Meet Jessie Bell and our latest frame

Jessie Bell ~ Arizona Territory
photo courtesy of Little House Needleworks

Hi everyone! We would like to start out the new year with a brand new frame design, created especially for Little House Needleworks and their new sampler, Jessie Bell ~ Arizona Territory.  As Diane mentioned in today's post, Jessie Bell ~ Arizona Territory was created to commemorate Arizona's Centennial this February.  As an Arizona company (with one of us being an Arizona native), we were both honored and delighted to have been asked to provide the frame for this special sampler.

Jessie Bell ~ Arizona TerritoryDetail
photo courtesy of Little House Needleworks

Jessie's frame is called Prescott, after Arizona's first territorial capital. It is distressed to resemble old wood, much like you would find in the Wild West. The colorway is Dark Ale with an inner bead in Bisbee, which is a blackened copper. (Bisbee is an old Arizona mining town famous for her Copper Queen Mine.) So all the way around, this is an Arizona sampler!

Thank you, Diane! Once again, you have presented us with another wonderful design!

Please contact your favorite needlework shop for Little House Needleworks charts and Valley House Primitives frames.

Mystery Solved

Look at this beauty! We finally had the pleasure of seeing a finished Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread. We cannot even begin to tell you how gorgeous she is In Real Life. (The stitcher of this sampler is too modest to be named, but lucky for us we were allowed to share these photos with you.)

Stitched using 35-count Weeks Confederate Grey linen and the called-for Weeks Dye Works floss, the two strands used over two linen threads really make the stitching POP! Typically, neither of us likes to use two threads to stitch, but upon seeing these results, we cannot imagine stitching it any other way.

"Mystery Sampler" corner detail

One other detail we would like to point out:  The clever way the date is stitched into the sampler. Can you spot it? (Hint: It will help you "unlock" the mystery!)

Can you spot the date?

Thank you Mystery Stitcher for sharing your finished Mystery Sampler with us. It is to die for!

As always, thanks for stopping by! We hope to have more goodies to share with you soon.

Cool Blue

While we know that some areas of the country are experiencing some early signs of autumn, it is still hot as blazes here and keeping cool is not always easy. However, this lovely sampler in her wavy blue frame certainly provides a "cool" place to rest one's eyes, doesn't it? We can almost feel those ocean breezes . . .

A Nantucket Sampler by Elizabeth's Garden
Frame by Valley House Primitives
Moulding MCA in Yankee Blue with "Wave" design

Enjoy these last days of summer, everyone!

A champion is born

As many of you are followers of Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher, it will come as no surprise that she is a fabulous stitcher and finisher. However, we now know that she is a champion stitcher and blue-ribbon winner, as well!

Needless to say, we are so very honored to have framed Vonna's entries, photos of which ~ in all of their be-ribboned glory ~ she has graciously allowed us to share here.

"The Family Sampler" by Little House Needleworks ©
Frame: MCC in Tavern Gold, Hairpin design©

"Sarah Seifer" by The Goode Huswife©
Frame: MCL in Moss & Redcoat with Chesapeake and Distressed design©

So hearty congratulations to you, dear Vonna! We look forward to many more ribbons, including that "Grand Champion" prize, next year!

New Frame!

Between last week's monster "haboob" and a 118-degree day, our thoughts have been turning to the (relatively) cooler days of autumn. So what better time to introduce our newest frame style, The Game Board Frame© shown here on The Primitive Needle's Patriotic Jack Game Board ~ all ready for Halloween. There are a number of game board charts out there, and this frame would work for any of them.

As with most of our frames, this one can be custom sized with your preference of color and graining style.  Our model is shown in "Redcoat" with a "Marble" design.

Game of checkers, anyone?

We love a good mystery

Especially if it is tied to a sampler! This is the frame we were asked to do for With Thy Needle & Thread's new "Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler." We think Brenda did a fabulous job (as always) pairing this particular frame with this sampler. We know lots of you are stitching it as we have already had orders. So we thank you for that!

For inquiries or ordering information, please call (602) 989-1905, where you will reach Janet, or contact us through email valleyhouseprim@aol.com.  Shop information can also be found on our Web site Valley House Primitives.  We have more shops to add to our list, but if you have trouble finding one that carries our frames, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Until next time, happy stitching everyone!

Remembering Lisa

So many touching and heartfelt sentiments have been written over the past few days about the untimely passing of Lisa Roswell of The Primitive Needle.  We cannot really add to these words so well expressed by others but to say that we are honored to have had the opportunity to frame some of her wonderful designs and blessed beyond measure to have called her our friend. The loss of Lisa has indeed left a void in the needlework industry and an even larger hole in our hearts.

May peace and comfort be with her family, all of the many friends and "sampler sisters of the thread" she leaves behind.