A Stitcher's Pocket

"A Stitcher's Pocket"

design by Maggie Bonanomi

This is the piece that I was working on when I dropped my spool of thread on the train...

I've had this pattern for quite some time. When I was at Boxwood & Berries, several of the ladies were using these pockets and it inspired me to pull out the pattern.

The design wraps around to the back. I pulled out my small collection of bone and vegetable ivory buttons and added a few of my favorites. The outside of the pocket turned out so pretty that I decided to add a little design to the inside.

Can you tell by the robin that I am ready for spring?
I love robins, they are my favorite birds...

Last Sunday I hosted stitch club at my house.
My friend, Kim, just finished her very first quilt:

Isn't it just awesome! Way to go Kim!

I'll be back on March 1st with pictures of my newest offerings for TDIPT Mercantile - A spring windowsill pillow and three more cross stitched needlebooks.

By influence of the Light divine
Let thy own light to others shine.
Reflect all Heaven’s propitious ways
In ardent love, and cheerful praise.
~Thomas Ken

Blessings, Patti

p.s. Thank you for all of your sweet wishes for our dear Orion. He is completely healed and doesn't even remember to limp for attention anymore :)

Poor Pitiful Pooch

Our sweet little Orion broke his dewclaw nail near the base while playing a favorite game with his ball. The vet had to remove the nail. Poor sweet baby! Of course I got him some special treats to make him feel better.

After about 24 hours, my husband pointed out that he only limped when we were watching and that he was doing it for our benefit. And you know what ~ it works :) my heart melts everytime!

As soon as the sun peeks out I'll be back with a few finishes...

Blessings, Patti

Another Lesson Learned...

Many of you that know me or follow my blog know that I stitch a lot on my commute to downtown Chicago each day to my day job as an accountant.

Over the years I've learned many lessons about seed beads, needles and working with white velvet while in a black business suit. (Click to read about my lessons...)

Today I learned a new lesson...

Today I was working on a wool applique project. Pretty simple, no seed beads, no shedding velvet. Or so I thought...

I was deep in thought while listening to an audio book and sitting in my aisle seat. I had finished a thread and it was time to rethread my needle. I pulled out my trusty spool of thread and purposefully yanked a long strand of thread from the spool when the spool flew out of my hand! It started to roll down the aisle! I quickly leaned out my leg as far as I could to try to stop it with my foot. But instead I kicked it even further down the aisle!!! Yikes! I need that spool to keep me busy on the rest of my commute to work and all the way home!

I quickly tried to jump from my seat while balancing my briefcase, purse, gloves, iPod and wool applique supplies while scurrying down the aisle. Of course I also tried to look graceful and nonchalant, but am guessing that I failed miserably at both of those.

I wonder what all the non-crafting commuters think of my antics?

But alas, my spool was retrieved and is now clasped firmly whenever I need thread. I made progress on my piece and will hopefully have a finished project to share this weekend...

I wonder what other lessons I could avoid by just being a little more careful???

Blessings, Patti

A Happy Valentine's Day!

Aren't these love birds beautiful?

The talented Mindy Raymond was so sweet to make them for me after I spent a bit of time coveting them from her wonderful blog ;)

The paper that she used is photocopies of her great great grandmother's journal ~ isn't that special?! Be sure to visit her blog ~ she is a prolific wool applique artist with a beautiful prim home!

I thought I would share a few of my Valentine decorations today...

Love the beautiful faded colors of these antique Valentines.

These are notecards made by the uber talented Lana Manis of Honeysuckle Lane and Simple Joys Paperie. I bought them a few years ago, with the intention of using them, but they are so beautiful, that I decided that I had to frame them and keep them for my very own...

I found this beautiful antique shirt cuff and incorporated it into my wool applique...

Sending each one of you love!

And wishing you a Happy Valentines Day!

Blessings, Patti

Work in Progress

"Valentine Vase"

by Winding Vine Designs

Last post I showed you some wools that I was working with...

This is the finished piece.

I wanted to do a Valentine's Day wool applique, but couldn't find a pattern for what I was looking for... so I had to sketch out my own design :)

We've received about another 4 inches of snow since the blizzard and now are in a deep freeze for the week. Mostly we are below zero with highs in the single digits, so I needed something to warm my heart!

I received this great package in the mail from Country Sampler.

Maggie's new book, Stacy Nash's club kit and some great wools (love the striped wool on the far right!) and ribbons.

Maggie's Book of Days seems like a daunting project, but I am thinking of just working on one month at a time. (Do February now, and March in March, etc.) Then after a year it would be all done...

Now I have a quandry...

Do I keep working on this Heartstring Samplery piece?

Or do I start Stacy Nash's club kit in hopes of having it done for Valentine's Day?

Such tough decisions!

"Lead us to listen,

to hear the heart speak.

O God in the quiet voice

draw us to you."

~The Anointing by James Maher

Blessings, Patti

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm!

The morning after the Chicago blizzard, we opened our window shades to this view. Luckily we found that we had one window that was clear. Only to see that it was still storming... Throughout the blizzard we lost our t.v., phones and internet, but luckily although our lights flickered the power stayed on.

This is our backyard with a five foot wood privacy fence.
How deep could it get?

Finally the snow stopped.
When we tryed to get out to assess the damage, we realized that all our doors were stuck shut from large snow drifts. It took time and patience, but we were able to get our back door open. My youngest son toughed the trek to the garage for the shovels and shoveled his way back.

Orion, always the helper, ran out to help.

Where's your coat Orion???

My youngest son also tackled the climb up the mountain (front steps) to clear off the front door.

He rewarded himself with a dramatic jump!

Here is our side entrance still snowed in...

And when we opened our garage door, we were greeted by another wall of snow.

Here's Orion properly bundled up in his new winter coat.

Doesn't he look dashing?

I couldn't sleep at all the night of the storm between the thunder, the windows rattling, and all the funny sounds a house makes in gale force winds.

So instead I listened to news radio and stories of people trapped in their cars for hours and hours on end. (How blessed I was to be in my warm bed!) And I thought about a new wool project that I wanted to start on right away. I sketched it out in my head. And after all the shoveling and picture taking was done, I selected my wool colors. Hopefully I'll finish it and share it this weekend.

Thank you to all my wonderful TDIPT customers for your tremendous response.

I hope to deliver your packages to the post office on Saturday morning.

Can I fill those packages up with a little snow too?

"The snow is snowing,

the wind is blowing,

But I can weather the storm.

What do I care how much it may storm?

I've got my love to keep me warm."

~Irving Berlin

Blessings, Patti

February blows in with a Blizzard!

The blizzard predicted for Chicago arrived right on time ~ 3:00 p.m.

I left the office at 4:00 to face gale force winds as I walked past the Trump Tower on my way to the train station. My 45 minute commute took 2 hours and 45 minutes. Every cloud has its silver lining, mine was plenty of stitching time on a warm train as the fearless workers tried to unfreeze the train track switches. Isn't it perfect that I am working on this beautiful piece from Heartstring Samplery? You can purchase her patterns here. I accomplished a lot on the big band of icicles.

I think that I am ready to put away this scissor fob for another year...

Enough snow already!

It's the first of the month and the TDIPT artists have updated their offerings.

There are many lovely items with a heart theme :)

This month I'm offering heart shaped pin books

And cross stitched needle cases (another Heartstring Samplery design...)

I'll keep you posted on how much snow we receive from this blizzard. The windows are rattling and the lights are flickering, so I know that the wind is still really blowing. They say that the heaviest snow will come in the middle of the night.

Stay warm and work on something that warms your heart.
That's what I will be doing ;)

Blessings, Patti