~ Switching Gears ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

and happy sunny hot & humid Wednesday to you all!

After being in New England this past weekend,

my melancholy heart is longing for my roots…

~ the sights & colors of old Connecticut & Massachusetts 

have my imagination going in a direction towards Autumn once again ~ 

and that is fine with me.

While in Sturbridge, we visited a little shop called

Quilt & Cabbage

where I found the most beautiful homespuns in my favorite shades;

blacks, greys, blues, cheddars ~ ticking & checks and plaids…

oh my!

I will incorporate these into my needlework as backings and such.

{actually I never have a plan in mind when fabrics find me ~ I just take them on home along with me}

see the little punched squirrel?

he will become a pattern for my Autumn/Harvest/Hallowe'en release

coming in July….

of course, being a shop owns myself, and one that carries lots of wools…

I HAD to purchase these from Doreen at Ye Country Mercantile in Sturbridge, MA

{what's wrong with me?}

they just jumped into my arms

~ like we were long-lost friends ~

you can see the beginnings of another pattern model below,

this one is wool appliqué of course…

I love the tags on this wool

"Wool Hooker"

If I get any down-time this evening,

I will drool over  peruse this new book that I purchased up north…

it was the cover that made me buy it….

{ya think?}

Printing

Packaging

Shipping

Banking

that's what's on my agenda for today ~

… before I get to punch any loops or pull any thread.

Have a beautiful mid-week-day my friends!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Sturbridge Class ~

Hello Friends & Folk!

First please let me thank those who have asked about our welfare concerning recent flooding…we are located in Virginia, and are safe here at the farm.

but, please keep our neighbors & friends in West Virginia in your thoughts and prayers while they begin recovering from the horrendous tragedies they're facing.

PLEASE offer donations to local charities there, for not only people in need, 

but now dis-placed & homeless animals that are pouring into shelters there….

~ my heart just breaks for all of them ~

What a whirlwind trip we had to Sturbridge MA ~

we left last thursday in the rain,

and returned last night in the rain….

in between that, we had beautiful weather up north in CT & MA!

We first arrived at Ye Country Mercantile and oh my stars let me tell you…

if you haven't had the chance to visit Doreen Piechota's warm primitive shop,

 you have been missing out on something wonderful ~

I took hundreds of photos of her beautifully appointed primitive shop, but these are the best ~ 

so you'll just have to visit for yourself ;)

we shopped in her loverly wool & pattern room and came home with lots of goodies…

Here is Joan, {hi Joan!}

standing at-the-ready before our class on Saturday morning…

last minute preparations…

my trunk show of models on display…

happy students/shoppers :)

threading the needle…Doreen is to my right

smiles all around!

… we laughed and chatted and punched and ate!

Doreen provided us with a super spread of goodies to keep our energy levels up ~

as I always say, 

'busy hands, happy hearts'

within a short while

the girls were punching away happily on their new path of primitive dimensional punch needle!

yay!

look! 

a happy puncher!

working hard at their new-found passion…

such a wonderful group!

I couldn't have asked for more patient & kind folks to teach…

we always have a few troublemakers {all in fun!!} in a class…

and this one was no exception!

I always tell my students to be aware of where their ball of Valdani threads is 

so they don't put any drag on it…

and most folks keep their ball in one of our glass farmhouse ball jars, 

{{or at the least on the table…}}

not this one!

she somehow ended up with hers…well…

take a closer look!

 I'm blessed to get to meet friends in my travels, and love having the opportunity to teach you something I'm passionate about….

My thanks to Doreen for inviting me to your absolutely beautiful shop!

to my 'students' for allowing me to behave badly

um...humbly show you how I do things ~ and accepting me as I am ;)

and to Joan for her most-welcomed help & friendship

On another note:

since I was not here over the weekend, 

orders received then will be shipped out tomorrow as I am processing them today.

I have had a couple of folks contact me to say they haven't received or have received theirs but slowly, their orders from last week…I assure you they shipped, but don't know if the recent weather in parts of our nation have possibly caused a delay. 

SO, please be patient, if your order seems super-late, please let me know & we will do our best to replace/reship and make you happy!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Laundry Room update & Folky Sunshine finish ~

G ood Wednesday Afternoon Friends & Folk!

a little rain, some clouds ~ but otherwise another splendid day indeed…

I wanted to share the progress of our laundry room/mud room renovation with you :)

here are the walls, all sheet rocked & painted ~

and the beautiful ceiling back up with new light fixture to boot!

{{ had to 'decorate' it somehow, so I hung sweet annie to dry in the window…}}

… the ceiling boards came out better than expected.

their new 'old' look is perfect for this old farmhouse ~

just a touch of satin poly to bring out the paint & woodgrain a bit,

but mostly leaving the original paint colors of white over greenish blue…

the pendant light was on sale at Lowes 

~ and has an antique nickel-silver finish and old fashioned bulb:

the dark stained wood beams and window/baseboard trim are next…

THEN

I can begin to move in our furniture!

… here are a couple of pieces that we had laying around ~

 the red cupboard was found in this old house when we moved in…

it was painted white over a hideous baby-powder-blue.

{nope.}

so we painted it oxblood red and distressed it severely, still using all of the original hardware.

the shelf-thing on top was an unfinished, unpainted ca. 1980's repro peg rack shelf

that I flipped upside down and did my magic on using black paint & 14k gold paint.

;)

{if you look closely on the top surface of the red cupboard, you'll see my 'faux' water-rings.}

I'm very happy at how these two pieces came out!

they will stay together and be used next to our washer & dryer…

the cupboard will hold detergent, irons & laundry sundries,

and the black shelf will hold my prim baskets & such.

didn't spend a dime on them, 

… except for elbow grease and a little paint 

;)

~ AND ~

here is the finish of that folky Sunshine punch that I have been working on ~

I mounted it to an early New England sap bucket…

and added fresh flowers.

I love saturated colors.

{can you tell?}

and I especially love the red, blue yellow & wood tones together.

I'll be bringing this finished piece to the 

Summer in the Valley show on Saturday July 9th

along with more of my finished punch needle folk art, patterns & stuff :)

don't wildflowers make you happy?

they do me…

 I will be heading up the dusty road bright & early tomorrow morning…

first to stop off in CT for a short visit with family,

then upward even more north to Sturbridge to teach a class at Ye Country Mercantile.

I have shipped the most recent orders out, 

but if you place an order from now until Monday June 27th, they will not ship until June 28th.

I'll have my iPad with me if you need to contact me for any reason ~ 

please email me or message me through FB.

Peter will be here at the farm if you should have any questions or concurs, you can call him.

I'll be sure to take lots of photos of our travels,

and will be back soon!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Good Day Sunshine ~

Happy Monday Friends & Folk!

~ we have had thee best weather here as of late ~ 

with yet another high & dry one scheduled for today...

I have been putting the good weather to good use,

working on finished items for upcoming shows, 

… and models for upcoming classes.

this is but one of the projects that has leapt from my needle & graced my hoop;

I like to switch between my favorite DMC floss colors and Valdani threads

to give my folk art needlework more movement & depth…

what you are seeing is the back of my project-in-progress,

thus the stray threads ~

most of the time,

 I will wind my DMC floss around one of our thread winders 

to keep my threads from tangling…

or I like to use one of our 

Farmhouse Ball Jars to hold balls of Valdani perle cottons as I punch;

~ but ~

when I'm in the throes of a creative-frenzy there is no organization for me!

{{ as you can tell by the nest of cotton floss close by my work }}

I just thread that needle and punch!

here is a view of the front of my sun;

notice the dimensional-effect it has 

~ from the different height adjustments on my Ultra Punch Needle… 

I will begin filling in the background and this will be adhered to an old zinc sap bucket 

that I found on my travels here in Virginia.

 I have a total of 4 buckets to put use for more of my finished punch-work, 

and they will accompany me to the 

Summer in the Valley show in Fishersville, VA on July the 9th.

{still have to trim away stray threads from the front}

This week,

I will be happily preparing the supplies for the "Sturbridge Peony" Class 

that I'll be teaching this Saturday, June 25th

at Ye Country Mercantile in Sturbridge, MA

{class project is below}

Joan & I are super-excited to visit with Doreen Piechota at her beautiful shoppe:

Ye Country Mercantile

click HERE to visit

and we are also looking forward to seeing those of you who have signed up for the class!!

I promise to behave and be on my best behavior ~ but I can get a little crazy ;)

Have a glorious 1st day of Summer my friends ~

may it be filled with sunshine for all!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ New Folk Art Needle Box on Ebay ~

Hello Friends & Folk ~

Happy Sunday & Happy Fathers Day!

I've just listed another of our folk art needle boxes on Ebay ~

Click HERE to see more:

… Spending a quiet day with family 

grilling, playing and perhaps a hike later this aft.

Wishing you all a beautiful day spent with those who love you most!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Farm Shop Open Today ~

*Good Morning Friends & Folk* 

It's Crafty Saturday again!!

Come on in for a visit if you're in the neighborhood today ~

…bring your needlework/punching/hooking in progress and come create with me!

{I baked brownies}

Open Today from

10:00 - 3:00

… please leave your sheep home though. 

we already have two.

:)

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Stitching & Weeding ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

we are supposed to have a hot one on tap for today ~ with severe weather this aft & eve…

lucky for us, we will be heading out before that to enjoy some kayaking on the river 

with friends {hopefully} before the storms come!

I've been working on the next model for the upcoming

July/August/September Little Stitches Handwork Club {a.k.a.: "LSHC"}

{{Click HERE to join}}

and here is my progress thus far:

 only a few stitches ~ but progress nevertheless!

I am stitching this using TWO THREADS of DMC floss over 2 strands 

of my 32ct Old Farmhouse Linen {which will be included in your kit}

…now those who follow my work will know that I usually, generally & mostly

stitch using one strand of floss, even on higher counts like 28 & 30.

BUT

I wanted this project to be a little different for me {you} ~

even though you have the choice to stitch your club project using as many strands as you'd like to ;)

The 'finish' of this project will be a sewing roll-up

and I'm hoping to have it done by monday to release.

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

And

 I've also finished punching the class project model for my

"Black Cat Paddle" Punch Needle Workshop 

{held here at the Farm Shop}

October 22nd 2016:

it is a Dimensional Punch Needle class ~

& I'll teach you how to get my clean-edged look of working with different loop heights

using an adjustable {Ultra Punch} needle and those yummy Valdani over dyed & variegated threads!

I have just a few openings left, as this class is limited to 12 students…

if you are interested in signing up please email me at

notforgottenfarmwitch@gmail.com 

and I'll hold a spot at our worktable for you :)

{{while I was snapping pics a beautiful black & silver dragonfly visited with me for a bit}}

:)

You can read all about the symbol of the Dragonfly by clicking

HERE

hello & welcome!!

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

 a little stroll around the front of the farmhouse & surrounding house-garden…

~ i love zinnias ~

and daisies…

~ and pink yarrow!

… ok, and brown-eyed susans too ~

green peppers, onions, cukes…

basil, rosemary, chocolate mint ~ lots of sweet annie volunteers!

 our hostas are beautiful & big this year…

~ they love the humidity & rains.

my speedwell is doing fine too!

love the contrasting purple/green ~ makes me smile…

Peter devised a gate-closer {for lack of a better description}

using chain, chicken-wire & a rock for weight!

{he got the idea from Colonial Williamsburg's ball & chain weight that is on our Shop gate}

clever man he is ;)

PHOTO BOMB!

well HEY Roxy-girl!!!!

Hoping your day is filled with beauty & creativity…

if you are in the line of storms, be safe & smart

and please protect your fur & feathered friends outdoors.

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori