Downton Abbey, Irish Stitching, Horn Books, Thread Keepers and March Give Away!!!

OK - I'm a "Downton Abbey" fan.  Love it, love it.  Take the quiz here and find out which Downton Abbey character you are.  I never take quizzes like this, but couldn't resist. I was told I was Anna - which character are you?

My mother was very proud of her Irish heritage and passed along that pride to me.  She loved St. Patrick's Day and would fix corned beef and cabbage, creme brûlée - and, of course - Irish Coffee.  This will be my first St. Patrick's Day without her but, rest assured, I will be making her traditional feast in her honor.

I seem to be on an Irish kick and have been stitching a bunch of Irish-themed patterns.

This is called "A Little Irish Sampler" from The Sampler Girl.  

This a freebie from The Primitive Hare.

This is a free pattern from Plum Street Samplers.

This is another freebie from lesfilsdhelene.over-blog.com.  It measures 1.75x1.5 inches.

OK - I sent Hubby on a mission to make some wooden thread keeps using his new scroll saw.  I designed them, he cut and stained them - aren't they CUTE?!?!?!?!  I have other thread holder designs ready to be cut, so watch this space ;0)

I've become fascinated by horn books.  They date back as far as 1450 and were used as a primer for children.  It had letters of the alphabet and was mounted on a piece of wood, bone, leather or stone.

Well, I got it in my head I just HAD to design one - Hubby made these - they measure 5.25x5.5 inches. Including the handle, the horn book is 8.5 inches from top to bottom.

Here's my first horn book design - simple, sweet and a wee bit Irish.

I haven't charted it yet, but will soon, so be on the look out for another free pattern from me.  I have some ideas for more horn book designs.  Next project will be a smaller one, possibly doubling as a thread holder?   Hmmmmmmm - what fun!!!

Look at the amaryllis!!  They were a Christmas gift in 2012 and have come back into bloom like no tomorrow.  Isn't the color GORGEOUS?!?

ANNOUNCING THE MARCH GIVE AWAY

At the beginning of the year, I vowed to have a give away each month.  This month I'd like to do something a little different - share and share alike, as it were.  So, here we go!!

The give away for March will be your choice of:

 A wooden thread keep and a beaded scissor fob - for you and a friend.

Rules are simple:

Be or become a follower of this blog - one entry
Send someone and they become a follower - an additional entry
Blog about the March give away on your blog - an additional entry

The winner's name will be drawn on St. Patrick's Day (of course).  I will contact the winner and they can tell me their preference for the fob and thread keep - and what friend they would like to have me send their give away stash.

Keep yourself surrounded in stitches - Cheers!