~ 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