A New Year, A New Quilt!

Even though I have a ton of unfinished projects I wanted to make something for me, just for fun. I started the Bible Quilt by Jan patek and got one block done. Seems to take me long to stitch with my stiff hands and my applique is pathetic, but I am enjoying the process, so imperfections are fine.

I am using older material that my friend sent me, but wondering if it is too thin for a quilt. I wanted it to look time work, so mixing up the blocks and if it seems too bright with the lighter fabrics, I can always tea stain it. The fabric I used on this one is the lightest, more of a yellowed white, but I wanted to lighten it, so you could see the fabrics in the appliqués.

No matter how much I measure and plan, my placements are always off, but that will just add to the naivette of it;) This will be a display piece so I am not too worried about it getting washed a lot, just so it hold together when I do.

I am using mostly homespuns and civil war type prints, so fun picking out colors for each piece. As  you can see, I make my circles by hand, so none are the same or perfectly round.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Years. Blessings to you and your families.

Holiday Happenings!

No sewing this week, I have my piece sitting next to my chair, but by the time they baby goes home, I am too tired to move. Add the fact that Bill is home all day and making messes with the kitchen cabinets, I have been spending more time doing my own cleaning and rearranging.

We had a nice time with the family for Christmas and Nicholas loved opening his present. He even sat with us at the table and gummed a carrot. This week he has his first two teeth in, has started to crawl and loves to hear himself talk.

We are not fancy, most of the food is in the kitchen and it is self serve.

Nicholas loves toys and he does look cute in his Christmas vest. Next week is only one day, but time for grandma to explain that she cannot keep up this pace without wearing out;)

Merry Christmas!

I know for some of you, Christmas is tomorrow and for some you are celebrating other holidays this season and I wish all of you, Blessings this season and in the coming year!

This week I got several surprises and surprises from my friends, which warms my heart. One item was from my friend Sharon. She made me a beautiful cross stitch pillow, she does amazing stitchery, something I lack skills in. She also remembered that I love Celtic music and sent me a Christmas CD to enjoy while I sew.

Another friend, Linda from Sauder's Fabrics sent me two wonderful ornaments. I love handmade ornaments and these are so creative and look wonderful on my tree.

Today I got another package from my friend Cyndi. She knows I love wool and not only did she send me a wonderful pattern, but all the wool and more to use in it. I forgot one piece, it was hiding behind the box, but you can see all the wonderful colors and textures, some I have never seen before and they will be so fun to work with. Of course she added some extra gifts and a beautiful candle, I felt like I won the lottery, lol.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, house cleaning and dinner preparations. We have ham on Christmas eve and Turkey for Christmas day. It is also the first year with our new grandson, so I feel truly blessed with family and the wonderful friends I have met through blogging.

The light of the Christmas star to you,

The warmth of home and hearth to you,

The cheer and good will of friends to you,

The hope of a childlike heart to you,

The joy of a thousand angels to you,

The love of the Son and God's peace to you.

"Irish Blessing"

Friday Finish .... Angel Candle Mat

This week I have been resting and getting ready for the holidays, but I always enjoy having a project to do at night. I saw this pattern in the book, Two-Hour Quilted Christmas Projects by Cheri Saffiote. It is an older book, but you can still get copies at a good price if you watch ebay. It is filled with a lot of wonderful projects and patterns that you can use as is, or remake into new ideas.

The pattern was more of a picture, not sure if it was an actual pattern, but I thought it would make a wonderful candle mat. The original has the vines done differently but I wanted the smaller type to fit a candle mat.

On this one, I used an outside light source, so it picked up the walnut stain.The actual piece is more blended with darker spots, which are showing up more.

Primitive Blessings Pillow!

When I was going through my paper patterns, I found this one and decided it would make a nice pillow. I scanned it in, but have no idea from where. It might have been from an old issue of Create and Decorate. If it looks familiar to you, please let me know so I can give the designer credit.

I kept it simple and I think it looks nice on my new mail desk. It is fun to just make things for fun and no stress to finish them. This week I am also working on a candle mat and I will be cutting out the appliques for Jan Patek's bible quilt. The pattern was a gift from a friend for my last birthday and I thought it was time I made it. A nice project to work on during the holidays and the cold winter days.

I gave it a heavy stain, but the flash washed it out. We had snow all day, so no outdoor photos.

I can't put up breakable decorations, my kitties are way too obnoxious. I put up 3 small trees and greenery with a sled on a cabinet. As you can see, nothing is safe and this is Moki looking innocent after he tried to chew off the pine from the boughs.

Friday Finishes From Freebies!

I haven't had a lot of time to sew lately, I forgot how much time babies take up, but it is all good.
Today he actually grabbed my hands and pulled me close, puckered up and kissed me, two times, so cute.

I wanted to make a stitchery tree for someone who can't have a real one, so I made up this little pillow to hang on the door knob, or a bed post. I found it one the web and it was a mini version, so I blew it up a bit and retraced the design with black pen, so I could trace it onto the muslin. I don't have a link, but I have the design if you want a copy, I will be happy to send it to you, just email me. I cannot reply to a no reply blogger, so if you want a copy, make sure you email me direct, so I can send it to you, once I send I throw out your mail, I do not share emails.

I really like how the design looks in person, but as usual, the flash washes out the walnut stain and doesn't do the prim look, justice. I added the two side stars, they are fun to make and easy to do without a pattern.

Another design I made was this little sheep piece. It was a freebie by Lisa Bongean for last years blog hop. I just realized after looking at the photo of her finished piece that I forgot the stars around the sheep, oh well. I made this one up for fun, a nice little ornie to add to the tree since I am just using cat proof ornies.

We are getting ready for the storm tomorrow, hopefully it will hold off to night time. Tonight we have clouds and it is the peak night for the meteor storm, so that is disappointing. I was able to see six, last night though. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and please stay safe.

Primitive Stitchery Tree and Giveaway Prize!

I wasn't too pleased with how my tree came out so I tried a new version and I like this one, much better.
This time I reduced the saying and stitched it onto a piece of tea stained muslin, then I sewed that onto a  green homespun ticking. I still could not find good stars at the store and remembered I had some rusty tin stars. I attached it with a glue gun, and I think it was the perfect touch for the tree.

You are welcome to use the design in the previous post and make this version, as well.

Last week I was one of the lucky winners of Ginger's giveaway. Ginger of Primitives by the Light of the Moon picked my name and I got the punch needle kit. It has the design and backing, plus all of the wool thread to make the dancing rabbits. The wool threads are gorgeous, Ginger does a beautiful job on her hand dyed threads, really nice variations and shades. This will be so fun to do over the holidays for a fun project that I can use in the spring. I think I will make mine into a little pillow.

Winner and Friday Freebie!

Someone mentioned that it looked like I was giving Nicholas away, lol. No, no way am I giving him up, he is my little sweet heart. He is over tonight so his parents can have a fun night at my Son's Christmas party for work. He got his flu shot today so he is spiking fevers and sleeping peacefully now.
Of course I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure he is breathing and not getting too hot;)

Now for the winner.... #3..... Sandie is the winner! Sandie, please email me with your choice of epattern or booklet and congratulations.

I wanted to make a little something to share with all of you and I just love this saying. I made it on a Christmas tree shape so I can sit it on a shelf or basket. Since Nicholas is sleeping, I cannot use my scanner without waking him up, so please forgive the sloppy graphic, but it will print out well enough to use as a guideline.

This is how mine came out. I rushed it to get it done, and my sewing is a bit off, but it gives me an idea of how it looks and ideas for new ones. I used green weavers cloth for mine. You can use muslin as well or you can use wool or darker fabrics and wash away embroidery papers. I did one snowflake and then decided I like the simpler ones, that is why one is different;) I also need to add a star, hopefully I can find some tomorrow, while I am out.

This is the template I used. I drew my lines on the fabric with a ruler, then rounded off the corners. After I traced the design onto the fabric, I put a thick piece of batting behind it for the stitching. I also added a thick piece for the backing to give it support and added more stuffing after I turned it inside out.  I left an opening on the base of the trunk and stitched that by hand when I was done stuffing it. I added watered down walnut ink to age it. You can also add mini buttons, or bird buttons, as well. Have fun and I hope you enjoy my pattern.  Baby is awake, so time for grandma to go, if I forgot anything, please fell free to email me.

After I finished the saying, I cut out the shape by using a ruler and cutting 1/2" from the line. That is why I had more room for my snowflakes, so you can add them where you want.

Monday with Nicholas Giveaway!

Today was a full day with Nicholas and I spent the weekend finishing my mug rug, so no new projects.  I decided to keep it simple and just added an outline stitch around the tree. In person it is more prim since I used older homespuns and too much detail would distract from the raggedy look, so thank you for helping me decide.

I have been decorating for Christmas a bit haphazardly, but it will do, lol. I wanted to put a tree up, but for some reason Bill threw out our trees. No idea why and wonder what else I will find missing;)

Today Nick was awake more often and a bit fussy, but a few shorter naps gave me time to relax for awhile. I needed to get dinner ready, leftover turkey and gravy makes a great pot pie. While I got that ready he sat in his chair and actually kept himself entertained today. He also hit another milestone, he found out he has fingers and spent most of the day moving them and touching them together. It won't be long before he can manipulate things better.

Of course he is teething and there is nothing better than a cold carrot and as you can see, he can be tough with anything he gums. I found that out when he tried using my knuckles, really, really hurts, lol.

When he got bored with that, we moved onto his stacking cups. Half end up on the floor, some he chews and some he plays with. Here is must be deciding which color would taste better.

When he got bored with those, we had a snack, bananas. He loves making a mess with them, and when he was finished I got out the washcloth and he grabbed it. He prefers to wash his own face and lick his fingers clean.

Now for the giveaway, give me a caption for this photo. The winner will get a free epattern or booklet from my ecrater store. I will draw a name from all of the entries on Friday, December 6th and announce the winner, that night.