Friendship Basket Finish!!

Howdy, ya'll! 

Woo Hoo! I have a finish, and I am swooning over it. 😊

I finished my little basket quilt. It has that Americana  look with the blues and reds.

 I am calling it my "Friendship Basket" quilt because my dear friend, Joan sent me her favorite basket template.  Now it is my favorite too!

Joan loves the color blue so how befitting to applique these little baskets in scraps of blue. Aren't they darling?

 

Such a fun little quilt to work on . 

Of course, I have already started cutting out more baskets.  I can not just have one basket quilt. Lol . This time in the color red. I already know how I want to set them. 

QUESTION: 

With the finish of one quilt does that mean I can start 2 or 3 new ones.?😆😃 

In my defense , they are smalls . 

So along with cutting out red baskets , I went ahead and cut out some red and blue fabrics and began "Feedsack Flags" which is in the book Patriotic Little Quilts. This is going to be a fun one too. 

I started a 3rd one too, but I will show that later. 

Have a fabulous Friday , my dear friends and as always...

Happy quilting, ya'll

Melisa

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needleworkers to meet. 

Angela of So Scrappy  for Scrap Happy Saturday

Alycia of Alycia's Quilts   For Finished or Not Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict  for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop

Michelle  at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauty Pageant 126

Wendy at Wendy's Quilts for Peacock Party

True friends are always together in spirit. 

Hugs and Stitches

Spring Farm Hutch Tour

 Happy Thursday my dear sweet friends. Please join my in the kitchen for some cookies ,  a glass of sweet iced tea and some good ole' chit chat. I would love to share my hutch decor with you. Now hold onto your bloomers there is going to be a lot to see in a small space😀😃. 

                              

 As soon as Easter was over, I was ready to dress the hutch in some new digs, and I knew exactly what I was going to do . 

 It all started with the Farmyard theme and the bright cheery colors- red and yellow. First,  I changed my shelf runners from the lace valance curtains to red and white buffalo check runners.  I then started off with my layers of Dollar Tree plates in reds, whites, and yellows. I love to decorate with plates. Ssshhhh! Don't tell anyone that I have a plate addiction. Well after I layered the plates,  it was then time to put all the farmyard goodness onto the shelves. I scoured my house for yellows, red and chicks. 

                

 Let's start with the top shelf.

 In the corner is a little cross stitch freebie chicken that I found off Pinterest year ago.  I am not sure who the designer was, but if anyone knows ,I would be so grateful for the info. It was one of the 1st pieces I stitched when I got back into cross stitching. 

 Next to it is a Pioneer Woman "Bless This Home " plaque and an old pitcher with a Dollar Tree hen salt and pepper shaker in it. 

The cross stitching in the middle is one of my designs from last year called the Bee Keepers ,but I have not written out the instructions or printed the chart out yet. 

 A thrifted chick and a Big Lots sheep pitcher rounds off the top shelf. The floral picks are from the Dollar Tree.  

The second shelf has my Nanny's old coffee canister- in my favorite color - RED. 

It may have been my great grandma's, but  I 'm not sure about that. 

On top of it are some gifted salt and pepper shakers and a pitcher with a hen in it - all given to me by my sister. 

My 3 spring Farm freebies are on the 2nd shelf finished in Dollar Tree trays with some reproduction fabric and Dollar Tree lace.

  Click the names of the stitch to go back to the original post and the pdfs. They are :  Spring on the Farm ,  Spring Farmhouse and Spring  Farm Pasture . 

    

These  are all based on my family farms and childhood memories.  I paired them with some old thrifted bowls and a yellow riser from the Goodwill. 

Spring Chick Crock was another freebie that I left out from my Easter decor. 

Now on to the bottom shelf.

                     

 In my old juicer, I changed out the bowl to a yellow Dollar Tree bowl and filled it with an appliqued chick and my freebie embroidery called Luv Chick . 

                        

A Big Lots' heifer sits on a stack of plates and a little piggie is nestled into an old planter.

 My Farm Sweet Farm freebie stitch sits behind a thrifted ceramic chick. I had stitched Farm Sweet Farm last year  near Christmas time to put with my Christmas Farm stitches.

 I just simply changed out the embellishments so it could be used in the Spring and Summer Seasons. It is finished on a Dollar Tree chalkboard easel. 

 On the old vintage scale is some thrifted bowls and a Pioneer Woman cow plaque. 

 The old tea towel was found years ago and has the sweetest crocheted trim..  The lighted warmer stays out year round on the hutch. 

          

On the hutch door is a galvanized bucket with Walmart and Dollar Tree floral picks . 

                   

Next to my hutch is my husband's great great grandmother's bakers table. 

                      

The drawer pulls are little spools The top is enamelware.

                

 Usually this is just a knick knack and candy center for my grandbabies, but come Autumn and Christmas time , it is where I prepare baked goods. 

My little chick quilt that I completed earlier this year is draped over the edge held in place by a compote stand holding a strawberry pie plate. 

                        

 Vintage jars and adorn the the doll bunkbed that is now being used as a shelf. 

Lots of vintage pot holders are hung above. 

                 

Well that is my late spring hutch in a nutshell. It is one of my favorite hutch vignettes in awhile.  

 I need to start brainstorming on my patriotic hutch decor. First I need to decide what plates to use and then it will all fall in place. Lol. 

I am so thrilled that you stopped by today and took a gander at my country clutter. I know I pile a lot into a small section but it  is my style and it makes me happy.  I sure hope you have a beautiful day and hope ya'll stop by for a visit real soon. As always...

Happy stitching and decorating, ya'll

Melisa

A farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't be a farmer. 

Hugs and Stitches. 

Sarah Jane's 1776 Saltbox- A Patriotic Freebie

Happy, happy Tuesday, ya'll.  Yesterday was such a delightful day. I spent the day out on the patio enjoying the warm sunshine and listening to the birdies. 

Sweet Lilliput zinnias are coming up. I can not wait to see their colorful blooms this summer. 

Corpeosis is blooming and doing well. I do need to do some weeding though.  I wonder why it is also called tickseed. Love this plant. 

I have lots of metal art in the gardens including this rusty crusty butterfly. 

I have let the volunteer lettuce go to bloom so I can harvest the seeds later. 

Ok , enough with the goings on outside. Let's talk about stitching. 

I am so excited to share with you my little finished patriotic saltbox house that I shared on IG last week. It is smaller than the other saltboxes. I never really have a specific size in mind when I make these, but I think it turned out cute.

 I named it Sarah Jane's 1776 Saltbox named after a distant great grandmother who lived during this time.  Her father, Jacob  and husband also named Jacob fought in the American Revolution .I know very little of this side of the family , but am still researching them. 

This little saltbox has a wooden fence with a patriotic bunting and  a bald eagle perched on one fence post. A flag waves above.

 The windows have little patriotic buntings hanging from the sill and a large flag is on one side of the house. A little bee skep sits on the other side of the house with a little wild vine reaching for the sky.

 This stitch measures 65 W x 62 H and on 14 count aida would measure 4 5/8" x 4 3/8". I used 10 DMC floss colors to stitch this piece.  I stitched the roof and windows in 3371, but I sort of wish I stitched it in black. 

 I finished mine like the others in a simple little  pillow finish. I do think this one would be very cute with some pretty patriotic fabric framing it or at least on one or two sides. And can you imagine all of the fun embellishments you could use? 

 

If you would like to stitch this home, please check out the pdfs below. I would be very honored. 

Many of you know , but I always like to leave this little disclaimer.  

I feel very blessed by this community and love sharing my little charts, but I am not a professional designer. And I do not have professional software. Thank you for understanding that I  have to put each page on separate pdf downloads because of the devices I use. I apologize for that.  And I am always grateful for your kind encouragement , your visits, and stitching my little designs.  

Click here for instruction page.

 

Click here for colored chart. 

Click here for the black and white chart. 

I pulled out the whole group of houses to admire. Oh boy, do they make me smile. There is a Christmas one in this pile of house stitches, but  that is for a future post. 

If you missed the other saltbox houses , I would be thrilled if you took a moment to check them out.  Just click on the names and you will be directed to the post with the pdfs. They include   Crow Creek Saltbox, Ophelia Manor on Punkin Holler Lane ,  Willowisp Manor of Holler Lane  ,  Turkey Creek Manor ,  Winter Saltbox  , and Dorothy Mae's Spring House   ,  Spring Green Saltbox  , and Katie Anne's Saltbox   . 

Well, I am off to see what the day allows. I am hoping lots of sunshine, and some garden and stitching time and maybe a little visit out to the farm. Thank you so much for the sweet visit. And as always...

Happy stitching, ya"ll

Melisa

Hey, ya'll I would love to see your stitches. You can always Direct Message me on IG, tag me on IG using #pinkernpunkinquilting , or email me. It is always a delight , an honor and a treat to chat and see what you are up to. 

A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country. 

Hugs and stitches