It's My Turn! ~ Blog Hop Day #10

it's here!

my day to share with you…

although I do my share of 'sharing' on a daily basis,

I'm so happy that 

Stacy from Buttermilk Basin 

asked me to be a part of her annual Blog Hop once again ~

Each year I try to decorate our humble little farmhouse in a way that is befitting to her…

simple, comfy & happy

I love the primitive farmhouse look, so anything that resembles that usually finds it's way into my decorating or needlework...

our tree is always decorated with ornaments that we, 

...as a family have collected or made over the years ~

we wish you a Merry Christmas!

Peter, Lori, Hannah…and Iggy!

I have been delving into working with those beautiful Valdani Threads,

so what better way to use them than to offer a quick little project for you ~

The inspiration for this came from the very same little 

ironstone creamer that you see in the snaps below.

see how even the simplest of things can be made into a thing of beauty by tucking in a few twigs of fresh holly & nandina berries :)

I filled my finished pillow with fresh sawdust,

but you could use whatever suits your fancy ~ dried herbs, old cotton batting, wool snippets, fabric scraps…the list is endless.

Holly Pitcher Sawdust Pillow

Punch Needle Project from © Notforgotten Farm

approx. finished size: 3-1/4 “ x 5-1/4”

Needfuls to make this project:

1/4 yd Weavers Cloth

Cameo Ultra Punch Needle wit MEDIUM Tip

Lip Locking Embroidery Hoop or Gripper Frame

DMC 6 strand cotton floss 

in the following colors/amounts for

 Holly Leaves:

1 skein 731

1 skein 733

Valdani Pearl Cotton #8

in the following colors:

Pitcher  ~ O538

Stems & Ground ~ O154

Berries ~ O534

Background ~ H209

pencil

sewing needle & thread

 small sharp scissors 

scrap of cotton fabric 

{approx 4” x 6” wool or velvet in your choice of color for project backing}

sawdust for stuffing 

{or cotton batt, polyfil, wholecloves...etc}

sewing machine

Begin ~

Using pencil, trace your pattern onto your weavers cloth, centering design.

Place your weavers cloth w/ drawn pattern onto your gripper frame or into your lip-locking hoop, making sure fabric is drum-tight.

begin by threading your punch needle with DMC 733 

and setting your needle onto the #1 setting...and punch one half of all holly leaves.

Now thread with DMC 731 and punch remaining half of holly leaves.

Now thread with Valdani O538 and punch entire pitcher.

Next, thread with Valdani O0154 and punch all stems and the ‘ground’ beneath pitcher.

Now thread with Valdani O534 and punch berries.

Finally, thread with Valdani H209 and punch remaining background.

once you have finishined punching your design, remove it from frame/hoop and trim off any long loops or puuled threads on front of project.

Now take your cotton backing fabric and place it face up onto your work surface, then place your finished punched project face down on top of that (loop side down)

Using your sewing machine, you will stitch COMPLETELY around entire design border, coming as close as you can to the last punched row or thread. Now trim away excess fabric to within 1/4”, make a small slit in the backing fabric, turn project right sides out and stuff with filling of your choice.

click on photo to enlarge, then save to your computer, print out

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

~ AND ~

Here is a sweet treat for you ~

{the donkeys love this too!}

click to enlarge recipe

from 'all of us' here at Notforgotten Farm...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas 

and Peace & Plenty in the coming New Year!

* Blessed be *

click to enlarge recipe

 Lori