Taking some time off...

I'm taking a little time away from work.

Going to go visit the grand darlings

for a few days...

 

I will be back in the office next Thursday. 

 

Have a wonderful holiday weekend

everyone,

 and be sure to take note

of the blue moon this evening...

we won't see another one

 until 2015.

 

Brenda

A finish is in sight!

I've really enjoyed

 reproducing and stitching

 the J.M. Gardner- 1888 sampler.

 I'm rounding third base

and on my way home

 with this piece...

just a few more posies

 to stitch in the border!

A finish is in sight!

 

She is such a sweet little sampler,

just 7" square!

Small in size,

but fully filled

with some of my favorite motifs...

Last evening I finished up the fruit basket.

I like J.M. Gardner's version of this motif...

a more long and stretched out version.

 

A fruit basket that symbolizes

love & fertility, and a

 couple of crowns  for

eternity

&

fidelity.

 

The sampler also has a lovely little brick house.  

Often times,

 this motif was a representation of the girls

house

or

 perhaps the school

 in which she learned to stitch.

 

After stitching so many apples...

dark red ones,

light red ones,

green ones

&

yellow ones...

I was craving an apple.

A carameled apple,

to be exact!

mmmmmmm

Doesn't that sound good?

 

It's that time of year!

I hear the local apples are ready. 

Time for apple dumplings and carmeled apples...

Pumpkins and mumms

 greeted me at the grocery store yesterday!

 

Can it be?

I'm asking myself,

where did the summer go? 

 

And lastly,

only because I know someones

going to want to know/ask...

An estimated release date for the
J.M. Gardner - 1888

chart will be sometime in September.

 

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

 



Halloween Fun!

Now up for auction on ebay

 are
 3 pocket watch necklaces!
 

Each pendant features

a teensy tiny Halloween-spirited motif,

and is housed
 in a
 pocket watch frame

with glass.
 

These are
 designed and worked
 by myself

on hand dyed linen,

using hand dyed flosses.
 

The pocket watch pendant
 hangs from a
 28"

black oxide chain.

 

Auctions begins tonight
 at 7:30 CST,

you can view
 these three auctions here.
 

This is a 7 day auction.

 

Happy bidding,

Brenda

Miss Avry...our little ballerina!

First position,

learned!

 

Second position...

still

working on it...

Just 3 more positions

to go

and

then

I'll be doing

pique's

&

plie's

for

 daddy

 

in my football tu tu!

It is his favorite too ;)

 

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda

Inspiration...

My dear husband,

the son of a watchmaker.

 

His dad's diploma

from watchmakers college...

 and

a pocket watch gifted to the dh

from his father...



family heirlooms

that I walk by several times each day...

momentos

of his father...

A gentle man,

with a keen sense
 of humor.

A man that always gave kids pennies for the gum ball machine.

He had a gum ball machine in his jewelry store.

A dish of pennies sat on the counter

for the kids...

 

 

Being married to the son of a watchmaker,
and being someone who collects
antique samplers,

you can imagine how

these little
 antique pocket watch samplers
 make my heart go a-flutter...
 

I would love to own one,

but they are expensive...

as much as a big sampler.
{sigh}
I love the simplicity of this one..
"Part
 not with
 a

moment

 but for its worth!"

 

It is stitched with hair!

Pocket watch samplers were stitched in the early 19th century.
  A wife would stitch one
 for her dh husband
 to be tucked inside the cover of his pocket watch.

 

You don't see too many of them,

  and they usually go for $500.00 on up.

 The one pictured...it is yours for $895.00.

 

So,

the wheels in my brain have been turning.

I've been
stitching,
planning,

and
 playing
 with pocket watch cases...

they are still in the early stages.

The decision making stages...

Do I make them into a necklace?

Or a brooch?

 

Hang them from vintage satin,

waxed hemp cording,

or rosary beads?

 

"Watch" for more details to follow...

 

 

"Time" to get ready for work,

Brenda

Halloween Spirited Goodies...

New patterns coming soon

for your stitching pleasure...

 An 18" Halloween spirited cherub who flies over pumpkin patches

and sprinkles her fairy dust upon the pumpkins so they grow extra big.

Antique sheet music is used for Madam Halloween's wings and star garland

and a real pumpkin stems tops of her head.  Body is painted, sanded and then distressed

with stain and ground cinnamon for a wonderful old-time look

and delicious smell!

X X X X X

A NEW cross stitch chart for a charming 6" ditty pocket.  A primsical witch is not seeing stars, she's seeing pumpkins...lots of pumpkins!  Which pumpkin would a witch pick????  A short and squatty one, a tall and skinny one, or one that has a wonderfully curled stem?  Pocket has an antique skeleton key stitched to the side...the key that opens the gate to the pumpkin patch!   The bag is filled with tallow berries for a warm autumn touch.    Design is worked on 35 count linen over two threads.

X X X X X



And lastly,

a NEW cross stitch chart for a pin keep...

a pumpkin-shaped pin keep!

This is a quick stitch Halloween-spirited sampler

that is sewn into a tall skinny pumpkin shape,

and then topped off with a real pumpkin stem.

Place on an ironstone plate and surround it with acorns

and you have a wonderful little Halloween vignette

to sit by your stitching chair!

Design is worked on 40 count over 2 threads.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my shipment

of dried naturals,

perfect for autumn-time decorating...

tallow berries,

acorns,

cotton bolls

and cotton stems

all will be arriving early next week!

More black oxide scissors are due to arrive early next week too.

I'll be busy updating the website with all these new goodies

over the weekend and into early next week.

TGIF,

Brenda

Who likes scissors?

New scissor arrivals!

-3 3/4" black oxide scissors -

Victoria styled scissors from Italy.

 A perfect little companion

to your

 Halloween

 pinkeeps or sewing rolls!

You can find them here.

Do you like my owl plate?

This is my latest new found treasure.

I found it while perusing at an antique shop online.

Don't know too much about it...

the price was right,

and I love it!

I just know I will have all sorts of fun

with this piece.

Have a good week everyone...

tis a rainy Sunday morning here in Iowa.

Brenda

Brrr...

words not spoken

 too often

 as of late...

brrr

With windows open overnight

we woke to a chilly house...

I was actually cold.

The cooler weather is most welcome.

Now,

if it would only rain!

Not a whole lot to report on,

I've done a little of this

 and

 a little of that...

charting new cross stitch,

sketching new punch needle,

and

 in between,

working on

reproducing

the J.M. Gardner, 1888 sampler...

I had a change of heart with my first floss selection,

I think I've got my floss pallette where I like it now...

What do you think?

I decided to stay true to the original,

 with the floss.

The only change will be in size,

the reproduction will be

a miniature version

 of the

 antique sampler...

petite & precious!

With thy needle & thread,

Brenda

Hallelujah...look who's risen!

Hard

dry

cracked

soil

A picture of drought.

It's been a strange

past several months...

very little snow

and

now very little rain.

I'm missing rain.

I'm missing the smell of rain.

I'm missing thunder.

What are you doing

 to us

 Mother Nature?

I ask...

 how can tiny little green stems

 poke their way through

the parched, hard as rock soil?

One day tender green sprouts,

and

in a couple of days

these...

beautifully formed blooms,

just waiting to unfold...

With amazement,

I ponder how they can push their way through the

rock- hard ground

and

 come out looking

so beautiful?

Not a petal out of place.

Picture. Perfect.

They have risen....

Hallelujah!

These little ladies

 always visit me each August,

religiously...

drought,

or

no drought...

My garden welcomes thee...

thank you ladies!

Have a blooming day,
Brenda

Almost one year ago...

my dh and I

 took a road trip,

 to visit the nephew in Wisconsin,

with my dear sister and her dh.
(her dh is my dh's brother, confused yet?)

Boys in the front,

girls in the back.

As always,

I don't travel without my stitching.

I had just charted a little Halloween chart that I thought

would be something I could start and finish

on this road trip.

At that time,

I didn't really have a plan...

I had no idea that it was something that

I would be doing for 11 more months.

No idea at all it would turn into

a montly series,

a series to be named,

"Word Play".

I had no idea

it would consume my whole year

the way it has.

So,

 as I was laboring with counting and stitching

 in the back seat of the car,

fighting road bumps,

and

listening to my sister tell me

that she didn't know how I could do this in a car,

and that she would get a migrane in doing so...

she was playing with my ipad,

the ipad app

photo booth,

 to be exact...

hardly seems fair

that she's having fun in her corner of the car

and I'm slaving away,

working,
in my corner of the backseat...

In between her laughing/crying sessions

of her photo booth experiences,

she would comment that she didn't know how

 I could see to work on such tiny linen....

I told her it might be her glasses,

she should get some new ones...

or maybe

 her eyes are set a wee tad too far apart,
plastic surgery,
perhaps?

I told her to just squint real hard,

yea,

like that...

helps to see the linen better

if you squint...

tee hee hee

and

 now that my sister is probably going to kill me,

I present the final Word Play...

"SEPTEMBER WORD PLAY"

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

 for joining me on this year long journey,

it's been fun

 and I'm almost sad to see it end!

And visit my sister at www.piecesfrommyheart.net

and buy lots and lots of goodies from her,

pulease!!!!

 

Have a good day,

Brenda