Sunday, January 17, 2016

A Make Do Pincushion and Other Goodies

Tonight, as the temperature falls and I await Downton Abbey,
it seems like a good time for a post.

Here is a make-do pincushion made from a piece of my great grandmother's silver plate
tea set.  It is badly tarnished, but that is the look I like.  The bottom fell out, so instead
of trashing it, I turned it into this pincushion.  Excuse dust and hair :)

Here is a little huswife I made, just playing around with Civil War repro fabrics.

I've been taking a short break from stitching on my new designs from Merry Wind Farm.
I needed to take some time to work on things for ME. :)  I had this wonderful frame, I think
it is a piece left over from the side of a grandfather clock, and this neat coverlet design
from Cross-Eyed Cricket is almost perfect.  I will just need to add some more stitching 
at the bottom.  I have a perfect place for this, and since I can't have antique coverlets (cats
would ruin them) this is the next best thing.

This is a really neat apothecary piece that I purchased from a resale shop in
Tipp City.  Although not old, it is made by a very talented local master craftsman.  Notice the 
detail and dove-tailed drawers.  Right now it is upstairs in the bedroom,  but I think it
needs to move downstairs for display.

This adorable little girl in Merry (as in Christmas) and she joined our flock right before 
 Christmas.  I went out to the barn at midnight on a rainy night, and heard a kitty crying.
Our barn cats do not cry, so I went out and called and she came running to me, soaking wet.
I picked her up and deposited her in the barn right in front of the food dish, and she was so hungry.  
I proceeded to worry all night, and she was still there the next morning.  Then she came up to
the porch and just cried and cried to get it and scratched at the door.  We took pity on her, and off to the vet she went for spay and shots.  I think she was actually born here.  Last summer
there was a litter of four, three black and one gray (from a distance, they were quite
wild,)  The gray one disappeared, and I think this is her!  What happened, I don't know,
but the vet said she has had kittens.  Only 8 months old, a baby having babies!  Plus, she was wounded, can you see it over her eye?  Well, all is well now and she is in kitty nirvana.
I so hope that everyone spays and neuters their pets.  
"A cat can have up to five liters in 1 year. They can have 6 or more kittens each time. They can reach sexual maturity as early as 4 months of age. And most cats live at least 10 years, some over 20 years.....you do the math Basically that works out at 300 kittens if a cat was sexually productive for 10 years. However it is more likely that a cat would have about 4 kittens on average, 2.5 times a year, so say 10 per year, for maybe 5 years, 50 kittens. This is a very conservative estimate, however if this was true then it would only take 9 generations (if all of those cats were to have 50 kittens) to cover the whole world in cats! The surface area of the world being 510 million km2 and assuming you could fit a cat in an area of 0.03m2. 
So watch out kids, neuter your cats!"
This is the antique of Mary Inglis, a Scottish sampler that I will be releasing soon.  I love the manor with the blue roof.  I should be getting it back from the framer this week.

In December I shared some pictures of smalls that I have made.  I missed a few.  The  first is
a small button roll.

A little carry case for a thread sorter.

I have saved the best for last.  This was a class piece with Merry Cox.  The stitching was to be done ahead of time, and I was whining about all the over one.  My dear friend Pattianne volunteered to stitch it, then I went to the class and put it together.  It is a wonderful treasure!


I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with pictures.  Stay warm
xxx

12 comments:

  1. I love your little Merry! How good of you to bring her "into the fold" so to speak. And you indeed saved the best for last! How beautiful!

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  2. Love, love all your stitching and your new soon to be released sampler, but most of all little Merry she looks like my kitty Baby. I know she is happy now and she will never want for anything.

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  3. Your "new" apothecary will fit in very nicely with antique pieces. I hope the new little kitty enjoys your home. It is terrible to be irresponsible pet owners and not take proper car of the animals I do love the new sampler you are working on. All of the stitching is lovely.

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  4. NEVER!! We love the pictures. That is another great sampler you're releasing. That thread sorter case is fabulous. Love that design, never saw it. And that chest! Oh oh oh. A treasure for sure. Just like little Merry. I wonder what happened to her kittens. Makes my heart ache.

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  5. What a great pincushion.
    Congrats on your next release.
    All of your projects are pretty.
    Cute little Merry, thanks for taking her in.
    Marilyn

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  6. All so beautiful and I love all the interesting pics ! What a sweet and very fortunate kitty.
    Rose

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  7. Beautiful pieces, all. Your new Merry looks quite settled in and glad she is safe now.

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  8. Melinda ~
    So good to hear from you. You have been busy. So many wonderful projects. Your apothecary is just gorgeous. Yes, it needs to be downstairs :)
    Sweet little Merry. She cried to the right person. How kind of you to take her in ~ but that doesn't surprise me in the least.
    Winter has arrived and I don't like it, not one little bit :(
    Hugs :)
    Lauren

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  9. Afternoon Melinda, I love the red apothecary, wonderful piece. Your creations are always charming, you are so talented my friend.... Such a sweet kitty Merry is, you are an angel!!! Keep cozy,Francine.

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  10. Love a the pics! My trouble is, I'm sure I'll forget something! Love the red chest and agree, it should be on display. Your smalls are all fantastic and I love your Merry Cox finish. It's stunning! The Scottish sampler is amazing as is your coverlet piece! Wonderful post Melinda and although I don't have cats, I appreciated learning how "active" they can be.

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  11. I thoroughly enjoyed your post! So much eye candy! That Merry Cox piece is the first class I ever took. I still love it! Looking forward to seeing your new release! You're so sweet to take in another kitty. She's a pretty girl!

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  12. what a wonderful post Melinda ! That kitty never knew how lucky she could be landing on your doorstep. You are a kind soul - we made the mistake of feeding a poor cat in our old neighborhood and she was feral and mean as snot and soon starting bringing kitten after kitten to the back door and they soon started bringing more kittens. it was a mess so sad to say I would never feed another feral cat to be sure. Love all the stitching you showed. The Merry needlebook is so special. I love what you are doing with the coverlet design - how clever to use the clock frame. Hope you are well and the outside animals are wintering well. Your new sampler is lovely - take care Mel

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