~ HEY There! ~

Some of you have been wondering
why I have been so quiet these last few days ~

I was up in CT celebrating the beautiful wedding of our niece Jessica to her beau Nick!
Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Nick DiGregorio
❤♥❤

the Happy Couple

and how cute are these two?
Little Mr. Ring Bearer & Little Miss Flower Girl
{Jessica & Nick's daughter, our great-niece}

 

it was a beautiful wedding, and was so good to see family ~
... my sister-in-law Michelle and her hubby Jim
worked so hard at making this such a special day for Jessica and Nick.
the reception was a blast and everyone had a great time!

✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ 
 
I left CT yesterday, and now I am back to 'work'
so,
 for all of you who have been waiting~
our new Spool Caddy is listed in our Etsy shop:
click  HERE
 and the listing on Etsy will answer your most common questions.

 ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃
I'll be processing and packing orders today,
~  and will ship them out tomorrow as I am now playing a little catch-up ;)
 

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Friendly Reminder ~

 out little needlework shop here at the farm is

CLOSED Saturday Jan 27th

 ~

Have a beautiful & creative weekend everyone!!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ In Case You Missed It! ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

it's Thursday again ~ this day seems to come around quickly lately...

maybe because I'm counting down the days 

~ till SPRING arrives here at Notforgotten Farm?

~ ❁ ❀ ❁ ~

Just in case you don't visit Facebook or Instagram,

I am posting on the blog here this morning to show you 

this awesome Spool Caddy that Peter made 

~ to hold my spools of embroidery floss/thread! 

❋ ∗ ❋ ∗ ❋ ∗ ❋ 

 I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when he brought this up from his workshop! 

that squeal you heard? yeah, that was me!

Here is it,

shown next to our Floss Winder Box ~ 

I wind all of my floss/threads onto these little wooden spools using this box and winder-gadget that Peter made ~ 

He made my Spool Caddy in a Stained finished, which I love!

❇ ✤ ❇

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⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶

 The Caddy has a compartment to hold my scissors & such, and it also can hold two of our Accessory Spool Stands nicely!

It will come with spools, more info on that later....

፠፠፠፠፠፠

 There are a total of 4 racks, that can hold up to 7 fully loaded spools comfortably,

and our spools hold a full skein of DMC floss each!

 ...the ends of each rack hold even tinier spools, 

that you remove to slide on your loaded spool of thread ~

 This is a perfect tool to use with Punch Needle, Embroidery, 

or any other Needleart involving spools of thread~

I'll be adding these to our Etsy Shop this evening ~

{{ they are 9x9x4 }}

Super Fun! 

Super FUNctional!

&

 Thank you Peter for always thinking of "our" needlework needs

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

**EDITED** ~ Bird Brain ~

**EDITED**
CLASS IS FULL!
pls. read about it below...

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

and a sun-filled Tuesday is on tap for us here at the farm...

Hoping you are not suffering from storms & such ~

keeping you all in my heart & thoughts.

I'm working on a model for a small class

~ that I will be teaching here in the Farm Shop on Saturday February 14th

"Bird Seed"

is what I'm calling it, as it is worked in mostly short, fat little seed stitch...

which is a great little stitch for beginners and non-beginners alike.

it really fills up a design quickly and is a very textural stitch 

~ when used in combination with a little color-planning

ィイィイィイィイィイィイィイィイィ

I started stitching it last night, 

and stitched for a couple of hours while listening to

my favorite Jazz/Swing music on Sirius Radio.

 {{ that type of music always makes me happy! }}

I chose a thread palette of browns, golds, greens and violets ~

very Spring-like, but not too bold.

I'll show the students how to begin with the lighter colored threads, 

then work their way to the darker ones.

 All 6 strands of the DMC floss are used to create each stitch ~


 I can't wait to stitch his little feet...they will be stitched with 3 strands of floss ~ there will be stem stitch and a small amount of satin stitch in this project too, once I get to his back, wing and tail....but don't fret!

I can teach you how and you will be amazed at your work :)

Oh! and I'm working on Weavers Cloth!

used primarily for Punch Needle work, Weavers is a strong, yet forgiving

 polyester/cotton blend fabric that will hold up to the tugging of 6 strands of DMC thread through it.

 &

I love the fact that this cloth isn't as transparent as some others, 

and that is a BIG plus when carrying threads on the back of my work...

{ which btw is 

totally acceptable in embroidery world!}

~ so I don't see that from the front!

Sitting peacefully, listening to the sound of my needle 

and thread popping through the cloth as I stitch is so comforting to me... 

and the rhythm of my work and the music in my ears is soul-quenching.

~ I think everyone should stitch for their own mental health ~

 

I like to keep everything on my Stitcher's Tray while I work too... 

{shameless plug ;)}

 but it really is the handiest thing!!

 ~ I carry it with me from room to room while I'm making dinner in between stitches or other farmwife chores ~

I actually have a couple of these in both sizes here in the farmhouse, but my white one is my very favorite.

 ❤

 I use a Mark-B-Gone
pen with both water soluble and air soluble ink when I transfer my paper design to my ground cloth...

it helps keep me
 'in the lines' as I have a tendency to get carried away with my stitching

~ and with a spritz of water, those blue lines are gone in a instant!

My Bohin scissors are not only shiny & beautiful ~ they are sharp as the dickens!

the Wicked Stitching Needles case was purchased at the 2016 Prim Stitchers Society Retreat ~ I cannot remember who I got it from, so if you're reading this and sold it to me please let us know!

 I'm using a 5" Morgan hoop with channel-lock...even with embroidery, you want to keep your ground cloth nice and tight ~

 NOW Accepting reservations for the

 "Bird Seed" Hand Embroidery Class at Notforgotten Farm

Saturday, February 17th ~ 10:00 - 4:00

**SNOW DATE - Saturday, February 24th**

  I have limited seating available for this 'Bird Seed' class ~ 

12 students total.

email me at Notforgottenfarmwitch@gmail.com or call 434-263-6508

to reserve your seat!!

Class cost is $48.00 and includes:

5" Morgan hoop

Ground Cloth {Weavers}

Embroidery Needle & Threads

Reusable Paper Pattern 

6 hours of my instruction

*Lunch and Snacks/Drinks provided or bring your own

{bring your sense of humor too please}

 ↗

 ィイィイィイィイィイィイィ

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Thread & Inspiration and a freebie! ~

 Hello!

~ Happy Sunday Friends & Folk ~ 

🍄 🍄 🍄 🍄 🍄 🍄 🍄

I have been perusing Pinterest and Instagram lately ~ {{ per usual }}

and have become quite fascinated with embroideries of mushrooms! 

As a child growing up in the seventies, this familiar fungus was a staple-motif 

and appeared everywhere...

on printed fabrics, tea towels, toaster covers, pot holders, wall decor and much more ~

I even embroidered some on my denim jacket.

{oh how I wish I still had that jacket }

I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite photos of inspiration..

again, these are not my works of hand ~ but other folks' work were found on the world wide web

... as mentioned above:

So here is a freebie of mushrooms 

 ~ that I sketched up for you in case you feel like joining me in stitching some up ~ 

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feel free to use these little doodles ~

 would love to see yours if you decide to stitch them!

and 

if you're a member of my Humble Work Hand Embroidery Group on FB

you can post them there :)

Have a creative day my friends!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Multi-Tasking ~

Happy Friday 

~ Friends & Folk ~ 

ಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊಊ

so here I am, working on multiple projects at once, 

...again. 

I have to give my hands a break from doing one form of needlework for a long period of time,

and lately that has been punch needle ~ 

you've seen my Claudia Cluck doll, 

and know I'm working on her friend Roberta...

but my hands hurt so badly sometimes ~ that all I can manage to do is slow stitching.

 

my work varies greatly within the mediums of my needles...

punch-work is fun, quick and offers lots of room for whimsical-ness.

Where embroidery gives me more freedom to use thread colors and stitches ~

 

so many tiny little loops!

 

so many tiny little stitches!!

 

...while Roberta is resting,

my tiny kitten is coming to life.

 

I've finished filling her in,

detailed her eyes, nose & mouth ~

and added more depth to her silk ribbon bow...

 

now I've begun stitching a 'ground' of sorts upon where she sits.

those blue spots will disappear with a spritz of water

{ALWAYS use color-fast threads!!}

and those pencil-lines will be covered with my stitches.

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

I have a small antique black oval tin frame that she will live in once finished ~ 

but she still needs a name...any suggestions?

~ AND ~

We are will be OPEN tomorrow, Saturday January 20th

here at the Farm Shop from 10:00 - 4:00

灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬

come on in for a visit!!

I will however be away  

January 27th, so Farm Shop will NOT be open then ~

Hoping you all have a beautiful day!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori