A Prairie Schooler Christmas

when I found this frame, I knew exactly what pattern that I wanted to stitch for it!

The Prairie Schooler #175 Santa's Night

Lucky for me, the ornament would fit perfectly,

so I stitched it right away.

The frame is battery operated and I just love the soft lights!

I think that this frame was made for this pattern!

I haven't packed it away yet and am going to have a hard time doing so...

Since I am sharing my latest Prairie Schooler Christmas finish, I thought it would be fun to share some vintage finishes that I photographed before packing away for another year...

I stitched this over one on black 22 count back in the day.

Still a favorite :)

It's framed as a shadow box with glass and hard to hide the glare of the glass.

This quilt was a gift from my Mom

she personalized it

and signed and dated it

I love the antique mother of pearl buttons in the corners.

Amazingly she made a second one for my sister that year!

My sister and I were both expecting that Christmas and our sons were born three weeks apart a few months later... Such wonderful memories!

Mom also made these for my sons one Christmas when they were little.

Joe loved trains and Alex loved fire trucks - so they were perfect!

Then a few years later Mom made my sister and I matching gifts again!

again signed

and dated!

Aren't they amazing?!

I am so lucky to have such an amazing Mom!

Love you Mom!

I have one more Christmas finish to share in my next post...

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, 

praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

~Luke 2:13-14

Blessings, Patti

A Prairie Schooler Year ~ April

My year of Prairie Schooler finishes from over the years continues.

Time for April as the month is quickly coming to a close...

I made these two as a set.

A pincushion

And a key fob.

Robins are a favorite bird of mine.

Stitched over one on 22 count.

I added eyelet stitches for the flowers.

An oldie for sure. April showers always make me think of ducks :)

Stitched over one, this made a sweet scissor fob.

Another finish from my over one days :)

I'm looking forward to pulling out my Prairie Schooler May finishes soon!

 You were set free from an empty way of life. This way of life was handed down to you by your own people of long ago. You know that you were not bought with things that can pass away, like silver or gold. Instead, you were bought with the priceless blood of Christ. He is a perfect lamb. He doesn’t have any flaws at all.

~ 1 Peter 1:18-19

Blessings, Patti

New Monthly Blog Post Series ~ 2016

For the past two years, I've had a monthly blog post series.

In 2014, I blogged each month about how I decorated my mantle.

You can view my mantle posts here.

In 2015, I blogged about a few Buttermilk Basin series that I was working on.

My year of Basin Banners are shown above.

For 2016, I've decided to celebrate my all time favorite cross stitcher designer, 

Prairie Schooler, in honor of their retirement.

I've been stitching since 1986 and have stitched Prairie Schooler designs on and off all through those years... I love their versatility and wonderful graphic nature.

The first Prairie Schooler finish that I would like to share isn't even mine!

It was stitched by Mom!

Mom stitched it to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and it has hung in our house ever since (and it always will!)

A true work of love.

Thanks Mom! Know that 30 years later, I still love this piece!

So here are my January Prairie Schooler finishes:

Wouldn't you like to move into this cozy cabin and do some stitching by a cracking fire?

Stitched over one back in 2002.

A little ornament that I bring out every January instead of hanging it on my Christmas Tree.

And my favorite little Winter scissor fob stitched over one in 2003 (when my vision was better lol).

The ribbon has seen better days, now that I look at it...

And I have decided that if we get a snow day in Chicago this winter, 

this is what I would start to stitch that day...

Wouldn't that be perfect?! One can only hope... :)

Now I'm wondering what Prairie Schooler finishes I will find when I pull out my February decorations...

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

~James 4:14-15

Blessings, Patti

How I spent my Presidents Day Holiday

I don't think that you want to see the piles of laundry, piles of dishes and just plain piles of stuff that I cleaned on my day off :) but I did have a finish...

"Anne Wilson"

by Tina Woltman of Early Workings

You can view her lovely designs here. 

Stitched on Osnaberg fabric in a primitive manner.

And yes, I still am unfocused...

I recently purchased a wonderful Abe Lincoln pattern from Joyce Reed Folk Art and was ever so tempted to start it.

Isn't it awesome? But I knew I couldn't start another big piece without some finishes first...

Then I remembered this design in my stash:

The Prairie Schooler #160 "February"

That little Abe Lincoln seemed like something I could stitch in a day...

and so it became this:

Yes, I couldn't just stop with Abe, George was begging to be stitched as well :)

With Notforgotten Farm's Farmhouse hand-dyed linen and WDW "Onyx" they became two prim portraits.

Of course they aren't "finished" yet, but hopefully this weekend.

It was a nice day off.

Back to busy season at work and the deep freeze in temps.

And back to trying to get some items finished!

No more unfocused starts for me... today :)

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

~Romans 8:38-39

Blessings, Patti

Early Spring Finish

It was a productive weekend! I was able to get some stitching in between basketball games - it was playoff weekend for my youngest son. After spending every year of his career on losing teams, he was finally on a winning team! Even more important was his soft-spoken coach who stressed good sportsmanship over winning and an entire team of wonderful teammates that high fived "good tries". It was so wonderful to watch my reluctant player blossom with this team to be the best that he could be :)

They ended the season in first place, made it to the championship game, but lost... After an initial disappointment, he is very proud of himself and his two trophies :)

Here's my finish:

"Lion & Lamb Sampler"

by The Prairie Schooler

Book #146 Daffodils

I love the backing fabric that I found for it.

Now to decide what to work on next...

I may not be back for a bit as we are taking a quick little trip for spring break.

I'll be packing my projects first ;)

Hopefully I'll have another finish when I return!

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. Selah
~Psalm 62:8

Blessings, Patti