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!)

Woody Alphabet Winners

Thank you so much for the sweet supportive comments, lovely emails, and especially for the orders that came pouring in! My goodness, you guys can sure keep a gal busy.  I had no idea woody alphabet would stir up so much enthusiasm!  It's all thrilling of course, and highly flattering, but I've been doing the dipsy-doodle from dawn 'til dusk printing and packing orders in hyper-mode.  Never knew I could move so fast!  But that aside, let's not keep anyone in suspense here and cut to the chase.  Our trusty super-shuffler has selected 3 winners from the comments::  free patterns will be going to Linda, Megan, and Pattie in SF.  (Please email me your address and I'll get them in the mail ASAP.)  Congratulations ladies!  I hope you will do something fun with these. 

I still have quite a few other projects on the table and in my head that I've been tinkering with, plus the "tote-tute" to pull together, so I need to get organized this weekend if I hope to succeed.   A few of you have asked me if I thought a beginner could master making the tote-bag, and my answer is, absolutely!  I've always found that if I really wanted to do something I could.  You'll never know if you don't try anyway.   I'll give as much detail as I can for those who may need it. 

On a side note, but relevant here, is the number of beginners that were able to make the little lambkin stuffies for the first time without too much fuss, and that's very encouraging I think.  The flickr group I started (a year ago?) has 105 members now, and every so often another critter gets added to the flock.  Take a look at this little darling that just arrived on Wednesday.  Cute, yes?  I'm telling ya, it's been so much fun to see all the different ways these have been made.  Hard to believe they're all from the same pattern isn't it?  It just goes to show, how much creativity and ingenuity rests in our own hands.

Winter Delights

Thanks dearies for all the xox bag love!  Since I'm always asked for my tote bag patterns, I'm going to be putting a tutorial together for this one.  No time-line for it right now though.  At the moment, I'm sitting here on this very chilly morning with a quilt over my lap, sipping hot tea and trying to wake up so I can get back to a few other projects I've got laid out on my work table.  But first, as promised, the Woody Alphabet is now ready, and available here along with a few other vintage patterns that I finally got around to getting up on the website last night.  Check out this one with pedestal-bowls of festive happy-faced fruit.  I think it's hilarious.  And this one with a darling kitty couple.  Both patterns were originally intended for dish towels, but the latter has this wonderful little cottage motif, that I think would make a cute pillow or something.  Feel free to use the design; click on it to get a larger image.  Also, the new free-with-purchase bonus transfers have been uploaded.  There's a little bit of a Valentine theme going on with hearts and flowers, and yes, another teapot.  What can I say, I LOVE teapots.  And swans, apparently.  The designs are a combination of old and new, as I often take liberties here, like with this swan motif for pillowcases (below).  I altered it a bit.  I can't help that I'm a romantic at heart.  The original is here too if you want it.  Both are traceable print-outs.    Maybe you can think of something spectacular to do with them.  (Follow my directions for tracing if this is new to you.) And one more tidbit before I head back to my stitching---I'm offering a few free Woody Alphabet patterns---just leave a comment and I'll choose three peeps, and announce winners on Friday.  Time to re-fill my teacup and shuffle back to the studio now... 

Update:  Comments are now closed, check back tomorrow to find out who won free patterns!

Back to the Drawing Board

Happy New Year to all!  I'm slowly coming back up to speed.  Shaking off a cold and getting caught up with the clean-up detail around here.  We watched movies, munched goodies, and stayed up 'til midnight to ring in the New Year with America's Good Uncle, Dick Clark.  God bless him.  Even the youngest of the bunch managed to keep her eyes open for the grand finale this time.   I've been so busy making and doing that it was nice to just sit around with my drawing board on my lap doodling away the hours.  I've been working on a twiggy alphabet for Redwork, as suggested by a few of my stitching pals, and I'm in the beginning stages here, still working out the details.  Since I have no reference material, I'm just making it up as I go along.  Pretty much my standard mode of operandi. 

Old Paper & Tiny Bubbles

The other day, I turned my office upside down in an effort to find a note I'd misplaced, and in the process, I discovered this totally cool vintage wall-paper pack that I won from REDiNSTEAD's blog giveaway back in, um, do I dare say, October!  I am so embarassed.  It was so generous of her to send me a present all the way from Austrailia and I owe Jen a huge and long over-due *THANK YOU*! I love it all and I can hardly wait to have time to actually get these out of their beautiful wrappings and do something with them.  I finally had a chance to visit Jen's blog again too, and love these pillows and bags she's been making.

Speaking of vintage papers, I was happily surprised to find all this in the mailbox recently from my lovely pal Toni at Simple Sparrow.  She picked up this lot at a rummage sale, thinking of me and my growing "hobby" a.k.a. PatternBee.  Well, I was thrilled to get this fabulous bundle and found in here amongst the old treasures, what I believe to be an original Ingall's transfer.  It's the one on top with the blue smears.  These particular transfers were produced in England in the late 1800's, and were perforated with tiny holes along the lines.  A blue powder was purchased and pounced into the holes in a stencil-like fashion, as a means of transferring the pattern to cloth.  It's funny because I was just saying here that I'd never actually seen one of these transfers before, and then, the very next week one just happens to appear in the middle of my desk just like that!  Love when that happens.  Since I've been attempting to reproduce some of these old designs, it helps to know what the originals looked like, their size, the details, etc., and I couldn't be more pleased. Thank you again dear Toni!

I've also been keeping in touch with my friend Missy and her family since their move from our neck of the woods back to northern Michegan this past summer, and she tells me they're all settled into their new home and enjoying some real snow.  She's also been busy re-stocking her Etsy shelves and just re-opened her shop,  which is good news if you're in the market for some wonderful handmade soap. Her fiber-wrapped bars are so sweet, and each one is unique.  (If your new to my blog, I posted all about them earlier this year. )

Just Floating By

Time to jump back in here and say "howdy-do". Our sprinkling of snow didn't last long.  It turned into rain of biblical proportions with serious wind gusts that lasted several days, and for awhile I thought the house was going to lift up and float away like the ark, with us in it, still wearing our aprons and baking pies in the kitchen, waving to the neighbors from the windows as we drifted by.  I'm telling ya, Mother Nature can sure whip up a ruckus when she wants to!  Anyway, the storm rages on here, but the deep-dish apple pie was especially good.

I've been busy with lots of things.  Not much to share in the way of crafts today but our new 'parlor tree,' as we've taken to calling it, is looking mighty sweet.  I went skipping into the room to take a few pictures of it and caught Ginger in a trance, serenely gazing upon it.  I've caught myself doing the same thing several times.  We'll be putting up a bigger one in the family room again this year, but I'm afraid the farm where we cut our trees is currently a slippery slope of mud.  So... I guess in the meantime, it's nice to  have a dazzling little corner to retreat to, on these dark December days.  Some of the ornaments are my own creations; recognize the zakka pom-pom slippers?  They make perfect tree ornaments I found.  A few others are from Jennifer Murphy (ordered back in the spring), although she no longer sells off her website.  Her entire collection of licensed designs is now distributed by Midwest of Cannon Falls and can be found here.   (I love these darling dainty things from Charlotte over there too!)

Some Biz talk:  I need to mention a little problem that I've been having with Paypal.  It seems the update they did on their site last month caused some problems, mostly in the form of lost "payment notification" emails.  Without them it's impossible (for me anyway) to keep track of all orders.   This happens on occasion, but it happened more than usual during November, and I'm mentioning it here in case anyone is wondering what the  hold-up is on their order.   For the record, I always reply with a personal note, so if you haven't heard back from me within a day or so of placing an order, it's likely I didn't receive the email notification, and you'll need to contact me.  I apologize for the inconvenience, but unfortunately this is out of my hands.

Now, time to get back to..um, "work."

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 . . .

Rise & Shine

Most of the golden autumn leaves outside the bedroom window have fallen away, revealing the dawn's early light.  As the sun inched up over the horizon this morning, the entire room lit up with a rosy glow.  A supremely peaceful moment I will try and carry around with me today.   I'm sharing it here should anyone else need a bit of respite amid the chaos of global reality, in whatever form that may be. 

I come bearing gifts today!  I've been really busy these past few weeks, re-drawing vintage patterns to add to the website.  Yes, I do use computer programs for some of them, but most are done the old-fashioned way, with pen in hand.   I was up all hours last night, loading a bunch of these to the website as free print-outs and while I was at it,  I decided to give the Christmas category a make-over.  Most of the old designs that were up there have now been replaced with new ones.  The previous designs are being combined and printed as iron-on transfers, so they'll still be available and easier to use, if you missed them.  Above is a sneak-peek at the new free-with-purchase pattern sheet that will be available starting Friday (November 16th).   

Hmmm. . .deer seem to be a recurring theme in my life.  Real and otherwise. 

Speaking of that, here's a piece I've been working on.  I enlarged and modified the design slightly, and added feather-stitching around the border which I think frames it nicely.   It's also a PatternBee freebie, you can print it out here.  This was done using different shades of browns on hemp cloth.  I love hemp cloth.  Not only is it a natural sustainable fiber, but it handles beautifully, similar to linen.   I bought mine from a small indie-shop a few years ago,  at a whopping $22 py, but I just did a search and found it here  for about half that price, or less if you want to buy bulk.  (Great for summer clothing.)  This site seems to have a lot to offer as well.  (Visions of zakka just flashed through my head---and I'm also thinking while it's true that "the best gifts are tied with heartstrings", I may have to give hemp string a whirl too.)

Here today, Gone tomorrow

We made it through the storm just fine, but this tree lost all it's leaves.  We're down to the bare branches now.  The weather really wasn't all that bad here compared to other places.  In fact, we awoke to sunshine and fog this morning.  An illuminating combination.

Must turn elsewhere for a shot of color today.  These moda fabrics are going into another patchwork pillow.   I've had them awhile.  Finally decided to do something with them.   Better get started, the days are getting shorter and there's much to do! 

Quiet Work

I took this picture from my back door last week just as the autumn colors started to peak out.  Love the Japanese maple.   It's all over for another year now, as it looks like we're in for a doozie of a storm today.  The first big one that we've had in a while actually.  It's blowing pretty blustery and wet right now; expecting buckets of rain to come pouring down any minute.  There's no place I need to be though, just hope the power holds out so I can get some work done.  Lots of pattern orders to fill.  Most will ship out tomorrow, due to the postal holiday today, so not to worry, they're coming.  I also need to draft up a new free-with-purchase transfer design; look for it on the PatternBee website Friday.  I'm thinking something for the holidays this time.  If your new here, or missed any of the monthly offerings,  the whole set of designs for 2007 will be available in January sometime.   Still need to pull this together too.

I have other exciting things to share, including shop news about a big switcheroo over here.  It will all have to wait for another post though.  Sorry to be so mysterious.  It does involve this gift-bearing fellow, old things, new things, and other "little" things.  There's still so much I need to do in order to make it all happen. I'm dancing clicking as fast as I can.  Whew!  And the girls over at Crazy Doll Productions (aka KnittyKittie), have been at it again.  Mucho gracious for the feedback on their latest movie, btw.  They were quite appreciative and giddy from it all, and from the crashing sounds and hysterical laughter coming from upstairs, I'm guessing there will be more zany antics yet to come. Last I checked, they'd rigged up a green-screen and were creating special effects with it.  What will they think of next, I wonder. My day is looking pretty full here, but I'm hoping to find a little time to sit quietly and work on a sewing project, and find my center.  Not only figuratively speaking, but quite literally as you can see.  (I'll share more about that too later this week.)