Quilting in the Hive

Yesterday I worked on my Layer Cake Pop quilts I am making for the girls. I have one completely pieced and all the blocks for the second one. I am working on the blocks for quilts 3 and 4. Yes, that's right, I am making 4 of the same quilt!

But they are going to look so cute in the girls room with their white metal frame beds.

                                    The pattern is free from Fat Quarter shop. I will link it here:
                                                             Layer Cake Pop Quilt Pattern

This fall I am planning to get some sort of long arm-is type of sewing machine. I have so many quilt tops that are not quilted. I am still looking around at what type of machine I want to get. I can't do a full long arm, but there are many sewing machines that are designed to make quilting on a domestic easier. Juki and Janome both have this type of machine.

                                                                           

Juki TL-2010Q Long-Arm Quilting & Sewing Machine

Or there is the Janome:

Janome Memory Craft 6650 

Both of these machines have a wider throat space to make it easier to maneuver all that fabric while you are doing the quilting. I am leaning towards the Juki because it has the extended table area and a wider throat space. It is simple machine with no extra bells and whistles(no zig-zag for example), but everything you need for quilting. Plus its about $600.00 less than the Janome.

Here is my basic layout:

There are 10" pink floral borders all around

Name blocks for the back from Lori Holt's Spelling Bee book.

I am super excited about this project and I can't wait to see them on the beds all lined up in one straight line, just like the little girls in Madeleine! (one of the girls favorite books!)

Keep creating!

XOXO

Annie

Visit my on Istagram: AnnieBeezFolkArt

Visit my Etsy
Shop:https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieBeezFolkArt 

 Visit my Youtube Channel: AnnieBeez FolkArt

$5.00 Doll Pattern Sale on Etsy! Plus a bonus!

I am having a pattern sale on Etsy for my doll patterns-just $5.00 each while supplies last. And if you buy 3 or more patterns you get a free set of 10 vintage white buttons for your dollmaking. These buttons are very old and grungy-perfect for primitive dolls! They are a mix of steel,plastic, shank, bone, and mother of pearl. All of them are guaranteed old!
The button sets are also sold separately on my website.

Spring Bunny Freebie Chart

I have decided to repost this free chart in case you missed it!

 I have lots more followers now than I did a year ago when I first posted it.

Hope you enjoy it!

XOXO,

Annie

Happy St.Valentines Day free download!

 

Entanglement

Click on the word "entanglement" to download this design. The pattern is for punch needle, but you could embroider it, or what ever! Have fun!

Happy St.Valentines Day!

NW-38 Sheltering Tree Autumn

NW-38 Sheltering Tree Autumn

Model stitched on

 28 ct. Pearled Barley linen by Lakeside Linens,2 over 2, using 

Gentle Art Sampler threads.

Aged Pewter

Dark Chocolate

Old Brick

Wheat Fields

Terra Cotta

Pumpkin Pie

Country Redwood

Sarsparilla

The stitch count is 94 X 89.

I finished mine by mounting it on acid free matte board,

 and then I mounted some coordinating cranberry homespun fabric 

on a foam core board that is cut 1/2 inch bigger on all sides

 to frame it.

 I hot glued these pieces together 

and put them face down on a couple layers of

 terry cloth towel (so as not to crush the cross stitches)

 and layered lots of heavy books on top.

The Gospel writers are always glad to help!

When that was all dry and firm I used applique glue to attach a thin hemp cord all around the cross stitch piece to give it a finished look.

I use Roxanne's Glue Baste-it. Look at that awesome tip! It places just the smallest dot of glue right where you want it.

I then hot glued it onto wooden slatted panel frame that I found at Hobby Lobby (item number 1303692). 

These frames are found in the wood section. They have a little easel on back perfect for standing them up anywhere you want a little cuteness!

Then I made a bow out of 1 1/2 inch cranberry homespun ribbon and attached a little burlap daisy I found in the floral section at Hobby Lobby.

 I hot glued that to the top and Wallah!

Super cute!

This cute pattern is the third in a series.

 If you want to stitch them all 

you can pick them up

 in my etsy shop

here and here!

If you stitch it send me a photo!

 I would love to see what you have done with it!

XOXO,

Annie

Visit me on Istagram: AnnieBeezFolkArt
 Visit my Etsy Shop:https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieBeezFolkArt
 Visit my Youtube Channel: AnnieBeez FolkArt

Love Your Enemies for sale on Ebay!

Unfortunately the sale for this piece on TDIPT fell through, so I am offering it on Ebay with free shipping!

Click here to go to ebay!

Sneak Peek and a give away!

Such Friendship by Annie Beez Folk Art

This new chart will also be winging its way to my distributor today, and up in my Etsy shop by the end of the week.

The model is stitched on 32ct. flax linen using a combination of sampler threads from Crescent Colours, Gentle Art and Weekes Dye Works. I used a piece of antique lace along the side when I finished it!Isn't it ooo-la-la pretty?? 

I just love antique laces and trims and will scour antique shops endlessly looking for them!

The little flower centers are stitched with a leviathan variation stitch and there is a wee Rhodes heart in the bottom right hand corner.

Leave me a comment on this post and I will enter your name for a free chart of this design on Friday!!

xx

~Annie

Finding my way-Part 2

So every time I get myself into this place where I am exploring a new art form, I am racked with guilt because I am creating just for myself and not really making anything to sell. As I have said in my last post I am coming to terms with this aspect of the artistic life, and learning how it is also very valuable.

By allowing myself to explore I have found that the inspiration as to how this is going to fit into my professional life will come.

And it has!

What I have learned from all of this art journaling,

 or rather re-connected with,

 is that I LOVE ILLUSTRATION!

Those who have been buying my doll patterns from the beginning may have noticed that they have become more and more illustrative through the years. I have decided that along with publishing some new doll patterns, I would also like to share my 12+ years of dollmaking experience.

 So I have decided to publish a series of little art-zines all about dollmaking and dollmaking techniques.

These will be very illustrated and cover all sorts of techniques and topics that relate to dollmaking. 

I would love your help!

You may have noticed my poll at the top of the screen. I would love to know what types of techniques you would be interested in. Also, if you have any other suggestions of things you would like to learn PLEASE feel free to drop me a comment! I would love to hear any and all suggestions you may have on the subject.

Thank you all so much for visiting!

 I promise not to be such a stranger!!!

xx

~Annie

New folk doll for sale at the TDIPT Mercantile

Please visit "the Merc" to see my latest handmade folk doll "Jane". She is one of a kind and will come to you signed and dated. 

I am also offering FREE SHIPPING!

She also comes with a punch needle valentine cupboard hanger!

Thanks for looking!

Click here to go to the Merc!

PDF update~not good!

Well, I am still having extreme trouble getting my pdf files to work! I'm SO bummed out! Now May is over, and May Baskets is still unavailable! I have tried very hard, spent hours, and it still isn't working to my satisfaction. And on top of that, my regular life has just taken over. My kids have finals, a graduation, dance recital, field trips, well, you know the score. On top of that, I am leaving for vacation with my family on the 3rd. So no pdf will be available for some time. If you would like a free copy of my pattern send a self addressed stamped envelope to:

Annie Beez Folk Art
151 S. Channing St.
Elgin,IL 60120

Basil Bear

I took some time Sunday morning to make a little bear for my one year old grand daughter, Amy.

He is called Basil Bear.

This is a little pattern that has been on my radar to try out for some time now. It is a free pattern from Nana Company.(I love everything she makes!)

 

I try very hard not to work on Sundays.

 And really, this was NOT work, it was so much fun to make. I really enjoyed every stitch. It was made slowly with all of the embroidery done by hand. Sundays are good days for "slow work". For me, projects like this are not work at all, but fun and therapeutic!

 

My hubs and I went to early morning mass, at 7:30AM.

So the rest of the day was just stretched out before me. It is a lovely feeling when you have so much time and no work obligations to gum it up!

 

I often think about how much God loves us by giving us the commandment to rest and keep holy the Sabbath day. He knows how much we need this time to rejuvenate.

 I know it is really popular these days to work, work, work.

But honestly, I have learned through the years that pushing yourself continuously can be bad for the soul. 

We all need time to rest, be alone with our thoughts, take time to smell the flowers, and refuel.

It is as essential to the human psyche as nutrition is to the human diet.

 

So whatever it is that you do to slow down and refuel, I hope you will find some time this week to do it. It is a wonderful way to go back to your work week with a fresh approach!

 

Blessings,

Annie

 



Workbasket Wednesday!

Wednesday is hump day here in America. A day right in the middle, easily the dullest day in the work week. Not early enough in the week to feel ambitious, and not late enough in the week to start looking forward to the weekend. Its the hump you have to get over. So in celebration of hump day, I am starting a new weekly post called Work Basket Wednesday. Each Wednesday I will feature a different tool from my work basket, why I like it, how I use and and where I got it. I think every embroiderer has their tried and true tools that they just can't live without, and I thought I would share mine. Maybe you will see something you don't have, and need, or maybe you have something that does the job even better. Feel free to post any and all comments!

I have decided to start this off with the workbasket itself. This is the little sewing box that I use every day. It is a fabric covered box that I made myself, from one of those oval shaped paper mache boxes you can buy at the craft store. I covered it with a pretty green floral fabric that I like, and made a matching pin cushion. What I like about this box is that I can turn the lid upside down and it acts as sort of a handy little tray that I put all of my tools, threads and pincushion on. No more losing scissors or needles. I am a many-needled-embroiderer! Meaning that I like to have a needle threaded in each color I am working with, so this little tray-pincushion combination works great for me.

I have left my pincushion messy so you can see how I work-all of those needles are for a single project. When I am done for the day, everything on the tray goes inside the box and I pop the lid on and everything is safe and sound until the next stitching session!

Ester on TDIPT Mercantile!

Ester is ready and currently up for adoption on TDIPT Mercantile!

 She has such a folksy style, in her regency gown and smartly trimmed bonnet!

 Her sweet face would look sogreat peeking out amongst antiques and cherished treasures!

 Her gown and pantaloons have been carefully created with grow tucks and lace for that old fashioned look!

I have made a little bluebird for her to hold!

Ester will come signed and dated with free shipping!

Click here to see more details on the Merc!
Ester is on her way to her new home! Thank you!

My journey has begun

I decided to take one of Tamera Laporte's summer classes over at willowing.com because I have always admired her style and I wanted to do something a little more stylized and whimsical. I think I can tend to get too serious and bogged down in my art, and that is not what I want. I want my art to be fun.

 So I decided on the Summer Fae class because it is a profile and that is something I have yet to master.

I had so much fun!!!

I loved doing it so much that I then went over to her site and took the free course Art Heart and Healing. I skipped over most of the healing stuff, I don't have a lot of issues, (although I did find it interesting). But the techniques were also really fun and I had a grand time following along. Especially the face shading lesson and the lesson on whimsies.

So now I think I am going to take her Wonderful World of Whimsies class.

I love whimsies. But for a long time my inner voice has said, "If you do whimsies no one will take you seriously. You will be irrelevant."

Now its not that I have some agenda with my art where 

I want to change the world or make some kind of political statement.

So where are these doubts coming from?

For years I was a dollmaker and in some situations it actually made me

 uncomfortable to tell people what I did.

 They would look at you like you were a child.

Playing with dolls.

There was no way to explain how hard it is,

 how much work I put into it, 

or how much I had studied and developed my technique.

I thought that this time around I could avoid that.

But I'm beginning to realize that the majority of people out there have no idea what art entails. They will look at you that way no matter what you are making.

And WHY DO I CARE what random people think?

Thant is so silly!

If I care about developing my own style and finding my voice 

I have to follow where my muse is pulling me,

 don't I?

This is what I'm thinking today.

Spring Bunny Freebie

We are really pining for spring around here. Our new grand daughter was born on the first day of spring, but it has been dreary and cold and rainy every day this week. I keep looking out at the backyard and longing for sunshine to come out and dry up all the mud. I cant wait to get out there and start planting!

We will be bringing home new chicks pretty soon, I plan to try Rhode Island Reds this year. Its always so much fun to get the new babies, and watch how fast they grow. 

On the needlework front, it has been 6 months since I picked my needle up again after a 3 year break. Since then I have about a little less than a dozen finishes, and I have published 4 new patterns!

To celebrate, I have designed a little spring bunny pattern for you!

Thank you all so much for your support and kind words, especially on Instagram!

I hope you enjoy this little stitch!

Here is what I used, but feel free to use your own colors and beads as desired:

Fabric	linen 28, Light Mocha
	37w X 39h Stitches
Size:	28 Count,   2-5/8w X 2-3/4h in Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

SMaple Syrup

g Old Blue Paint

î Dried Thyme

 Beads: (blue dot symbol)  Mill Hill 02097

Click Here to download

XOXO,

~Annie

For Sale at the Merc!

For sale this month at TDIPT Mercantile:

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas.

My sample is for sale.

Sold! Thank you!

The free chart for this is about to expire Dec.10th, so if you are interested you need to print it out now. Here is the link.

Sajou Merry Christmas with vintage and antique button border.

This has a ribbon hanger(not shown).

Hope you are having fun decorating for the holidays! I just got my tree up last night. I like a real tree but my hubby doesn't. So we bought a pre-lit tree a couple of years ago and now the lights wont light. So we had to buy lights and restring it! Ah well! such is life!

ha! Ha!

I'm working on some dolls as well. One is for Prims magazine. I have to have her sent out on Friday, and my hubs in on vacation all this week, yikes! I will post a few teaser pics later this week!

Merry Christmas!

xx

~Annie

Bird and Berries sewing box

Here is my version of a wool applique sewing box. I used my new overdyed wool threads from Moondance Color Co. on this and I LOVED them! They are glorious and a pleasure to work with! This little box and matching pincushion will be on ebay tomorrow, Jan.15th, so don't miss it!


If you have been having trouble with my website, I apologize! My web host has been having technical difficulties since right after Christmas! Hopefully this will be cleared up soon!

I have begun listing all of my patterns for sale on ebay with free shipping! This includes doll patterns and cross stitch patterns. Look for my new needle punch patterns coming soon!