~ Inspiring Weekend ~

Hello to all my many friends!

Do you love making spontaneous decisions?

I sure do, and my spur of the moment decision to go on 

a family road trip to Madison turned out to be 

 very inspiring!

While my husband and son went to a car show in 

Jefferson, Wisconsin, I requested to be dropped off in 

Sun Prairie, a town near Madison.

The highlight of my trip was a shop called J.J. Stitches & Co....

This wonderful quilt shop has been in business for 40 years!

If you're ever in the Madison area...it's a great stop!

Sweet quilt plaque...hangs on the outside building entrance.

I'm not a quilter, but love gathering new fabrics for my 

finishing stash....I do love that big red star quilt!

This shop has a well done antique ambiance!

I have a problem with being drawn to antiques that are 

NOT FOR SALE....like this fantastic Amish double school desk!

One long school desk that has two individual openings!

Lots of fabrics to look through!

Lots of little pinkeep models scattered throughout the shop.

 I'm so excited about some very inspiring pattern books that

made their way home with me!

Here's a quick look at the fabrics I selected....

Viney floral and berry prints.

This is my favorite selection....lovely olives and sepia tones!

♦♦♦

The most inspiring find of the day comes on a spool....

I instantly fell in love with this beautiful wool handwork thread!

"Genziana" ~ Made in Italy

Having a hard time choosing colors I decided to

invest in these 16 shades.... 

~ spools are labeled with a color number 

~ each spool contains gr. 25, mt. 350

~ 50% Lana & 50% acrilico

~ $8.00 per spool

Lana means Wool in the Italian language, and acrilico

means acrylic. 

   

A perfect fit on my spool basket!

Can't wait to start using this wool thread on finishes!

♦♦♦

The city of Madison is Wisconsin's State Capitol....

This is a Lakeside view of the Capitol ~ the big domed building.

It has always reminded me of a miniature version of the 

Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

It's been many years since I've been inside....just beautiful!

Notice all the large statues surrounding the dome pillars!

We had a great road trip, but I always love getting back home

 to my comfort zone...especially with a bag full of  handwork goodies!

♦♦♦

Sunday, I made lots of progress on the model for 

Humble Hare Handwork's first club kit.

I'm working on the finishing and hope to POSSIBLY 

reveal it on Friday....cross your fingers!

♦♦♦

~ Weekly Soul Food ~

Stand in awe, and sin not:

commune with your own heart upon your bed,

and be still.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

and put your trust in the Lord.

~ Psalm 4:4-5...KJV ~

♦♦♦

Have a great week everyone...enjoy the nice spring weather!

Kindly, Tammy

~ Pinkeep Offerings ~

Hello everyone, hope you enjoyed a great week!

Wednesday, April 22nd marked my one year blog anniversary!

It hardly seems possible that a whole year has passed

since releasing my first post...oh how I struggled to get it started!

My goal was to hit 50,000 page view my first year.

I'm totally overjoyed because I just exceeded those expectations

by hitting 63,000 page views today...yay!

A big THANKS to ALL for your support, kind encouraging words,

   and helping make my dream come true!

♦♦♦

Progress has been slow on finishing those little pinkeeps I started,

I only have two finished so far....

 The one on the left is covered in woven coverlet, and the 

one on the right is stitched by me.

The bases were handpainted, antiqued and distressed.  

Both are packed with natural Llama roving.

The oval coverlet measures  2"W x 2.75"L x 1.5H, and has a band

of antique dark blue binding.

The rabbit measures 2"W x 2.75"L x 2.5"H, and has a band

of antique brown binding.  

Stitched on 36ct. "Birds of a Feather" ~ Sparrow linen.

They are filled with natural Llama roving with a 

medium to firm feel.

Both of these handmade pinkeeps for sale today!

~ Woven Coverlet ~ $19.61 plus $2.35 shipping

~ White Rabbit ~ $29.61  plus $2.35 shipping

~ Payable by ~

~ PayPal invoice

~ credit card by phone

~ personal check

If you are interested please email me at

scatteredseedsamplers@gmail.com 

Or call me at (608) 799-4418

♦♦♦

My husband has been trimming limbs from whats left of 

our big Oak Tree that got struck by lightening....

 Two rabbit friends were having fun chasing each other

 in and out of the hole...the one is just coming

 out of the hole in this picture!

They were sure busy inspecting the sawdust pile!

♦♦♦

Do you remember this antique oak box I bought a few 

weeks ago?

I made some cardboard dividers...now I can fill it with my

DMC thread bobbins!

I'm planning on filling it up this weekend...yay!

♦♦♦

I had a little Sparrow inspecting the hole of this bee skep! 

I felt so bad that the hole was not big enough.  I hope she

comes back again...I'm planning on making it bigger just for her!

♦♦♦

After many months of waiting, look at what finally arrived....

32 count Weeks Dye Works linen! 

My favorite three colors in this shipment are ~ Parchment

...Cocoa,

Mocha!

For a long time you couldn't get WDW linen in 32ct, but they finally

were able to get the base linen from France.

Havana, Straw and Beige are still on backorder.

♦♦♦

I love how my iron frog's crown is turning rusty!

♦♦♦

~ Weekly Soul Food ~

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, 

and he shall lift you up.

~ James 4:10...KJV ~

♦♦♦

It is very cold and damp here today and it just 

started raining!

I'm off to make a cup of coffee and to sit and work on my

Humble Hare Handwork model :)

Blessings for a warm and wonderful weekend!

Kindly, Tammy 

~ Little Sparrow Pinkeep Drum Tutorial ~

Today is very cold, damp and dreary.

The heat is back on and I'm struggling to stay warm!

♦♦♦

Today, I'm going to share how I assemble 

a pinkeep drum....

For today's tutorial I'll be using the model from 

the Little Sparrow Pinkeep Club ~ "A Token of Spring".....it's not to late to join and
still receive this kit :)

For those who have finished the stitching, now is the time

to decide if you want to coffee stain your piece or not?

If you decide to coffee stain ~ please view my separate 

tutorial for this process by going to my post dated Monday,

   January 12, 2015 ~ titled"Queen Esther's Pure Heart". 

♦♦♦

This first set of pictures show how to achieve a 

perfect cutting line....

Whenever I need to cut linen I always pull a thread first,

it's simple to do and keeps everything neat and tidy.

For your finished piece you will need to pull a thread across 

 the top and again across the bottom, as shown on the 

pattern sheet.

Ta dah....this is how things should look after trimming

away the excess linen!

Next, you're ready to cut out the top and bottom circles

from the provided homespun fabric included in the kit. 

Then, on the backside...

Using a pencil, place a small mark on the top edge marking

checkpoints at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 intervals.

Simply fold the fabric in half and then in half the other 

way; repeat on both circles.

Or, you can center your circles on a grid mat.

Also, in pencil mark one "top" and the other "bottom".

Next....you're ready to begin assembly!

♦♦♦

Stitching the back seam....

Fold design in half with right sides together; VERY carefully

match up the diamond motif stitches with pins to ensure an accurate 

finished back seam....machine OR hand stitch a 1/4" seam.

The hand stitching method is done in tiny back stitches, which 

creates a very strong seam and I feel is more accurate because it 

gives me more control over where each stitch is placed....definitely

my favorite method!

Next, trimming that seam....

If you own a pair of pinking shears...this is a great time to use them!

Not only will they keep your seam neat, pinking shears help to

prevent a seam from fraying.

Press the seam open using either your fingers, a wood pressing 

tool as shown in the photo, or ironing.

♦♦♦

For accurate assembly, checkpoints are a must....

Place a small pencil mark on the top edge marking 

checkpoints at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 intervals...these will match

up with the marks on the fabric circles.

Fold in half and then in half the other way;

repeat on the bottom edge.

~ Pinkeep Drum Will Be Completely Assembled 

From The Inside Out ~

Place one circle on top of the linen with right side of homespun fabric

facing down.  Start by matching the pencil checkpoint marks on 

circle top to the checkpoints of design piece using pins.

...then continue adding more pins between checkpoints.  

Repeat this process on the bottom. 

After top and bottom is all pinned...sew up the seams!

I like to mark in pencil a 1/4" stitching line around the diameter.

Then choose your favorite stitching method...either

machine or hand stitch.

Stitch 1/4" seam sewing together the top of the drum to the design

piece.  Repeat these steps for the drum bottom.  

Trim finished seam with pinking shears. 

To turn the drum right side out; cut a small slit into the

bottom circle (double checking to make sure you're

cutting the bottom circle and not the top).

Turn the drum right side out.

For the model I used sawdust.  If choosing this filler pack 

very firmly thru the opening.  Constantly filling and packing

as tight as possible,  using 1 full quart jar of sawdust, an

old glass quart oil jar with a funnel (as shown in photo) 

works fabulous!  

1 quart bags of farmfresh sawdust are available in my Etsy

Shop.

//www.etsy.com/listing/227750716/farm-fresh-organic-sawdust-1-quart-bag?ref=shop_home_active_3

Finally, stitch opening shut, then hand stitch a little patch

over the opening.  Using one strand of DMC 611, embellish the

top and bottom seams with small X's (optional).

All finished...enjoy making pinkeep drums!

♦♦♦

Mama Robin is very busy sitting on her

nest above my Studio door...

I'm looking forward to the sound of baby birds chirping

once again!

♦♦♦

I've been busy working on the design for the first kit

coming soon for Humble Hare Handwork Club. 

♦♦♦

~ Weekly Soul Food ~

My brethren, count it all you when ye fall into 

divers temptations; knowing this, that the 

trying of your faith worketh patience.  

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye

may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

~ James 1:2-4...KJV ~

♦♦♦

Sorry for the long post today...hope the tutorial was helpful?

To all my friend scattered everywhere in this 

big world...have a great week!

Kindly, Tammy