Corn Stalks, Pumpkins, and Chickens - Oh My! - A Fall Cross Stitch Freebie

 Hey, ya'll .  I am so glad you have come to visit. Come on in and check out my newest Fall Freebie called "Corn Stalks, Pumpkins and Chickens". 

Before I begin ,let me say that I have been having trouble with my Instagram and have been blocked so I can not comment to posts or comments, but I can Direct Message . IG has also disabled my link to my blog so you have to directly type in the blog to get here.  Hopefully IG problems will be resolved soon. 

Now I know some of you may recognize some of the characters from "Bees, Blooms and Chickens "which was a freebie in July . Click here  to go to this post. It is not a pdf but can be clicked, saved, and printed from your device. 

                                               

Annie is at it again. This time she is not busy with her bees, but she and her 3 black hens, Alma, Dorothy Mae, and Edna are out in the garden. Annie is harvesting pumpkins while the 3 gals are busy pecking around for fallen corn kernels. Aren't they the sweetest?  Of course Alma is right on Annie's apron strings. There is always one chicken that will follow where ever you go. Lol. 

This is a small stitch measuring at 52 W x 50 H. I stitched mine on 14 count tea/coffee dyed aida which gave it a measurement of 3 3/4' x 3 5/8". It is the perfect size to fit on my little wooden box that I had got at the Goodwill months ago.

This box was a great find and was already painted. I had originally planned on completing "Bees, Blooms and Chickens " into a pillow but when I saw this box in my stash , I knew it would be perfect.

  Because I wanted to keep  the box out  once Summer decor was taken down , I did not permanently attach the stitch .  I figured I  would stitch something else to go on this box .  As soon as I began to think of fall decor "Corn Stalks, Pumpkins and Chickens" popped into my imagination.   Hmmm  will there be a 3rd in the series?  I am thinking yes. Lol. 

I finished my stitch on foam board which I added 2 layers of scrap quilt batting.  I then added a little ripped homespun ruffle . The stitched piece was then glued to a fabric covered piece of foam board. Finally I just tacked it to the wooden box and lickety split I had a finish. Lol wouldn't be nice if it was finished that fast. 

This makes a great addition to my fall decor and if you are interested you can stitch Annie and her hens too by just clicking on the pdfs below. Now remember, I am not tech savvy so the pages are still in separate pdfs. I am learning everyday but haven't figured how to combine them yet. Lol. 

For the instruction page , click here .

For the colored design pdf, click here. 

For the black and white design pdf , click here. 

And if you did not get the first in this series , "Bees , Bloom, and Chickens,  remember there is a link at the beginning of the post. 

I have posted some other fall freebies this year that you may be interested. The first one was called Rosie's Pumpkins. Rosie is a carefree hen pulling an overloaded cart of pumpkins. To get this freebie  click here.

The 2nd fall freebie was called Crow Creek Saltbox  which is a yellow saltbox surrounded by Crows. It was inspired by a small farm, I used to visit in the Autumn. To get this freebie, click here. 

I also posted some fall doodles to make whatever you would like. These go along with the Crow Creek Saltbox. To get this freebie, click here . 

I want to thank all of you for coming to visit. It sure has been a blessing to be able to share my love for this craft during this difficult time that we all are experiencing.  I would love to hear from you or for you to share your stitches with me. If you stitch one of my pieces, please tag me on Instagram and use the # pinkernpunkinquilting. Using the hashtag ensures that I will see your stitch - I do not see everything if you just use my name ; I think it is because of the device I work of.  Also if you have any troubles getting to my blog or have questions please direct message me on IG and I will try to help . 

Have a lovely week and as always...

Happy Stitching, 

Meilsa

Crow Creek Doodle Freebie - Embroidery Doodle

 Hello, dear friends.  Every year once that August rolls around, I get into the quilting and crafting mood. Fall just brings it out in me. Lol.  I start doodling away ready to make a few more small quilts to add to my growing collection. I always do some sort of crafting that involves crows. 

Here are a couple of quilts I have created in the past and the beginning of some fall decorating. Crows are one of my favorite birds among hummingbirds, chickens and cardinals. I even decorate my foyer in crows which I will show in a future post. 

Yesterday, I posted a free Fall cross stitch called Crow Creek Saltbox. If you missed this freebie click here to go to the post. 

This design was inspired by my family's  Autumn visits to a farm in a neighboring state called Crow Creek Farm .  As I stitched on this piece, I decided it needed a little quilt to go with it. 

So I drew out some prim doodles to embroider. I love to embroider though I am a little rusty right now. It has been a year since I have embroidered anything.  I used DMC 310 black floss and a back stitch. I think DMC 3371 would look awesome too.

 

I knew I wanted the quilt to be small - mat size really. So I could just accent a little table.  Finally, I decided that a 3 inch square for each doodle would be perfect. 

These were real quick to stitch. 

 I didn't like my first pumpkin so I put it aside  for another project. I also stitched a saltbox house , but my little grandson accidently snipped it with kid scissors. ( I still made a little pillow out of it which can be seen here - with the snip and all. Lol) 

 Once I  completed the blocks , I pieced them into a small quilt and hand quilted it in a few hours.

Now that  extra pumpkin block  ( which is sort of lopsided) -  I decided to make into a candle wrap . I like  my candles  to be decorated too. For the candle wrap, I just used a piece of black and white gingham. I then measured the height of the candle in respect to where I wanted the wrap to be and made sure it wrapped around the candle. I turned under the edges of the gingham and sewed them in place.. Then I found the center of the fabric and used a long running stitch to attach the pumpkin block to the gingham. I just tacked mine around the candle with a few stitches so I can remove it easily.  When burning,  I never leave my candle unattended.

These doodles can be used to create anything  such as in  wool applique', punch needle , embroidery or whatever you dream up. Wouldn't one of the motifs look cute on a needlebook? HMMMM!  🤔

If you are interested in making something with these little doodles,  just  click here  .

These doodles can be enlarged to the size that you want and for personal use. Now if you are interested in making a quilt the same size as mine, I  do not have instructions typed , but I will give the measurements that I used for the quilt top. 

You will need  

Cut 4- 5"  square pieces of white fabric for embroidery. Once it is embroidered trim to 3 1/2" . 

Cut 9 - 1  1/2" yellow squares for cornerstone blocks.

Cut 6  1 1/2" x 3 1/2" from brown fabric 

Cut 6-  1 1/2" x 3 1/2" from orange fabric

If you decide to create something with these doodles, I would love to see what amazing project you dream up. Please tag me on Instagram and use #pinkernpunkinquilting.  Using the hashtag ensures that I will see  your work  due to the device that I am working off ( For some reason,  I can not always see the post  if you just use my name  lol  😃😆(Remember I am inept technology wise. )  

Thank you for stopping by and checking my little quilt out. I hope to work on some fall decor and post it soon. So please stop back in to see what I have been up to. Have a wonderful rest of the week and as always, 

Happy stitching, ya'll!

Melisa 

   

 

Woo Hoo! Another Fall Freebie! - Crow Creek Saltbox Cross Stitch

 Hey, ya'll! Thank you so much for coming to visit me today and checking out my little stitch called Crow Creek Saltbox. 

When my children were younger, we used to take them to a little farm called Crow Creek where there was all kinds of fun fall activities . We always started out our visit with the corn maze where we always saw crows despite the scarecrows and the number of people visiting.   The first year we went straight through the maze with no problem. The 2nd year it was a little more difficult with more twists and turns in the maze. The girls would then go play in the grain box which was filled with corn. This area was a favorite of all the children because there was always a lot of kids there. Thankfully, it was in a little hay barn with swings where the adults could sit and watch the children at play.  Before we would leave the farm, we would take a short hay ride  to the pumpkin field where we could each pick a pumpkin and a  twig of cotton . Sometimes in the distance we could  see cotton being baled in another field.   This stitch was all inspired by that little farm.

This is a small stitch measuring 65 W x 70 H. I stitched mine on 14 count tea/coffee dyed aida which would make it measure 4 5/8" x 5".

 

As always, I used what floss I had on hand which  was DMC. I knew when I created this little saltbox that I wanted a yellow home so I used DMC 783, but it would look great  in other colors as well. 

I ended up stitching this into a little pillow. I was going to put a chenille trim along the seams but opted not too. I hope to create a couple more seasonal saltboxes in the future  about the  same size. 

If you are interested in stitching  Crow Creek Saltbox,  you can download it below. Because I am not tech savvy , each page is  a separate pdf. 

For the instruction page , click here. 

For the colored chart pdf, click here .

For the black and white pdf chart, click here. 

For the color pdf alphabet chart, click here  . 

For the symbol alphabet chart, click here . 

You may need to make adjustments in size of your initials and placement. I played around with the placement of mine . 

Most of  my drawings are usually intended for quilts. I ended up taking motifs from my sketches to create a little quilt to go along with  my Crow Creek cross stitch. If you are interested in seeing more about the quilt and candle wrap, check out tomorrow's post and get the free doodles to make something of your own.  

Thank you so much for visiting with me and if you decide to stitch Crow Creek Saltbox please tag me on IG using #pinkernpunkinquilting.   I would love 💗  to see your stitch. Using the hashtag ensures a better chance for me to see it  because of the device that I work off of 😀. You can always direct message me on Instagram too!  I hope you have a blessed day and go do something you love!!. As always, 

Happy Stitching, 

Melisa 

If you missed last week's Fall Freebie, " Rosie's Pumpkins" click here. 

Sunflowers and Bee- Summer Buffet Decor

Hello, dear friends. Come on in and visit for a while  and let's take a look at my buffet all decked out in bees, sunflowers and summer decor.   I really do not have a lot of bee decor and am trying to slowly build it up. Around May I changed out the quilt   above the buffet; this  is my "Sybil Ludington" lantern quilt that I designed and quilted a few years ago. I love this quilt. It hangs from a wooden shelf. 

On the buffet is a large set of scales that has always been on the buffet since I was a child. This buffet and the rest of the dining room set was bought by my great grandmother and then passed on to my  great aunt. My aunt always had these scales on the buffet . Right now I have little doilies in them. 

I have a new addition to my bee sunflower decor  which is Hands on Design's  " Year of Celebrations-August" . I just used the floss colors that I had on hand.  I also brought out one of my Vaseline glass rooster candy dishes for display. 

Other stitches on display  is With Thy Needle and Threads "August Word Play", Lizzie Kate's" August" and Prairie Grove Peddler's freebie called "Bee Happy"  . 

Normally I have a crotcheted table runner on the buffet , but this year I went with a black and white buffalo check runner which matches my dining room table runner. I like it a lot and will use it for Fall and Halloween too.   The Summer Bee stitches are some of my designs.

 The big bee which came from Big Lots years ago  and the bee salt and pepper shaker sits on 2 ironstone plates. Can you tell that I  love to collect dishes? Lol.  

The "Blessed" cross stitch is from Stitching with the Housewives and is propped on some old plates that I have had for years though this is their first time on display. Behind them is a piece of Carnival glass that I just purchased at a yard sale.   In the milk glass compote, I placed a transferware plate and stack milk glass and pottery filled with moss from the yard and some little stitches. I purchase most of these things from the Goodwill. I am a thriftaholic. Lol. 

A few years ago I had my hubby put some hooks on my wooden shelf where I could hang some of my ever growing collection of tea cups. We will never have a shortage of plates nor teacups. Lol. I have a number of old teapots on the quilt shelf that stay there year round. 

Thank you so much for coming over to see my later summer buffet decor. Soon this buffet will be transformed into its fall look . Hope you will come back to see.  Have a lovely day and do something you love!

Blessings, 

Melisa
 

Rosie's Pumpkins - A Fall Freebie

Hey, ya'll . The temperature around here is still in the high 90's and though I do not want to wish summer away, ( I love summer time.) I am ready for some fall stitching. 

 This little stitch is called "Rosie's Pumpkins" which was inspired by a dear IG friend who has a number of chickens and one is named "Rosie". Isn't that the cutest?

Rosie was very busy during the Spring time planting pumpkin seeds and now it is harvest time. She has her wagon filled with  pumpkins for baking pies or for  carving. 

                

I stitched mine on 14 count aida that I Rit dyed with Blue Denim. I then made it into a little pillow using fabric from an old shirt. The little banner is just bits of wool clipped from an old wool jacket tacked to blue Baker's twine bought at the Dollar Tree. 

This is a small stitch at only 50 x 50 stitches in measurement. On 14 count aida or 28 count evenweave, it would measure 3 5/8" x 3 5/8"

I used all DMC floss.   I think this stitch would look  great on tea dyed fabric and would be fun to change the floss colors too.  You can stitch Rosie too. Below are pdfs for the charts. Because I am not too tech savvy they are in 3 different pdfs. I had a bit of printer/scanner trouble with these so I hope they come out ok. 

Click here for the instructions. 

For the colored chart, click  here  .

For the black and white chart , click here .

I would love to see your stitch  if you decide to stitch Rosie. Please tag me on Instagram and use hashtag  # pinkernpunkinquilting . 

Well, I am off to do a little more stitching. I hope you all are getting in some stitching time too. As always,

Happy Stitching, 

Melisa