Love to Share Valentine Pattern

"Love to Share" copyright 2020 Michelle L. Palmer

A little Valentine pattern from my heart to yours!

Punch needle pattern in reverse and the second image

can be enlarged for rug hooking, applique or embroidery.

**Personal use only, Please~

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Friends!

Annual Christmas Stocking

Wishing you joy!

~2019 Christmas Stocking~

Three free applique projects to say Thank you!

Thank you for your friendship!

Thank you for your kindness!

Thank you for your patronage!

I have included all three years of stocking projects in this post.

You can use the patterns for punch needle, embroidery,

rug hooking, quilting, applique etc.!

Personal use only, please.

Carolina & House Wrens are with us throughout the summer and early fall.

They cheerfully sing from dawn til dusk.

Every now and then, one will perch on my studio windowsill~

Right click to save the above pattern to your computer~

My stitches are not the prettiest...

It is always exciting to see finished works from all of you!

Plaids, stripes, textures, over-dyed, mottled... so many options!

(Quiver) Sharing a close up of my stitches...

2018 was a plaid red fox!

Right click and save the above pattern to your computer~

I shared this jolly snow friend the first year!

Right click and save the above pattern to your computer~

Black snaps as buttons & eyes...

Twine or craft hemp for snowman arms~

Wishing you beautiful November days!

Filled with creative projects~

Thank you again, Friends!

Applique snowman stocking~

A little Christmas stocking to share with you~

We had our first frost & cold winds are beginning to blow!

Made my little snow friend from wool~

You can use what ever fabrics & stitches you're comfortable with.

The paper pattern is below.

~Personal use only, please~

Copyright 2017 Michelle L. Palmer

Gift cards are perfect at times.

I like to dress them up a bit by making unique holders!

Something that can be kept to hang on the tree or cupboard pull.

I'm trying to start early this year...

I'll share more as I finish them~

It's a snap!

Twine, craft hemp or jute for arms!

I traced the pieces for the pattern before I began stitching~

Cut 2 stocking pieces & blanket stitch them together

after you applique your snowman to the front piece.

Feel free to use the paper pattern for your personal use.

I didn't add a scarf to my snow friend but did add a shape for your choice.

He will dress up the season~

Wishing your heart every happiness, Friends!

Dyeing wool with acid dyes~

I have been taking a few hours each week to felt repurposed wool.

I am able to make new colors by using some of the dye that bleeds off.

Summertime is my planning & gardening time.

I will hopefully have all of the colors needed to rug hook
some new projects once the snow files again. (Not in any hurry for that) ;)

This week was my first experience using acid dyes!
We used Jacquard brand... perfect for small batches.

Success!

I had gathered these small jars 10+ years ago for
dyeing some of my wool roving to needle felt~

I will make a small swatch of the colors & make notes of mixes.

We followed all suggested safety precautions.

Dust masks, rubber gloves, proper ventilation & separate pots & utensils.

Followed the simple directions on the package.

There are directions on their site, too.

Jacquard:  https://www.jacquardproducts.com/acid-dye.html

How acid dye works: 

http://www.dharmatrading.com/home/did-you-know-how-acid-dye-works.html

I think I will be trying for turquoise and aqua next...

Some sunny yellow and deep golds!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Friends!

Wool dyeing from clothing scraps~

Something blue from something old!

Something old~ can become something blue?

Giggle...

I had a few 5" x 5" pieces of navy blue wool suit coat.

I put them in a stockpot to boil & felt for rug hooking.

The secondary dye that bled off made all of these blues!

There was a lot of blue dye remaining. I put a piece of black & white

houndstooth type plaid in the stock pot to pick it up~

It hooks into such a beautiful texture!

The palette of wool that I came up with last week~

I wanted to come up with some muted plum tones for my

'I Love You to the Moon and Back' design.

I t would be fun to bring all of my punch needle patterns to

wool hooked rugs~

I cut some of my pattern colors in advance~

I like to have projects bagged and ready to go for when I have

a  little bit of time to relax.

When I have a good amount of plaid, pattern etc. I like to 

add them to my swatch chart. It helps me when planning a rug.

I like to add texture without having to change colors.

Hope you're having a great day, Friends~

Thank you for stopping by!

Wool swatches and samples

~My wool reference guide~

Through the years I have gathered a lot of wool stripes, plaids, patterns etc.

I thought I would eventually use them for wool applique projects.

Then I fell head-over-heels for wool hooking.

I first saw this idea on Pinterest.

Cutting a small swatch of your wool textures and hooking

alongside of it for future reference.

I LOVE the textures!

Some of the hooked areas look just like the swatch~

Others are a great surprise.

One of my favorites...

The black and white diamond-like pattern.

I really like the black & white variegated texture once it is hooked.

I didn't purchase much of it... and now I wish I had more.

I will keep adding patterns and plaids~

This has helped me recognize the possibilities!

The textures will be fun to add to hooked pieces.

Wishing you a wonderful & creative weekend, Friends!

Thank you for stopping by~

Antiquing DMC embroidery floss~

I have a few patterns designed that require muted colors~

I love to work with DMC floss & this spray lets me control

how much antiquing I want to add & the finished results are variegated.

Found 'Instant Antique' spray at a nearby quilt shop. 

There is a website link.

There is a label warning: "Do not consume. Keep away from children."

I slid the labels off DMC cotton embroidery floss...

(so pretty!)

Just a few squirts down the line...

I flipped them over and pulled them into the little stain puddles...

I want to maintain some of the original color for brightness~

Pulled them apart just a touch & gave a 2nd squirt down the line...

DMC 746 is one of my favorite colors.

Easy to see the pretty variation you can get with just a few squirts!

Beautiful! Variegated!

Don't they look delicious?!

I'll share finished work here soon!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start~

Bee on linen~

I love to make gifts.

Alaina and I stopped in a few nearby gift shops looking for a gift.

There are treasures everywhere~ but not that exact something.

I know when I see the perfect thing...

I have a bin of pretty linen colors~

Years back, Alaina & I found several pieces of FLAX by Jeanne Engelhart

at a thrift. We have used bits and pieces... this is part of a sleeve.

I sketched my bee with a pastel pencil...

Gorgeous DMC linen floss~

I like that it is not shiny.

A little bit of stitching & little bit of punch needle.

Stretched, pinned, mounted onto a piece of acid free foam board~

I added framing spacers so the punch needle area doesn't

press against the glass.

A little something to wrap and share.

Hope your Sunday is off to a great start!

Wishing you a wonderful week~