a weekend punchneedle project

We thought it would be fun to give you a weekend project during the summer. So, we took a little poll on our Facebook page to get some suggestions for mediums you enjoy, and then randomly selected a medium from those suggestions. Punchneedle was the medium drawn from the bag of suggested mediums this week. Recently, we have had a few emails regarding the punchneedle project  below (the crow on the watermelon) so we decided to offer you this ‘Flashback Friday’ project! This little embroidery is an original by me (Beverly) from 2006, and I am happy to share it with our readers again.

If you are a painter, or sewing enthusiast, I would LOVE to see you use the pattern completed in your medium of choice!

The pages of the instruction, as well as the pattern, have been scanned as a photo for you to print out a reference copy.

We hope you enjoy your weekend of stitchery, paint, or piecing! (You get the picture…)

 

‘What is it?” #69 – the answer

Our photographer tried to be tricky with the photograph this week—to give you an angle that might confuse you. We feel a little guilty about the difficulty level of this week’s puzzle, but as always, a few of you vintage wizards DID know that the item was the nib of an ink pen. A calligraphy nib, to be exact.

 

To read this week’s guesses scroll down to our original post below. Happy Friday, friends! See you next week for another puzzle.

“What is it?” Wednesday #69

Welcome back for our weekly puzzle. Please leave us a comment with your guess of the identity of this item, and visit again on Friday for the answer!

Hmmm… what do YOU think it is?

Thanks for coming out to play today!

little lavender stitchery

Designer Terry Loewen is sharing a perfect weekend stitchery with Create & Decorate readers. Simple stitches and minimal color changes create this sweet piece that may be finished into a framed piece, or even used to dress up a plain towel!

What a perfect way to welcome summer!

lavender stitchery

designed by Terry Loewen

materials

For product information, see sources below.

DMC embroidery floss in No. 4065 and No. 4240 (use one strand for design)

Muslin or similar fabric, a small piece

Wichelt Imports

28 ct. linen in No. 76W White

No. GBFRM10 5” x 7” frame

Embroidery hoop

Alphabet rubber stamps and brown ink (optional), double-sided fabric tape, embroidery needle, foam core (a 5” x 7” piece), washable fabric marker

Stitch detail

instructions

See pattern below.

1. Transfer design to embroidery linen, then place in hoop.

2. Stitch flowers with 10 – 12 wrap bullion knots, stems with stem stitch, and leaves with a daisy stitch.

3. Stamp “lavender” on muslin (or transfer the letters as a pattern), then sew a running stitch.

4. Place double-sided fabric tape on foam core and stretch design over tape and around to back; secure with a bit of tape.

5. Place completed piece in frame.

Drag the pattern to your computer’s desktop to print an accurate pattern size. Otherwise, you will need a frame larger than 5″ x 7″.

Sources of supplies

 

The DMC Corporation

(973) 589-0606

dmc-usa.com

Wichelt Imports, Inc.

wichelt.com

“What is it?” 68 – the answer

Happy Friday, and welcome back to our blog to check out the answer of this week’s puzzle. Sometimes our photo is enlarged so much that it throws your perception of the item, and we are pretty sure that happened to many of you this week. However, as always, we had wonderful guesses and a few correct answers. There is always a handful of you who own (or used) the featured vintage item. To read this week’s guesses, scroll down to the previous post.

Our item this week is a sweet red-topped nut grinder, complete with original decal!

Maybe one day we should have a “What is it?” online auction selling off all of the previous items. Then Noelle and I could go on a ‘junking’ vacation, and start the collection all over again!

“What is it?” Wednesday #68

We’re happy to have you visit us for this week’s “What is it?” puzzle! This cheery red piece should be a fun guess for you. You know the drill by now: Please leave us a comment with your guess telling us what this item is, and stop back in on Friday to see the full picture of our item, as well as read the guesses. Happy Wednesday!

sweet cherry hand pies

This post’s intention to encourage you to seize the summer, friends. We posted a summer ‘check-off’ list not too long ago, of things to do to keep you young at heart this summer. Click here for that list.

One of our favorite summer to-do’s is to pack an old-fashioned picnic, a vintage tablecloth, and have a quiet couple of hours enjoying lunch with a good friend and yummy treats. The following recipe is perfect for the picnic basket, it’s a pie-on-the-go!

Create & Decorate Magazine / Cherry Hand Pies / Sean O’Brien Photography

sweet cherry hand pies

Preheat oven to 425°.

pastry

1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Mix flour, oil, and salt until particles are the size of small peas. Add water, a tablespoon at a time, until pastry cleans off bowl sides. Form into a ball. Divide ball into three even portions. Roll out each ball between two pieces of waxed paper to 1/4” thickness. Peel off top layer of waxed paper.

filling

1-1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 16-ounce can pitted, tart red cherries, drained

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Mix sugar and flour, then add cherries and almond extract. Evenly distribute filling onto each dough circle. Fold one side of dough over filling to reach opposite side. Roll dough edges over and pinch to seal. Poke tops with fork two times each and sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired.

Bake for 25–30 minutes; edges will be slightly browned and juice may bubble through tops.

Enjoy the sweet taste of summer!

from the summer issue

Not all of our blog readers are our magazine subscribers (please—pray tell us, WHY?), but we do like to share our inspiration online, too, of course. SO, if you haven’t had a chance to peek into our summer issue, we are happily letting you see a handful of the latest pages. You can hop over to the Create & Decorate website, too, by clicking here.

You might not find the instructions to these projects, but you will find some OTHER free online projects there!

From our July/August 2012 issue:

The Prim Painted Cow, below, is by Susan Cochrane.

Oh, yeah, baby, that’s what we’re talkin’ about… chewy chocolate cheesecake bars. Yum! This recipe IS on the website, so be sure to click over to get it and bake some of these for your next get-together. Our mouths water just looking at them, they are so good! Recipe from Lyn Slade.

The lovely little Annie Belle is designed by Kim Grasso.

And step back in time with a pictorial visit to a local fair. You will be counting down the days for your town’s fair! This photo has us contemplating submitting some of the jams and jellies we love to make.

Hope you enjoyed your peek, and we  hope our subscribers are enjoying the latest issue!

“What is it?” #67 – the answer

Ta-daaaa!

Our weekly puzzle revealed: An Ekco Ovenex 8 hole muffin/cupcake tin in our favorite pattern – Starburst!

So many great uses other than the obvious:

Use one to organize your desk or junk drawer, sort buttons or beads, set tea lights or votive cup candles in to cast a primitive glow, and heck… tie a homespun fabric strip and hang it on the kitchen wall! Don’t you just love “stuff”?

Thanks for playing along this week! To read all of the wonderful guesses from our friends, click here, and scroll down. Many of you knew it was a muffin tin, but our ‘wow award’ (no, we really don’t have this award) goes to Edie who actually knew it was an Ovenex! You sly treasure-hunter, Edie!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Beverly and Noelle

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Lynn K. Bates who had a very lucky day today. Lynn’s name was drawn to win a copy of All Sewn Up by Chloe Owens!

Let the audience roar for Lynn…

Thank you all for entering. Stay tuned for future fun stuff that we like to share (and then gift to our blog friends).