Sneak Peak

Good Evening Everyone!

Thought I would show you what I have been

working on last night and today.  I gave this

job to Hollis a few months ago and after graphing

about half of it she gave it back to me.  She had

had enough of this one.  I thought, what could

be so hard.  Well, now I know.  This stitcher

obviously was in great need of glasses.   Hard

as it is to reproduce this sampler, it will be well

worth the effort.  

It has just a small part of "The Lord's Prayer", but

just enough to make it so special.  Don't you

just love that "funky" house.  Obviously, the

stitcher also had a lack of floss and used what

she had.  

I have to tell you how I got this sampler.

Two years ago, right before Christmas, Hollis

and Paul were home, and the three of us went

downtown to Historic Fredericksburg for the Christmas

 Open House.  We were shopping and antiquing

 (I don't know how excited Paul was though) and they

 had gone ahead of me.

Hollis found it and pointed it out to me.  She

knew I would love it.  Merry Christmas to

me.  Yeah!!  If you like it, you will be able

to have it in a few months too.

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REMINDER

Go to the last post to see my next "Give Away".

I don't want anyone to miss it that might be interested.

Have a great night with "Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

Keeping My Promise

Good Afternoon everyone!

I am truly in the Spring mode and starting to

put out some things for the season.

I love to stack my old pewter compotes and

fill them appropriate stuff.  The large eggs are

ones I dyed years ago (onion skins, blueberries,

etc.).  Just hard boiled them, dyed them, and

put away in an air tight plastic box.  Eventually

the inside of the egg just dries up.  Hollis and I

tried the blowing out of the insides and it was

not fun and I think they are more fragile that way.

The egg in the top compote is paper mache that I

painted, distressed, waxed, and then tied with aged

gauze type fabric.  Some of these will be on

 ETSY soon, along with some other embellished eggs.

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Well, on to my promise.  My next "Give Away" is

this.  One of my new Stitching Lady totes, the

Stitching Lady pattern, and a Stitching Lady mini 

journal.  All you have to do is become a Follower

and leave me a comment.  I will randomly pick

a winner next Saturday.  Good Luck!

I will be putting some more things on ETSY tonight.

Some old - some new - and a few special things.

Have a great evening with 

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

As Promised

Good Evening Everyone!

Thinking about Spring and what could

be more Spring-like than Easter eggs.

I have enjoyed all of your nice comments

regarding my new designs and the pictures

from the Nashville show.  I got some wonderful

phone calls and emails about designs that 

were in the pictures.  
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As promised, I have been adding designs to

my Etsy site tonight and will be continuing this process

tomorrow.  There will be many more designs and
a variety of other items.
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I haven't forgotten my "Give Away" -

hope to do that tomorrow as well.

Have to stop now, my eyes are about to

give out.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Nashville Trade Show

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I thought I would share some pictures of our

 trade show adventure.  This is picture heavy so

I hope I don't bore you.

This is how we travel!! Can you believe that mess.  

We can hardly see out of the back of the car, 

but we still managed to antique a little on the way

home.  Little treasures only!

 We always try to have a few little treasures to sell.

The little sheep pin on the box lid is one that I

sculpt.  It is for sale by special order.

"Heart In Hand" needlecase coming soon!  In the back
left is another reproduction coming soon.  It is a
bookmark on perforated paper with the word "Think"
at the top.  Really beautiful.  There is gorgeous satin 
ribbon at the top and bottom.  Hope to find some to
go with it.

 "The Lord's Prayer" reproduction sampler coming soon.

It is not the complete prayer.  Don't you love that

great house.  This is a wonderful sampler.

 "The Woolly Story" coming soon!  Aren't those
tulips just perfect.  Cannot wait for Spring.

 Closeup of our rollup that we sold out of very

quickly.  I'm looking for some more beautiful fabric

so I can make some more.

 Closeup of "Heart In Hand" Needlecase.  The "vintage" piece is 

on the left. I took the liberty of adding heart pockets for your

 scissors etc.  Coming soon! 

This is my "Stitching Pocket Plus".  We sold out of

the set very quickly, but more are on order and

should be here next week.  It is a foldover and

inside are several pockets.  The little piece is a

scissor case with a magnet on the back to attach

to your board.  I stitched the scissor fob over one

and it is adorable. 

 Here is my tote bag at the door.

 Watch for my "give away"!!

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Back from Nashville

Good Evening Everyone!

We are back from Nashville and happy that we went.

It was a great show for us and we had a wonderful

time seeing old friends and meeting new ones.  The 

weather cooperated, always a worry, especially

this winter.  One of my new designs, "I Love Winter",

brought more than a few comments.  One shop owner said, 

"You expect me to buy that after the winter we have had".

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Well, I can now give you a complete run down on all

of the new things we had.  Hopefully, you will be able

to find them at your local or online shoppe.

If not, please let us know if we can help you or

answer any questions.

"FRESHNESS IS IN THE AIR"

This design features our new "Woolly" sheep brass 

charm, nestled in the grass, and our "Blue" Gently Swirled  

frame.  This is a seasonal series.  "A Chill Is In The Air"

will be the next design.  It was offered as a kit for

a while, but will now be in leaflet form.

Continuing our "Halloween Year", here is "EEK"

and "BITS OF HALLOWEEN".

"I LOVE WINTER"

I'm ashamed to even put this on the blog after
the horrible winter we have had and continue
to have, but this completes the seasonal series
 and I know some of you have been waiting
for it to be finished.
Moving on to a more pleasant season to come,
here is 
"SAMPLER BUNNY".
The wool yarn trim is available from us too.

"DELIVERING SPRING BLOSSOMS"
This is the third in this seasonal series.  I hope
you like it.  It has been so much fun using soft
Spring colors after the reds and greens of
Winter and the oranges and blacks of Halloween.
I'm going to start getting out all of my Spring
and Easter decorations soon.  I'll share some
of that with you soon.

I hope to have all of these designs on Etsy soon,
but if you need something sooner, just let me know.
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I will be back tomorrow with some more plus a
fun "give away", and some pictures from the show.
Many Happy Stitches,
Sandra

New Stuff

Good Morning Everyone!

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's

Day.  Ours was a quiet one, except for the 
arrival of little Piper.  Thank all of you who 
commented. I'm probably not going to have 
time to answer your comments this time. 
 Nashville preparations have definitely taken

precedence over almost everything.  Plus,
I have to take time to go to the hospital
to see that precious little girl.
We will be leaving at the crack of dawn
tomorrow morning.  I am getting excited
now.  It will be so much fun to see everyone
and I have made a few new friends blogging
that are going to be there  as well.
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I don't know if you remember or not,

(at this stage of my life I usually cannot),

but I told you about some new stuff

that would not necessarily involve

stitching.  Well, here it is.

Years ago I found a wonderful painting

on glass of a lady at her stitching frame.

I think you might recognize her because 

I have used the image on other products

including the 
"Stitching Lady" Button

Sampler.

My new canvas tote bag!!  Isn't she great. 

It retails for $18.00

I am calling this new collection,

"Frills and Flourishes - Or Not!"

She is silk screened on cream or unbleached linen

and available in several ways.

Silk screen design only in black on natural, black

on cream, and brown on cream linen.
You finish it as you like.

Retail $27.00

Finished as a pillow case and you stuff it -

Retail $31.00.
This product has been so much fun to develop.
Your imagination can just run wild because you
can embellish her in so many ways or just
leave her plain.  If you look closely at the framed
piece, you will see that I added "vintage" trims
to her dress where lace would have been,
colonial knots for the buttons down her back,
pearl seed beads for a necklace, little motifs
on her skirt, and I back stitched the design
on the linen in the frame, ran the floss up to
her hand and added a gold needle.  I also
stitched over one to give her an eye.
These are in limited supply now, but I will
be getting more if she does well at the show.
Let your shoppe know if you would like
any of these things.  Everything will be put on
Etsy when I return or email me.
I so hope you like her.
If this concept does well, I will add more and
more designs. What a quick but really
effective finish.
Talk to you later.
Many Happy Stitches,
Sandra

Happy Valentine's Day

Good Valentine's Evening!

Don't you love "vintage" Valentines.  This

one is so pretty.  I want to wish all a very

Happy Valentine's Day.  We have even

more reasons to celebrate on this sweet

day.  A special nephew and his adorable

wife have a new Valentine in their life -

Piper Renae was born today and we

will obviously never forget her birthday.

Our family has been blessed again.

Congratulations Cory and Ashley

and my sister and brother-in-law,

Carla and Dean.

Still getting ready for Nashville.  The

SUV is partially packed.  I still have 

framing to do, a pillow to make, package

dropins to print and drop in, buttons to sew

on my rollup necessaires and so on.  Not to 

mention getting myself ready, which

believe me is getting harder and harder

to pull together.  I'm still hoping to

post some of the things I will be

showing - just running out of time.

Wish me luck!!

Sandra

Tasty Treat

Good Evening All!

This has nothing to do with needlework, but

I just had to share a great appetizer recipe

that I fixed for Super Bowl Sunday.  I might

add that I did more eating than watching

the game.  There was a bunch of great

food at the gathering of our friends.  If you like 

cheese, sweet, and a little heat this the the treat 

for you.  It is an old fashioned recipe that lots of

people have been serving in the Fredericksburg area

 for a really long time.  I think it fell out of favor for 

a while, but it is back.

The reason for the big platter is to serve

crackers to go with it.  I use a simple wheat cracker 

because you do not want anything to add to the 

flavors of the spread.  You simply spread a little

of the yummy cheese mixture on your cracker 

and then a little of the strawberry preserves. 

 I know it sounds odd, but it is a 

fantastic combination.

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PLAINS CHEESE RING

--1 lb grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

(I grate my own, it is so much better.  I

think the shredded stuff is too dry.)

--1 cup mayonnaise (I use light)

--Black pepper to taste

--1 cup chopped nuts

(I use pecans and I toast them)

--1 small onion finely diced

--Dash of cayenne

--Strawberry preserves

--Small wheat crackers

Chop and toast your nuts.   

Shred the cheese when it is still cold.

 Dice the onion. Mix together everything but

 the pepper and cayenne.  Mix your pepper 

and cayenne together.  Sprinkle it evenly over 

everything.  Mix all ingredients again.  Select

 a small bowl to hold your preserves.

Place it on your serving piece and

mound the cheese mixture around

your bowl, shaping it into a ring.

I like to put my preserves in a little dish

instead of in the center of the ring.  I

do this in case there is any cheese left,

it can be refrigerated or even frozen

for a later date.  The preserves makes

it messy.  I have also done this for wedding 

showers, engagement parties, etc.  I then shape 

it as a heart and put the preserves in the center.

One day I'll find a little heart shaped dish

to use.  Men and women like this, but you might

have to give a little tutorial at your party.

They don't know what to do with the

preserves.

I hope you like it. I'm going to take some

to the Nashville trade show to munch on.

We'll need a little sustenance to survive.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

I'm Back!

Good Evening All!

Back again so soon.  I'm sure you think

I have lost my mind.  I'm taking a break

from taking pictures.  I have run out of

good light and luck for this last shot of

the day.  I give up.  Photography is not

my thing.  When I get a good shot I

thank my lucky stars.  Really need to

take a class.

Thanks for all of your good wishes 

for Lehmer.  We will take all of them.

Thought I would show you some more

stuff.  This is
 "Delivering Spring Blossoms"

and continues my latest Delivering

series.  I have one more to go and it

will be for Summer.

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I am very excited about my Limited

Edition Stitching Rollup.  It is pre-

finished for every one's convenience

and is limited because of the

beautiful fabric.  I bought this piece

some years ago.  My intention was

to make some "window rags" as I

call them - very simple swags for

a guest bedroom.  Obviously, I

never got around to it.  It is made out

of a wonderful toile type fabric in a soft 

brown palette.  One day I will regret not

making those "rags", but I do love

this rollup.  It has three pockets -

one to stitch on.  The most perfect color
 felt piece for your needles, and mother-

of-pearl buttons for the closure.

Here is a peak.

You get the most wonderful old alphabet for

the monogram.  It is so pretty,

you could just stitch that.

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Maybe more tomorrow if I can get the

picture right.  Talk to you then.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Sharing Time

Good Evening Everyone!

I have been promising an update on my new

things for so long now, that I am sure you

think I just don't have anything new.

Not so, just so confused and rattled

by all the preparations for the trade show

 that I just couldn't sit down at the

computer and pull it all together for my blog.  

I have actually been sitting at the computer,

but it is for typing my publications or

  making updated price sheets and order blanks.  

Believe me, these are not fun things to do.  

On the creativity scale, it ranks about a #1.  

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Before I get started though, I have to

apologize for not thanking everyone

who has commented or emailed me

recently.  I read everyone of your

comments and emails and they make 

these long days of preparation more

bearable.  Thank you so much.   

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OK, here goes with some of my sneak

peaks.  I will be breaking this up into

several days because there are many

new things.  

Continuing my "Halloween Year",

I give you "Bits Of Halloween" and "EEK".

There are six more months after these.
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This next design is definitely more timely--
"I Love Winter".  Although, because of the
winter that most of the country is experiencing,
this may not be so appealing.  I guess we have
to remind ourselves that there are good parts
to this season to, but thank goodness it
cannot last much longer.

This is the last design in this fun series.  They would
look so cute stitched together.  Hope you have
enjoyed them.
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Now we are getting to the season that we are
all waiting for. 

This is "Freshness Is In The Air" and is the
second in a seasonal series.
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This is "Sampler Bunny".  There is
another design in this series, "Sampler
Woolly", that
goes really well with my bunny.  I'll
try to show him to you another time.
Well, that is all the previews for tonight.
Stay tuned for the next batch.
I even have some things that you don't
have to stitch.
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But before I go, remember that my
husband, Lehmer, had those awful
intestinal attacks.  Well, he has been
through numerous tests, all negative.
So, the final test they do is the
abdominal scan.  Well, the problem
is his gallbladder.  So, when I get
back from Nashville, he will have
the surgery.  We are very happy that
it is not something more serious, but
when we went to the emergency room
after the first attach, they did a sonogram
of his gallbladder and said it was not
that.  His doctor said he does not 
understand how they could have 
missed it.  Because of the oversight, he 
went through a lot of unnecessary tests
that took preparation, time, and money.
Not to mention the anxiety.
Hopefully, in the end, this will be
taken care of without too much 
discomfort.  I never want to see him
have another one of those attacks.
Hope all of you are having a warm,
cozy night with 
"Many Happy Stitches."
Sandra

Telling My Age

Good Evening Everyone!

I'm sorry it has been so long since my last visit.

We are so busy here getting ready for Nashville

and the weather, though not that bad, has 

kept us from working sometimes.  Consequently,

we are even more behind.

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Enough about that, I just had to wish our

son, Cameron, a Happy Birthday.  I cannot

believe that 38 years ago today this cute

little boy was born.  He is still cute but

a tad bit bigger.  He is going to kill me for

using this picture.  I love it!  He was 2 1/2.

Happy Birthday Cameron!!  We hope you

had a great day.

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Be back in the next day or two with lots of

previews of my new designs.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra