miss b’s turkey, day 2…

i was asked by one or two readers, what size i’m cutting my wool for miss b’s turkey.  my guess is, i’m using about a size 8. the fact is, i’m simply tearing my wool as i go. sometimes, i tear a piece that’s too wide, but then i just cut it in half.  in any case, i’m making some progress…

miss b’s turkey

i’ll be starting on the background, soon, but in the meantime, i have tremendous support, right lilly?

“what are you doing? why aren’t you playing with me?” ~lilly

well, some of us are more supportive than others.  in fact, ellis is so, “i’m right there with you” that he’s moved into my hooking chair…

“snore….” ~the elly~belly

“ahhhh, this is purrfect…z…z..z.zzzzzzz” ~ellis

however, tomorrow is a new day, and i may just get to the chair first!

 

if you’d like to find miss b’s turkey pattern, or any of my others, you can click here.

enjoy!

 

~rebecca

 

miss b’s turkey, day one…

today, i started on miss b’s turkey.  i got to use my new, fabulous bee line townsend hooking frame.  I’ve been reluctant to get back to hooking (you can click here to see why).  and, while it wasn’t entirely paw-free, i enjoyed it thoroughly!

“this looks like the purrfect place to perch.” ~the elly-belly

i finally got a photo of my progress…

miss b’s turkey

as you can see, if you look past the actual hooking, my drawing skills leave lots to be desired.  i must have drawn the turkey’s head four times, with a sharpie no less, however, since i draw my patterns on my backing freehand, there are always lots of extra lines and blobs and various marks.  that’s simply the way i do things.  i know there are far more efficient methods, but i like to be comfortable.

what do you think, lilly?

“it’s a snake!” ~the lilly-lou-hoo

lilly likes to steal the wool strip that i am about to use and pretend that it’s an enemy.  once she reduces it to a pulp, she carries it around and mourns over it.

we have many turkeys in our neighborhood and woods.  some people think turkeys are ugly and awkward, but i think they’re extraordinary.  the females are amazing mothers, and the males are so graceful when they’re courting.  i’m proud of my niece for seeing the artistic side of our natural world!

 

until i can get to my hooking under all these cats…

be happy!

 

~rebecca

miss b’s turkey…

well, hello!  it’s been awhile.

 

i have a new pattern available in my etsy shop.  it’s my favorite, by far!

miss b’s turkey

my niece, miss b, created this fabulous artwork in school this year, and it was featured in an art show recently.  i asked her if i could create a pattern from it and she said yes!  so, now i get to pass it on to you.  it’s only $2 for an instant download and you can find it by clicking here.  all proceeds go to miss b.

miss b’s artist statement for this piece reads, “i was making a realistic drawing.  i thought that brown is a plain color so i mixed brown with some silver.  my art teacher helped me with my drawing.  she is amazing!”

 

one of the, many, things i love so much about her drawing is the turkey tracks.

what do you think about the turkey, lilly?

“i loooove turkey!” ~the lillykins

how about you boys?

“is that a turkey on the deck? i could catch that turkey!” ~otis
“i’m fairly confident that’s not a turkey, otis.” ~ellis

i think i’m going to start by making a rug from miss b’s design.  i’ll keep you posted on my progress!

 

enjoy whatever you find yourself doing today!

 

~rebecca

snowman and santa claus….

tomorrow is thanksgiving day, but my mind is on christmas…

santa drawing

i like to draw my patterns directly onto weavers cloth rather than creating a paper pattern.  it’s less work and it ensures that almost every piece i make from my own designs is one-of-a-kind.  ellis likes to help me with this process….

“i’m a tremendous assistant” ~ellis

i kept santa claus simple, using mostly red and white valdani floss.

santa claus

lilly is awaiting santa’s advent….

“santa? i’m watching the birds!” ~lilly

i like adding tags to my pieces, for some reasons.  maybe because they’re fun to make?

christmas greetings

the other piece i’ve been working on is a snowman.  snowmen are so cheerful!

snow!

of course, with snowmen comes cold weather, but otis knows how to stay toasty…

“purrrr…” ~the oatsy

and, lilly has a few how-to-stay-warm-on-a-cold-day pointers…

“first, find a comfy cushion, add a kitty heating pad, top with a blanket and crawl under.” ~lilly-kins

sounds good to me!

brrr!

the santa claus has sold but you can visit snowman on my etsy shop by clicking here.

wishing you warmth and happiness!

 

~rebecca

santas, santas….

here comes santa claus!

“where?” ~lilly
“where?” ~ellis

well, actually, you have to look indoors…

“where?” ~lilly
“where?” ~ellis
“where?” ~otis

i’ve been working on two santas this fall.  the first one is a traditional red and white…

st. nick

the tiny stocking he carries is fully lined and functional and was a total pain to make. 

what do you think ellis?

“zzzzzzz…..” ~ellis

apparently, ellis isn’t thrilled.  maybe the next santa will be met with more enthusiasm….

santa

personally, i love the muted colors of this santa.  and, again, the stocking he carries is fully lined and functional, and was a total pain to make.

santa doesn’t have to carry his stocking everywhere.

what do you think, lilly?

“i think i’d rather play with a tiny roll of wool than put together a tiny stocking.” ~lilly

i must say, i agree with lilly.

you can see the red st. nick on my etsy shop by clicking here.  the other santa has sold.

now, we just need some snow!

be well, friends!

 

~rebecca

jack and witch…..

is it too late to be creating with halloween in mind?  what does ellis think?

“halloween? i love pumpkin seeds!” ~ellis

well, whether it’s too late or not, i have been working on two projects.  a witch…

notforgotten farm “white witch”

and a jack…

a horse and a snowman….

if you’ve been following me, you know that i’ve been struggling with thumb pain for about a year.  that seems to have subsided (hooray!) so i punched a few things which resulted in an incredible burning pain from my elbow to my wrist.  ah, these things are sent to test us, aren’t they ellis?

“sh! quit complaining! at least your thumb doesn’t hurt anymore.” ~ellis

however, i was able to finish a couple of pieces.  one is an antique rug inspiration.  here’s the original rug….

antique rug

i love the muted background and the unexpected red and black highlights, don’t you ellis?

“what?” ~ellis

regardless of ellis’s opinion, i did actually finish my adaptation…

antique rug inspired

usually, when i finish an antique inspired piece i simply turn back the weavers cloth and use it for the backing.  this time i backed this piece with ticking and edged it with the same fabric….

back of “horse”

and added a pocket, because i love pockets (shouldn’t all clothing have pockets?), and a button to hold an id tag.

the other piece i finished was a little snowman…

“snow” snowman

these pieces are so fun to make, and they’re so happy!  This snowman is also backed with ticking….

ticking, ticking, give me ticking!

and a tiny pocket.

 

You can see these pieces, and more, at my etsy shop by clicking here.

 

wishing you some peace in this time of uncertainty.

 

~rebecca

whirligig….

i think antique whirligigs are wonderful!

antique whirligig

so, when i saw this one i thought it would be fun to play around with the design.  not everyone is thrilled by whirligigs, though.  take otis for instance….

“whirligigs make me very, very sleepy.” ~ the oatsy

and lilly, who is usually interested in anything that may move, shimmy or shake, seems, well, less than riveted….

“whirlizzzzzzz…” ~lillykins

when i asked my friends what, exactly, would thrill them, the answer was unanimous…

“crinkly paper!” otis, ellis and lilly

but, i’m sticking to my guns.  i love whirligigs and continue to be inspired by them!

so, i drew up this design….

whirligig design

…which you are welcome to capture and use.

then, i picked out my valdani colors….

gorgeous valdani perle cotton

they are, from left to right:

4 ~ sailors top and hat

5 ~ face, arms and feet

h205 ~ stars

p3 ~ whirligig stand

jp11 ~ background

o578 ~ oars, pants and tie

as it turned out, however, i decided to make one change…

a different blue

i decided to use:

1072 ~ for the oars, pants and tie.

1072 is very, very navy and seemed just right for a sailor.

once i got the whole thing punched it looked like this….

whirli almost finished

i then coffee stained it, backed it with ticking, and stuffed it lightly with sawdust….

whirligig finished!

you can see more of, “whirligig” by visiting my etsy shop here.

 

sail on!

 

~rebecca

snow….

it’s actually been so cool here that one could almost believe in snow.  so, it seemed a bit apropos when i came across this piece that i made a year ago…

snow

i’ve never been very good at sewing circular pieces, and this one is no exception.  it’s a bit wonky, like most things in my life, but it’s a fun celebration of one of my favorite times of year.

you can see more photos of “snow” on etsy by clicking here.

 

enjoy!

 

rebecca

new listings……

i have, amazingly, just added several “new” punch needle pieces to my etsy shop.  These are all pieces that i punched and finished last year, before my thumb started bothering me.  i’d forgotten all about them until recently.  you can find these items and several more by visiting my etsy shop (click here).  here’s a sampling of my new listings:

bunny stocking

angel pillow

polly minnick design, “St. Nick” pillow

bunny pillow

notforgotten farm design merry wreath

autumn leaves hooked pillow

autumn leaves tiny punched pillow

enjoy the day!

 

~rebecca