Friday, March 29, 2013

Farmgirl Friday

This week I am sharing another Farmers Wife Block.  The block assigned to us this week was #41 the Friendship Star.
This has been hubs favorite so far.  I thought I would share a page from the journal I am keeping for the quilt.  I am listing the number and name of each block, adding some samples of the fabric and a small thumbnail picture.
I have never liked my penmanship and when I scrapbook I usually ask hubs to do the writing for me or type it out on the computer to print out for the pages.  I have decided I should use my own handwriting on these pages and I have already found a lot of mistakes in the previous pages.  Maybe I should rethink going in this direction.

For those who do not have this book and are not quilting along with a group or on their own I thought I would give a short bit out of one of the letters to the newspaper that are listed in the book.  Such as the following letter from a mother speaking of her daughter marrying a farmer.

"She will have the best place in the world to raise her children.  They will have all out-doors to play and grow in.  They will learn nature's lessons naturally and normally, without acquiring wrong and oftentimes soul-blighting conceptions of life's wonders."

I was thinking as I read this even though it was written in the 1920's, wouldn't we all love these things for our daughters and grandchildren in this very modern time?

Thank you for stopping by!  Blessings from our home in the woods.

Linking with Deborah Jean's Farmgirl Friday Hop

Thursday, March 28, 2013

My Day! Stitch Me Up Blog Hop


Today is my day to share what I have created for the Stitch Me Up Blog Hop.

I am so excited to participate in my first blog hop and I hope you are all enjoying everyone's creative projects!  Must thank Jane of Jane's Fabrics and Quilts for cheering us all on.  Also must thank Madame Samm for coming up with all these great hop's and finding such wonderful sponsors.  Here are the participants that are scheduled to share today.



 I chose two of the patterns provided for my projects.  First I chose the marvelous chair design from Debbie of Busy As Can Be.  
 I love the threads we were able to buy from Jane for these projects, as you can see I did go out and purchase a few more colors.
Precensia Thread
I started out using french knots in the design but found that the colonial knot worked best with this thread.   I did have to pick out a few french knots and replace with the colonial knots but it was not much of a set back.  As you can see I also got a lot of practice making lazy daisies.
I took pictures in the sunniest room in the house I could find.  It is still snowy and grey here in our neck of the woods.  Then I took a picture where the pillow will be staying in my cozy green chair in my studio.  I will admit, I was dreaming of a chair that is as cushy as the one I stitched looks.
I have been trying to decide whether to paint the arms and legs of this chair, if you have an opinion on that, it would be welcomed.

The second project I finished was one of Madame Samm's little tots.  I love this little girl and soon as I saw her, knew I would have to stitch her up.  Added some vintage buttons and made her into a dolly.
And next, her new spot until the grands come by and decide to rearrange all the dolly's.

I have used the pattern twice before that I stitched up the pillow from.  


This one usually sits in this chair in the sunny family room.


This next one I stitched up for my best friend's birthday present.

I would like to have a little give away to celebrate my very first blog hop and to also celebrate that tomorrow is my 4th blogaversary.   

I plan on picking up a new copy of this pattern for one of you, I know right where I can get one,  and will add some extras to sweeten up the gift.  

Just leave a comment, no need to follow unless you really want to.  And I will plan on having the drawing on April 1'st.  

Thanks for coming by and please visit all the other participants that are listed above for today's hop.  Blessings from our home in the woods!

Brenda

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Please Come Back Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my day for sharing my creations with the first blog hop I have participated in.

Today you can visit the following participants:

Judy @That Other Blog no show :(


In the meantime, I am blowing my nose on these:

Swallowing these:

And eating this:

But I did get my post ready yesterday afternoon and waiting for my turn! 
Blessings from our home in the woods.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Farmgirl Friday

What a better Farmgirl Friday post then to share another finished block from The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book that I have just recently started working on.  These quilt blocks were inspired by letters from 1920's farm wives to a magazine called "The Farmers Wife".  The question that they were answering was "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in the light of your own experience, want her to marry a farmer?"  94% replied in their letters that yes they would want their daughter to marry a farmer.  The letter excerpts sent to The Farmers Wife magazine are in the book with 111 blocks for piecing.
These blocks are 6 1/2 before setting them into the quilt.  I am making one a week along with a group of Quilters on the Quilt and Needle forum.  This weeks assignment was for block number 58 called Mother's Dream.
Love this bicycle fabric and was glad this block had just the perfect size pieces to use it in.  I am using reproduction civil war fabric for this quilt and it will go on mine and hubs bed when it is finished.  I also started a journal to keep notes and small scraps of the fabric that are going into each block.  It was suggested by one of the ladies on the forum as something that would be passed down generations with the quilt.  In case you did not see the block from last week, this one is number 4 and called Basket Weave.
I started a week late so I am behind one block that I will have to add into one week soon.  I am happy to spend time in my sewing room because we still have snow on the ground and possibly some more on the way.  Dreaming of spring, sun, the color green and flowers.
Blessings from our home in the woods!
Linking up with: Farmgirl Friday
And don't forget to continue hopping along with the Stitch Me Up Embroidery Blog Hop, my day will be the 28th!

The following are today's participants.

FRIDAY March 22nd

Taking Care of Business First

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

WIP Wednesday and a Blog Hop

Happy Spring!  I wish it looked like Spring outside of my window but our ground is still covered by snow and there is snow in the air as I type this.  But I am thinking Spring!

I finished up the cushion crochet along that I shared a little over a week ago here.  I am really happy with the way it turned out.  I had to add 3-4 extra rows to get it to the correct size to fit the chair I am using it for and I used some vintage buttons that my middle daughter gave me from some of her treasure hunts.

I believe Alexandra Mackenzie is keeping the instructions up for this cushion for another week or so or you can buy the pattern at her Etsy shop.
This chair sits in my creative space so the yarn I used are the colors that are most prominent in that area.

Today is the first day of the Stitch Me Up blog hop.

I am working on finishing up my projects for my day which is the 28th!  Here is a sneak peek of the fabrics that I am using to finish one of my projects.

If you want to follow along and see what wonderful embroidery work is being shared over the next week and a half, jump over to Jane's Fabrics and Quilts for today's list of participants.

Thanks for stopping by, I would love to hear what you have been doing in your lives.  Blessing from our home in the woods!

Linking with:
WIPWednesday

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sunday Praise

Psalm 149:6
May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday Friends!  Time to link up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.
WIPWednesday

I can show you a couple of things I have been working on but the one thing I have been spending most my time on has to wait.

Reminder, my day is the 28th!  But on with this day, actually the end of the day, it is going on 10:00 PM but my mind seems to think it is still earlier and not tired yet.  These time changes can certainly mess up our routines can't they?
I am still crocheting along with Alexandra which I told you about in the last post here.  I believe we will be finishing up by the end of the week.  This is how my cushion is looking as of today.
I am hoping that I will not have to add any extra rounds on my own to make the cushion large enough.  I love how it is turning out and would hate to ruin how the pattern writer has brought it all together.  
I met a blogger last week during a blog hop and have decided to try and sew along with her on the Farmers Wife Quilt that I have been picking out and saving fabrics for over a year now.  Life in the Scrapatch is sewing along with a group that are picking one block a week from the Farmers Wife book.  Life in the Scrapatch is  calling it Wifely Wednesday and I am going to try and keep up, even though I am already a week behind.  This is Block 4 for Week 1.
I intended to make Block 33 also today and catch up but when I visited Life in the Scrapatch today I read there might be a little trouble with that block and have decided to try it when I did not already have a full day behind me.  Check this out.  I was able to stack the fabrics I am using for this quilt up a little more and make a space to stack the blocks as I complete them.  
One down, so many more to go.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a blessed week!

Brenda


Friday, March 8, 2013

Do You Crochet?

Do you Crochet?  If you do, you might want to join the crochet along that Alexandra Mackenzie is so generously hosting on her Facebook page.
Photo: CROCHET-ALONG
We have set a date, its all go!
Like it, Share it, Tweet it, post it anywhere and everywhere, the more joining in the better.
More details will be added over the next week or so so stay tuned.
https://www.facebook.com/alexandramackenzienz

I am having great fun crocheting along with Alexandra.  This is how my cushion is looking after the first 10 rounds.
I also took a picture of it on top of some black fabric because I think that is what I will use to make the cushion that it will cover.
I am trying to soften up my creative space a bit.  It is mostly hard surfaces except for an old vintage cushy chair. My plan is to put this cushion on this vintage chair I painted pink a couple of years ago. Hubs put a new seat on it for me to cover.
I have not been able to decide on fabric for for the seat so I think this will be a fun fix.  And while I am talking about making fabric decisions.  I have an old floor lamp that I also painted for this area. I have an old lampshade frame that I plan to cover for it.  I  also have not found just the fabric I want to cover it with, so this week while I was pressing an apron that once belonged to my mother I got this idea to tie it around the lampshade frame.

I think it looks cute!  But the thing is, it has wonderful big pockets to collect eggs with and I really wanted to use it for that purpose when the weather finally gets warm enough to wear it outside.  So this fix is temporary and I am still looking for just the right fabric to cover this frame with.  The search goes on!

I am so happy the weekend is here.  I am spending tomorrow hanging with my best friend in the city.  I have a list of supplies to look for that I need to continue on with some projects.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!  Blessings from our home in the woods.

Brenda

Linking with these Friday night parties.  Check out all the great inspiration that you can get by visiting them.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Praise

Psalm 119:175
Let me live that I may praise you
and may your laws sustain me.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Progress

I no sooner got the February BOM finished and up and March rolled around.  For the first time since I started these Monthly BOM I have one in the frame on the first of the month.


I have also been working on our youngest grandsons birthday afghan.  I think I should be able to get it done by May as long as I don't get  sidetracked with all the creative ideas I see when I visit my favorite blogs.
Speaking of getting sidetracked, I also am working on a project that is buried in this pile of transferred designs for some future embroidery projects.
See all the pretty thread?  I will be using some of those along with some other colors that I had to go out and purchase after trying these out.  Love them.  The project that you cannot see is for the first Blog Hop I have ever participated in.

My day to share my project is March 28th, but don't worry I will remind you again because I am so excited to have you come back and see how I do.  Now I must decide which project I want to work on this evening.
Thanks for stopping by and blessings from our home in the woods!