Month of October Contest!

What better way to kick off Fall than to give away patterns!  From now through October 31, I'll make a list of everyone who comments on my blog.  From that list, three random names will be chosen (by my friend next door) and those lucky winners will receive their choice of one my designs below!

It's simple to enter: (1) make a comment on this blog, and (2) email me at melanie@americanpiedesigns.com so I can contact the winners.  Happy Fall, y'all!

CHOICE #1

CHOICE #2

CHOICE #3

A Hunny Bunny of an Easter!

Easter is fast becoming one of my favorite holidays of the year, as I love the bright colors and the kiss of spring in the air. It's hard to find good rabbit dolls in my local crafter malls or on Ebay, so awhile back I got a wild "hare" and decided to design my own.  Oh-my-gosh(!), my first attempts at making the face were horrible! The nose was misshapen and the eyes were too far apart, not to mention the chin didn't have near enough ooomph! But after a couple of weeks, Hunny Bunny came together into a really great pattern that is easy to reproduce.

I worried this pattern might look a bit complicated (but it's not!), so I included lots of extra instructions and photographs.  You can find the finished pattern at
http://www.americanpiedesigns.com/.

THE BEGINNING: MY OLDE WORLD SANTA AND OLDE WORLD SNOWMAN

What better way to start my blog than to introduce my new friend, "Old World Santa"! I hand-hooked this 18" Santa from hand-dyed wool just before Christmas and introduced it through Ebay and on my website at http://www.americanpiedesigns.com. This Ol' Santa is easy and fun to make and I especially loved working with the deep crimson of his coat and the burnt sunflower of his star. There's nothing better than watching a new design come together. It always reminds me of 7th grade watercolor class where I learned the finished design usually never looks like what I had in my mind's eye!

And then I went on to create "Olde World Snowman" with his coat of snowflakes and crooked nose! My husband doesn't get the hooked rug thing--says they look like dog toys. I say beauty is only skin deep and this wonderful little snowman has a warm heart and fits nicely on the bench in my hall!