A twist on The Farms

It's exciting to see how Joan Bynum, one of the co-owners of a needlework shop in Boaz, Alabama called Out of the Box, tailored The Farms of Hawk Run Hollow to fit her life. She and her husband own a small farm (see block one) and her grandchildren call her "Honey" (block nine). Each one of them has had the experience of making homemade biscuits with her. This configuration, 4 x 3 blocks, works really well! (The original shape is 6 x 2 blocks) Thanks for sharing this, Joan!

Award-Winning Work!

Congratulations to Mark Novotnak who stitched the Shores of Hawk Run Hollow for the NC State Fair and won both First Place and Best in Show! Thanks to Mark for providing this image!

Please feel free to send Carriage House Samplings images of your work, whether they've won ribbons or not!

In other news, I'm choosing colors for a new design that will be stitched in a combination of DMC and Gentle Arts threads. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Three New Designs by Carriage House Samplings

Shaw, A Quaker Reproduction Sampler: Thanks to Kathy for finding the original sampler in an antique shop in New Oxford, PA. The pastel letter forms are beautiful! Thanks for Carol Sims for stitching it amazingly fast, and to Valley House Primitives for creating the wonderful frame (during the holidays!!) and to Weeks Dye Works for providing the fabulous linen in the color Straw.

Counting Sheep was stitched by Kathy Bonham on Havana Weeks Dye Works linen.

And finally, Chincoteague! Designing this has made me want to return to the barrier island on Virginia's eastern shore so many times. Chincoteague, with it's colorful history, has seafood and ice cream parlors, artsy shops and a fabulous new library while Assateague Island, just over the bridge has the ocean and wetlands, incredible birds and other wildlife, biking trails and of course the wild ponies. This year, the pony swim and opening of the carnival will be Wednesday, July 25. Thanks to Julie Murawski for stitching this! It's on Putty Weeks Dye Works linen surrounded by a gorgeous Valley House Primitives frame.

Thanks for taking a look! Marty

Happy New Year from Carriage House Samplings!

Our best to you in 2012. We hope you have time for fun and stitching! We'll have three new releases later this month... a sneak peek at one of them:

Marty

The Annual Pony Swim

One year we were lucky enough to see the annual pony swim where "salt water" cowboys herd about 150 horses and ponies from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island for a parade and auction... The adult horses are led back to Assateague to live in the wild for another year.

A sneak peek at Chincoteague

Shopping is one of the many things I love about Chincoteague Island, Virginia! There are galleries, bookstores, collectibles and a Chincoteague tradition: waterfowl carvings and decoys. I hear that there's a decoy and arts festival every Easter, though I've yet to go.

Here's a sneak peek at a portion of our new design... Julie Murawski did a beautiful job stitching the model (Needlepoint Silk on 35 count Weeks Dye Works Putty)... and Valley House Primitives is busy creating a frame.

Thanks!
Marty

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!

Kathy joined us in Silver Spring and we fine-tuned a few cross stitch designs in between cooking.... Chincoteague was beautifully stitched by Julie Murawski and it should be available before the new year (I'll give you a sneak peak later this week).... And I heard from Gail Kilian, who stitched The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow on silk gauze, over one thread. The finished, framed piece is above. Gorgeous! Congratulations, Gail!