A little snowman pillow and my attempt at a Penny Rug Mat

♥♥♥♥♥

Shown here with a little book that is filled with all sorts of heart shaped objects, the book is simply called Hearts!I added a wool fabric strip so I can hang it here next to the antique dresser in the front hall where I have my snowmen and soon some of my prim Valentine hearts will be out in a wooden bowl.

Remember when I went out on a "hunt" for wool to make the quilt square for the block of the month being hosted by Bunny Hill Design (see the widget on the left of my blog)? I said I am not a quilter, I am in awe of the ladies who make quilts, I wish I had the patience, but I do not. I have chosen to make my block into a little winter pillow and I have displayed it with my winter snowmen. I will keep out until after Valentine's Day. My block is not exactly like the original, I made hearts instead of stars and left the stick arms off the snowman and gave him a scarf! For some reason I have a difficult time following patterns, I usually end up making things "my-way", not always a good idea, but for crafting it works for me.

Since my hunt for wool came up short I was determined not to waste any of it, every little bit I am using for making a Penny Rug Mat. I have never made one of these before and it was something I have always wanted to do. I did not have a pattern so I based the main shape of one I saw in a book. . .this was harder than I thought since I did not want to waste a thread of fabric. I had to make sure I had enough tabs to go around the edge, so with paper and trial and error I finally did it. Since I only had a bit of wool to work with I decided to make mine into a topsy-turvy mat! One side is for Valentine's Day and the other for anytime. I still have to blanket stitch the pennies and the edges of the tabs and blanket stitch the edge of the basket side and finish up the stitching of the leaves/flower and the LOVE banner on the heart side. I find this very enjoyable, the time flies by and my mind can carry me any place I wish to go! I am pleased with my first attempt at this and I also love my little snowman pillow! I am so happy I came across Anne's Bunny Tales Blog! Thank you Anne, you inspired me to try something new!

This side will be displayed for Valentine's Day. . .
This side will be for whenever!

May your day be stitched with love! ♥ ♥ ♥

And then there were three

Hello everyone!

I finished my third doll on Sunday, here she is sitting with her sisters, she really did not want a photo taken because she does not have all her hair! I told her she looked fine. Sunday was such a nice day, sunny with a nice breeze so I sat out on my new chair and did the hand sewing on their dresses, adding buttons/snaps and hemming. I also finished another little gal, but she refuses to have her photo taken because she does not have any hair.

The Raggedy "hair" is hand-dyed sheep wool which I am waiting to arrive, hopefully today, from Vermont. The seller is FolkartfromVermont ebay ID, Lowell Country Design is the shop. I have purchased wool from her before and I am very happy with it. The wool is needle felted onto their head, it goes so quickly, but you have to be careful not to jab your fingers, those needles are very, very sharp.

Now I have to get busy doing what needs to be done and wait for the mail!

Have a great day,

Martha