This and that Friday!

 

This week I was working on a few projects. I wanted to start a baby quilt from an extra panel I had. I got it together and will be following the black outlines with black pearl cotton. Keeping it simple so it has a bit of puff from the quilting, but not too tight. It is a nice project to do by hand for when I want to relax and not think too much.

This weekend I planned a trip to the local campground. I cancelled Thursday since it was raining and it gave me more time to get ready. Then Bill got sick, then I got it, so we are doing ok, but not up to par. Hoping to be able to do a little paddling in the cove, so hopefully I will be better tomorrow. 

This is our site, I thought I had gotten a front row but am further back, but still nice to be at the camp.

We got a little rain in the afternoon, but it ended quickly. After dinner we took a ride to the fishing beach and just enjoyed the views and watched the fishing boats as they headed back to port.

Then we went to the lighthouse and I caught this guy, fishing in a big puddle.

The waves were building up, so quite a few surfers were at the ocean side.

It is always fun to follow them with the camera and grab that shot, when they are in the sweet spot. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have good weather, so it is nice to be at camp where the air is always cooler.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I finally finished the baby quilt. I hand stitched around the designs, to keep it simple and I wanted it to be puffy and soft. The panel was gifted to me by my sister in law, so I would say it is vintage. The only problem with it is, there is a tiny dark spot on one of the outer edges. I washed it and it faded a bit, but still there, so hopefully the recipient won't mind.

For the back, I used a cute flannel. Slowly using stash I got, and this flannel was perfect for a soft backing.

Last week we got out for another walk at the farm. It was beautiful with all of the lupines, lining the pathway.

We also took a stroll down the back road, that follows the river and back around to the farm. A lot of beautiful homes along the way, with views of the river. 

Lots of birds along the way and this Song Sparrow, followed us a bit and sang to us.

Today my husband got stuck at work so we didn't get out for a paddle. Hopefully we can get out tomorrow if it is not too windy. I have been painting a few more rocks and started another project, so hoping to get those all done, next week. I have a lot to do around the house and getting the trailer ready.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather and not in the stormy areas. Here is has been too hot, so I can't get outside as much, but on weekends we can get down to the cooler end near the ocean.

Working on!

 

This week I finally pinned a new project that I wanted to do. The quilt top was given to me by my Sister-in-law. She had a lot of old craft supplies and handed them to me. I thought this would be perfect for a charity quilt. I am hand quilting it with white pearl cotton and going around the main designs. I don't want to over quilt it, since it would make it too stuff for a young one. The only bad thing was, I noticed some spots on it, so if they don't wash out, I will donate it to the thrift.

Last week we went on a walk to the Great Swamp. It has a nice loop path that goes to a pond, then around a small pond, so it has great views and wildlife. I was hoping to see the Ospreys, they nest in the line of telephone poles that go through the little swamp. A few had set up nests, but not as many as the last time we saw them.

Another day we decided to check out the local marina to see the Ospreys there. One was in the nest hiding and the other was on a pole, taking a break.

We also got a surprise when I spotted a Little Blue Heron, a first for me.

After we went for a short walk on the bike path. As we were heading back, a beautiful Kestrel flew over head. He landed in a tree, so I walked back to get a shot. 

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy the weekend. It is nice to get more sun and some rain. I added more plants around my bird bath and some new ones for the porch, so a little rain will be good for them. 

Friday Finish!

I worked every day this week to finish a quilt for Alex. I never got a chance to make him one and since he is two now, I made it a bit larger. Something fun for now and I did add double batting so he can use it in the winter.

I hand quilted the motifs on the panel and machine quilted the borders. I really think I should have used the machine, it is a lot of work and with a time crunch, it was a killer on my joints.

The finished quilt is 48" x 32". This was from a bundle of fabrics that I won, by the Whimsical Workshop, years ago.

For the back, I used flannel, to make it snuggly. I also made up a quick tag, I was being lazy.

I did get some beach time in, last weekend. My SIL's beach has a new supply of glass, every day.
Day one yielded some nice pieces. I really don't need the new glass pieces, those I took to get off the beach and I will see if my friend can use them in her glass works.

Day two I was excited to find what I thought was yellow depression glass, but it amazing what bleach will do, it was just colored from the seaweed, it was clear when I cleaned it. The house shapes will be fun to paint, will be trying some beach houses.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The kid's are finally getting their party, but Bill may be working and if the weather is bad, I do not want to drive into a flood zone by myself, so we shall see. Otherwise, I will be resting and working on some new pieces, if Bill is working.

This and That Tuesday!

It has been another one of those weeks, hopefully things will settle down now and I can try and relax again. It was also stressful for Bean, he hates loud noises and having an air show with jets, did not help. He kept trying to run to the car and get in, I guess he thought we would drive him to the beach and the noise would go away, lol.

Another thing that happened was with Alex. Last night he got into his brothers hot sauce and had a reaction. I am not sure of the details, but his dad had his surgery this morning, so I haven't been able to talk to them yet. I am glad it was not a bad reaction and this way they can figure out what he is allergic to, so it won't happen again. I am almost suspect that he rubbed it into his eyes, it seems the rest of him is ok.

Today I decided I needed a fun day, so we went to the beach. This is my favorite spot for now, but I know more people will find it as the summer goes along. It is mostly rocks, so not a great beach site, it is just one section in a row of sections that go for miles, so lots of room for the regular beach goers. We enjoy swimming there as well, the other sections are sandy and start out shallow, so you can play in the waves without going too deep. It is a bit warped looking, not the actual layout.

And of course my favorite pastime, beach combing. We found a lot of nice larger pieces and old pottery. Some is just laying on the beach, some we dig for and some washes up with the waves. Tomorrow looks like rain, so a good day to find some more glass jars, I am almost out of room, for all the new pieces.

Friday Finish!

This week I worked on my baby quilt. I wanted to hand quilt it and I actually find that relaxing, though it does take longer than machine quilting, so not a good idea if I want to make charity quilts. I noticed that I was not going through the backing, so I decided to just quilt the top and attach the back with the ties.

It made it a lot easier and faster to quilt, but not the best way to attach the back, since there are only a few ties. I did quilt the back on the outer edge. It is not perfectly pieced, but I like how it came out. The outer edge is a darker black, the flash messed with the colors and print. The finished quilt is about 34" x 28".

And here is a close up of the stitching. I decided to add a heart in the center of the solid squares.

And here is the back. Here you can see where the problem with attaching the back last, has happened. Once I washed and dried it, it puckered up, worse on the outer edges. I am not sure what to do with the quilt, I really don't want to take it apart and not sure if anyone would want it. Time to start using my quilting machine.

Monday Works and Wanderings!

This weekend I was able to get some more of my quilt done. I am doing a simple black stitching around the edges and in the larger solid blocks, I was thinking of adding a stitched heart in the middle. Then to attach the back, I will do a tack in the middle of each heart.

I might just stick with a simple border stitch on the outer borders. It is not a the best quilt, as you can see by the crooked piecing, so I don't want to spend too much time on fancy stitching.

This weekend we got out for some beach time. The tide was higher, but it was going down, so we were able to enjoy walking on the beach and watching the seagulls fight for food. This guy wasn't going to share his dinner with anyone, and swallowed the whole fish.

Even though the tide was higher, it was down enough to find glass. We walked to the far end where it is rocky and found a few nice pieces, then on the way back, we searched on the newly exposed areas and found more. This beach had some nice pieces of pottery, as well.

Sunday was a cloudy day with predicted rain. I decided it was worth going to the beach, even if we could only spend an hour, I just feel so much better at the ocean. The tide was higher so we dug in the piles of stones and found quite a few nice pieces.

I circled one stone, at least it looks like a stone, but something made me keep it. When you put a light under it, it is green. You never know with older, thick glass. It is so dark it looks like a stone, but one indicator for me is, when it starts drying, it gets the salt specks on it. I am glad I didn't throw it back.

I also collected some tiny bits to put in my wave. Some stones go into the garden pile. When I find things, I can't always tell how they really look until they dry, especially the white stones. I think I need to bring a flashlight with me, for next time, I could be passing up old glass and not know it. And I think I need to get more glass jars to store all my treasures;)

Weekend Camping!

It seems we have had bad luck when camping at the state park lately. The first thing was, I spiked a fever the day we left, the good thing was, my doc had just given me meds so I had something to take so I could enjoy our weekend. The other thing is the weather, hot one week and it dropped to the low 70's over the weekend, but the good thing was, we could go for walks and ride the bikes and it wasn't too hot.

We had a nice site, right near the water. The photo is from the phone so it is a bit warped, but the camp is a straight line down and behind on the right is where the table and fire pit was, so lots of space.

We enjoyed relaxing, took a swim and a short bike ride to test Bean out and that night we went to Quonochontaug pond to watch the sunset. We wanted to go to the ocean, but the beaches on this side do not face the sunset, so this was the perfect place to watch it. Bean got to play with Bill while I took photos, a nice end to the day.

On Sunday the kids came down. It really made my day and was wonderful to spend time with all of them and share new memories with the kids. Alex was happy to just sit and watch everyone have fun, he is such a happy baby.

Since the camp was mostly deserted, we had the little beach, all to ourselves. Everyone else sat and relaxed. My son was making faces at me.

Nick and Bean had a blast playing in the water.

And since no one took one of the rocks I left hidden in the rock, Nick found it and was thrilled to have something fun to take to school for show and tell on the first day. Someone actually found them, and took the whale, but left the alligator in the tree. I was worried someone might walk under it and get knocked in the head, lol. So I put it back and it was still there when Nick came to the beach.

After dinner, Nick and I went for a paddle.

Then we all went for a walk around camp, while Nick rode his bike. He loved being able to ride on the roads.

To end the night, we watched the sunset. Love this photo of Ivy kissing Alex. I had to lighten it since they were so dark. I would like to play with it more in photoshop and maybe do a framed photo for her.

On Sunday we went and got coffee, then enjoyed it at Quonochontaug beach. It was more crowded than I expected, but with low tide, we walked down to the point and had a nice spot for Bean to play. I had planned on paddling but it was windy and I had my play boat, which is too hard to paddle in wind when I am not up to par.

Since it was too cool to swim and too windy to paddle, we enjoyed biking around the campground. Bean is ok in the carriage, but not thrilled with being stuck inside. I think we need to make a more padded bottom, the bumps can be a bit rough. We rested and let Bean play in the water and he made some friends who were happy to play with him, so it was a nice end to our long weekend. Today I crashed, the meds are really kicking in, so mostly resting today. Now to get the rest of the rocks painted and get ready for our next trip. So far it looks like it is going back into the 80's, perfect weather for the ocean and perfect time after the crowds are gone.

Punch Needle Finish!

I have been in a punch needle mood and finished another piece. This one I made into a pillow, so it is finished, the other still needs to have a board made to fit it and some nail hooks for keys. This is also a pattern by Primitive Spirits.

I am using what I have in my scrap box and with this one, went a little vintage with some pops of color. I do wish I could get photos to get better colors, it seems a bit bright on my screen. This one was also antiqued with walnut, and the flash just washes it out.

The original pattern was smaller and done in 3 strands, I enlarged mine and used 6 strands.

Since I was stuck home this weekend, the kids came over to do a yard sale. The bad thing was, I had no time to get ready, so just threw out some larger items and what I could grab. Now I can only have one more, so not until I get the basement cleaned and all the items together. My son sat out and he is great at getting me better prices, so I sold a few things and made a little spending money.

While the kids sat out in the hot sun, I got to enjoy time with the boys. Alex is full of personality and such a happy guy, he was content to play by himself, but of course, I took him out and played with him most of the time.

Nick and Bean kept each other busy, Nick loves Bean and Bean loves Nick, they are so cute together. I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Friday Finish and Fun on the Fourth!

I hope everyone had a good week and a fun holiday. We went low key, stayed home for the weekend and spent the fourth with my Sister in Law. I did manage to finish one project, a new stitchery from the One stitch club, by Kathy Schmitz.

I decided to put my rustic birdhouse on a shelf and thought this design would be a nice piece to go with it. I made it into a pillow and antiqued it to match the feeling of the birdhouse. The stitchery club is fun to do, one design a month and they work up quickly.

We did have a nice time at the party. My SIL has access to the beach, so I was able to go for a nice swim and enjoy some time with Nick at the beach. He loves throwing rocks and he got soaked when the waves got him a few times, but seeing him laugh and get excited at things he sees, always brings joy to my day.

I also spent time with Alex, and he has become much more social, and he seems to be such a happy little guy, I am blessed with them both.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with joy and adventure. Bill has to work all weekend and my son wants to do a yard sale in my yard, so I may throw some  junk out and start cleaning out the basement.

Holiday Weekend Part II !

We packed in a lot of things in 4 days, I am still recovering, lol. Cleaning and cooking to catch up and then to top it off, I won a contest. I won a free class from Teresa Kogut, Angelic Strokes Tutorial. I was totally surprised and thrilled, never thought I would win one of her classes. I love her angel designs and her style and now I am learning the technique she uses while making one of the angels.

Today was shopping for supplies, even though I have painting supplies, I didn't have the ones I needed. I still didn't find everything, but I can substitute on the ones I didn't find. Today was cutting up paper and applying that to the canvas, then tomorrow I seal it all, then I can start painting on the next day.

The camp we stayed at was close to multiple beaches, so we stuck close by and enjoyed each one. We did get cooler temps, but warm enough during the day to get out for some walks. At night we got some rain, so I didn't get to enjoy as many sunsets or see the meteor showers, but it was nice to get away and give me a change of pace, just what I needed to recharge.

One nice thing about off season is, we can take Bean to the beaches. We realized after, that this month is off limits to dogs, but everyone else had their dogs on the beach, so I guess they don't enforce it.

And we found a section with no people, which Bean was thrilled about since he gets to go off leash. He was really good and stayed with us, but if he is close to kids and dogs, he wants to go play and jump on them, so I am careful about that. He loved playing in the ocean, I guess the cold doesn't bother him.

We got down before sunset, so we got to watch as the sun went down, then the clouds took over and we never got to see the full setting, but still beautiful as it went down.

On Sunday we spent the morning watching the ferry go out and then headed home  to get ready for Easter dinner. The kids cooked and my son smoked beef and salmon and made foods I could eat, it was a real treat not to have to cook and be able to eat most of the items at the table.

They also did an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Hard to take photos when they are running around so fast, you can't keep up. Nick is so cute, he kept up with the older kids.

Alex is at the age where he is aware of everything and seems to have taken cues from Nick on making faces for photos, he is such a ham with his expressions. Most are blurry though, he never sits still.

Now it is back to creating again, hopefully I will have some progress of my painting and a new stitchery block, by friday.