turkey feathers

Shuffling Along

More Redwork and another dish towel!  I love this cute design.  It reminds me of an old fashioned Valentine; also works for all-around kitchen cuteness too.  It's part of the new free-with-purchase transfer sheet for March that I just added to the PatternBee website.  I always have fun putting these bonus patterns together.  They're usually a combination of vintage designs with a few of my own sprinkled in.  Nice to dig through the odds and ends and find little treasures like this.  I'm also happy to let you know that the very first set of Bonus Designs for 2007 are available now for all of you who've been asking and waiting for them.  You have the option of purchasing the whole package or just the ones you want or missed.  They come with a pretty envelope too whether you buy only one or more.  I'm still working on getting more new (old) patterns finished.  They trickle in through the mail and I've had a stack of them sitting on my table for quite awhile and finally got around to a few of them this weekend.  So, they'll be popping up in New Additions soon, and in the mailboxes of some of those who shared their patterns for make-overs.    

On another note:  to everyone who stopped by and left a comment and a song--Thank You!  It made my day!  I recognized most of the songs mentioned, others I can't wait to check out.  Most of my morning has been spent reading them and following links to your blogs; totally lost all track of time.  It's so easy to fall down the rabbit hole isn't it?  Just got completely absorbed in your stories, pictures, crafts, cooking, decorating projects, and other fun stuff.  There's so much crafty goodness out there, makes my head spin.  I really need to get moving here now though, so without further a-do...love saying that...the Super Shuffler Spinning Bonnet (our own personal random numbers generator) has chosen a winner for the little pink bunny doll quilt!  Congratulations tinker!  (I'll be in touch!)

Silver Bells Are Ringing

And we have a winner for the Dollar Daze Scavenger Hunt contest.  Player #154,  (aka) Calamity Kim, has been plucked from the bonnet!  Not only is she lucky, she's also quite clever.  When you have a few minutes for whimsy,  go read her fairytale and then take a gander at the glittery fairy slipper ornaments that she's so generously shared.  They are so cute!

For her prize, Kim chose the book FOREVER CHRISTMAS Tasha Tudor, but the other two books (shown here) are still up for grabs.  Same deal; $1 + $2.50  s/h via Paypal.  To claim a book, be the first to do so on this post and include your email address on the comment form.  It will not be displayed publicly, but I'll need it to contact you.  Don't forget to say which title you want.  (Just one book per person please.)  Update:  Both books have been claimed.

I want to thank you guys (all 214 entries!), who played my silly game.  Most of you told me it was fun.  Only a few were stumped at finding the clues that lead to the question:  Name the title of the song that has the words silver bells.  Both songs, Silver Bells and Carol of the Bells were correct.  That wasn't so bad, was it?

Well that wraps up another week.  I'll be checking out for a few days to decorate the house and put up the tree.  I also need to wrap & pack presents to be shipped.  I'll have a new quiche recipe to share when I return next week though.  Yes, it's true, I stalled out on this over the summer, but now I'm ready to pick it up again where I left off;  at M I think.    What will it be?  Morels? Mussells?  Hmm...will just have to wait and see now, won't we?  Have a great weekend!

Dollar Daze Scavenger Hunt

  I wanted to have a little fun this time with the dollar days give-away and was trying to figure out a way to play a game, like an old-fashioned scavenger hunt here on the blog, and came up with this idea about 4 o'clock this morning.  For some reason that's the time my brain boots-up and spits out answers to things I've been pondering.  The only downside is, [yawn] I have to drag myself out of bed right away and act quickly before I forget what it was I intended to do before it all goes *poof* like an elusive dream.  So after my fourth cup of coffee I have the following challenge for you. . .*How to play::  12 picture clues are given below.  Find the post in which each picture appears and run your mouse over that picture to get a word clue.  (See how this works in the example above.  Read: Dollar Daze Santa).  See? That's easy, right?  OK.  Now you're ready to go scavenge.  Write down all the found words in numerical order (1-12) to decipher the question.  *Then email me your answer with "Scavenger Hunt" in the subject line so I can sort thru your entries more quickly.  *If you have the correct answer to the question, I'll give you a number.  Then, one lucky number will be drawn from the super shuffler and announced next week.  Check back to see if your number comes up. The prize will be your choice of one of  these  three  books for just $1 plus s/h ($2.50) or no shipping if you're in my "neighborhood".  Contest is open to U.S. residents only for reasons I've already mentioned here.  *Alright, that's it....Ready, Set, GO!

Good Luck Everyone!

(Comments are closed on this post so no one accidently spills the beans.)   

Redwork Winners & Dollar Days

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend.   We had sunshine but it's also been icy cold here, down in the teens some nights.  Stayed in with family and kicked back, ate left-overs, watched movies, took walks up and down the road, (snapping these pix along the way) and just relaxed around the house.  We still have a birthday to go, and a double chocolate cake (by request) baking in the oven right now, courtesy of Miss Grace.  Yum!  Our little Ginger is turning ten, and when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she thought for a second and said without hesitation,  "glo-in-the-dark silly putty...marbles...and macaroni and cheese for dinner."  This made me laugh!  And here I was worried she was growing up too fast.  She rocked at helping me make those pies though.

Well I won't ramble too long here because I know you're probably anxious to find out who won the pattern give-away.  So....*Congratulations* to these 5 winners of ~Redwork Christmas~ 

FREE Patterns will be going out to::

1. The adorable Cece Marie, a vintage gal at heart with a charming blog, who makes the most fabulous aprons and baby dresses.  If you don't sew (and even if you do) but love handmade things, I urge you to visit her website of pretties.

2. My talented blog friend Cassi, of Bella Dia fame, collector and maker of so many wonderful things, not to mention a fellow homeschooling mom, whom I've had the pleasure of knowing since almost the beginning of this turkey feathers adventure, also scored a pattern!  yay!

3. Next is Shannon of If Sew, whom I haven't met yet, but I visited her blog and found out she's a pretty cool crafty lady.   I absolutely love the quilty things she's doing and all the gorgeous photos.  Her one-line bio says:  "Web Developer becomes a Nurse has a baby and gets crafty."   Yep, that sums it up alright.  It seems babies have a way of sending some of us down that creative path don't they?

4. The Spiritual Knitter, Heidi, who is "a writer and editor by day, and a knitter, thrifter and crafter on nights and weekends", says in her bio that she loves creating beautiful items out of recycled materials and sells them in her etsy shop, which I think is pretty neat.  She mentioned in comments that she's fairly new to embroidery, so I hope she finds Redwork a fun new past time.

5. And last but not least, Lynn from Little Red Hen (who already happens to be a pretty nifty Redwork stitcher), is our final winner!  You really MUST see her unique redwork turkey quilt made from having each family member trace their hand on a piece of paper to design a turkey, then she embroidered them.   It really turned out sooo cute!

OK winners. . .please contact me with your shipping info and I'll get your patterns on their way "in two shakes of a lamb's tail"!  I've also updated the website and ~Redwork Christmas~ is now available for purchase here.   I think you'll really like the designs.  (I'll share my "Pleasant Dreams" project soon.)

But wait...there's more!   In fact, my *Holiday Dollar Days* party is just getting started!  From now until the end of the year, I'll be randomly offering things on my blog and in my etsy shop for $1, plus the price of shipping.   (Doll quilts have already been reduced 50%---go take a gander!) Dollar items will be mixed in with the regular priced stuff  but I'll combine everything into one shipment to save $ on postage if you find other things you want.  The only requirement is that you pay for everything with a single Paypal transaction.  For things offered on the blog, a winner will be chosen from comments.  So if you didn't win anything this time, there are more opportunities coming!

Remember, you'll be helping me clear a path around here (hee hee) and at the same time I can pass along a few things you might be able to use.  Some of it will be old, some will be new, some will be handmade.  So if you like surprises, keep your eyes peeled to see what treasures appear.

Side Note::  Unfortunately, offers are only for U.S. residents.  Mailing this type of stuff just isn't feasible nor is it the best time of year to visit the post office with lines out the door due to the holidays.  So, please no offense, it's just logistics folks.  :o) 

Also, I'll be bringing you a *Dollhouse Sweets & Petite Treats* bakery shop update on Wednesday!

Redwork Round-Up

"The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future."

Archives Building, Washington

Hello!  I'm still here!  I've been reading my email fairly regularly, but haven't had a moment to reply to comments and questions because things are always crazy-busy this time of year.  I'm throwing out hugs and kisses to you guys though, for all the giggles and happy thoughts you keep sending us in support of all we do here, and just for stopping in to visit us during your day.  I plan to go knocking on a few new blog doors myself,  just as soon as things let up around here.  The preparations for Thanksgiving are underway and the house is bustling with activity; we'll be baking our pies later today too.   But before I slip on my apron and start throwing flour around,  I wanted to pop in and tell you about something I'm pretty excited about.  Something I've been working on for quite awhile actually, and now that it's done I can't wait to share it.   In fact, I want to share it in a BIG way to kick off the holiday season. 

Introducing . . .

~Redwork Christmas~ 

I'm really so happy with this!  It's a new set of embroidery designs of all the things I love most :: nature, animals, children.  Mostly inspired from the Ingall's catalogs (that a stitching friend shared with me) that dates back to the late 1800's.   I've never seen any of the transfer sheets, doubtful whether many still exsist as each design was sold individually.  Anyway, I worked from the thumbnail sketches in the catalogs.  I've also sprinkled in a few of my own motifs making a total of 10 iron-on transfer sheets in all.  I'm telling ya, I just couldn't stop once I got started---I had so much fun with this.  Usually, traditional Redwork has a lot of detail, but I've pared these down with simpler lines for a fresher look, without losing the nostalgia.  I want to stitch every one of these myself and chose them with that in mind.  My grand plan is, to make a few things to share on the blog.  I always love to see what others do with them too, so if you make something don't forget to let me know if you want me to link to it.  Hope you love these as much as I do!  They'll be available on my website after Thanksgiving weekend, but in the meantime I'm offering *free patterns* here on the blog.  I know not everyone reading this is into embroidery, so I'm going to be doing several "give-aways" in the coming weeks, but for those who are...you know the drill; leave a comment on this post and I'll choose 5 lucky stitching peeps.  Comments will be closed around noon on Sunday, so I can get everyone's names into our super sonic spinnning bonnet aka the Super Shuffler.  Check back here Monday to find out who the winners are.   (Better run now.)  Good Luck everyone!

Until we meet again, have a great Thanksgiving and . . .

Going Cuckoo

We're still operating on daylight savings time around here.  Seriously, not one clock has been turned back and we haven't turned into pumpkins or anything yet.   It's been kind of a joke around the house.  Honestly, everything seems to have a clock on it these days.    When I was growing up, we had like one kitchen clock that hung on the wall, and a wind-up alarm clock next to the bed.  Digital clocks seem to be built into everything now.  Fine, but I can never remember what buttons to push on any of them.  Such a silly waste of time.  Someone please explain the point of all this again.  I need convincing.  Or maybe one of these.  (play the video to hear the cuckoo).

Round Two:: FWYH

OK, then. It's nice to know I'm not alone!  Thank you dear readers for responding with open and willing hearts.  It seems quite a few of us need a little push getting to the finish line with all the UFO's that have gathered dust in so many corners across land and sea.  Time to shake them out and whip them up!   If you're just jumping in here, I'm talking about revisiting this idea.  (I talked about it a bit more back here.)  Just knowing that you guys want to get on board with this again has me off and running and I've been pulling things out I need to finish.  I'll try and share them here as I go along and encourage you to do the same to keep up the momentum.  Don't forget to post your finished creations in the flickr group so we can all ooohhh and ahhh and pat each other on the back.  My own motivation is three-fold.  First, there's the blog challenge here that will keep me on my toes.  No turning back after you put it out there. (tee hee).  Second, there's a bunch of tempting new fabrics, really gorgeous stuff I'm itching to get hold of, that's just waiting in neat stacks that I will not allow myself to touch until I finish at least one thing.  And third, just knowing that---by finishing stuff---I'll be ready to start anew when the holidays roll around.  It's all quite logical isn't it?  Yeah.   So.  Having said that, I still plan to work on a few other projects, like my Mexican blouse, but with the resolve to keep moving on the old stuff for reasons one, two, and three.  And hopefully in quick succession.

 

It's time to start your engines!

Awe Inspired

Will you just look at the kind of thing that happens when you're not paying attention?  Oh my.  Like a watched pot that never boils. This lone tulip poked its gorgeous head up and made an unexpected appearance.  Well, well, well.  When it comes to flowers of any kind, better late---than never, I say.  I happened to notice it yesterday as I was passing by with the weed cart.  The sun was shining on it like a spotlight and set the petals all a-glow.  I stopped in my tracks to stare.  Quickly skipped inside to grab my camera.  Glad I did too, because its cold and drippy today, a far cry from this scene, but one that I can now continue to enjoy here. I don't recall planting this bulb, or seeing it before.  Maybe a squirrel carried it over from another's yard and buried it at the base of the tree.  What a wonderful surprise!  It's the only tulip growing out in the open here, and it appears to have escaped the attention of the deer, who are still lurking. Could. it. be. the deer don't actually eat this one?  Or possibly, they're just put-off by the daffodils and grape hyacinth that surround it, which they don't care for.  I was once told that deer don't eat red tulips, so on that advice, big red tulips we planted with abandon.  However, to my horror, their lovely heads were promptly and thoroughly chomped-off at the neck before they'd even had a chance to bloom.  (OK, I thought, so much for that theory.)  But now I'm wondering.  Maybe there's some truth to that, and this is the red tulip they don't go for.  I can only hope and dream that's true, because oh, the loveliness of it is beyond description.  Must find out more about it so I can plant some companions.  In the meantime though, I'm keeping my eye on this one to be sure.  Be brave my darling.

Anyway, after being tagged by several people this month to list my five fave blogs, and finding it impossible to narrow it down to only five, I decided instead, to share those that have *inspired me the most* this past week (and even that wasn't easy), but here they are...in alphabetical order with links so you can be inspired too:

Calamity Kim: Incredible collage quilts and aprons.

Echoes of a Dream: Simmy's fabulous felt dandelions, along with a tutorial for making them. 

Molly Chicken: Lynn's "grumpy" doll Hattie and more links to amazing things.

Peace & Serenknitty:  Whimsical handmade Easter Shoes, Victoria's gift from her mother.

Tales from Pixiewood: Cherry Menlove's warm and wonderful interview with Susan Branch.

Ok that's it. Now I'm tagging these five bloggers to share their fave five: Isabelle, Tatania, Dannielle, Sabine, and Tracy.

And a grand parting-shot of my lovely, unfurling garden gift here.  Hope you all find inspiration today!

Flower Power

It's been much too gorgeous here.  Hard to stay focused when I look out the window and see things like this waving from the garden.  Ah, spring is in the air.  But.  There's always a price to pay for such things; sniffle. Sneeze. 

Can't tell if this hayfever attack is from pollen or the dust cloud I just stirred up in my sewing room after a frenzy of cleaning, but it's quite nice to have everything orderly again so I can continue my love affair with the wee quilts.

Now if I can only keep myself from wandering back outside and getting lost.

(I'll be back on Sunday to announce the doll-quilt winner.) 

Good Luck Everyone!

Something Old, Something New

Moving right along, I've decided that for my next finish what you have project, I'm going to do something with this crewel piece I did way back when.  This was done from a kit called Country Life, an Erica Wilson design from the 1980's.  I finished every bit of the needlework at the time, but never had it blocked and framed properly.  Which is such a shame really because I've always loved this and have no excuse for leaving it in a plastic bag all these years.  None whatsoever.  So often I'd take it out, admire all the work, then put it away.  I think it's high time I get on it before moths find a hole in the bag.  Now, I'm all for originality but you can learn so much by doing kits.  This piece alone has about 40 different stitch designs.  Things like the fishbone stitch, turkey work, vandyke, couching, spider's web, cretan, and wonderful little bullion stitches.   I finally mastered the French Knot on that rabbit.  There's so much texture to this piece due to all the different stitches, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning new techniques as I went along.   I'm thinking of framing this in a shadow box instead of with the glass right on top which would flatten it.  I really have no experience with this sort of thing, but want it enclosed somehow.  So that's the direction I'm headed with this one....

...and then there's this brand new something, just starting to take shape.   This should be interesting to say the least.  It's been a while since I tackled anything like this.  Stay tuned for project updates.  One of the nice things about keeping a craft blog is, now I've committed myself to finishing something.