Shabby Apple Winner and Pattern Giveaway!

I really enjoyed doing this giveaway, it is always nice to give something special to my readers and Shabby Apple was very generous in giving away one of their beautiful dresses. This week they are having a summer sale, so be sure and visit. Dresses are 20% to 80% off!

I used the random number generator and #14 came up. The lucky Winner is MelancholySmile! I will email you with the list, so I can send your information to Shabby Apple. Also, be sure to visit Melancholy's Blog, you have to see the wonderful chicken coop that she and her husband built.

This week I was lucky again, I know, you are all sick of me entering contests, lol. Actually I just happen to visit sites at the right time, this one was for the first commenter and I won something twice this week, so I will refrain from doing another;)

Many of  you may be familiar with Terrye French, she is a wonderful artists who does designs for folk and whimsical painting patterns. She also does designs for publications like Create and Decorate and goes by the name, The Painted Pear Basket.  I won her newest book, A New Day and a Little Whimsy. So many wonderful designs that I can make for our home and gifts for my friends. I also won a pattern of my choice, Terrye has wonderful epatterns too and they work well in different mediums so you don't have to be a painter to use her designs. I will be painting and working with the designs in different mediums, in the coming weeks and will share my creations with you.

And now for the giveaway! Visit Terrye's Website, The Painted Pear and tell me, what is your favorite pattern? I will choose a winner on Monday night from all of the comments on this posting. Also, visit Terrye's blog, Painting with Friends. She has a lot of wonderful freebies that you can use.

Don't forget, this is my anniversary month and I will be doing a giveaway at the end of the month, so stay tuned for more on what will be in the giveaway.

Blackbird Sings Stitchery!

I finally finished my blackbird stitchery, design by Kathy Schmitz. It was really fun to do but it is harder to do the large designs and keep them straight since my light box is not that big, so I had to trace it on my glass door.

I changed a few things, the berries were stitched, but I used wool. I also added a little stitching in the middle and the outside to tack it to the backing. It was way too bright for me, so I had to antique it, lol. The blues are not so bright, but hard to get all of the colors to show up nicely with a flash.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! Bill has to work, so it might be a good day to get the baby quilt done. I was about to finish it and realized I didn't have anything that was big enough for the back and I wanted a nice solid piece for this. I got a nice flannel that is cream with splotches of pale yellow, so perfect for the backing.

I kept this photo larger so you can see the details, not sure if blogger allows large anymore. It seems they keep changing my photo options. The border has also been changed, instead of a larger border, I made mine smaller so it is a combination border/binding.

Stitching Progress!

I have been working on two projects and hopefully they will get done soon.

I have been adding some embellishments to the appliques and words, so just a few more things and I can put the backing on. I am just adding things, no thought put into it;)

I am also working on this stitchery quilt by Kathy Schmitz. It was hard getting it onto the cloth since i had to do it on a window, so I need to check my edges to make sure they are straight, before I stitch those up.

Wool Quilt and New Stitchery Progress!

Today I played around with my wool pieces until I got a layout, that I liked. I had some spaces so I added a patchwork and a striped block and at the suggestion of a follower, some pennies. I also added the green blocks and the plan is to stitch words on those. I am doing a blanket stitch to keep it simple and easier than trying to do too many stitches on one big piece. I did a little bit today and got tired so I grabbed my stitchery to work on and what did I find underneath, a kitty block that I had set to the side. Now I need to rethink how that will fit in, but I am sure I can redo the top area and shorten the long piece. I added the longer piece and planned on making the applique later, which is good, since I will change that out to fit the kitty in.

What do you think? I realized I started this in 2009, time sure flies by;)

Another project I am working on is a stitchery called Blackbird Sings which can be found in Kathy Schmitz's book, Simple Pleasures in Redwork. After I find the stitchery, there will be a border and it will measure 23" x 26", the largest stitchery I have done but perfect to hang for spring and summer.

The original is done in lighter colors with a touch of black, I am going with black and a touch of color.

Contest and Freebie this week at Babycakes Blog, be sure to visit and wish her a Happy Anniversary!

Repurposed Table Mat!

My friend Kelley sends me boxes with scraps and stash and I decided to make a table topper with one of the scrap pieces she has used on another project. The nice thing was, the blocks were already put together, I just added a border. Then I hand stitched the squares with a simple outline stitch in the blocks, then went across with an X in each one. for the outer edge, I used a reverse blanket stitch to edge the line and give it a little added touch. I had some old material that was given to me, that had apple prints, in a large and small version and thought that would make a nice theme for an appliqué. I used some scrap wool I have in a drawer and added the apples in each corner.

For the border, I always make it a big larger so I can fold that to the back instead of using binding. This time I used a mahogany stain, gives it a slight reddish brown tint, so an aged look without being too dark. Now I think I need to make one with Easter colors and a matching appliqué. It is fun to make small mats with your scraps and something you can use on a side table to change with the seasons.

I just added a few things for display, but this will go into the fall box once I make a new one for spring. I was thinking it would be cute to add an A+ in each apple and use as a teachers gift, you are welcome to use the idea.