Finishes and Finds!

This weekend was busy, with Nick and the holidays, I didn't get much done in the sewing department. I had some designs cut out to make into pillows, but all I finished was the applique, so I need to finish more pillows and get them done this week. I am working on the instructions for the piece that I made for the Christmas Blog Hop, can you believe it starts tomorrow and my day is Friday. Be sure to visit and see what fun projects that the other girls are making.

A design by Primitive Gatherings. Of course I changed it and made it simpler, so the extra embroidery is not on mine.

We had a day off from Nick sitting, he is not a good child to take shopping, lol. We went to A Bee's Buzz which is a big barn full of antiques and primitives. They have booths so you never know what you will find.

I usually don't splurge but I don't have that many nice Christmas primitives and I want to redo things this year so when I saw this display, I had to have it. It is an antique drawer filled with toys around a decorated and lighted tree. I love the battery lights, I need to find some for my other small trees, so much easier than having to find a space with a plug.

I also started decorating today. I made the wool piece and the longer piece was made by my friend Karen.

I also loved this piece, something different and nice to have something to decorate the kitchen with.

My find of the day was this magazine rack. It is handmade and it was marked down to 15.00. It is a little warped at the bottom, but not that noticeable. I will use it in my sewing room, I can keep the books and patterns I am using or want to make, in it and save space by hanging it on the wall.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I have been decorating today, a bit bittersweet but I am determined to keep the magic and joy of Christmas in our home, it was Danielle's favorite holiday.

Friday Fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We kept dinner simple and just enjoyed the day, food and family, no expectations or stress.

Today we had Nicholas, so we decided to take him to The Fantastic Umbrella Factory. It is a group of stores and artisans in a farm like setting. It is a bit like a throw back to the 70's and in the warmer months they have folk musicians playing in the gardens.

Today was beautiful, perfect for walking and browsing the stores and no crowds. They have pathways and a fountain that we stopped to get a photo of Nick. I was unaware of the surroundings, and just took a photo, then noticed what I had missed.

Can you see what put that goofy grin on Nick's face?

We went to the animals first, they have ostriches and a goat, as well as chickens and various birds, running around the grounds. We took him to the bamboo forest, he was a bit apprehensive and then amazed at all the bamboo and how high it went up.

While we walked, we picked up a few buddies who followed us around. We also shopped small and bought Nick a wool hat and some gloves.

After that we went to Ninigret park and walked Nick in the stroller and then let him out to play on the beach. Throwing rocks is still his favorite sport.

Nick needed to eat and there weren't any kid friendly places in the area, so we got him a fresh sandwich and enjoyed eating at Charlestown Beach. The perfect way to end the day and just enjoy the beautiful day.

Four more days and the Christmas Hop begins. My day will be friday. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.

Monday Finishes and Weekend Fun!

I wanted to make more pillows and something a bit quicker, so I made printable fabric pillows. I found some free graphics on the internet and printed them out with the printer fabric. I use the June Tailor, washable and colorfast. I heat set them, then rinse in cool water and heat set them again. Not really sure if they are waterproof or washable and I do notice they tend to run with the red ink. After I rinse them, I blot them with a paper towel and that keeps the reds from running too much.

I made the mistake of using a higher resolution on the small pillows, that is why they are smaller. I forgot to change the size to compensate for the resolution. The wagon pillows are done at the lower resolution so they came out the right size. I like the smaller pillows too, they could also work as tree ornaments and if you don't have a real tree, the scent of pine would be nice on the tree.

The thing I don't like is, the fabric is stiff so I had to cut an opening in the back to fill them, that is a pain in the neck. With balsam, it is easier to pour it into the bottom, then sew them closed. I also have to stitch them up and cover the ugly opening I made, so an extra step. It is a nice way to make fun pillows though, and there are lots of free graphics on the internet.

I had Nicholas this weekend so I gave him his new creche to play with. He loves to play with the figures and the start lights and plays Away in a manger, so we heard that a lot, throughout the day.

Sunday he decide he did not want Mommy to leave, so it took me awhile to calm him down, but once he did, he was fine. I decided he needed a table so he had a place to play and a place to eat. He loved the table and played on it all day and loved eating like a big boy.

I guess I will not be online till after Thanksgiving. The kids are coming to our house, after all, so I will be busy cleaning and planning the meal, I have two more days, ugh. I always work better under pressure;) I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family and good food.

This is an old photo from a Thanksgiving at Waterville Valley in NH. They had santa come in on a dog sled and fireworks at night. The holidays will be hard, but I will treasure the memories.

Friday Finishes!

I am still making pillows and it is fun to do new designs and with all of the blog hops this month, there were plenty to chose from.

The snowman design is by Kathi, from Heart to Hand. Kathi didn't have a blog so you had to email her for the pattern and it is wonderful and fun to make. You can now download the pattern, on her website. I only did one snowflake on mine since I wanted to keep the pillow size down. I used stuffing and balsam in this one.

Another design I have made before is the Christmas Angel by Pieces from my Heart. I reduced the design to fit on a little pillow. Balsam and stuffing in this pillow, as well.

I am working on the Christmas Hop piece so that will be finished this weekend, but you have to wait until December to see the reveal;) If you are looking for some free designs to do your own stitchery pillows, I found a french site that offers a lot of Christmas designs, some I have never seen before. Check them out at Cathy Creatif's.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be spending the day with Nicholas, so I am planning a fun party day with a special dinner and I even got him a present, a fisher price nativity set. He loves playing with my figurines so I thought this would be a fun gift for him and hopefully Bean won't try to eat it.

Monday: This and That!

I wanted something simple and fun to make over the weekend, love to stitch at night while I watch tv. I have been following the Christmas Blog Hop hosted by Buttermilk Basin and if you haven't followed along, check out Stacy's blog and you can see what other patterns have been offered during the hop.

On day 3, Debbie of Wooden Spool Designs made a wonder christmas truck ornament. I decided to make mine into a pillow and stuff it with balsam. The design is perfect with the fresh cut tree, for a balsam scented gift and a nice gift for the guys too.

I had a lot of fun making them and they worked up quickly. I decided to go with a fuzzy white wool, but I may try some with a night sky and a different colored truck. I added the word Joy to the pillow, and a button star. You can see in the photos, I did one hell with wool and one with buttons, fun to try different variations.

Since I used a white background and wool, I decided to go with a blanket stitch, but I didn't want the balsam to fall through the edge. I took two pieces of batting and sewed them up to one edge, filled it with balsam and then sewed up the last edge, so it keeps the balsam sealed inside.

I had Nicholas on Saturday. We went shopping, since I am still looking for the perfect booties for my skinny jeans. I want something rugged and waterproof and my style, so I am still looking. Of course I couldn't resist looking at kid's shoes and Nicholas is growing out of his sneakers, so he got a new pair of boots and he loved tromping around in his big boy shoes.

Sunday was a memorial mass for those who have passed this year, in our church. We each got a candle with their name and after the homily, they read the names of each person. When Danielle's name was read, we all walked up and handed the candle to Father David, to be lit, then put on the table. It was a truly moving service,  and the choir sang with all their heart and love.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and in a few more weeks, another blog hop, so I am working on my piece for the hop and getting new ideas as I make it;)

Friday Finish!

Well, I would call it another un-finish, but I got the stitchery done, so all I need to do if make it into a mini quilt. I thought it was a fun designs and a fun idea for gifting to quilting friends. I am not sure if the design is free, but the person offers the design on their site, so I assumed it was free?  Now I am not so sure, since some have other designer's names on them, this has her name only. There is so much  on flickr sites and I know a lot of it is scanned from books, so hard to tell what is free anymore.

It seems the months are flying by and before we know it, it will be December and time for The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop. I will be doing a post on day 4 and today I have my pieces all cut out and ready to do this weekend. Don't forget to mark your calendars, patterns and recipes for the holidays!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be stitching and keeping Nick occupied, and on Sunday there will be a special memorial mass at church and our son will do the honor of carrying his sister's candle, to be lit.

Weekend Fun and Almost Finish!

I am finally at the tail end of the flu that is going around, not something I would wish on anyone. I think I would get better if I could actually sit down and rest, that will never happen, lol.

This weekend I had Nick and Bill worked, but sometimes it is easier when I have him by myself, I am better organized and most of the time, things run smoothly. Since I am still weak, I saved my energy for play time and cooking.

Of course Nick and Bean love play time and nothing better than seeing them playing and having fun to lift my spirits. I am not sure which one of them has more energy, though Bean might be the winner on that one.

Nick found a new game, roll the tire around the yard.

Then he decided to clean up the yard, his wagon was full of leave and he picked up two of Bean's old water jugs. We let Bean play with them in the yard, he loves to push them around and when they get beat up, we have plenty of new ones.

Nick discovered the holes in the fence, wonder what is on the other side?

I realized I needed some rest time too, so I had Bill run out and get Nick a block wagon, it came with blocks and picks them up when you roll it over. He also grabbed an extra bag of blocks that has a wheel base, Nick loved them and played quietly for once. The best thing to keep a busy boy, happy.

On the crafting front, I made a small pillow stitchery, so I had something to keep my hands busy this weekend. The design is free and can be found, as well as others, at Free Christmas Coloring. The designs are great for stitching, punching or appliqué.

I didn't have time today to finish it into a pillow and the blue marker is still on it.

Friday Finishes!

I actually finished two items this week. I had so much fun making the first snowman, that I had to try another. I started out by using a drawing from a coloring book page, but then I messed up and had to redo things and change things and now he is, what he is.

I use a variety of roving, whatever I have on hand is what I use. Some is loose and harder to felt and others like the spongy type roving, work up quicker and they are easier to sculpt. I really messed up on his boots, the shape and position was not what was on the original, so I had to pull them off and redo them a bit smaller, but they still looked odd. So, I stared at it and thought, items would cover up the bad look, and the snowballs came into play.

I wanted to give him a shovel and I realized after, I forgot the handle, so I added a little topper handle, after I took the photo. The camera makes the roving look loose and fuzzy but it is tighter than it looks and some items are more like thick felt.

Here is a side view, you can see I sculpted the scarf. I felted the scarf before I put it on, then I did more sculpting, once it was on him.  This one may go to my sister, I have been making gifts one at a time, as thanks you, for those who helped us this year. It makes me much happier to make a gift and surprise someone than to sit down and write thank you notes.

I also finished another stitchery block, from Theodora Cleave. Two more to go and I will be making them into a quilt. I think it will be a fun spring quilt and I can use a floral print, with them, we shall see.

If you have not been receiving news or following Stacy's blog, Buttermilk Basin has started their Christmas blog hop, so don't forget to follow along. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be watching Nick again and Bill is working and our new bed is coming and I am not ready. 

Monday Finishes!

This weekend, my flu held on so no fun outings in the countryside. We did have Nick so I used what energy I had, playing with him or more like, keeping up with him, he is a bundle of energy. I decided to make a couple of simple Christmas pillows and used a design by Kelly Belfast of With Hook and Needle.

I was going to do them in stitchery, but decide on using wool appliqué and stitchery. I used a fabric with Christmas trees for the back. I use a piece of batting on each side and sew it as I sew the pillow pieces together. That way it makes it easier to fill them with balsam, so now they have a nice pine scent.

Nick loves playing outside and he is best friends with Bean now. The good thing is I can take them both out and wear them both out. The fall activity is raking up leaves and then throwing them in the air, their favorite activity.

On Sunday I decide I had enough energy to get to the furniture store. They were having a sale and I wanted to get a bed for the spare room so Nick will have a lower bed to sleep in and I will have a bed for company. She mentioned a lift bed which I had no use for, but I tried it and I liked it and then we tried it on a super soft bed which was like sitting on a cloud. It made me think of my sister who told me she has to have that type of bed, since she had bypass surgery and then a full mastectomy, so that is the only way she can be comfortable. So, no kid bed, but it is good for Nick, a nice space for me to sit back and relax and a nice guest bed, so I think I made a good choice. I saved money by getting a frame and buying an inexpensive head board. Now I need to think of some ideas to decorate the room and make a quilt for the bed.

The nice thing about this store is that they are kid friendly. Nick got to ride around while we browsed.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend and a fun halloween.