Friday Finishes!

I was actually able to get a few things done this week and even decorate the house for Christmas. It is a hard time of year, but I keep busy and enjoy making presents for others and decorating for the boys. I even put up my pencil tree and my unbreakable kitty ornaments, I know Alex will love that. He goes around my house and says kitty kitty, meow meow. Maybe grandma has way too many cat collectibles, lol.

I finished and hung my snowman piece, a free design by Buttermilk Basin. I really loved doing this one and love looking at it. It hangs from my front windows. I did the back with a premade quilted backing in black, that way it blocks out the sun and it doesn't shine through.

I also made up 14 balsam pillows. I still have a balsam, so I guess I need to make more, the next will be with the snowflakes. I cheated and bought a runner for my table. I plan on making runners for each season to fit the new table, fun projects for next year.

I also made two of the pre-printed pillows by All Through the Night. I have mixed feelings about these. I love the designs and they seem simple, but it took me awhile to stitch them, you have to be exact since the designs are printed on. The material is also a bit stiff and thin for my tastes. But, I still love them and love how they look, so I would do more of her pre-printed designs.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Always make sure you take the time to enjoy the holidays and creating for them, sometimes we try to do it all and put too much pressure on ourselves.

Friday Finishes and a free pattern!

This week I have been busy cleaning up after the holiday and decorating for the next one. I find myself more in the mood this year, I put out more of my decorations and more lights. I think the kids will love seeing all the decorations and lights when they visit, kids do make the holidays more joyous and I am blessed that I can spend as much time with mine, as I want.

I decided it was time to make one of my patterns from Buttermilk Basin. I love the cut out shapes and they fit nicely on the wall, in smaller spaces. I changed mine up a bit, adding button eyes and snowflakes instead of stars.

Another thing I wanted to try  was an ornament that I saw in my Craft Gossip mail. I followed the link and there was no pattern, that I could see, so I made up my own. I found a similar shape and made a printable, and printed it out on card stock. It isn't real clear, but good enough to print and cut out. I had some music note paper and cut that out in the same shape and glued it on with Elmer's craft stick glue. I used buttons and a button carrot nose, as well as a scarf, all done with the same glue. I wasn't sure if it would work, but everything is staying in place. With the snowflake button, I sewed that on with a thin quilting needle. This was a fun and quick project and you can use different types of paper and items that you have around the house. Great for the kids too.

I am posting the template, that I used. It will print out clearly and you can easily follow the shape, to cut it out. This can be done on a wood cutout, as well, most craft stores carry them. Another option would be to use fabric. Or if you want it to be more prim, you can spray it with walnut spray or add glitter, lots of possibilities. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

Well, just one thing this week. I seem to have lost a day, lol. One moment it as tuesday and the next thing I knew, it is friday, thought I had one more day to work on some blocks. I finished the newest block from Buttermilk Basin and have Cheri's blocks started, so hopefully I can finish sewing those this weekend and get the pieced blocks made up next week and be all caught up. Did you know Cheri offers free patterns on her Facebook page? She just uploaded another from her Christmas book, a nativity pillow and a christmas quilt.

One more block to go, it is a longer panel that will go above the W, so almost done and I actually kept up with this one;)

I found a few old photos in my slide box, this one is me and a girl named Amy Sherman. I spent my summers with my grandmother in Amagansett, Long Island. She would make me new dresses and I have a feeling she bought me new sneakers since they match Amy's. We got hand me downs and I was the youngest of 6 girls, and shoes were worn as long as she could squeeze our feet in them, lol. In those days, I could walk around the neighborhood and up to the store, now it is a highway and big houses with pools.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Working on!

This week I finally got my Buttermilk Basin blocks made up. Now I am working on them, but not finished yet, life got in the way;)

I did two so far and one more to go, and I still have embellishments to do. I really love this BOM and it will be a fun piece for Christmas. I still have the S to do, that has a sled and lots of little pieces, so I saved that for last. Next will be the W and a long side piece, can't wait to finish these and just in time for the next one.

One of the things that is keeping me busy this week is slides. I got a smaller slide viewer that loads right into my computer, so I can view the slides and just take the ones I want. There were a lot of old slides and most were from trips, so scenery and ones my brother took when he was in the navy, but I finally got through that batch and got some fun ones. I need to learn how to do them into photos if I can and my nephew said he can try some, he does graphics, so he may be able to do it better than I could.

This is one from a camping trip to Maine. I am pretty sure it is on Sebec lake, they had a camp then, now it is just house rentals. I loved going there and one year Bill and I drove up there, but it was not the same. A lot of good memories, camping with my family. This week Bill has off, so we may just stay home, I have some places I want to visit and if I change my mind, we can always go camping for a few days later in the week. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

This is my mom and me and one of my twin sisters, they look alike at some ages.

Friday Finishes!

This week I worked on the new blocks that Stacy of Buttermilk Basin has been offering for free each month. This month it was a snowflake block and the letter I. I know this is one project I will finish and enjoy putting together. It is going to make a wonderful wall hanging for Christmas.

I also decided to try a piece by Bustle and Sew called Friendly Fox. I love the fox and the saying, a perfect gift for a friend. I am not sure how I will finish it yet, I was thinking it might make a nice sachet, with some lavender. I also did the flowers in simple stitchery, the original is done with embroidery stitches and filled in.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We have one nice day, then rain, so hopefully we can get out and explore tomorrow.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend Bill had to work so I used the time to get caught up on my blocks from Buttermilk Basin. One block was a pumpkin and I decided to change mine to a turkey and pumpkin for Thanksgiving.

I kept the candy cane simple, but I did add some jingle bells, not sure if that is a good idea for a quilt and not sure how big the quilt will be, but I think it will be more for display than use or maybe I may end up gifting it, if I don't make a mess of it. I had fun with the mitten, added a few embellishments for fun. I am thinking about the sashings and border, maybe blue?

Here are all the blocks with the layout. I think I have some out of order, but I think this looks good, do you? The blocks are a bit larger than the original, so I will be cutting them down to size.

On the home front, I have been trying to get ready for Christmas, and with only two days left, I come down with a stomach flu, such is life. We are going to go with turkey again, that way Bill can do the cooking and I will do a few dishes, so I can get the house done and not over do it.

Ever since I was young, I have had a believe in Christmas wishes and miracles. Today I was granted two of my wishes, one was for a friend of my daughters who was coming home for Christmas and missed her flight, but today she made it home, so that made me happy. She was one of my daughter's best friends so it will be good to see her again.

The second wish was for my daughter's gravestone to be in by Christmas. Well, two days left and no word from the company. Bill called and they said it was there and ready to go in and when we got to the cemetery, the caretaker was just pulling up to pour the foundation. He told us that it will be ready to go on, Christmas Eve. What a wonderful Christmas present for us, yes Christmas wishes do happen.

I want to wish everyone A Merry Christmas and blessings to all who have followed me this past year, been there for me, during the good and bad times and lifted me up when I was low. May all your Christmas wishes come true!

Weekend Finishes from Freebies!

This weekend I was able to get the new Wool blocks put together and done. I missed last month, so I did both and it was fun to do them and two more blocks towards a finished quilt. The block is offered by Stacy of Buttermilk Basin for our Facebook Wool Applique group.

Last month was the sewing block and this month was the kitty block. I think the kitty one would be fun to do as a wall hanging too.

I also did the ornament for last month, tonight there will be a new one, so can't wait to see what this one will be. I messed up on the bird placement, but I do like how I used a blue background on this one. They are going to look nice hanging on a swag line, next Christmas. This free ornament is offered each month by Trish of Attic Heirlooms.

Friday Finish!

Yesterday I decided to try another  tea towel. I used a design by Buttermilk basin so I could make a fall towel for next month. I reduced the design by 20% to fit the towel and sewed it one with a blanket stitch. One thing I am noticing is the towels are bright white, so I might try tea staining one to see how I like it, then I can do some with primitive stitcheries with christmas designs as gifts.

The towels are Aunt Martha's and with a coupon, well worth getting and easy to work on. I might just stain this one with tea, might give it a more prim look. The wool is prim, but I have to lighten it, so you can see the details.

Tea Towels!

A few weeks ago, I got some tea towels from Jo anns with a coupon, to try them out. I really like the loose weave and vintage look and it is something I can stitch or applique as gifts. They come in different colors, but green is my color and perfect for halloween or Christmas.

The first one I did with a stitchery, that I got from Kathy Schmitz. She has a newsletter and she offers free patterns in each issue, and this one worked perfectly for the tea towel.

The second one I did a wool applique from a Buttermilk Basin pattern. I love this design and will be making the actual pattern, but I wanted to try it on a towel. It takes up the length of the towel so it can't be folded, so this is good if you hang it from a wide rack. I also messed up and went wonky at the end, guess I should fix that;)

These are fun to do and we all have appliques that can be used for towels or reduce ones that are too large. With a coupon, it is cheaper than making your own and they work up quickly.

Bunny Tea Towel!

One of the other wonderful gifts that I received from Buttermilk Basin's giveaway was a tea towel and a bunny design to applique onto it. She also sent the rick rack and thread to use with it, but I forgot I had the threads and used my own.

I love the colors in the towel and I used my hand dyed wools for the bunny. I love how it came out and how it looks hanging in my kitchen. I have a pale sage green on the walls, so it looks beautiful against that color. I just wish I could have gotten a better photo to show it off.

Here is how it looks hanging on one of my racks in the kitchen.

Here is a little closer look, so you can see the dyed browns, love how they look on a piece like this.

This week I also found a new freebie that I thought you might like to do. It is from Badbird's and it is a beautiful design that would look nice as a mini quilt.

Little Chick Pillow!

Today I finished a pillow with the spring chick design that I won from Stacy of Buttermilk Basin. It is a fun design to do and since it is longer, I reduced it a bit to make a pillow to put in front of one of my wood boxes.

For this piece I used a white muslim and then antiqued it. I also added a little extra stitching and outlines, then I did a blanket stitch around the outer edge of the pillow.

I am not sure, but I think the new batting is causing the stains to pool in one spot.

And her is the back, I used a green  homespun and  you can see how the stain pooled in spots.

Pumpkins and Prizes!

I had another small piece that my friend Kelley sent me, and it reminded me of autumn. I hand stitch the top with lana wool thread, starting out with a design and then decided it was easier to do a basic stitch in the ditch with an X in the middle. I wanted to add applique, so it was silly to do anything that will be covered up by the appliques and since it is a table topper, it will have something on top.

I used appliques from two different books by Jan Patek. I liked the pumpkin in one and the crow in another. I kept it simple and like how it came out, something nice to use for fall.

The chalk marks still show, I need to rinse it off.

A nice surprise today was a package from Stacey of Buttermilk Basin. I was one of the lucky winners of one of her giveaways and today I received my wonderful goodies. I love what she sent and just in time for Easter. We have a storm heading our way tonight, so perfect timing. I can work on these two projects and have something new to decorate with. She even sent the wools and threads for the kit. The striped piece is a dish towel and I will be putting the bunny on the end, I just love that.

She even sent me a little Chocolate bunny, a really special treat for a dreary day.

Buttermilk Basin...Open House!

I know most of you are familiar with Buttermilk Basin's designs and have made one or two of them yourselves. Next month Miss Stacy will be teaming up with Karen of Farmhouse Woolens for a weekend of shopping, demonstrations and refreshments. Holiday music, warm cider and a chance to see the newest patterns, sounds like the perfect way to spend the weekend.

You can visit Stacy's blog to learn more about the open house and if you are not in the area, be sure to visit her website to see her newest patterns for the holidays, lots of wonderful new items.