Seamstress of Blackstone

2011-10-27T10:54:00.002-04:00

2011-08-11T11:25:00.001-04:00

Please say hello to Olivia, she's one of my old favorites. ~$30. ~

2011-08-02T11:53:00.001-04:00

It seems the summer is coming to an end and with it my time away from the studio. I am busily sorting witch, pumpkin and bat patterns and my thoughts are turning to the frosty Autumn days. My All Hallows Eve characters will be arriving in all their spooky finery. Please greet them at this blog and From the Hands of a Seamstress.

2011-04-27T12:02:00.000-04:00

Come and Meet my new Folks and Critters this weekend at the Strawberry Festival in Peddlers Village, Lahaska, Pa.

2011-04-23T19:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter to all my dear Friends and Family

2011-03-03T12:32:00.001-05:00

bit by bit, slowly but surely Lady Spring is sweeping away Grandfather Winter...

2011-02-06T16:58:00.002-05:00

There is a tiny violet flower that grows around the lowly shepherd's cottage and in the silence of the night gently breathes, "Forget me not"

2011-02-02T12:24:00.001-05:00

Named Bridget, earth mother of the land,

midwife who brings forth our intentions,

our dreams for the coming year's cycle.

Called Bridget, Imbolc or Candlemas,

we acknowledge change without, within.

Light is rising, earth will enliven.

Happy Imbolc to you, Dear Friends

January Snows

2011-01-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

It seems the storms keep coming, but here at Blackstone we keep warm by the fire and busy sewing with a look ahead to Spring. My bunnies, crows and sheep are in pieces on the studio table waiting to be sewn to life. While the horses warm in their blankets and the forsythia tight in their buds pass the days in their snow covered worlds.

2011-01-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

All the Christmas finery has been packed away and my studio is open once agian. I am sorting patterns bringing out bunnies, carrots and hearts for the upcoming seasons. Work will soon begin in earnest and the show season is starting. Another year begins.

2010-12-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

May the New Year bring to you peace, love and abundance. May you find contentment with all you have and a fire to warm your bones.

2010-12-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to my dear friends and family

2010-12-01T12:18:00.001-05:00

I will be adding my Christmas characters to my selling blog this week, I hope you enjoy them...fromthehandsofaseamstress.blogspot.com

Today is my Daughter's Wedding Day

2010-11-20T09:18:00.001-05:00

Blissful Tidings

2010-11-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

There is much ado at Blackstone this month. My oldest daughter Jennifer is getting married on November 20. We are all working hard and trying not to miss a detail. It has been many years since I saw Jenn in a "princess dress" when she used to play dress up. But the day will be here soon that she will be the princess in the white dress she dreamed of. I wish her as much joy in her life as she has brought to mine.

2010-08-18T15:39:00.000-04:00

After a long summer rest I've returned, once again, to visit with you. My heart and body are ready to greet the sweet Autumn and to revel in the smell of the wood fires and the colors of the forest.

For your enjoyment, I will begin to add the All Hallows Eve section to my selling blog. There you will find many, many witches, ghosts, bats and even a pair of Aunt Hilda's shoes that she lost as she flew off on her broom. The link to the blog is at the top of this page. Here's to the end of a hot, challenging summer.

2010-06-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

Hello Dear Friends, it's been some time since I've written. I've been pulled away by the Spring gardens and the warm sun. My work comes in dribs and drabs and I find myself easily distracted. Hmmm....seamstress block? Well enough for now there seems to be an empty chair under the tree and I feel the need to sit in it. Enjoy these summer days.

2010-05-28T10:03:00.000-04:00

Here is my newest addition to the Blackstone Folk Family ~ Winky Jack Morgan ~ He was inspired by the one eyed cat Winky who lives with a dear friend. Thank you Mary...here he is. ~ $32.00 ~

From Kin and Hearth...Country Folk

2010-05-24T08:42:00.002-04:00

I've been hard at work on my selling blog. Yesterday I added a new section called Country Folk. Here you will find a collection of dolls inspired by mountain folk and some members of my long ago family. I have posted only one photo of each but close ups and detail photos are available through email. Also color choices can be made as each one is made just for you. I hope you find my offerings enjoyable.

From the Hands of a Seamstress

2010-05-21T15:48:00.000-04:00

I've spent most of the afternoon creating my selling blog. Here I will list my work for purchase. Some old and some new. I will no longer have my website. It seems to get lost out there in space but a blog is alive, changing and personal. I have listed a few Americana items that I think you will like. Memorial Day and July 4th are very near and these will look primly perfect. Thank you, I think we will both enjoy this new blog

Halloween in May

2010-05-12T08:48:00.003-04:00

Halloween is my favorite time. I begin getting ready for those festive shows months before. So here I go, please welcome one of my old favorites, Liddy Nin Roote. She is my version of a pattern by Venis Merchantile. ~ $42.00 ~
Click on dear Liddy and visit my Halloween blog

2010-05-03T10:20:00.000-04:00

Rainy days and Mondays...

clay Sarah ~ $34.00

2010-04-30T11:13:00.001-04:00

Blessings to all on this Beltane, may your fires burn brightly

"When nothing makes sense, right yourself and feel the earth beneath your feet."

2010-04-25T12:20:00.004-04:00

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My Bats have come Home

2010-04-17T17:05:00.003-04:00

Every April a group of bats leave their hibernation in the Durham mines and come home to have their young ones in our dining room chimney. They are home agian for this year and we fully expect little ones to begin leaving around the 3rd week in July. We know this because some of the babies as they are learning to fly and leave their chimney come down instead of going up. Along with the little ones come frantic mothers looking for them. It is mayhem in the house as twilight descends and I crawl combat style out the back door and call for my dogs. Some day we will film this fun. Each year we keep count and our highest yet was last year at 14 in 2 weeks. But as much as I don't want them to fly into me, I love them, we don't have any biting insects and I love to see them leave our eves and chimneys. They take to the air as the chimney swifts return to the mill's chimney for the night. The dusky sky is filled with small flying creatures. Sometimes I feel we need some airtraffic control here in little Kintnersville. So with this as my insperation, please enjoy my "By the Light of the Moon" ~ $28.00 ~

Fireplace updates

2010-04-16T17:53:00.002-04:00

~ so far~

2010-04-16T17:11:00.003-04:00

I was planning a yard sale here for today and tomorrow. I have a dining room full of boxes and such to put out but the weather man predicted storms and an inch of rain. So I canceled, took down my sign and kept the table and boxes in the dining room. HUMF! no rain, no storms, not one drop just sunny and warm. Well I guess I'll try for next weekend.....
Here is dear Annabelle to make you smile ~ $34.00

This little piggy went to market

2010-04-11T10:17:00.001-04:00

Herbert ~ $42.00

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2010-04-09T17:35:00.005-04:00

                          Blessed be the cool April breeze
                                      primitive ewe ~ $48.00

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2010-04-08T13:59:00.000-04:00

Another very warm day here at Blackstone. There is a promise of thunderstorms this afternoon to break this unatural April heat. My pansys are looking so forlorn and I am looking forward to a gentle 60 degrees. Today finds me working on "If Pigs Could Fly". A charming very prim pig with wings. Pictures to come but meantime enjoy dear Oda May ~ $32.00

2010-04-07T14:05:00.003-04:00

Its so very, very hot here today. Not at all like an April should be. I feel like the birds flying by and the leafless trees are very confused.
I'll be inside this afternoon working on another Uncle Henry. He always finishes with such kind eyes. And he loves his cat so...
Many thanks to Netty for this pattern.

Uncle Henry~$44.00

2010-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:00

SARAH ~ $48.00

2010-04-06T16:57:00.003-04:00

Today is Tuesday, two days after a wonderful Easter. My father has been in a work related accident, even though he is 81 he still worked full time. A large box fell on him and he has a few broken bones. He made it through surgery and has spent the last 2 weeks in a rehab hospital. He has done very well and will be going home tomorrow.
So, my father was in the hospital over Easter, my family could not even consider celebrating without him. We brought Easter to him. We packed up a large buffet, folding tables, chairs, Easter baskets and grandchildren and great grandchild. The weather cooporated, the trees were blooming and we set up a picnic on the beautiful grounds of the facility. I hid eggs for the little one, we cracked eggs and laughed, ate homemade peanut butter eggs and lots of good food. I can say it was probably one of the best Easters yet.
We are so greatful my father has recovered so well and he is going to be alright and back to normal soon.

2010-03-17T09:24:00.001-04:00

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.

Welcome March

2010-03-05T10:28:00.002-05:00

It is a fine feeling to know that in a few short weeks forsythia and daffodils will be blooming. There is still a bit of snow here but each day it melts and more of our green grass shows through. I leave today for 3 days for the first show of the season. It was wonderful to have been snowed in with my work, for now I have an abundance of goodes to sell. The show is Friends of the Arts at Owen J. Roberts School, a show for about 30 years. I'll be sure to post pictures when I return.

woohoo...bake oven

2010-02-22T09:33:00.001-05:00

For 10 years I assumed our fireplace did not have an oven. I just couldn't see where it had been. But as I spent 2 days inside it and had it well illuminated, I noticed an indent in the plaster and the edge of a brick in an upright position. I nearly sent my husband into cardiac arrest as I danced around the room, making footprints in all the plaster dust. With masonary hammer in hand, I chiseled some plaster away, soon an arched formed and some hinges emerged. It was like finding buried treasure. There it was all this time. The oven opening is bricked closed but all else is intact. I am searching for a cast door and as soon as one is found I will open it. woohoo. Here are some pictures in the rough.

Redoing the 18th century

2010-02-20T09:57:00.001-05:00

Today we start tearing off the stonework added to our open hearth fireplace in the 1970's. A huge oak beam was added as a mantel as their version of "rustic". Wood work in the 18th century was not rustic but fine, there were skilled craftsmen and all but the very poor had mantels with details. Well all in all, here is the fireplace as it exists now. More pictures to come.

2010-02-02T16:48:00.001-05:00

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight; But if it be dark with clouds and rain, Winter is gone, and will not come again.

fireplace renovations

2010-02-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Peter Wentz farmstead. I will be taking pics of thier open hearth. We are tearing out all the post 18th century renovations to the one in our house and it turns out to be just like the one at Peter Wentz . Can't wait to start pulling out the 70's work I LOVE doing that. I'll post more pictures as we progress.

this is the fireplace at the Wentz farm. The walls of the house are black polkadots. Even in the 18th century people had bad taste.

From the Hands of a Seamstress

2010-01-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

Tiny Gifts are the Best

2010-01-06T15:43:00.001-05:00

blackstonestudio.etsy.com

To A Fine New Year

2010-01-01T12:22:00.001-05:00

A Prosperous and Happy New Year to us all.

Thank you my dear friends one and all for a very successful show season. Your support inspires me to a new level of creativity for the new year and the new decade. My hope is that we all find our joy and carry it with us into our work and home. Many new characters, as well as old friends, will be joining me at my shows this spring. I hope to see you and to chat. Until then, keep warm, be well and smile. Seamstress of Blackstone

Pinkeep

2009-12-30T10:57:00.002-05:00

Pinkeep for Sale on Etsy

That which Soothes the Soul

2009-12-27T14:29:00.008-05:00

When my world becomes frayed around the edges, I search out my needle, patterns and fabric. I find a quiet spot for Seumas and I by the fire and spend hours counting squares and transfering the pattern to fiddlers cloth that is my favorite. I hope you enjoy seeing these photos as much as I the stitiching.

2009-12-20T12:01:00.006-05:00

"Love awoke one winter's night

And wander'd through the snowbound land,

And calling to beasts and birds

Bid them his message understand.

And from the forest all wild things

That crept or flew obeyed love's call,

And learned from him the golden words

Of brotherhood for one and all."

Happy, Happy Solstice

2009-11-10T12:56:00.002-05:00

2009-11-01T10:55:00.004-05:00

Mrs Quinby

All Hallows Eve...Out of the Broom Closet

2009-08-22T11:58:00.015-04:00

~ RIP tombstone and Rachel Crow are Raven Haven patterns ~

The Times They are achanging...

2009-06-25T16:37:00.002-04:00

Today,I have read a few blogs and spoke to a few people at the apothecary and I have been greatly impressed by the amount of change happening in all of our lives. Some of my friends are sad at their changes and yet others embrace them like a wild ride. It makes me wonder is it the time of my life to notice such things or is it the time of man? Are we preparing or just living? I ponder this and wonder whats next, hoping it will be a time of joy and human love, better than any time before, for all of us. Let's open our hearts to each other and listen.

Juliette of the Herbs

2009-05-29T14:27:00.005-04:00

Juliette de Bairacli Levy went home. She past away at the 28 of May 2009 peaceful without pains. Juliette was considered the mother of modern herbal studies and was the first to create a holistic way of raising animals. I learned all I know of natural animal rearing from her books. She left traditional medicine to learn from the Gypsies and peasants of Europe. She will be missed by all who practice herbal medicine.

2009-05-27T18:12:00.010-04:00

Star and Crow ~ $28.00 Liberty ~ $36.00

Granny's Kitchen Table

2009-02-22T16:52:00.005-05:00

I've just been reminded of the story telling that wove it's way around my grandparents kitchen table. When I was a little girl my grandfather told me stories of how he was raised on a horse farm in Virginia. Uncle Henry was the son of freed slaves and he and his wife Mae lived on the farm. Uncle Henry helped with the farm and taught my Grandfather all he knew or ever needed to know about horsemanship and life. Aunt Mae tended to the children and helped with the house chores. My Grandfather loved them as his own and always had a tear in his eye and a soft voice when he spoke of them. This pattern is from the hands and heart of Netty LaCroix but when I finished and looked at the doll before me I saw the kind eyes of Uncle Henry and so it is. Maybe Aunt Mae will present herself some where down this road of sewing folk characters. My memory is full with these folks, I surely hope they come to call

Dear Oda Mae

2009-02-14T17:48:00.003-05:00

Oda Mae ~ $32.00

2009-01-01T12:20:00.002-05:00

THANK YOU, NETTY

To Bring Them Home

2009-01-01T11:56:00.013-05:00

In the past few months I have found myself drawn to folk heroes and the music that tells these tales. Coal miners, itinerant farmers, homesteaders, men who worked the rails and their families. These people are the salt of the earth and their stories untold. I will tell these stories by sewing folk characters and giving each of them a life tale. Some patterns I have found among the work of some very talented artists and some will come from my heart, inspired by story and song. Please enjoy them as I present them to you. Some of my photos are rough but they will get better I promise.

"Whenever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Whenever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there . . . . I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'-I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build-why, I'll be there." Tom Joad, The Grapes of Wrath