Annie Beez Folk Art

Studio clean out

2012-01-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

I read a post on my friend Dixie's blog about cleaning out your studio in the new year. This really struck a cord with me because I have been living with a less than perfect studio condition for the last 2 years.

For a number of years I had an entire room to myself for my studio. Then child number 4 came along, and though we kept her in a crib in our room to begin with, eventually she got too big and needed a room of her own. So I gave up half of my studio. It was awkward, working in a little girls bedroom. I began to be afraid to use oil paints because of the fumes and things like that.

But alas, the oldest daughter moved out of the house to get her own apartment, and the little one was able to move into her own room and I had a wonderful room all to myself again.

But I never fixed it up as a studio the way I wanted to, maybe because subconsciously,I dont know... I knew she would be back. LOL!And she was...

SO...

I gave up the studio while the oldest daughter moved back in and enrolled in the local junior college. Now I have a studio corner in my bedroom.

It sucks.

But there is a happy ending to this story.

My oldest daughter got engaged(re-engaged actually) on Thanksgiving. It was very sweet, her fiance' proposed to her in front of the whole family at Thanksgiving dinner. And we have a date, September 21,2012!

Yay! We are all very happy about this, and inside I am also beaming because

I will be getting my studio back!

Hurray!

So that is why Dixie's proposal about cleaning out the studio really appealed to me.Most of my art supplies are in boxes in the basement, buried and hard to get to. So for me, cleaning out the studio also will include the stash of stuff down there. But for this month I began with my small work area.

And it did make a difference. I didn't find anything that was a surprise, but it was great to just see the top of my work table again.

However, there are still piles.

Alice

2012-01-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

I am making an Alice in Wonderland doll this week.

Why is her head so round? I don't know.

She needs some hair, I agree.

But alas, She is oil painted and will take forever to dry.

I even used an alkyd white-mixed with just about everything.

That does speed up the drying time, but only a little.

Ah! I do love oils!

Zendoodles

2012-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

I was really not feeling well over the weekend, some sort of bug I think. I just didn't feel well enough to accomplish anything.

So I wrapped myself up in a blankie and just did some doodling in my sketchbook.

These are called "zendoodles" in today's art world. But back in the day they were just doodles that covered every notebook and folder I owned in highschool!

LOL!

~Annie

PDF Patterns in my Etsy Shoppe

2012-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

I spent a good deal of time the last few days converting most of my doll patterns to a PDF format.

They are now available in my Etsy Shoppe as E-patterns.

This is such a quick and convenient way to buy new doll patterns.

The pattern prices are a little lower, and there is NO shipping fee!

I have it set up so that as soon as I receive payment I will send the pattern file to you.

You will never have to wait more than 24 hours, and in most cases it will be sooner than that.

I am in the habit of checking my mail several times a day.

So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and have a look at my

Etsy Shoppe!

Inspired by Izannah Walker

2012-01-10T06:22:00.000-08:00

I know it seems every one is making this type of doll, but I couldn't resist trying my hand at it! This is actually a mold for an Alabama Baby doll by Deanna Hogan. I just decided to turn her into an Izzy instead. I got some fabric yesterday for her dress, which HAS to be red! I will be working on dress and unders today.

These pictures are before her head and shoulderplate have had a crackle applied.

A new Angel for a new year!

2012-01-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Her name is Elisha-don't you just LOVE her!

Available on TDIPT this month!

~Annie

Merry Christmas Season!

2011-12-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

The big day has come and gone, but for us the Christmas Season

lasts until Jan.6, the feast of the Epiphany.

So I am wishing you all a very blessed Christmas season!

~Annie

Prepare the stable of your heart for Christmas

2011-12-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my daughters and husband and I went

into Chicago with the youth group from our parish

to work in the soup kitchen of the

Sisters of Charity.

These are Mother Teresa's nuns,

and the kitchen was opened

by Mother Teresa herself.

(That's my hubby up there on the right.)

I can't tell you what this experience has done for me,

to take me away from the cares and silly concerns of my everyday life,

and help those who are truly in need.

(Thats one of my daughters cheesing on the left.)

It really put things into perspective and I had the anticipation

of the coming of my Lord Jesus on my mind all day.

I felt so close to Him while I was there,

and so thankful for everything He has done in my life

and the wonderful people He has given me to love!

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

I hope you feel the joy of Him in your heart always!

God Bless You

and

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Angel on Ebay!

2011-12-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

Here she is all finished and I just love the way she turned out, don't you?

She is up for auction on ebay, a quick little auction ending on Sunday. If you would like to win her, don't hesitate, she can be shipped out first thing Monday morning!

Click Here!

Merry Christmas and the most wonderful of Holidays

to you!

~Annie

Angel progress

2011-12-14T06:48:00.000-08:00

Her dress is made from an old cotton slip. I am still going to add some wings and some beading on her gown.

Pay no attention to the mess that is my desk! LOL!

Little Angel I'm working on

2011-12-13T06:56:00.000-08:00

Been feeling the sculpting muse lately...

Some Christmas sewing

2011-12-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

I am making this for my brother Gil.

He LOVES Christmas and begins decorating BEFORE Thanksgiving.

This is going to be a pillow.

It is rectangular.

It is from a pattern by Bareroots.

I just love Bareroots patterns, don't you?

Hopefully I will have time to snap a picture when it is done and before I give it to him. He always hosts our family get together on Christmas eve. He is a fabulous cook, and we get fed something wonderful every year.

I tell ya, I am the most spoiled little sister in the WORLD!

My brother Gil always cooks on Christmas eve, and my brother Edward (thats Fr. Edward to you, cuz he's a priest) always cooks on Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Can you BELIEVE that?

I NEVER have to do the cookin'!

BELIEVE ME!

I am THANKFUL!!!

~Annie

2 New patterns!

2011-11-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

House #6 in my Quilty Neighborhood series!

Only 1 more house to go!

To order a chart click here.

Here is the entire piece so far:

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And a new PDF stitchery pattern!

Home Sampler

To order a PDF (instant download) of this pattern click here.

~Annie

Home is wherever my family is...

2011-11-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

I guess this year with kid #3 off to college,

and just 1 more chiilun at home to be raised,

has got me feeling all sentimental about my family.

I have spent the last 27 years of my life dedicated to them.

And as one by one they move off to begin their own lives I feel happy and satisfied that my hubby and I have done a good job with them.

Every one of them is a well rounded interesting person with a good set of values and a love for God.

Each one of them is a light to the world as they move out their to live their faith. It is wonderful to see.

And no matter where we are,

when we are together we are "Home"

I'm sure you feel the same about your family!

~Annie

I'm still here!

2011-11-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because our lives here went topsy-turvy for a couple of weeks!

My husband lost his mother rather quickly and unexpectedly.

We had a couple of weeks of hospitals and relatives and a funeral.

We had the boys back and forth from college twice in a week and in the middle of all of that,

my brother, who is our very close to our family and our parish priest,

was yanked out of our parish and transferred to another town.

I was not ready for all of this, but I don't think this is something you can be ready for.

Life goes on.

So my great plans for releasing 3 new patterns have gone astray. I am chasing them down as we speak! LOL!

In the middle of all of this it was applesauce making time. This was actually a blessing, something to concentrate on while waiting for the funeral to happen.

My sister in law and I put up a few quarts.

I made some more yesterday, and some applebutter,

which turned out delicious!

I hope to be back at the end of the week with some new patterns. It is great to get back to work, which lucky for me is really play!

~Annie

Color tinting

2011-10-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am doing a sort of study on color tinting. You know, its when you add color to your stitchery with either crayons or colored pencil. This is a design by

Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill.

It was lots of fun to do!

Then I decided to try it on a design of my own. I began with crayons, coloring in the whole background with white and then adding the color.

Then I added the stitching and some colored pencil detail. I couldn't stop there and ended up using watercolor pencils.

When I am finished the whole thing will be heat set with and iron, pressing from the back onto a piece of scrap muslin (in case some of the color comes off)

What do you think?

My friend Jenny is having an awesome giveaway!

2011-10-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Jenny has a great blog in Australia,

and she publishes a monthly little digital magazine called Elefantz Home

which is all about beautiful stitchery and also lots of tips and inspiration.

I "heart" Elefantz Home,

AND

I have been invited to be a guest designer in a future issue!

Yay!

ANYHOO!

Jenny is having a really great giveaway to celebrate

1500 followers

(Wow! check that out!)

Among the PRIZES is a $50.00 gift certificate for

FAT QUARTER SHOP!!!

So hop on over to Jenny's blog and check it out!

Quilty Neighborhood #5 and peek at house #6!

2011-10-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

At long last the 5th installment of the Quilty Neighborhood series is here!

Only 2 more houses to go, and House #6 is almost ready as well!

Here is a sneak peek at the whole thing so far, WITH a little peek at house #6!

Its coming along, don't you think?

Available at your favorite Needlework shop or at my website here!

On TDIPT tonight!

2011-09-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Ophelia the harvest gatherer!

And Happy Jack!

A tabletop pumpkin!

AND, during the month of OCTOBER, my pattern

DOROTHY and TOTO is

ON SALE

at my website and my Etsy Shoppe!

How to paint a pumpkin head!

2011-09-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

When autumn comes I always feel like making a pumpkin head doll! I love to work with my favorite colors of paint, deep green and olive green, yellow ochre, burnt orange, some pretty reds!

Oh its so much fun!

So I thought I would show you how I do the underpainting on one of these dolls, to get the wonderful depth of color and tone that every vegetable girl should have!

LOL!

The idea is to under-paint highlights and low lights. The cheeks and forehead I have painted with yellow, then I have come in with deep green where the shadows might be.

Here is the face and shoulders:

The side and back of the head:

Coverage is not important.

You will worry about coverage when you do the top coat.

Right now you are just getting in the highlights and low lights.

The same goes for the arms and legs:

Next, you will go over everything with a top coat. I used Terra Cotta. I am just using the 2 oz. cheap paints from the craft store.

First you block in the color, the eye whites, the color of the irises and pupils. When this is dry, sand it all over with 220 grit sand paper. This is what brings out your underpainting, and give the doll that aged patina-almost like leather!

All of the details are done with colored pencil:

Here is another one-just the head!

Beautiful Wools!

2011-09-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

Aren't they yummy?

~Annie

Baskets and Wreaths

2011-09-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peek of the project I have been obsessing about lately!

Each block will be 8" square. I think I will sash it with a batik fabric, but I'm not sure yet. I have changed the flowers so many times to get them to coordinate,

I could probably make another project just out of the rejects!

These are all wools, and once I get them all set I will begin to

sew them down with Valdani's #12 perle cotton. The background is a lovely faded-out looking black flannel that I bought from Connecting Threads (love the lower prices there, perfect for staple fabrics like that). Click to enlarge the photo and you can get a better idea of the background fabric. This photo is a little dark, I apologize. I was playing around with the tungsten setting on my camera!

Sew what have you been doing?

~Annie

New Pattern and a PDF BOM!

2011-09-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Remember this guy? Well it is now available at my Etsy Shoppe as an instant downloadable Block-of-the-Month! You can download 1 pattern or all of them right now! And best of all, no shipping!

I love that, don't you!

And Pumpkins and Squirrels is now officially a pattern. Available on my website today!

SO...after a busy week of pattern writing and PDF converting, I am now ready to start a new project. Hmmm...what will it be? Probably something quilty, but I am also thinking about Halloween home decor.

What are you working on this fall?

Three Tokens and crushed walnuts!

2011-09-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall!

Three Tokens is a quick and simple little pattern consisting of 3 designs that you can use however you wish! Stitchery, embroidery, wool applique, punchneedle, the sky is the limit! This is an instant download available at Etsy and on my website.

And...

If you decide to make yours into a pincushion, I am also offering crushed walnuts for your filling! Crushed walnuts make the *BEST* filling for pincushions! It is heavy which gives such a wonderful vintage feel, plus your pincushion stays where you put it. No more traveling around your sewing table!

Crushed Walnuts come in a handy 1 cup size, the perfect amount for a 5 inch pincushion.

I am offering them here at Etsy.

Enjoy!

~Annie

New Autumnal Offerings!

2011-08-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Finally! LOL!

Sorry if the title seems hoity-toity!

I just love using the word"autumnal"!!!

Any-whooo! Here are my 2 newest offerings on TDIPT this month!

First is a little pincushion that I designed. It is actually a proto-type for a new pattern that will have 3 pincushion designs in it. The pattern should be ready some time next week.

It is all made of wool-do you like it?

And next is an awesome table runner, also soon to be a pattern. I am super excited about how this one came out! It really was fast, I did it in like 2 days! The pattern should be out week after next. It is called Squirrels and Pumpkins.

Isn't it great! To see more details visit the TDIPT website.

Thanks for looking!

~Annie

Just really nothing to show...

2011-08-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy getting my son off to college,

getting my daughter started in fall soccer,

attending end of the summer picnics.

going to baptisms,

buying school supplies,

Source: etsy.com via Oh Dier on Pinterest

weeding the garden,

Source: simplypix.tumblr.com via Annie on Pinterest

walking the dog,

making salsa,

canning tomatos,

Source: tipnut.com via Annie on Pinterest

YOU NAME IT!!!

That I haven't had much time to work on new WOOLIE patterns,

or finish old CROSS STITCH ones!

BUT, there is hope for the future!

Son is off and starting his new life,

dd starts school TOMORROW!

And I have a new pack of wool sitting on my work table calling my name!

Source: cathspennies.blogspot.com via Susan on Pinterest

~Annie

I'm baaaack!!!

2011-08-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have actually been back since LAST Friday,

but it has taken me a week to get organized,

get unpacked,

get all of the laundry done

and try to slip peacefully(not!) back into everyday life!

While on vacation I got 2 blocks from myOLDEST applique WIP, "War and Pieces" done! I worked on them in the car as we drove from Niagara Falls to Quebec City, and then from Montral to Michigan-the 2 longest driving legs of our trip. So here are my blocks so far:

I am excited to have this many done and I have started block 6!

Happy Stitching!

~Annie

On Vacation!

2011-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

I will be on vacation until August 5th!

Until then, have a great summer and keep on sewing!

~Annie

Farme'rs Wife Quilt Along

2011-07-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this wonderful quilt along while surfing the various quilt blogs, you are missing out! It was started by Amanda and Angela. There is a wonderful Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Flickr group with over 2000 blocks on it now! I like to just go to the flickr group, choose the album, click on slideshow and enjoy!

So, although I am woefully behind everyone else, here are my first 2 blocks:

The top one is #26, Cut Glass Dish, and the bottom one is #20 Churn Dash.

SO...gonna join?

You just need The Farmer's Wife book by Laurie Aaron Hurd, (get it at Joann-they are 40% off right now-or use your coupon!)

If you want the nifty button like I have over there on the sidebar, click on mine and you will go to Fat Quarterly, scroll down and there are a couple of different buttons you can grab.

Come on! Join the fun!!

If you do join leave me a comment and let me know. I want to know how many Farmer's Wives are out there!

Working on my last dolls

2011-07-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am finishing up a commision this week, 2 custom dolls. These are the last dolls I will be making for a while. I am so ready to move on to other projects, and I have really been bit by the quilting bug. It is awesome, I haven't felt this inspired for a long time. I have visions of applique dancing in my head! LOL!

~Annie

Happy Birthday America!!

2011-07-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday,

with lots of great grilled food, delicious salads, yummy deserts, and refreshing drinks!

~Annie

How to be a quilter on the go (and TDIPT!)

2011-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Do you love to decorate your house with little seasonal displays the way I do? Well, if you do you cannot have too many little candle mats and table runners. I have quite a collection of table runners, and I love to change them out a lot. It really gets me motivated to do the housekeeping, when I can decorate a table or counter top with a pretty little handmade runner or mat. PLUS, they are super fun to make!

I really had fun with this little charmer. I call it the Prairie Table Mat.Blue and red were such popular colors in the 19th century-I think because they were dyes that actually stayed vivid for a long time, instead of fading. Anyhow, it is just 13 inches square-the perfect size to tuck into a little corner, or with your dolls or bears. I started this on Tuesday-cut and sewed all of the little half square triangles. Then Isabel and I headed to the pool to meet some friends and my BFF's and I sat around the pool chatting and tearing off the paper backs. Thanks girls! We are the queens of multi-tasking!

Then I came home, made dinner, and sewed up this cute little quilt!

On Wednesday I put the layers together and got busy hand quilting it with over dyed perle cotton(from Valdani-love that stuff!), using the "big stitch method! Really big running stitches intended to show!

All I had left was the binding, so I sewed that on and finished up the handwork at Isabel's basketball open gym! I loved this sweet and simple project! And if you love it too, hop on over to TDIPT for more details!

Also this month is the finished wool felt Bee Hive Candle Mat that I sneak peeked a few days ago. I'm telling you, if you enjoy handwork, wool is the way to go. It is so quick, easy and portable, and always turns out GREAT!

A great place to get started is Primitive Gatherings website-they have so many kits, all the wool included and great instructions. Give it a try, you will love it!

xx
~Annie

Stars of the Prairie~stunner! (picture heavy)

2011-06-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

I unasumingly walked into my quilt guild yesterday morning to be greeted by this stunning quilt! It is called "Stars of the Prairie" and is being auctioned off by a neighboring guild, Pride of the Prairie Quilters in Naperville, Il.

I took one look and began to swoon!

Not only is the piecing perfect, the colors and choice of fabric SO delightful, but the quilting is just incredible!

The center star is perfectly pieced with such fabulous color choices!

The use of batiks and small prints is just so inspirational.

And the applique is to die for. I love how every flower petal is a different fabric!

But the real icing on the cake here is the quilting. I wish I had gotten a picture of the back so you could see just how dense and perfect the quilting is.

It was quilted by Monica Troy, whom I am told won in Paducah this year. Over 75 quilters had a hand in this masterpiece. Wow! I was just in heaven gazing at this beauty!

Whoever wins it will be one super lucky person!
xx
~Annie

Sneak peek for July 1st

2011-06-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I just finished this awesome wool felt candle mat from a kit by Bare roots. Super fun! If you haven't tried wool applique yet, you are in for a treat! It is so simple and quick! Almost instant gratification! I know we all love that!

This little knock-out will be available for purchase on TDIPT Thursday night, along with another piece I am quickly trying to finish up!

Annie

4th of July decorating

2011-06-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

We are feelin' patriotic around here these days

as my son Aidan, who is going to Western Illinois University in the fall,

has also signed up for ROTC.

You go Aidan!
We are so proud of him, he is such a great kid.
He has the heart of a volunteer and good christian values to back it up. I know he is going to be a force to reckon with at college! LOL!

Here is my little display on top of my antique doll cabinet.
That doll was my very first pattern called Justice. She is getting naturally old and faded now! It has been almost 10 years since I made her! She is the only model I never sold from my first line of patterns. I'm sure I will keep her always.
xox
~Annie

Rainy Day Blues

2011-06-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is my sweet puppy Carmel hanging out with me while I work. Can you guess what she would rather be doing? LOL!

How sad is this face?

Hopefully we will have sun tomorrow!
xox
~Annie

Baskets of Bloomers

2011-06-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have finished block 4. I am now officially 1/4 done with this quilt!

Here are the blocks so far:

I am mostly using left over squares from various charm packs. Cotton Blossoms is one of them, designed by Bonnie and Camille. I love them! I wish I still had more of this fabric.

Lookie what I learned how to do!!

2011-06-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Take MUCH better product photos!

Isn't that much better? I'm super excited about this. Hey, it doesn't take much to get me going!! LOL!

Meanwhile the quilting bug is still in full force. Here is my grandmothers flower garden. This is too fun!

This photo was taken BEFORE I learned my new techniques!! LOL!

What have YOU been working on?

Basket Applique Quilt

2011-06-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have finally really learned how to applique, and I am in LOVE!! I adore applique and I am picturing all of the quilts, wall hangings, table toppers, place mats, and runners I am going to make! Here is one of the pieces I am learning on. It is a quilt by Kim Diehl, from her book Simple Blessings. The quilts is called Baskets of Bloomers.

Super Fun!!!

I already showed you the first block, but here it is again,

This is called Tulips. Here is the second block,

Gerbera Daisies

And the third block,

Pomegranates

They are all needle-turn applique. So much fun!! There are 9 blocks in all to make a square wallhanging. But I am going to make a throw for my living room, so I am going to add 3 more blocks. I am going to use the basket but put my 2 cats and my dog in them. Then it will be more of a rectangle, and a good throw size.

I'm lovin' it!

New dolls on TDIPT this month!

2011-06-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Meet Adaline!

This pretty girl is special to me; her hair was inspired by my own dd Isabel, who wears her hair with a side ponytail quite often. She also has naturally curly hair, something her sister and I are highly jealous of!! AND, we just put in a raised bed of strawberries this year, so I made these little cotton and wool berries in anticipation of our future strawberries!! LOL! See all the details of sweet little Adaline here, at TDIPT!

After the long cold and snowy winter a lot of us have had here in the US, this little ladybug is here to remind us of the warm and wonderful summer days ahead of us!(we haven't seen much yet as we seem to be experiencing the "rainy season" here in the midwest). So think picnics and grilling and lemonade!! LOL! I think this little gal would look so awesome adorning a screen door this summer! Details and close-ups can be seen here at TDIPT.

So that is some of what I have been working on.

Thanks for looking!

3 down, 1 to go! Long post, picture heavy!

2011-05-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it is for you in your neck of the woods, but for us May is an insane month, with a never ending whirlwind of activity! We had prom and fundraisers, the track season which is short and intense, the end of travel basketball, kids moving back from college, and a high school graduation!

First of all, here is Isabel showing off her ribbons from track, she got a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th!! LOL! all bases covered!!

We are so proud of her! She is such a determined athlete. I don't know where she gets it, I was one of those kids who cringed whenever someone threw a ball at me! LOL!

And next we have Aidan and his girlfriend Annaliese at senior prom. Aren't they a gorgeous couple? I wish I had better pictures but I ended up taking lots of pictures FOR Aidan with his camera and neglecting my own!

And then we have graduation! Yay!!

Here is Aidan and Annaliese posing with Chelsea! Aidan is off to Western Illinois in the fall to study criminology, and Annaliese is off to Marquette! Wow!

So Isabel has about a week of school left, and then the summer begins. Lucas is going back to Marquette for the summer to work. This will be the first summer I don't have everyone home. :(
But as they say, "Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim!"

And on the creative front:
I joined a quilt guild in March, and then subsequently have joined 3 little quilting bees, or mini groups. A Wool applique group, a regular applique group, and a Baltimore Album group. So naturally I have been doing some applique! I already showed you my woolie project in a previous post, so here are some of my applique projects:

Block 1 and 2 of my Baltimore Album quilt. I still have the embellishment to do on both of them.

Blocks 3 and 4 of my Grandmother's Kitchen quilt. I have showed blocks 1 and 2 in a previous post here, and if you want to see the entire quilt by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet go here.

And this is block 1 of a basket quilt designed by Kim Deihl. I am thoroughly enjoying all of this applique and have become quite addicted to it!
Thank you for reading my blog and I will try to get back to posting regularly again now that all the frenzy is over and we move into the lazy days of summer!

Wool Crazy

2011-05-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on Wool Crazy, this is my spring block. I am loving this project! I think I could just go on forever adding more and more embellishment. And I still have 3 more blocks to go! Fun!

TDIPT update and Easter pictures

2011-05-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

This month on TDIPT I have some more wool pinkeeps for you. These are stuffed with crushed walnuts, which makes a weighty little pin cushion-I love them, they stay right where you put them, and they are so soft!! (Keep away from the pooch though!)

Well as usual during the months of April and May life is extremely busy! And with my 3rd kid graduating from high school this year we have all of the extra festivities around that too. Littlest daughter is still in basketball and her track season has kicked up with 3 meets this week! But in a few weeks everything will be done and we will be able to slip into the easier life of summer, ahhhh!!! I can't wait!

So just to catch you all up, we had a lovely Easter, how about you? Chelsea and I decided to get busy and make 2 Easter cakes, a sacrificial lamb cake (red velvet with cream cheese frosting! LOL!) and a lemon peep cake! LOL! We also made peep-tinis(martinis with peeps in them) and we molded some beautiful pascal lamb ornaments with our repro antique cookie mold that we got from House on the Hill. Super fun! So here are some pictures, a little late but still worth seeing I think!

Our lamb cake!

Our lemon peep cake-yum!

Beautiful ornament we made from repro antique german cookie mold from House on the hill. We molded it out of paper clay and then antiqued it. It is the pascal lamb laying his head down on the book of life in a gesture of perfect sacrifice! So kewl!! We gave these to our family and friends tied with a pretty spring ribbon!

Relaxing after all of our efforts with a Peep-tini! (this was really too sweet for me, but Chelsea and Gary loved them!) Sorry the picture is so fuzzy, we were trying out a new camera.

I have been MIA! So sorry!

2011-04-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

But,

its only because I have been having fun! fun!fun!

Here is an update on the unicorn sampler, I am still working on this row that has lots and lots of queen stitch!!

I am determined to get this row finished so I can move on to the next, less tedious band. I do love those french knot strawberries though!


MD1660 Unicorn Sampler by the Scarlet Letter

And I have also been working on the Pinkes Sampler by Darleen Osteen.

All of these flowers are done in reversable cross stitch, which actually has a nice rhythm to it once you get used to it.
There are these gorgeous white work dividing bands done in #12 perle cotton. My lighting was really bad, we have had a lot of rain and overcast days, so you can hardly see them. I will try to get a good picture when I get a better day. But trust me, they are really pretty the way they catch the light!

And last but not least, I have gone wool crazy!

I have spent a couple of nights with Joanne Mulally's Wool Crazy book, my favorite hero Horatio Hornblower, and some beautiful wool!

This is what I have come up with so far!

This is my first block of a 4 block wool crazy quilt. Each block is 24" X 24", and they are seasonal. this one is spring.

This project is fun, fun, fun! I can hardly put it down!!!

So thats what I have been doing in my spare time; and in my work time I have been coming up with new dolls and woolie pin cushions for TDIPT at the end of the month, and new cross stitch charts to be released very soon!

Thanks for visiting my blog, and I enjoy every single comment, so don't hesitate to leave me one!!

~Annie

Ooh La La! Wool is so fun!!!

2011-03-31T18:11:00.000-07:00


House on Strawberry Hill

I adapted this from a design by Lyn Hosford, which is found in the Need'l Love book: Strawberry Threads

I love just about every project in that book and I'm so happy to have finally made something out of it! Hee hee, it is no longer considered Stash!

This will be released for sale tonight at 10PM on the TDIPT Mercantile website. Hope to see you there!

My mini wool design wall

2011-03-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

I have had a very busy week so far, with guild meetings and deadlines and order fillings! I am working on a little wool applique pillow. This is how I like to work, by pinning the design to this little board I have made out of foam core, batting and muslin. It works very well.

Tune in again to see the completed pillow!

A WIP and a Win!

2011-03-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress on the unicorn sampler; MD1660. I am truly enjoying working on this piece, even if I do find italian cross stitch somewhat tedious. I now have to call this an adaptation instead of a true reproduction, as I changed the stitches in the salmon carnations from italian cross stitch to just regular cross stitch. Also, I am considering omitting the next band altogther. It is really similar to this one, with almost all of the same types of stitches.

Here is the top portion again-just because it is so pretty!

And here are my winnings! I joined a contest at the Legacy Embroiderers Guild a l-o-n-g time ago. It was a WIP contest where you had to post where you were on a particular WIP at the beginning of the contest and then after a year post your progress. I came in 3rd place! Amazing isn't it? I feel like I never get anything done! LOL!

Anyhow,

I won the skein of Valdani thread and the beautiful scissors, fob and needle threader. See how well they just happen to match my pincushion and thread picker? I am very excited!

Quilty Neighborhood

2011-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am halfway done with this piece now. I think it is really shaping up, don't you?

The forth chart is this series will be available at Hoffman Distributing and on my website next week. It is called Dandelion Cabin.

This whole piece is starting to remind me of my living room-which is red and yellow!

LOL!

More progress on the Unicorn sampler

2011-03-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

I managed to finish the alphabet band with the date 1660 and signature "MD". The letters are all done in italian cross stitch, and the dividing bands are montenagrin.

I put in all of the needle-woven stitches, so now you can see the acorn and star motifs. The little eyelet looking things are darned wheels.

I also started withdrawing the threads for the second drawn work section. You cut 2 horizontal threads at the center where the basted line is, withdraw them, (pull them out) and then weave them into the border on the back. You skip 2 threads and then cut the next 2, withdraw them and so on. After all of the horizontal threads are removed you do the same with the vertical threads. Then you weave over them to bind each set of 2 threads together to make a grid. The lacy pattern is worked on this grid, using the stitches I have used above to make the unicorn panel-doves eyes, needle weaving and darned wheels. This bottom panel will look like a piece of lace when it is done.

Its really easy-it just takes time. But it is SO worth it when you are done, don't you think?

Stitchy Weekend

2011-03-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely stitchy weekend, due to the cancellation of one of DD's basketball games. So I took advantage of some relaxation time to pull the Unicorn Sampler out of my WIP pile. I actually finished the doves eye stitches in the top cutwork band. There are still some needleweaving stitches that go in to form an acorn and other motifs. Then there is the lower band that I haven't even started yet-but for now I am pleased to have a big chunk of the top one done.

Here you can see the lower alphabet band, all done in italian cross stitch. I am working this one in silk threads on 35ct. cream linen. It seems every stitch in this sampler is time consuming, but it will be a great accomplishment when it is completed.

And here is my progress on AED 1746. I affectionately think of this one as Adam and Eve and the Devil. It has a lot of religious motifs on it, which I love, and a great A&E at the bottom center. This is another repro from Scarlet Letter that I started in January during the Crazy 15 Challenge. It is mostly if not all cross stitch, so it will go much faster. I love the 35ct Tea linen I am working it on-such a pretty color. I am stitching it in good ol' DMC.

Hestia Jones Sampler

2011-03-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here is my progress on Hestia so far. This is the second fabric as the first one was just too dark. This is "earthen" by PTP.

At first I tried stitching this 1 over 2. I didn't like it. I am working this on 28ct. because there are several 1 over 1 motifs. I didn't like the 1 strand coverage, so I went back to 2.

Then after putting in the entire top floral border I began working the left hand bird, only to discover my entire border was off by 1 stitch! If this was not a model believe me I would have fudged and left it forever, BUT, I cannot do that. So out came the froggie! *sigh*. But now I am back on track and moving on!

Brand New Wares available on the Merc Tonight!

2011-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Fancy Peacocks by Stacy Nash

DMC on 32ct. antique white linen hand dyed by me

Check it out at the Merc!

Whats happening in studio beez?

2011-02-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I haven't posted since Feb. 17th!

Wow! I won't bore you with all that has been happening around here, but it had something to do with birthdays(not mine) and basketball! But alas, all that is behind me now and I have a new week to look forward to, full of, um... basketball. My dd has like 4 games this week and a try-out for a travel team on Saturday. Whew!

But I HAVE been working!

Very hard!

To get something done for the TDIPT Mercantile which will be posted tonight.

And I have taken more doll orders.

And I have finally received my new fabric for Hestia Jones, so I will be able to get working on her.

And I joined a new quilt guild

which has a WOOL QUILT BEE! (which is like a little sub-group of ladies who like to work with wool! Yay!)

So fun and exciting things have been happening here in the midst of all the chaos.

Here is a pic of my new little lady;

Mercy Caldwell

Check out her awesome florentine stitch stomacher! It is still just pinned on in this pic, but I am wokin on it! LOL! It is hand stitched bargello on canvas by little ole me. This lady is dressed in a colonial style costume- be sure to check her out tonight at 9PM standard, so see all of her awesome costume and my other offerings as well.

I will have another punch needle piece and hopefully a little cross stitch cupboard hanger as well.

OK, its back to work for me if I am going to get all of that ready!

See ya tonight at the Merc!

Still feeling romantic

2011-02-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

I am not ready to put away my valentines decorations yet, are you?

The 2 crocheted hearts are vintage-the one in the front was made by my grandmother, who was quite the crochet-er. The one in back I bought at an antique mall. I truly love these old crochet hearts-I wish I could find more. They are so pretty and they make great pincushions! You will recognize my punch needle heart too-didn't it turn out pretty? I can only enjoy it for a time as I will have to sell it on the TDIPT Mercantile this month. I always tell myself I will make another one to keep but I never do! LOL!

And, you may have noticed that my pretty white basket has been "chewed" on the handle by a naughty little puppy named Carmel.

We will say no more...

A project for my guild

2011-02-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

Heart Bookmark

DMC on antique white belfast

LMSG group project

This year I wanted to get back to some guilds. I have belonged to many different guilds over the years but family obligations and the many church ministries I belong to have always made it hard to attend. But this year I am determined to join and ATTEND some guilds!

I really enjoy the camaraderie with other stitchers/ needleworkers. So the first one I joined was Lake Michigan Sampler Guild. I have belonged to this guild before and was pleased to see, when I went to the January meeting, that many of the same people are still involved and they are going strong.

I quickly signed up for 2 classes being taught by Joanne Harvey, of The Examplerary in April. (and I mean, how glamorous is that second one, Elizabeth Taylor, I ask you!)

Betsy Davis

Elizabeth Taylor

The group project for January was this heart bookmark(above)-and the sweetest little kit was handed out to all. It included all of the materials to stitch this simple heart design, and the cutest thing was the little heart magnet that held the needle!

This month, one of the members will teach us all how to do the hemstitch edging to finish it up. I already know how to do it, but I would like to see how others do it and I always have trouble mitering those corners-so maybe I'll get some pointers.

Next week I am going to go to a quilt guild meeting and see what that is all about. I could really use some motivation to finish the 3 big quilts I have started as well as learn some new techniques.

Not Feelin' It!

2011-02-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hestia Jones test piece

I'm just not sure about Hestia on this fabric. Its not that it looks bad, it just doesn't feel right to me. I ordered a piece of "earthen" from PTP. I will stitch a little on that when it arrives and then decide which looks best. So not much progress made on this one. I am back working on the Quilty Neighborhood house instead. I will update when I receive the new fabric.

Happy St.Valentines Day free download!

2011-02-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Entanglement

Click on the word "entanglement" to download this design. The pattern is for punch needle, but you could embroider it, or what ever! Have fun!

Happy St.Valentines Day!

Fancy Peacocks finished and a new design

2011-02-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Fancy Peacocks

Stacy Nash

1 strand of DMC on 32 ct. hand dyed linen

This was a lot of fun to stitch and really went very fast. This is my first finish from the Crazy 15 challenge.

This is the fabric and fibers for my new design called Hestia Jones. It is an historic schoolgirl sampler in primitive colors. I am super excited to get started on it. The fabric is 28 ct. cashel in the color Ale by Picture This Plus-isn't it yummy? I am using 28 ct.~a large count for me, because there is a row of over 1 motifs. I am also planning a doll to go along with this design-a little Hestia to pose with her sampler! The sampler will be dated 1808, so Hestia will be wearing appropriate costume to go with that time period. Picture Elizabeth Bennet; empire waists with capped long sleeves, and straw poke bonnet.

OK, off I go to get to work!!!

Tiny little progress and a sneak peek!

2011-02-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Here is the tiny bit of progress I made on my Stacy Nash piece that I started during the Crazy 15 challenge. It is only a very little progress, as the night I was working on it I was so tired I kept vegging out!

Fancy Peacocks Hanging Pinkeep by Stacy Nash

And here is a sneak peek on my original design, Quilty Neighborhood. The first 3 houses have been released as charts and I am working on the 4th. Each chart comes with the border design for all of the houses in case you want to do it all as one piece like I am doing here. It is starting to shape up nicely, the sunset background really is starting to look nice. What do you think?

Quilty Neighborhood by Annie Beez Folk Art

Punch Dance

2011-02-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

Ha! Ha! Only some of you will get that title joke! I'm sure I would NOT know what punch dancing is if I did not live with teenagers. :^)
Anyhow, this is my punch needle happy dance! Whoopie! I LOVE the way this one turned out. This is another wonderful design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm. Love it Lori!

Tulip Heart

DMC on Weavers Cloth

Notforgotten Farm

Hunkered down!

2011-02-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well this has definitely been the biggest winter storm I have ever seen! It took my husband 2 hours to dig out this morning, but he did it and made it to work. He works security at a hospital, so he had to go. The kids are all home from school and we have been digging out all morning. Here are some pictures, I won't bore you with all that I took because I know most of the midwest and north east are dealing with the same thing. The last I heard we had 21 inches, and the drifts are up to 4 feet! We live next door to a park with a great sledding hill and I have seen a steady stream of kids heading over there all morning with their sleds.

Meanwhile I have been needle punching another heart. This one is called Tulip Heart and is another design by artist Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm. I love her color choices!

This is another big one, and I am punching it on my rug hooking frame. The cover with the center opening is a little thing I made to keep my wrists from getting scratched up by the frames pins.

Isn't this going to be pretty! Here is a pic of the right side. All I have left is the background.

I have also been working on the block I am doing for "Love Quilts". A little more progress on this one:

Blizzard Warning

2011-02-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

We are expecting a blizzard here in Chicagoland. They are saying it will begin at 3PM today, but it has been snowing since I got up this morning at 6:30! So there you go-the weather reporting in Chicago continues to be, well...ridiculous!
I am so happy and honored to say that both of my offerings on TDIPT Mercantile this morning have been sold! Thank you so kindly to my lovely customers-you continue to astound me with your generosity and encouragement!

Here is another picture of the lovely Felicity Ann:


Felicity Ann 26" folk doll

So . it is a good day to stay in and stitch, don't you think? I have all the episodes of John Adams at my disposal, so I plan to put them in the DVD player and work on a little design from LHN that I am stitching for the LOVE QUILTS project-a very worthy cause! Here is the state of my desk, so I will be doing a little bit of cleaning first! LOL! Have a great day!

Good Deeds by Little House Needleworks

New Offerings on TDIPT!

2011-01-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

Sampler Heart

9 1/2" by 7"

Felicity Ann

26" folk doll

Check out these great new finished pieces at TDIPT Mercantile!

Thanks for looking!

2 new cross stitch designs

2011-01-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

These are available from Hoffman Distributors right now, ask for them at your LNS or ONS. (local needlework store or online needlework store).

Flag Day

House #3 in the Quilty Neighborhood series

DMC on 32 ct. Flax Linen

I Will Love You

DMC on 32ct Sand Linen

I finished mine as a pillow, but it could easily be framed.

Thanks for looking!

What I did last weekend

2011-01-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

Was to join over 300,000 protesters on the capital mall in Washington DC. This is a picture of my daughter and I. We chaperoned 2 busloads of high school students. It was awesome!! Please don't be offended if you don't agree with my view. I hope you will just respect it as I respect yours.

Block 2 of Days of Advent

2011-01-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

We are having another snowstorm here today-it really is pretty. I would like it so much better if I didn't have to drive in it. :^)
Here is my second block of Days of Advent. I messed it up and it is like 2 stitches to the right-I just left it and compensated, because I would have had to rip out so much. Hopefully it is not too noticeable. I really love the colors in this piece.

Needle punched heart

2011-01-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here is my finished heart. It turned out to be too big for my needle punch frame, so I had to put it on my rug hooking frame. I love the colors in this one! Thanks Lori for another great design-it was super fun to punch!

Some needlin' and some punchin' !

2011-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

This is what I'm working on today:

Its a needle punch heart pillow. The design is by Lori Brechlin. I love everything she does. Its fun to work with her prim colors. I spent a 12 hour work day yesterday packing pattern orders for my 2 new cross stitch designs-coming soon-and finishing up some other things. So today it was nice to have a clean slate and be able to pick up a project just for fun.
I also finished up a doll order that was sent off today. This is another Jane...

I enjoyed working on her. In fact I started a new doll just to keep the doll mojo rolling. I used my Elizabeth pattern, but I will embellish and she will not look like Elizabeth when I am done. Its nice to be in the studio(ok, bedroom corner) again!

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Days 12,13,14, and 15

2011-01-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

We are having a huge snowstorm here today. I am so glad that it is MLK day, a school holiday. I don't have to try to figure out if school is closed, and then find out it is NOT closed, because of course, this is Chicago and they NEVER close school! And then go out in the storm and drive, white-knuckled, the kids to school over slippery scary roads through blowing whiteness! Every time this happens I think to myself, I am just going to keep them home and spare myself the scary experience. But then I feel guilty and so I man up and head on out. LOL! So I am happy its a holiday today!!
On to the challenge! I have thoroughly enjoyed this challenge! The variety was great, and even though I sometimes wanted to continue with a certain piece, I really enjoyed starting them all. I think the preparation was just as much fun, deciding on charts, kitting them up, visiting some local LNS for supplies (always a treat!). So here are the final starts for me:

Noah's Ark Sampler by The City Stitcher

This one was actually a WIP if you can believe it! Ha! Ha! I had like 3 stitches in it before. I have to admit I wasn't feeling it, so I didn't get much done on this one.

In March and In April by The Goode Huswife

This is another WIP. I worked on the grass and the house a bit. I really do want to finish this one this year, I really like its primitive and drab colors.

No Bees No Honey by Birds of a Feather

And finally, I worked on this one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I did have to enlarge the chart on my printer so my olde eyes could see those tiny darn symbols. This is being worked in Gentle Art sampler threads(which are one of my personal favorites) on 32ct. pearled barley.

Are you noticing that that is only 14 new starts? Well I worked on this one again on Day 15, because I really like it!.

So now that I am able to work on what ever I like, it will probably be Days of Advent and I'll pick a small one to work on to keep myself from feeling bogged down(big projects can do that to me sometimes!). What a fun time, and I have really enjoyed seeing all of the other starts around blogland!

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Days 10 and 11

2011-01-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

On Monday night I worked on Fancy Peacocks by Stacy Nash. I am stitching it on 32 ct. antique white Belfast, which I tea dyed to a nice creamy brown color. I am using 1 strand of DMC. This should be a quick fun stitch, and I should definitely be able to finish this one this year.

Last night I started Sarah Spurr. I can already tell I'm going to love this one, just by the floss colors. I have recently been totally inspired by Nancy Sturgeon's work on the Prairie Schooler ABC series, where she has incorporated lots of needlepoint stitches into a cross stitch piece. If you haven't seen Nancy's beautiful piece be sure to go here to see it-you will be drooling. So I am going to try to do the same here with Sarah Spurr. Today I am off to the library to get a book on needlepoint stitches(I can't believe I don't have one!) and see what I can do with this idea.
If I make it to the cross stitch store tonight, I will start another Birds of a Feather piece tomorrow-"No Bees, No Honey", but I need a lot of sampler threads for it that are not in my stash. Otherwise I will be working on one of my WIPs. I promise...I will.

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Days 7,8, and 9

2011-01-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well it was a busy weekend, so I only got a moderate amount of stitching time. My fabric for AED 1746 came on Friday, so I got started on that Friday night, when I was supposed to be taking down Christmas. :) I took my Christmas decorations down on Saturday instead. Here is what I did, not much at all:

AED 1746 by Scarlet Letter

DMC floss on 35 ct. Tea dyed linen

The reason I didn't get that much done is because I came across this piece in my stash, and I started it! It wasn't even on my list so I totally cheated!

Needlepoint Christmas Light Ornament

by Susan Porta

Various needlepoint threads on canvas

This was super fun and very fast moving. I enjoyed working on it.

But then on Saturday I was busy most of the day so I didn't really work on anything at all. I think I did a tiny bit on Days of Advent.

Sunday I went to the Lake Michigan Sampler guild meeting and I took Days of Advent to work on there, so that what I worked on the rest of the weekend. I signed up to take 2 workshops given by Joanne Harvey of The Examplerary in April. One is called Betsy Morgan, which is a little school girl piece by an 8 year old, who later stitched one of the Balsch samplers, and another repro called Elizabeth Taylor-which is gorgeous! There really are no pics online so I can't show you these gorgeous pieces, but later I am going to go through my Examplerary catalog and see if I can find them and then scan a picture. I am excited about these workshops, because I have never taken a class from Joanne Harvey and I have always heard such wonderful things about her.

So back to the challenge, I think I am going to start a Stacy Nash piece today. I have my regular MMonday night meeting, so I'm not sure how much I will get sone. I am loving this challenge though-it has really got me motivated to stitch!

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Day 6

2011-01-07T08:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my new start was actually a WIP. I pulled out "Days of Advent" by Mary Beale. I haven't worked on this for at least 2 years, maybe more. All I really had done on it is block 1 and a little of block 2. Here is my before picture:

And here is my after picture:

All I really got done was the rest of the globe and the grapes on the left hand side. I had another meeting last night which lasted 3 hours! Wow that was a long one. By the time I got home I had a splitting headache, so I had to be content with what I had gotten done yesterday afternoon.
Days of Advent was not originally on my list, but I decided to swap it out with Paradise Lost. I love Paradise Lost, but it is another huge one and I didn't want to start too many really big ones this year. I still have a lot of BAPs in progress, so I wanted to finish some of them first. I really want to finish Days for a Christmas gift for my brother next year. He is one of those "impossible to buy for" types and I know this will just touch his heart. He's the kind of guy who is generous to a fault, but isn't into "things", so its hard to find anything for him. You end up going the practical route, like socks, and then you just feel lame! But he is a catholic priest and one of the few things he does buy is classical religious art. I know he will love this piece.
And the other big project that is really calling to me is AED 1746 by Scarlet Letter.

I am hoping the fabric for this one will arrive in the mail today, and if it does that will be my start for today. I could really continue happily on Days of Advent, I was really feeling it yesterday while I was working on it. Its so hard to stop and go to a meeting when I would rather cozy up with a good project!! But duty calls!

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Day 4 and 5

2011-01-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I was going to work on a WIP, but...I decided to pull out "A.Elizabeth" by The Goode Huswife and start that instead. (I haven't worked on a WIP yet. Hmmm...) I tea dyed a piece of 32ct. antique white linen for this and I'm stitching it with DMC. I love how primitive this piece is, and when it is finished I have the perfect spot for it!

I didn't have much time to stitch because my hubby and I had a wonderful date night planned! We went out to dinner at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant. If you have never been, you should go-it is so much fun! The food was delicious and for two people it is actually very romantic! Then after dinner we drove into the city to see Wicked! It was wonderful and I loved every single minute of it. We had pretty good orchestra seats and the Cadillac Theatre is beautiful. I was only able to get one picture inside of the dragon over the stage, and I got yelled at for it!

On Wednesday I started The Miniature Monogram Hornbook by Kelmscott, and I finished it! BUT... I am a complete idiot because for some reason I grabbed 28ct. instead of 32ct., so it doesn't fit on the little hornbook thingie!! Doh! And it turns out I don't have a piece of 32ct, in this color-which is like a mushroom color- and I really like the way the Brethren Blue sampler thread looks on this color, so I just finished it anyway. I will use it somewhere else. So I have a bonus finish, or and anti-finish, I don't know which. LOL! :^)

And last but not least, I have a sneak peek of my new chart to be released very soon, hopefully in time for the Nashville Market. It is called "I will love you forever". I should be done stitching the model today.

So today is another busy day. One of our cars(my car) has died an untimely death and that means I get to use the teenagers car AND drive everybody around again. I am not complaining (much), at least we have a third car. But it will be a couple of months before we can replace my car and its going to be a drag!
Anyhow, today I think I will work on a WIP. Mary Beale's "Days of Advent" that has been neglected for far too long. I would love to finish this one this year.

Crazy January 15 Challenge~Day 3

2011-01-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Well I had a meeting last night at church do I didn't get much done at all. I was going to work on a WIP, but I decided to start Noah's Garden by The Goode Huswife instead. So here is what I got accomplished-its a start anyway!

Today I need to work on dolls and do some model stitching. Tonight my hubby and I are going into Chicago to see Wicked at the Cadillac Palace! Whoo-who! It was a Christmas present from my hubby to me-I was totally suprised! He knows I have wanted to see Wicked forever. What a sweetie! First we are going to dinner at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant. I am excited to try it, we have never been there before. So, unless I am able to put a few stitches in late this afternoon, OR maybe in the car on the way into the city (which could be an hour or more depending on traffic), I may not have much to show tomorrow. I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge. Even though I may not get everything completed in a year, I feel good about getting things started that have just been languishing in my stash for so long.

Crazy January 15 Challenge~Day 2 and I got something framed!!

2011-01-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

First of all here is my start on Noah's Stocking by CHS. I am stitching it on 36 ct pearled barley using a Vickie Clayton HDF conversion. This is something I have had kitted up in my stash for quite some time. I am not sure about the HDF conversion-some of the silks may be too light for my taste. I may end up substituting some NPI as I continue to work on this. I WAS stitching right along at a good clip and then the family decided to watch Horatio Hornblower(which was a Christmas gift-the whole set of 6 movies!! Yippee!), and I got caught up in the action and kept catching myself not stitching at all! For shame! LOL!

And in other exciting news! I finally got around to finishing the framing on This is the Day!! I had the frame made at Joann with a 60% off coupon so it only cost me about 20 dollars. Then I followed the tutorial on framing by Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher and Ta-Daa!! It turned out great! Thank you Vonna for so generously posting your tutorial!

And this morning I hung it in my living room along with a punch needle piece done by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm. I am so happy! These peices are hung directly across from where I sit in the morning with my coffee and Bible.

I bought this piece from Lori a couple of years ago on ebay. I just adore the way she did the frame! One of my goals for this year is to learn to make and paint my own primitive frames. It is a punch needle heart with the words "Wahre Liebe" in German, which means "true love". I adore this piece. My grandparents were both immigrants from Germany, and my father spoke fluent german. So whenever I look at this piece I think of my Dad, who I miss so much! Its a really special piece to me. And I just love Lori's work-she is so talented.

Today I will be picking up one of my WIPs for the challenge, not sure which one yet. Come back tomorrow to see which one and what progress I have made. Isn't this challenge fun!

Crazy January 15 Challenge~Day 1

2011-01-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

I started out with Happy Hearts by Birds of a Feather. I am stitching it on 35 ct. cappachino from Weekes Dye Workes, using my own conversion from GAST to Crescent Colors because I have a lot of CC threads in my stash.

This is what I was able to accomplish in one day. Not much but I was interrupted quite frequently. I really really love this design and would love to keep going on it. It might be the first one I come back to on Jan.16th! We'll see...

Now onto the next start, which for me is going to be Noah's Stocking by CHS. Tune in tomorrow for an update on that one!

Workes by hand in 2010

2011-01-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well it was really fun to go back over my pictures and look at all of the things I created in 2010. I really made more dolls than I realized, as I didn't really begin to focus on cross stitch again until about September!

Here is my collage of needle workes:

And here are all of the dolls I created:

So I feel like it was a productive year.

I have so many more things planned for 2011. I want to work some more with wool, and hopefully even get my rug hooking out again. I actually have 2 more cross stitch pieces finished that I m making into charts right now. I didn't want to include them in the collage as they are not yet published.

So I feel actually a bit ahead of the game for 2011, something that I can assure you has NEVER happened before. I have to attribute it to the fact that most of my kids are grown and I actually have a little more of that most sought after commodity,

"TIME"!!!

New folk doll for sale at the TDIPT Mercantile

2010-12-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

Please visit "the Merc" to see my latest handmade folk doll "Jane". She is one of a kind and will come to you signed and dated.

I am also offering FREE SHIPPING!

She also comes with a punch needle valentine cupboard hanger!

Thanks for looking!

Click here to go to the Merc!

Sledding Party

2010-12-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

We held an old fashioned sledding party for Isabel and a few of her friends. We live right next door to a park with a big hill that is perfect for sledding. We had lunch and then sledding and then hot cocoa afterwords. I t was lots of fun! Unfortunately my camera battery died while we were out on the hill so I didn't get pictures of everything.

Some of my decorations...

The pretty bowl of punch...

Out on the hill...

Carmel enjoying the fun... she's a cold-weather dog!

It was super fun!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:45:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday full of love and happiness!

Christmas decorating

2010-12-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get some decorating done, but I have also been battling a little bronchitis-yuck! So I don't have as much done as I usually do by this time of year. I took a few pics of what I have so far, but I still have another tree to put up(I love trees and wish I had room for more!), and my nativity, and lots of garland. I also have my TDIPT deadline to think about at the end of the month(haven't started anything yet!), and my daughter Chelsea and I are planning a sledding party for my youngest Isabel and 6 of her friends for next week. The fun never ends! hehe!

This is my doll cabinet which resides in the dining room right now. I have most of my santas and some of my snowmen on top.

And next to the cabinet is my pretty little white tree which I like to decorate with glass ornaments and glass icicles. I love this little tree!

On the other side is my china cabinet where all of my crystal goblets that I got for my wedding live, and also the beautiful rose plates I inherited from my mother-in-law, which came over from Japan with her when she came to this country.
On top is our American girl doll collection-all dressed in either Christmas or winter attire. My daughters and I collect them. I have Felicity's complete collection except for the new gala dress, which I hope somebody gets me for Christmas!! Chelsea and I especially like the historic dolls, but Isabel likes the modern girls.

And here are the rest of my snowmen, and my cross stitch Christmas stockings.

And last but not least my tree which is on my sampler wall. We had to put the tree up on a table this year to keep it out of the reach of our new puppy, so the star is actually wired behind the tip! Otherwise it just wasn't going to fit! LOL! Its always something! I have many more samplers to add to this wall, but they are not all framed yet. The tree I let Isabel decorate-which is why the ornaments are all kind of close together and not exactly balanced. For years I let the kids put the ornaments on and then while they are in school I usually rearrange them because it really BUGS my design sense. But this year I have been sick, so I haven't rearranged them yet. Do you do that, or are you able to just let thm hang where the kids put them? hehe!
Next I will be putting up my 3rd tree, which has all my cross stitch and more primitive ornaments on it. More pics to follow...

Merry Christmas!

Deadlines and Christmas shopping

2010-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

I just finished an order for a dear customer in France. She ordered a Mae doll from me~not the pattern, but the doll. It is the first time I have made an all cloth folk doll in some time and I really enjoyed it! I was quite burned out on doll making for a while, but making this doll has revived a little bit of the joy I once had, and gotten the creative juices flowing again! I am thinking about adding some new folk doll patterns in 2011, and possibly even a made to order section on my website.

I have finally finished the CLOUD on ATS!!! Big time happy dance! I even had a little bit of time to move on to some of the other motifs-yay! I plan to continue focusing on this piece until the end of the year.

I am happy to say I am completely done with my Christmas shopping! My husband had the week off of work so we did all of our shopping in 2 days. Now I will begin all of my baking and candy making, I like to do a lot of teacher gifts and thank you's to people who help out our family during the year-coaches and people at the schools. We are incredibly thankful to all of the people who have such a wonderful influence on our kids. We are so lucky to have such a great faith community, incredible families with great values within our circle of friends, wonderful teachers and role models at the high school who have helped our kids make college decisions and guided them toward a young adulthood where they can be positive contributors to society. so let the baking begin!
AND FINALLY, my Crazy January 2011 Challenge list! I am still tweaking it, and mostly having trouble paring it down. I originally had a lot more WIPs in there, but keep taking them out to add in new things I want to start. This is probably the craziest thing I've ever done-but WHAT THE HECK! May as well have these charts started rather than just sitting there doing nothing!! LOL!
OK so heres my list:
1. German Sampler by AED 1746~Sacarlet Letter
2. Noah's Stocking ~CHS 172 x 447
3. Paradise Lost~PSS 417 x 190
4. No Bees No Honey~Birds of a Feather 128 x 112
5. In March and In April~Goode Huswife 255 x 175 *
6. Happy Hearts~Birds of a Feather 158 x 200
7. Noah's Garden~The Goode Huswife 86 x 67
8. Pennsylvania Christmas Sampler~The Goode Huswife 211 x 174
9. Fancy Peacocks~Stacy Nash 141 x 81
10. Sarah Spurr~CHS 145 x 183
11. A. Elizabeth~The Goode Huswife 127 x 74
12. Tombstone Angel~Kelmscott Designs 33 x 40
13. Miniature Monogram Hornbook~Kelmscott Designs 33 x 40
14. Ann Greanawalt Sampler~Scarlet Letter *
15. Quaker Hornbook~WTN 43 x 62 *
16. Noah's Ark Sampler~Cith Stitcher 145 x 180 *

Charts with an * are WIPs. So see I have 16, one too many. But I may take out Pennsylvania Christmas sampler and start that now as a Christmas piece, and then I would have 15. I still have to gather threads for all of these, I have all of the fabric except for the German AED, I need to order a piece for that one. So I am well on my way to being organized and ready for this challenge on the first. This has been a lot of fun already!

My list so far...

2010-12-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

This will have to be pared down in a major way. Here is everything I would "like" to start. The designs without a stitch count are ones that the stitch count was not given on the chart. The designs with the asterisk are WIPs(I had to throw them in there to ease my conscience!)

Crazy January 2011 Challenge

1. German Sampler by AEDEGNES 1746~Sacarlet Letter
2. Noah's Stocking ~CHS 172 x 447
3. Old World Santas II~PS
4. Paradise Lost~PSS 417 x 190
5. Plymouth Sampler~The Sampler Company 257 x 129
6. No Bees No Honey~Birds of a Feather 128 x 112
7. Sampler of Bees~City Stitcher 148 x 111
8. In March and In April~Goode Huswife 255 x 175 *
9. Happy Hearts~Birds of a Feather 158 x 200
10. Samplers Sign~The Goode Huswife 165 x 24
11. Noah's Garden~The Goode Huswife 86 x 67
12. Pennsylvania Christmas Sampler~The Goode Huswife 211 x 174
13. Fancy Peacocks~Stacy Nash 141 x 81
14. Sarah Spurr~CHS 145 x 183
15. Be My Love~CHS 148 x 91
16. Frederick~CHS 181 x 125
17. Fredericka~CHS 181 x 125
18. Black Horse Inn~CHS 219 x 171
19. A. Elizabeth~The Goode Huswife 127 x 74
20. Tombstone Angel~Kelmscott Designs 33 x 40
21. Alpha Bird~Sheepish Designs 136 x 140
22. Miniature Monogram Hornbook~Kelmscott Designs 33 x 40
23. Checkerbird~Heart in Hand 36 x 36
24. Blossoms and Blackbirds~LHN 65 x 65
25. Ann Greanawalt Sampler~Scarlet Letter *
26. Quaker Hornbook~WTN 43 x 62 *
27. Noah's Ark Sampler~Cith Stitcher 145 x 180 *
28. Willow Trees Sampler~City Stitcher 147 x 158

So, now to try to eliminate at least 13 of them. I will probably keep all of the really small ones because I have a better chance of actually getting them finished in 2011. But the hard part is to pick which of the big ones I really want to work on!

I'm thinking about it!

2010-12-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

I know, I must be crazy!! That is why it is called the Crazy January 2011 Challenge! I must be out of my mind! I don't have time for this!I need to be stitching models, not stitching for myself! LOL! I first heard about this when Siobhan mentioned it on the Sampler Lovers Forum. My first reaction was, "wow that is nuts, but I have so many beloved charts I would like to stitch..." I thought about it some more. I went to the original blog post to read up on the rules. Siobhan mentioned it AGAIN on her blog(enabler alert!). And now my thinking is getting serious! OK, here are the rules:

We have so many charts in our stashes, so let's start stitching them!
The rules are simple:

1. Start stitching a new design every day, from January 1st to January 15th. So by January 15th you have 15 new WIPs to stitch!

2. Try and finish everything you started stitching during the year 2011 :)

3. Show photos in your blog if you have one, in January and during the whole year while you stitch, as we all love to see photos!

4. If you wish to join, leave a comment with your blog address into this post and I will add your name to the list.

5. Have fun stitching!

(from ristipistoni blog)
The thing is I love stitching! And I love stitching designs from other designers as much as and sometimes MORE than my own designs. Stitching other peoples designs is what keeps me happy and motivated. It is also what keeps me from releasing new charts every month which is my seemingly unattainable goal! But when I look at my huge stash of charts and kits, I think to myself-I will never get all of these stitched. Maybe I will and maybe I won't but wouldn't it be better to at least have more of them started? I am still thinking(justifying) on this!
Here is the cutest picture of Isabel and my little Carmel Delight taking a nap together. She is the sweetest pup ever-we all just love her!

New Cross Stitch Chart sneak peek!(and TDIPT offerings!)

2010-11-30T12:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a sneak peek of my newest chart called Angels Among Us. It will be released early next week,(or maybe later this week if things go well!) I am loving the way these turned out and I especially love them on the Vintage Examplar-they just look so good! They come with the full alphabet and numbers charted so you can personalize them if you want to.

And here is a sneak peek at one of the items I have for sale on TDIPT this month. They will go live on the site at 10PM tonight. Hop on over to the mercantile for some awesome prim decor for your Christmas decorating!

And my little Carmel puppy is doing great! She is growing fast and learning to be housebroken(slowly). She has the sweetest disposition-we all just love her so much!

Have a great week!

~Annie

My new puppy!

2010-11-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

We just adopted Carmel today! She is a shepherd mix~mixed with what we're not sure! She is a rescue, and she is 11 weeks old.We are so excited and happy, she has a very calm and sweet temperament.

This week on ebay!

2010-11-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Check out these little acorns!

Aren't they primitively SWEET! I have them at auction this week for 3 days only! 2 are stitched on 32 ct. and 1 is stitched on 28. They have wool caps and twiggy stems. Their caps are embroidered with herringbone stitch. Don't miss out on these wonderful linen and wool delights!

Acorn Pinkeep Auction

An angel ornament

2010-11-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

For Isabel, who sadly doesn't have any cross stitch ornaments yet! Its only taken me 11 years! LOL!!!

Sweet Vintage Snowman on SALE!

2010-11-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

This guy is currently on sale for LESS THAN HALF PRICE at my website!

He is one of a kind, so don't miss him!

FREE SHIPPING!

Click here for details!

Punch needle box

2010-11-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Perfect for buttons or hand made carmels!!! LOL! I am already thinking about Christmas candy making and baking!

This is for sale on TDIPT Mercantile this month!

Quilty Neighborhood together, so far...

2010-10-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here are the 2 houses together. There will be 7 houses in all. They all have the pretty sunset sky in the background.

Quilt and Vine and Dark Star

I am beginning house #3 now. It is called "Flag Day" :^)

Quilty Neighborhood, my new series!

2010-10-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

I have just published 2 new charts! They the first installment of a 7 part series of houses featuring quilted designs, that you can stitch alone or all together to create a quilty neighborhood! Here are the first 2 houses:

NW~16a Quilt and Vine


NW~16b Dark Star

Each chart is sold individually and comes with a chart of the border design for the entire neighborhood. Available in shops within the next 2 weeks and from my website TODAY!

And they sinned update

2010-10-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

A little more on the cloud. This is one big honkin' cloud, but once its done there are so many spot motifs below it the stitching will go much faster.

And here is a picture of my daily studio companion! Her name is Mew-mew. She is a cat of very little brain, more like a bunny really. She is very skittish, so thats why the picture is blurry. But she is very sweet. She wants to be affectionate but she is afraid of her own fur! We love her anyways around here-she always makes us laugh because she is so rediculous!

Mew-mew, a cat of very little brain!

And They Sinned...

2010-10-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

The start of the cloud

And They Sinned...

2010-10-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

A little more progress!

I'm just starting the huge cloud up beneath the left snake! Whoop-do! This is fun!

Crow and Pears

2010-10-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Crow and Pears

Model stitched on 28 ct. Heatherfield linen

Original Design

Some works in progress

2010-10-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

This is my progress on And They Sinned... I really love this sampler, I love how cute and primitive it is and I can't wait to finish it because it will make a HUGE statement where ever I hang it! For those of you not familiar with this sampler, the finished piece is over 5 feet tall!

This is my oldest WIP. It is a sampler designed by Nancy Sturgeon (Threads Through Time) for a guild I used to belong to called Fox Valley Embroiderers guild. It was an anniversary sampler, designed way back in 1992!! So ok, this WIP is at least 18 years old!! LOL! The verse reads: With needle and thread we create patterns of friendship in our lives. I still really like this sampler and want to finish it in 2011!! I will probably change some of the greens in it to a more prim look.

I'm getting my stitching mojo back!

2010-10-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Those of you out there who are cross stitchers know exactly what I mean! He he he....

Pattern Sale Extended and NEW Cross stitch Pattern!!!

2010-09-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

The pattern sale on my website has been extended until October 15th!! Be sure to go there and take advantage of it! This includes ALL patterns on the site, including new ones!!

Robin Redbreast is here!

Check out all of the ordering details at my website by clicking here! I love the historical look of this sampler and I hope you will too!!

TDIPT dolls!!

2010-09-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

New Dolls available on TDIPT Mercantile!

Click here to go to the Merc!