A Doe, A Deer

And Heaven and Nature Sing

Kathy Barrick

NPI Silks, Vintage Pecan Butter

The last time I shared my progress on this piece AppleJack said it looked like a coffeetable with wonky legs.  Hopefully this time it looks more like a deer.  There is still work to be done.  At least the deer has all four legs and a head.

Music City aka Nashville, like other parts of the country has been experiencing some bitter cold temps and we currently have eight inches on snow on the ground, a record.  Time to hunker down with warm wool socks and stitch. 

Here is a recipe for killer Hot Chocolate recipe I found on Pinterest, very tasty and loaded. 



Polar Express Hot Chocolate
1.5 cups heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
6 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Needlework, cold temps and snow, warm socks and hot chocolate--try to find the best about each season and enjoy it.

American Eagle

Like many of the things in my life, I have many thoughts about blogs.  I love reading them, seeing the creativity, reproducing tasty recipes, seeing growing and changing families,  people sharing the highs and lows of their life.  Blogs are time consuming.  It takes time to take photographs, download them and write a post.  I miss those who have stopped posting on their blogs and am delighted when someone reappears.  

Blogs help me to find the creative side of myself.  For example, Gail, The Middle Sister shared photographs of the home of a friend.  While enjoying the home tour, Gail had a photograph of a hooked chair pad.  My creative juices started flowing and I went searching through old issues of Primitive Quilt magazine until I found an eagle motif.  Out came the freezer paper, out came the wool bins and soon I had drawn (traced) off my own eagle for a chair pad and selected wools.

So. . .once again, reading a blog gave me an idea.  I think an American Eagle chair pad will work nicely in this chair.

Jo's Little Favorites and Organization

Santa did find his way to my house during Christmas.  He didn't come the usual way "eight tiny reindeer pulling a sleigh."  Santa came with hip boots and driving an outboard motor boat because we had rain, rain and more rain and it stopped raining  long enough to rain some more.  Santa was kind enough to leave some cabbage (money) in my stocking.  Santa being the intelligent guy that he is knew one of the items on my Christmas list was Jo Morton's new book called Jo's Little Favorites and Santa knew this book was being released in January. 


While waiting for my delivery, I did some more shopping with my Christmas cabbage (money) and found these.



They are fabric boards from Primitive Gatherings.  In Lisa's words to help me organize my "collection" of fabric.  The fabric boards will help me to clean up my sewing room and it will be so enjoyable when I am auditioning fabric.

So what does a girl do while she is waiting for Amazon to deliver her new book and USPS to deliver fabric boards?  She goes fabric shopping!    I found a new to me fabric shop called Whittle's Fabrics.  Whittle's is located just outside Smith's Grove, KY which is about a 70 mile drive from Nashville.  They carry some of favorite designer fabric:  Judie Rothermel, Jo Morton, Buggy Barn, Marcus, Primitive Gatherings, and Windham.  The price per yard of fabric is very affordable and fat quarters are even more affordable.  I left Whittle's with a big smile on my face and an arm load of fabric!  They have a web site and if you are looking for fabric at discounted prices they are worth a look.







Time to break in my new book and get started on a new quilt

Christmas 2016

Welcome 2016!  While I was packing away Christmas decorations, I found these embossed prints.  One of the reasons, I seldom organize my sewing area is after my cleaning and organizing I can never find anything.

I had "organized and packed" Christmas decorations so well, I had forgotten I had these.  The top one is called Christmas Album and the bottom one is called Poinsettia.  Since I will never be able to appliqué or reproduce such miniatures, I resorted to the next best thing--embossed prints.  Now, that these treasures have been located, I will be sure to include them in Christmas decorations 2016.

And Heaven and Nature Sing

The time between Christmas and New Year's is wind down time for me.  After all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I use this time as quiet time to pack away Christmas, start my holiday list and work on projects.  Each year I try to stitch one Christmas design.  This is And Heaven and Nature Sing.  I asked AppleJack what he thought and he told me he thought it was a Queen Anne coffee table whose legs are gone amuck!  Hmm, guess I need to get busy on that deer.

Country Sampler--Stacy Nash Girls Club

December 25th Pinkeep

Have also been working on the last Country Sampler kit by Stacy Nash--will make a great addition for the dough bowl.  Thank goodness this design does not require a great deal of concentration as AppleJack and I have been watching College Bowl games.  The stitching is much more enjoyable when our teams are winning.

Christmas Dishes



Only two more sleeps until Christmas!  Whew, is time flying.  Time to dig out the Christmas dishes.

 





 

The Ruby Red vases were a gift to AppleJack from his great aunt--the reds are playing nicely with each other.  (just need to add some greenery)

The solid red dishes came from Wally World aka Walmart.  I'm hoping Santa has some more of these red dishes in his sleigh.

 

 

One of our traditions is a BIG country breakfast--homemade biscuits, milk gravy, country ham, fresh squeezed orange juice, blueberry jam or molasses, scrambled eggs.  Yum Yum  Sometime during the day we will take a long walk to burn off some of the calories and enjoy the quiet of nature.

Early Arrivals from the North Pole

2015 Stacy Nash Primitive Handwork Club

Country Sampler Spring Green, WI

 I can't wait to  sink my needle into this beauty--primitive, Christmas and Stacy Nash--a great combination.  

2015 Colonial Gathering Club

On Redware Road, The Scarlett House

Another beauty with wonderful fiber colors and birds on big flowers with a tall house.  My style all the way.

Merry Two (A Bowl Full of Merries)

Plum Street Samplers

I was asleep at the wheel when Paulette released the first Merry and missed ordering.   If you are listening Paulette please release this design again.  Santa, the reindeer and sleigh and a snowman--what's not to love?  This will be a great addition for either my tree or dough bowl Christmas 2016.

Little by Little Ann Pennsylvania Peacock. 

 Ann has been patiently waiting in my stitching bag for a few years.  Am taking some liberties with Ann she will become Anne Magnolia Jackson, AppleJack's Grandmother and will be a gift to his daughter and granddaughter.  With a name like Anne Magnolia she's just calling to have her own sampler.  One of my challenges with Anne has been converting the fibers to NPI silks and finding just the right sampler fabric.  One of the things I miss most about loosing LNS's is the linen.  I am a visual person and buying linens on line is just not the same as seeing it in person.

Another design which has been in my stitching bag for a few years (gulp).  AppleJack treated me to a pair of Dovo scissors just for cutting wool.   Am trying a new product with this applique--hope it works out.  Am told the secret is heat, heat and more heat when pressing the wool

Home for the Holidays

When I moved into my first apartment (a 100 years ago) and started doing needlework, I decided I wanted to have a Christmas tree with all handmade ornaments.

 



It has taken many years and I finally have a tree with handmade ornaments. The tree is a table topper tree and if I decide to go to a larger tree it will involve more stitching.  The tree sits inside my dry sink and is in Grandmother Bessie's room. At night with the tree light's on, the room seems magical.

Each year, I try to stitch at least one Christmas item.  This year I added Just Nan's Merry Christmas.

This is a Christmas quilt I made several years ago.  Oh those HST's they seem to be a recurring theme in my quilt making.

My old dough bowl filled with some Christmas goodness.  

See the date on the deer--he has been around for a few years.

A co-worker asked me if I still believed in Santa Claus.  Yes!  I will always believe in the spirit of giving and unselfish acts of kindness.

Dried oranges and pomegranates--makes the house smell so good.