Updated June 16, 2008

Wow, has it been a long time since I've updated my News page.  I'm very sorry.  Life has been incredibly busy here.  We're doing major house stuff - the barn roof has been painted, the house trim has been painted.  Next is the barn itself.  Here are a couple of photos of the house with it's new red trim:

On the sampler front, the news is that there will be no new designs until the September Market in St. Louis, MO.  I'm trying to kick back a little this summer.  But, I hope to have several designs in September.  One is a reproduction of the sampler Art gave to me for Christmas (see the House Photos page).  Two models of this have already been stitched (Thank you Carmen!!).  I have another sampler designed that I need to send to lucky (haha) Carol Sims to stitch, as soon as I figure out the colors.  And, I'm hoping beyond hope to have a Halloween Stocking ready for Market.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!!  I'll keep you posted as more new designs develop!

On the jewelry front, Fragments is keeping Anne and I both very busy.  In fact, we've set up an Etsy shop with my newer line of re-constructed vintage jewelry.  You can see it here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5909488

I received the most wonderful photo from Su in the U.K. who says: "I have finished it as a flat pillow, it was an exchange piece I did for a dear friend as she loves bees and bee skeps. The back lining is hand dyed gold/yellow silk moire. I used the recommended DMC colours".  She did an amazing job!!

I received a photo from Thrya that you won't believe!  This is truly spectacular, it's The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat stitched by Thyra and framed by Jill Rensel.  Thyra used Vikki Clayton's silks.  Wow!!!

It's May 1st (well, actually the 2nd now) and I'm sitting in my office with my winter pj's on, shivering.  What is wrong with this picture??!!  This is truly the spring that will never arrive.  We've been behaving as if it were spring though and hopefully Mother Nature will figure it out eventually.  I love spending the evenings outside with Art doing yard work.  We've been raking and mowing and tilling and planting and weeding.  (OK, I've been raking and planting and weeding and Art has been mowing and tilling.)  We're having some wooden picket fencing installed this week and with every post hole that's dug, a thousand rocks seem to appear.  So I've been carrying buckets full of rocks to the new rock pile endlessly.  That's the only part that isn't quite fun!  Rose and Tucker Jones are thrilled to be spending so much time outside with us!

I've just moved my new designs to my "New Designs" page and added fabric and thread and frame information.  Finally. 

Art is healing quickly from his motorcycle accident and went back to work this Monday.  Thank you all for your good wishes!

Anne and I had a fabulous time in NC/SC a couple weeks ago.  My class in Charlotte was fun, fun, fun then we rented a car and drove down to Santee, SC to visit Anne's brother and sister-in-law.  They were wonderful hosts and we had the best time.  Then we drove to Darlington, SC to visit my sister.  That was tons of fun and we even went to Myrtle Beach one day.  That was glorious!!  My sister is restoring a huge 1912 house in Darlington and it was great to see her progress. 

Valley House Primitives now has a website:  www.valleyhouseprimitives.com.  It's wonderful!! Be sure to check it out!  They make ordering their fabulous frames very easy!

And, Cathy Campbell from Primitive Traditions, now has a website too!  How cool!!  www.primitive-traditions.com.  Be sure to visit and check out Cathy's wonderful designs!

Now for the fun part....the new photos I've received recently.  They are truly fabulous and I love sharing these with you!

Niky stitched my Virtuous Woman Stocking and here's a photo of her work.  It's wonderful!!  So is the doll!!

Nicole stitched A Quaker Study over two on 32 count Sand Lugana from Silkweavers.  She used Vikki Clayton's HDF in Examplar Fire Thorn, Examplar Lily Tutters and Fish Pepper 4431.  It's gorgeous!!

Maria Bennati stitched my Quaker House samplers.  Her finishing is fantastic!!

Barb Hansen stitched A Quaker Study on 32 count Sand Linen from R&R using Needlepoint Silks:

AND, Barb stitched Acorns & Threads on 40 count Goldfish from R&R using Needlepoint Silks.  They are both beautiful!!

Donna stitched The Song They Sang.  I love, love, love the color changes she made!

Mindi stitched Pennsylvania Pinwheel and changed the colors to match her bedroom.  It's awesome!!

And, last, but certainly not least, Terri stitched His Heart Belongs to Me.  Because Terri lives in Georgia, she stitched "Dixie" as the location of her boy's heart!  It's adorable!!

TNNA is sponsoring a new Needlecraft Market in St. Louis, MO this September 14-15 at the Embassy Suites Hotel.  It will be similar to Nashville in that it's a cash & carry market.  I'm going to sign up for it as soon as the exhibitor registration is available.  What a perfect time of the year for a market!  And such a great location!  I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

I received a great photo this week from Doris from Colmar in France.  This is her Quaker Study.  It's fabulous and her colors are just beautiful!!

I've been meaning to tell everyone (but keep forgetting!) about a new frame company.  Valley House Primitives is a new company in Tempe, Arizona.  The frames are very similar to Cathy Campbell's (Primitive Traditions).  They have many, many mouldings and colors from which to choose and they are all just beautiful.  They will be providing the frame for my new Shores of Hawk Run Hollow.  Here's the contact info:

Speaking of jewelry.....be sure to visit Liz's blog at http://lizmathews.blogspot.com/ .  While you're there, click on the link to her Etsy Shop, place an order for her jewelry, and receive a 10% discount if you mention Carriage House Samplings on the order form.  Yay!!

NEWS:  If you are into needlepoint, Maggie & Co. has converted several of my cross stitch designs into needlepoint canvases.  You can see them all at www.eweandeyeandfriends.com. 

Natacha in France sent me the most wonderful photograph recently.  This is my Berries & Pins design. Thank you for sharing this gorgeous photo with us!

Beatrice in Italy sent me a photo of Be My Love which she turned into a fabulous wall hanging.  Thank you Beatrice!

Catherine Caldwell sent me this photo of her Quaker Pincushion.  It's gorgeous!  The autumn colors she chose are just fabulous!!

Barb Hansen from Oak Park, Illinois, sent me two wonderful photos recently.  The first is the Quaker House Sampler and the second is the Quaker Christmas sampler.  Be sure to check out the frame on the Quaker Christmas Sampler.  How clever!!

Niky sent me MORE new photos and they are equally wonderful!!  This is my new Quaker Houses design.  I love Niky's color choices!

And, this is and old, old design called "Inventory Pyllow."  Niky's finishing is just perfect!

Niky sent me some new photos and they are wonderful!!  This is Diminutive Dutch:

Niky stitched Suzannah and Mary Margaret of the Girls Series.  I love her frames!!

This is one of the designs from Samplers in Miniature.  Niky made it into a fabulous bag.  What talent!!!

I was sent some new photos this week.  I LOVE getting photos!! 

This was sent by Karen in England.  She stitched Sampler Folk and made it into an incredible project bag:

This one was sent by Michele Marll.  She stitched a Quaker Stocking on 36 count Pearled Barley.  She changed the pale gold to a brick color and it looks fantastic!!

Donna Towers Lemos from Tiverton, Rhode Island sent me a photo of her complete Village of Hawk Run Hollow.  What an accomplishment!!  Donna stitched her Village on 40-Count Sand Dune and used Vikki Clayton's silks.  Beautiful!!

And, Niky sent me photos too!!  I LOVE getting photos from Niky!!  The first one is A Weeping & a Blessing:

These are Niky's Folk Art Pincushions:

And, these are Niky's Virtue samplers stitched into wonderful little pincushions:

When you have a chance, check out Liz's blog: http://lizmathews.blogspot.com/   It's wonderful!!!

AND, check out this necklace Liz just made.  I LOVE it!!!!!

It's available for purchase at:  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5043303

My distributor in Italy is Andrea Levis RBBBB – Corso A. Fogazzaro 13 - 36100 Vicenza Tel. 0444-525507 – Fax 0444-542819 – e-mail: alevis.rbbbb@ciscatoitaly.com  Netta and Enzo have a shop and can sell either retail to stitchers or wholesale to shops. 

Niky sent me a new photo.  The creative wonder-girl has stitched Fraktur One and made it into a wonderful bag:

I received a couple more great photos recently!  The first one is from Connie Schwarz who needled punched The Deep Blue Sea.  She did a fabulous job and said attaching the wool backing fabric wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be!

And, this photo is from Bonnie Olson in Brookfield, Mass. who needle punched Miss Pitts and Sophie.  She used DMC thread, then used a paint brush and black walnut stain and  brushed the stain on their faces, the flowers and the circles.  She used wool backing.  Bonnie is (impatiently) waiting for more doll designs!

This is a busy time of the year!  Between getting 5 trillion new charts ready to go, getting plants planted, a little yard work done, having a family picnic yesterday, trying to get the house presentable for company (my MOTHER, for instance!), getting a new, fantastic, fast and all-around wonderful new printer, I've managed to squeeze in a little sleep time!!  Plus, Art was on vacation last week and having him home all day just makes it impossible to get the usual amount of work accomplished.  But it was fun!  Today, life returns to normal!

I received a new photo recently.  Pam, from Arkansas, stitched Garden Dogs over one on 35-count linen.  Isn't this just wonderful?!!

My buddies, Joanne Ambrose and Shelley Musmano (Covered Bridge NeedleArts in PA) had a contest to see who could finish my virtue samplers first.  Joanne won!  Here's a photo of her work.  Sorry Shelley!!

I received a couple photos from Connie Schwarz from Rogers, AR.  This is the PA-German stocking and this is what Connie told me about it:

Isn't that wonderful!!??

And, Connie sent me photos of some punching she's done.  These are my Angel Ornaments.  I LOVE the way Connie framed them!

Back in December, I received a wonderful photo from Natacha in France.  She stitched my Merry Christmas design.  What a great photo!!

Kathy, from Needle Delights in Pensacola Florida (www.needledelights.com), did the alphabet series and got really creative with her color choices.  How cool!!!

And, Niky sent me a bunch of great photos recently.  I love getting Niky photos!!  This is 1814 Butterfly Collection:

These are Sally's Feather Tree and 1999 Christmas Sampler:

And, Niky took my Truth and Virtue Stocking and made it into a fabulous sewing roll!!

This is Jill from the Azalea House in Florida.  She brought her finished Alphabet Series Sampler to Charlotte to show me.  Notice how her shoes match her sampler!

Just a word (or two) about punch needle - TRY it!!!!  It's really a ton of fun and once you get started, you'll absolutely love it!  Honestly!!!  Get yourself a Cameo punch needle in size medium, use all 6 strands of thread and punch away!  All of my designs currently have the pattern preprinted on weaver's cloth.  This may not continue.  (Cutting and ironing 120 yards of fabric was KILLER.)  So, buy a yard of weaver's cloth and a Sharpie Marker and use a window or a light box to trace your design onto the fabric.  I promise, it's fun! 

I've received a couple of great photos recently:

Veronique in France sent me this beauty!  The English translation is "stitch, stitch and you will forget everything" - isn't that awesome?!!

Connie Schwarz from Rogers, Arkansas sent me this wonderful photograph.  She's stitched all the virtue samplers together and made it truly hers.  The year in "Love" has been changed to the year she and her husband married.  And, the year in "Hope" has been changed to 2006 and she added her initials into the lady's skirt. Then she put her sewing skills to use and made her piece into a wall hanging.  How cool!!! 

Jill, from the Azalea House in Palatka, Florida, has finished stitching the alphabet series into one big sampler.  She did it in eight weeks and used Antique Ivory Belfast linen.

And, I received this photo from Karen Venables in England.  What great finishing!

To the special stitchers who stitch models for me, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I don't know what I'd do without you (obviously I'd stitch a LOT more and not have nearly as many designs).  Carol Sims, Lynda Moss, Charity Watral, Laurie Arp, Lisa Roswell, Lisa Duffin, my Liz and now Courtney Glau, thank you so much.  You truly do keep Carriage House Samplings up and running!

I've received some wonderful photos this week and wanted to share them.  Niky has been very busy stitching the alphabet series:

And, she's gotten really creative with Sampler Folk.  How cool is this??!!

AND, I received a great photo from Paulette Stewart's Mom, Marsha.  She stitched Matter's Choice in Claret.  Isn't it beautiful?!

Pat Tulskie stitched Matter's Choice over one on 49 count gauze. It measures 3 1/4" square.  Then, to just add to her incredible-ness, she framed it in this wonderful hand painted frame.  Amazing, huh?!!

My Purity of Heart model has been missing for about three years, so I recently asked Lori Davey to re-stitch it for me.  She did an amazing job (in 6 days flat!!!).  Cathy Campbell from Primitive Traditions made the frame and here it is:

I'm releasing the designs I did for the Washington Post, per your request!  Images are below.  There are twelve designs in one package.  Please note that these designs have NOT been stitched and you will receive "images" but not photographs, as well as the charts.  The chart pack contains 27 pages and the retail price is $18.00.  If any shops would like copies, please contact me.  I will not be sending these out on an automatic and will not give the charts to distributors.  If you have any questions about these, please let me know.

Linda Bottin, from Big Fork, Montana, stitched my Big Fish design and made it into an ornament.  Isn't it wonderful?!

I've received some wonderful photos a few weeks ago.  The first two are from Barbara Chatterton from the Netherlands.  She's done some wonderfully creative stuff with threads with a couple of my designs.

This is Hearts & Flowers and Barb has stitched it with an autumn palette of Silk N Colors by The Thread Gatherer (October Sky, Autumn Honey, Sunflower Yellow, Rusty Amber) with a little bit of Kreinik silk mori (the off-white) and Needlepoint Inc (the greens, the solid gold/beige). It’s stitched on a Silkweaver Solo 28 ct Cashel.  I love the colors she's chosen!

And, this is the Octopus from my alphabet series.  Barb has stitched it over one using Stranded by the Sea limited editions. She also used 310 DMC and a solid dark blue from Anchor for the waves. It’s stitched over one on 28 ct Antique Ivory linen.

AND, I've received a photo from Niky of her latest project.  Niky NEVER stops stitching!!  Besides stitching and finishing, Niky's other talent is setting up beautiful photos!

I have to share this photo with everyone.  Sue Shaw, from Newtown, Ct., sent me the most wonderful gift.  This is Houses of Hawk Run Hollow, stitched over one on 40-count gauze.  It's AMAZING!!! I put the pencil in the photo so you can see how small the sampler is.  Sue filled in the entire background, not just the black background.  Sue is truly the most generous, patient and kind stitcher I've ever had the pleasure to meet!