Newsletter giveaway winners!

The newsletter giveaway winners have been drawn! 

Thank you all so much for joining the mailing list.

 It is my pleasure to announce that 10 mailing listees have been randomly drawn 

to win a little something special from my shop!

I will be emailing winners today with a choice of three options for their giveaway gifts.

1. Any 1 pattern download of your choice from my etsy shop 

(Including the newest addition of the Brontosaurus Pattern!)

2. 1 hand made cashmere bunny (in pink or beige) from my book "Last Minute Fabric Gifts".

3. A surprise pack (of my choosing) of craft materials from my studio.

Thank you again for being a part of the group.

News and giveaway gifts go hand in hand here, 

so tell your friends and invite them to join in the fun!

Vote for Threadfollower kits on Uncommon Goods!

Today is an exciting one! I hope everyone can join in the fun over at Uncommon Goods!
If you did not know about this site, head on over and take a peek....
Your vote will help small designers (like myself) get their products into the Uncommon goods line up and into their wonderful catalog!
You can find my Threadfollower hand-stitching kits at this like: Uncommon Goods
Thank you so much for taking a moment and supporting my little kits!
There are only 13 days to vote do don't be shy and don't delay.

Thanks for taking a moment to vote!

The start of One Stitch Wednesday!

This is my very first little imovie stitching video! I am at the very beginning of my learning curve here so be gentle with me :)

Note: Karen (who takes my most lovely photographs and is now shooting video too) is in no way responsible for the quality of the images... I will rope her in when I have a better idea what I want from the videos.

As you can imagine I have already found things to change but I am throwing caution to the wind and posting the video anyhow...

My plan is to gradually build a threadfollower video-stitching library, one stitch at a time, starting with Today’s One Stitch Wednesday video of the Chain Stitch.

 

Purgatory Falls Alpaca Farm

Recently, Karen Philippi with her camera and I with my hunger for textile adventures, took a drive north through winding hemlock lined roads to the little town of Lyndeborough New Hampshire… destination…. Purgatory Falls Alpaca Farm!

How funny they are all lined up two by two!

I found out about this sweet little farm in the most unlikely of places… the ICU at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. Anyhow, my Dad was hanging out there over Christmas, relaxing and chatting with the staff over a cup of Jell-O (He is home and doing very well) and got to talking with Heidi (one of the respiratory therapists) about my threadfollower hand-stitching kits. I think she had penguins on her shirt, so the kits were bound to come up. Turns out she is quite a stitcher and crafter herself, and she told my Dad about her friend and colleague Tim who has an alpaca farm that she thought I might like to visit. What a small and strange world!

If you love fiber, fleece and really great people you should take a drive yourself. Tim and Dana are absolutely lovely; they have a beautiful farm and a ridiculously cute flock of 30 plus alpaca with luxurious soft fiber. 

We arrived on a chilly day in late January to a warm welcome of friendly faces, delicious snacks and a tasting of five varieties of Tim’s home made beer. We felt like family from the moment we arrived! As we toured the farm Tim and Dana shared with us more about how they met and got started with alpaca farming while we fed carrot snacks to the flock.

Tim (a respiratory therapist) and Dana (a court reporter) first met in Xcalak Mexico through their common interest of diving. Having met their match in life, interest and adventure they eventually began looking for land to build a house and farm together.

I asked Dana what inspired them to raise alpacas? And she told me…

“We have always loved animals, Tim grew up on a sheep farm and I grew up always wanting to live on a farm.  He was intrigued by the alpacas he passed by when doing some courses in northern NH.  We visited the place and fell in love with these wonderful, gentle creatures.”

Tim and Dana got their first seven alpaca about seven years ago. Today, that little flock has grown to over 30 through breeding, purchasing and rescuing of alpaca with special needs. 

Dana cleans and processes the fine soft alpaca fiber so to be used by spinners and knitters and sells through it out at the farm and in her etsy shop. She is also an avid weaver and fiber dyer and has here hand dyed alpaca yarns available there as well. 

Tim told us that the “Break” in the fleece at the neck is a sign of superior quality fiber.

Each alpaca is unique in coloring with fleece that ranges from solid white, off white, beautiful dulce de leche, and deep brown-black to the most unusual multi-colored polka dots! In temperament they explained, “Alpaca are similar to cats”.

If you are interested in visiting Tim and Dana and their beautiful alpaca flock, check out their website www.purgatoryfallsalpaca.com  They have an "Open Farm" day this May 12th (great for families and children) when they welcome walk in visitors to watch them sheer the flock, they also host spinning and knitting workshops and give private tours by appointment on weekends. 

Making a wired leaf

This leaf project was inspired by the book

 "The Salamander Room" by Ann Mazer

The story, about a boy who cares for a pet salamander, 

 captured the heart of my nephew and  seems to have a universal appeal with young boys (3 to 5). I made this salamander and two of these leaves for him for Christmas this year. The Leaves can be bent and manipulated easily to form a leaf fort or bed for any small (toy) woodland creatures you have living in your house.

 

Tools and materials:

Card stock or manila folder, scissors, hole punch or skewer, sharpie, marking pencil, 

pins, felt, lead-free soldering wire, metal snips, sand paper and sewing machine. 

NOTE: I called several companies regarding the safety of the lead free soldering wire for children in this craft project.  It seems to be made from aluminum and copper and is quite harmless to touch. It is soft and easily malleable. I suggest sanding the cut ends to avoid any sharpness.

1. Draw wide heart shaped leaf on the card stock (about 12" by 12") with a spine and veins  

2. Punch holes along the spine and veins with the hole punch or skewer.

3. Cut 2 felt squares (two tone green) slightly larger than your leaf

 4. Lay the leaf on the felt and trace around it.

 5. Mark the veins and spine of the leaf through the punched holes.

 6. Bend the wire around the outline of the leaf about 1/4 inch inside the line, and cut it to length with metal snips. Sand the cut ends of the wire to remove any sharp edges.

 7. Sandwich the wire between the two layers of felt.

 8. pin the wire all around the leaf and up the spine so it does not shift as you sew.

 9. Use a zipper foot so you can stitch up next to the wire. Start at the stem and stitch around the pouter edge of the wire to the tip of the leaf and down the opposite side of the leaf. follow the wire and stitch up the center of the spine.

 10. As you are stitching the inside edge of the wire, stop at each dotted line and take a detour to stitch along the vein, until you are about 1/4-inch from the spine. Then stitch back again to your inner wire edge. and continue until the next totted line for your next "vein" detour.

 11. Finish stitching the inner sides of the wire and veins on both sides of the leaf.

 It should should look like this

12. cut around the outer edge of the leaf

Reindeer pattern download!

Big news folks!

Break out your needle and thread.....

My quilts, kits and this new Reindeer pattern

are featured this weekend on 

the Martha Stewart crafts Department Blog

If you are interested in the downloadable pattern, 

it is available for $2.00 in my Etsy shop

through November 14th.

Happy early holidays,

and very happy stitching!

Visiting friends in creative spaces

While Irene was blowing up the coast

 I had the pleasure of spending a delightful, creative craft weekend hosted by my friends 

Debra and Pete at their sweet little pad in Pittsburgh.

 

 Debra and I hunkered down for most of the weekend in her studio chatting and stitching while Pete kept us nourished with tasty bits through out the weekend. 

  

I wish the zoom on my phone had been more forgiving because Debra has so many little treasures scattered around her house and studio... little collages and sculptures.... waiting for you to come close for an intimate viewing.... but alas, my technology was not in full cooperation.

  

 In the morning and afternoon Pete made lattes to keep our minds fresh and fingers nimble as we stitched away...

I brought two kits for Debra's little one (on the way) that she made over the weekend.... a penguin and a Kangaroo.... these kits (and much more) are available in my etsy shop...

I am not sure what I was thinking but I got the idea that I wanted to make something different... something that I had never considered making before...

A doll?

Then I realized that I really wanted to make miniature clothing...

Which I believe was inspired by the amazing show that Debra took me to at

The Center for Contemporary Craft

Mariko Kusumoto work is stunning and inspiring... 

She creates miniature worlds that reside somewhere between doll houses, jewelry and sculpture that long to be explored.... 

I look forward to following her work! 

Also at  

The Center for Contemporary Craft 

is the haunting work of Lia Cook...

her woven photographs are wonderful!  

This is a close up detail of the weave

It was a wonderful weekend with great friends, much stitching, 

beautiful weather and inspirational art.

Thank you, Thank you Debra and Pete for such a lovely weekend!