Tuesday, May 26, 2020

~ WIP's & Woes ~


Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
Happy TUESDAY to us all...
{yes, I have to keep telling myself it is not Monday.}

Me thinks a #flosstube video might be made later today,
to show you a few of the Works In Progress that are now living in my stitching bags...

they run the gamut between Christmas, Everyday, Halloween & everything in-between.


so far, these are the 7 that I am flitting between
like a deranged moth...


and here are a few of my project bags ~
purple one is my beautiful PSS bag made by Faye of Carolina Stitcher,
beautiful floral bag is from Lucy Beam
skelly/day of the dead bag is from Stitch'n Button
and my favorite is my 'Witchy' bag, from Lela Mae ~


the title of this post is wip's & woes...
so you saw the wip's,
now for the woes:

I was looking through my piles of linen, to {what else} begin yet another design
and came across a few that I forgot to mark as to what color/count they are.

ugh.


I try {really} hard to pin a small note to them but sometimes they fall off
leaving me quite perplexed.
of course I can always figure out the count,
but the color or dye is another story.



so I know that the one on the top of the pile below is osnaburg ~
I do love cross stitching on that even though it is such a weird wonky count {35/36} and has cotton 'seeds' in it and is not 100% natural {cotton/poly}
but, the bottom two remain a mystery as to the color name...


and the one below with the needle in it is {I think} my own hand dyed/stained
Old Farmhouse Linen...
but I can't identify the other two.



How do you all store/organize your linens?
~ are they labeled?
~ by count or color?
~ what is your preferred count to cross stitch on?

Inquiring minds and all that...

{{ and stay tuned for the #flosstube video announcement on social media  }}

Blessings from the Farm
~ Lori

Monday, May 18, 2020

~ A Freebie for You! ~


 Hello Friends & Folk!
Happy Monday to us all ~
guess what? it's raining! AGAIN!
wow, have never seen this much rain in one month ~
good for the soil, plenty of nitrogen for our plants ~
 but the mold spores grow too and boy do they play with my allergies
 ~ yuck.


Since I am 'cleaning out' my 
"somewhat older/never completed/need to be finished and stitched"
 designs on my computer, I found this sweet honey bee that I charted a couple of moons ago...
and though ~ 
Hmmm....my friends might want to stitch this to add to their growing
bee-themed finishes that I see them displaying?
so, for your amusement and the fact that I love to share, here is

🐝 ~ Bee a Kind Soul ~ 🐝
 



I would LOVE to see your finishes of this design...
I originally charted it to be worked on 36ct linen with DMC threads ~
{symbols legend shows DMC}
but
make it yours! ...change the colors, 
how about stitching it really small, one over one on 30 or 28ct linen?
don't like to stitch on linen? then use that Aida cloth ~
there is NOTHING WRONG with cross stitching on AIDA cloth!
{{You have my permission to do so!}}
~ AND there are wonderful folks who offer hand dyed AIDA cloth now too!
You can Google 'hand dyed AIDA cloth' and it will show you many shops who offer it ~

I will also post this FREEBIE on my "Freebies" page
for you for future reference ~ that link is over there on my right sidebar ---->
လလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလလ
 Well, I am off to process weekend orders, then stitch to my heart's content...
...rainy days are made for stitching
aren't they?


Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Friday, May 15, 2020

~ Early Morning Stitching ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!
Happy Friday to us all...
a glorious day for our neck of the woods....warm temps, slight breeze.
actual MAY WEATHER!!
 
It wasn't bright enough to stitch
when I woke this morning ~
{{ but I had a little help from my little owl lamp... }}


many more stitches to go on this, 
my 'Mary Black's Epitaph' sampler ~ 
I have the rest of the wording to stitch, then on to motifs and date...
then finally the border will be worked!



you may remember, 
this was a design that has been in my computer for a few years ~
and was never fully charted...so I am winging it as I stitch it now,
~ just adding things from my imagination.
 {something I love to do }




using some of my favorite fonts for the lettering ~
and making up more as I go.
 

the sun was coming up as I began taking photos...
I love the soft morning light on my wood floors
here in this old farmhouse.




a favorite pair of chartreuse Bohin scissors ~ purchased at one of my favorite LNS:
In Stitches Needlework in Alexandria VA

and a favorite fob from 
Victoria Gable at www.stitchnbutton.etsy.com
{ don't know what I love more about this one, the amethyst-colored gems, 
the bone crescent moon or the dangly little broom at the end!}


sun is up! 
on with the day...
chores to do, then back to my stitching chair.

what are your plans for this beautiful day?
 


Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Thursday, May 14, 2020

~ Water & Colors ~



Today will be a good day to dip my brush a bit ~
looking through older watercolors has given me inspiration for new ones!






maybe I will hold another *Finished Goods Sale*
of smaller, framed watercolors?
hmmmm.....


Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

~ The Beginning ~

 Good morning friends!
and a happy Tuesday to us all ~ 
we lost power for several hours last night due to the high winds we've been having...
thankful that has died down and now hoping for some true May-like weather!

My farm chores are finished,
and I have begun working on a sampler that I charted 4 years ago...
{{ it has been living in my computer and back of my brain
for that long and really needs to be set free! }}

I chose my linen, a beautiful soft and old-looking color
a Zweigart-based linen called Vintage Light Examplar from 
Lakeside Linens & Designs, Inc.


a very paled-yellowish linen with subtle hints of staining...
just beautiful and perfect for my next project!

the threads that I will be working with are different for me...
I chose Valdani cotton floss ~ two are solid and one is variegated:

these are in 3-ply {strand} balls, 
and I will most likely stitch this with one strand
{maybe two} but definitely not all 3...

#234 ~ Khaki Olive {solid}
#8121 ~ Brown/Black Light {solid} 
&
#H212 ~ Faded Brown Heirloom {variegated}


Oh!
 I almost forgot to mention the name of this design:
"Mary Black's Epitaph"
~ ✵ ✶ ✷ ✸ ✹ ✸ ✷ ✶ ✵ ~

I'll share progress as soon as I have some more x's crossed!

Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Monday, May 11, 2020

~ And we have a Windy Day Finish! ~


Howdy friends & folk...

it has been SO wickedly-windy here today, 
I feel bad for any little witch out there trying to commute on her broomstick!

it's been a good day to stay in and finish this though...

"Sylvia Thistlebroom" ~ Whisk Broom Cover 
{ain't she sweet?}

quick to stitch, easy to finish...
with the help of my Whisk Broom Cover Finishing Pictorial that I made just for you! 
{see the link on my sidebar to your right, and click on it!}


I opted to use an antique child's broom for my finish, but a whisk broom is another option...

Paper & PDF Downloads are ready to fly!
and don't forget ~ our #Stayhomeandstitch sales are still going strong!
visit my Etsy shop:

Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Wednesday, May 06, 2020

~ My Antique Samplers ~

Hello Friends & Folk!
happy Wednesday to us all ~

a bit on the chilly side, some sun, mostly clouds... 
was hoping I could stitch out on the porch swing today, but I'm afraid my threads 
will follow the wind and blow away!

So indoor stitching it will be then....

I have only 4 antique samplers in my possession ~ 
and they are all not of the highest-quality, most-likely 
from years of being handled and not framed properly
but I love them still.

This one is faded and worked on rough homespun linen
with pale colored {faded} threads...


the close up below shows slubs in the linen, 
and stitches that are crossed this-way and that-way
{which is how I stitch so I can related}
we can see a small bird and a tiny dog if we look closely...
I have not been able to find any name/date on this work.



 ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂  ✂ 

This sampler below, is one I purchased unframed.
It resides in a frame that I had {which does it no justice whatsoever}.
the threads look to be silks, and what little threads remain, are still vibrant ~




Looking closer,
the maker stitched her name, Maria Hadley, 
and an unreadable date  
on the lower left, with a few red hearts...

I wish I knew what verse she stitched...perhaps I should look at this more closely?


✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖  ✖

This sampler below, is in it's original frame ~ and yes it is missing the upper left corner piece,
but again ~ my heart loves humble, so....

the linen on this one looks finer than the one above,
... but still retains a homespun look with many slubs ~
I am a fool for blue and love the hues of the threads used for this work:




our close-up shows a date that was perhaps picked out or lost to time
and perhaps the maker's name as well?
but a very recognizable "HER EXAMPLER" 
still remains in a darker thread which look to be cotton.
 

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
 And this sampler, my favorite of them all,
is one I purchased long ago ~ I saw it and immediately had to have it,
never seeing a sampler housed in a Victorian wicker serving tray before!

someone loved it enough to keep it clean and nice, although not under glass ~




again, those blue threads, most likely indigo dyed....
and this sampler is marked with the maker's name,
"ELIZA CHACE" 
her work looks to be unfinished, and although there is no date stitched
in the threads used throughout the sampler,
a very poignant date of 1818 worked in black threads, 
seems to have been added later by someone else ~
I have since found out that a family member 
may have gone back to the unfinished work
and stitched the year of the samplermakers' death in black thread, 
to memorialize them further.


 I have in fact, re-charted my Eliza Chace Sampler
and offer it to members of my Facebook Group:

the PDF file of the above sampler is there for group members to use to recreate their very own ~
If you're not a member, click on the photo/link below and request to join ~


Samplermakers Group on Facebook

 Hoping your day is filled with Good Things
 that make your humble heart happy ~


Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Monday, May 04, 2020

~ Finished Goods Sale TONIGHT ~

 Join me this evening at 8:00 pm est ~
for my Finished Goods Sale...

you will be able to see all of my offerings when you click on this link:

LINK IS LIVE


🗝 thank you kindly 🗝

Blessings from the Farm
  ~ Lori

Friday, May 01, 2020

~ Poppets & Poppies ~


 Hello Friends & Folk!
Happy May Day! and a Blessed Beltane to us All ~

Yesterday I made a few poppets ~
one I finished completely...her three sisters will be finished off today {fingers crossed}.




our wild poppies are blooming again,
there are many more of them this year than last - it seems.
 


...someone's hair matched the poppy petals perfectly!



our walking-onions are growing in their beautifully-twisted way:


a quiet spot in the kitchen garden below:
one of my rusty wire chairs gently holds a fox-skull that Roxy found in the woods for me...


 wishing you all a day filled with beauty, creativity and peace ~

Blessings from the Farm 
~ Lori