A Sneak Peek at Robin Hood. . . . . . .

If you liked "The Bookshelf" and "The Old West" from Little House, I think you'll like "Robin Hood" too.  Creating designs that tell a story without a lot of words is a fun way to design for me.  You take a little of this and a little of that and shake it all up!  Well. . . . it isn't that easy.  Actually these designs are the hardest of all to graph because they have to fit like a puzzle.  The objects look totally random but there is a balance to them.  "Robin Hood" will be out the end of March and we'll ship mid-month.  The full sized image will be on our web site in a few weeks.

The puppies. . . . . . .

This is a photo of Luke and Gracie having fun in the snow.  They played and played until they would either exhaust themselves or get too cold and have to go indoors.  The snow here was really deep and at times they'd fall through a bit and need a rescue!

Our Weekend

Ron and I spent the weekend with kids, grandkids and two pups in the snowy mountains of northern Arizona.  It was supposed to be sunny while we were there but a storm moved in and dumped more snow on the mountains and the roadways.  I grew up in Indiana so snow is not foreign to me but we were not prepared for the travel this morning. 

This gorgeous scene is what we awoke to.

The next picture is of me and my girl, Gracie.  I nicknamed her GG while we were away for Gracie Girl and Ron just shakes his head. . . . . he says you can't call a Golden Retriever "GG".  Wait and see Ron. . . . just wait and see!

We are home now and we need to get back to work but it sure was nice taking some time to just relax and enjoy life a bit.

Scissor Mattress and Pin Pillow

You have probably seen this cute project on my web site by now.  Let me tell you a little about it.  This adorable mattress by Impie, Hattie and Bea is fiber-filled and has a layer of shells on the bottom for stability.  There is a small pillow attached that actually looks like a pillow with a pillowcase.  Use this for your pins.  The pattern I designed creates the coverlet that you attach on three sides.  Leave the top open for the scissors.  I purchased little mini tassels for the corners but you could add beads or even trim to the four corners.  There is also a pattern included for the scissor fob.  Mary Kathryn at IH&B made a lot of these scissor mattresses but it isn't an unlimited supply. . . . .just so you know!

"Needle and Thread" by Little House Needleworks

"Needle and Thread,

Needle and Thread.

When starlight fades,

I lay them to bed". 

Copyright 2010 by Diane Williams

Nashville

Our Nashville release is on the Little House web site!

He loves me, he loves me not. . . . . .

He loves me!  :)

Meet the Energizer Bunny. . . . . .

Her name is Gracie and she is now 12 weeks old.  Need I say more?

I worked on genealogy today. . . . . .

I LOVE genealogy research.  Today, as I have done before, I went to One World Tree and inserted family member names into their database to look for links to famous relatives.  There were the usual famous sorts of 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, 4th and so on, removed twice and more but I came up with a really cool one.  Whether it's accurate or not I don't know but I believe my 18th great grandfather was Geoffrey Chaucer.  Isn't that interesting?  I'm also in some way or another related to presidents and their wives (like so many of you), Louisa May Alcott and many others.  My favorite relation is "Uncle Edward Winslow" of Mayflower fame (this one is proven).  Not my direct line but a relation nonetheless.  I think that's why I enjoyed designing "Mayflower Landing" so much.  So what's next. . . . .The Canterbury Tales??  lol. . . . . . .

Snowy Pines Ornament of the Month Photo!

Packed and ready to go!  This is the full sized image of the newest ornament, Snowy Pines.  It's my favorite of the ones out so far.  If you like it and want to stitch more bears, look at the LHN chart "Pinetop Lodge" or "Lakeside Lodge" in the Woodland catagory of the main LHN web site.

The Upcoming Just Cross Stitch Issue

Just Cross Stitch Magazine is headed for your mailbox soon and in it is a new design from Little House called "He is Risen".  You can see the preview here: CLICK!  If you start soon you can get it stitched in time for Easter!

A little girl's birthday. . . . . . .

My granddaughter Juliet's birthday party was yesterday!  She had an Alice in Wonderland theme and she of course was dressed as Alice.  Nikki and Derrick create such wonderful parties that I think they should start their own business!  These two photos are just some highlights . . . . . . . there was SO much more to see!  They even had a Mad Hatter contest which awarded a prize to the most creative hat in attendance.

And, you can even download music from iTunes to make your party sound like the teacup ride at Disneyland!  Who knew? lol. . . . . .

New Puppy Pic!

Gracie is almost 11 weeks old and seems to be changing daily.  She has lost the round baby face she had when we brought her home.  This photo turned out so pretty I just had to share it.  The best news is that she slept right around 5-1/2 hours straight last night.  It looks like there is hope after all!

A Special Gift. . . . .

Look at what I found in my mailbox yesterday!  Vonna sent me the golden house tag that she made from my complimentary design.  Thank you Vonna. . . . . you know how much I love it.  :)

Learning to Stitch on Linen

This is my mom, Carol.  She's the one who taught me to cross stitch when I was a young girl. She also re-introduced me to cross stitch when it went from stamped to counted in 1981.  Time passed and I became a designer and my mom kept on stitching but she was disappointed that she never learned to stitch on linen.  She was diagnosed with macular degeneration yet found a way to compensate for the vision change and kept on stitching.  Well after her last project finish she asked for another lesson on linen and this time, with macular and an age just this side of 80, she's doing it!  She's always enjoyed a challenge. 

Congratulations mom!