One bunny, two sheep, and something new

Good morning all! Hard to believe March is nearly half over... It's been a good month for me so far and it's about to get better as I'll have my oldest and youngest sons home for a few days this weekend. That is so very rare these days now that one lives in San Diego and the other in Washington,DC... I can't wait! 

My stitching, as usual, involves seasonal pieces and, just in time for Easter, I have this sweet Blackbird Designs finish called "Easter Parade" to share with you. I honestly can't remember when I enjoyed stitching a piece so much--the overdyed colors, the eyelet stitches on the bunny and one of the stars, the purple checkerboard border. The whole piece just came together so well... (I want to thank a very special blogging friend for lending me her chart--it will be flying home to you very soon!).

"Easter Parade"

I stitched the bunny holding his egg-filled Easter basket on 40 ct. antique white Newcastle with the suggested overdyed threads except I substituted Gentle Arts "Sweet Pea" for the border. He would have been a bit large for one of my little pillows so I mounted him on some purple and white polka dot fabric, surrounded him with ecru pompom trim and glued some felt on the back.

Loved everything about this one!

To attach him to the chicken wire frame, I glued two d-ring picture hangers on the back and then simply wired those to the chicken wire with regular old twist-ties. So easy! In the corner, I added a polka-dot yo-yo topped with a couple of buttons and glued it onto some berries and vine trim that I found at a local craft store. A gauzy pink ribbon was then intertwined with the vines.

"Easter Parade" all finished up

Here is a close-up of the yo-yo embellishment... I was so pleased with how the berries complemented the pompom trim and resembled the stitched berries in the rabbit's pack! What do you think? It was nice to have a "bigger finish" for a change although my first love will always be making ornaments and small pillows.

I am on a yo-yo kick this year!

My Christmas ornament for March is the exceedingly popular "Little Red Barn" by Little House Needleworks. It seems that virtually everyone is stitching this on Instagram! I won't be stitching the entire series, but will pick and choose throughout the year.  I forgot to take a "before" photo, but this is how I finished it up--black gingham, red twisted cording, another yo-yo and some black felt glued to the back. The fabric was 35 ct. natural Northern Cross from my stash and, unfortunately, I used two strands of floss and it about drove me crazy--it was just too tight! But, I love the final look and I'm pleased to be doing a better job at keeping up with my monthly ornament stitching this year.

"Little Red Barn" finish

This design called to me because I grew up with a barn right behind my house. No, I didn't live in the country or on a farm. I grew up in a very small town in western New York, but in a house built in the early 1900s before cars were common. So, this pretty white barn once held horses and buggies! By the time my family moved in, in the early 1960s, the horses were long-gone and the lower floor of the barn held our cars, dad's tools, the lawnmower, etc.

But, it was the upper floor where all the magic happened... long afternoons spent playing the "Wizard of Oz" with the neighborhood kids (I always insisted on being the witch!), shooting hoops with my brother and his friends, and when we were older, building floats for the Homecoming parades each fall. So many wonderful memories... I took this photo from my upstairs bedroom on the last day of the estate sale we had after my parents sold our home in 2012. I can't help but look at it with tears in my eyes--that was the last time I slept in my childhood home.

If those walls could talk--wonderful memories were made in our old barn!

Here is a close-up of the wonderful cupola and the tilted weather vane that had turned in the wind for so many years. My mother always said it was that beautiful barn that sold her and dad on purchasing the fixer-upper of a house in 1960. I can see why...

Loved this old cupola and galloping horse!

In December, when my middle son and I drove home from visiting my mom, we took a detour and drove down through my old hometown. The new owners had painted the barn doors black and were obviously taking very good care of my old home. It warmed my heart to see the old homestead was being loved and cared for so well... And that same tilted horse was still galloping away in the wind on the tip-top of our old white barn. 

The new owners are maintaining our old barn so nicely!

Okay--enough of my walk down memory lane! Do you remember my last post about the extensive cleaning that has been taking place around my house--the "Swedish Death Cleaning?" Well, I've been finding more goodies! Look what I found all rolled up in the back of a drawer... this beauty called "No Vacancy" by Marjolein Bastin that I stitched way back in 2005... I'd forgotten all about the poor thing! I'm sure I used the suggested DMC colors because I was too afraid to change colors back then--I've come a long way! I also used evenweave which I rarely use any more except for "over one" stitching or smaller pillows/ornaments. Pardon the wrinkles--I just unrolled it to photograph it for this post. I really would like to get this framed, but I am not sure about the "No Vacancy" words and am trying to think of something different, or perhaps just stitching one or two of the motifs in place of the words. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Any suggestions for replacing the words "No Vacancy?"

Baking has been taking up more of my free hours and I've been experimenting with the new bread machine we got for Christmas. So far I've made a Seven Grain Bread, homemade hamburger buns, Buttermilk-Oatmeal Bread, and this very tasty Sunflower and Grains Bread. Yum!! I am being really good and limiting myself to one piece a day--my husband, on the other hand, is having a hard time stopping at one piece (or two or even three or four!).

A freshly baked loaf of sunflower and grains bread

And for my son's girlfriend's birthday, I made the cutest little carrot cakes in a baby Bundt pan. My mother-in-law gave me this six-cake pan probably 30 years ago and I had never used it! So happy that it didn't become a victim of my purging rampage as it made the sweetest cakes.

Baby bundt cakes!

A pink-tinted cream cheese and maple syrup glaze topped them off quite nicely. (The two with toothpicks had no nuts in them since my son's girlfriend doesn't eat them). Next time, I will make the glaze a bit thinner.

Happy Birthday carrot cakes with pink tinted frosting

I've also been moving out the snowmen and moving in the spring decorations (even though it is still snowing off and on here in western Pennsylvania!). My pink bunnies have really cozied up the bottom shelf of my corner cupboard. I have to admit the color pink is starting to grow on me :)

Pretty in pink bunnies

And the five St. Patrick's Day smalls that I made back in 2012 are back for March. I feel bad that I haven't added to my green collection, but there's always next year! I don't have an ounce of Irish blood, but I do enjoy the little leprechauns, four-leaf clovers, and luck-themed pillow on display to break up this long, often unpredictable, month of March.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now for my "something new" that I mentioned in my last post! I've begun dabbling in English paper piecing--I'm making hexies... What will I do with them? Well, I'm not sure. I don't think a quilt is in my future (but never say never!), however I can see myself using them for a smaller wall hanging, pincushion, project pouch, mug rug, or table runner. I've made them in three different sizes and, you know me--I'm extremely drawn to the smallest ones. Below you can see the 1 1/2 inch hexies, the 3/4 inch hexies, and my favorites, the teeny pink 1/2 inch hexies. I haven't gotten brave enough to stitch each piece of the flower together, but I hope that I'll have that done by my next post! I love making them and am using the glue-basting method which seems quick and easy. We'll see if I have trouble getting the papers out when the time comes! If any of you experts in hexie making have any suggestions, I welcome them!

Hexie happiness!

Oh, my--that was a long post! I hope some of you are still with me... Thank you, as always, for the wonderful comments and emails! I truly appreciate each and every one. And if you have any questions for me, please make sure to include your email address so I can respond to you. Enjoy your week, my stitching friends! Bye for now...