~ Late January Diversions ~

 I choose to call them 'diversions'

...instead of 'distractions'.

to me, a diversion is a good thing, 

while a distraction can be

well, not-so-much.

in the midst of purging/cleaning out every room of this old farmhouse,

I'm re-visiting lots {LOTS} of magazines, books, patterns & things that I've forgotten about.

like these!:

Molly Makes is a good one for vintage & color-loving folk,while Granny Chic is just plain FUN....the others are books on crochet techniques, which I am perusing once again due to my recent re-fascination with artisan yarns.

 Joan & I each purchased this pattern for a sweet little apron-like top to wear with our jeans ~

we bought them last Summer with the best-intentions of making a slew of them

to wear to shows & events.

I have pulled it out, picked out my fabrics and will be sewing up my first one in the evenings...

I'm excited to share my {good or bad} progress with you!

February 1st's edition of Early Work Mercantile will be here in just a few short days ~

I'm working on another humble-embroidered heart {my fav. thing to make lately} 

and also a hooked chair pad...

the 'dusty' colors of pale blue, peach, sage greens and light violet of this cotton fabric

are the perfect match to the dark chocolate brown I chose for the prairie-cloth backing of this heart

 pretty, huh?

I have always disliked polyfil or other synthetic stuffing material.

I don't like how it seeps through the fabric and shows tiny little filaments...

~ plus it's too soft & smooshy for me.

I prefer to use saved scraps from previous projects to stuff with...

makes for a nice heavy old 'feel'.

and, again...

that yarn.

it all started a few weeks ago, 

~ when for Christmas I received a gift card to Joann's.

there was a sale on yarn and I was looking at how beautiful it all was ~ so very colorful & textural.

And I decided to get my crochet hooks out and work up an infinity scarf for myself....

progress below ~

 

Yes, please excuse the cat hair in any/all of my photos.

Mr. Iggy is always present when I work, 

so there is a little bit of him in everything I do.

 

My Schedule for today:

Blog {check}.

Process/ship orders. {yay!}

Laundry {ugh}.

Start working on Taxes {double-ugh}.

Walk in our deep woods a bit, before getting back to my needle & thread ~

Count my Blessings {yes}.

Wishing you all a Monday filled with sweet diversions!

 

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Farm Shop Open Today ~

Good Saturday Morning 

Friends & Folk 

Our little Farm Shop is ~

 open today

10:00 ~ 4-ish

swing on by if you're in the neighborhood!

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Joan's House Tour - Part 3 ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

it's been a while, but here is Part Three of

Miss Joan's House Tour!

Miss Mookie greets us as we enter...

hello Mook!

 This tour is of her upstairs hallway & bedroom...and this is at the top of the staircase...

the bench below was made by Arthur,  Joan's beloved and talented hubby ~

you can tell she loves to collect prim 'babies' 

;)

Joan has a knack of layering and staging vignettes all over her home...

using her collections {and there are MANY!} of textiles, dolls and other needful things ~

 

 this wall rack/shelf is hung in her stairwell, 

across from the bench above....filled with treasures.

 Below is the view of the end of the hallway...

with one bedroom doorway to the right, and her sewing room doorway {out of sight}to the left.

{the Sewing Room tour will be coming soon, 

and I assure you, you have never seen anything like it before}

Joan is an accomplished Needlewoman in her own right...

she stitches, sews, hooks, punches...

she is quite the "arteest" too, painting and decorating are but a few of her skills...

here are just a few needlework samplers in her collection:

these are all antique/vintage.

as I've mentioned before, Arthur & Joan's home was once a Church Rectory...

and their antiques business is named Olde Rectory Antiques.

They sell their wares at Dukes' Antiques Mall in Lexington, VA '

and lots of you have met them at shows/events.

She collects drying/hanging racks and this one below is her most recent proze we found on an excusrsion to the Factory Antiques Mall in Verona, VA.

I can tell you that the upcoming tour of her Laundry Room will leave you a little breathless too.

:)

Oh yes, I almost forgot... she collects antique/early doll quilts too!!

here are just a 'few' on said rack ~

 And here is their recently repainted Bedroom...

could you resist from jumping on that big brass bed?

 Joan's eye for decor, along with Art's craftsmanship have brought this old home to full glory....

 She has paired-down her collections quite a bit in this room, making it a little more quiet than her other rooms ~ but...

there are still beloved collections like the celluloid clocks below,

and a gathering of beautiful doorstops 

sweetly tucked into the fireplace...

 

 

those that have seen my previous posts of her other rooms,

 know very well that Joan LOVES hooked rugs! 

they are literally everywhere in this house and they only make it more cozy & comfy....

here is a great example of a large, folky runner in her bedroom:

I love it ~

Well, that's it for now...

if you'd like to re-visit Miss Joan's other rooms, click HERE and HERE :)

Have a beautiful day filled with everything you love most!!!

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ New Items Listed ~

 Hello Friends & Folk ~

I've just listed all of our new Spring 2017 items in our Etsy shop!

we're happy to bring you more of our fun, farmhouse-y & folky designs for needlework.

I have added 3 new punch needle designs, available in paper {mailed} and downloadable {PDF}

4 new rug hooking designs, available in paper, PDF AND on Linen

a sweet new little Chicken Thread winder/holder

and a new finished Wooden Heart Paddle

the beautiful models for the 'HOME" rug and the "Brown Bird" chairpad

were hooked by the Uber-Talented & SPEEDY hands of my friend

Rhonda Thomas from My Glory Stars...

{thanks so much!}

I hope you like our new offerings!

 www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Peter & Lori

~ Waiting for the Robins ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
a sunny & windy day on tap for us here at the farm ~
it feels more like March to me than mid-January!

Growing up in CT,
the Winter months were long and cold ~
we waited patiently {or not-so} for any signs of Spring we could find...
the one we always welcomed was the first Robin sighting!

My Mother, Sisters & I would each watch out our windows
and whoever saw one first, would call the others to announce that our favorite little birds were back
from their vacation in the Southern states.

Now, living in VA ~
some of our Robins are here year-round.
but,
as Spring approaches and the ground softens from rain
we will again happily welcome flocks of fat little red-breasted Robins
and watch them hungrily pecking the dirt for juicy worms...

Robins,
{{well any birds for that matter}}
have always played a big part in my folk art & needlework designs.
I think I can count on my PA German roots for that,
 as birds have been a sign of luck for centuries and have been/are still
 used frequently in their culture.

Here are a few Robins that I have designed in the past:

Folk Bird Needlecase ~ previous LSHC kit/model

Needle Bird Punch Needle Pincushion ~ www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com

Early Bird Hooked Stool Cover ~ www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com

Most recently,

I designed the project below ~ 

it is in the current, inaugural issue of

Wool Works Magazine...

I combined my love of punch needle & rug hooking for this design ~

www.Woolworksmagazine.com

Spring Messenger is available for you to hook too,

www.Spruceridgestudios.com

but by far,
my favorite little Robin that I brought to life
is this one...
made from scraps of cloth & wool
pieces of twisted wire and thread ~
and found twigs...

she lives with me here in my sewing room 

and is a constant muse for all of my other feathered creations...

{she is not available}

and I am hoping to make time to create a whole flock of these and offer them to you....

in the meantime,
I'll keep watching out the wavy-glass windows of this Old Farmhouse
~ for the return of this fair weather harbinger....

Wishing you all a day filled with goodness and peace.

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Lady Bird ~

Happy  {rainy, again} Monday 

Friends & Folk

before I get to my farmchores this morning,

~ I wanted to take a moment to show you the new design for the  

Jan/Feb/Mar 2017

Little Stitches Handwork Club

{LSHC}

this one is called

"Lady Bird"

and the finish is a sawdust stuffed pincushion

I love the simplicity of this design, 

... and the neutral colors make for great year-round decorating.

the chart comes with an alphabet for you to add a personal date or initials to your finish.

Kits have begun to ship to members already and the last batch is shipping today.

if you're interested in joining the LSHC 

or renewing your membership,

please click

H E R E 

 

I'm working on the model for our next month's 

Primitive Punch Needle Club too!

 {{ info to join or renew click H E R E }}

 

wishing you all a day filled with many happy things!

 

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ The Happiest Hookers ~

 Good Rainy Sunday Morning

~  Friends & Folk ~

Yesterday was the first day in a Loooong time that our little farm shop was open ~

it felt so good to be back to a normal routine again...

and it was also our first Class of 2017!

I held a 

"Hook a Sampler" class,

 where we were to incorporate many different techniques into one project....

like:

Applique & Simple Embroidery

Wool Beading

Quilling {standing wool circles/shapes} 

Proddy & 'Faux' Proddy

Couching {roping}

Chain Stitch with Wool

and,

hooking with alternate fibers such as beautiful

Sari Silks and Artisan Yarns

we started out drawing a simple heart motif on our linen,

then went step-by-step with each of the techniques...

 

adding them to our own heart as we pleased ~

:)

 

 

I let them choose from one of my baskets of wool worms & scraps...

they played with the colors that each preferred most ~

 

 

 

we ended up calling our projects 'Crazy Hearts'

while we enjoyed much laughter ~

after a bit, we had lunch...

Peter made us delish Turkey & Swiss sandwiches

and we also had red velvet mini cupcakes & cookies...hot tea & cold drinks

but,

Miss Pat brought a dozen FRESH glazed doughnuts for us,

and Miss Nancy brought FRESH buttermilk poundcake with caramel glaze...

yeah, 

... I know.

** Y U M **

  

after stuffing ourselves, we got back to work: 

aren't their projects beautiful???

  

  

I love each one of these girls,

more than they know...

they are always the first to join me in something crazy...

or share a laugh and occasional tear with.

My sweet, colorful Happy Hookers!

{l - r }

Miss Jane & Miss Pat

 

and

{l - r}

Miss Nancy, Miss Robin & Miss Joan

 

there were a few more students that were signed up but didn't make it to class, 

and we sure did miss them!

here is my work below:

 

If you ever want to come out for a fun class like this, let me know...

or if you have a group that would like to learn, let me know too,

as I love to travel!

 

Hoping you all have a peaceful & creative day ~

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Class & Open Today ~

 Good Morning Friends & Folk!

just a reminder that our Farm Shop is open today

10:00 - 4:00

 we are also holding a class for preregistered students...

if you're in the neighborhood, come on by for a visit!

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

Lori

~ Today ~

 

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Sunshine & Productivity ~

 Happy Thursday Friends & Folk!

oh we are having beautiful, sunny 

& temps-in-the-60's days here at the farm!

I've been enjoying my walks again, thankfully now that my 'crud' has moved along....

Roxy has been sunbathing as much as she can, too ~

 that thick black coat of hers acts like a solar blanket on her :)

{not reeeeally happy that she's decided to lay on my oregano though...*sigh*}

The linen that has been on backorder has finally arrived, and these sunny days are giving me opportunity to dye them & hang on the clothesline to dry in the sun & breeze ~

 

I'll be re-listing our hand dyed 32ct  & 30ct 'Old Farmhouse Linen' 

back in our Etsy shop this evening ~ 

for those folks who have purchasedand have not received due to the backorder,

 we will be shipping tomorrow for you... yay!!

can you believe our daffodils are sprouting already?

this makes my heart SO HAPPY 

♡ 

I mean, how could it not do a soul good to see green again?

and as I was looking for more, 

I noticed our snowdrops coming up too ~

 can't wait to see/smell fresh spring flowers once again....

I think I'll head out to the market and pick up a few hyacinths for the kitchen ;)

 

 

My sewing room is a mess...

yeah, that's what I think I'll still refer to it as...

{{ the word 'studio' sounds too contrite for me }}

I am trying to organize the mountainous piles of fabrics & wools

 that I have seemingly ignored since before the holidays... 

Many totes are being filled with wools by color,

then will be put up on my industrial shelving safe from fading sunrays 

& any interloping crickets {lol} that may visit me again!

  while fabrics will be folded by color and set upon the white shelving {below}

so I can see it better... 

little by little

step by step

... progress is being made!!

hoping you all have a day filled with sunshine & contentment ~

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

Lori