~ Stitches, Witches & Late Summer Gardens ~

oh my stars...

the temps here in Virginia this morning are heavenly!

...cool, dry & breezy ~ 

all of my wind-chimes are gently tinkling on the wind

~ letting me know that changes will come soon to our gardens.

I have been enjoying my stitching outside on the patio lately,

before the last hot breath of late-Summer returns for her last performance.

linen. scissors. thread & needle

all I need these days to keep my hands busy and my soul nourished...

my dear witches come to life while plying my needle ~

shall her skirt be orange & gray?

curled-toes and a pumpkin scissors fob

 visit my friend Victoria Gable's Etsy Shop for scissors fobs, 

needle minders and all kinds of stitching goodes:

StitchnButton

taking breaks from all of those akimbo-stitches

to say hello to my flower and fauna friends:

good morning glories!

hello hibiscus!

loverly loriope!

tea roses & garden spiders!

my beautiful Lady on her silken throne ~

black eyed suzy's make me smile ~

my very 1st moonflower!

 ...and now back to stitching ~

can you see how I am not even following the grain of my linen?

kindly look at the jack o lantern below ~ 

...my stitches are purposely side-ways instead of stitched on the weave.

and I love it like that.

the project below was begun, 

then put aside ~ because I feel my thread choices 

to be more for Winter instead of Autumn ~ 

'She' will wait patiently until the colder winds begin to blow 

~ and there are no more leaves left on the old black walnut trees.

Join us in our journey of learning to cross-stitch without constraints ~

make school-girl inspired samplers without rules, 

choose creative joy over counting those x-stitches 

and embrace each one of our purposeful mistakes!

to join click HERE 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Super Prim Stitching ~

 it all begins with a speck of an idea...

a small seed of inspiration from anything I see, hear, smell or feel.

it could come from where I am, where I've been,

or where I'm going ~

 and from places that don't even exist outside of my own little mind.

one word can conjure up thoughts for me of stories, poems & characters...

and then I have to create.

thread ~ linen ~ wool ~ fabric ~ pencil ~ ink ~ paint

lately as I am preparing for the

Prim Stitcher's Society Retreat and Merchant Mall 

{June 1 & 2 2018 ~ Red Lion Inn ~ Harrisburg, PA}

I have been once again plying my needle and thread and making tiny little x's.

but

trying to make them perfect by counting 

has always been a challenge to my somewhat dyslexic brain...

so after my 'near' perfect models are finished being stitched by myself,

I turn once again to my most favorite way of cross-stitching ~

So those that are familiar with me know that I  love freehand cross stitching, 

or uncounted cross stitch as I like to call it!

not stamped, not on linen...

but I simply hand drawn onto Osnaburg {click HERE for more info} 

then filled in by row {or not!} with my uncounted and crudely stitched wonky little x's ~

no, the look is definitely not for everyone,

{ I once had a very sweet & kind member of a local EGA chapter 

feel sorry for me and offer to teach me the correct way to do it ~ }

a needle, no I don't have a favorite, one with an eye big enough for me to thread though,

some floss ~ in this case one strand for me, 

and a hoop ~ are all I need.

 oh and I use beeswax on my thread ~

I love the smell and feel of it ~

I love how the wax keeps my thread from tangling and knotting up as I pull it through my cloth ~

and I like how the wax keeps my threads from soaking up too much stain when I am finished stitching and want to age my work a bit with walnut dye.

{I sometimes dye my fabric before I stitch, sometimes after ~ sometimes both.}

I started this specific work last year, and put it away to peruse other ideas ~

but it has been here in my sewing room,

looking at me every time I pass by it,

with a most-pitiful, woe-is-me attitude

that I just couldn't walk by it one more time...

this is where I left off last year...

 and this is my progress as of last evening:

I am hoping to complete it soon, 

then make it into a pillow stuffed with fabric scraps & such

here is a good shot of those wonky x's ~

 

I have had a positive response to my posting this over on my Instagram page ~

it isn't new to me, but may be to new followers and readers... 

I am using the hashtags:

 #uncountedcrossstitch, #freehandcrossstitch and #nocountxs 

if you would like to follow or post your own progress photos of your work.

 So, my questions to you on this day are this:

~ does the idea of cross stitching in this way make you nervous?

~ can you break free from the thought of perfectly counted cross stitches?

~ can you unleash your thinking into a more free-form way of prim stitching?

~ are you interested in learning more and would you consider a class from me online for this?

inquiring minds would love to know your thoughts...

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ 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

~ 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

~ A Tisket ~ A Tasket ~

 what's in YOUR workbasket?

As I constantly flit from one medium to the next ~

 I {really do} try to keep all of my supplies corralled  

where they will be easily accessible for me to grab & go...

Since I've been stitching this week, 

I'm once again using my beloved sewing basket 

that I purchased from Joann's a few years back.

I wasn't a fan of it at first, but it was the only one with a 'less-cutesy' design on it...

so I bought it, stained it inside and out 

with my black walnut/spice dye ~ and filled 'er up!

I have two favorite stitching chairs, 

one you saw in my sewing room in yesterday's posting,

 and the one below ~ is in the back of our Keeping Room...

I follow the sun around this old farmhouse like the cat :) 

 

of course I also had to personalize my sewing basket

with a small freehand stitched sampler on the lid...

~ and added favorite charms, keys and such. 

no mistaking it for someone else's now ~ ha!

a little charm that is of two ducks in a basket.

~ just too cute. 

the inside is a working-mess, 

because I am constantly rooting through it for my threads & such.

...but, I did decorate the inside of the lid too ~

old tin type photos, bits of lace...

the removable tray holds ...well, everything.

a mini-OTT light, rulers, pencils & pens ~ 

well-used beeswax and needle-minders {magnets} in an old tin tart pan that not only holds the magnet for stray needles but acts as a portable snippet/ort container too!

under the tray, in the actual basket are linens & cloths ~

my favorite little wooden hoops...a notebook {or three} 

~ and paper charts waiting to be stitched.

someone gifted me with these beautiful counting-pins a long time ago...

I love looking at them and using them...

... the mother of pearl bird is another magentic needle-minder I made.

 

The tin type is one of a woman holding her sampler in progress!

I was SO excited when I realized what she was holding upon closer inspection ~ 

...and yes, she now 'lives' in my sewing basket :)

 

As I attend quite a few events throughout the year, I stitched a name tag. 

it stays put until needed....

so, what's in your basket? I would love to see!!

join me in sharing your photos on your own blog if you'd like to

 {{...you can link back to me too if you want ;) }}

~::§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§::~

 

 I stitched by candlelight last night when the power went off....

what a peaceful feeling that was ~

almost like it was long long ago 

and I envisioned the farm wives who lived here before me doing the same thing.

more progress made on my freehand cross stitch sampler...

goat is finished, urn stems & some leaves are too ~

now on to the little bird.

when the power came back on,

 it jolted me back to reality

and the 'happening's of modern times here in our country...

please keep positive thoughts for everyone...

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori