Two finished Valentine Pillowkeeps, vintage-style

After much thought, I decided to finish the Be Mine by The Sampler Girl vintagey instead of leaving it white. I also stitched another one today by Primitive Betty's which is also a freebie at her blog site. This one says "Oh Sweet Valentine". I saw it this morning on her site and decided to stitch it today.
I went back into my thread jar and on the Primitive Betty freebie #1 I used some blue for the peacock. I also finished freebie #2 from Primitive Betty's site which says "Valentine" but I haven't aged it yet so stay tuned tomorrow.

This was before aging with coffee. I really debated hard on keeping it white or dying it. There's not much stark white in my house, so I tried these two tonight and I really like them.
The following pictures may not occur in order......sorry, this computer is not like my old one and there may be duplicates I can't remove. Anyway.......................

This is the finished Valentine freebie #2 from Primitive Betty's blog site.
This is the pretty fabric before which I could easily have kept white with white linen but.........you know I changed my mind at the last minute.......it happens sometimes lately.

Here's my pan, just an old cookie sheet of which I poured some old coffee leftover from the perculator this morning in the bottom and then took a deep breath and threw them in there!

After soaking and rinsing them, I then soaked again for a few minutes. I didn't soak it but about 10 minutes max. Different linens will take up the stain faster sometimes so you have to just work with it until you have achieved the color you want. Remember that usually (usually) the linen will dry slightly lighter. So for a really, really vintagey, old look I just take the grounds with my fingers and rub like I am in First Grade with a new pack of Crayola's. Speaking of that, I start to remember sitting in the corner in the "No Fun Chair" in my kindergarten because I couldn't stop using my crayons when I was supposed to......LOL Ok, back to the present..........

I'm preheating the oven here. I recommend 200 instead because I almost scorched the bottom of my linen. Again, watch it. I really didn't let it get all the way dry. I left the coffee grounds on the linen until dry, then brush them off----that's if you want a really aged look.

More coffee and cookie sheets (with alot of stains, sorry). I knew how this would turn out because I cut a inch piece and tested it beforehand. I loved the change in color.


Rub, rub, rub. I wouldn't recommend rubbing this red floss very much. There was a slight bit of color stain around it but only my Virgo self probably can see it. Of course this floss is DMC. Overdyed threads are not color-fast, therefore if you want vintagey linen and use overdyed's, always stain your linen first before stitching.


Inserted in the oven here for a brief 10 minutes max.
Lots of pressing and cutting out seams so a little of the heart fabric would show up in the front.
I had an old ball of yarn that Thomas brought to my attention as I was in the basement at the sewing machine and he was perusing the basement, lounging all over my laundry piles and stuff......LOL So, I used it and my and an old red button for a little accent.
Don't they look sweet together?
My hands still smell like coffee right now! ;)
One thing I want to do is to finish staining Primitive Betty's freebie "Valentine" that I stitched tomorrow to add to my basket. I plan to cut out some fabric hearts and sew them to also add to a larger wooden bowl when I'm finished. This is definitely keeping my mind busy and I need to keep my mind busy right now.
Have a great restful night.
Jennifer