HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is a day in which we take a moment to stop, look at our lives, and count the many blessings God has given.  I'm so thankful for a loving husband. A man who loves me, above all else.  Who puts others first in all things and who is an example of what it means to walk in God's love.

Dan

For My two Marines who obviously I am very proud of for making such an unselfish choice.  For Lance Cpl. Natasha Biggs, The tough female Marine who shocked us all by joining, so loving, sweet and kind. And who takes after her father at not getting the joke for just a few minutes longer than everyone else....(snicker, she's so cute.)

Natasha at work

 

Then there is Brandon, who is now a flyer in the Marines. The artist who is constantly playing jokes on his mother which I complain about but in truth really miss when he is not at home.  Grown from my little boy into such a gentleman, everything a mother hopes that her son will turn out to be.  Honorable, strong in mind and body, and loving to those in his life.

Cpl. Brandon Biggs (Bluemling)

These two were born right after one another (Natasha first then 9 months later Brandon) so they have always been like twins.  For me it was two bottles, two diapers etc.  It would've been a lot easier to have one labor and delivery!!  Here they are together as usual...

High School Graduation Day

 

Brandon and Natasha Paris Island

I'm thankful for my eldest daughter Shannon my very independent child who Insisted on making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwhich when she was only three. (There is still probably remnants of the mess in that apartment!)  This child has deffinately always gone her own way.  Never following the crowd, completely confident in doing exactly as she chose. (Notice the burgundy hair)

I'm thankful that Shannon found the love of her life who she realized she had been best friends with since they were 15!  Charles popped the question this past June and they are happy newlyweds. Shannon, being ever herself, had always wanted a forties style court house wedding....and she got it!

Shannon and Charles

Just Married!

And now for the biggest blessing of the year!

Levi is born!!

(Even though Shannon

only has one ovary and was on birth control!)

New Papap

New Nanna

New Uncle

(I love his expression!)

Brandon was on leave but Natasha

could'nt make it.

being born is tiring!

The happy couple

 

Our little stinker!

Holding a miracle

There are, of course, so many other things to be thankful for.  All the temporary blessings that make up life.  But in the long run, it's your loved ones, family and friends.  The ones who know you inside out.  Who stand by you through the good and the bad.  The ones that you know will always be by your side when the storm hits and who will dance right along with you when the sun shines again.

May this Thanksgiving find you celebrating the very best blessings life can offer!

From our house to yours
Happy Thanksgiving!

Does anyone want this for Christmas?

       
Shepherd's Bush "Holy Night" Pattern.

Well, the giveaway is over at another one of my blogs called H.A.G.S.  (Holiday and Gift Stitchers) So far there are only 8 people signed up for this giveaway so your chances are great!  Run over and sign up...here's the link.          H.A.G.S. Shepherd's Bush Giveaway 

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

Another send off and a stitch-a-long!

(click to enlarge)
A send off for Sharlotte!

Good morning friends!

 I hope you are all happy and healthy. This year we are making the holidays as calm, simple, and uncomplicated as possible.  Mainly because we have a lot going on already.  For Christmas my two Marines are planning to come home for a visit...so that means two more bodies in this already stuffed house.  Why is it stuffed you ask.  Because as many of you already know, we are moving Jan. 1st so there are packed boxes piled up everywhere!  From that standpoint we are ahead of the curve.  With Shannon (my daughter) her husband Charles and baby Levi, My hubby Dan and myself + my Marines Natasha and Brandon in a little house....it's going to be noisy and crazy....did I mention that Levi is teething....rather loudly!

The good thing is that we love each other so much and laugh like crazy when we get together. As I've said, we are keeping the Thanksgiving dinner simple and our resident chef Shannon (and I'm sure, Levi) will be in charge of the feast.  The nice thing about this....I get to sit back, relax, and watch the chaos!

Another benefit........I get a long weekend of stitching.  Now I know many of you are the one's in charge of your own feasts and won't have much time for stitching.  But if you are like me, and someone else is doing the cooking we could have a Thanksgiving Weekend Stitch-a-long.  Just let me know, show the project you are working on at you blog and we can keep track of each others progress over Thanksgiving weekend.  I have to admit, this year is great..........I'd much rather sit by, visit with the family and stitch than be stuck in the kitchen!  It's kinda nice when the kids get older after all!

On it's way!

 Hi everyone,

I have been having fun stitching and trying to keep Levi from the scissors....no easy task as he is mesmorized by them for some reason. Anyway, I've also had fun wrapping up my exchange gifts and this one is winging its way to Canada for Aubree, who made me that fantastic Eiffel tower stocking ornament.  I sure hope she likes it!

 

(click to see larger)

For my evening stitching I will be working on my Assisi Band Sampler and watching "Gaslight" (at 6pm EST on TCM- Turner Classic Movies) It stars Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.  This is a MUST SEE, fantastic movie if you get a chance to see it.  If you can't, it is worth recording to view later.

Love and Stitches,

I got mail for the first time!!!

Today the postman came bearing gifts! This wonderful ornament from Aubree.

 

The Eiffel Tower decked in holly!  The stinking picture doesn't show the pretty holly in two tones of green and the burgundy berries, also the Noel is done in burgundy.  And all around she added white quaker snow flakes, just beautiful!

Aubree....I couldn't be happier, it's absolutely lovely.  The stitching is gorgeous and the finishing perfect.  I love that you took that extra time to make the hanger all out of seed beads,  I;m very honored that you did this for me!

I have given away many stitching gifts over the years, and believe it or not....this is the first one I have received so it will always be special.  And because I am in love with all things french, this particular ornament will be displayed all year round!

I know....I'm gushing...Thank you again so much Aubree!  Your ornament is winging it's way to you as well.  But I must admit, I feel a second rate stitcher after I've seen yours!  I hope you will enjoy it.

Love and Stitches,

Assisi Band Sampler progress

Hi there!  It's Sunday evening and I'm wrapping it up for tonight.  Here is my progress for today on the Assisi Band Sampler I'm working on.

Again, I apologize for the no-color photos, I guess I need a new camera.  I am really enjoying stitching this one.  While I stitch I have noticed a real feeling of being in touch with the same kind of spirit of inspiration which ladies in ancient days must have had. (I'm trying really hard not to make this sound weird) The part I just finished seemed like such delicate work which many modern stitchers sometimes shy away from.  And if you are able to see it in the pic., there are two rows stitched in white thread above the wording.  That is where the cutting and drawn threadwork will happen.  I'm scared to death of the prospect of cutting the linen so I'm saving that part for last.

Although I had to frog twice, in the end it is really worth it.  I know I am going to be particularly proud of this one when I am finished. When all is said and done, I will recommend to anyone to go ahead and try to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while....you never know what you'll end up accomplishing!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

It's Stitch-a-long day!

I'm so excited, it's an all day stitch-a-long with all the members of about.com's stitching community. For 12 hours we will all be stitching, from 9am to9pm, I can't wait to see all the progress photos as we go along.

My project for today was to be the Mary Wigham but last night I discovered that the fabric I had chosen for it was a couple inches too short......(tear-snif-snif) so being completely disappointed I scrambled into my stash to see what other pattern I could do and I realized that although I have fabric, I could use a few larger pieces.  Anyway, I finally found a pattern that's very different from anything that I've done in one of my Sampler and Antique Needlework quarterly magazines

The Assisi Peacock Sampler.
(sorry about the stinky picure~)

This sampler created as a tribute to various Italian stitches is visually dominated by a band of Assisi work stitched in blue, the color emblematic of heaven and divine contemplation. Assisi work, named for embroidery whose origin is traced to the town of Assis in central Italy, is characterized by stylized flowers, animals, birds, or figures, created by void spaces within a background worked in a counted-thread stitch. Assisi work probably originated with convent Nuns in the town, and the designs used were likely inspired by wood carvings front the 14th century. The peacock, worked with a medallion at the sampler's top signifies eternal life. Translated from the Italian, the verse reads "Old Stitches of Italian Embroidery." In addition to the Assisi band, the sampler has drawn-thread sections including gigliuccio (lily) stitch, a typical drawn stitch of Florentine embroidery.

(article info from Sampler and Antique Needlework)

That's it!  I'm gonna have a blast today....and I have the house all to myself! The men have gone off to work and my daughter told me last night that she and Levi are making a trip to Ohio to see his great-grandpa and grandma.  So it's just me and the dogs...oh yeah, and the cat too.

This day is a stitcher's dream!

Love and stitches,
Leeanne

Emergency alert! Won't you save me?!

 "I Need Love Too!"

Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, WI will be closing on December 31st. 900 Greyhounds need to be adopted or they will be euthanized. Contact Joanne Kehoe, Operations Director, at (312) 559-0887, or contact the Dairyland Race Track Adoption Center directly at (262) 612-8256. Please help them get the word out; there are only 6 weeks left to save these dogs...

I hope some will think of saving these dogs and giving them a happy home for the Holidays!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

Can't wait til Saturday!

"Mary Wigham Sampler"

I hope this Thursday finds you well and perhaps gearing up for your weekend!  Just one more work day for many of you....so hang in there!

I wanted to let you know ( if you didn't already) that Donna and Connie over at About.com are having an all-day stitch a long this Saturday the 19th.  It will go from 9am to 9pm and as she said, even though we may be in different time zones, at some point in the day we will be stitching together.


I have participated in many stitch a longs but never a 12 hour one, so I can't wait.  Especially since I have decided to stitch up The Free Mary Wigham Quaker and I am actually going to keep it for myself!  So this will be a real spoil ME day! Just click the link and it will take you to "Needleprint's" blog where you can get the pattern for yourself. I plan to do mine on 32 count linen with silks I purchased from Hong Kong. 

If you would like to join us in the all day stitch along (or just stitch part of the day) on Saturday be sure to go to the stitching community at about.com and join the forum here... Stitch Forum

Love and Stitches,
Leeanne

Come join the HAGS!!

Here's a group we can all be a part of and not have to commit to anything unless we feel like it!  But we still get to show off what we are working on.  I won't let the full cat out of the hag bag yet so stop over and visit....I think you will get a kick out of it.  There are three short posts to read.  And there is a GIVEAWAY!!
(I knew that was all I'd have to say and you'd all go running lol!!)

 GO HERE to enter to win!

Love and Stitches,
Leeanne

FREE Cristmas Cross Stitch Pattern "Walkin in a winter wonderland"!

Good afternoon everyone!  How did you all enjoy Halloween? I know I'm a bit late in asking however I finally came down with what everyone else had and was knocked out for a while.  Little Levi went trick or treating as the Blue M & M, he was the cutest....the one draw back...everyone wanted to give him M & M's!  But he pretty well cleaned up and filled his little pumpkin to over-flowing capacity!

I've kept up with you all on your blogs but I just didn't have the energy for posts here so I let it wait til I got better.  It did put me a bit behind schedule in my exchange stitching but I'm still on track, thank goodness.

I loved all the Halloween stitching and have enjoyed all your work out there, such cute things!  There are actually a few larger works I'd like to do still and hopefully will fit them in here and there.

There hasn't been a freebie cross stitch pattern here at My Nifty Needle for a while so I think it's long overdue.  Here is a little sweetie I whipped up this morning for you all.  I did the snowman in pale blue stitches so you could see them.  Feel free to use whatever colors you wish for the design.  Our little guy is merrily sliding through the forrest on a snowy day singing at the top of his lungs, "Walkin in a winter wonderland!" and probably off-key too!  Well, as long as we're happy right?!

Click on photo and print out.

Enjoy!

Love and Stitches,
Leeanne

And the winner is........................

Karen!!

For November's Giveaway....

Bizee Fingers who said in her sign up comment...

OOh love it, please throw my name in too!!
Ive been following you for a while now....ooh thats sounds a might stalkerish ;)

~Karen

bizeefingerskaren@gmail.com

Well, here ya go girl and pattern stalkers are welcome.....we call them "Friends!"

Stop by and let me know if you're happy!  And email your address to myniftyneedle@gmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

PS:  Please pray for baby Levi, he is very sick with chest congestion and is having a hard time breathing.  He looks and sounds so pitiful.  Shannon took him to the hospital and they tested him, it is NOT H1-N1 so that's good news, but we don't want his chest filling up and he's having a miserable time trying to sleep. Not to mention his momma.  Thanks!

I"m soo happy!

Happy-Happy-Happy!

This post really has nothing to do with stitching unless you count the fact that I will have a HUGE craft room come January 1st.  That's right folks, we found a house! Just where I wanted to live on the "artsy" side of the city where all the action is with the extra benefit of living on a dead end street in a super quiet neighborhood. Fabulous, flat fenced in yard for the puppies and Levi to run around in. A totally retro kitchen  with sunny eat in nook, and two retro baths all in pristine condition. Large dinning room, livingroom with fireplace, handcarved banister up to second floor which we will use as guests rooms for when my Marines come marching home. Our bedroom is on first floor so really we will live on the main floor. Oh, and all wood floors where my green rag rug that I will make will look fabulous! It has all the things I love in an old house, (except the important things that need to be new like water heaters and roofs etc.) builts ins, little cubbies for storage....I just love it!! As soon as I walked in I told Dan..."We'll take it." Is my excitement showing? I can't wait to be able to plant roses again next spring and other flowers, not to mention putting in a garden.  I missed all that this last year living with our daughter.

Okay, I guess that's enough joy spewing.....Suffice it to say, I'm soo happy!

Love and Stitces,
Leeanne

Great Giveaway Alert!

Hey there is a great giveaway at April's Blog! Check it out!

Trash to treasure: A Corset Container for craft supplies.

Good afternoon all!  I'm here watching Levi run back and forth and play while his mamma works and thought I would be able to make a quick post before the next diaper change and bottle for nap time. (Yes, nanna takes a nap with him...or I'd never be able to keep up with him.)

My next project for the craft room are some containers for supplies.  If you have been following then you know that I have been trying or organize everything for easier access to what I need.  You also know that the colors for my new craft room are teals/pinks.

The supplies you will need

Clean containers, preferably metal or cardboard. Coffee cans, baby milk powder cans, soup cans etc.
scissors, ruler, pencil,
Glue, I use hot glue gun.
Your choice of fabric and trim.

Here is my baby milk powder can.

Here are some fabrics I've chosen.

Lay can on its side and be sure to have 1/4-1/2 inch fabric beyond the edge of your can and make sure you have enough length to go all the way around and glue later.

 turn under the 1/4-1/2 inch and glue for a nice finished edge on the short sides

Now cut a 2 inch wide piece, and turn under and glue edges.

Now, glue to both top and bottom edge of can.

Take the large piece and glue the same way but be sure to start with the glue about 1/2 inch in.  You will understand why you need that space in a little bit. Glue top and bottom all the way around and stop leaving 1/2 inch of fabric at the end unglued for lacing.

If you can see it, your skinny piece is underneath and larger piece overlaps on each side. Think of it as the same way a tennis shoe looks and the center would be the tongue.

Now, I chose 1/2 inch flat satin pink ribbon with a yarn needle and we are going to lace this can up just like a corset!

 

I just punched holes with the needle, nothing fancy here.

Then I took another trim and glued around the top edge for a nice finish and tied the pink into a bow.

Here it is!

\

The Corset Container!

  Levi is ready fo nap time.  Hope you like this one!

Here is a pic of 3 done different ways.  I plan to make 5 of these and put them up on a white shelf with various smaller items as in photo.

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

Levi's Nap time with his favorite blankie....Success!

Trash to treasure: Rug from T-shirts

Good morning everyone.
I know, I haven't posted. Well, we've been crazy busy around here.  Hubby and I are looking for a house and going to lots of appointments and walk throughs, so I've had some packed days. The one thing I can say is that driving around the "burgh" (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and it's surrounding neighborhoods has really reinforced my love for the place.

As a family we have lived many places but Pittsburgh is really unique.  It's diversity of people, the abundance of places to see, things to do....and food to eat.  I particulary love the fact that it has a thriving cultural and arts community, that is one thing that I sorely missed in other places we have been.  All that to say, even though I wanted to move back down south to the coastal area.....I really do love this city after all. I guess it is in the blood.... I just hate the winters!

Anywho....that's what has delayed my posting.  Now onto things creative. Since it is "That time of the year" most of us stitchers are up to our eyeballs in gift and exchange making.  I also am an overwhelmed member of that group....but a little wine while stitching helps quite a bit!  (wine---not whine, although I sometimes do that as well.) Because they are gifts and exchanges there is a great lack of finish photos here, so today I offer another trash to treasure post.  (Wow, it took me three paragraphs to get to the point!)

Have you ever seen the old timey braided rugs at cute little country stores or cottage, shabby chic places? Or perhaps you remember the real thing from a grandmother or other family member's house.  Well, I just googled "shabby chic braided rug" real quick and this is what I found out.  If you wanted to buy a rug like this, and say you wanted it for your living room, the smallest you would go for is a 5"7 right.  Do you know how much you will need to have on hand......$229.99! For a braided rug our grandmothers made from scraps! Unbelievable. I feel sad that largely as a society we have lost both the ability and the knowledge of such simple things.  But not us....right girls! (and guys) We may march bravely into the future but we will be dragging our handmade braided rug with us!!

So here's the skinny. I have wanted a really large circular braided rug for my living room forever.  I would like it in greens, cream/beige/browns/rust etc. (by the way that one would cost me $469.99 at stores...OUCH!) So I scanned around online, the answer to all our crafty problems, and found so many great tutorials on rug making that I actually had to make up my mind which type of rug I wanted to try first.  I decided on crochet with a simple slip stitch.  Believe me, even if you have never crocheted, this you CAN learn.

Of course I am not shooting for the goal of a 9X9 round living room rug as my first project. I decided on something a bit smaller. A round braided cushion for a rocker. (I picked it up for free yesterday...oh yeah.) After I made that decision I was off to find my fabrics....who new I was such a sloppy eater and that it would be such a boon to rug making!!  It seems I often dribble on the right side...hmmm. Anyway, I already knew I wanted to do my craft room in teals and pinks. As it turns out, I must really like to wear those colors as well...what one finds out about oneself as one crafts.

So I chose these partially destroyed but unable to part with shirts.

On the very closest pink one you can see bleach stains, the excuse for keeping this was as a work shirt.  Why do that when we can craft with it!!

Instead of typing out all the instructions and in the spirit of good bloggering and complete laziness, here are a couple links to check out. The first was the best for me but feel free to check the others and google.

 Craftstylish

Mia's Boys Blog 

 Vintage Chica 

So, here's a look at my balls......

a little bad crafting humor...I know, I know...

Then I crocheted using a "N" size hook, (because that's what I had and it worked well and the point was not to have to buy anything.) just like in the example photos at Craftstylish.

I started with 5 chain stitches and slip stitched to form a circle.

Then I single crocheted all the way around once.

Second ring, I crocheted 2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next and repeated around.

As I went from there I just eye-balled it. If it looked like the edge where going to roll up then I would increase. On the last ring around I was doing 1 sc in next three, 2 sc in next repeat around. (see I'm terrible at instructions, your better off following those links lol!)

Anyway, I did it!  I finished up this little cushion for my rocker while I watched the football game this afternoon.  Like all of you, I was continually interrupted by phone calls grandbabies and Steeler touchdowns (oh yeah!) But I was done in a little over two hours.  I had done the prep work last night and just the crochet today. Here it is!

 

I love it and now I'm ready to do a rug!!

Here it is pictured on my free rocker that I will be refinishing to be white and shabby chic.

I hope you give this one a try! Have fun!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

Congratulations!!

Congratulations! I am happy to announce that Diane H. from Ontario Canada is the 100th follower of My Nifty Needle. And what better way to celebrate than....to have a surprise giveaway!  Yes Diane, you are the lucky winner! I will be in contact with you to get your snail mail address and send your gift right along to you. Aren't you happy you joined EH! And I also just happened to notice down in the visitors scroll that I have just made it to visitors from 100 countries too....way cool!

Love and Stitches,

FREE Cross Stitch Pattern November Giveaway at My Nifty Needle

by, Blackbird Designs

Good afternoon everyone. Today I put up the prize for November's giveaway and as you can see it is another beauty from Blackbird Designs. I don't know about you, but I have done so much halloween and autumn stitching that I'm already to move on to the next season even thought it's only Octover 18th! I love the colors in this design and can't wait to do it myself. So sign up now and good luck! Winner announced Nov. 1st.

To sign up just become a follower and comment to this post with your email.
If your email isn't in the post I can't contact you, so if you want the prize don't
forget your email in the comment!

Love and Stitches,

And the Winner for October's giveaway is...........

FayeRaye of Southern Pines, North Carolina!! Congratulations!!! Sorry I didn't have this up earlier today I ended up being needed elsewhere and then when I was ready to take pictures of Levi choosing from the basket....my camera batteries were dead. So we all know what I will be going out to pick up tomorrow.  I'm sorry you didn't get to see Levi pick the winner, he was cute as ever I assure you lol!


When I get back with the batteries tomorrow I will put up the prize for November so check back then to sign up!

FREE Cross Stitch Giveaway - Last day!

"Frederick"

by Carriage House Samplings

Just a little reminder that today is the last day to sign up for October's Giveaway. If you have not signed up just comment to this post and please be sure to put your email in.  If there is no email I won't be able to contact you that you have won! Become a follower and get two chances to win. I will have Levi draw the winner tomorrow morning (EST). I hope you are all well or on the mend, and good luck!

Halloween Cross stitch pattern "Enter if you Dare!" by My Nifty Needle

Good morning everyone!  I hope you are all feeling well, especially with all this cold and flu going around.  The upside to that is that if you do feel moderately well it gives you more stitching time!

Today I am introducing the latest "My Nifty Needle" design called 'Enter if you Dare!" This design only uses four colors and is all easy cross stitches except for the cats green eyes which I made 3/4 stitch to make him look frightful ooo-ooo!

I lived in an old neighborhood growing up, and as in all old neighborhoods, there is always that one big old gloomy house.  As a kid, you never were sure who lived there and leaves never seemed to grow on the one tree in the yard.  Of course there were those stories too....the one about the guy who hung himself in the tree and that's why the leaves never grew again. (at least that's what I heard) And how no one has been able to move into the house because....someone already lives there, you just can't see them 0oo-0oo!

Well those childhood memories were the inspiration behind this design.  The old tree, the spooky beat up house, the mean cat that seems to stand watch on the sign which warns 'enter if you dare', the bats coming to roost as the sky turns to purple and the mysterious shadow in the window.  I might cross stitch it....but hey, that's as close as I'm getting!

Comment back with what you were afraid of as a child.  Or a story that freaked you out when you were young.....there may be a prize in the future of the one I like the best!

Love and Spooky Stitches!

Design 186 X 115 stitches

finished size= 10.3" x 6.4"(inches)

18 ct. purple fab

DMC floss

Pattern Choice

Pdf pattern download $4.99 Paper pattern by mail $6.99

----------------------------------------------------
What you will receive When purchasing patterns from my store:
* One full color pattern with symbols
* One black and white pattern with symbols
* One pattern color key
* All devilered FREE via e-mail in pdf.
* No waiting for the mail man!

All Patterns for personal use only! copyright myniftyneedle2009
It is illegal to reproduce and distribute patterns in any way.
-----------------------------------------------------
Questions? Contact me at myniftyneedle@gmail.com

My Nifty Needle's - Baby food jar pin cushion

Good evening everyone, I hope you are all having a great weekend! If you've been following me you may know that I have a sleeping disorder (among other things argghh).  Because of that, I haven't slept in four nights.  Today I was at the point of really being sick from it.  Needless to say, I was too shakey to use a needle without being dangerous to myself or others.....I even got a suspicious and untrusting look from my dogs.

But still needing to be creative I decided to make it a My Nifty Needle "Trash to Treasure" day.  These types of postings will explore some ways in which we can recycle old junk and turn them into items which would be useful to us in our stitching areas.

Today's project will be to transform an old baby food jar into a darling little straight pin keeper and cushion.

Items you will need....

Small clean baby food jar.
One 1/2 inch ribbon (your color choice)
One 1/8 inch ribbon
One 1/8 inch brick-a-brack trim
One 3 inch circle fabric scrap
A little poly- fill
Needle and thread
Glue gun and glue stick
Straight pins

Knot your thread, about a quarter inch inside the edge take a running stitch all the way around

As you pull gently it will begin to look like a little old fashioned bed cap lol.

Fill your little cap with poly-fill.

 

(You can see the little cap to the left) Now begin to apply hot glue to the top of the baby food jar lid and cover completely.

Take your little topper and hold firmly for a few seconds till glue sets up.

Next, half inch ribbon, glue so edge of ribbon covers just a bit of the cushion and all of the baby food jar lid. But make sure you do not glue the bottom of the ribbon to the glass.

Don't worry if your 1/2 inch ribbon is a bit bumpy, it will be covered.  Now take your brick-a-brack trim and glue to cover the space where the cushion and ribbon meet.

Now take the final 1/8 ribbon and put one dot of glue at the back of your jar and one dot of glue on either side, just to anchor the last ribbon. And then tie it into a decorative bow.

Now you can fill it with pins, buttons or other notions.

Viola! This took under 10 minutes and now you have something cute for yourself or as a quick gift.  Use your imagination with the trimmings.  Try crochet lace, little ribbon rosettes etc.  Even though this tutorial is for the small baby food pin cushion keeper you could also use the same principal on anything all the way up to a ball jar or spaghetti sauce jar.  Instead of just pins you could make it a complete sewing kit.  Put in a measuring tape, pins, seam ripper, threads, needles, buttons, snaps, trims etc. Makes a really cute gift anyone would be thrilled to get!

FREE Biscornu Cross Stitch Pattern at "My Nifty Needle"

(click on photo and print out)

"October Colors Biscornu"

I managed to finish this design so you all could snag up another freebie! Orange, black, green and a dash of purple are my favorite color scheme for this creepy time of year.  Even without any pumkins or witches these colors still tend to communicate Halloween is here!  You can stitch this into a pin pillow, an ornament or what I really designed it for as a biscornu.  You will notice that the design has a freaky 3-D affect which I was really pleased with.  Super easy, just cross stitches.  It looks way more complicated than it really is so don' t let this one scare you. (no pun intended lol)  To see a great biscornu tutorial go to the right sidebar under "Focus on finishing classes"  Just click on the photo at the top and print out the pattern. Have fun!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

contact: myniftyneedle@gmail.com

Winds up to 50 miles an hour--crazy!

Hello friends!
Well I don't know what kind of weather you have been having where you are (let me know in a comment) but here in "the burgh" it has been hot one day and frost on the windows the next.  But yesterday was the kicker...winds up to 50 miles an hour, it was actually howling.  And today.........sunny and warm.  I think the weather people should just get up, forget the long schpeel and just say.."Today it will be partly everything with a chance of scattered anything else."

Anywho, Levi, our resident chef in training decided that soup was the order of the day so what follows is soup-a-la-Levi!

First get a biiiig pot

Then chop up some yummy celery,

drop it in the pot!

"Mama, hand me the green beans please."

Make the green beans small like me!

Put'em in the pot!

Be sure not to waste any!

That's just some stuff that goes in, also put in carrots, potatoes, lean beef etc.

Then relax while it simmers....

I like to play my guitar to relax while the soup cooks.

I love that song!

Ding! Soups done....

And Chef Levi does it again! A steamy bowl of beefy-vegetable soup....deeeelicious!

As far as stitching, I have some but it is for exchange so can't put photos up and besides that really haven't had a lot of time the past few days because of the organizing...the good new is I am almost done. I'll be done tomorrow (Friday) so I should be back to stitching on the weekend which I will be happy about. Also I will be able to get more stitchy stuff up on the blog.

Hey, just a reminder....don't forget about the monthly giveaways here at "My Nifty Needle" This month of October the prize is "Frederick" by Carriage House Samplings...just gorgeous! Sign up in the right sidebar at the top.

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com

How important is organizing?

Good morning class...today we ask the all important question...."How important is it really to organize our crafting area and supplies?".....HUGE!  I don't even want to admit how many balls of white yarn I have. Why? Because I didn't realize what I had  - and every time I saw it, I thought "Oh, I should pick up some white yarn." Let's just say I won't be picking up any white (or baby blue for that matter) for quite some time.
 
Throughout the rest of today I will continue to plow through the creative inventory. The rest of the yarn, fabric and quilting supplies, water color and other painting supplies, and of course cross stitching items. I know that I won't be able to get to any stitching til at least later in the afternoon or possibly this evening because I have a lot of this to do. Tomorrow I will put before and afters. In the meantime, here are just two of the little goodies I have been reunited with...

And They Sinned

I can't wait to start the humongous "And They Sinned" (about 5 feet tall)  Do you have this pattern?

I will put up another blog space dedicated to stitching this on weekends through 2010 so we can all keep encouraged here...   

"And They Sinned SAL"     

So that's the reward of organizing....knowing what we have and exactly what we need!  Be creative in making new, crafty-quirky storage containers. Take trash and make little treasures to hold all your necessities and remember there are great ideas online, just google "craft room" and click images and you will get all kinds of inspiration!

Love and Stitches,

(The more organized) Leeanne

contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com

A nice Saturday with hubby and some stitching finishes!

Our Saturday

As you can see you can see by the sky in this photo the day was perfect!  Just breezy enough for a very light sweater.  Dan and I decided to go over to our local Barnes and Noble (which is a good sized one) and have a look at the books and maybe a couple goodies too!

Dan ordered their pumpkin cheesecake which comes from the cheesecake factory awesome!

doesn't this look yummy!

I ordered the carrot cake which was delicious but rich

so half way through we traded lol.

After our goodies we looked around and only made one purchase.  I bought a book on watercolors which is something else that I love to do.

We chatted together and had a nice time....then we ignored each other and still had a nice time lol!

Next we were off to a local antique store....where we must've spent 2 hours!

There are a whole lot of rooms to this place, but I thought I would just give you an idea.

I showed restraint and got just a couple items.

I couldn't resist the iron keys (even though they aren't antique) I just thought they would be cute hanging somewhere.  I also found two flower frogs for a scissor collection. (even though I only have two pair now....it's better to be prepared right!)  Besides, I had to get this one, it's iron and very heavy. The other flower frog is this bird which I also just had to have....isn't she cute!

 And now you may be wondering..."Does this woman put anything up on her cross stitching blog about stitching?"

Well, yes....yes I do.  So let the crowd cheer once again for the (allbeit small finishes) but finishes none the less!

I found this little freebie online somewhere and if I can find it

again I will put up the info.  Did the design and then took the

Halloweeny novelty fabric and sewed to either side and made a pillow.

Then took some canvas-like purple ribbon and some sheer pinkish-purple

ribbon and made a little heart button and bow embellishment for each side.

I call her "Spookerella"

On the homefront, My daughter Shannon her husband Charles and little Levi have gone down to North Carolina to get the last of what we had in storage there before we moved here to the burgh.  (Funny, as Dan and I plan to move back as soon as we are able lol!) Mostly it is Shannon's things but I do have some things I have been desperately missing....MY SEWING MACHINE!!! I can not tell you how happy I will be when this arrives later this evening.  I may go right by the kids and straight to the truck to kiss my machine to welcome it home!

That's it for today buddies!

Love and stitches,

PS.  Did I mention the fabric, cross stitching and other craft stash that I will also be re-united with..........Oh it's good to be in love!! lol

Leeanne

contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com

"I do believe in spooks!" My Nifty Needle Cross Stitch Pattern Brand new!

"I do believe in spooks- I do, I do, I do believe in spooks!"
         

Hello everyone!  Here is my latest design for purchase, and in time for Halloween.  The price is just 4.99 for pdf or $6.99 hard copies.  I stitched mine on 18ct black and this picture really isn't doing it justice, this is the cutest!

Dimensions: 5"X6" inches
Model stitched on 18 ct black aida from White Willow Stitching  - but you could choose any color

Using five colors of  DMC floss (you won't even need a whole skein of each color!)
Embellished with Mill Hill Beads - if you wish

This is a must for your Halloween collection, I know it was for mine, I love it!

Pattern Choice

pdf patterns delivered via email $4.99 Hard copy patterns delivered via regular mail $6.99

Love and Stitches,


contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com----------------------------------------------------
What you will receive When purchasing any My Nifty Needle pdf patterns:
* All information on exactly what you will need to finish your designs. 
* One full color pattern with symbols
* One black and white pattern with symbols
* One pattern color key
* All delivered via e-mail in pdf. within 24 hrs
* No waiting for the mail man!

All Patterns for personal use only!
It is illegal to reproduce and distribute patterns in any way.
copyright myniftyneedle©2009
-----------------------------------------------------

FREE Halloween cross stitch pattern "Little Quaker Pumpkin" My Nifty Needle

Hello everyone,

Hubby and I had a great day together but I will blog about that later.  For now, since it is October 1st for yet a little while, I thought I would quickly get this freebie up for you to welcome in the month.  It's called "Little Quaker Pumpkin" for pretty obvious reasons.  As usual, use your imaginations and I'd love to see your finishes!

Love and Stitches,



contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com

(click on pattern and print out)

Look at this!

Karen, a friend of My Nifty Needle was kind enough to show me what she did with one the the Halloween freebies. Check this out....

"If the Shoe Fits"
(this and other free patterns can be found in the right sidebar
under contents, in B section "Freebies)

Didn't she do a fantastic job!! (Hear the stitching crowd roar Karen!) Great choice in fabrics and the idea to finish it as a pillow.  I love it!  If you have used some of the My Nifty Needle freebies and have photos, just let me know and I'd be happy to share them here with everyone.  Thanks again Karen and to all of you who have been such good stitching buddies!

Love and Stitches,

Leeanne

contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com
.

"My Nifty Needle" October Monthly Giveaway

And now on to October....yaaaa!
The prize for October will be....

"Frederick" by Carriage House Samplings!

To sign up for a chance to win this pattern for October, just click on the Monthly giveaway at the top of the right hand sidebar.  Good Luck!

Same rules as always. To enter just put your email into the comments for this post and become a follower. Doing both of those things will give you two chances to win!  Good Luck!

Love and Stitches,

           

contact me at: myniftyneedle@gmail.com
.