The Boatman Punch Needle!

I finally finished my new piece and I hope you like it, as much as I do.  I adapted this new design from an antique quilt. I love the designs on the quilt and am hoping to do more in the same line. I used a variety of flosses and techniques which are in the pattern. The new pattern is in a pdf file, so you will get the colors if you would like to do yours in the same way.

This piece is 6" x 5 1/2" and I finished it off with a larger piece of jute rope to keep with the nautical theme. This weekend I need to get busy making a ring pillow for my DIL, I finally decided what to do and that is hand stitch it, since I have no idea how to use my embroidery machine and size things, so I will be very busy stitching since it needs to be done by next weekend.

The pattern includes the design and a photo of my finished piece, the border is not included in the design. I think it would look wonderful with a quilted style border, maybe flying geese.

Giveaway Winner!

I am still working on the new piece, it should be ready by Wednesday. Today was a down day, I spent it on the couch, so didn't get much done. I decided to go through old photos and I mean old. And I can't believe I am showing you this photo, what was I thinking with that hair do, lol. This is in the summer of  1984, my son was 2 and I was a few months pregnant with my daughter. It was when my dad was still able to do things and we took my nephews and camped out with my parents in New Hampshire, wonderful memories.

And now for the winner..... lucky number 7, Sandi! Sandi, you can choose any epattern that you would like, then email me with your choice. Congratulations!

New Stitcheries and Weekend Giveaway!

First of all, I want to thank all of you who helped to contribute to Kelley's fund for her friends. I am amazed at the generosity of those who helped in any way they can and it warms my heart to know that it will help a family who has been through so much. Not only did she reach her second goal, but it is still going up, the boys will be so surprised and it will take a little bit of the burden away from them as they make the transition of living without their mom.

I finally finished the next set of my stitcheries for my prim quilt group. We are using designs from Primitive Blessings and we are doing them in wools and stitchery, it is our choice and we redo them a bit to make them our own. I messed up a bit on these, but once I am done, I will use black stitching for the quilting and antique it, that hides most flaws;) The blocks are 6" with the sashing.

With the humidity and then rain, it is prime season for bugs. I found this guy on my screen tent, he makes a nice art piece.

And now for the giveaway contest. Yes, I am going to make you think and give me a funny;) There was a bird having a blast, taking a bath and chasing the others away, he thought it was his, but he left before I got back out with the camera. Once he was gone, the gang came back and had the bath all to themselves. Your job is to give me a funny saying for this photo or from one of the birds in the photo. The winner will win their choice of one of my epatterns or booklets. I will draw a name from the comments on this posting. The contest will run through sunday at midnight and I will announce the winner on my monday posting. You can choose my new one or if the winner would like, you can choose a new one that I am working on now. Hopefully I will be finished punching and have the pattern ready for monday.

New Epattern and Help a Friend!

I have made my newest punch needle piece into an epattern. You can also use it for rug hooking or as an appliqué piece, whatever  you would like. As with all of my patterns, you can make them for yourself or sell them on ebay.

This week, from now until sunday at midnight, I am going to donate a dollar for every pattern sold, to help a family of young boys who have recently lost their mom. The oldest boy came home to take care of his brothers who are still in high school. They work during the summer doing odd jobs and are always there to help others in need, so we want to help them by giving them a gift certificate to help them while they go through this transition. I will tally up sales from any pattern sales, a dollar for the 3 dollar patterns and more for the higher priced patterns and booklets. So, here is  your chance to have a fun pattern to create with and help others. You can see the full story at Kelley's blog.

This pattern will come in two files, one with the finished piece, the second with the design and color choices. You can buy this pattern, directly, with the button on the left, of visit my ecrater site for more pattern options.

Antique Dog and Bird Punch Needle!

I finished a new piece today, this is based on the design I made for my quilt. I wanted to try it as a punch and I really like how it came out. I do plan on making a pattern for this piece, just didn't have time tonight, so hopefully I can have it up tomorrow.

This piece was based on an antique quilt block. It measures 6" x 5" and is a mix of Valdani and dmc floss. The dog the the red shades are valdani and slightly raised in height. The green is dmc floss, that I over dyed myself. The piece was antiqued after I finished it, but it is hard to show the true prim look with a camera. For some reason, my new flash isn't working, so I had to lighten them with photoshop which makes the colors appear brighter. The edge is a combination of new and vintage wool yarn.

Lighthouse Quilt!

I wanted to use some of the jelly roll strips from the 1862 Battle Hymn fabrics by Barbara Brackman. I was thinking of doing a flag, using the blues instead of red and white. Well, I got stuck and forgot what I planned on making, so I came up with a new idea. I used the lighthouse from an old Jan Patek book, Ships Aweigh and then started changing it, bit by bit and adding a few of my own touches and came up with this piece. Something fun to display for the rest of the summer.

The quilt measures 27" x 15". I used walnut ink, watered down, to antique it. I lightened it up a little so you could see it better. The border is circles with stars in them and it says, From sea to shining sea.

So Many Blessings!

This month has been filled with wonderful giveaways and I have been the lucky recipient of a few. I wanted to share my wonderful prizes with you and the wonderful people who have made the giveaways possible. Winning such great prizes allows me to enjoy quilting and eventually make charity quilts with the money I save, I have been stocking up on batting.

One book I have always loved was Jacquelynne Steve's book, Fruitful Hands. I fell in love with the pineapple quilt, a simple but fun piece and something that would look great as a wall quilt for my dining room. The book also has recipes and patterns for quilts and smaller items that would make wonderful gifts. You can visit her blog, The Noble Wife for inspiration and she also has some wonderful freebies.

This is on my to do list. The giveaway was sponsored by Henry Glass Fabrics. If you love quality fabrics and giveaways, be sure to sign up for their blog.

Another giveaway was hosted by See How We Sew. I won the book "Quilting 101", by Sue Rasmussen. It is a wonderful reference guide for quilting and it is definitely something I need lol. I am always forgetting the basics and what types of needles to use for projects, so now I have a reference that I can refer to, as I quilt and things I can learn to do better.

And today I received another fun prize, something I can make for myself and as gifts for my friends. I was able to choose any pattern from Cath's Pennies. I have always loved her designs and not only does she make wonderful patterns, but she gives directions with photos on her blog to help  you in creating your own pieces. 

It was a tough decision, I love all of her designs, but this one is perfect as a gift too and I have gingerbread buttons, so they will be perfect for this design. You can see this and many more at her website, Cath's Pennies Designs.