~ Last Day of June ~

 Hello Friends & Folk ~

∱irst I'd like to wish my sweet  Mom

 a very HAPPY 87th Birthday!

... 87 trips around the sun!

{Love you Mom, more that all the stars in the sky, more than all the grains of sand on all the beaches and more than all the little blue flowers on the wallpaper}

෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴

So I'm working on a few little embroideries for tomorrow's 

July 1st edition of Early Work Mercantile 

{www.earlworkmercantile.net} 

this one has a basket of black eyed susans ~ 

~ this style of stitching, as I refer to it as 'humble stitching',  is my favorite...

and adding varied embroidery stitches with freehand cross stitching makes it unique.

I should have checked for cat hair!

 my inspiration for these embroideries is coming from my gardens of course...

I love our wild queen ann's lace

~ it's like growing snowflakes in the summertime!

me thinks i will replicate this in another embroidery....

෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴෴

 And I really have to get new puppy photos for you...

we have two puppies left, our Big Black {or Mr. Big as I call him}

and a sweet little girl that we are calling Dolly {short for Black Dahlia} who was named by Chris ;)

In the meanwhile...

here is momma Pepper, 'auntie' Roxy and Peter doing what they do best...

unless she's chasing deer throughout our woods,

Pepper is never far from 'her man' Peter...

she loves to stand like this...

when she can find him standing still for once!

ha!!

Well I am off to stitch...

what are you all working on?

Share your embroidery/stitching with me on my FB Group:

'Humble Work' Hand Embroidery Group

~ click HERE to join or share your needlework ~ 

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ It's a Sign.....

...Actually,

it's OUR new sign!

at the front of the driveway, 

right next to the road for all to see...

we finally have begun to spruce up the front entrance 

to our beloved farm 

with new fencing and signage ~

 

Peter & Chris have been working on this sign for weeks.

~ with Peter milling all of our home-grown cedar, poplar & oak, 

then cutting into the shape of a thread spool and carving those AWESOME NEEDLES!

...then handing it over to Chris to paint.

the red/brown, black & gold paint really makes it look historical :)

perfecto!

it look fabulous next to the new red cedar split rail fencing....

really make a huge difference :)

 

we have more to do yet, 

like planting boxwoods and bulbs, 

and adding some low rock walls and such....

~ plus some more solar lighting to accent the area.

 

it is a massive sign!

 here's Peter standing next to it...

 

sorry the photo is dark, but you can see that it's a big-un!

 Thanks to my sweet Hubby 

AND to our right hand man Chris 

... for all the time spent and hard work done...

it surely paid off!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ It's a Free for All ~

 Helloooo

 Friends & Folk ~

I have a little gift for you today...

it's another freebie cross stitch design ~ called "Stitching & Mending"

that I initially wanted to stitch and make into a project bag

 but never got around to...

SO, 

here is your opportunity to stitch this 

~ and make it into a project bag yourself! 

Or, stitch this and send it off to one of our wonderful stitch-finishers like:

Faye at Carolinastitcher.blogspot.com

or 

Vonna at thetwistedstitcher.blogspot.com/p/finishing-service.html

 just click on the graph and floss/symbol legend below to enlarge, 

then save to your computer and print!

 I would LOVE LOVE to see this finished, 

so please do send me a pic or tag me on FB with yours!!

Want to see more of my freebies??? 

then click on the 'Freebies' link over there to your right sidebar under my Links list ~

Happy Stitching my sweet Friends ~

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ My Background... ~

 Hello There

Friends & Folk!

I received some questions yesterday,

about the background of my new little

'Tomato Season Mat'

as you can see,

I have not filled it in at all :)

I chose to let the motifs stand alone against the weavers cloth...

~ but of course

you can choose to fill your background in if you'd like too!

I did stain my weavers cloth before I punched though, knowing I wanted it to look mottled...

I traced the pattern onto my plain weavers with a pencil, 

then stained the opposite side of the weavers cloth, 

~ knowing that would actually be the front of my project.

I also decided not to punch those tiny cherry tomatoes, 

instead I simply made large french knots with my Valdani #8 pearl cotton.

If these were punched instead, they would look like tiny blobs.

If you are going to fill in your background, you can either punch them or use the french-knot technique after you've punched the background ~

 

I like punching this way,

leaving the cloth show more...letting the motifs take center stage and not filling in the backround.

Remember, there are never any hard & fast rules to how you finish your needlework...

Experiment!   Create!   Have Fun!

I am going to try more techniques with his soon 

and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results! 

 Happy Monday to you all....

find some magic in your day my sweet friends ~

🌻

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Oh Yes it IS!!! ~

 ...It is officially Tomato Season ~

hot, sunny days, cooler nights, humidity & rain

all make for wonderful growing conditions for our tomatoes!

we have a bunch of different varieties in our kitchen garden this year,

from so-called acid-free yellow tom's, to vibrant Big Boy's ~

and lest us forget the old heirlooms like American Beauty and Black Stripe too...

although ours are not 'fruiting' yet, our plants are hearty...

with beautiful yellow blossoms that make our honeybees happy girls!

I am always inspired by my surroundings,

so it is fitting that I have these for your stitching pleasure ~

I'm happy to release for you:

'Tomato Season' & Buzzbee Pin Poke'

....for a plant would not thrive without the aide of a honeybee ~ or two or three...

I've taken one design: 

a Lady in a Garden with a "**Ginormous" tomato...

and vines, leaves and of course a curious crow, 

and went with it to create these in both punch needle and cross stitch.

and since we were at it, why not add a 'Ripe Tomato' Thread Winder to the mix 

for your Summer Workbasket?

All three patterns are available now in our

~ Etsy Shop ~

in both PDF/instant Download, and Mailed Paper form.

We WILL be adding 'Tomato Season' as a HOOKED RUG Design on Paper & Linen, 

hopefully tomorrow as well for you wool-loving rug hookers 

;)

*** a nod to the word 'Ginormous', 

used by my sweet model cross stitcher Heather Stevens, 

~ who  said this tomato was just that.

{{thank you my sweet & gentle friend}}

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

and Now I am in FULL-THROTTLE 

for AUTUMN & Sauder Village Rug Week!

WOOHOOOOOOooooo!

 

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

Hot Hot Hot

Hey Friends & Folk....

Our little Needlework Shop here at the Farm  

will be 

C L O S E D  ~ S A T U R D A Y

June 24th

'cause it's HOT in there.

Hoping for cooler temps for next weekend!

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Some Witch-y Stitching ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk! 

Thanks so much for your responses to my posting last night ~ 

I am always happy to share with you all, 

and I will be offering the Eliza Chase Sampler Reproduction 

as a freebie here on this blog, just as soon as I have it charted :)

 〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

Some of you have also asked what the colors/names are of The Gentle Art threads I shared too, 

so here they are just in case you want to add to your stash ~

dried thyme

blueberry

mulberry

tarnished gold

maple syrup

bittersweet

sable

flax

dark chocolate

sarsaparilla

chamomile

shaker white

raven

mountain mist

pumpkin pie

old purple paint

onyx

chives

burnt orange

grape leaf

tomato

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

And
 just in case your creative muse is on a vacation, but you want some inspiration
 for what to stitch/punch next for the upcoming Autumn season ~

...I've put together two collages of some of my best-sellers for you...

top row l-r:
Night Flight, Olde Witche Mary & Oldwick Burying Ground
middle row l-r:
Witches in the Air, Weep Not & My Pretty
bottom row l-r:
Widows Weeds, Witches Garden & Cross Eyed Cat

top row l-r:

Halloween Sweet Bag, Salem Village & Eke & Zeke

middle row l-r:

Ye Ladye Pumpkin, Old Hallows Eve & House that Jack Built

bottom row l-r:

Harvest Angel, Hallowe'en Barnyard & Pumpkin Folke

... and how could we forget the kind old
Reverend Gourdon Squashbottom?

all of these patterns {and many many more!} are available in my ETSY shop ~
just type the pattern name in the keyword search-box in my ETSY shop for particulars.


I am now off to fill orders and head to town,
~ then back home to my stitching chair
 ♥

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Oh! -THREAD!! ...and a reproduction perhaps? ~

~ Hello Friends & Folk ~

Oh I have had a busy couple of days...

and without going into much detail, let's just say I am

HOME SWEET HOME

peaceful    quiet    serene   home.

I had ordered a bunch of thread from The Gentle Art ~

 to replenish our little Needlework Shop here at the Farm....

so happy to have it greet me upon my return home!

some are Samplar Threads, some are Shaker Threads...

look at those colors ~

all of them deep, rich and loverly.

to me, this grouping below 

~ looks like a breezy meadow 

filled with swaying fronds of grasses and wildflowers ~

while this grouping below 

reminds me of Autumn nights spent near a bonfire 

and glowing pumpkins and jack o' lanterns  peering from hazy windowpanes ~

 what does this grouping below bring to your creative minds?

I see old typewriters, high-button shoes...

crisp lawn-dresses and old love letters scribed in sepia-toned India inks ~

it's funny how our minds work....

 All of the above threads are my favorite colors from The Gentle Art ~

I will be using them for upcoming cross stitch designs and can't wait to show them to you.

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶

In other news....

I have had this sampler in my collection for a while.

{ok, like over 10 yrs.}

and I know that I've showed it to you all before.

BUT.

I look at it everyday.

I pass by it at least 13 times a day, maybe more...and everytime I do, it calls to me:

"make me whole...make me complete...finish me"

 so I am toying with the idea of reproducing it for everyone

...as a freebie.

 I initially purchased it because I love the blue & brown threads....

and the olde olde linen.

very nubby and full of slubs ~ 

...and of course the woven wicker tray it is housed in.

 see that date worked in black threads? 

they say...that if a sampler is unfinished by the initial maker, 

and the maker dies before completion...

that another stitcher in the family would have stitched the date of the original maker's death 

but in black threads.

Hmmm.

Our stitcher's name was Eliza Chase.

She practiced her alphabets, letters and initials in thread here 

~ for eternity to see ~

oh so many little mistakes made... 

such insignificant markings only slightly off-course on a linen sea.

but there nonetheless.

and I will keep them in the chart that I will replicate to keep it true to the original ~

love the wonky stitches.

I will choose my threads as carefully as Eliza did, 

even though these colors may not represent those initially chosen by her,

for much-time and many years have faded them into the muted tones 

that we see and love so much here ~

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

~ AND ~
Stay Tuned...

I will be releasing a new cross stitch, punch needle and rug hooking design this weekend ~
... all three are based off the same design, called:
"Tomato Season"
{and NEW Tomato Thread Winder coming, to match!}
 

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Farm Shop is Open ~

 Happy Saturday Friends & Folk!

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

our little needlework shop here on the farm is 

OPEN Today from 10:00 - 4:00-ish

★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★  ★

 grab your project-in-progress and come create with us!

 🌞

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ I'm SO Glad!! ~

I really am!

I am GLAD that I have Good Friends like Blaine 

who share little secrets & tips with me ~ 

While she was here last weekend for Becky's finishing class,

I was punching on my When Pigs Fly #2 ~ on my gripper frame.

I was super nervous still about putting all of my loops onto the gripper teeth when it came time to move my work, even though sweet Julie Thomas has a great video on the subject.

So,

thoughtful Blaine suggested

Press 'n Seal from Glad

{{ what's that you say? }}

that's right.

she suggested that I try putting the Press 'n Seal on the front {loop} side of my project 

to act as a layer between the weavers/loops and the gripper teeth.

 so I did.

I ripped off a piece of the sticky plastic and stuck it to my work.

~ it looks kinda cool under the layer of textured plastic, doesn't it?

I wanted to see exactly where I was putting my work onto the teeth, 

so I flipped my Hookinpunch© frame over and placed it on top of my punching.

and lo & behold:

it works!

the gripper teeth go through the plastic, gripping onto the weavers cloth, BUT

it helps keep them away from my loops more than just placing them onto it.

but now comes the actual punching:

so just to make sure this would actually work, 

I only punched a small row along the roofline of the house below.

and I found there is no problem punching through the plastic/weavers cloth.

& no real difference in the loops or anything.

when the punching is done, and you've removed your work from the frame,

all that's needed to do is gently lift away the now perforated sticky plastic to expose the loops :)

pure genius.

I am a Happy Girl! 

{my thanks to friends Blaine and Julie Thomas from Olde Tattered Flag}

click here to see Julie's video

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ it's coming.... ~

...just around the corner!

Kindly click HERE for more info...

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ In the Background ~

Working on 'When Pigs Fly #2' every chance I get ~

yesterday was TOO hot to be outside on the patio,

but this morning it is loverly ~

a nice easterly cool breeze through our little 'hollow'

is rustling the chocolate mint 

and sending scents of lavender and rosemary throughout the farmyard... 

here is my progress thusfar:

filling in the background now, 

after outlining all motifs with the darker Valdani pearl cotton...

the tape you see around my punch needle helps to cushion my poor farmwife fingers...

it is simply atheltic tape and comes on and off easily. 

{ please pardon the dirt on the tape tho ~ I was picking fresh herbs this morn betwixt punching }

★ ★ ★ ☆ ★ ★ ★

 

here is our humongous chocolate mint patch...

this has come back now for three yrs, each year bigger!

 

 I know I'm showing only the back of this WIP, but I don't want to remove it from the gripper frame until this one whole side is filled in completely....

 

the snipped-threads look awful, but the front is amazing!

{soon very soon} 

half a pig is done!

the scoundrel that he is...

 

I had mentioned in a previous posting that this design takes 12 colors of Valdani #8 pearl cotton...

and that all 12 colors are in my 'Autumn at Notforgotten Farm' Valdani Designer collection 

{avail in my Etsy shop} 

but, after beginning the outlining and background, I have found 

that you WILL need ONE additional ball each of the background colors,

which are P11, O548 & O540 for a total of 15 balls of Valdani #8

and I will then fill in the remainder of the background using DMC 310 - black 

for added contrast to the variegated pearl cottons.

the model for the CROSS STITCH version has landed in the hands 

of my able-bodied and nimble fingered stitcher, Beth ~ 

and I cannot wait to see that done up as a companion to this punched version... 

we will also be offering this design as a Rug Hooking pattern, on paper and linen...

although there won't be a hooked model per se,  the colors on this punched version should be good inspiration for your rug hooking color planning :)

and here is sweet momma Pepper... 

her puppies have been weaned, so now she is putting some weight back on ~

2 of her babies left home on Saturday:

one brown male going home with our daughter Hannah! {his name is now 'Grizzly'}

and another male, a black one going home with a coworker of Hannah's

{who's name is now 'Nikko'}

Another two will be heading to their homes soon...

of course we are keeping one,

the biggest, fattest boy! 

he is huge, and we have named him Big Black ~ 

after the lovable TV personality of Christopher Boykin who passed away just last month.

He is known for his role as the sweet sidekick to Rob Dyrdek on the 'Rob & Big' show.

Have a most-pleasant and creative day my friends!!!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori