Lazy Sunday

With the holiday, I opted to stay home and relax.
I do not like crowds and traffic, and being the first beautiful holiday weekend, everyone is out and about.

Bill worked on ripping up my office floor. The old dirty rug is gone and next he will put in good plywood and the wood floors.
I plan on making my office into a guest room and bringing my things into my basement room where it is cooler in the summer.

While he banged the floors out, I hid on the porch and cut up a bucket of jackets. I decided it was time to clean up my cellar mess and reorganizing, so cutting the jackets is the first start. This is all thrift wool. Some people plan for disasters, I plan for a possible wool shortage, lol. As you can see by the fur, Casey never leaves my side.



And Dora sits at the door, fretting until we come back in.



This is why my screen is full of holes. Now Dora is feeling really stupid, getting stuck in the screen, was not the plan;)

Patriotic Prayer Stitchery

I finished another one, I do enjoy making these, as you can see.
It is a good brain break but I am starting to get new ideas for things I would like to make and design, but for now, I am content with making things for fun.

This is another design by Tiffany, of Twigs n Sprigs. I start by making her design and then I put a border on.
Then I see what space is left and add my own touches. After I made this piece, I wet the front and then sprayed the walnut ink, full strength. I think it gives it a more aged look. So if you want an overall aged piece, mix the walnut spray with water. If you want a random, water stained and aged look, wet first, then spray onto the piece. I am tempted to keep this one for myself;) I need a new americana piece, but I may do one in applique and stitchery for my drying rack.

Friends Stitchery

I finished one stitchery tonight.
I have been moving slow lately and working more on my yard, so I am tired when I am done.
I have a few more to finish, so getting there.

This one is another design by Tiffany from Twigs n Sprigs. They are just too fun to do up and make great gifts for friends.
They fit nicely in a yellow envelope, so it is a way I can give gifts and not spend too much on shipping.
This one is only 7 1/2 X 6 1/2. I did the stitchery on a dark tea stained fabric and then used walnut spray, when it was done to age it more.

Sunday Sanctuary

This week I have been working on my yard and gardening, so not a lot of large projects going on.
I am making stitcheries and finishing some new ones, they are great to keep my hands busy at night, while I am watching tv.

Today we went for a walk at the Trustom Pond Sanctuary.
The paths lead through a field and then through the woods, ending on a point, surrounded on both sides by the salt water pond.
At the end, there is a little tower where you can view the pond and the ocean beyond the dunes.



From there, we go across a side path, meandering through woods, past streams and an old windmill of the former farm.
On the opposite side is another point of land, where you can see the islands and birds nesting in the area.



On the way back we stop at a small pond, to see what we can find, out and about.
Bill spotted this guy, I am nearsighted, so I can only see when I use my zoom lens;)



And in case you want a closer view of his warts, here he is, lol.



Bill also spotted this bird, hiding in the bushes, waiting for something to come by for dinner.
I really need to get glasses.



I am glad we dawdled at the pond, or I would never have gotten the chance to see this guy. No glasses needed to see him, he is huge. He looks like something from the dinosaur era.



And to let me know, all is right with the world, he looked right up at me and smiled:)

Americana Stitcheries

Summer isn't too far away, so I thought it would be fun to do some patriotic pieces.
Both pieces are designs by Tiffany of Twigs N Sprigs. I decided to reduce them and make smaller pieces.
I think they will be great for gifts, though I do love them myself;)

This one was fun and I think it would be fun to do in colors too.
The blue marks are from my chalk pencil, that comes off when I wet them.
I also used a darker tea stain, more like a coffee color, so it gives it an aged look without using walnut spray.



I love the primitive angels, they make wonderful pieces and are so fun to work in any medium.
I used fabrics that my friend Kelley sent me, so I cannot tell you what maker they are from. They were perfect for these pieces.

My entry for IHAN's Giveaway

Kelly, from IHAN is having a wonderful giveaway and we had to pick one of the things to do, to be entered.
I choose showing my sewing room, without cleaning it first.
Kelly is giving, on lucky winner, the chance to win an Accuquilt Go fabric cutter and I want one!
Even though I don't want anyone else to win, check out her contest and her store, she carries a lot of wonderful notions and supplies, all at discounted prices.

This is my sewing area. My machine, a really fancy embroidery machine, that I have no idea how to use and don't ask me what possessed me to buy it, that is another story;) It does sew like a dream and I will learn how to use it, someday. I hang unfinished projects on the chair and on the ladder. I find old cabinets at the consignments and use those to store my sewing items in. And I use plastic, it isn't pretty, but it is functional. I have large basets on the floor too, to store yarns and wool in. That is my chair, my favorite tool to use, lol. I can wheel around the room, while I am working.



This is most of my stash. I really need to organize it again. I take things out and throw them back and now it is all mixed up.
I love cabinets with shelves for things I like to see and doors to hide everything else. As you can see, there are cats everywhere.



And this is where I do my main work, cutting and piecing and ironing. I do like to iron and press my seams as I go.
The table is really too low for cutting on, but would be easier with a Go cutter;) I have baskets on the walls to hold my scraps, scraps on the table and a mix of this and that in boxes and plastic under the table. Since I couldn't clean, you can see my rulers hanging. They go with the basket area on push in hooks. It is a great way to store them and easy to grab. Of course my radio is there too, I love to listen to celtic music when I am creating.
So, now you know what my room looks like normally, especially when I am working on a bunch of projects at once. One of these days I will organize better so I can find things and some curtains would be nice.

Kitty Kapers

Today I got a scratching pad for the kitties. Basically cardboard and catnip, but worth a try.
It seems all the kitties cared about, was the catnip. Rolling in catnip is what my kitties love.
Izzy is the calm one, she rolls and makes happy faces.



Dora is another story, she is way to smart for her own good. I was doing something and when I came back, I found her and the bag of catnip on the bottom shelf.



Dora really gets into catnip, rolling is the first step, she has to rub it all in her fur.



Then some more frenzied rolling and contortions.



To falling in love with the object holding the catnip. At this point, I had to get my penny rug, before she went into her claw mode. I think l need child prove locks on the cabinets, but I can guarantee, Dora would figure that out too;)

Bomb Scare

We had an interesting morning today.
Yesterday I was digging around the fence for flower beds and I unearthed a metal object.
The dog grabbed it and tried to play with it, so I put it up on the fence.
Today we were out digging the vegetable garden and I remembered the object, and showed it to my husband.
Well, after shaking and banging it to see what it was, he decides to call the police.
They come over and decide it was something dangerous and being a beautiful sunday, no one was available.
( I would hate to think what would happen, if it was something really dangerous;)
So, we had to wait half the day and not go in the back yard, till someone came and took it away in a bomb box, lol.
I still have no idea what it is, so hopefully they will let us know and I will be more careful when digging the rest of the yard;)



We finally got out for a bit and took a walk at Ninigret park. I always love it there, nice paths and cool ocean breezes. The park in inside of the salt water pond, but past the dunes, is the ocean.

This is Bill enjoying the views.



This is me, wishing I had bought the boats for a nice paddle in the coves.

New Adam and Eve Cross stitch

I finished my newest cross stitch piece and not sure if I like it.
I messed up with my count as usual, lol.
I originally started with an idea to make a long pin keep pillow, so I tried to keep the design in that size.
Part of it started from an antique adam and eve and then I added and changed, as I stitched.

I think for the next one, I will draw and color the design on paper, then bring it into the pattern maker.
That way I can see the layout and design before it turns into cross stitch. I really admire people who make the large cross stitch patterns, there is a lot more work in them, then we realize.

Stray Cats

Kitty was lonely, so he went out and found some buddies to keep him company.
One kitty looks a bit like him, with pieced scraps for his body.
The other kitty is done with a real cotton ticking.
Both pieces were stained with java ink. It is the black version of the walnut spray.
I thought I would try the darker stain on these guys.
Looks like there is room for one more, so I have an idea brewing for something a little different.

Scrappy Kitty

I recently saw a photo, that had a box filled with kitties and I love it.
So, I thought I would make one of my own. I have a box and nothing in it, so perfect to fill with kitties.
First I drew out a kitty shape. Then I took scraps out of my basket and sewed them together to make two pieces a bit larger than the cat pattern. I did make sure that the face area would have a neutral shade, so the features would show up.
I used freezer paper and traced the cat design and cut it out, then placed that right sides in with the other piece. I sewed it by machine and cut off the excess, making a snip at the curves for turning.

I used regular stuffing and sewed him at the bottom. I went without a tail, since these will be box sitters. He is 10" tall.



This is the box he will go in. I love how it came out and will make a skinny and fat one, to have a variety of kitty characters.

Painted Stitcheries Finished

I finished two of my stitcheries today.
I tend to make things without thinking and then I have mistakes, lol.
The first one, was with the border. The green was supposed to be on the sides and I did it backwards.
This one I sprayed the design first, so I didn't antique the border.

And where do I get my ideas for the add ons? Those come after I finish the piece and realize my fabric is puffy, so I added words and a heart to tack it down better;)



The second one I used pink in the design, so decided to go with a primitive pink for the border.
This one had no saying, but I like the friends saying, so added that on, along with some inspirational words.
I realize, I should border them first, then decide on the saying and change the size and layout, to fit in the frame better.
I antiqued this piece to grunge it up a bit.

Punch Needle Angel Doll

I know I shouldn't be using my hand, but I have been stitching all week and just had to punch something.
I decided that punching a pillow would be too much work, so I came up with something new to do.
I took one of Primitive Blessing's patterns and made it into a doll shape. I moved the arms down, to the side, so it would be easier when sewing. I left out the wings and used vine twigs instead. On the original, she had a tie with stars, so I made one with jute thread and bells. For the bottom, I left it open and then cut a piece of wool in an oval, to give it a wider bottom, for sitting. I am not sure on her wings, I just sewed them on with thread, so I might redo them.

Dying and Stitchery

I decided to try some fabric dying today.
I want to make some simple art style quilts and batik type fabrics.
My first attempt was a bit dark, but still mottled, plus it was on tea stained cotton. The next ones, I used an old white cotten I had, and the colors showed better. I just twisted the cloth, then knotted it and threw it in a pot. I want to keep the colors simple, since I will be using machine stitchery to enhance them. I used red and yellow rit dye to get the shades.



I also finished another stitchery. This one I will paint too. It is a design from Primitive Blessings. I think I would like to do this one in a larger version and use applique for the main design. Today I started a punch with another of Tiffany's designs, it is an experiment, so we shall see how it turns out. I wanted to try some punch, but my hand still hurts, so I will have to take it easy after this one.

Painted Stitcheries

Today I worked on painting the stitcheries I made.
It is time consuming, not something you can rush, but also fun and relaxing.
I used acrylic paints, watered down and no mediums. After I finished, I put them in the front loader to heat set, then sprayed with water and reheated them again. I do the spray to help soften the paints a bit.

This one is just paint, I will antique it later. I realized that with painting, the pages didn't work, so I will close up those stitches, next.



This one I antiqued, to see how it would look. Normally I antique the piece, after I make it into a wall hanging.



This one I decided to paint first, then I will stitch with black. I think this was much easier for painting and I am not sure if this was actually cotton, it seemed a bit smoother. Now I hope it will be easy to stitch on, we shall see. I used brighter colors, but I think the stitching and walnut, will tone it down. All three of these are from Red Brolly's free stitchery, Catalicious.

New Stitchery

I finished another stitchery, from Red Brolly's free Catalicious Designs.
This is anther one, I want to paint, so need to get going on that part next.
I added the saying from the other one, to this one, it just fits so nicely.
She posted another one this week, they just keep getting better, I love them.
I am not making them to go together, I am using each design in a mini quilt and will gift them to friends.
I am a bit nervous about painting these. There is a lot more work in them and if I mess up, it is ruined, so need to do it on a day when I have a steady hand.



The weather has been nice and as you can see, Izzy has found the perfect spot for kitty comfort and sunshine.
Never mind that I have to vacuum the rug, even though it is not done and on the floor yet;)

Contest Winners!

I guess I won't make everyone wait any longer;)
And I won't stretch out the text and make you scroll down;)
So, without further ado, I have decided that everyone is a winner today!
Losing is no fun and it is always fun to get something free and I still need work on making these patterns.
I was thinking of an alphabet line, will see how that goes. I tend to work by moods, so it depends on what motivates me next.

I am putting two versions of the cat here, so you can just grab a copy for yourself. I did save it in pcstitch file, but have no idea if it works, so anyone who would like to try it and see what you get, email me for a copy. I make them with the dell, but use my mac for other things. My mac will not open the file. So, for another question, would you prefer patterns in pc stitch or pdf files? I would appreciate any feedback on my cat pattern. If you encounter any problems with the chart, can you follow it ok? I use less colors and make them simple, so you can use any colors you want.

This pattern is for cross stitch only, please do not use it in any other medium.
I saved the colors in text format, so you can match those if you wish. The legend numbers do not match with this version.

Grid Size: 100W x 100H
Design Area: 6.64" x 6.79" (93 x 95 stitches)

Legend: Stitches
DMC 310 black
DMC White white
DMC 3808 turquoise - ul vy dk
DMC 3011 khaki green - dk
DMC 782 topaz - dk
DMC 918 red copper - dk
DMC 517 wedgewood - dk
DMC 838 beige brown - vy dk
DMC White white
DMC 501 blue green - dk
DMC 500 blue green - vy dk
DMC 610 drab brown - dk
DMC 3857 rosewood - dk
DMC 3799 pewter gray - vy dk
DMC 3033 mocha brown - vy lt
DMC 3045 yellow beige - dk

Annie Stitchery Finished

I finally got around to finishing my Raggedy Ann stitchery.
I used dmc floss for the stitchery and the big quilting stitches.
It really was a fun pattern to do. I used a material that looks similar to the blue florals, that you find on the old annie dresses.
I added some fun buttons and antiqued it to age it.
If you would like to make one, you can get the free pattern at Kaarens.
She has a new freebie on the first friday of the month, so she will have a new one, next week.

Don't forget, the contest and the pattern sale end tomorrow.