2.16.2014

NEW Patterns!

New Springtime arrivals are here
for your
 stitching pleasure!

"Springtime Messenger"
After a long cold winter, robin sightings are always so exciting.  It was a snowy Saturday here in Iowa, but I did see my first robin (several of them actually) yesterday!  We can be hopeful Spring is coming, and in the meantime, I have the perfect stitch for this time of year!  A simple, sweet & quick-to-stitch cupboard door hanger that features our favorite springtime messenger perched upon a vase of tallow berries.  A sweet scalloped border and old buttons frame the little sampler so nicely.  Design is worked on 28 count gingham linen over 2 threads, using hand dyed flosses.  Our linen order didn't arrive in time for the release of this chart, hoping to have it soon!


 "Easter Parade"
Look who is leading this years Easter Parade...Peter & Peep!  The pattern cover makes this piece look much larger then it is, it is small and sweet at just 4 1/2" x 6".  The cupboard tuck is worked on 40 count Espresso linen over two threads using hand dyed flosses.  Vintage silk ribbon ruffled along the edges finish the piece off so nicely.  


 "Madam Cottontail"
I had requests for this design in cross stitch after the piece released last year in punch needle.
So here you have it in cross stitch!  The piece is sewn into a prim little ditty pouch with wool penny tongues and antique button trim.  Fill the pocket with your favorite dried naturals and you have a fun piece to enjoy all spring.  Design is worked on 35 count Espresso linen over two threads using hand dyed flosses.


 "Elizabeth Clark"
An antique reproduction.  I have several blog postings about this piece as it was a WIP. 
An exquisite English sampler filled with a wonderful brick house, pink puppies, birds, flowers, a cute little man in the upper corner with his walking sticks and grapes.  All are motifs that I love and look for in a sampler, but it was that large grapevine winding over the house that caught my eye & stole my heart.
Design is worked on 32 count linen over 1 & 2 threads using hand dyed flosses.


 "Spring Break"
Are you seeing a trend yet?  Look who's on Spring Break...Peter & Peep!  A long and skinny cupboard tuck featuring my favorite springtime friends.  Design is worked with hand dyed flosses.  Pattern includes the weavers cloth and tracing template.


"Tulip Town"
Spring peeps have hatched, and the tulips are all in bloom....look who has arrived in Tulip Town!
Just in time to nibble on a few sweet and tender tulip petals, too!  This little punchneedle ditty pocket is a great companion piece to Spring Break.  The pocket is backed in wool and has three old buttons stitched to the upper scallop.  Fill the pocket with pussy willows and you have a perfect piece for your Easter and Spring time decorating!  Design is worked with hand dyed flosses.  Pattern includes a piece of weavers cloth and tracing template.

Warmer weather is in the forecast, hope it's the same for your "neck of the woods".  Have a good week.
Brenda

2.15.2014

A Labor of Love

After several tedious hours of nose to the computer screen,
 and magnifiers resting low on my nose,
counting 
counting...
and then months of stitching,
Elizabeth Clark is once again
all bright and new.
Is she elegant!


A labor of love...
"Elizabeth Clark, 1822"

I made one adjustment to the sampler.  The verse on the antique was stitched in pink.
I originally charted it with pink, but upon stitching the tiny 1 over 1 letters I was finding that the verse was hard to read.  So a froggin' I went...
Elizabeth had worked her name, village and year in black floss so I tried black for the verse too.
It balanced the wording out and I can read the verse easily from a distance.
If you are a sampler purist you will want to work the verse in the Woodrose floss.

And leaving you with a few snaps of the antique,
just because...

Love the grapes...
 love the unevenly spaced windows...
and any sampler with little men on them,
always catch my eye
and 
steals my heart! 

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda





2.06.2014

Ready? Set! Go!

How many of you have your Olympic needlework ready? 
 For me the Olympics and needlework go hand in hand. 
 I am so looking forward to spending the next 16 evenings 
watching the Olympics
 and stitching.

I will be working on an antique that I am reproducing. 
 It was my New Years Day start 
and will now turn into my 
2014 Olympics stitch...

This evening I will fill in those cute little "honey-combed flowers" with Pomegranate floss
and move onto the next flower motif.

 Of my collection of antique samplers,
 this sampler is worked by the youngest girl. 
 Mary was just 7 years old.

Overall, Mary did good work.
Her outer border was always consistent from one repeat to the next
and the backside is pretty neat.
She did have a little spacing issue with her verse
in the center cartouche'.
Some words are extending beyond it's border.
I have charted the sampler just as Mary stitched it.
My verse too will extend beyond it's border. ;)



Just look at that face...
isn't it a hoot?


The color palette on this piece is such fun,
I love the colors!
 If you have,
 or are 
working the Harriette Coe sampler,
 this piece will coordinately lovely with that sampler,
 as many of the same threads are used on both pieces.


And just like the Harriette Coe sampler, 
this one too,
 has cute little dog motifs for all you dog lovers!
How's that for a cute little dog?

What is your Olympic stitch? 
 I'd love to hear!

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

2.02.2014

Sneak Peeks and Whose Feet?

 I love this time of year.
Not where we are on the calender, 
in the midst of cold and snow.
But rather,
 it is what I get to design and stitch this time of year.
Refreshing and bright springy shades of flosses,
and stitching springtime flowers and critters...
It gets me through the winter and cold.
And guess what?!!
The tulips are now in the stores,
that is always so refreshing!
There is something that I love 
about the contrast of a big bouquet of tulips
sitting by a window,
sun drenched,
with snow as it's backdrop...



So on this sunny & cold winter's morning 
I thought I'd share some photo snap peeks
 at some new spring stitching that I've been working on.

 X X X X X 

I've always loved the gingham linen by Weeks Dye Works and have wanted to design with it for a very long time.  It is sort of tricky to design around checks, but I love what I have come up with on this one
and think you will too...
it is soft, subtle, 
and I really like the charm that the added antique buttons
 give the finish of this small cupboard tuck.


 Can you guess who these cute little feet belong too?  


And who do these cute little shoes and floral apron belong too?
She is even wearing cute little pantaloons, see them peeking from under her dress?


These three designs and an antique reproduction coming soon!

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda