Opinions appreciated and a winner

 

I haven't had much time for stitching lately, but when I have a moment or two this is what I am working on...

"Liberty Inn" by Plum Street Samplers for The Inspired Needle's Summer Seminar

 

On Paulette's original design, she backstitched around the quilt stars on the house.

Right now I am agonizing...

Should I back stitch the stars on the house so that they really stand out?

Or should I leave them as is for a more subtle approach? 

 

I've been agonizing about this a lot and can't seem to make up my mind :)

What do you think?

(I am realizing now that the sun was too bright in this photo and the colors look very washed out on the screen, but you get the idea.)

 

Thank you to the 43 entries in my giveaway!

It was fun to hear what you like to hunt for when antiquing.

Random.org selected #40 as the winner - Lorinda from Massachusetts!

Congratulations Lorinda! I will get your package on its way shortly.

 

I've been traveling a bit more and celebrating some special occasions that I hope to share soon.

Just need to find a bit of time...

 

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

~1 Corinthians 12:27

 

Blessings, Patti 

July Mantle and More...

My goodness, where does the month go?

I seem to always be posting my mantle when it is almost time to take it down :)

My July mantle features my almost always present antique punched tin lanterns (the one on the far left has a punched star design ~ appropriate for the month), an antique eagle snowbird, an antique red iron barn star and Rowe pottery in patriotic designs.

The bunting is a Maggie Bonanomi design (a Country Sampler Girls Club kit from several years ago) made of gauze and wool.

On the hearth, antique bunting and aged flags.

The graters contain timer candles that glow so pretty at night.

Also on the hearth, a Maggie Bonanomi flag mat and a pillow that was also a Country Sampler club kit.

Two more Maggie kits and assorted antiques.

Hmmm, I'm realizing that July is my Maggie month.

I did this one years ago, but still love it :)

And a last Maggie design.

48 star antique gauze flags with Rowe pottery from their historical collection.

Antiques with my latest piece of antique flag bunting along with my own Winding Vine Designs original velvet cherries.

There is still time to enter my giveaway, just click here.

"But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

~1 Corinthians 12: 24-26

Blessings, Patti

Stitch Camp Finale & a Giveaway

All too soon, the final day arrived. 

I had to show you that Faye of Carolina Stitcher was with me in spirit at the camp - I used the wonderful project bags that I won in her giveaway and received many compliments :) I thought it was so appropriate as Faye had used a Stacy Nash design :)

One of the best parts is time spent with kindred spirits - both new friends and old.

I had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful stitchers (& designers) from places as far away as California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and New York!

It is also so inspiring to see the wonderful finishes and works in progress that people bring with

Fran brought with this incredible hardangar runner that she is working on. 

 At the end of the camp, Jeanne and Stacy had a drawing of the "overachievers" - those that finished their book construction and tray sides - there were several of us. I was so thrilled when they drew my name!

This is what I won:

A lovely pinkeep made by Stacy herself!

What a treasure that I will cherish!

Thank you Jeanne and Stacy for such an incredible camp!

If you ever have the opportunity to attend an event at Country Sampler, Go! You won't be dissappointed, and will create memories to last a lifetime.

You can't be at Country Sampler for four days without doing some shopping.

Here are my purchases:

I bought a few wool kits for Maggie's last book and couldn't resist a great deal on "The Maine Project"

by Blackberry Primitives. I have been thinking about it for a while and it was on sale so I couldn't pass up the kit. I think there are a few left here in case you can't live with out it as well. :)

On my way home, I took my time and did a bit of antiquing. 

Thought I would share a few things that caught my eye, but that I didn't buy...

Love the textures

and the patinas.

This is what did come home with me - a tramp art frame (to be used for some stitching), antique velvet, a flower frog to hold antique thimbles and my favorite find! An incredible rughooking - the wool strips so fine that they are almost as narrow as yarn. The colors and detail are wonderful. It is framed in wood and can go right on my wall.

Isn't it fantastic? And the best part:

On the back is its history along with...

a newspaper article from Maine on Ethel Fitzgerald, the woman who created it.

I am just thrilled with this find.

I think it will be pretty hung with a find from a few years ago.

A watercolor of a similar mill found at an Estate Sale.

You have been so kind with your comments while I rattle on and on, so I would like to have a little giveaway.

Since I now have the kit - I have an extra pattern for the Maine Project along with three pieces of different vintage wool army blankets. 

This giveaway is open to everyone. Simply leave a comment on this post or send me an email to pgagliardi9@hotmail.com with Maine Project in the subject line and tell me - what are you looking for at antique stores these days?

I will pick a winner on Sunday.

"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."

~1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Blessings, Patti

Stitch Camp Part 2

I loved that the camp agenda each day was posted on the board.

What a special day!

Our project today was working on this sweet velvet book.

Our day also included a special field trip.

A leisurely walk to the lovely home of Ruth Haas.

I was fortunate enough to visit Ruth's house back in 2011 and was so happy to return.

Here is a photo of our group that Ruth was kind enough to take.

Ruth's home was even more lovely, if that is possible :)

sweet vignettes

sweet views

sweet kitty

sweet pup

such a comfortable and welcoming home.

If you would like to see more of Ruth's home, click here.

Ruth had a tag sale for us with some wonderful antique and folk art offerings.

When I visited her several years ago, I fell in love with a wonderful antique mirror in her bathroom.

(You can see it in the linked post above.)

I've been on the look out for a similar mirror over the past few years, but with no luck.

I was so happy to see it in her tag sale and thrilled that it was able to come home with me!

 Here are my purchases from Ruth's sale:

A lovely fraktur by folk artist Pat Gaddy,

the long coveted mirror

and a little carved house.

After our field trip, we headed back for more stitching.

While we were stitching, the husbands of Jeanne and camp counselor Selma cooked a fantastic traditional Wisconsin Friday night fish fry for us! Yum!

What a great way to end another perfect day!

And here is what I accomplished so far on my velvet book :)

Still more stitch camp to come...

"To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

~ 1 Corinthians 12:8-11

Blessings, Patti

Stitch Camp Part 1

Last Thursday Stacy's Stitch Camp officially began at my favorite store :)

In my last post, I mentioned that I was assigned to "The Eye-lets" table and here we are:

Stacy and I are in the back and Kim and Ella are in the front.

It was so much fun to realize after a few minutes of chatting that Kim is my dear blogging buddy from ilovesamplers blog fame! Kim is also an artist from Early Work Mercantile.

What a treat it was to meet her in person and get to know her better. 

Both Kim and Ella make lovely jewelry ~ they are talented in many mediums!

I was so blessed to share a table with them!

Our first project to work on was the stitching tray. 

Stacy said she wanted to start with the hardest part ~ cutting the double mat board for the foundation of the tray. She was right! After that part, everything else was fun!

This is what I was able to accomplish. I finished the four sides, started stitching the base and made the two fat strawberries for the scissor fob.

The meals were all fantastic and after dinner we stayed and stitched a while.

I stayed at the Spring Green Motel and headed back at sunset.

Some beautiful flowers and a robin were there to greet me.

The gardens at the motel are so lovely this time of year.

 They do a wonderful job and there was nary a weed (unlike my own garden :)

There is a trickling waterfall and pond in the back.

And these flowers were outside the breakfast room.

 

The breakfast room became the community stitching room late into the night!

We even met some sweet quilters from Canada that happened to be staying at the hotel. They brought along their sewing machines. We had lots to chat about.

Stitching that night I finished this:

"Dream Big"

design by Maggie Bonanomi 

for Country Sampler's Girls Club 

And this is where it now resides.

(Sorry about the lighting...)

More Stitch Camp posts to come...

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.

There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

There are different kinds of working, 

but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

~ 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Blessings, Patti