here are a few pics of Billy AND his tail!

 

 

(((((I'll be sharing a surprise with you all soon...)))))

have a beautiful wednesday my friends!

 

 

Lori from

Notforgotten Farm