~ Sunday Morning Musings ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

a very hot & humid Sunday, but hey, it's another new day isn't it?

remember to take time for yourself today ~

paint something, stitch something, work in your garden....

soothe your mind & soul.

🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮

a morning walk-about to check my wild gardens...

The black eyes susan's are escaping!

i love when they mix with the queen anne's lace....

 {{ for those who might not know the difference between queen anne's lace and wild white yarrow:}}

THIS is wild white yarrow:

⬇

and THIS is queen anne's lace

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this is called 'rabbit's foot clover, or hare's foot clover...

i have recently found it growing ALL over the place {Nancy b.!!}

↓

a sleeping lightening bug {firefly}

a common garden snail ~ snoozing

oh! hello.

yesterday i started and finished this tiny sampler...

stitched over one on some old linen I have {me thinks it to be 32ct?}

of course this will be framed under glass {by my resident woodworker/hubby}

and hung on the wall of my dollhouse {#Maryblacksdollhouse}

 

then last night, i started to needlepunch a 'rug' that will be hung above the mantle

 {also in the works by said woodworker/hubby} 

the design is of my beloved Suzy ~ 

{who Miss Mary Black loved as much as I}

I'll finish this today and perhaps begin on some curtains?

∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭

a peek inside...

as Mary loves the birds as much as I do, 

I hung a small birdhouse outside her bedroom

so she can enjoy their chittering and song ~

{notice the bed is gone? I am making a wire bedframe for the handmade ticking mattress I made}

 also added a small pincushion and a quartz crystal on top of her trunk...

and this photo below shows just where in our old farmhouse,

Miss Mary Black's dollhouse is...

right above my favorite spinning-wheelin our Keeping Room off the kitchen ~

I hope you will follow along on our journey

 of creating tiny-things 

for Mary ~ 

 we can't wait to show you what's next!

➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿

Keep Creating ~ It's the Joy of Life

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ 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

 www.institchesneedlework.com

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

~ 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.

{ www.lakesidelinens.com }

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:

{ www.valdani.com }

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 Amusements ~

 Hello & Happy Monday Friends and Folk ~

...what beautiful weather we have been having here in our parts of Virginia !

 this, 

the last day in July for the year 2017 is what I call a 'sparkler'.

high & dry

comfortable temps

bright sunshine

low humidity & slight breeze.

in another word: Perfect.

I have finished my huge

"When Pigs Fly"© punch needle design....

what a great time I had punching on this between 'other' projects 

and preparations for upcoming shows ~

here are a few detail shots first...

hello!

I added a ruched edge of beautiful & tattered silk Sari ribbon,

the shade is named 'coffee', but it has a purple-y/gray-ish/brown color to it and I love how it looks ~

i wonder who lives in my tiny little houses?

{{{{  by the look on Pig's face, he knows he's about to get it good  }}}}

and here is the whole shebang!

look at the movement in my background! 

can't you just feel the crisp night air whizzing past these two? 

Dear Goodwitch Mary Black...

you should have locked Pig away before retiring for the evening...

~ see what happens when you let a pig play with your broom?

{even the Moon knows the trouble Pig is in when Mary Black catches him}

this piece measures approx. 9-1/2" x16" when finished.

this is - to date, my largest punched piece and I am already designing more.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

the cross stitched version of this same design {with a few minor changes} 

is in the hands of one of my talented stitchers, so as soon as I receive it 

I will release them both soon as mailed/paper & PDF download ~

 this will also be available as a Rug Hooking pattern, 

on paper/mailed/PDF and perhaps on linen {not sure about on linen one though}.

    some of my friends have been seeing different 'things' in the darker background areas of this piece, like black cats and bats....what do you see?

I've also finished punching this little 'Jack Pocket' model for our next

Primitive Punch Needle Club ~ Aug/Sept/Oct '17

members will begin receiving their kits 2nd week of August.

and hello to you too!

If you are interested in Joining

 our exclusive club for those who love primitive punch needle, you can click HERE <---- nbsp="" p="">

{members can renew/join anytime!}

~ AND ~

Peter & I wanted to share with you 

this fabulous little Sewing Clamp that he made me last night!

{gotta love that man!} 

 he made this from our own replenish-able wood

 harvested here on the farm {like all of our wooden products}.

it is simply stained with a black walnut finish, lightly sanded and waxed for a mellow glow....

see how it clamps to my side table and handily-holds my thread spool?

BUT ~ it also clamps on to my Stitcher's Tray!

I placed one of my pincushions on top, and now it does double-duty ~

oooooooh!

and with our brains always thinkin', 

we thunk this up:

why not use it to hold my spools of wound DMC floss for when I punch?

so I did and it works perfectly...

first I use my Floss Winder Box to wind my DMC {or other skeined floss} 

onto my little wooden spools,

then I place the spool on my new Sewing Clamp 

that is clamped on to my Stitcher's Tray....

and there ya go.....

One happy happy happy Wife!

Floss Winder Box shown in Yellow Ochre paint

We think we might just offer these if there is enough interest....

so ~ let us know your thoughts please?

Oh! 

I could even design patterns for pincushions for the top too!

hey! cross stitch and punch needle, or wool applique too :)

my happy place.

Wishing you all a *sparkling* day my creative friends!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ My Friend Mary ~

I was not tired at all last night ~

and after a full weekend of kayaking with family and friends,

 you'd think I would be!

so I watched some mindless TV and stitched.

 gathered together and surrounded by threads and scraps of cupboard cloth {osnaburg}

and just let me hands create...

 

Growing up in CT, 

and spending lots of time in the ancient graveyards there,

 I found the name 'Mary Black' on a headstone...

I was smitten with the name 

and felt as though Mary & I could have been {or perhaps were?} 

~ friends through time.

the first time I used the name was back in the early 2000's ~ 

... when I designed this:

'Mary Black's Shoe' pinkeep

{pattern available here} 

 and 

'Olde Witche Mary'

{pattern available here }

I even punched this, using dear Mary's name ~

waaaay back in 2009 for a EHAG group challenge

{Ecclectic Halloween Artists Group}

and this piece is now in private collection...

{but I think I need to make another one!}

so, 

with the inspiration from my tiny little muse, 

 I am continuing on with my story of keeping her namesake alive.

 This is just an ongoing theme in my brain that keeps popping up ~

and it never has to be Hallowe'en for a witch to be included in my folk art or needlework!

so, here is little Mary Black again ~

this time, 

in her Strawberry Garden.

she is humbly cross stitched, 

simply freehanded so that she is my favorite kind of wonky.

 

satin stitches are included too...

in DMC cotton threads.

I have a little more to stitch, then will finish this into a ....

well, at the moment, I don't know quite how yet.

but

she'll tell me. 

;)

I'll offer her on June 1st's 

Early Work Mercantile

and if I have time, perhaps another small work.

 

My how time is flying by....

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori