Sampler Sunday

This one is very different from the piece I showed last week. I finished this in 2000 and by this time I had progressed to stitching on linen and using lots of overdyed threads. This sampler is called We Gather Together by With Humble Heart from Jan Stephens Rogers. I'm pretty sure this graph is out of print. It is a HUGE piece - 308 X 331 stitches. And no I don't have that great a memory, I stumbled upon a website with this graph and wrote down all the information. As I remember it was suppose to be stitched over one thread which I don't like doing so I did it over 2 threads and the finished piece measures 22 X 24 inches. I have this sampler hanging in my dining room and I like the giving thanks theme. I did make changes - the ones I remember are that all the background behind that outside border of grapes was suppose to be stitched, and I did something different in that middle band with the diamonds.



Aren't the squirrels adorable?? I love squirrels even though they raid my bird feeders and I know they are really just rodents with better fur coats.

And did you notice the chickens? This is the only sampler I have with chickens.



(If you click on the pictures they get a little bigger - I'm still working on getting them clearer - It is all a learning experience, isn't it?)


Hope you are having a great weekend, happy stitching.

carol fun

LIttle Bluebirds of Happiness

This little quilt makes me happy every time I look at it. It was a real joy to stitch up and took no time at all. It is a pattern by Sandy Gervais called Soul Mates and it is made from a Charm Pack from her Frolic line of fabric. The pattern has full color pictures of the fabrics and exactly where she used each piece. But of course I never actually read the directions until I've worked myself into a corner, so mine don't match her choices exactly but that is ok. I love how fat and sassy these little guys look. Too bad fat and sassy isn't considered a good look for a middle age woman - LOL




I got this pattern and the charm pack one morning at Fabric Shack in Waynesville, started sewing after lunch and had the whole thing finished up right after dinner - practically instant gratification - I love that. I was pleased with myself for the quilting I did on this. If you click on the picture I think you can see that I did a viney kinda thing with leaves and then I sewed buttons on by the leaves to be little berries. awwww....too cute..

I need to do more of these little projects. Usually I end up making BIG quilts - they just get away from me - so doing something small and quick is very satisfying. I'll have to show you some of the Schnibbles I've been doing with friends. I've got several tops sewn but not quilted - need to get around to finishing them.

Happy stitching,

carol fun

Design Wall Monday

Okay - I hope I get this linked up correctly. This is my entry for Design Wall Monday. This quilt is one from the new Schnibbles Times 2 book by Carrie Nelson. It is called X-rated and I'm using the Hunky Dory collection from Chez Moi. I don't know who the designers are for the Chez Moi line but I have loved every single collection they've produced. I'm planning something for the middle of this but I haven't totally figured out how I'm going to get it in there. I think I need to get the bottom pieces sewn together and then figure out just how big that opening is. Since I never do things the easy way this is just par for the course.

Happy stithing,

carol fun

Sampler Sunday

I've seen on lots of blogs that people have certain categories of postings for particular days of the week. Since I do cross stitch as one of my many crafty endeavors I thought I'd feature either a piece I'd finished or a work in progress on Sundays.



Here's my first offering. You'll see LOTS more since at last count I have stitched over 65 pieces, the majority of the being samplers with houses on them. Again, when I started doing samplers I thought that limiting myself to those that featured houses would keep me in check (see I realize I have a problem, I'm just not very successful in handling it - LOL)

I've been cross stitching for the last 25 years. I started this obssesion at the same time I took up quilting. I was pregnant with my first child and all those maternal hormones kicked in. I wanted to have a house full of quilts and samplers and I was going to bake my own bread and have chickens in the back yard. Hey, it isn't my fault that those prenatal hormones cloud your thinking. Now there was no reason to bake my own bread since we lived in walking distance of two great bakeries and as for the chickens, our back yard was the size of a postage stamp and we lived in the heart of the city. (Darn those zoning ordinances!!) So I channeled my energies into cross stich and quilting and taking care of my bouncing baby boy (who is now 25- where did the time go???)

Oh - sorry I got distracted there - (I told you I'm ADHD) -- This sampler is the first one I did with a house. I don't remember the name of the piece but the designer was Polly Carbonari (she designed needlepoint too). I personalized the piece by making the house look similar to the one we lived in then and there was suppose to be another child in the piece and I added a dog (we had an irish setter back then). I loved how it only used one color of thread but I learned as I did it that even DMC floss can be different from dye lot to dye lot.

Happy stitching,


carol fun

The start of something new...

Hello out there in blogland…. I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while and I finally got the kick in the butt that I needed to start a blog of my own. I hope to share bits and pieces of all the crafty stuff I love to do – quilting, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, rubber stamping, jewelry making, etc, etc etc. My friends will tell you that I have an ADHD personality where crafty things are involved. I am easily distracted by the newest shiny thing….. oh there goes a chicken….. so I need lots of fun projects to keep me happy and quasi sane ( although the state of my mental health is also open to debate ). Anyway I hope you enjoy what I share here today and in the future.




So what’s with the name of this blog and the quilt shown here?? Well I am head over heels in love with all things polka dot and I’m pretty taken with chickens too. I have a collection of polka dot chickens that I display in my family room ( yes I know it isn’t your typical décor, but it makes me HAPPY!!). When I first started collecting polka dot chickens I thought they’d be rare enough to keep my overactive collecting mania in check but I was wrong and now I have a whole flock of them.



Also having the polka dot chickens helps with the fact that my homeowners association frowns on having real chickens- party poopers!! This isn’t the only chicken quilt I’ve made ( I know I know there is something not right about this) and I’m working on another one right now for my kitchen. I’ll show you that one when it is a bit further along, right now I only have 3 chickens made.

Have a great day...

carol fun