Schoolgirl Scissors!

More schoolgirl scissors and fobs are in the process of being made!

I will be re-stocking earlier designs,

 as well as,

two new sampler designs (Pink Sparrow and pictured above). 

  The photos of the samplers housed in the tiny 1" fobs

are all from my personal collection. 

Will be listing these on the website this evening.

 

X X X X X X

 

Just  a short and sweet post today,

 busy, busy time  ~ 

with market quickly approaching...

samplers to frame,

 instructions to type,

 patterns to print and package!

 

 

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Christmas in July...

and a finish is insight!

You may remember the below photo from a posting from last fall.

I started this sampler last year

and I see a finish insight

this week.

Took me a year to finish,

not because of the size

but,

sometimes life gets in the way and it got set aside.

 

It's just been waiting in the pocket of my stitching bag,

waiting it's turn...

I pulled it back out a week ago

and it is really turning into a beautiful Christmas sampler.

 

Maybe it is those pretty little snowflakes

on these hot hot summer days that I like stitching...

 

 

or

maybe it's those pretty flosses of shades of peppermint pinks, holly berry reds and pine greens

that sing to me...

 

 

Maybe it is the "mish-mash patchworky" border ...

Couldn't decide upon which border I liked best,

so I made the easy decision to use all three!

 

As Bob Ross would say,

the sampler has many "happy little trees"

or was it "pretty little trees"?

 Trees carefully placed in a fashion that  make bigger trees...

Do you see?

 

Fruit baskets filled with shiny red and golden delicious apples...

they are their best at holiday time!

Mmmm, can you smell them?

Shiny delicious apples and popcorn balls was the dessert

at Grammy and Grandpas house on Christmas Eve,

always,

 every year.

I was reminded of those family gatherings

 as I stitched,

one apple

 after

 another...

 

Its been a fun stitch,

I will be sad to stitch it's last stitch;

but;

happy to have a finish!

Those are the best sort of finishes,

don't you agree?

 

 

 

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda 

Under the influence...

The Service Berry trees in our backyard are loaded with berries this year...

the most our 3 young trees have ever yielded. 

Just beautiful.

Their abundance of berries has been a distraction for me, 

and an attraction for the birds...

Many minutes each day,
 have been spent watching young robins
 and parent robins
 feasting upon the ripened berries.  

 

 

Since these are young trees,

 their branches don't hold the weight of the birds very well.

But that doesn't stop their determination to get each and every berry.

 

The berries are mostly now all plucked,

except those hanging out along the outer limbs.

 

 

This is where bird-acrobatics comes in handy...

  Flying up to a branch and making their "pluck" in mid-air.  The birds all claim to "own" these trees...lots of cackling, scolding, and the chasing of others off...no one wants to share! 

 It is quite entertaining to watch.

 

Just a heads up, I will for-warn you... 

 

You will see lots of berries in my future designs,
and birds too!
  (piece pictured is a future release titled, "Paper Snowflakes"....to be released at August market, along with The Noel Sampler & Peacock at Manor Hill...you will find berries & birds on these pieces, too ;) 

 

 

I guess you could say,

 I've been  "under the influence of berries",

 lately....

 

X X X X X X

 

And on a side note...

See the little wooden hoop?

I get emails quite often asking,

"I noticed your hoop on your blog." 

"What brand do you use, and do you sell them?"

 

My favorite hoop is a little wooden Duchess hoop. 

 I purchased a few of these at an antique shop several years ago,

 and I love them. 

 They have a strip of wool felt that holds the fabric,

 just how I like it,

 and it is gentle on my stitches. 

 Also,

 no metal hardware for my floss to get hung up on.

 

Just as the ad says...

The above ad is one I purchased on eBay, while perusing there for more Duchess hoops. 

 This ad is from a 1915 magazine. 

 If you enlarge the picture,

 you will see the hoops sold for 10 cents. 

  If are lucky enough to find one in an antique shop, eBay or Etsy,

 I highly recommend them....they are my favorite hoop!

 

With thy Needle &Thread,

Brenda

New Patterns!

Happy to share with you today new patterns for your stitching pleasure! 

"PINK SPARROW SAMPLER"

 

 A lovely antique reproduction

with a scrumptious color palette...

 

X X X X X X X

 

"PUMPKIN BREW"

 Chart for a spooktacular Halloween-themed sampler.  Cauldrons are filled with pumpkins, madam witch is stirring up some of her famous pumpkin brew.  The sampler is filled with fun little motifs...8 pointed stars, bubbles bursting from the pots of brew, old skeleton keys, bittersweet vine where two little owls have taken up residence...

 

 

Tiny eyelet stitches for bursting bittersweet berries...

I really enjoyed stitching this piece, it was a fun stitch!  I've got a winter version of this sampler currently in my hoop.  It will be titled, "Paper Snowflakes" and it is going to be wonderful!

 

X X X X X X

 

"SAMPLER OF THE SEASON - SUMMER"

 

The 4th and final chart to this seasonal series.  You'll stitch a busy summer village.  Everything is "abuzz", right down the bee skeps amongst the sunflower patch.  The sampler is nicely framed with two big sunflowers whose heads are bending towards the late summer's sun.

 

 

 

Visit our website to view the other 3 seasons of this series!

 

Summer's heat has arrived here, the past few days have been really hot.  I need to sign off and head outside to water the flowers and birds....we are needing rain.

 

Have a good day everyone,

Brenda

Framed!

Framing is in progress!  

 I prefer my work to be under glass,

 but for photography reasons,

 this doesn't get done until after the photos are shot

 for the pattern covers. 

You will notice that I use fillets or slits when selecting frames.

  Those are the little enhancement strips inside of the main frame.

These work wonderfully for those who choose to use glass.

After the photography is done; and the sampler is ready to be hung in my home for enjoyment, the glass will be inserted into the piece.

  The glass will be inserted between the frame and the fillet. 

 This will allow space between the glass and needlework

 so the piece can "breathe". 

 The piece then will get covered with paper for dust protection.

 

Photo sneak peeks are of 3 new charts releasing soon. 

Pumpkin Brew

Pink Sparrow Sampler

and

Summer Sampler of the Season...

this completes this seasonal series.

This series all finishes out the same size, allowing you to use the same frame....just pop out the past season and pop in the current.  A Valley House Primitives frame was the frame of choice for this series.

Keep a close eye right here for the releasing of these charts...I'll keep you posted!

 

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Fun on the 4th!

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday weekend!

 

  We were so lucky to enjoy the company of our favorite little guests...

so fun to just take in  all the cute little things

that a 1 year old does,

and a 4 year old says...

{love her little piggy tail, too}

 enjoyed some playtime at the park

and even played some grocery store!

Grandma got out her favorite toy as a child...a little red cash register. 

 To her surprise,

 the bell still dings when the drawer opens

and money was still in the drawer...

We spent our morning in our pj's playing grocery store.  Beckham was the cashier while grandma stocked the shelves with groceries.   After the shelves were stocked, grandma became the shopper.  Beckham checked me out, I paid and then it was "thank you and have a nice day"....so, so cute!

The little ones enjoyed some beach-time...

We visited the big concrete steps of where the old beach house once stood... only the steps remain, the house was sadly torn down a couple of years ago by the city. 

we looked for shells...

and flat rocks to skip across the water...

dipped our toes and squished some sand between them...

and just enjoyed some wonderful time

with these two little darlings...

we love just love them to pieces!

 

Have a good week everyone,
Brenda