New Pattern and My Favorite Picks from the Last 5 Years!

I love creating for the Easter season, although I didn't get to do as much this year as I would have liked.  As I was going through and cleaning out some of my photo files, I came across so many of my past creations I'd forgotten about.   And then when I saw this photo, it reminded me that I had started the pattern for it several months ago, but had never finished it.  So I went to work on it immediately and finally got it finished up yesterday!  It's now listed in all my shops.  This is one of my favorite pieces I've ever made.  And since I was cleaning out my different photo files, I thought I would go through each holiday/season and pick out my favorite from each.  Believe me, it was not an easy task.  I actually have MANY favorites from each holiday.  But I narrowed it down to just one.  It was fun looking at five years of gatherings, make-dos, sitters, hangings, candle mats, and pin keeps!  I decided not to include my tucks and ornies...just TOO many of those.  I'll save those for another post!  Anyway, I'd like to share a few of my favorites with you...

VALENTINE

This was such a sweet bag gathering.  I love the burgundy/red and pink hearts with this pretty quilt bag.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

This was one photo file that was quite easy to go through.  I've never made a lot for St. Patrick's Day.  Not one of my favorite holidays to create for, but I DO love this large Leprechaun hat table sitter.

EASTER

Honestly, I have SO many favorites for Easter.  So in addition to the one up top, I'm adding this one, as well.  

SPRING

 This was one of my very first primitive gatherings.  Made this in spring of 2008.  Seems like such a long time ago!  It was definitely tons of STUFFING ago!

AMERICANA/PATRIOTIC

I've made many large Uncle Sam hat table sitters that I love, but since I've already listed the large Leprechaun hat, I decided to go with this large pinwheel piece.

CANDLE MATS

 Oh my goodness!  I have sold 63 of these things!  So picking out ONE favorite was hard!  I really like this one and it's intricate design!

PIN KEEPS

 I love making these 3-tiered pin keeps.  It's fun coordinating the three different fabrics to use.  This is one of my favorite!

And my favorite of all the OOAK pin keeps I've made!

SUMMER

Talk about a hard decision!  This section included ALL the watermelon pieces I've made.  Those are some of my favorite pieces to make.  I love the hanging watermelon birdhouse with the sweetest little blue bird perched on it..."No Crows Allowed".  And although I've made several of these sunflower pieces, in all shapes and sizes, I had to go with this one.  I really liked the container this one was in.  These sunflowers have always been a good seller for me.  Not necessarily a good thing, since they are one of the most time consuming tucks to make!  But after they've been sewn, it is so much fun to turn them and watch them "bloom!"

HALLOWEEN

 Okay...I had to go with TWO for this holiday.  After all, it IS the most popular, best selling holiday of all!  Yes...even more so than Christmas!  I LOVED this piece above.  It was a lot of work, and the flat enamel pan was the perfect piece for this!  In the end, I really hated to see this one go!

This dates back to one of my first Halloween pieces.  I made it using a cream quilt and color washed it black.  The quilt piece had such wonderful stitching that give this piece so much character.  It was such a fun piece to make.  I've made other variations of this large cauldron hanging, but this one is my favorite!

FALL

Okay...so I lied.  This was an impossible decision.  I couldn't pick just one here, either.  Heck...I couldn't pick just two!  Fall is my favorite to make, and along with Halloween my busiest time of the year.  I usually have several sleepless nights during the month of September making fall and Halloween prims!  And that's just my tucks and ornies.  So I have to get all my OOAK pieces made up in August or I would never be able to get any made!  I have so many gatherings and hangings I've made using my leaves, so I definitely had to include one here.  The one above is by far one of my favorite.

And then there are my scarecrows!  I'm a scarecrow collector...my favorite item to decorate with in the fall.  It's amazing that I can even part with these after I make them.  I'm still kicking myself for selling the one above!  Maybe one day I'll make another...for ME!

And this fellow was a gift for one of my very special customers!  She loves scarecrows as much as I do!  I love this guy!

THANKSGIVING

To be honest with you, this is the only "Thanksgiving" gathering I have ever made.  I've made tons of "fall" pieces with the leaves and acorns and squirrels and pumpkins and scarecrows.  But this is the only true Thanksgiving piece.  Again, I'm not including tucks and ornies here.  I do love this piece, though!

CHRISTMAS

Okay...I pretty much gave up!  I have so many favorite Christmas pieces!  But in the end I decided to go with another oldie.  This was the very first make-do I ever made.  This piece brings back many memories for me.  I remember when and where I bought the hog scraper base...not having any idea what it was at the time.  And I only paid $2 for it!!!  I remember those early days when I was just getting started with my online business...I was also just getting started with my blog.  EBay was my only selling venue at the time, and it was mostly by auction.  I still remember when they added "Buy It Now".  It was a time when eBay groups were all the rage and very competitive.  I am still friends with the gal who invited me to my very first eBay group.  It was a fun and exciting time.  So much has changed since those early days.  I've since opened my Olde Annie Primitives website and have loved every minute of it!  I now sell on Etsy as well, and not as much on eBay anymore.  EBay groups are pretty much a thing of the past.  And I must say thankfully so, since so many of them consisted of nothing but drama, back stabbing and name calling!  However, the biggest and best change has been my pattern business.  If you would have told me five years ago that I'd be selling my own patterns, much less over 60 of them, I would have just laughed, rolled my eyes and said sarcastically "Yeah...sure!"  I now sell my patterns on five different sites, including my Homespun Annie Pattern Shop.

Another big change has been in the social network.  When I started blogging, Facebook wasn't even around.  Blogs were "the thing" and it was fun visiting and reading all the different blogs.  I enjoyed sharing photos, my home and yard, outings, events, thrift shop finds and all my latest creations.  Not to mention Harley's shenanigans!  But it's getting harder and harder to maintain my blog these days.  Time between posts become longer; and with each and every post, I tend to wonder whether it will be my last.  I hope not.  My blog has been a wonderful tool for me over the years.  It allowed me to pour my heart out to so many.  It introduced me to so many wonderful people.  And it provided me with a wealth of advertising and traffic to my website!  It served it's purpose and it served me well.  So many other bloggers that I knew and followed are gone now...closed up shop.  I just can't say goodbye to mine just yet.  So until next time...however long it may be...I wish you all a HAPPY SPRING!  Looks like you're still stuck with me for a while!  Thanks so much for dropping by today!  ~~Annie