Friday Finishes!

It is nice to have a week where I can get more projects done and still keep up at home. I have been dosing for all the colds and it is helping with my lyme, as well. So, I still have my moments, but I have more energy this week and hopefully it will keep up.

The first thing I made was a pillow. I do enjoy doing stitchery while I rest and watch tv. Lori Brechlin offered a new pattern on the various Facebook groups. She also offered it on her blog, Notforgotten Farm, if you would like to make one of your own. I did half of the design, there is also a basket with strawberries, but I wanted to keep mine smaller.

I also finished painting a box for my new punch needle piece. I glued the piece to the box, which I sanded and antiqued, after I painted it. I like how it looks and might just keep this one. I put it on a table with my painting and now I need to make a topper for the table, to match.

Here is a close up of the box, I use folk art antique medium, mixed with water, to age wood.

And I had time to make the newest stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's, One Stitch Club. It is fun to get something new each month and only two dollars. I liked how the colors pop on this one. I used colored pencils but no fabric medium, so the colors stayed more intense. I had to rinse it off, quite a few times to get the blue out and it held the color.

And yesterday was my son's birthday. I find joy in the memories of him when he was younger and the joys since he has become a father and made me a grandmother. Tomorrow we will have them over for a little dinner party. With the weather and the flu's, I haven't been able to see much of them this winter, so hopefully we will all stay healthy and spring will be here soon.

May you all find your own joys in life and be blessed with good health.

Friday Almost Finished!

This week I have been catching up with the house and preparing for our trip. I am one of those who hates coming home to a mess, so I am doing what I can now and getting things packed in the trailer, as well as organizing to make better use of the spaces and cabinets. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can sit outside, I hate being cooped up.

I finished my stitchery but I still have to make the mini quilt for the line and a border and I am not in the mood to think right now, lol. So, it will wait, maybe i can finish it this week, but I have one week to cook and pack and I am limited with my diet, so I want to make sure I have foods prepared ahead. Of course we will eat out, lobster is abundant in Maine;)

On this piece I wanted to use color since it is a summer piece and I wanted a happy piece to hang.

I also have nothing to work on and like I said, I have enough to think about, so I have no desire to do too much prep work and another stitchery seemed the perfect thing to make, to keep my hands busy this week. This is another pattern from Kathy Schmitz, I was thinking I might make it into a large pillow with a border, a nice gift idea.

I was going through old photos and came across some from our first kayaking trip to Maine. We stayed at a camp that was on a point, so we had water access and as you can see, a beautiful place to put in.

But, this is also where we learned, pay attention to tidal flats. This was also a tidal flat and when we came back that day, this is what we ran into. We had no way of getting in, so had to go around to the point and still wade through mud to get back in, then Bill had to lug the kayaks up a steep flight of stairs on the cliff, to get the boats up, not fun. The camp we are staying at is for kayakers, a direct ocean launch so we can always get back. The bad thing is, we may not be able to get to some areas with the mud, but I think I have found some great places to explore without paddling too many miles.

I hope you all have a good weekend. It looks like we are going to get a heat wave, so time to hit the beaches.

Friday Finish and Fun!

This week I finished two pieces. One was a comfort pillow for a friend, but I forget to get a photo of it. I will do similar ones, so I will share those and basic patterns so others can do them for friends.

I finished my pillow stitchery, this one I made for spring and summer, it will fit with both seasons and look nice, sitting with other items on my chest.

The design is from an old Kindred Spirits book, called Homespun Stitcheries. I made mine into a pillow and kept it simple and prim. It measures 9" x 12". I use my Faber Castell art pens to give it a touch of color. I like the markers since they are archival ink and quick drying. I alway do the coloring before I do the stitching.

Grandpa has been keeping Nick busy in the mornings, though he tends to do things that put Grandma's nerves on edge, lol. 

Bean doesn't like it when he isn't getting all the attention, so he decided to show off some of his skills. He will catch one ball and hold on to it and when I kick the big ball to him, he catches it with his hands, he would make a good soccer goalie.

We also took Nick shopping and decided to give him an early birthday present. He will be 4 this month and his mom won't be home till the end of the month, so I wanted to get him something he could have fun with, at our house and take home to ride, when Ivy comes home. He tried it in our yard and I realized it was not a good idea on grass, small bikes and little legs do not peddle well, but he still had fun and then played on the porch with it.

Today we took Nick to the bike path, though it was more hilly than I realized. He did really good though and got up the incline and had fun going down again. It was nice to see him enjoying his bike on a better surface so we will have to take him to areas like this, next week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and mother's day. I plan on resting and Sunday we are getting pouring rain, so no day out. I guess Bill will just have to cook me a nice dinner while I relax and work on some projects;)

Wool Quilt and New Stitchery Progress!

Today I played around with my wool pieces until I got a layout, that I liked. I had some spaces so I added a patchwork and a striped block and at the suggestion of a follower, some pennies. I also added the green blocks and the plan is to stitch words on those. I am doing a blanket stitch to keep it simple and easier than trying to do too many stitches on one big piece. I did a little bit today and got tired so I grabbed my stitchery to work on and what did I find underneath, a kitty block that I had set to the side. Now I need to rethink how that will fit in, but I am sure I can redo the top area and shorten the long piece. I added the longer piece and planned on making the applique later, which is good, since I will change that out to fit the kitty in.

What do you think? I realized I started this in 2009, time sure flies by;)

Another project I am working on is a stitchery called Blackbird Sings which can be found in Kathy Schmitz's book, Simple Pleasures in Redwork. After I find the stitchery, there will be a border and it will measure 23" x 26", the largest stitchery I have done but perfect to hang for spring and summer.

The original is done in lighter colors with a touch of black, I am going with black and a touch of color.

Contest and Freebie this week at Babycakes Blog, be sure to visit and wish her a Happy Anniversary!