Memorial Wall Hanging!

When I started my daughter's pillow, I was going to go with stitchery, for the saying, but I realized it was too big and it would take too long, so I put it away. This week I took it out and finished it into a wall hanging for one of her friends, who has lost her dad and grandmother this year. She is one of the ones who gave me the painting and she said she wanted to put the saying on it, but there wasn't any room so I thought I would make something similar for her with the saying and less painting.

I stitched the stitchery first, then I used Rit dye to color in the background. I added water and brushed it on with a tan for the sand, then a green/blue for the sea and a light blue/white for the sky. It worked nicely and the colors came out the way I wanted, but once I dried it, everything lightened up. I left it as is, now it has hints of color and I think with the saying it is a nice touch.

I used Janet Clare's line of Hearty Good Wishes, the perfect print for an ocean scene, then I added the hand stitched seagulls as a last addition. The finished piece is a little over 12". Not my best sewing, but I think she will like it.

Weekend Happenings!

I had lots of plans for this weekend, nothing got done but I guess I am learning to adapt since life is always changing and I have no control over it;)

My son decided to have a get together at his house, it is Nicholas', my Daughter in Law's and my husband's birthday this week. The last plan was to have it next weekend at my house for family and our friends, then another in June for Nicholas at their house.

So, Bill and I ran out and bought Nicholas a present. We got my Daughter in law a plant for the porch and also my son graduated from college this week, so we gave him money to use for a dinner out, for the two of them.

I went to the store, thinking about getting an electronic reader, but we passed the Thomas the Train section and Nicholas loves Thomas. Once I saw the ride on train, I knew I had to get it and knew how excited he would be and how he would love to ride on it.

They got the train out and let him ride it without the tracks so it wouldn't take up the room and he loved his train. The bad thing was, it was too slow for him and he kept pushing himself forward and grinding on the motor. Also notice the box photo and the train, no Thomas the train face, duh, I got the wrong one. We let him play a while and then packed it up and took it back today, definitely not the best train for a child who likes speed. We also found out that it was actually a get together, not the actual party, so we will go back to our idea of starting a college fun in Danielle's name and just get a small present to go with it. I should have known to double check, men are not good at relaying information and getting it accurately;)

I am working on a couple of stitcheries, one is a piece I started last month and couldn't use, so remaking it as a gift for Danielle's friend, who has lost two family members this year. Hopefully I will have it finished by Friday.

A Song in my Heart pillow!

This was another one of those weeks. Actually Thursday was just one of those days that I should have stayed in bed, but that was impossible because the first thing I had to do was strip my bed to clean up the cat puke on it. What woke me up was Bean whining, he was getting into things outside and it upset his stomach and he didn't make it out in time, so another mess to clean up.

Then I started cleaning and slipped on the floor and fell on my bad side, so not a good day to clean after all, I hit a few old injuries and made some new ones;) But, that wasn't the end of it, I was under the chair to get Bean's ball and he went screaming into my nose so now I have a really sore nose.

This week I worked on a pillow for our choir director. She was the one who helped me with the songs for Danielle's Mass and some of the songs I chose were not allowed and I was just too tired to think anymore, so I said, I trust you, you pick the rest out. Well, she spent all day going through songs to pick out just the right songs that were similar to what I picked.

I remembered a design by Primitive Blessings and luckily I still had a copy. She does not have her site  up anymore and hopefully she will get a new service and list them again, I love using her designs for gifts. I love the saying on this one and I added an edging and filled it with stuffing and lavender. The back material has angel designs with inspirational sayings. I hope she likes folk art.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Today I got some supplies I needed and hoping to get out for some short walks this weekend. Besides being sore, I am out of shape, and the weather is perfect for  hiking.

Weekend walk and finish!

This has not been my best week, and I am sure there will be more of them, but I could use a break;) With everything that has been happening, I am just being for now and working on small projects and getting through the tougher moments, but I also have put things on the back burner.

I finally got my hair cut and she messed it up, it is all puffy, so I either have to go back and have her fix it or find a new hair cutting place. It seems every time I find someone who can do a decent hair cut, they disappear. I also have a broken tooth that I was supposed to get capped, but I put that on hold as well as making an appointment with a foot specialist since I broke my toe for the third time. And to top it off, I seem to have broken my index finger. No Idea how I did that, but the bone is sticking up, so guess I need to have that X-Rayed but I am using it and I cannot sew with a splint on it, so for now, it will have to wait, working on something for a birthday present for our choir director and want to finish it for Sunday. Hopefully I won't break anything else this week, lol.

And last but not least, Bean chewed my power cord in half. Luckily my old one works on this computer, so I can use that until I get a new one.

Saturday we went for a ride to the light house. I needed to get out and it was the perfect day to walk around and enjoy the fresh salt air.

Looking down towards the lighthouse.

Looking out to the ocean side, wonderful place to walk and relax while we enjoy the views.

Then we went to the other end of the island, to the old forts. There were lots of sailboats out, with the racing boats still in the harbor. You can see one of the Newport mansions behind the boats.

I also finished my second block from Theodora Cleave's free patterns. I am enjoying doing them, fun designs and they just make me happy to look at. I am still not sure wether I will make little quilts with each one, or a larger quilt, that I can decide on, later.

Friday Finish, Finds and Friends!

I have been wanting to try a card holder with needle felting and I finally took the plunge. I found an angel picture that I liked and it was good for a practice piece. There are some parts I like, and others I don't, but I am learning and maybe someday I can make something that looks more like a watercolor picture with roving. A friend sent me yellow locks, so it was perfect for the angel's hair and fun to use.
I also used a wool yarn for some detail and some fell out, so I added stitching, next time I will use roving for shadowing. I used felt for the backing, next time I will go with wool and hopefully get a better wet felting technique.

The inside has two sleeves that are the perfect size for the memorial cards. Maybe I will try a case for sunglasses or a cell phone. The photo makes things brighter and stand out more, it is more blended in person.

Two of Danielle's friends had a friend make me a gift and one of the girls lives down the road, so she came over and gave it to me this week. She lost her dad recently and has been going through a lot herself, so it was nice to have someone who understands and someone I can help too.  It really brings me comfort and a special gift from her friends. I think I will do up the poem with a stairway to heaven, in script, to hang along side.

I also went shopping this week, I love thrift stores. I found two block pattern kits, with the material still in them, so those will be fun to try and practice fusible machine quilting on. I also like to look at the skirts, and found two nice ones. one I can over dye and the other has beautiful shades in it, so I can use it as is.

I appreciate all of the good wishes and prayers. I can't always reply to all of them and some are no reply, and I wish I could answer those too. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Grandma's Day!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and weren't in the areas hit by storms. My prayers go out to all of the families that have been affected by them and the devastation they caused.

My son and Nicholas came to visit Sunday, it was nice to enjoy the day with them and Nick always puts a smile on my face.

I didn't really want to celebrate Mother's day, a bit bittersweet for me, but I did want to enjoy it with my son and grandson. I got an idea for the perfect present for me, can you guess what it is?

Nicholas wanted to help too.

Getting it together, Nick made sure everything was in place.

Time for a ride! I got myself a wagon, fun to pull Nick around and you can take the top half off and use it as a utility wagon, perfect for gardening and hauling water buckets out to Dani's tree. We stopped to enjoy my apple tree. Bill put in a nutrient spike and the tree just blossomed with beautiful blooms and the other apple tree was dead looking and now it has blooms too.

Bean was loving it too, he loves having people to play with, but he gets thirsty while running around. Bill fills the bucket with fresh water, so he can have a drink when he needs one. Today was cleaning day, I did more in one day than i have in weeks and I am exhausted, but that is good, I will sleep well tonight.

An Angel for my Angel and Giveaway Winner!

Today we went out to look for a basket. Our church is having a fair with a raffle, so I decided to share some of the winnings I have had over the years and make a quilter's gift basket. I also have books and an extra copy of a magazine, so putting together things like that and fabrics to go with the patterns. Now if I can only find a basket I like, most were the wrong shape and over priced junk.

I did find an angel though. She was sitting on the shelf with another that was not as nice and mine was on sale, it was meant to be. We are still waiting for the insurance and things to go through so we are waiting on a stone and I hate that there was nothing on her grave. I was looking at fake flowers and realized I could get fresh flowers and I love how she looks with the flowers, it just made me feel so much better, knowing she had something beautiful and an angel, watching over her.

The wonderful thing that happened today was, just as we got in the car, to go to the cematary, I looked up and there were two symmetrical angel wings over our house. 

I was looking at some old photos and found one of Danielle when she was little. Her great grandmother was celebrating her 100th birthday and when most kids avoid the elderly, Danielle was giving her hugs and helping her with the cards. In celebration of her compassion of others, I am sending out some cards and happy presents to a few friends who are going through a tough time themselves. I am not sure what I will do in the future, I am hoping to set up a work room for charity projects in her room and invite others to help, as well. For now, I am just being and following my heart when I can and getting the house cleaned out, so we can redo the room and basement.

And now for the winner of my giveaway. The winner is Jacqueline! Jacqueline, please email me with your choice of epattern from my ecrater site. Thank you all for playing along. I was trying to get a photo of the moon as it was rising through the trees, it was a beautiful orange red shade, but with the slow shutter speed, I got blurry photos. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, we will be spending Mother's day with my son and grandson.

This and That Giveaway!

This weekend we worked on the yard and got Dani's tree planted. We have neglected our yard for years and it is time to clean it up, add plants and areas that we can enjoy with family and friends.

Our son came over to help and of course Nicholas had to help too, he loved driving the tractor with grandpa.

They drove around Dani's tree, I look forward to the day when it gets larger and then we can add a bench and have a nice place to sit under and think happy memories.

I was playing around, trying to take a picture and then I ended up playing with photoshop and this is what I ended up with. I call it Fire Spirit, but what do you think it really is? Give me  your guess and I will pick a name from the comments. The winner will get their choice of one of my epatterns or booklets. I will pick a name and announce it on Friday night.

Friday ……….

It was a long week that seemed to go by too fast. We had so many plans and didn't get any of them done. It was a week of getting out for walks and shopping and just keeping busy. One thing we did get to do, is find the perfect tree. A few friends sent us gifts along with the cards, so we decided to use the money for the tree and supplies.

I wanted a Kwanzan cherry tree because it blooms in mid-April, and the flowers look like carnations and grow in clusters. It is the perfect tree to bloom beautiful flowers for her birthday. I am putting it in the back yard so it has room to grow and then when it gets bigger, it will be a beautiful tree to sit under and we can start planning more landscaping for the yard, around the tree.

This is the top part of the tree, it already has beautiful blooms.

This is a stock photo of how the tree will look when it gets older.

We also got out for walks and Bean was loving exploring and going new places again.
Bean was so excited that he ran into a tidal pool and I wish I could have captured the expression on his face when he hit the cold ocean water.

This is his, "That wasn't the smartest thing I ever did," look.

We enjoyed the fresh ocean breezes and a good hike along the ocean paths. ( I need a haircut ;)

I was browsing on the web and found this fun set of trailer potholders. They look fun to make and she has a nice tutorial to follow along with the steps. It would be fun to make for your campers or as a gift for a friend. You can find the pattern for the potholders and other wonderful ideas for decorating and sewing at Suzy's Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom.