"So Sick Of Snow" Super Giveaway (Part II)

Do you want another entry/chance to win this pinkeep?

If you haven't already, go down to the other post or click this link to comment with your name and the state where you live. That will give you one chance to win either that Lacey Heart Pinkeep or the "Snow" penny rug.

I had said before that today I would offer y'all another chance for an additional entry to win this pinkeep.

Here's how:I'm going to plan a some vacation time for hubby and me. I need some ideas of where to go.

For an additional chance to win the pinkeep, in this post, tell me WHERE your favorite U.S. vacation spot is and WHY.

For the pinkeep winner, I will randomly draw a state first and then I will draw from the names who are represented in that state.

Your extra chance will be entered in whichever state you recommend for the vacation spot. Get it? :)

It has to be in THIS POSTING! Your other entry with your name and state where you live goes in the other posting.

I hope that's clear enough. :)

Here's my United States map as it looks this morning. ...
Each red dot is a reader comment for the giveaway.

You can see from the map that I still need readers in quite a few states yet. So if you see that your state isn't represented, it's time to COMMENT with your state and who knows, you might win something nice!

For the pinkeep, I plan to draw a state name first and then draw the names of the people represented in that state for the win.

So if you are the only one in your state that commented, then you have a better chance than someone in say ... Ohio.

Drawing will take place at 10pm, eastern standard time, tomorrow night (Feb 1st)

PS ... I love you ladies and the few gents that read! You make my day every day. The comments and especially the emails that I get from some of you are just so much fun. I appreciate the kind words, the words of support, the comical cartoons, and of course the pattern orders. It's because of all the kindness that I feel the urgent need to at least try to give back a little in return. The best way is the giveaways. So don't thank me for this. I'm doing it for payback.

Our grandson is still really ill. He has pneumonia. He's on the road to recovery, but it's so heartwrenching to see him so miserable. If you can, give a child or someone a hug today for K please.

Happy Day everyone.

New Pattern :” CatTails of Love”

For the "Oh So Sick Of Snow" Super Giveaway, you MUST comment in the post HERE to get a chance.
I can't accept comments anywhere else but in THAT posting. Ok? Good. :)
I now have this candle mat pattern almost completed and ready to go for preorder sales.
“CatTails of Love” measures almost 14” across. This mat only used the three different colors of wools; the light brown backing, tweed herringbone for the cats and red for the hearts.
This would look nice using wool felt too, for those of you who have difficulty finding the 100% wool.
I’ll have the special pre-order price of $8.00 (including shipping) for this until Tuesday evening. After that the regular price will be $9.50.
To preorder this, just click on the Paypal button which is under the CatTails of Love picture there on the left corner of this page.
If you wish to pay by check instead of paypal, just email me and I’ll send my address.
This special preorder price is good for all you international folk too. Shipping is included.
I should have this ready for mailing on Tuesday.
In other news, the grandson is sick with pneumonia now. It’s tough seeing him like this, but thankfully, Jen did see the warning signs and managed to politely force the doctor’s office to take him in to be seen late yesteday afternoon. The antibiotics should work quickly to get him back up and jumping about, like normal. He’ll be fine.
Poor thing just cuddled on my lap all afternoon yesterday.
Ok, so don’t forget to comment to enter for the penny rug and the pinkeep giveaway….

I’m keeping track of where everyone is from, just to see how many are from where. (the blue dots are those crazy Canucks)You can see, there are quite a few states that aren’t represented, so c’mon you people from Nevada and New Jersey and South Dakota etc. I’d love to see every state represented in this giveaway!
I’ve only watched the “Ellen” show a few times, but she’s doing a segment on her show where she’s trying to get world domination of her name. I want US domination for my giveaway. :)
That doesn’t sound too terribly egotistical, now does it? Ha!
Anyway, tomorrow, I will announce a way for all of you to get chances to get additional entries for the giveaway and it has to do with THAT MAP up there!
Comment in the post below this one for a chance to win the giveaways.
Ok, the pinkeep that I’ve shown for the giveaway …

The link to the posting where I show how I make the holes for this pinkeep is HERE .
I used to just use scissors, .. I’d mark the hole with a paper punch, cut an X in that, and then cut around the area. The hole punch will not work with the extra thick wool that I use to make these pinkeeps, so that was the only way. My husband let me try a special dye cutter tool that he uses at work. It works so much better and makes the job a lot easier. However, even with pressing hard and twisting back and forth, most times the hole still isn’t completely cut out, so I have to finish the job with scissors. The palm of my hand stays bruise for a week after doing just one of these. :)
Using thinner wool or even woolfelt would make this job a lot easier. I imagine that hole punchers, like those used in scrapbooking would work.
I have been asked about selling the pattern for this, and I actually do hope to create one, but I’d like to include in with the pattern, not just this pinkeep, but a lot of other things that can be made with this heart shape along with different detailing in the center.
Over the years, since I started making this lacey heart shape pinkeep, I’ve made not just pinkeeps like these …

I’ve made fridge magnets, a purse, wool mug rugs, lapel pins …

and candle mats

So anyway, I’d love to create one pattern that gives lots of different uses for the general design itself. I just need the time to recreate them all so that I can picture them all together.
I’m pretty sure that a regular hole punch would work for woolfelt so the pattern would just require woolfelt instead of the regular thick wool that I normally use.
In the meantime, the amazing and talented, Robin, from Bird Brain designs, has a similiar pinkeep as well as other darling heart pinkeeps on her website. so go here to take a look at them.
Her scalloped edged heart is very similar to mine but with different center details, so you could purchase that pattern and use some ideas from her site or mine to create your own pinkeeps. ..just don’t decide to make a pattern before me or else I’ll be forced to clobber you with a Qtip. :)
happy day everyone!

The “OH SOOOO SICK Of SNOW” SUPER GIVEAWAY!!

I know, I KNOW!  We’re all tired of snow.  Here in western PA, we woke up to more yesterday.  Today it’s really cold at only 10 degrees.

To add to the misery, my giveaway is … sorry, but it’s more SNOW!

Yes, indeed, this giveaway is for my “SNOW” penny rug.

So many of you liked the picture that I have of this penny rug on my sidebar to the left and nagged, pestered, asked me repeatedly,  so nicely requested that I make it into a pattern, I finally did!  :)

I’ve made a few of these over the last few years to sell, in fact I know of at least 3 regular readers here that own this finished mat.

I normally make it with super thick blanket weight wool and just wasn’t sure if the plump snow effect would be the same if made with regular weight wool.  The heavier weight wool is difficult to find and can be very expensive  so a pattern that required that weight wool would be difficult to sell.

Thanks to a lot of encouragement and yes, nagging, from some of my wonderful readers, I tried the regular weight wool and LOOK!  It did turn out nicely!

So in appreciation to all of those who did request this as a pattern, and so kindly encouraged me to try it with regular wool, my thank you will be to give this one away. 

It measures 15 inches across and I’ve used all 100% wools for this, with the darker tan color, hand-dyed.

If you don’t win, I will soon be offering the pattern so that you may make it yourself.

To enter for a chance to win:

make a comment in this post with your name and the STATE that you’re from.

*If you have a blog, you MUST be a “follower”.  I’ll happily welcome any new followers so if you wish an entry, just add to the friend list.

*If you don’t have a blog but are a regular reader?  That’s a pretty good number of you and I don’t want to ignore you.  Just make a comment in the post with your name and state that you’re from and you’ll get an entry too.

*I won’t accept emailed requests for entries this time though.  It’s just too difficult to keep track of you that way.  All entries have to be comments in this post.

*This is open to all those in our United States and I have to include you wacky Canucks too.  So Canadians, welcome!

*Since you Canadians don’t live in a state here, give your name and the state that you would like to live in if you had a choice. :)

There is a reason why I’m asking for the states and that part of the contest giveaway will be announced later.

I’ll give y’all until Monday, Feb 1st, at 10pm est to enter. 

I’ll also be adding a doorprize of this pinkeep.

This pinkeep is a design that I’ve made for quite a number of years.  I’ve made it with with so many different colors, I can’t even keep track of them all but this is the first that I’ve made it with the neutral tone on tones.  It turned out really nice, didn’t it? 

See all those little holes?  Each one is individually cut out by hand.  And gosh, I made this about a week ago and the palm of my hand is still bruised from doing it.  I’ve shown in a posting last spring how I put the holes in, so if you’re interested, go back and take a look.  Sorry, I don’t have the link for it right now, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.

I’ll announce later how I will award this doorprize .  It’ll be fun, I promise.

So for a chance to win either of these two:

“Followers” click on the “comment” link, make a comment, giving your name and STATE and you’re entered!

(Are you a “Snowbird”? Tell me which state you live in right now)

Those without a blog, just be sure to click the button where you can comment “anonymous”. 

Keep watching because in the coming days I’ll give  info about how to get an additional entry chance to win!

Happy Day everyone!

9 Words to Make an Unhappy Husband

Now mind you, I haven’t said these 9 words yet to my husband.

But I plan to, soon. He’s been working a lot of overtime lately, so a tired husband is not a good husband to say the 9 words to.

I have to wait until perhaps the weekend, on his days off.

“Sweetie, I’d REALLLLLY like to redo the dining room”

I’ve thought a lot about how to break this news to him. I could easily condense the 9 bad words to 7 words….

“I’m going to redo the dining room”

But I know what his repsonse will be …

“oh you are, are you?” Which means that he knows that I know that he will NOT allow me to do this by myself.

My husband tends to take charge of any house remodeling job whether I want him to or not.

The last project was 1 1/2 years ago.

The bad 8 words were said, “Sweeetie, I’d really like to redo the kitchen”. After about 4 months of HARD work, headaches, body aches and lots of money, we finished that project. It was a nightmare project. BUT … I have a beautiful kitchen now.

He knows that no one can do it as well as he, so after 34 years of marriage, I certainly know by now what I can and CAN’T do by myself around here.

This morning, when finishing up the cleaning of my dining room, I realized that it’s been probably more than 10 years since it was painted. It’s due.

What started my thinking for a redo was my dining room table.

Well, no, it was the penny rug table runner that I had to get a picture of before I send it out to the new owner.

Btw, anyone that has purchased the pattern for this “Oh Snowy Night” tablerunner,keep in mind that the length size is very adjustable. The customer for this one requested it to be 25” long instead of the pattern stated size of 18”. So you see, the design is very easy to adjust to the size that you need. Just add some extra french knot snowflakes.

So anyway, when taking the picture of this on my table, I was reminded how how the center table leaf isn’t a perfect match with the wood of the table.

A few years ago, after I had refinished this table, hubby and I took the tabletop up north to an Amish woodworker to have some table leaves custom made for it. We even paid extra to have him match the wood.

When we got it home, I discovered that the leaves didn’t match …

Can you see it in the picture? The center leaf has almost a pinkish cast compared to the table wood.

Also, I when I had refinished my table, I had put about 10 coats of gloss polyurethane on it for a really nice shine. The leaves were a satin finish.

I should have taken them back to the Amish guy to redo, but I didn’t. It was an hour drive one way and it would mean that they’d have my tabletop for another couple months so I just thought I’d live with it.

But I haven’t lived well with it. Because of the mismatch, I keep the table covered. Instead of showing off the beautiful oak, it’s covered up … and it shouldn’t be.

So this morning, when I uncovered it to get the tablerunner picture, I was reminded again of how much that mismatch wood bothers me and I’m just not going to put up with it anymore.

It shouldn’t take too much for me to strip off that finish, apply some stain and gloss polyurethane. I’ll have to wait for warmer weather so that I can do it outside. I don’t want those urethane smells in the house.

But that decision made me look around and see how badly the dining room needs a fresh coat of paint and a new chandelier …

We have an old home and this is the original chandelier. I don’t really like it, but yet, I’d like to keep it just because it is so old. (my daughters, when they read this, will both be screaming, nooooooooooo, because they hate this light).

It needs rewired though because we go through a lightbulb every few weeks in it. So this is where my husband takes part in the whole dining room redo.

He will allow/trust me to paint by myself , but he will have to rewire that light. Even if I did get a new one, the wires leading to the light will have to be replaced. That’s not going to be an easy job.

So I’m going to start making plans for room colors and figure out exactly what I’m going to do and then present the plan to him this weekend.

He’ll grumble for a little while, but ya know what?

He’s a sweetheart and he’ll help me get the job done simply because he knows if he doesn’t, I’ll do it by myself!

I’m taking the day off from home today. I’m doing lunch with my sister (casserole Carol) and then off to do some shopping.

On Friday, I will announce a very special GIVEAWAY. It will involve these 16 pennies so be sure to check back. :)

Happy day everyone! :)

Cleaning Day! It’s got to be done

Ok, you know what, I’m just going to embarrass myself into getting this dining room cleaned up today.  It’s become so bad it’s making me even battier than I already am. 
Here we go …

And really, if you want to embarrass me even more, just go ahead and click on that picture to make it bigger.  Go ahead … I know you want to make fun of my sloppiness. 
Yes, this is the corner of my dining room.  You see, I work out of my dining room.  Most of my stitching is done at the dining room table because it’s just so convenient to everything.  The computer is on the far left corner of the room, and this desk is on the far right corner of the room.  The tv in the living room  can be seen from the table where I sit with just a  glance up … it’ still quite a distance away but I can see it if I really need to. If my grandson is over for an afternoon visit, I can still play and be entertained by him and stitch too .. or get some quick stitches in while he’s eating a snack beside me.  It’s just the ideal spot in which to work.
It gets messy in here though.  And when dinner time comes, everything has to be cleared off the table and moved to another spot.  Then it gets really messy.
This old desk  in the picture tends to catch all the wool scraps that are left over from the project that I’ve finished up.  Ideally, the scraps go there and get put away in the wool room right after I’ve finished.  But lately, it’s just been so hectic , I’ve let it accumulate into this pile of mess.  The rest of the dining room isn’t looking much better and I’d happily embarrass myself ever further by showing more pictures, but the camera is PMS’ing today and the pictures aren’t clear.
Today, is the day that I’m cleaning this room out.  I’m tired of this mess surrounding me.  It’s making me unhappy and unhappiness is not something that I enjoy being around. 
When taking the picture of the old desk, I realized that I liked the little corner wall display that I have hanging beside it ….

I don’t have a lot of flat surface areas to display my penny rugs.  I’ve a few scattered about in the living room and entryway areas but generally, I have them hanging on the wall.  Penny rugs don’t have to lay, they can hang! 
That one with the hearts was from an “Art to Heart” pillow pattern that I have.  I converted it into this penny rug by adding tongues and then stitched a rod pocket onto the back so that I could hang it.  Since I always sign and date everything that I make, even when I keep it for myself, it shows that I made this back in 2004. 
The other little white on white basket of flowers mat beside it is made from wool strips.  That was back in 2006 when I started rughooking and had lots of wool strips to play with.  It’s not a pattern from anywhere.  I’d have to claim it as my own design, but what the heck, it’s not really a design, it’s just strips of wool woven into a basket shape and attached to a backing. 
I love this little mat and I’ll keep it forever.  It reminds me that even though rug hooking is fun to do,  stitching  is what my hands prefer to do.  Even when I was hooking, I was thinking of fun things to stitch with the wool strips.
Ok, you get the idea now, don’t you?  Don’t have room to lay those cute little candle mats and penny rugs that you’ve made?   Hang ‘em!
The lovely and delightfully vivacious Brenda from Pumpkin Patch Primitives has just informed me that she is kitting up the “Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch” pattern now.  She should have these ready to sell soon. 
In the meantime, go over to her site for a visit … she has lots  of drool-worthy patterns and kits to pick from that will help you get through this long dreary and cold winter.  She’s just a terrific person too … so give her your business!
Happy happy day everyone  and happy cleaning too! 

“CatTails of Love” Pattern

Look at this, I’m posting on a Sunday afternoon, which is virtually unheard of from me!

Since so many have asked, this is just a quick post to let y’all know that I will be selling the pattern for this candle mat.

I can’t take preorders for this quite yet because I’m behind on some orders for finished items and I’m still trying to catch up with the overwhelming response to the Scarecrow Jack pattern. I’m certainly not complaining about being too busy it’s just that I’m not sure how quickly I can get this done. Just check in once in a while and hopefully by the end of the week, I can start taking preorders for this.

This candle mat is actually inspired by our cat, Skittles. Or I should say the wool colors are inspired by her. She’s a nice mottled brown/black color. I look at her fur and think about how nicely that color would look in a hand-dyed wool. Anyway, the herringbone tweed that I used for the cats in the mat are a close match.

Here’s our Skittz …

She likes to lay out on the upstairs banister …

she has extra large feet that are like paddles and she hits us with them. When she’s laying like this on the banister, this is her look that says, “I”m going to take a swat at her head as she walks back downstairs”. She hits me quite often . She doesn’t do this to any other family members, just me. I guess I’m the swattable type.

She’s not real happy with me right now … I think I’m going to quit taking pictures.

Anyway, we adore this cat. She’s been around so long we’ve completely lost track of how old she is. We figure that she’s between 15 – 17 years old? That’s pretty old for a cat but she’s still as frisky …and annoying as ever.

In other good news … There’s now a beautiful shop in Gilmanton, New Hampshire that is now carrying all of my patterns. Patti Bradley, the owner of Badger Brook Farm has a full selection of her own beautifully hand-dyed wools as well as threads, other penny rug and needlepunch designs. She’ll be selling kits to go along with my patterns too so if you happen to live in that area, stop by her shop. I’m thrilled that she discovered me.

Things are going well and I’m feeling really blessed.

Thank you to all my terrific readers and customers. Y’all are so greatly appreciated. So much appreciated that I’m getting a nice giveaway ready. Keep watch in a few days for that. :)

Happy Football day everyone!

Another New One! “CatTails Of Love”

Just a quick update. Terribly sorry about all the drama from earlier. Because of alllll the kind comments and support, I did report the one seller to Ebay for copyright infringement. I did it regretfully. Now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did and I’m not going to cause any further drama by explaining why.
In less than 24 hours after I reported her, Ebay removed the listings for the 2 candle mats that she had made.
The other seller? I’m letting her alone for now simply because it’s not a blatant copy. She used my design and there are definite elements to it that are clearly my own signature look that many of my customers recognized … and the more I write to explain why I didn’t report her, makes me wonder myself, why, so I’m going to shut up now. :-X
Thank you to all who responded and a big thank you to my kind Ebay customers who brought this to my attention in the first place and the others who went waaaay out of their way to back me with support. You ladies are just wonderful.
I’m putting this behind me now and moving on to better subjects like….
My newest candle mat!
OOdles of thanks to Mary, my Ebay customer and blog reader, for suggesting the name.

I did have trouble with this one but I’m so happy that I stuck with it. This picture isn’t the greatest for the background color though. That tan background color is more of a caramel color.
I was in such a crappy mood the last few days because of all the drama, that I just couldn’t focus on this to figure out how to get it to look right. I was really ready to scrap it, but wisely, I left it sitting out on the dining room table. Every time I passed by, I had to look at it and think about it. It was just too plain and I didn’t know how to detail it up.
It finally occurred to me that a center ring area was needed and once I stitched it on, I knew it was perfect.

I used a nice black/brown herringbone tweed for the cats. You can’t see in the picture, but the wool has little flecks of red and gold in it too. I love those tweedy wools. I really need to push myself to use more of it in my designs.
They are so easy to find too, ladies. Go into any thrift store and venture over to the men’s sport coats. There is always a huge array of herringbones, tweeds, houndstooth wools. Sports coats are a nuisance to break down for the wool because of all the shoulder padding and tight interfacing, but the little bit of wool that you can get from a sports coat makes it well worth the effort to rip it all apart because once it’s washed and dried, it’s just wonderful to work with and always adds nice texture to your piece.
I know all of you who work with wool can relate to this … when I’m out and happen to see someone wearing something made of wool, I always take note of it .. looking at the quality, the color, and the amount of wool that is used in the sewn panels. Sometimes, if it’s a really nice camel hair jacket or something exceptional in color or texture, I drool. :)
I have to contain myself and not ask them to let me have their wool clothing so that I can rip it up and use it. Actually, I have asked some people. …
Btw, camel hair wool is SOOOO nice to work with and it dyes nicely too. If you see a camel hair jacket at the thrift store, grab it up! It’s so soft and dreamy. :)
Well, I’m off to babysit the grandson today. I’m looking forward to his company. Those 3 year olds just have a way of saying everything so cute. I’m really appreciating this age.
Happy Day everyone … and thank you all for the support.

A designer dilemma ... need advice

Ok, so here's what's up now. I usually don't even look on certain auction/sale sites just because I don't need the stress of seeing yet another person who has stolen something of my design without permission. I just don't want the hassle or stress of seeing it.
In this case, two different customers of mine have emailed me to let me know that two sellers are selling things of my design that I made and sold last year.
I have to say, the one seller has made an identical copy. IDENTICAL. The other seller has the exact design of a pinkeep which she incorporated into a candle mat.

While some of you may say that I should be flattered that they like my idea so well that they wish to make and sell it too, I have to think of my own reputation with just letting this go.
If these sellers continue to make multiple copies of each of these designs, that design will be associated with their name. If I happen to decide to make these designs into patterns to sell OR even if I want to make a finished one to sell myself, it's going to appear that "I" stole their design since they've more recently sold the item. Then if a claim is made against me for copyright infringement, I'll have the burden of proof.

I can easily get them shut off Ebay. I have the dated proof that I created these last year so proof is easy. All I have to do is report them, show my dated proof and Ebay will remove their listings, give a bad strike against their name and take away any monies they have made from my designs. I could email them and nicely ask them to remove it .. but that didn't work before. I was slapped down and insulted instead.

I don't want to create any more Ebay enemies. I already have one that hates me because I had to file a copyright infringement claim against her. She caused me and continues to cause me so much sadness, that I REALLY don't want to deal with any more issues which cause even more sellers to hate me.


I really don't know what to do. I don't want to be hated but I feel that I need to protect my designs.
This is just so depressing to me that I just want to quit altogether.

It’s Time to THINK Spring

Western Pa has been pretty dreary lately. Cloudy, overcast days with virtually no sun along with coldness can make even a happy person depressed.

I’m generally in a good, upbeat mood most days, but this weather is getting to me.

Ya know what I did? I went back through my picture files and looked at all my valentine and spring designs from last year.

I’m in a much better mood now.

Spring time is not far away and I’m going to start thinking spring.

I love flowers .. in fact, I have an obsession for putting flowers in most of the things that I make.

This is what I’m currently working on. And it doesn’t have flowers, although I could put a flower or two in this ….. hmmm …

It’s a design that’s been in my head for a while now but I just haven’t had the chance until now to draw it out and then see if it works in wool. It doesn’t have a name yet, although, when asked the other night, Rachel had me laughing hysterically at her many suggestions. And no, I’m not going to name it “two cats, one heart”

I’m going to change the thread colors in the face because as you can see, it’s a bit too dark and doesn’t show well from a distance. I think just lighter threads for the whiskers and the mouth will make a big difference. It’s the trials and errors of working out the design.

When I’m through with this one, it’s time to think spring with some new spring designs. The one that’s been flipping around in my head has already been named even before it’s birth. “Bunnies Splashin’

Thank you all for such a great response for “Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch” It’s by far been my number one best seller in presale orders.Tonight I’ll be raising the pattern price to the regular price of $9.50 so if you wish to get in on the special preorder price of $8.50, click up there on the Paypal button to purchase it.

The wool kits to go with this are just about sold out. As far as I know, right now, there are only 2 kits left so if you wish to purchase the kit for this, which will create this exact same candle mat, using the same wools, just email me and I’ll send you a Paypal invoice to purchase it for $40.00 plus $2.00 shipping.

Brenda, from Pumpkin Patch Primitives will be selling the kitted patterns for this also, so keep watch at her site in the next few weeks.

Happy sunny day, even with overcast skies, everyone!

New Patterns are in the Mail !

Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch is ready to be mailed out today for all those who’ve ordered him.

I got a terrific response to this pattern, so now I know that I’m not the only crazy one to make FALL candle mats in the middle of WINTER!
Thank you all for the orders. I really appreciate it. The funny notes and emails that come along with the orders always make me smile too. :)
The kits for this pattern are almost ready to sell. Jen, the local lady who is making the kits hopes to have them all finished and ready to mail for this Thursday. The kits will include all the 100% wools and threads needed to create this candle mat. The tweed wool for the hat will even come with light interfacing ironed on the back so that it’s exactly like the one that I have shown in the picture above. The pumpkins and the sunflowers are hand-dyed and the black background wool as well as the black backing are off-the-bolt and then felted, 100% black wools.
Price for the kit , including the pattern, will be $40 plus $2.00 shipping. There will be a very limited number of kits though, so if you’re interested, send me an email and I’ll put you on the list.
In other news, my “Love Ewes” finished wool candle mat is now listed for sale on Ebay. Go HERE to take a look.
Ok, the business is out of the way. Let me tell you what’s going on around here ….
This is “Pete”. Rachel received Pete as a gift from her boyfriend last year for Christmas. Our grandson, upon seeing the beta fish for the first time, dubbed him “Pete” for some reason and the name stuck.

Pete lives with us on the kitchen table during the times that Rachel is home from college. He goes back to college with her when she leaves today.
Pete is one of those pets that you neither love or hate … he’s just … there. He really has no personality and I feel sorry for him all alone in the vase, with nothing to do … but watch me cook.
Yes, Pete watches me cook and wash dishes. He really liked when I made nut roll right before Christmas because it was done close to him. He puts his face right up to the glass and really watches closely.
Pete gave Rachel a little scare last week. She came home late and discovered Pete at the bottom, not moving, not responding, not breathing. She tried various things that usually make him respond. She dropped food in. She tapped the glass. She SHOOK the vase. Nothing.
Pete was dead. Or at least almost dead.
Rachel didn’t want to see Pete floating the next morning so she picked the vase up and headed to the bathroom.
Disposing the remains by flushing was the best way.
Just as Rachel was tipping the vase to the commode, Pete suddenly came to life. I think fish must instinctively react when they see white porcelain because he made sure that Rachel knew that he was REALLY alive.
So Pete is alive and well now and Rachel and I appreciate him a little more now too. He almost died and I’m pretty sure that I would miss him if he had.
Sadly he’s going back to college today to “play volleyball” as K likes to say. When asked what Rachel does at college, he says, “she plays volleyball” so naturally, if Pete is living with Rachel, then Pete is playing volleyball too. I think he really believes that’s all Rachel does at college.
So yes, Pete and Rachel are leaving to go back to school today. It will be a sad next few days for me until I get used to having her gone, again.
And Pete won’t be around to watch me cook and wash dishes. Poor lil guy … I bet he’s going to miss that. :)
Happy Day everyone!

Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch Patterns

It’s been a busy week at the Wagner home.  I did finish up what will be my newest pattern design, which is the Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch Candle Mat.

I’m hoping today to get a blog shoppe up and running so that all my patterns  and finished items may be listed and easily viewed. 

The pattern is still in the printing stage so it’s not quite ready for mailing yet.  I hope to have it ready for mailing on Monday.

In the meantime, I’ll take preorders for this pattern at a special preorder price of $8.50.  After Tuesday (Jan. 19th) the price will go up to the regular price of $9.50. 

I realize that this mat is completely out of season, but y’all kept asking and asking and asking for the pattern, so it had to be done!

I’m also hoping to offer a  VERY limited number of  wool kits for this.  I’m currently working out the details with a local lady who is willing to do all the extra work required to put the kits together.  The wool in the kits will be exactly the same wool that I used in my picture.  The green shirt wools, the pumpkin wools and the sunflower wools are all hand-dyed, so the shading on the wools might be a little different. 

I will take preorders for the pattern, but since we haven’t worked out the pricing yet for the kits, I’ll announce later next week when they will be available. 

This finished “Love Ewes” Candle mat will be Ebay listed on Sunday evening.    You can go here to see my Ebay listings.

I want to welcome all the new “followers” to my blog.  I kinda lost track of who I’ve added to my own list so please be patient with me if you don’t see my name added to your own followers list.  I’ve been so busy here with orders and home related things that I haven’t had the time to devote to keeping up with the blogging activities.

I’m going to make the effort, starting today, to go through my followers list and get all of you added.  I can’t do it all in one day but over the next week or so, hopefully I can get caught up.  In the meantime, if you don’t see my name added to your followers list, please don’t be offended.  I just need the time! 

I really wish that they would make it easier to keep track of the Followers list so that I would be notified as the names are added.

Happy day everyone!

Think Spring while Stitching Fall (#3 Tutorial)

It's a great morning when I can wake up and not see it snowing outside. It's sunny out now and I'm actually scared to listen to the weather forecast just because I really don't want to hear when the next snow attack will happen. I just want to enjoy one day without snow.

This will be a quick posting to finish up the tutorial for ..... the "Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch" wool candle mat. (Big thanks to the Ebayer friend who suggested that great name!)

This is where I finished up yesterday and really, it could be considered finished, if I took out the basted threads and attached the backing on this. Just keep that in mind if you purchase this pattern, because the extras add a nice touch but if you just don't feel putting any more time into this, you can see the candle mat looks wonderful without the extra details too.

But I love to put details in so we'll continue on .... I've used scraps of the tweed hat and the green shirt wools to stitch patches on his hat and shirt. I just used a primitive whip stitch to attach the patches.

With a chalk pencil, I drew in the lines for the sunflower stalk and then stem stitched the stalks.
With the stalks, I want to be really careful to make all the stalks the same height so I measure up from the bottom, draw my line and then put the hook at the top of that line. If they are diffferent heights, the center candle area will be off center.

All the stalks are completed so now I just add the sunflowers.....

I attached the sunflowers by stitching french knots in the center of each flower circle. I backstitched the leaves to the stems and the sunflowers are finished.

Finally, with a chalk pencil, I drew in the vine tendrils. The tendrils are stem stitched and now, except for the backing, I'm done with this candle mat!

For the beginning first steps of this tutorial go here: Think Spring while Stitching Fall (A Tutorial)

Once the backing is stitched on, I'll direct my attention to getting the pattern for this ready to print. I hope to have that finished and ready to sell by the beginning of next week.

This particular finished candle mat is already sold. If you're interested in purchasing a finished one from me, just let me know. I would really love to put this design away until say ... early August, when it's more fitting in the season, but I know some of you are anxious to get the pattern so it's my job to make all of you happy as best I can!

I'm hoping sometime this week to start up another blog that will just have my patterns and finished items for sale. My sidebar on this blog is starting to look like Big Lots ... good purchases but messy displays.

If time permits ....

I need a secretary and about 4 more hands attached to me. :)

Happy Day everyone!

Think Spring while Stitching Fall (#2 Tutorial)

This is my continuation of the tutorial for the Scarecrow and Pumpkin Penny Rug Candle Mat.
I still haven't officially named this cute mat yet, but I've had some terrific helpful suggestions. Thank you to all for that help. I'm always amazed at how wonderful you ladies are. The charming emails that I get always brighten my day and believe me, with the weather we're having around here, my days need brightened!

Anyway, it never occured to me to name the scarecrow as some have suggested. It's a great idea. I love the name "Curly" for him. An Ebayer took the time to message me with the terrific suggestion of "Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch" ! I'm leaning towards that name now.
If any one else has any suggestions, please help!

Ok, on to more tutorial. I'm going to have the pattern for this ready to sell soon, so those of you who purchase the pattern will easily be able to come to these tutorial postings to help you along the way while making this yourself.
I shouldn't have to say this but have learned that I must ... Please don't steal my pictures so that you can trace the shapes to make this without the pattern. This design is copyright protected.

The scarecrow hat is ready to be blanket stitched on. I don't do this often, but I cheated and ironed on some lightweight fusible interfacing to the underside of the wool that I'm using for the hat. The tweed wool is perfect for the hat but it's a woven wool that didn't felt well so the threads fray easily. The interfaceing will hold those threads in place and since it's really thin, lightweight interfacing, the wool is still pliable and easy to stitch through. Like I said, I rarely use interfacing, but sometimes it just has to be done.

The hats get a green hatband which is whipped stitched around the edges in the same color. I then used lighter color thread and did a running stitch across the band.

Now it's time for my favorite part! Stitching the face!

I positioned the red nose first and whip stitched that on. It's just too tiny to blanket stitch.

The eyes are little french knots placed on either side of the cute little nose.

The smile was created with a backstitch and the french knot little freckles give him charm.

Of course he needs some straw hair. This is just random straight stitches with a few stitches hanging loose on both sides just to give it more dimenstion. I also added in some loose straw on his shirt

This is the results so far. I'm almost finished. But really, this looks great as it is now without adding anymore details, but I love doing the details so I'll continue on tomorrow to add patches on the scarecrow, tendril vines on the pumpkins and the sunflowers.

For the beginning first steps of this tutorial go here: Think Spring while Stitching Fall (A Tutorial)

For the last steps that complete this tutorial go here: Think Spring while Stitching Fall (a Tutorial #3)

I'll be back tomorrow to post the final steps for the Pumpkin and Scarecrow candle mat tutorial.

Happy Day everyone!