Tuesday, December 31, 2019

New Year's Eve and time on my hands

Happy New Year to all.  I am having a quiet New Year, as usual, which follows a quiet Christmas.  Nothing much happens around here on holidays, as it is now just me and my son, and he has a girlfriend that occupies much of his free time.   I had many years of wonderful Christmases, I think every Christmas I can ever remember was wonderful, starting when I was a small child.  There was only one really bad year, the year that I was in the hospital for two weeks with MS.  And there was the year of the colicky horse, and the year of strept throat, but on the whole they were great!  So I can't really complain that the holidays aren't any fun  any more, as I have many wonderful memories...

Have you seen the expensive vintage sleighs offered by Spring Green Country Sampler with small needlework pillow inside?  This is my version.  The vintage sleigh was purchased for a couple of dollars on marketplace.  Some at Country Sampler were as much as $100, so I think I got quite a deal.  The little sampler pillow didn't really show up, next year perhaps I'll add a little mini red wool blanket.




When my mother passed away, I saved her costume jewelry which I now hang on the tree.  It is a lovely remembrance of her at Christmas.  Except for the year I was in the hospital, I never spent a single Christmas without my parents.  I need to look around and see if there are any more that I can use.


I did do a lot of decorating for the bnb portion of the house as I have had guests solidly since mid December.  No outdoor wreaths or lights this year.  It has been so warm that I haven't been in the mood.  Here is a picture of the house several years ago when we had a nice snow.   I forced myself to put up a tree in my part, and took it down the day after Christmas.



A few weeks ago, an old design of mine popped up on Facebook, and all of a sudden there was a great deal of interest in something that I maybe sold 5 copies when I designed it back in 2015.  The original version was stitched without a pattern, I just made it up as I went along, and mounted it on a board that I painted and heavily aged.  I sold it on Primitive Handmade Mercantile before I started making reproduction patterns.  



I know, poor photo.:)  It then morphed from Mary Howe to Emmaline Cole (an ancestor of mine and I name that I love) and I created a pattern for it.  I encouraged the stitcher to chose one of their ancestor's names to chart and use.  Anyway, it sort of exploded on Facebook and I sold over 125 PDF copies!  It was just a stroke of luck that I had saved the pdf on the computer, as I didn't save the hard copy pattern.  Here it is as Emmaline Cole.  Bethel Day School is a made up name from the county that I live in, Bethel County.  


Another thing that I made is a project bag.  I spent two weeks of trying different ways to create a bag with the zipper and no seams showing.  Lots of trial and error.  After I had finished, and was so proud of my creation, I found out that I could have just watched a you tube video of how to make it.
Oh well........

The sampler is from Blackbird's Shall I Compare Thee To  A Summer's Day


That is all for now.  I'm working on a new reproduction that I will share next time.

Melinda
xxx

12 comments:

  1. Putting your Mom's jewelry on your tree was a lovely tribute to her. I stitched Emmaline a few years ago. However, here she is Rebecca Morris. My DH. who loves genealogy, and I had fun picking a relative who would have been a stitching age in 1835. We found 2 and chose Rebecca. I wish you good health and happiness in 2020!

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  2. Quiet here too. New year's eve is not and never was a party time for me. I'll watch Golden Girls if I can find them.

    I love the idea of the jewelry on the tree. My mom had so little but I have hers and her mom's pink pearls. And that sleigh idea of using a little red blanket is perfect!

    Wishing you a happy and healthy 2020.

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  3. Happy New Year! I'm spending my New Year's Eve in pajamas. My first new stitch at the stroke of midnight is your Girls in Blue Dresses design. I'm looking forward to it and just may start it here a little earlier.

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  4. Yes, those sleighs are expensive, I love your vintage sleigh.
    I have a wooden one that my Uncle made my Mom & her sisters way back.
    It's made out of wood, he painted them red, & added Christmas decals on it. I will always treasure it.
    Now I need to get that design & stitch it for next year!
    What a great idea, putting your Mom's jewelry on the tree.
    A very pretty project bag also.
    Happy New Year!
    Marilyn

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  5. I come from a family of 10, 8 children, 2 parents. We lost Dad in 2017, but thank God Mom is still here. Our Christmas was very small this year, due to some family not getting along, and so it goes. I remember fabulous, hectic Christmas Day's with family filling the house, big dinners and all. But mine are getting very small and I understand how it is for you. It's not sad per se, just our new normal.

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  6. How lucky to have fond memories of childhood Christmases!!!
    Congrats on all the PDF sales. The power of social media...lol!
    LOVE your sled.
    Happy New Year :)

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  7. How nice to sell so many copies of an old design. Way to go! Love your lil bag too! Happy New Year! Janice

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  8. Hi Melinda,
    Love all of your photos and the house photo with snow is especially beautiful!! Your sleigh is so sweet and quite a deal, compared to the ones you mentioned!! Red is the perfect color to make things pop!!! So happy for your big sale, too!! So nice when social media works in a positive way!! Lovely idea about your mom's jewelry for the tree, too!!! A wonderful way to treasure those special memories!!!!
    Hope 2020 will be filled with many blessings!
    Heart Hugs~
    Julie xo

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  9. Christmas does change as our kids grow into adults with lives of their own. It's good to remember all the good Christmases of the past. What fun that the chart took off like that! Very nice! Love your take on the sleigh too. Happy New Year!

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  10. Hi Melinda - I always enjoy reading your blog. I'm glad you made it thru the holidays. They are so sad for so many people. I must admit I understand, all my husbands family is gone and we have no children so it's just my folks and my DH and I. Our whole holiday and every holiday revolve around the 4 of us. I'm getting old enough to start dreading what comes next, what will the next decade bring. I just trust in God and keep moving forward. Have you been rug hooking any? This is about the only time of the year I am really in the mood to hook. Hope 2020 is a good one for your B&B and repro business. Melody

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