colonial dayes ... and sneak peek!

I've always loved the colonial-look. In the first years of our marriage, we'd take a long week-end around paydays and visit Colonial Williamsburg. It's been several years since our last stay there and I think it's getting time to just get in the car and just go. You can just imagine the young girls doing their samplermaking in such houses as in the historic area and the gardens flow with such color and beauty that the heart dances sweetly upon seeing such grace.

My next design includes some flowers which look colonial to me ... here's a sneak peek.

older patterns to retire soon ...

The following patterns of mine will be retired on May 1st. These are older charts which I have decided to not reprint. They will be available from me until April 30th.

The Dolley Madison Sampler

On the Moors with Emily Bronte

At Oyster Bay

Abigail’s Sampler for John

Lady Washington’s Sampler

Tokens of Visiting with The Jane Austen Girls

Lavender House Pillow Pattern

Jonah’s Hornbook

For Mrs. Jefferson

Mrs. Lincoln’s Sampler

sticks & stitching

Three hours of yard work makes for a very tired body. I don't know how we could have had so many twigs & sticks scattered about; I kept thinking one of the three little pigs could build his own fortress six times over no doubt. I am still a novice yard person; one of those neighbors who tinkers in her yard with grand hopes of landscape design but only achieves a simple look and hopes the expert gardener-neighbor doesn't feel too bad that she has to look at my lawn of dreams. This is our third spring in this house and my third year at tending to our first yard so it's a learning experience, every season all over again. That know-it-all neighbor on the cul de sac seems to have the greenest thumb and I know as she gazed over often at my work this afternoon that she felt I could have been doing it another way but all the sticks are bagged and bundled, my way. Do you have a neighbor like that? If not, just nod your head ... it helps. Anyhoo, how does she know I don't have a dress like this that I wear when I adorn every huge vase in the house with flowers from the garden while still having perfect hair?

Making progress on be kind & be true; I fussed and fussed over the couple's hairless heads. The arms bothered me but not as much as their little bald heads so hair they soon had. Not too pleased with the gentleman's locks so might give him a redo. I changed the color of her dress to make her stand out more and I like it. This design is a treat to work on.

I think that's it for me tonight. Pushing midnight and methinks I need one more ibuprofen so I can move my arms in the morning. Here's to a stick-less yard ... until next time. Cheers!

Spring Fever!

Even though today has been dreary, rainy and downright cold!, there seems to be a bit of spring fever going round. Yesterday we were out in it, blowing bubbles and running through thick grasses. The week-end should be nice, fingers crossed. My Z would rather be outdoors than in and now that spring has sprung he gets me out to play in it as much as possible, or until my hayfever begins. He has taken a big interest in the pansies we planted and assists with the watering. Zack loves the hose and methinks its only a matter of time before he sprays that thing on me. See how he studies the water pressure, with clinched fist?

I've made more progress on be kind & be true. The squirrels on this design are behaving themselves but the one in my backyard is testing my nerves not to mention hogging the birdseed! Maddy really can't be bothered to check the window and warn me. She sleeps on. I don't think spring fever has hit her yet.

There seems to be a white-car pileup on the train tracks and wait, who is that?

Let's go in for a closer look.

That IS the Mama; I thought so. Maybe she's directing traffic or has had it with traffic and throws herself by the side of the road. At least she's always smiling.

Something that made me smile BIG this week was homemade bread. It was so delicious. To see a picture of the yummy, click here. Well, it's pizza night and the beginning of spring break for Ben ... makes for the best kind of Friday around here. Happy week-end to you!

(the tulip time needlework below is a design from primitvebettys - love her things!)

t r e e

Grabbing a few quiet moments this morning before the day begins to whir ... I am making progress on be kind & be true. I love this design! The tree is nearly finished and I'm convinced the squirrels chat while I work. This is 30ct iced cappuccino by R&R with the threads called for with the addition of Crescent Colours' Chili Pepper, my new favorite rusty red.

Enjoy Thursday!

New Pattern!

New Pattern!

Tabitha's Tulips, 1717 is now available. This little design bloomed to creation with inspiration from colonial dayes and springtime. All details on the website.

spring rain

Zack and I planted the pansies this morning before the rain came in. You can tell from the pictures how fast the sky darkened in the 20 minutes we were outside! I love pansies; they smile back, don't they?

Started the morning at the coffee shop and that was a good thing. The planting was fun and the rain is welcome but getting rid of the dead blue jay left by the neighborhood cat on the driveway did not please. Zack is very clingy lately so I can't type anymore now ... enjoy your day.

week-end, come back

I don't know where the week-end went. Isn't it strange how slow two days during the week can seem and two days of a week-end can zoom by? The weather was gorgeous here and everyone was out and about in the newness of spring. I think my boys have an extra spring in their step because they've been bouncing all over the place and methinks that rain needs to come stay for a spell to slow them down a bit but boys are boys. At least they can get their energy out in the fresh air now.

My big stitching plans weren't that big this week-end after all. Oh well ... at least I made a dent in the start of this sampler. I love it! I'm stitching it to mark our 14th wedding anniversary which is coming up next month. The design reminds me of the big, towering tree outside our living room window of our first apartment way back in the year 1996. Two squirrels in particular would scamper around this large old tree all the time, that we noticed, and we rightly named the couple, Squirrel and Squirrelia. You know those newlywed years when every day was merry ~ when naming nature critters seemed normal. So, these squirrels occupied our window view many a day and this sampler appears to have these very squirrels on it, imagine that. There is a little dog at the bottom of the sampler which will have to be made into a cat instead for our Miss Maddy who was just a kitten at the time; I think she'd be upset if she weren't included.

I started a recipe blog and named it i hope this is good which is what I say quite often when making something new in the kitchen and my husband will say, look at me, I'm worried ... because he isn't ... he eats just about anything I put before him. Even 'floor pie' ... but that's another story.

Baseball season is inching its way onto the calendar; this week brings the first round of practices and before I know it, it will be little league opening day. This is Ben's first year in the Majors division so prepare yourself for those baseball pics coming soon to a blog near you.

Guess that's all for this titillating post ... hope your week is a cheerful one. It is spring, after all!

the week-end ahead

I have lots of stitching planned for the next few days ... non-work stitching. I love this design so much; it speaks to me.

The other day, I couldn't resist one of Beth's handmade items from her etsy shop and it arrived this afternoon; I love it!! Beautiful prim piece.

More tulips came home with me this week. They haven't completely opened but are kissing the air every morning with sweetness.

Pizza night. I heart Fridays. Happy week-end!

top o' the muffin to you

Or cupcake. I found a recipe for Rainbow Cupcakes in a recent Family Fun magazine and knew they'd be great to make with Ben. I was right. He loved concocting the colors in 6 bowls; it looked like paint mixtures and they were so bright, so cool! 18 drops of this, 9 drops of this + 4 drops of that ... wow, now that's purple! ... Spreading the layers in the muffin pans wasn't as easy but the end result was colorful, as hoped. The boys loved them and DH said it felt like he was eating playdoh. I just had one cupcake and it feels like I ate a whole cake ... the guys agreed. Does food coloring add weight to batter? Weird. I am puzzled why one cupcake felt so heavy.

This morning the boys woke to scattered shamrock coins in their rooms; one sleepy leprechaun mama tip toed in their rooms in the wee hours. Zack carried 3 coins around all day, to the post office, to Panera, to Target, and back home. Very cute. He was quite excited about his golden treasure.

Nancy in SC stitched up Mom's Irish Shamrock Sampler freebie; she used the shamrock pinkeep pins for it as well ~ so sweet!

The 17% off shamrock sale continues until midnight tonight at the website. As always, thank you for your sweet patronage. Glad you like the new spring patterns!

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers -

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours -

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

-Irish Blessing

new patterns for spring

I've been quite design-busy lately! The inspiration comes and comes fast so I run with it. There are two NEW patterns now available ...

Spring Thyme, Exclusive Pattern with Button

To Market, To Market

There is also a 17% off Shamrock Sale going on at the website for just 24 hours ... check HERE for details.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

17% off

two new releases available at midnight ... see you then ...

::sneak peek!

Thank you for the get-better-shoulder wishes ... it's much improved. So much so that I've been pretty busy with stitching this week-end and even have another new release coming soon. Here's a sneak peek of spring thyme ... due out this week.

till then

No orders going out tomorrow, sorry ... pulled a muscle in my shoulder and it's very distracting & tender as you can imagine. I sent a slew of orders twice this week so please check the order tracking feature on website if you want to check your order's status. Distributors were sent the new releases as well.

Week-end coming! Looks like rain is coming with it. .. just as well since I have a new pattern that came in the mail today that I yearn to start so if my shoulder cooperates, I'll be stitching while the rain pours the next few days. Have a good one and I'll see you when Monday comes.

Y is for yellow and a yawn

Happy Wednesday!

N E W for 1st web-iversary !!

Even though I've had a website since March 2002, I only purchased my .com last March SO today marks the first year being www.thesamplergirl.com. Pretty exciting!

To mark the occasion, I have two new releases that are very dear to me so I hope you like them!

Jane Austen Bookmarker, a Limited Edition Kit

The Sampler Girl Companion, Spring Booklet

All details can be found on the website. Enjoy!

notes

::few more fabrics added to the website today

::new scissors from Kelmscott

::web-iversary on Tuesday to mark first year as a .com

::TSG COMPANION SPRING BOOKLET to be released on Tuesday!

::JANE AUSTEN BOOKMARK KIT to be released on Tuesday!

::THE STITCHING JANEITE'S PATTERN BOOK NO 2 is finished & due out in April

::more HANDMADE JANE AUSTEN NEEDLEBOOKS are on order

::sick kids getting well slowly but surely

::pizza night

happy week-end!

i heart garlic

::the kitchen is clean

::tummies are content

::dinner was amazing

Garlic-Roasted Chicken

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

4 skin-on, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

kosher salt & ground black pepper

2 heads garlic

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

4 slices sourdough bread, grilled or toasted

2 T white wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 425. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over med-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook, skin-side down, until browned; about 5 minutes.

Separate the heads of garlic into cloves but do not peel. Flip the chicken, add the garlic and rosemary to the skillet and transfer to the oven. Roast until chicken is cooked through but still moist, up to 20 minutes.

Place the bread on a platter plate and top each with each slice of chicken breast. Add the vinegar to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Add 3 T water and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Pour the sauce and garlic over the chicken and bread.

*I used two skin-on, bone-in split chicken breasts and cut them up in halves. I used the grill pan to toast the bread and squeezed the hot garlic cloves over each piece before putting the chicken on it for extra flavor. The bread soaks up the sauce and well, it is bliss to the lips. Served with green bean casserole ~ this was an amazing meal.

Recipe is from the March 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine ... there are many, many great recipes in it. I saw the picture of this particular recipe and was drooling before I could mark the page. Enjoy!

feels like thursday

No orders going out today, sorry. Z is trying to get rid of a nasty bronchial cough/cold. If I told you your order was in today's batch, that batch is patiently waiting for its next postal run on Monday. Thanks.

Bright & sunny here. When I went to the gym around 6 this morning, it was mighty brisk but I think spring is trying to break through. You can do it!! The week-end weather looks very nice. Almost time to pack up those gloves and scarves, almost.

Here are some pretties that came through recently ... first is worked by Michelle and the second is done by Berit who varied the border and I like it! Great finishes!

Primitive Irish Cupboard Sampler

Eat your Carrots! free pattern

Miss Maddy just walked by ... I think she's inbetween naps and in search of a sunny spot to sleep the next hour. Enjoy yours!

blurry

rainy here ... makes everything blurry ... like this sneak peek of a new little kit available on march 9th ... in celebration of one year being a .com!

more in focus ... homemade chocolate chip cookies ... serious ben ... playing with a new camera is fun!

eat your carrots, free pattern

The clock struck midnight and March officially arrived. My littlest is trying to sleep with a nasty cough and cold so I've been up with him and tending to work stuff during quiet moments. Looks like Zack's sleeping better now so I'll scoot myself in for some shuteye too.

Tonight I updated the website quite a bit!, with a touch of spring, a new style and lots of new stuff to check out. There's also a new free chart, Eat your Carrots! so pour a cup of tea and visit awhile.