Christmas quilt, punch needle and Izzy!

I finished two more pieces today. The first is a free pattern called Home for Christmas by Hatched and Patched. It was a fun piece to make and I used wool for the applique to make it easier. My tongues are a bit whonky though.

The second is my snowman punch, I ended up making it into a pillow. I like how it came out and pillows are nice since you can sit them on shelves or use in bowls and baskets. The design is by Brenda Gervais.

The kitties are being their usual obnoxious selves, pulling down garland, walking off with candy canes and knocking down anything in their path;) And sometimes they are quiet and find a nice cozy place to sleep.

( Sidenote ) For those of you who voted for Dora in the kitty contest, I want to thank all of you. She won second place in the voters choice, so I will be getting some new fat quarters, thread and a round cutter!

Gingerbreads, Baskets and Berries!

I have been decorating and that means, digging out old things and reinventing them.
I found this wooden box in a sale rack and it I decided it was perfect to add some greenery to. I picked up the garland after Christmas so a big savings and it is perfect to put in containers and then primp up boughs to fill it out. Then I decided to try some gingerbread men from a free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects. I traced the design out a bit smaller and wider and used wool to make the details. I used a coffee muslim and then stained them with java ink. My gingerbread men look as whacky as if I tried making real ones;) I have it sitting on an antique stool, but put it here for the photo. I had to lighten the photo, they are much darker in person. I will add some red berries when I find some more.

I also went shopping, sometimes we want something new or in this case, something old. I found this old basket in a consignment store. The original price had been marked down four times, so I got a good deal. It was perfect to sit on an empty chair and fill it with greenery. I used another garland and then cut some pine boughs from my neighbors yard;) Then I cut some red berries and added those, so it makes a nice grouping for the basket. And as you can see, Moki likes it too. Nothing like the smell of fresh pine;)

Rabbit and Chick Hooked Rug: Giveaway continues

I finished my newest piece today. I just had to try the design in a hooked rug and love how it came out.
Of course I took night photos, so hard to capture the primitive colors without getting a lot of contrast from the flash.

I used recycled and new wools and mixed in colors and textures to give it an antique look.
I also realized that the chick needed a flower, so I added one in this piece.
Now I need to do up the pattern for the new pieces. It will contain all 3 versions that I did.
This will be the pattern for the giveaway, but if you are not into easter things, the winner can have their choice from any of my patterns.

I sat it with some of my easter items, the rug will be for sale this weekend. I really need to sand down that bench and prim it up. What i really want is for my husband to build me a bucket bench, to put there;) I got some of my yellow camel hair wool to try some chicks with, for bunny. We shall see how they turn out. I have been having fun reading your comments and seeing the names you have picked out for her.



Here is a closer version. I used wool yarn to border the edge.



And last but not least, I know how much you love kitty pictures. Dora is so jealous of moki, she does not like me to love anyone but her, so I have to love Moki and Izzy when she isn't looking. So tonight is Dora the queen's turn;) She does know how to look cute, when she wants.

Primitive Easter Eggs!

I decided to finally take the rest of my Christmas items down and redecorate.
It has been a rough winter and still sore, but tired of my house, so cleaning a bit at a time and one way to make it fun, is to make new things to decorate with and as you can see, I am ready for spring and the first thing is Eggs to fill my baskets with.

I got an idea and it is something anyone can do, quick and easy and a great way to use up scraps.
I started by using card stock and drawing some egg shapes onto it. If you can't draw one, you can find them on the internet.

I used weavers cloth, I have a ton of primitive white that is no good for punching, but perfect for this.
Double your cloth and lay the egg shape on top. I used an art pen to trace around the egg, you can use anything, it won't show.
Then I marked the front and back, so that I used the right side which is important when you sew them together. My eggs are asymmetrical so I need to make sure that they fit when I sew the edges.

Next is the fun part. Get out your scraps and cut them into any shape you like and lay them over the fabric egg. Pin the pieces down and turn it over. Cut off the excess fabric around the egg, that helps when sewing. Now you can sew down your pieces. You can do a blanket stitch, whipstitch or make it fancy like a crazy quilt. You can tuck the edges of your fabric or sew over the raw edges. Once you have your pieces sewn, you can trim your eggs by following the white fabric.

Then you sew them, front sides together on your sewing machine, leaving an opening on the bottom. Stuff them and sew up the bottom and you have primitive eggs of your own. Another method I use is to sew scraps together until I have a size, large enough for the egg. Then I use a piece of batting and using black floss, stitch around the edges to give it a quilted look. Then sew them together. You can also use tea stained fabric or ticking and do a prim stitchery to make eggs. There are endless possibilities. I really think if you are adept with crazy quilting, this would be beautiful done with embellishments, as well. My method is the lazy way to do crazy quilting;)

I decided not to stain these eggs, they are darker in real life, but lighter in the picture. This is a dark area, so I like a little pop of color. The bunnies are ones I made last year, but I think some prim bunnies would look nice on the bench too. I am also adding a few more eggs to the pile.

Mini Pumpkins!

My DIL decided to grow pumpkins this year.
I don't think she realized that they were mini pumpkins, so now we have tons of them.
The mice seem to like them too, so quite a few ended up in their stomachs;)

Today I thought I would bring out some of my fall and halloween decorations, but I couldn't find my main box with the garlands and other things. So, I just added a few of the pumpkins with what I could find, to start my decorating.

The air conditioner doesn't help, but not taking it out until I am sure it won't get hot again. I usually add my fall garland to the bureau, so will look for the rest tomorrow. I had an old tin barrow and thought it was a perfect idea to hold some pumpkins. The cat is something I found at an end of the season sale, he is such a fun piece.



Then I added some more to the top of my tv unit, to go with my cat collection. I still have some in a basket and placed a few in odd spots, not to mention the ones still growing. I have a lot of halloween doll patterns, from freebies, so maybe I will try and make up some that I can use. I am also working on my hexagon quilt, which I am hoping to finish quickly, so I can hang it over the couch for the fall.

Buys and Braids

I hit some stores this week and got some great buys.
One was a yard of upholstery fabric from Jo anns. Seems someone made a mistake and marked it down to 3 dollars and it was originally 40 a yard, nice deal;) I think it will make a beautiful supply bag, once I figure out how to make one.



The second find was new wool fabric at the thrift. Only .99 cents and over a yard each, so was very happy when I found that.



I found a new use for my old basket. It now holds wools and my braided rug, as I work on it. I was going to make stair treads, but thought it was too thick for that and decided to just keep going and make a large one for my living room. I want to make a hooked rug, but that will take a long time. This way I have something for now and allow me to plan and work on the hooked one.



And this is what I have done so far. I work on it part time, in between all my other projects. I am using up the wools that are not great for hooking and trying to stay on the darker side with this one. We shall see, as it progresses and what wools I pull out of the cellar. And yes, it is cockeyed, like everything else I make;)