Happy New Year!!!

Hello my Friends!!!
I am still here up in CT ~ enjoying the COLD weather and SNOW!!!

I wanted to chime in here for a moment to wish you a very
Happy, Healthy & Prosperous 2013 to you all ~

I have been punching, hooking and stitching to my heart's content here at my Mom's ~
and enjoying the company of her and my sisters...   ...here is a pic of one of Mom's kitties, "Petey" who weighs about a hundred pounds :

Petey under my hooking frame....

Be safe everyone!!!
  Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Over the River and Through the Woods ~

 

.....to GRANDMOTHER'S House we go!!!

(well I am going anyway ~)
I will be leaving tomorrow morning to drive up to Connecticut

to visit my Mom & Sisters until after the New Year ~

I can't wait to see them all and spend some time with them...
I am so excited!

 

 

Old Farmhouse in Snow

Please take note:
I will be placing an "ON VACATION" sign in my Etsy shop ~
as i will not be home to process any orders until I return...

Also, please know that ALL orders previously placed have been shipped
...so expect your order to arrive today or tomorrow.

SHOPS: all DISTRIBUTOR purchase orders have been shipped as well.

 

I will have my laptop & cell phone with me, so if you need me, you can click on the little

"email me postcard" pic at the top of my sidebar...

 

I'll also have my camera with me and at-the-ready so expect some postings & pics from my travels
Up NAWTH ~

 

 

Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Merry & Bright (and quiet) ~

the house is still quiet ~
I have a minute to myself before my small family wakens to the smell
of fresh brewed coffee & cinnamon toast...

Christmas Morning at Notforgotten Farm

have a beautiful Christmas Day my Friends!   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

...and a Merry Christmas to you ~

Wishing you all everything Merry & Bright ~
...hoping all your presents are Goode Ones...
and that you will enjoy your Loved Ones and Cozy Homes this Holiday Season!!  

Little Hooked Tree charipad ©Notforgotten Farm ~ circa 2010

I'll be here, hooking under the lights of our Christmas Tree
and dreaming of Sugarplums....   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Finished!

Hi Folks! here is that punch I've been working on:
"NOTIONS"

a few of my favorite things

 I did decide to attach it to a hanging bag...

I lined the bag with osnaburg and attached two loops for hanging ~

...what do you think?

a great place to stash my sewies and needfuls.

I like to colors in this design, not too bright but still colorful...

 it will be available as a pattern soon, most likely over this weekend ~

I'm working on another design for punch needle that I'm calling 

'Winter' 

and I'll show you pics of that tomorrow...

stitch, punch, repeat!

Today is Hannah's 18th birthday! Happy Birthday to my most favorite person in the whole world ! we will be celebrating with dinner at Red Lobster, then a quiet evening at home...
have a peaceful evening my Friends!
...Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Baking Memories ~

 

Hannah is HOME!
and as you can see, she is celebrating the Holiday Season by baking gingerbread cookies ~

 

getting ready...

 

busy busy little elf!

adding sprinkles & icing ~

finishing touch ~ red garland!

more to go,....

the ginger-family (very well-dressed, no?)

candy-canes & xmas trees ~

Tomorrow is her 18th birthday...
...can't believe our baby is going to be able to vote!     Blessings from the Farm

Lori

NNNOOOOOOOooooooo !!!!!!!!

what the heck happened???
My ENTIRE bloglist has dissapeared!!!
I was just reading all the new posts of my fav's and I BLINKED ~
and the whole list vanished!!!!

Is anyone else having troubles with their bloglist?

Oh My STARS & GARTERS!!!!!!

Good Grief...
now I have to try to make another... IF you were on my list, PLEASE email me with your blog address so I can put you back!!!   *SIGH*
(thankyou)   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Slow Progress ~

showing my progress, albeit slow ~

I just didn't feel like creating anything yesterday.

still reeling from the unbelievable thought that 20 small children will not enjoy another happy day...

my heart is broken for their parents & siblings...I pray for healing for each one of them.

 

slow progress



upside down & backwards...that's how I roll.

there, that's a better view, but still in reverse...

today is a grey day, in many ways ~ but our weather is wet & chilly.
I have my sweet Hannah home here with me from college
and I feel blessed to be able to put my arms around her and tell her how much I love her...

never can say that enough.

 

we will bake cookies and go shopping and I will just enjoy her company and her laughter ~
oh how I wish the parents of those little ones could do the same today...

 

please continue to keep them in your prayers.

 

Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Wishing...

Wishing it didn't happen...
Wishing yesterday could begin again and end oh, so differently.   Wishing some form of healing for the families of
Sandy Hook, (Newtown) Connecticut, a community in which we used to live...   Wishing for total gun control. Wishing for better mental health services.     Wishing for Peace on Earth.    

      Blessings from the Farm

Lori

I have a notion ~

to start punching again!!! so I am ~ I drew up a couple new designs to work on during the holidays,
this one is called "NOTIONS"  

a few of my favorite things

 punched in my favorite colors...

browns, black, cream, white, light blue & rust are my colors of choice for this design ~

the finished size will be approx. 8" x 5.5"
not too big or small, perfect to put on your hooking frame and punch away!

scissors, spools pinc & needles make up this design,...

I think I'll make this into a hanging bag, so it will hold all of my sewing needfuls...it's even large enough to actually hold my punch needle(s) so it will be quite functional too.
I'll share more pics of the progress soon! Have a wonderful day my Friends!! Blessings from the Farm

Lori

A Day in the Life....

 

...when I die, and am reincarnated,

 I want to come back as one of my cats.

hey, why not?
sleep 18+ hours a day, free meals, cozy sleeping arrangements....

 

Mr. Ignatious Katt a.k.a. Iggy a.k.a. Pig

 oh, hey there, Pig, did I disturb your slumber?
sorry (hehe)

*yaaaawn*

 did you want me for something Mom?
yes, Iggy...I whisper...there's a squirrel outside the back window...

huh?

 a squirrel? yum...um...I mean let me check it out!

where's it at?

 I can't see him Mom..where's he at?
right there...under the bird feeder....

Mr. Sleepy Pants can't find him...can you?

 There he is! get him!!!!

neener neener neeeener....*nibble*

 BONK!
ouch!...dang it Mom! why do you make me do that?
(I hate windows)

 

razzem frazzem squirrel!

  (((well, perhaps I don't want to come back as one of MY cats after all....)))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   I received a loverly phone call from Mizz Mary Lou Kantz just a bit ago ~
seems as tho her eagle eye spotted an error on the directions of my
Tinsel Towne cross stitch pattern...
it should read:
"stitch design using one strand of floss over 2 threads of linen" apparently, I wrote & printed the opposite onto the thousands of patterns that have already gone out.
*sigh* what's a human to do?
THANK YOU MARY LOU!   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Seeing Stars ~

Hi Folks!! I decided to go with the plain star cookie cutter for my handquilting template ~
i traced around it randomly, using white chalk...

star motif in chalk

 I also decided to go with a plain brown fabric for the backing to better show the star's stitches...
the color I chose for the thread is Gutermann col. 1800 a beautiful copper-y red



pretty color!

the thread color blends with the backing's fabric color, but still shows up against it.
I thought a double-stitched line would be better, and I like the way it looks ~
not too heavy for such a tiny quilt...


doubled the stitching to help it show up more.

 

I like the fact that the stitches 'hide' on the actual front of the quilt...taking nothing away from the handpieced triangles or their colors...

quilted together

I'll finish the stars, then choose the binding fabric ~   I also have been designing new punch needle patterns and as soon as I'm finished with this little quilt, will start punching the models for them. stay tuned!   Have a beautiful & creative Tuesday my Friends ~   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

A Pressing Situation ~

so...
here is that little quilt that I've been working on ~ in progress still.
as you can see by the pics below, I have gotten 'better' at lining up my points and corners. I say 'better', but this is as good as I'm sure I will ever get...
and I don't mind one bit.    

tiny triangles measure a scant 1" x 1 1/2"

 I'm pressing the quilt with my craft iron ~ notice the iron has the word BAD! written in permanent sharpie on the side of it? ...that's because 'someone' used this same iron one time to iron her white curtains and this iron's surface has years of crusty stuff built up on it from ironing stained fabric.
so as not to confuse her again, she wrote GOOD! & BAD! on her irons...
(no judging please, but you may chuckle if you wish)

and my pressing cloth is just as bad...it is actually clean ~ fresh from the dryer ~ but is so stained!!

 Now I can think about fabric choices for the backing & binding...
and the hand-quilting ~
I'm not sure what color thread to use for the hand-quilting....
these are Gutermann Threads in my favorite colors.

aren't they pretty?

 should I choose one of these?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

or these?

 

 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 or ~ one of these??
any suggestions?

they all look good with the fabric colors, don't they?

my trusty little scissors ~

little storkies, about 110 yrs old ~ wonder how many snips these have made through the years ~

 and of course, after choosing the thread color and backing/binding fabric ~
i need to figure out how I will actually stitch the quilting part...I want to do something different, as usual for me, so I'm thinking I'll trace a repeat pattern of one of my early cookie cutters and echo that design ~ star or pinwheel?

pinwheel would be cool ~

 but the star would be easier...

decisions decisions ~ !

  let me hear your suggestions ~ would love to hear what you think!
Happy Monday to you ~
Blessings from the Farm

Lori

A Look Back ~

yesterday, I received a christmas card from my sister Louisea & her family...
along with her handwritten wishes of a Merry Christmas and sentiment of love, was this:

an antique, embossed postcard ~

perfect condition, beautiful colors.

 ...can you imagine sending your holiday greetings for 1 cent?

those were the days...

 

~ one penny ~

 

simply address to:
Miss Lucille Bernhard Tyrrell, Ohio R.R.#1

and of course, the tiny handwritten script on the back...
which reads:
"Tues P.M. ~
Dear Lucille; Thanks for your pretty card. I can't hardly wait until I see you. Made more candy today. Hope your teeth are all allright, to help eat it.
Aunt Cora has a baby girl, another skunk yesterday.
Wish I could visit your school Friday. Didn't we have a good time last Xmas? Mind about the calendar? Mary"

 

 

tiny penciled script

 this postcard is 9 days shy of it's 100 year postmark date ~

hope I age as gracefully

 the postmark even has the time stamped on it...do we still do that?
now we have to track, confirm and insure.

and they still don't get it right.

 

 

1912 DEC 18 8AM

  wishing you all a simpler holiday!   Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Farmhouse Christmas UPDATE on my Selling Blog

Hello Friends & Folk!

Looking for unique, Handmade in America gifts for your Christmas List?
then please, be my guest ~ head on over to my selling blog!!

Goods From Notforgotten Farm

 

    Blessings from the Farm

Lori

Feeling Scrappy ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
still playing with my scraps of fabric...
but
I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this 'quilting' thing...   yesterday I cut 100 tiny 2" x 2" squares of reproduction fabrics. ...then I cut them all in half.  

pretty scraps

 then I threw all of those tiny triangles into an old wooden bowl and mixed them up a bit.

reching into the bowl, not paying much attention to what I picked, I chose two pieces and handstitched them together.

i just like the way they look iin my bowl with my old scissors and thread waxer ~

even the red & white quilt that this bowl is on is more inspiration ~

who could resist playing with cozy fabrics or sleeping 'neath a handstitched quilt?




so pretty

even Iggy appreciates good handwork ~
sleep tight Mr. Katt...




ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

I'll share my progress with you tomorrow... I think you'll like what I'm doing :)




Make sure to visit Stacy Nash's blog today
for the Buttermilk Basin Holiday Bloghop
(she's switching with Cheri Payne)

    Blessings from the Farm

Lori