Friday Finish!

 

Another slow week for creating, but I did get my garden done, just in time for the rain, coming in tomorrow. I have been working on my quilt, and making progress. I went with a shell design for the larger triangle and a modified version for the corner blocks. I have a template for the outer outline, but I have to hand draw the inner portions, so it is not perfectly uniform, but that is ok.

On the weekend we spent some time with the kids. I got them a set of bows and they had fun, playing in the backyard. Alex loves to do puzzles with me. I help with the outer edge and he did most of it himself.

I have a lot of bird activity at home. The old bird house has babies, almost ready to get out on their own. Today two babies from another nest, came to visit on the porch.

I hope you all have a good weekend and are enjoying the spring weather.

Friday Finishes and Freebie!

I have been busy this week, finishing up things and now I am done with gift making. I will make more Christmas for fun, which I love doing at Christmas and I will have them for next year. I have tons of snowmen stitcheries that I can do. One thing I am thinking of is, making the larger ones into pocket pillows, so I can just send that and the recipient can put in their own pillow form. It will be easier to ship and less cost, what do you think? Would you be happy if you received just the pillow cover?

This week was the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, so I had to do that and have one more gift. I wasn't happy with the bright colors so I antiqued this one.

I also made the last of the snowmen pillows. I wish I had more to give, it seems everyone likes this one, especially my family members, but I will have to decide who gets one, since there is no more time to do more.

Another project I worked on was, my pillows I made last year. I never got a change to send them out and I decided I should add a touch of color. I used a red and gold trim, so it pops, but not in the photo.  I like how it looks on the square pillow better, the wonky one would have looked better with a bulky yarn to hide the bad shape.

And this week's freebie is by Diane Knott. I made mine more simple, in the penny style, but it is a fun idea to use with thick wools and small designs. We all have patterns that can be reduced and fit into a smaller circle, so it is a great project to use up leftover wools. You can find the pattern at her facebook page, with the link above. I over cut the scarf pieces, so they are not placed right.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and time to enjoy holiday making, without the stress. We did some early shopping for Bean. We got a new couch and I am retraining him, to stay off. He is not happy but he loves his new bed and gives him his own comfy space.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had one good day this weekend and we took advantage of the weather and the foliage. We headed  across the Connecticut river and visited a few new places.

Of course I can't resist a cemetery and we found an old one on the way and a large one called Indian Hill. It was on a hill and was a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy the views, as well.

The next stop was Wadsworth Falls. It was a beautiful place and the falls were beautiful. Someone was taking a photo shoot with this woman. She was barefoot and standing at the edge of the falls, not the safest place to be.

We headed to Meriden to visit Castle Graig. You can drive to the top, but it was crowded and slow going since the road was narrow and we had to pull over every so often. Here is a view, looking up at the tower, from the park.

And at the top, views of the surrounding towns and on one side, you can see to the ocean on a clear day.

On the way back, we stopped at another cemetary that had a funeral going on. It had a lot of old stones, but the clouds were covering what was left of the sun, so I couldn't get too many good photos. The row of stones are all from 1863 and 1864, war veterans.

And at home, my neighbor's trees are in full bloom and mine are turning fast. Bill had to work Sunday which was fine, since it was raining. Tomorrow he is taking his day off, so we can enjoy another ride into Ct. This time the falls and castle, since that is the last places to turn. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish and Fun!

This week I worked on a stitchery. It is a pattern from Kathy Schmitz's, One Stitch Club. It is fun to get a new one each month and they make wonderful pillows. The designs this year have a bird theme and are all the same size, so those who want, can make them into a quilt.

I made a pillow, something I can decorate with or give as a gift. It measures 10" x 10". I wanted it a bit larger, so I added a little border.

Last weekend we took the boys to the aquarium and then to the owl sanctuary, as well as a picnic. The boys loved seeing the outside areas, now that it is warm enough. The sanctuary was a great place to play and explore.

We went for a picnic in between and I wanted some place close that wasn't crowded, so we went to the Mystic cemetery, which was nearby. It was a beautiful day to sit and enjoy watching the boats and the boys were fascinated by the gravestones. The funny thing was, I told Bill to stop at a place that had an open area and parking, and when we got out, I noticed the gravestone in front, said Daniele. Spelled differently than my daughter's name, but a strange coincidence.

At the sanctuary, they noticed that the different trees, made different sounds when they banged a stick on them.

And a few of the critters we saw at the aquarium, as well as, a Tom who was showing off to the two females in my yard. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

First I would like to apologize to those of you, who have blogs. I see to be having a problem with my browser lately, so I am going to have to backup my data and clean out my computer and reinstall my browser and hopefully my computer will run a few more years without having to get a new one. I am not able to comment on most blogs, I comment and it disappears, but on blogs that have security pictures, they seem to work. So, I do enjoy reading your blogs, but I can't always comment.

This week I wanted to do something from my Seaside Ornies pattern. I made ornaments to hang on my tree, but I wanted something larger, so I enlarged the ship and lighthouse. The ship is 5" tall and the lighthouse is 6". Perfect sizes for shelf sitters and a summer display.

I added the pail and one of my felt starfish for fun, along with a piece of driftwood, I found on the beach. I think it would be fun to make smaller pails and items and make a whole scene. Maybe if I get creative, I can make an old salt man to add to the scene. Not sure if I would punch it or do one in needle felted, which would be a fun challenge for me.

Later I can make a better back drop for the scene, I do have plenty of larger canvases. If you have the pattern or would like to purchase this one, you can redo them into larger sizes, even for hooking, I was thinking, larger pillows would be fun. You can find the link to the pattern in the left column, or my Ecrater site.

Last weekend was spent with the boys, which is always something I love, no matter what we do. We took them to the bird sanctuary which they loved, but even the short walk, wore them out, so we will have to take shorter walks for now. The beach is always their favorite, they got to play in the sand and a small playground, just their size.

I am also enjoying my back yard, I am adding more flowers on my deck and garden, and the trees are full and green, and two of the bird houses have residents, so it is my own little sanctuary. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, looks like we finally got away from the rain, so we can enjoy getting out, both days.

Friday Finish!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. My Easter was nice with the boys, not so much on the food. They only made one thing that I could eat, mashed potatoes, lol. They did make salmon, but he baked it in the oven and it was horrid, so I ate a few potatoes to hold me over till I got home. Next holiday, I will cook at my house.

I am not a big day time eater, I just snack, and they ate early, which was fine with me. We got to enjoy some time with the boys and an easter egg hunt. On the way home I saw the plant stand was open, so we also got some new plants for my garden.

Another thing I got over the weekend, two birdhouses. One if fun and the other is a bluebird house. Bill got some posts and they will go to the back sides of the garden.

And I hesitate to show you this, I have base coated a rock for my garden. Alex loves to turtle photo I have for inspiration so I know he will love it. I am thinking it will be fun to add some rock critters to the garden, fun things the boys can discover when they come to visit. I messed up a few things, my perception is always off, so it still has to be fixed and detail shading, so hopefully it will look better when I finish.  I like the idea of fun critter, compared to realistic, a happy garden space.

And for my finish this week, a pillow from a design by Kathy Schmitz. It was a free extra in the monthly club. Perfect for a spring time pillow. I am also working on finishing my hand quilting and stripping my old coat wools for braided rugs.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend finish and finds!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. I woke up sick yesterday so no dinner with the family, Bill and I took it easy and he took me to the beach for a little while. There is nothing like fresh air and hunting for glass, to take my mind off my misery.

It is also a new month which means a new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, from her One Stitch at a Time Club. I still need some more sachets, so I made another with this design to place with my wools. It was nice to have something small to keep my hands busy while I rested.

Of course I got out for some more glass hunting. It is the best time with all the winter storms and before the crowds hit the beaches. We did have the kids over on Saturday for a fish fry, and when it was time to go to church I opted to stay home, I guess I was getting hit with the bug and didn't realize it. But, I enjoyed the time with the kids and beach combing, so it was still a good weekend.

The two larger rocks at the bottom left are green, one is a lime shade and one an olive, but the years of tumbling has made them dark to the eye, but you can see the colors when they are held up to the light. You would be surprised at how many I find, just laying on the ground, people do not realize it is glass, especially with the brown. The yellow glass was a rare find for me.

WIP and the last week with Nick!

This is been the hardest week, my energy level was dwindling and Nick was not being cooperative with quiet and nap times. I got a little stitching done, a piece I am making for myself. It is called Summer Sun by Kathy Schmitz. One of the patterns I got with my winnings. I got the full set so I can make one for each season.

I am doing it in multi colors but keeping it simple, 3 shades of green mixed with black, red, yellow and maybe blue birds. I will use brown for the posts, so most of the colors will be duller, but a pop of color, here and there.

We had more rain than sun this week, which didn't make it easy, but we were able to get out a bit when the rain stopped. Nick loves his new squirt gun and Bean loves it too.

The jacuzzi is covered by a tent house, so we got some fun in the "Pool". I bought the raft, last year so it was perfect for some play in the water.

Yesterday we tried crafting. Nick doesn't have a lot of patience but he loved cutting paper. The kid's scissors were too large for his hands, so I let him use my paper cutter, he loved using that.

We made a mosaic fish. I printed out the fish on card stock and cut it out for him. Then we glued on scraps of paper and a googly eye. It is such a joy to see his joy at creating something.

Today was another busy day, I needed to clean, so I do clean areas that won't get dirty again and then finish when they leave. Nick wanted to help, and he loves using the battery vacuum, he actually cleaned enough to empty two times, quite the helper.

 We also had some target practice. I printed out some turkeys and set them on a few boxes and Nick got to shoot them off with her nerf gun, he loved that. The problem was, Bean always wanted to play and kept grabbing them and chewing them up, so we gave up on that idea.

So, that was my exciting week. Now back to trying to get caught up and working on my projects, especially my painting class. I have been watching the videos and will finish the small one and do the actual class with the larger one and hopefully do a nicer job. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

This and That Friday!

This week has been busy with getting the last of the cards and packages done, last minute shopping for the kids and lots of cleaning. Even though we are eating at the kids this year, I always clean the house before A holiday, no spring cleaning for me. I find it is best to clean when I am redoing the decorations for the season since I have to take things done anyways;)

I got a surprise package from my friend Karen. She made me a little angel quilt, love minis and fun to hang around the house.

And she sent me a few patterns and some material. One is the exact weight I need to make pillows for the beach room, so another project I can start after the holidays. For now I am still in the Christmas mood and I just love the snowman door stop by Bird Brain Designs, so I am working on it now. No rush but bad weather this weekend, so maybe I can get him done.

The original is done in blue thread, but I thought I would go with colors.

I also made up more pillows, two dozen in fact. Bill took some to work to hand out, this time I am just handing them out, a great way to put a smile on someones face and share the holiday spirit. I also made up some little cards to go with them. I didn't attach them since I have a batch of mini bags that I got last year, it fits the pillow and card perfectly.

I hope you all have finished your shopping and have time to relax and enjoy the holidays. You are welcome to use the card saying, I found them online and put them together, I think it is a nice way to present a gift too.

I also found a fun project to make for Christmas or any time of the year. A sock owl and they show a no sew method, so fun project for the kids too. I might just try some myself. You can find the pattern at Crafts n' Coffee.

Friday Stitcheries!

This week I worked on two stitcheries by Kathy Schmitz. One will be a gift and one is for me.

The stitch piece is from Kathy's One Stitch at a Time Club. You can still sign up and for 2.00 a month, you get a stitchery each month. A fun project to look forward to each month. It is a needle case. The birdhouse is a hanger which I will use as a welcome on the peg rack and leave open so I can fill it with scented berries. The stitchery can be found on Kathy's Blog as a freebie, make one for yourself and it would make a wonderful gift for friends.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finishes!

I actually finished something this week, I do miss creating and I am trying to make time for myself, even if it means the house is a mess. I can clean it tomorrow, but for a couple of days I took time to sew and relax.

I have been doing the BOM's from Buttermilk Basin, they are fun to do and I am using woolly flannels for the background and wool for the appliqué. There are 11 in all, so 3 more to go. I am not sure how they will be finished, but I think a sashing will be nice, around each block.

I still need to add some detail to some things, but the main things are done. I had a solid blue, but messed up on some cuts and only have enough for one more, so I used a plaid woolly from my stash.

Here is what I have finished so far. As is, it just looks blah, but I think with a plaid or print woolly around them, it should look nice. I also forgot what order they were in, but this way, I have my backgrounds arranged nicely, but I may change my mind.

Another thing I am doing is, looking for items and ideas for my beach room. I tend to go to stores and see something I like and say, I can make that myself;) I hit the thrift store and found a prim green basket. I will get some nice dried or faux plants to put in them, I was thinking of wild roses like the ones we have on our beaches. For now, I stuck some dried plants in it and I am going to make a punch needle piece with a beach design, on the front.

It seems more critters are visiting my yard, and today it was a family of turkeys. I rarely see them and they let me get closer, but not too close.

While I was sewing, I watched Quilting Arts. I tape them so I can watch them when I want and save shows that I might want to watch again. Today they were talking about using photos in art and taking macro shots. I have a zoom that does macro from a distance, so not quite the same, but it was fun walking around the yard and seeing things through my lens. It is a great way to see shapes and textures and get creative. Maybe this weekend you can try it when you go out for a walk or visiting a town, take photos from a different perspective and lots of close ups of items that interest you.

This was one of my shots today, I like the simple look and the textured wheat against the blurred background. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. Bill has to work, so I am going to try and get more time in my sewing room.

Friday Finishes and Winners!

This week I actually finished two pieces. The first is a stitchery by Woodberry Designs. You can still visit her page and download the stitchery if you would like one.

My sister redid a room in her apartment with a garden theme, so I thought this would be a nice piece for her new room. I like the saying and it is garden and sewing, so something from me to her since she lives far away.

The original is done in red work, but I liked the idea of using some basic colors on my piece.

The second piece was something quick and easy. I wanted to make a mini americana quilt for my bunny, just for fun. I used up scraps in this piece and hand stitched it with black pearl cotton. I sprayed watered down walnut stain on it, when it was done.

And now for the giveaway winners! The correct answer was B, the story goes that the couple were not allowed to get married so they eloped and paddled away in a canoe. They paddled into the ocean, and when they saw the river, they paddled up and landed at the fresh water brook. The local indians befriended them and eventually they built a home and farm in the same area.

Donna G. gave the correct answer so she is the winner of one epattern and the random number generator picked #11, which is Julie Fukuda. Ladies please email me with the pattern of your choice from my ecrater site.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Snowed in ... Finished!

I worked on my new piece and finished it tonight. I added a border of various Christmas prints and then added a green border that has stars on it. I think it gave it just enough prim, but still fun. I am not sure if I should use walnut stain on it? What do you think?

The pattern is from Chickadee Hollow Designs and it was gifted to me by This-n-That Fabrics. There is still time to vote for your favorite quilt, if you haven't yet.

I still need to fix the bird, missed a spot with the marker and forgot the green for the leaves on the birdhouse. We won't mention the sloppy job I did on the border binding, my brain cannot think straight so that seems to be effecting my newest pieces, wait till you see my next one, talk about wonky, lol. I wonder if anyone would want this;) For the quilting, I used Lana wool thread.

Snowed In!

I bet  you expected a photo of a snow storm, lol. We did get an earthquake yesterday, that was my first experience with one. It started in Maine, but travelled all the way to RI and it shook the house.

Last month I won some free patterns from This-n-That Fabrics. Today I finally finished the stitching on one, it is called, Snowed In, Lovin' It, by Chickadee Hollow Designs. I thought it would make a nice gift for someone who likes to quilt. I used fabric markers for the colors, as it was done in the pattern.I think the extra color adds a fun touch and gives it some pop. I didn't add hair to her head, and I didn't read how to do the scarf and hat, I just hand knotted pieces to the spots and it didn't come out too bad.

If you haven't signed up to follow This-N-That Fabric's Blog, you should, they have lots of fun contests and right now they are still taking votes for the Awesome Autumn Challenge.

Now I have to figure out how I want to finish this piece. The original is in a frame and I like that idea, or I might make it into a mini quilt. I added a piece of batting before I stitched it to give it a more sculpted look, and it is a great way to hide the stitches.

Prizes and Picking and Giveaway!

A few weeks ago, I won two stitcheries from This-N-That Fabrics. They also have a new giveaway going on this week, as well as a contest for autumn. All you have to do is submit an autumn quilt and you will be entered, so be sure to visit and follow their blog, they always have something new and exciting going on for their subscribers.

Here are the stitcheries I won, they are so fun and great for gift giving to quilting friends.

The patterns are from Chickadee Hollow Designs, it comes in a series that can be made as single pieces or into a larger quilt.

This one is the my favorite of the two.

The weather is changing and getting cooler, which means apple season. I love apples and eat a couple a day. We took a large bag and filled it to the brim. My son and DIL came to visit for a cookout, so I sent them home with a bag of their own.

I am on the outer edge of my locker hooked rug, so hopefully I can have it finished soon.

This photo was taken with my iPhone. I told Bill to relax and look natural, lol.