Finished Projects...

Brynwood Needleworks - BW Embroidered Floral Pincushions

 

I completed these embroidered floral pincushions over the weekend. Stitched on linen, embellished with ribbon flourishes, and filled with crushed walnuts, these pincushions will be available in my shop later today.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - BW Floral Pincushions

 

The same quilted fabric on the front is used on the back. They're perfect for your sewing table, or for displaying your favorite pins on your dressing table.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - BW Dusty Rose Pincushion - Detail

 

I'm sharing closeup images of each embroidery and ribbon detail.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - BW Ivory Rose Pincushion - Detail

 Same for this one.
 

Brynwood Needleworks - Completed Floral Embroidered Mat

 Drum Roll, Please...

 

I completed the embroidered mat, too! I cut it to a smaller size to eliminate the error I made by using a permanent marker (by accident), and as suggested, tucked the lace into the seam. I'm happy with the result. What do you think?

A (Near) Future Pincushion...

Brynwood Needleworks - Rose Embroidery WIP

This embroidery is just waiting to be finished into a pincushion. I've chosen the main fabric, and will add a few others to sew together. I'm planning to do that over the weekend. 

The weather was perfect for helping Handsome get the yard mowed yesterday. I operated the riding mower, and he did the handwork. We're supposed to have more moderate temperatures and sunshine today, so I'm going to try to get some of the hollyhocks trimmed and tamed. The heavy rains and wind we had last week really wore them down. They're dropping seeds all over the walkway to our front door - to say nothing of the nine foot stems that now bend over the walk. I'll harvest some of the seeds, and the rest will go down to "the habitat" where the birds can eat them.

Of course, when I'm in the house, I'll be needle dancing. I'll show you my project progress on Monday. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your weekend, too!

New Linens...

New Linens For Brynwood Needleworks

 

New linens arrived yesterday! I have some special things planned for them, and I can't wait to show you how I'll use them. I'm going to have fun playing with each and every luscious color.

 

Can you even believe it's already March? Where does the time go?

A Gift And Today's Class...

If wealth can be measured in loving friends and family, then I'm rich

beyond measure. Over the years that I've been blogging, I've "met" 

some truly loving and generous new friends. I've written about many

of them in the past, so my friend in today's post will not be unfamiliar to

you. Her name is Sherry and her blog is Createology. If you haven't

visited her site yet, you don't know what you're missing. She's so kind

and generous, and today I'm sharing just another example of her talent.

Last month, I sent a little gift to her and was honored to find a lovely

post she wrote about it (here).  When I sent my package to her, I really 

didn't do so expecting a gift in return, so you can understand my glee

to find a package in my mailbox from her on Valentine's Day!

When I opened the box, the contents smelled of cinnamon and spice! Inside I
found a stacked pillow pincushion sewn in a linen-colored fabric.They were tied
together with a red grosgrain ribbon, and topped with a white, sparkling pinecone.

 Sherry completed her gift with three handcrafted, beaded pins and

a sweet note. It was a thoughtful gift from her hands, and I'm so

grateful that she made it just for me. Thank you, dear friend.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 No Coffee Club for me this weekend. 

Today, I'm the student, taking a class sponsored by our quilt guild.

I'm going to learn the "Quilt As You Go" technique.

The fabrics that you see in all the photos with Sherry's pincushion are

the fabrics that I'll be using for my project. I'm looking forward to trying

this technique, and we'll be creating a traditional "Drunkard's Path" pattern.

I firmly believe we should never stop learning, so this should be a lot of fun!

Sunday Scripture...

"...and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

Revelation 19:8 (NKJV)

Beautiful hand-dyed linens and vintage German linen laces from my own collection.

My First "Wild Hare" Wednesday Post...

Thanks to Michelle from Tales of The Raspberry Rabbits for hosting "Wild Hare" Wednesdays! If I understand correctly, we're supposed to give examples of when we were struck with a "wild hare" and did something completely wild, silly or outlandish. Well, my dears, I think that my posts from the last two days are quite outlandish enough for one week, so instead I'll tell you about how I was struck yesterday with a "wild hare".

Before

In the middle of being "up-to-my-hoo-ha-in-alligators" - trying to complete my Christmas projects - I realized that I had more of a mess than I could tolerate. If you're like me, once you start creating, the mess kind of takes over until you finish the project. As I've had multiple things going at the same time, I just couldn't stand the chaos a minute longer. So, in the middle of all my projects, I tore my studio up a bit more...and cleaned.

I also realized that if I got out Miss Ellie's little sister, Prissy (my Babylock Espire quilting machine), I could actually be doing embroideries on one machine while I sewed on the other. It takes up a little bit more room, but time saved will be worth it.

After

It may still look chaotic to you, but I have clean work spaces and open tables - plus the second machine set up - so it's going to work great for me until after my Christmas Workshop closes for this season!

Here's what I managed to finish yesterday, in spite of the "wild hare" to clean up my studio (hear me roar!)...a set of lavender & wool-filled linen sachets, an acorn ornament, and a linen pincushion with linen lace and hand stitched trim.
The lavender & wool-filled sachets have mother of pearl buttons (a heart, a moon and a flower) and sweet little bows as adornments. I then wrapped them together as you see in the photo above, tying them with a brown ribbon and my signature acorn charm.
Do you think you'd like to see some of these in my Boutique? Perhaps after all the mandatory holiday projects are completed...

One last bit of information. Debra of Common Ground won my Ten Things About Me contest yesterday, but I neglected to share what she won. (sheesh!) I went back and added it to yesterday's post, but I wanted to show it here, too. I've been working on perfecting my needle keeps. All my prototypes were mailed out to the winners of my Followers Only Birthday Giveaway - imperfections and all. I made a number of new ones with my Brynwood label on them, and Debra will receive one of the new designs. I'll be selling these in my Boutique soon.

Be sure to go to Dawn's The Feathered Nest. She's having a wonderful giveaway to celebrate 1200 posts and 400 followers! Congratulations, Dawn on an awe-inspiring accomplishment! You can click on the button here, or in my left sidebar to go to her drawing. Hurry! It ends on Dec. 13th!

A clean studio and a few finished Christmas gifts. Not bad for my first "Wild Hare" Wednesday, I think. Have a great day, and May All Your Hares Be Wild!