2018 Smalls SAL for December

Hello Dear Friends & Followers;

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season and are doing well. 

I thought we were going to get away without having a white Christmas this year, but at 4:30 pm on Christmas Eve it started to snow and left with a dusting for a powdered sugar landscape. It did the same thing on Christmas and left us with around 2 inches of snow. We've been here for 35 years and it would have been a first if it didn't snow.

Here is my final Smalls SAL update. 

Not sure if I will participate next year.

I stitched up two of my mini Quaker Snowflakes.

I will finish these with a ribbon for hanging and blue or white felt backing.

I plan to stitch a lot more of them and turn them into mini ornaments to add to a pine wreath to hag by the front door during the winter season and maybe a few magnets to add a little winter to the kitchen.

I finished off two other smalls that I stitched earlier.

"Merry Solstice" by The Primitive Hare

This is a free chart and can be found HERE 

 I stitched this one on 28 count Mocha/Beige evenweave using DMC Gold metallic 1 strand over 2 threads. I added a 1/4" gold ribbon hanger, two corded trims in rust, gold, and cream and a scattering of plastic crystal snowflakes. 

This one was stitched on the same 28 count only over one thread using my own hand-dyed thread. I finished it off with a 1/4" silver ribbon hanger, a silver ribbon bow, blue and silver corded trim, and a scattering of mini plastic crystal snowflakes.

And Finally 

They got arms !!!

I found a wrapped wire that resembles wood and shaped it into arms. It will do for now, I just need to bend/shape them a bit so they don't look like their being held up at gun point. I may make arms from the same batting later on but I'm not sure just yet. I'll live with them the way they are for a while and see how I feel later on.

Well, that's it for 2018, so until next time.....

Take Care & Happy New Year

Hugs, Sandy

 

Merry Christmas

Hugs, Sandy & Robert

**Chart Correction**

I posted a correction to the Small Quaker Snowflakes and also re-posted the chart in the post bellow.

Sorry for any inconvenience, but I am only human after all and mistakes do happen.

Hugs, Sandy

Snowflakes for Winter

***Chart Correction***
I have replaced the chart with a corrected version. If you do not want to re-save or reprint the chart the error is on the first snowflake lines 23 and 24 on the right side should be two white stitches not three.
Sorry folks, but I'm only human 💕 

Hello Dear Friends & Followers;

Hope you all are doing well this Holiday season.

We're doing well. It's been very windy this past week with mild temps in the 40's & 50's. 

I decided to add a few snowflakes for the winter season.

Not out in the yard, thank goodness, or in my home, but as gift for all of my Cross Stitching friends. They could also be worked up with beads or in Needlepoint.

"Four Mini Quaker Snowflakes"

I designed them for 14 count paper or plastic in two colors:

open heart shape is White (background)

dot or square is color of your choice

Stitch with or without the white on fabric. 

These would make cute magnets, little ornaments, wreath accents, gift tags, etc. 

Hope you enjoy stitching them as much as I enjoyed designing them for you all.

Take Care & 

Have a Great Weekend

Hugs, Sandy

Meet Belle

Hello Dear Friends & Followers;

Hope this post finds you well.

After I finished making "Jingles" for my winter decorating I decided that he needed a friend, a lady friend.

So let me introduce "Belle" 

"Belle"

She might get the rosy cheeks treatment as soon as I buy some blusher.

She is made from the same natural cotton batting and stuffed with fiber fill from an old pillow. She wears dark red felt earmuffs with a braided jute band adorned with smalls snowflakes, a dark red felt scarf with fringed ends and a snowflake, and a dark red felt apron with lace overlay that ties in the back. She has a handmade orange felt carrot nose and sewn on dark blue button eyes. She is 8" tall and 6" across the bottom.

 

I still haven't decided on the arms yet, I have some twigs that would work, but would have to be very careful when packing them away so they don't get broken. We're going to town next weekend and will hit up the craft stores to see if they have any alternatives for arms. If nothing else maybe I can use brown pipe cleaners or something similar. Maybe some heavy wire or pipe cleaner wrapped in a single strand of jute.

"Jingles & Belle"

I think they make a perfect couple.

I call these "make-do" crafts since I had everything for them right in my craft room except the arms. I'll have to try a pipe cleaner wrapped in jute to see what that would look like, I have that in my craft room too.

Since I worked in a House of Fabrics for 2 years and a Ben Franklin's for 4-5 years I acquired a lot of stash.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today and maybe leaving your thoughts behind, I really appreciate each and every comment.

Take Care Everyone &

Have a great day.

 Hugs, Sandy

TUSAL for December

Hello Dear Friends & Followers;

Hope everyone is doing well.

Well here is my very tiny ORT offering for the end of the year.

 Not very much stitchin' going on since the end of October.

But I have been in a fabric sort of mood since mid November and have been getting the hanging organizers for tents and pop-up campers cut out, getting potholders and trivets cut out and of course making not one but two snow people. 

So here is my sewing scrap/ort container.

It's an old popcorn tin from Walmart. 

That's it for today. 

Thank you so very much for stopping by.

Take Care Everyone

& Have a Great Day

Hugs, Sandy

Winter Crafting

Hello Dear Friends & Followers

I hope all is well with you.

Since I haven't been doing any stitching since late October, I decided to do a bit of crafting. I love decorating for Christmas/Winter, but most of my decor pieces are Santa's of varying sizes, two Angel's, one Nativity and assorted pine boughs and wreaths. Not a lot to leave out for the rest of the winter months, so I'm trying to remedy that.

Here is my first try at making a more rustic winter....

"Jingles"

He's made from natural cotton batting, stuffed with fill from a well laundered old pillow, he has a weighted bottom, a hat made from an old glove and adorned with jingle bells sewn on the finger tips and little snowflakes scattered on the front, a scarf made from purple felt and fringed on the ends with a bigger snowflake, sewn on button eyes and two more for buttons down the front and a felt carrot nose.

 

He stands 9" tall and is 7" wide at the base. His nose pokes out at 1 1/2".

I tucked the thumb inside the glove and stitched the opening closed then gathered the fingers together and secured with some thread.

I thought about a bit of blush for the cheeks and twig arms, but don't know yet since I can mock up he arms but pink cheeks are forever.

I think he's just to cute and want to make a few more.

Thanks for stopping by and having a peek.

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy

2018 Smalls SAL Update

Hello Dear Friends & Followers;

I hope all is well with you. 

Thanksgiving was just the hubs and I per usual with our families living in California and northern Idaho. Cooked a turkey with stuffing, corn, deviled eggs, gravy and rolls as sides. Peach Cobbler for dessert.

A nice quite day.

I haven't done any stitching in the last few weeks, but still have a finished piece for my November Smalls SAL update, which is a day or two late. Oh well, so goes life.

"Flower & Berry Vines"

Designed By: Sandra Longan Designs (ME)

Stitched on 14 count rustic aida using my own hand-dyed threads.

This little pillow will be sent to my 93 year old mother for Christmas.

It has a stitched patch on the back that reads "Always Remember" with my siblings and my name surrounding the words. My mother is in a memory care facility in Sacramento California suffering from advanced dementia. 

Thank you for stopping by and maybe leaving your thoughts behind, I really do appreciate all the nice things you have to say.

Take Care & 

Have a Great Weekend

Hugs, Sandy

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just want to wish all of my friends & followers a very

 May you be surrounded with love and blessings

and be Thankful for all you have.

Here's a Thanksgiving gift from my home to yours.

Use your favorite Autumn/Fall colors.

79 stitches wide x 43 stitches tall

Have a Blessed Day

Hugs, Sandy

TUSAL Update and some Stash

Hello Everyone; I hope all is well with you.

I almost forgot about my TUSAL for November.

Not a whole lot, but every little bit counts.

My 55th birthday was on Monday so I decided to get myself a couple of things I've been wanting. I used my Amazon cash that I've been getting for doing surveys online, so there was no out-of-pocket expense for me.

New clothes for my 30+ year old ironing board. I went with a Dritz Pressing Assistant, it will be a help with blocking all of my stitching smalls. I might add more padding under neath for a bit more cush. 

Then I picked out a tin filled with 100 of these little clips. 

They are just perfect for all of those smalls I need to finish off.

They are 1"L x 3/8"W x 1/2" T and the jaw opens 3/8". 

They don't distort the fabric like pins usually do and they hold tight.

I also got the hubs a box of 24 U-NO candy bars, they are his fav.

It has snowed again, it started Monday night and kept falling until Tuesday afternoon. Since the temps have been in the 30's and going to go up to the 40's I don't see it going it away anytime soon.

I'm using my laptop once again minus the battery, still haven't gotten a replacement, found one in Billings for $120, but if it works plugged in and I don't intend to take it anywhere, I'm ok with it just the way it is for now.

That's it for now, thank you all for stopping by.

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy 

Happy Spooky Hallowe'en

Wishing you all a very Happy Hallowe'en 

and a Blessed Samhain.

May many little ghosts, goblins, and witches grace your doorway with shouts of "Trick or Treat" and Happy Hallowe'en.

 

Unfortunately we don't get any little ghosts and witches here at the cabin, the last time we bought candy and left the porch light on we got one little imp shouting "Trick or Treat" and none the next year so we just quit buying candy. 

I still stitch for Hallowe'en and Autumn/Fall and decorate the inside of the house with fabric pumpkins, ghosts and bats. 

Autumn and it's holidays, after all, will always be my favorite with Winter/Christmas decorating as my second, even though I hate the snow.  

Hugs, Sandy

October 2018 Smalls SAL

Hello Friends, Hope you are all doing well. 

It's time once again for the Smalls SAL, and here is what I've been stitching.

 I stitched this little magnet using DMC's Coloris threads on 28 evenweave and used one coordinating thread from each one to make the cording. No chart for this one just stitched hearts.

 

"Samhain" by The Primitive Hare  

I finished as an ornament and added a cording of jute twine couched in place with a with the same DMC Color Variations thread that I used for the pumpkin. I wanted it to have a more primitive look.

 

Here is a shot of the back. I found this cute pumpkin fat quarter at Walmart for .97 cents.

I've been doing a lot of 'free hand" needlework since I don't have a printer yet and came up with this fall inspired piece with a little help from Lizzie Kate leaflet #543 "Gather a Harvest".

 I fell in love with the pumpkin on the end with the curly stem and fat black birdie, so I added one on each end of a scrap of 18 count rustic Aida then added a tall pumpkin in the middle using the same leaves then a couple of gourds in between with curly stems and baby black birdies. I added a saying that popped into my head while stitching with the help of an alphabet leaflet, then hand stitched the piece onto a some of the pumpkin fabric I bought, frayed the edges and added a bow. I backed it with a piece of yellow fabric I had in my stash.

This piece was stitched with my own hand-dyed threads and one DMC Color Variations.

That's it for now, so until next time.......

Take Care Everyone &

Have A Great Weekend

Hugs, Sandy

Cedarvale Ranch in Hillsboro, Montana

Hello Everyone, here is the final addition to our last camping trip of 2018.
Our campground was in Wyoming but only a short 30-45 minute drive to Montana where the remnants of the Cedarvale Ranch still stand.
Be fore warned that there are a lot of pictures for this one.

They let you know the length of your hike.
It's funny, because it was a harder hike going down to the town than it was going back to the truck on the same trail. I had to stop a couple of times on the way down and none on the way back.

On the way down to Cedarvale Ranch.
Each one of the signs has a bench to relax on if you don't want to take the full hike.

This is one of the old corral and stable areas.

 

A rustic hand made bench almost half way down to Hillsboro.

 

A couple of deer hiding in the tall grass just outside the town.

 

The start of the small community of Hillsboro, Montana.

The Hillsboro Post Office.

The Large Chicken Coop.

Eddy Hulbert's House and a small coop.

The Milk House

A bridge over the creek and the Root Cellar.

We couldn't get a good picture of the inside of the root cellar but had a place to hang thing, and lots of bins and a few shelves left over.

 

The Dude Cabin and the Blacksmiths Shop.

The Dude Cabin/Bunkhouse

 

The Blacksmiths Shop

 

You can see where the forge once sat in the corner.

 

 This bench is where Eddy Hulbert was said to do his silver work.

This is where the Barry's home once stood. It burned down during the winter of 1947-48.

There are a couple of picnic tables and this double sided bench that tells of the Cedarvale Ranch on one side and has a map of the ranch on the other side.

It's neat place to visit if your into old towns and ranches like we are.

Well that's it for this post, so until next time.......

 

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy