The Stockings Were Hung- Barnyard Christmas Freebie

Are you ready for another Barnyard Christmas freebie? This is #9 in the series and is called "The Stockings Were Hung" . 

This little stitch is inspired directly from the farm.  No farm would be complete without a a kitty or two . This little cat is sitting on the fence which is all adorned with stockings waiting to be filled. I modeled my kitty after, Kat, who was gray in color, but this Christmas cat would look fantastic in any color. 

If you look carefully we will even see a little mouse stirring around in the snow. He is waiting for Santa too. 

These are small  ornaments which means quick stitches. The design size measures 31 x 31 which on 14 count aida that would be 2 1/4" x 2  1/4".  I stitched both of mine on 14 count aida. One was on tea/coffee dyed aida,   and the other was dyed with Rit Emerald Green. 

If you are interested in stitching this little piece the pdfs are below. Because I am not tech savvy , they are in several downloads. 

For the instructions pdf, click here .

For the color chart, click here.

For the black and white symbol chart, click here. 

Here is the collection of ornaments so far.  I have completed 2 of each and can not wait to start decorating the tree come Christmas time. If you have missed any of these , you can click on the names below , and the link will direct you to the post with the designs. Some are pdfs ; some are not but they can be saved to your device to be printed.  They are-

Chicken Sled,  Santa's Ride ,  Special Delivery , Christmas Barn, Christmas Bucket, Christmas Tractor , Santa on the Farm, and Mrs. Claus on the Farm  .

I hope you decide to add "The Stockings Were Hung " to your Christmas stitch list. Have a lovely day and as always...

Happy stitching

Melisa

I would love to hear from you. You can always leave a message for me here or direct message me on Instagram and of course I would love to see your stitch. Just use #pinkernpunkinquilting .  

Is there a T-Rex in that Fall Tree?

Happy Monday! Please come on in and visit for awhile. The pumpkin muffins are warm out of the oven, and I am serving  coffee and  tea.  Well, the trees are nice and green outside - the leaves have not started to change, but I do have a fall tree in my living room. This fall tree is crammed full with Autumn goodness, and yes, you may see a dinosaur or two  tucked somewhere in there . 😃 

This little tree is an old white tree that I have had for years. Yes, it is a little raggedy, but it does the job of holding a large collection of fall items. It sits in an old bushel basket that my Nanny painted years ago. I place it in front of the built in china cabinet. 

This tree has anything and everything fall - sunflowers,  little metal stakes and signs from the Dollar tree , golden balls, and little jack o lantern buckets turned around until Halloween where then they will reveal their little grins. 

Only one piece of stitching made it on the tree which was my little freebie called "Big Jax and Little Jacks". The little Blessed pumpkin was a Dollar General find. 

                                                  

I tucked in some buffalo check ribbons as accents. I just love that little fall owl. He was a Dollar Tree find. 

                                        

On top of the tree is a Dollar Tree stake. The grandbabies love the tree, and you can probably tell that they have made some adjustments particularly around the bottom of the tree. Though he may be hard to spot, there is a T-rex dinosaur in the tree! Lol. 

This little brontosaurus was an ornament my grandson made.He embellished it with a glittery pipe cleaner. Lol . So cute. 

 Nothing says fall like a T-Rex in your fall decor  or maybe a brontosaurus. 

On the other side of the tree is a little stool with a scarecrow, chicken, and pumpkin sign. 

An enamelware pot holds, sunflowers, lantern, pumpkins and metal cornstalks from the Dollar Tree. 

A little pumpkin doll sits in a cedar doll high chair, and my stitched piece called "Rosie's Pumpkins" is propped near the pumpkin doll. Under the high chair is some thrift store cigar box finds with pumpkins on top. A little bear driving a tractor rounds out the bottom of the tree. 

Well that is it for my little fall tree.  Today , the tree is going to be transformed into a Halloween tree. So I hope you will come back and visit and maybe see if you can spot the T-Rex in the Halloween tree. Lol . Have a beautiful day. And as always...

Happy decorating, 

Melisa

Blessed - One Year Instagram Anniversary Chart - Freebie

 One year ago today, with my knees a knocking, my stomach a quivering and my teeth a chattering I decided to join Instagram. This was my 1st social media experience, and I was scared. To be honest, I am still scared every time I post. I talked it over with my daughter and she laughingly said, " Sure join; you may find people like you". She never thought I would really join Instagram, but I did. 

I did not know what I wanted to post, but I knew I wanted to see what other stitchers were posting. I had been watching flosstube for over a year and would hear about all the fun stitchers were having sharing on Instagram.

 Could I be part of the Instagram world? Yes!!! I sent out my first post .

                                                ( My 1st post on  Instagram!- Sept 26, 2019) 

 My face turned red, and I could feel the heat rising in my body as I posted. Oh my nerves!  A little fall decor and a quilt was my first post. The next day I sent out another. Between posts I began to search for some of my favorite Flosstubers  and bloggers,  and then I would find suggestions on other stitchers  to follow. All along I was devouring all of the beautiful stitching , decorating and photographs.  By the third day or so, I had my 1st follower.  I was so ecstatic!   To be honest I ran down the stairs like a 4 year old and blissfully yelled at my  husband with glee " I have my first follower!"   ( Lol Can you tell that I have never been on any social media before?) 

 Over the last few months , I have met so many wonderful stitchers. I wish I could sit here all day and name off all of my friends.   There are several that I chat with daily even if it is with just a few words or just a click of the like button.  Some of you- I  feel like I have known for years, and I  wish that we lived closer together so we could sit, drink tea or coffee , stitch and talk the day away. How blessed I feel to have found kindred spirits. You all have helped me through ups and some downs even when I did not mention it.  Your kind words always brighten my day. Your posts provide so much inspiration, enabling,  and I learn so much from you all. This community is amazing.   I am so grateful to each and every one of you  who take just a moment of your busy day to spend with me. I truly feel blessed, honored and very humbled.

   So in celebration of my one year IG anniversary I want to post this simple little chart called "Blessed".   

 For the Blessed chart, click here . 

(So sorry this is crooked. I have to scan to get this on the computer and you know I am not tech savvy.- I'm trying though. Lol)

Thank you dear friends. I can not say that enough. Big ole hugs and as always...

Happy stitching, 

Melisa 

I would love to see your stitch. You can always direct message me on Instagram or use #pinkernpunkinquilting . 

Happy Fall ! An Autumn Freebie

 

The weather has turned a corner here in my neck of the woods. It is nice and comfortable. The hot mugginess has gone away ,and it actually feels a bit like autumn time. 

 So yes! I am ready to shout  -Hello, Fall!  I am ready for some apple cider and to enjoy all of the fun filled activities of the season.   Well to welcome fall in I have a little design that I worked on over the weekend called "Hello, Fall".  

This design includes a big ole' acorn and a funky looking crow plus plenty of leaves to rake.  Like who doesn't want to rake leaves. 

If you have visited me before, you know that I love small stitches especially when they are quick. This one has a design size of 50 x 50 which on 14 count aida measures 3 5/8 " x 3 5/8". 

 I debated and debated on how to finish this little stitch.  I was going to set him aside, but then inspiration hit when I saw Drusilla Pendlebury's recent Instagram posts. Drusilla is an amazing talent. Her stitches are beautiful and so is her finishing.  And I am in love with her country style decorating. That is right up my alley. Well anyway, Drusilla recently showed some of her fall vignettes on her IG . She had this darling stitch hanging near her mantle shaped like an acorn. And that is when it hit me like a ton of acorns being hurled by squirrels. - A Hanging Acorn! Woo Hoo!  Thank you so much, Drusilla for the inspiration. Now if you haven't seen Drusilla's Instagram click right back to Instagram , look her up, and  hit follow. You will see some beautiful stitching. 

I ended up finishing mine into an acorn pillow wall hanging with a little pocket. I also added a small crow and some picks for embellishment. Here is my piece hanging on my pantry door with a pumpkin wreath. 

I haven't really settled as to where to hang this piece . Next I propped it on the quilts in the foyer with all of the other crow pieces. 

I even  hung the acorn on the overfilled peg rack in the kitchen with the other country pieces. 

Well he will find a home somewhere. Lol.

Now would you like to see how I finished this little piece? I will admit my acorn is lumpy and bumpy, but I am ok with that. I probably finished mine in a way that others might cringe at , but as long as it makes me happy I am good with it.

This is my acorn all taken apart. The bottom is a little bumpy where I turned under edges. 

Okay here we go with sort of a tutorial on the finish. 

  

From my dark and light brown fabrics, I cut 2 strips measuring 8 x 16" . To be honest mine was cut smaller but I found out the hard way it needs to be bigger . 

Using a 1/4" seam allowance, I sewed the 2 strips together along the width and pressed toward the dark fabric. 

Fold the strip in half. Finger Press and then cut the strip in half. 

I now have my template, and stitched piece ready to go. 

I  pressed the edges of my stitching under and centered where I wanted the stitching to be on one of the pieces of fabric. I placed mine below the acorn cap. 

Using 2 strands of DMC 838 floss, I blanket stitched around the stitched piece. Because my cross stitch was on aida, I was able to space my blanket stitches every 2 holes for an even look. I also added a secure stitch at each corner and every 5 stitches to prevent the blanket stitches from curling. 

I am half way there on blanket stitching. I DID NOT stitch the top of the cross stitch down to the acorn piece, but did just blanket stitched the edge which created the pocket. 

The blanket stitch is all done. Next I pressed the piece. 

I took both strips and with right sides facing each other. I pinned the pieces together. 

(Oops sorry for the upside down photo)    Using the template, I then traced my acorn onto my fabric. Cutting your fabric bigger makes a difference. You can see I need to make some adjustments. Lol.

( Lol now a sideways photo- What's up with me? )    Once I completed my sewing. I turned the piece under, and it is ready for filling. 

I filled my acorn with polyfil and sewed up the hole. I then used the crow template to create this big breasted crow to put in the pocket. 

I used jute twine from the Dollar Tree to wrap a few times around the acorn and gave the crow a bow too. The final step was taking some wire to make a hanger. I did not have any black wire so I spray painted mine. I wrapped it on either side of the acorn along the jute and added little buttons twirled around the edges. I can remove the wire, if I decide I no longer want to hang it.  I then stuffed the

 acorn pocket  with the crow and picks and called it a finish.  I am so happy with it and thank you again, Drusilla for the much needed inspiration. 

I would be tickled pink if you would like to add this little design to your chart collection and future stitch list. Now I am not tech savvy so the pdfs are in several downloads. 

For the instructions, click here .

For the color chart, click here .

For the black and white chart, click here. 

For the instructions on how I made my acorn, click here. 

For the acorn & crow pattern , click here.  You may have to adjust the size depending on how big you want your acorn to be. 

Thank you so much for visiting me, and I would love to you see your stitch or just to hear from you. You can always leave a comment here , tag me on Instagram using #pinkernpunkinquilting or direct message me. 

Have an awesome first day of fall and do something that you love!!

As always...

Happy stitching, ya'll

Melisa

Other fall freebies that I have posted are  Rosies' Pumpkins ,  Crow Creek Saltbox ,  Cornstalks, Pumpkins, and Chickens .  Just click on their names and you can go to the posts for the pdfs. Also check out the freebie section on my sidebar.