• Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Finale

    Knock-knock.

    Who's there?

    Mary.

    Mary who?

    What do you mean, Mary who? Where have you been for the last 9 weeks?

    🙂

    And so we arrive at the last section of our Sunday Mystery Sampler. I hope you've enjoyed yourself, and that the pace has been manageable for you. And if not, then I do hope you're able to find some time for yourself to sit still and stitch a little on something that brings you joy… stitching is certainly a lovely therapy for this bustling season we're in, and I thank The Lord for allowing me the pleasure of it.

    Week 9 Scripture

    SMS Week 9 PRINTOUT

    SMS II Wk 9 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE YOUR FINAL LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 9 Scripture
    Download SMS Week 9 PRINTOUT

    AND HERE ARE YOU FINAL LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER II:

    Download Week 9 Scripture
    Download SMS II Wk 9 PRINTOUT

    ETA: On Mary's Sampler II, you'll find a misplaced symbol in the flower. Just move this symbol down one square, and you'll be all set. 🙂

    ******************************************************************************************************

    IMG_9184 tp

    I had quite a fretful time waiting for Mary to arrive this week, as it was temporarily lost in the mail system… in the end, however, it turned up on my doorstep, and I was thrilled with what Sherri at Total Framing had done with it! I asked her to surprise me, and she chose to use this elegant gold lip (gold, a gift for the King!) surrounded by a rich, distressed wood (suggestive of the rugged cross God's Lamb would eventually face). Thank you so much, Sherri.. you have outdone yourself yet again.

    And I thank you for spending your Sundays with me these past 9 weeks. This sampler "journey" has been a delight for me, and I'm so grateful to you all for your kind words and for sharing your progress with me each week. I hope you've enjoyed stitching this little sampler, and that when you look at your finished piece, you'll remember that He is the Light of the world – not just at Christmas time, but every day of the year.

    May you have His joy this season.

    Love, Paulette

  • Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Part 8

    Hello to you on this fine Sunday morning! Can you believe our last week is next week? Next week! How exciting!

    Week 8 Scripture

    SMS Week 8 PRINTOUT

    SMS II Wk 8 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 8 Scripture
    Download SMS Week 8 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER II:

    Download Week 8 Scripture
    Download SMS II Wk 8 PRINTOUT

    ETA: There is a misplaced symbol on the flower in Mary's Sampler II. Just move the symbol down one square, and you'll be all set. 🙂

    We can do this! Keep on stitching! I'm cheering for you (and me)! See you next Sunday – same time, same place. 😉


    IMG_8822

  • Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Part 7

    Oh my, this is exciting! We're almost there…

    The verse for this week really struck me. It seemed like the softest thing that God was acknowledging about Mary. It doesn't change anything about what happened before or after Christ's birth; yet, it's there, right in the middle of everything that's going on… like something The Lord paused for, just for us to know that Mary, indeed, loved her newborn baby – God's gift of Himself to the world.

    Week 7 Scripture

    SMS Week 7 PRINTOUT

    SMS II Wk 7 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE YOUR LINKS TO PRINT OUT MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 7 Scripture
    Download SMS Week 7 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE YOUR LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER II:

    Download Week 7 Scripture
    Download SMS II Wk 7 PRINTOUT

    ETA: There is a misplaced symbol on the flower of Mary's Sampler II. Just move the symbol down one square, and you'll be good to go! 😉

    I'll see you next week for Part 8. We'll be in the homestretch!

    IMG_8816

  • Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Part 6

    It's the best time of year! Halloween is past, and it's time for the real fun to begin – with lots of baking, decorating, and counting down the days to Mom's turkey and Honeybaked Ham's ham and Dad's punch and Bre's (and  Josh's?) sweet company and Sabrina's snoozing-while-everyone-is-cleaning and Sophie's speedy texting and Mike's hollering at the tv because Tony Romo has made him very, very angry. I'm so excited!

    Welcome back to the Sunday Mystery Sampler! Your printable links are below.

    Week 6 Scripture

    SMS Week 6 PRINTOUT

     

    SMS II Wk 6 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE PRINTABLE LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 6 Scripture
    Download SMS Week 6 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE PRINTABLE LINKS FOR MARY'S SAMPLER II:

    Download Week 6 Scripture
    Download SMS II Wk 6 PRINTOUT

    Now go brew some coffee or tea and find your cozy place!

    IMG_8799

    IMG_8808

  • Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Part 5

    Welcome back! Is everyone still hanging in there? We've only got 4 weeks left after today! If you've fallen behind, or decided to just catch up at a later date, I'd like to gently urge you to get caught up as soon as possible (if you really do want a newly-finished sampler to begin your holiday season with!), because for both Mary's Sampler and Mary's Sampler II, the final week will take longer to finish than what our average motifs have taken us; I'd be sad if I heard you say, "Oh no! Why didn't I keep up? Wello shoot, now I may as well just go eat a gallon of Haagen Dazs." 🙂

    Your printable links are below the post, as always. 🙂 Have a lovely Sunday!

    Week 5 Scripture

    SMS Week 5 PRINTOUT

    SMS II Wk 5 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE LINKS TO PRINT MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 5 Scripture
    Download SMS Week 5 PRINTOUT

    HERE ARE THE LINKS TO PRINT OUT MARY'S SAMPLER II:


    Download Week 5 Scripture
    Download SMS II Wk 5 PRINTOUT


    Sms tp

    I'll see you all next week for Part 6!

  • Hodgepodge Cottage,  Stitching

    October Goodies

    Before the busy weekend descends upon us all, I have to show you a few things that are just too cute to not share!

    First, look at these darling new Needleminders from Kelmscott Designs… this one is a miniature version of the Owl Scissors, and although in the photo I've got it resting on a Jeanette Douglas Quaker Pincushion, you would normally attach it with its magnet to your current stitching project, so your needle doesn't go missing.

    IMG_8793

    Secondly, take a look at the tiny Steweb Needleminder! Isn't it cutest thing? You can see the Steweb Scissors laying in the background, to compare the sizes…

    IMG_8794

    What a fabulous way to store your needle! They lay so nice and flat on the fabric, and I just love them!

    And lastly, I am so in love with Bre's newest release.. she loved Halloween as a kid, and it definitely shows in her two new Etsy releases.

    Photo 2(3)

    I'm so bummed that Bre lives so far away from me, because I used to be able to swipe her models and display them in my house. heehee…. I do still have all of the models to her older patterns though (which I'm hoping she'll eventually add to her Etsy shop). The two that are there now are available for instant download, so if you'd like to order them (this one is only $3.99!), here is the link to her shop: Hodgepodge Cottage1.

    (Am I being terribly obvious that I'm very proud of her, so I'm trying to plug her new creations and probably embarrassing her to death?)

    I'm off to hurry and clean the house before my Sabrina arrives home.. she's coming back for the evening so that we can have our annual Chills and Chili night at my parents' house. We normally watch an old black-and-white movie and eat chili and whatever else we conjure up, but tonight we're going to drag my mother into the 21st century and make her watch World War Z. 

    Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you here on Sunday for the next installment of the Sunday Mystery Sampler!

  • New Designs,  Stitching

    Thankful for Thee

    Good morning! When I dropped Sophie off to school a short while ago, the sky was painted in the most beautiful array of pinks and purples and blues, and the clouds rippled out in a way that made it all so dramatic! It was so breathtaking, and all I could say was, "Thank you, Lord." What a Great Artist He is.

    Here's my next release for this glorious season of thanksgiving! (Although my "art" certainly doesn't do justice for it.)

    Thankful for Thee tp

    Thankful for Thee

    Stitch count: 132 x 83
    Fabric used: 40 ct. Olde Town Blend (1 strand of silk over 2 linen threads) by R&R Reproductions.
    Threads used: Needlepoint Inc. silks (128, 964, 346, 981, 316, 967, 724, 694, 122, 587, and 991).

    The model was stitched by Rindy Richards and framed by Sherri Berkman at Total Framing.
    (I think that olive wood moulding is some of the most gorgeous I've ever seen!)

    If you'd like to use DMC instead of NPI silks, here are the colors you'll need:
    300, 646, 730, 822, 830, 844, 920, 3045, 3064, 3371, and 3865.

  • New Designs,  Stitching

    His & Hers

    Back in Virginia Beach at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat, I released this chart at the boutique. Your shops will have them next week, so if you'd like yours to set one aside for you, be sure and give them a call! Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday (right along with Christmas), and I can't wait to finally have our family all together again. (I also can't wait to see who gets more of those sweet-honey-candied parts off of the Honeybaked Ham – myself or my dad!)

    H&H Stockings2

    His & Hers Thanksgiving Stockings

    Stitch count: 44 x 121 for each stocking
    Fabric used: 35 ct. Olde Town Blend by R&R Reproductions
    Threads used: Weeks Dye Works (Putty, Adobe, Chickpea, Oak,
    Cinnabar, Confederate Gray, Pelican Gray, Light Khaki,
    Oscar, and Onyx)
    Mini Rickrack trim in Cocoa and Cinnamon provided by: R&R Reproductions
    Buttons provided by: Just Another Button Company *

    (Finishing instructions are included in the chart pack.)

    * Shop owners, the button packs will be available through Hoffman Distributing.

    When I designed these little stockings, I envisioned Mr. Pilgrim being late in bringing dinner home, so to calm Mrs. Pilgrim's ire, he presented her with a large flower.

    I'm not sure if his plan worked, however.

    I'll see you soon with another Thanksgiving release! You may have already seen it on some blogs, but nevertheless, I'll be showing it soon, with all the info you'll need if you'll be wanting to stitch it.

    Happy Day to you!

    ETA: Both stockings are stitched over 2 linen threads.

  • Stitching,  Sunday Mystery Sampler

    Mary’s Sampler, Part 4

    With Halloween fast approaching, I hope your pre-Christmas spirit isn't being overshadowed by candy corn and goblins! 🙂 Here is this week's installment – and everyone say this in unison:

    "Please don't click on the images themselves, but use the links posted at the bottom of this post for printing."

    Very nice! Let's begin!

    Week 4 Scripture

    SMS Week 4 PRINTOUT

     

    SMS II Wk 4 PRINTOUT

    SMS wk 4 tp

    ************************************************************************************

    LINKS TO PRINT MARY'S SAMPLER I:

    Download Week 4 Scripture

    Download SMS Week 4 PRINTOUT

    LINKS TO PRINT MARY'S SAMPLER II:

    Download Week 4 Scripture

    Download SMS II Wk 4 PRINTOUT 

    Enjoy your week!