Farm Truck - Barnyard Christmas Freebie

No farm would be complete without 2 things- a farm truck and a farm dog. 

This little stitch  called "Farm Truck" is based on our farm truck . Yep! We have a red farm truck - not a vintage one, but an old truck that is used for farm purposes.It is dirty and smelly- yeah a regular farm truck .  My parents have an old farm truck too and it is red! Is that a requirement as a farmer?   I wish we had a vintage truck though.  

As a child , our family dog, Tiger,  used to ride along with us kids in the back of the truck as we went from field to field. About a week before Christmas, dad would go to the back field which we call "the bottoms"  and cut down a cedar tree.

 We would help drag it to the back of the truck. My sister and I  would hold the tree in the truck while Tiger usually opted to walk or run back home. We would then make our way home  to decorate the tree. Have you ever had a cedar Christmas tree?  The smell is wonderful, but it can be a bit prickly.  It was fun to decorate  the tree with popcorn, red balls and little wooden ornaments. Sometimes we would get tinsel and  blow it onto the tree which we thought was a lot of fun.

 Our tree never stayed up long. Mom was ready to have it gone by December 26th. So the day after Christmas, Tiger along with  the tree were loaded into the back of the truck; dad would then take the tree to "the bottoms" to dispose of it. 

"Farm Truck" is the 13th ornament in the Barnyard Christmas series. I designed these little stitches for my Christmas tree. I originally planned on 12 ornaments. I still have a couple of more in mind.  I may post more depending on when the tree goes up and how it looks. You know I like an overfilled tree. Lol.

I stitched 2 of these in an evening both on 14 count aida. One was stitched on coffee/tea dyed aida and the other on Rit Emerald Green aida. 

 The stitch is small and measures 31 x 31 which on 14 count aida that measures 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" . 

You can stitch this little farm truck too, just check out the pdf's below. Because I am not too tech savvy each page is on a separate pdf.  The pdf's may print out light - I do not have a professional set up on designing charts or the pdfs but I am working with what I have which is a good thing. 

For the instruction page , click here . 

For the color chart pdf, click here. 

For the black and white chart, click here. 

If you missed any of the other charts, you can click on the names below and you will be directed to those charts.  

Previous charts include: 

Chicken Sled ,   Santa's Ride ,  Special Delivery , Christmas Barn, Christmas Bucket, Christmas Tractor , Santa on the Farm,  Mrs. Claus on the Farm , The Stockings Were Hung ,   Santa's Visit  ,  Hanging the Star .   and, Skiing on the Farm . 

I hope you are getting  excited about the upcoming  Christmas season. I am !  Just a few more days for me and guess what?  A tree is going up. Woo Hoo. I can not wait!  

I have enjoyed seeing so many of you stitch these little charts ,and I can not express how my heart leaps with joy each time I see one of my little designs stitched. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me, to stitch my designs and for leaving such lovely comments and bits of encouragement. You really have kept me motivated and inspired. Ya'll have really made a gal feel special, and I so appreciate it. 

 I truly hope you enjoy this little chart. Have a lovely rest of the week and as always... 

Happy stitching, ya'll

Melisa

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

Where Has the Month Gone? And the Halloween Hutch.

Well a big hello, to you! Can you believe that it is the last week of October already ? Where has this month gone?   Do you have your candy or treats yet? I do believe I need to get a couple of more bags for the grandkids. Then I will be set. 

  To start this spooktacular week off, I thought I would share my Halloween hutch.   Mr. Pinker n ' Punkin built this hutch for me in the 1990's.  I used to only house my blue willow transferware in it,  but now I change it up seasonally. 

Last year I decorated my hutch in a witch theme. This year, however, I decided to mainly use a lot of prim jack o' lanterns . One of my favorites is this toothy  red nosed Jack made of paper mache' . It has a beaded handle and a green silk ruffled collar. I placed my Happy Jack cross stitch on top which was finished on a paper mache' box.    

The little "Witch" cross stitch was a freebie that I stitched last year and finished it into a pillow using Teresa Kogut fabric. 

Frankenstein is making an appearance on the shelf too. My daughter got me this cute little guy a few years ago. Next to it is another paper mache Jack which looks sort of evil. 

The 2nd shelf is filled with even more cross stitch. The first piece is a called " Harvest Blessings" by Joyce Reed and can be found in the 2019 Fall issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine. I completed it this year during Stitch Maynia. I fully finished it on an unfinished piece of wood which I painted black . The wood  was actually made to hold  a clock, but now it has a new life . I purchased  it years ago at Walmart, but never did anything with it. The little crow piece is several  little crows that I stitched from my freebie Crow Creek Saltbox.  The little Hocus Pocus witch was one of my designs too. 

With thy Needle and Threads " Spirits and Spells" is one of my favorites of Brenda Gervais. I finished it on an old tin tray I painted white and finished it with some ripped fabric.   

Have you noticed the cute signs that the Dollar Tree has been getting in lately?This Happy Halloween sign was a fun DT find. 

Another red nosed toothy Jack sits on the 2nd shelf. It sort of has a popcorn effect in its finish. It is a big paper mache box. I love his wide eyed , happy  face. 

A new addition to my Halloween decor this year was the  Dollar General black truck with a load of smiling jacks. I thought it was the cutest. I always love watching Jean E. on Youtube who shares the most amazing home tours.  I have always admired her larger metal black truck that she brings out for Halloween so I was quite happy when I got this little truck. 

A little black cat has it's mouth wide open for treats. My daughter got me this little guy when she bought Frankenstein for me.  I am such a lucky mom. 

I painted this birdhouse gourd years ago for Halloween. It must be about 15 years old and has stood up to the test of time . I love pulling it out every year. 

On the vintage scales, I placed a little orange knitted piece with a soap dish filled with candy corn  on top. Topping that is  a sweet freebie called "Surrender the Treats"  from Hands on Design. Information on this piece can be found on Cathy's Instagram. It was a fun little stitch. 

Doesn't that Jack look like he wants the candy corn? Lol.

My most prized Halloween decoration is this glittered wooden Jack o' lantern. My oldest grandson painted this guy  and sprinkled him with red glitter. I was tickled to receive it as a gift from him last year. He is pretty crafty if I do say so myself. 

Well that is my Halloween hutch in a nut shell. I have enjoyed all of these Halloween pieces this month. It is hard to believe that by this time next week a new display will take its place. Though I hate to see the Jack o' lanterns go, I am always  glad to see the turkeys. 

Thank you for visiting me today, and I hope you have a wonderful week with lots of treats . 

Happy decorating, 

Melisa

 

Skiing on the Farm -Barnyard Christmas Freebie

Hello sweet friends. I hope your day is going fantastic. Are you ready to see some more Christmas stitching?  I have been working on finishing the latest addition to the Barnyard Christmas series which is called " Skiing on the Farm" though I also call it the "Christmas Goose" . 

Let me take a moment to introduce Gandy to you.

 No, she is not going to be heading to the kitchen ; Gandy  is a farmyard pet. She is pretty talented, and during snowy days on the farm, she likes to ski .What is she using for a ski pole?  A candy cane of course.

Gandy is a pretty gal all decked out in her Christmas scarf , plus she is carrying a sprig of holly in her beak.  She really gets into the Christmas season. 

I stitched 2 of these gals in an afternoon both on 14 count aida. One was on tea/ coffee dyed fabric and the other was on Rit Emerald green dyed aida.  I ended up dipping my Emerald green aida in a tea bath to give it an aged look. 

The chart measures 31 x 31 which on 14 count aida measures 2 1/4" x 2 1/4". You know what that means- a pretty quick stitch. 

If you are interested, check out the pdfs below. Remember I am not a professional designer and am doing this for fun. I am also not tech savvy so each page is in a separate pdf.  

For the instruction page pdf, click here  . 

For the color chart pdf , click here .

NOTE: If you use the colored chart , remember the colors on the chart are not good representations of the floss colors. Sometimes the symbols are difficult to see using the colored chart so I  have provided the black and white chart too. I am not a professional designer nor do I  have "professional equipment "to work off of, but I  am doing this for fun. So please enjoy. 

For the black and white pdf, click here .

Oh, look at all of the ornaments I have stitched so far. Two of each one. 

I am counting down the days until the tree goes up.  If you have missed any of the ornaments you can click on the names to go to the posts. Some designs are in pdf form; some are not, but you can be save and print them  from your device. 

Previous ornaments include: 

Chicken Sled ,   Santa's Ride ,  Special Delivery , Christmas Barn, Christmas Bucket, Christmas Tractor , Santa on the Farm,  Mrs. Claus on the Farm , The Stockings Were Hung ,   Santa's Visit  and  Hanging the Star . 

Thank you dear friends for visiting me today . May your day be filled with joy and lots of stitching and as always ...

Happy stitching, ya'll

Melisa

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

Hanging the Star- Barnyard Christmas

 Hello , dear friends. Come on in and let's talk Christmas. To tell the truth , I am counting down the days to when I put up my first tree. Can you believe 70 more days till Christmas? 

 When do you put up your  Christmas tree? I put  up my 1st tree on November 1st. I do have to admit, I am ready to put up the tree now. Whenever I start seeing all the pretty decor in the stores, I get so pumped for the season. 

Today I am sharing the 11th ornament in the Barnyard Christmas series. This piece is called "Hanging the Star" . A sweet ewe, pig and chicken have all joined together  to top the tree with the Christmas star as they celebrate this special  holy night. 

This is stitch measures the same as the others in the series with a design size of 31 x 31 . I stitched 2 of these on 14 count aida. On fabric of this size, the stitch measured  2 1/4' X 2 1/4". A great little stitch to use up those scraps of fabric. 

Here the ornaments are paired with another freebie called Farm Sweet Farm. You can find it by clicking the name .

 I stitched one  on coffee/ tea dyed aida. 

The 2nd ornament was stitched  on Rit Emerald Green aida .  

If you would like to stitch "Hanging the Star" , check out the pdfs below. 

For the  instruction page pdf, click here . 

For the colored chart pdf,  click here . 

NOTE: If you use the colored chart , remember the colors on the chart are not good representations of the floss colors. Sometimes the symbols are difficult to see using the colored chart so I  have provided the black and white chart too. I am not a professional designer nor do I  have "professional equipment "to work off of, but I  am doing this for fun. So please enjoy. 

Fort the black and white pdf, click here  .

If you have missed any of the other ornaments, you can click on the names below and you will be sent to the previous posts. Some are in pdf form; some are not. 

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

I hope you decide to add "Hanging the Star" to your Christmas decor. I can not wait to add mine to the tree. Thank you so much for visiting me and for all of  the support, inspiration,  and encouragement you all give me. As always...

Happy stitching, ya'll

Melisa

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