Before and After

On one of my trips to an antique store I found this matchstick holder. This is what it looked like before. It had a few imperfections and was just the wood color showing.
So I decided to create my own design and finally got around to using these hoops that I won from Candace a while back. Boy, this sure is easier on my body than having to hold the hoop. This sits in my lap so that way my shoulders don't get so tense.
Here is the finished product. My husband sanded it and got rid of the imperfections. He read in one of his woodworking magazines about using shoe polish to finish wood items. So that is exactly what he did and I really like how it turned out.
Now I hope someone can answer a question for me. I went to a flea market on Saturday. I saw these two paddles. As you can see both sides have grooves and when put together they match. I don't know if that means anything or if they are just identical paddles.I thought the smooth side would make a great place to display some punchneedle.

Does anyone have any idea what these were used for? This curious mind wants to know.
With Passion,

Carrie P.

Let's Sew

Oh, you guys are the best. I just finished reading all the birthday wishes. They all make me smile from ear to ear. Thank you so much for all the kind words. Blessings to you all.
Wednesday and every day is a great time for sewing! Another towel from the book Embroidery Companion by Alicia Paulson.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, I was born 54 years ago today. I have received some very special gifts from some very special people.

This a collage my daughter, Christine, made for me. The detail is some wood burning that she did using the blue bird as a model. She is so creative.

Stephanie remembered my birthday too with this special mat she made from a tea towel. I am going to add a sleeve and hang it as a piece of art work.

Stephanie also made me this little cupcake mat. Her very own design which she shares on her blog.
She also sent me some Sharpie Markers, very cute polka spools, and a jar of Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's spices.
Another surprise came in the mail from Mary. She made this lovely star hanging and sent it along with the cute little hanger.
Mary knows me very well just like Stephanie because she sent me some lovely silk thread and applique pins. And look at the sweet vintage handkerchiefs too. Also included was a pretty little notepad.
Thank you so much Christine, Stephanie, and Mary for making my birthday extra special. I love everything you all gave me.

This morning I met with the Applique Addicts group. Look! Jane finished her Aunt Millie Garden quilt. Didn't she do a fabulous job? Now she waiting to get a call from her longarm quilter.
Sheila is working on her borders for her Country Sunshine quilt.
With Passion,

Carrie P.

Pie anyone?

I finished another towel from the book Embroidery Companion by Alicia Paulson.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Winners of the Prim Point Giveaway

Congratulations to Sue from the House that Love Built. Sue wins the Cowboy Spring boot pattern. Congratulations to Marie of Hummingbird Treasures who is the winner of the Twitterin' pattern.

Thanks to Prim Point for sponsoring the giveaway.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Busy Bee

That's Me. Busy, busy, busy. Since I am back to teaching I am working on new projects many hours during the day. I created this little bag to be used for Easter goodies. I hope to teach an embroidery class at Karen Gray's shop.
I am also making some vintage looking feed sack kitchen towels from the book, Embroidery Companion. Each towel will be decorated with different trim ideas. I hope to teach these patterns too.

Ta! Dah! I finished my second Hop To It block.

Here are some pieces for another applique wall hanging I hope to teach to some of the beginners that took my first class.
One little quilt done for my "Give Thanks" hanging designed by Jenny.
Last Tuesday I took a workshop that our guild set up. The guest speaker, Janice Chesnick was the teacher. You had to have 4 1/2 yards of fabric for the class. I was being cheap and did not go out and buy any fabric. I used some that I had which was not the best choice but I did learned the technique.
I have finished this little punch needle project and now it is ready to mount on a wood box. This is the backside. I will show it to you all as soon as it is finished.
I am really excited about our next guild guest speaker. In March Pat Sloan is coming to speak and teach a workshop. She is going to teach machine applique. I have my supply list already so I made the base which is a table runner. The stack of fabric are some choices I might use. There is blue in the border even though it is hard to see. I even made the binding.
I am also trying my hand at rug hooking. I was working on a heart for Valentine's Day but as you can see I did not finish it for this year. This is the backside. I need to cut more wool strips so I can continue hooking.
Here I have done a little bit of embroidery on some twill tape which will go on a dish towel for fall.
I got some fabric strips sewn for the "Autumn" quilt.
And I have started sewing the rows of the signature quilt for the newly wed couple.
Whew! are you as tired as I am. No teaching next week so I should be able to get a lot done. I will share more as I finish the projects.

Don't forget, if you had not entered my giveaway that was posted here, you still have time to win a pattern from Prim Point. I will be drawing two names tomorrow afternoon.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Prim Point Giveaway

Before I get to the giveaway let me introduce you to the ladies of Prim Point. Cyndy Petterson and Lynn Smallwood live in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Their pattern company specializes in Colored Crayon Embroidery, applique, and wool applique. If you don't know how to do the coloring technique you can go here and Prim Point has a free instruction sheet. If you go here you can get a free pattern to try the technique to see how much fun it is to color again. Go get yourself your very own box of crayons. Who doesn't love a new box of crayons?

When you visit Cyndy's blog also called Prim Point you will be able to follow her progress as they create new designs. I know they are working on several BOM that I can't wait to see finished. Here is one of the blocks which I just love.

If you live in Washington State or a state nearby you could attend one the classes that Cyndy teaches. They look like a lot of fun. You can see a really cute heart design that was taught in a class which included applique with fabric and wool and some embroidery. It is very cute.
Here is the newest pattern the girls have created called "Twitterin." This quilt is 44" x 58". This pattern includes applique, coloring with crayons and embroidery. If you look close you can see the sweet little bees are colored and embroidered. You know how much I love anything that has to do with birds so this will be a quilt I make in the near future.
Here is the best part of their patterns. They give you the full size pattern. You don't have to retrace and go get it enlarged. The pattern is numbered in order that you lay the pieces which is great for beginner appliquers.
"Cowboy Spring" is another pattern uses the coloring technique and embroidery. It has a cousin called "Cowboy Christmas" which is very cute with Christmas decorations coming out of the boot.

Okay, I know you are ready for the giveaway. I will pick two names. When you leave a comment tell me which pattern you would like if your name is chosen. (Twitterin or Cowb0y Spring)

For another chance to win a pattern go over to the Prim Point blog and become a follower so you can keep up with their newest releases. Also when you visit don't forget to thank them for this chance to win a pattern. After you do that, come back and leave another comment telling me you have done that for another entry. Simple right?

And if you would like to mention the Prim Point giveaway on your blog I will give you another entry.

I will choose the names on Sunday, February 20. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you too.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Congratulations to the two winners of the Valentine giveaway. Linda is the winner of the finished sachet. Melody is the winner of the pattern. Enjoy and have a Sweet Day!

With Passion,

Carrie P.

ps Come back on Thursday for another giveaway sponsored by Prim Point.

V is for Valentine

V is for Valentine's Day which is coming soon. I made a few of these wool Valentine lavender sachets for a few friends for the special day. I used a pattern from Bird Brain designs which Stephanie shared with me several months ago.
You can have one for yourself if enter my giveaway. The first name I choose will win a sachet along with some candy and a fat quarter.
The second name I draw will win the pattern so that you can make your own and some chocolates. All you have to do is put "Sweet" in the comment box. Make sure that I have a way to contact you. I will draw two names on February 14.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Applique Group

The first of the month my Wednesday group met and look! we got our first Hop To It block done. Most in the group are using a kit. If you look close at the lower middle block you can see that one is different. And of course you can see mine in the right hand corner is different. I need to get busy on the next block. I don't want to get behind. Check out Robin's first Hop To It block on her blog. Very pretty.
And now some show and tell from some of the ladies in the group. Enjoy!


With Passion,

Carrie P.

Sharing!

A week or so I got an email from Linda from Flourishing Palms. She said she was cleaning out her sewing room and wondered if I would be interesting in some applique projects she was not going to finish. Of course I said yes, I would love them.

She sent this book with one completed block, one partially done and all the background fabric. She really does nice applique too.
She also sent this project all traced and almost ready to sew. You can see the little picture at the bottom of the photo.
Thanks Linda for thinking of me and sharing.

And guess what? Linda is also having a giveaway so go check her blog. You might just be the winner.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Quilting and Needle Art Extravaganza

I have a few minutes before another busy day starts for me so I thought I would share something I did last week. Two of my applique buddies and I went to the third annual Quilting and Needle Art Extravaganza in Statesville, NC. Basically it is a show full of vendors and we had a great time shopping.
One lady that I had bought buttons from before was there again. I was happy to see her. Look at those pink and blue plastic buttons I found. She told me that they were made in the 1940's. Those plastic ones are some of my favorite to collect. They come in so many intricate shapes.
I also bought some fabulous wool. I finally got to meet Cathi from Shakerwood Quilts who now attends different quilt shows around this area to sell her beautiful hand died wool. I can't wait to find a project to use those purple wools in. If you click on the link you can see a photo of her lovely booth.
I also bought a jelly roll and some Valdani 3 strand floss.
Some fabric and rick rack.
As we were driving home one of the girls that came along said she might have some buttons she could share with me. So she let me look and said I could have these great buttons. Check out the owls.

Sorry, blogger turned the picture.

Off to start the day. Have a great weekend. I am teaching again on Saturday.

Talk to you next week.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Applique Addicts Show and Tell

I have been very busy since last week and I want to apologize for not replying to all the comments from the last post. I am working on them and hope to get to them all today. I have not been able to spend 30 minutes on any project since that last post. This whole week is going to be full of lots of busy things for me too. Since I haven't been able to work on much how about show and tell from my applique buddies. They are working on some lovely projects.

Here is Patti's version of Hop To It. I love blue and yellow together.

These two quilts were also made by Patti. As you can see Patti is very productive.
Here is a border from Jane's Aunt Millie Garden quilt. She is almost finished.
Rosann is working on a Celtic quilt.
This is a block made by Susie.
This block that is back basted is either Patti's or Susie's. Sorry I can't remember.
And last but not least I was able to applique the circle and hearts on this block.
I will probably not have another post up this week because of all that is going on but I will be back with more to share when things slow down.

With Passion,

Carrie P.