Monday, August 31, 2015

Humming Right Along ~

~ Happy Monday Friends & Folk ~

just a few glimpses of my finished project 
… that I've been working on for tomorrow's


I will be updating my page there on the morning of the first,
somewhere between 8 & 9:00 am Eastern Time




and here is what I'll be offering...











I'm happy to be a part of EWM once again ~ 
… I have missed creating one of a kinds for my supportive customers!
Please come by the website to visit all of the Artisans' work!!


and here is a little hummer…
~ I caught him mid-sip this morning!



a bit rainy & dark today…a tad humid & sticky, but still feels like Fall to me.
I will don my boots and head out for a walk in my woods for a little lung-cleansing and inspiration.

P.S.
Don't forget that our Summers' End Sale in our Etsy shop is
ENDING 
tonight at 12:00 midnight eastern standard time…
www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com


Hoping your all have a beautiful day!
~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 
 Lori

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Sunday Morning Musings ~

Good Morning
~ Friends & Folk! ~

I had such nice responses & comments to my posting yesterday 
 ~ regarding wool appliqué & Rebekah's new book!

I'm so happy everyone feels the same as I do
... in loving working with wool, needle & thread :)

This time of year, with shows just around the corner,
my sewing room 
{read: living room, dining room…oh heck the whole farmhouse}
… is a wreck.

my usual 'helper' has been by my side
and under my feet as a cat with a mission usually is.

Iggy loves wool & threads just as much as I do.
he waits patiently {or so} for a scrap of wool or a snippet of thread to hit the floor,
then he tears around the room with it like a maniac
until he tires and comes right back to his spot under the old sewing table.

gotta love ya Ig. 
and yes, you are a handsome nutcase.




Last night was the Super Sturgeon Moon ~
Peter & I headed outside to see her rise…she was beautiful as always.

here she is shining through our black walnut trees over the barn:



just a beautiful sight.



our humble farmhouse at night ~ 


when the moon came out, so did my toads ~
in case you didn't know,
I love toads.
garden toads.
red ones, green ones.
fat toads & tiny toads too ~ tree frogs and bullfrogs are nice too.
but I am smitten with the garden toads that live here with us!

here's a tiny little brown-spotted fellow….


tiny little toad-hiney in the palm of my hand.

… and a plump copper-y eyed toad friend, below.

they come to the patio where the porch lights are 
and wait for the moths & beetles to come in for a landing…then: Sluuuurp!
~ another bug bites the dust.
;)

" Ma'am? can you put me down now?…"

in between moon-watching & toad-catching 
I am working on a few projects for my September 1st's offerings on
I'm so happy to join back with my friend 
Tina {The Burlap Owl} at her wonderful primitive co-op website!!

I hope you can join me 
and all of the wonderfully-talented Artisans on the 1st & 15th of each month…


and here is a preview of my work in progress:




a combination of cross stitch & wool appliqué of course ;)




the pumpkin at the very top 
will receive more embellishment with my Valdani threads ~




Today will be a quiet, but productive one…
I'll make yet another huge pot of garden tomato sauce {no seeds for me!}
~ then sweep & dust this old farmhouse a little.

… only then can I settle in to my stitching chair 
for a little stitching, punching, hooking & sewing to my hearts' content...

Hoping you all have a peaceful & productive Sunday my friends!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori

Saturday, August 29, 2015

HER Work ~

that's right…
HER work.
at the moment ~ 
… MY work is being inspired by HER work.

who is she 
that has taken hold of every needle woman's heart these days
& has refueled a love of deep rich color and traditional motifs in all of us?



who is this woman 
that has such passion for her work that it oozes from her hands 
...and into the wools & threads she works with?




I'm sure you have guessed by now…
and if you haven't heard of her before, 
...well ~ you must have your head in your wool.




I had the immense pleasure of meeting Rebekah at the 
this past November.

I got to see firsthand not only the amount of work this little powerhouse -of-a-woman puts out,
but the high quality, folk-infused style she has become so recognized for.




Rebekah has been my creative muse lately…
how can I help it?



So I read {devoured} every word and ingested every photo in her book:



being a needlewoman, folk artist & designer myself ~
I just cannot fend off the wonderful sense of cozy-ness this book makes you feel.
and why would I want to?




Last night, I wanted to create something
"Rebekah"
so I dove into my wools, 
came up for air a few times and chose the ones you see in the photos.

and I wanted to create my own design, 
using the valuable lessons gleaned from Rebekah's book.

my stitches aren't perfect, and that's always been ok with me ~ 
I'm just happy to be finally able to make a half-way decent blanket stitch!
my motifs are a little wonky but the freezer-paper method helps with that immensely, too.

{and yes….there is ALWAYS cat-hair in my photos ~ no matter how hard I try to find them all.}




The design I chose to create is from my 
Handshake Logo 
that you see up there on the top of my blog's sidebar.

~ Hands have always been a favorite motif for me,
and how befitting I thought, for needlework such as this ~

I need to play some more,
now letting my own personal creative muse guide me through the rest of this project.
I want to add to it, make it larger, put in more pretty stitches…..
no plans, just following my heart.

Many Thanks, Dear Rebekah ~
for sharing your gift with everyone.




We are OPEN today here at the farm shop ~
11:00 ~ 3:00
come on in for a visit, sit for a spell.
bring something to work on & create with me
you know what I'll be working on :)




Have a beautifully creative day my sweet Friends!


~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori

Friday, August 28, 2015

End of Summer SALE ~ in our Etsy Shop!

Well HELLO There!
...have you heard?

Starting right now {yes NOW}
and ending on September 1st…{promptly}

we are holding an

Once you've finished your shopping in our Etsy shop and are ready to place your order, 
simply type in this Coupon Code when asked to:  
    SUMMERSEND2015   

to receive 10% off your total purchase of 20.00 or more of our
books, patterns, supplies, stands, gripper frames, linens, fabrics…etc. 
:)



just our little way of thanking our beloved customers for supporting us like you do,
AND making room for new inventory :)

Have fun!


~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Hiding your Tail ~

No, Iggy…
you don't need to hide your tail ~
I'm talking to our readers here…
:)



Howdy Folks!

as promised,
here's the part where I share with you
 how to hide the ends of a braided edge on your hooked projects ~

once you have hand stitched your braided edging to the edge of your linen 
{or rug foundation of your choice} almost all the way around, you will need to pull the initial end that you began with to the backside of your project…as shown below:


continue to stitch the braid to the edge of the linen coming close to but not all the way to the initial stitched down {beginning} end.
see below:




when you get to within 1/4 in away from the beginning end, 
overlap the braid & the beginning end and stitch together as shown below:




Now
working from the front-side of your project,
 bring the braid OVER the initial stitched {beginning} end:




continue to sew the braid down to the initial {beginning} end, 
by pushing your needle & thread through both braids ~
… as shown below:




once you feel comfortable that you have stitched the long end of the braid down 
over the initial {beginning} end of your braid,
 {making sure to stitch all three strips of your braid together so it does not unravel}
you can cut your ending braid with sharp scissors.
BE CAREFUL not to cut any of your stitches!




I use a safety pin to hold together the strips of any remaining braid left
for any future project ;)




Now that you've stitched and cut the long end of your braided edge off,
you will need to complete the stitching by bringing your needle & thread through both braid ends
and stitching them together neatly tucking in the braid ends.
see below:




keep needle-tucking in and stitching the ends like I'm doing below
until you're finished…




...you can now see that by taking your time,
 tucking in any loose edges and making tiny stitches
~ you can almost make that end disappear!

this is the back of the project showing the bottom edge 
and the two ends of the braid stitched together at center/bottom
below:



here is another view of the back of my project, but the upper corner…{below}
see how by tearing the homespun into strips before braiding, I can create a very primitive yet neat finished edge that helps to 'hide' those ends too?
tricky huh… :)




and here is the front of my project {below} 
showing the bottom/center where I've stitched the ends together:




and again the upper corner {below}
where you can see the frayed/ripped edge of the braided homespun strips I used…
simple. primitive. perfect!




now I'll add my label ~
using muslin, Prismacolor pen in a sepia-tone & needle and thread
{{ the safety pin will be used as a hanger on the top/back! }}




running stitch…..




label is stitched on {need to press it still}…




and here he is all finished!
just a glimpse of the braided edge shows…I like it this way me thinks.
the edge doesn't overpower the hooking, but accents it.




…just enough.







hope I didn't confuse anyone,
... if I did email me!



now onto the next!!!


have a beautiful & creative day my Friends!!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 
 Lori

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Braided Homespun ~

Good Wednesday Morning 
~ Friends & Folk ~

and oh! what a beautiful *sparkling* morning it is!
high & dry with a beautiful October-like sky.
my kind of morning….

Joan & I will be heading out to our local quilt shop, 
Cottonwood Quilt Shop
 in Charlottesville VA. to pick up some MORE fabric.
{yes I carry fabric in my own shop. Yes I NEED more fabric.}

Cottonwood has a great selection of beautiful homespun fabrics,
~ which at the moment I am working with…

I finished hooking this white Jack rug and now am in the process of adding a thin braided edge of a great black/orange homespun plaid that I have…



gathered together...


I am not a 'fussy' finisher by any means.
and tend to lean towards a more simple look…
 and by simply turning back the linen edge and stitching it down,
I can achieve that simple look.
BUT
I do like to add a little character to everything I do ~
so I am adding the braid.




I know most of you out there know how to braid, 
{{it is super easy to do}}
and some of you have even made braided rugs, mats & runners...
I love that look so I like to incorporate it with my hooked projects.

using Valdani pearl cotton #8 "H209" {Khaki Black}
I begin stitching the braid to the very edge of my tacked down linen on the back of my rug:


needful-things



it goes quickly, is fun to do and really does make for a neat finish.

~ here's how it looks from the front {below}
where I initially began stitching on the braid 
… at the bottom/center of my finished rug.



simple but elegant finished edge


here you can see how I place the braided edge to the edge of the linen ~
just the edges touching…
and working up and around the corner of the top of the rug.


large-eye needle & Valdani pearl cotton



I'll show you how I'll 'hide' that beginning frayed end of the braid
~ in my next posting ;)


need to tidy-up that end!



You will soon see me working in many different mediums 
as the show-season commences upon us ~

my hands will be painting, punching, hooking, appliqué-ing…
making jewelry & a few of my primitive dolls too.

I LOVE this time of the year, 
… when I am so very productive 
and the creative juices {read: caffeine!} are flowing readily ~
and I can entertain my own primsical muses when they visit time & again...

Hoping you all have a wonderfully creative day my friends!!


~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori