Monday Musings!

I didn't get anything made this weekend, but I finally got all of my Christmas decorations down. The only problem is, my house looks empty since I don't have too many Valentine items. I did spend the weekend out and about, shopping and antiquing.

One of my favorite items is an antique yarn winder. One handle turns so you can wind your yarn, though I am not sure how they actually do it, and I got it, just because I liked it;) I put it on the shelf for now and draped a vintage crazy quilt piece, that a friend gave me. The two little figures are carvings, I did, years ago.

Another thing I was hunting for, was a primitive tree to use all year round. Last week I saw them on sale and when we went back, they were all gone, that is what I get for waiting. I found a similar one, though not as prim. I had some hearts that were given to me and I guess I will make some more valentine items to add to the tree and then next month it can become an easter tree.

I will redo the area with a table topper and valentine pieces, guess I need to get busy.

We also went to an antique store and I found a used basket that I can put in my sewing room and they also had lavender that you bought by the scoop, so I was happy to find that. I put a lavender sachet in my wool box and it keeps the wool smelling fresh. On the way back we stopped at a local pottery store, they had beautiful pottery but nothing I could use with my decor. The store is in an old mill building next to a river and the falls were beautiful to watch as they tumbled over the rocks.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you want something fun to make for Valentines, visit Bird in the Hand Primitives. Robin has a wonderful free pattern today. And when you visit, you will noticed the doll in her banner is the same as the one next to my tree. I was the lucky winner of her valentine doll and I just love her.

Mini Christmas Hexagons!

After I finished the punch needle, I decided I wanted to make a mini hexagon quilt and use homespuns. I tried to stick with more green and some red, but I don't have much in scraps for those colors and I didn't want to get into my fat quarters for this. I used the accuquilt small hexagon and 1/4" seam. I do not use paper, I mark the seam lines and sew them together. For this one, I used the machine to sew the pieces into rows, then I hand sewed the rows together. I usually sew all my hexagons by hand, but for the straight seam, it seemed to make more sense to save some time and my fingers. I bordered it with greens to keep a Christmas look and used floss to do the tacks. I haven't stained it yet, still trying to decide if I should leave it as is, or maybe add a little snowflake applique or something like that in a corner?

I decided to let one of my old kitties, show it off.

Wool and Stash cleaning = Why I need an Accuquilt Go Cutter

I finally got around to cleaning my sewing room out. I wanted to reorganize my fabrics and just keep the best ones, so that I could see them at a glance and use that as a basis for future quilts. I put the excess fabric in my basement room, so it is where I can get to it still. This is how it looks now, no more heaps of fabric falling over and covering up other pieces, so that I had to dig to find anything. The pile in the upper left is my amish fabrics. I plan on making some mini amish pieces and practicing my free motion. All of the beautiful fabric was gifted to me, by my friend Kelly. I would never have been able to get fabrics like that.

The pile to the right is my homespuns. I was waiting to get enough in tans to make a wildlife camping quilt for my trailer, so that will be a future quilt. Then I have fabrics in sets and types for regular quilting and a set with batiks and fun fabrics for art quilts.
I also have my basics for backings and borders on my other unit, along with a shelf of floral fabrics that will all go nice in a quilt.



While I was cleaning, I decided to take my buddy off the floor, he was hidden to the side and I thought he would make good company while I worked at my table. I saw this in a prim store and said I like it. So, my husband surprised me and got it for my birthday, a few years ago. He is 3 feet tall, and now I don't have to talk to myself while I work;)



And since I was cleaning, I thought it was time to go through the boxes of wools, in my basement. Some is leftover from projects, some cut and needing dying and some, as is. I used to hit the thrifts every monday and grab all the wool on dollar day. So, I had a lot and too much to cut and dye at once. The problem was, my sons cat had to try out every box, no matter how high I put it. It was covered in hair and she puked in a few boxes. That was thrown out and all the hairy pieces went too, so I threw away a good amount, but it wasn't the best wools anyways. The rest got washed and dried, then I had to brush the remaining hairs off.

Here is the first load, lots of reds and orange in this one.



Then the second load....



The third.....



The fourth.......



And finally, the fifth, that was enough for one day and it did take me all day.
I did enjoy finding wools I had forgotten about and got lots of ideas of what to make with them. I plan on doing a lot of wool pieces since half the wool is too thick or thin for hooking, but perfect for quilting.



I still have a few plastic buckets to go through and some boxes, but almost there. Then the fun of dying will begin, but not in this heat. I keep my dyed good wools in these bins, in a locked room, so no kitty hair. That is where my things will stay from now on.

I think with all this wool and all my fabric, I need a go cutter. I really think they should pick me to receive a free cutter and a giveaway, dont you? LOL

Now that my room is cleaned out, I started on finishing my first project. Then I went into the hallway to do something, jumped to avoid crashing into the vacuum and ran into the door frame instead, duh. Now I have a broken pinky toe and it hurts like heck and I can't stand on it. So much for standing and cutting at my table.

Scrappy Kitty

I recently saw a photo, that had a box filled with kitties and I love it.
So, I thought I would make one of my own. I have a box and nothing in it, so perfect to fill with kitties.
First I drew out a kitty shape. Then I took scraps out of my basket and sewed them together to make two pieces a bit larger than the cat pattern. I did make sure that the face area would have a neutral shade, so the features would show up.
I used freezer paper and traced the cat design and cut it out, then placed that right sides in with the other piece. I sewed it by machine and cut off the excess, making a snip at the curves for turning.

I used regular stuffing and sewed him at the bottom. I went without a tail, since these will be box sitters. He is 10" tall.



This is the box he will go in. I love how it came out and will make a skinny and fat one, to have a variety of kitty characters.

Gifts and Cross Stitch

Today I received a surprise package in the mail. My wonderful friend Betty sent me a late birthday box.
It is always fun to get unexpected gifts and even more fun when they contain wonderful gifts. I wanted to show you the beautiful punched cat she made me. I just love it! Betty has patterns for punched kitties and other animals, she does wonderful prim patterns. She also has a page with freebies for some fun patterns too.



I am working on a new project and it is consuming my time. I made a cross stitch from a pattern and of course, I had to jump in and make my own. I saw an antique sampler that looked like fun to try. I am just doing the bottom half of it and working from the picture, so it is taking longer than using a chart. I tried to keep it the same, even the letters which tended to stray on her linen.

I am working on the bottom picture now and then I will add a border around the entire design. Not bad for my first try at reproduction;) I did mess up on the window, so I stopped and will undo that tomorrow.

New Punch Needle and Cross stitch

I finished a new punch today. I loved doing this one, it is an adaptation from an antique postcard.
I did it in prim style, but used 3 strands to outline it so it would have the look of the drawing of the original design.
It will be on ebay later tonight.



Last night, I wanted something simple and quick to do. I got a book from the library with a kitty done in aida. It was nice, but more on the cute side with flowers and stitched cat details. I decided to draw out a simple, small kitty and add a design to the front along with a face. I love how it came out, I think I will make more cats and other animals.

Cute Kitty and Weird Kitty

I am busy working on a secret project, so no new things to show you today;)
So, I thought I would show you something I made in the early 80's. This was during the country period, when things were cute and blue. This is a kitty I made, complete with flannel outfit and felt hat.



On another blog, someone asked, what do you collect and if you haven't figured it out, I collect cats, lol.
This piece is one my BIL gave me, he said it was too big for his cabinet, so I was happy to have it. It is by Sergio Bustamante and unfortunately, fallen a few times, so has some damage. the other kitties are ones my husband got me for my collection. I really need a better display area for my special cats. Every Birthday I got something with a cat and for Christmas, I got more, so I had to tell him, no more;) Now if I get one, it is either an antique kitty or something unusual I find in the thrifts. Like I have room for more, lol.

Christmas Decorating and Wool Punchneedle

I have been experimenting with wool yarn and punch needle and love the look.
I used lopi lite and some vintage yarn I had to make this piece. I used a 7 height on the design and a 6 for the background.
This is a design by Kelly Belfast that she made for our group to use and it was fun to punch up.

I used a cameo large needle on jo anns weavers. Their weavers has more stretch to it, so great for the thicker yarns.
You do have to be careful with the lopi yarns, they can tear as you pull the strands apart, so it is more time consuming, but well worth the look.



I have been doing a little decorating as I go and this is how I fixed up my bench this week. The feather tree was made by my friend Joanne. She even hooked the tree skirt to go with it. The candy canes I made by using pipe cleaners and spraying them with walnut spray, then sprinkling cinnamon on them. I dried them in my front loader, but you can dry them in the oven on low too. I found the wire basket at the home store for 4 dollars and then I made new rag balls with christmas colors. I just took my pumpkin balls and left the orange fabric on and put the new color over it. It saved on having to use more fabric and made the balls a bit bigger. Then I added my new/old firkin and kitty.

The Ugly Angel

Marylou Weidman had a beautiful pillow with an angel on it and writing. Soooooo, I decided I had to make an angel with writing on her wings. I made a simple stump style doll and put a face on her and then the hair. It was a mess, but I gave her a haircut, it is still a mess, lol. Then I messed up the lettering and was too lazy to do it over, so I sewed them on. Then I realized she had no clothes on and got the brilliant idea to use yarn, which I sewed strand by strand down her body, back and front. Not the smartest move;) Could not think of any way to improve her and make her into something presentable, since this was supposed to be a gift for a friend. I decided to sew on a little patch from my angel fabric, ( Which would have made great wings or a dress). Then I put a bow on her neck and I give up, lol. So, this is how she became the ugly angel, imperfections and all. I am still going to send it, she will either laugh or it might give her nightmares;)



To show you that I can actually sew and make dolls, when I am in not in a demented state of mind, here is a kitty doll I made years ago. I used to make these and sell them, but haven't done any in ages. One of these days I will get back into dolls and maybe creating something new and more primitive.

More decorating from old items

I have been in a mood lately to clean and organize, so one way I do that, is to rearrange things.
I hate cleaning, but it has to be done and by changing things out, I get the cleaning done too;)

I decided since i have some old books, I would make a book and toy display. Of course, I had to use what I have, at least until I can find or make some items to add to it. I think some small samplers would look nice and have some ideas floating about.

My favorite book is the Aunties poems. My grandmother gave that to me. She won it in a spelling bee when she was in school.
It is dated 1892, so it is special to me. Unfortunately it has worm holes in the pages but is still in good condition. The Easter story was my dads. It is signed inside, giving as a gift from Sunday school, in 1938.

The stuffed kitties were my first ever cat dolls, as you can see;) The chalkboard in the back is one I painted years ago, who knew my bad painting would be called prim some day, lol.

The tins are repros, a TJ Maxx find. Kitty cucumber is not prim looking, but she is a school one, so thought it was good enough for now.

So, that is it for now. I do love the idea of finding an antique noah's ark, but that is doubtful. Maybe I can get my husband to make me one and then I can do the animals.

A New Year, A New Ladder

I am not big on New Years. I stay home and we eat whatever and watch tv, no big deal. I had enough of partying in my younger days;) My New Years resolution to myself is to relax and stay away from stress, not always easy. I plan on working more on my house, making new and creative pieces and I will be working on more patterns this year.

I am working on the large rug, some punched pieces, some quilting and where ever the spirit moves me. That is my new philosophy this year. I make what I want, when I want and spend more time on being creative. I will still sell pieces on occasion, but I will be concentrating on the creative process more than the sales.

I decided that our first ladder was too big for the space, so my husband made me a new one. This one is narrower and has more rungs, much more practical and it gives me more space for other items. Now I have to work on the wall around it. I have a wall hanging to finish and maybe some new wood pieces will be added to the wall. We did get some books from the library, I have lots of things I want my husband to make, so maybe some box candle holders and a new shelf, quilt hanger combo.

Here is the first ladder. I will use it in my sewing room, perfect for hanging my unfinished quilts on.



This is the new improved version. It fits the space nicer and I like the skinnier version.

Christmas Decorating

I am one of those who starts dragging out the christmas items, the minute my guests leave on Thanksgiving.
This year we have the new kitty Dora and my sons cat who seems to have decided she lives in the cellar.
Every year I find new cat collectible ornaments and my tree is covered in cats, even the tree topper. Well, with Dora, I decided it was not a good idea to put my collectibles up with her and the hard wood floors.

So, I am going simple this year and using what I have and a few found items. I am trying to keep it simple and prim, but there are just some items that sneak their way into the decor;)

I thought a cheapy walmart tree would be easier and smaller to fit in the space. Now of course I wish I had gone with an alpine tree, but for this year it will do. I added a couple of my ornies and some old ones I made years ago, along with ones from swaps and friends. I put my vine wreath on the wall for now, but I would like to find or make a skinny ladder to go there. It is still a work in progress. I still need to make some vintage ornies from print outs I found on the web. The decor is based on cat proof prim, hehe. If you notice the rocking horse under the tree, that was a repro I bought years ago. The sun has faded the colors and the cats ate off most of the tail, so it looks like a real antique now, lol. The kitty doll is one I made. Someday I will get back into making dolls again.



Here is a simple setting I did with poinsettias and an old cat, I just can't seem to get rid of. The beautiful quilt topper was made for me in a quilt swap.



This is one of my favorite finds. I found it in a plastic bag in a salvation army. It is an old childrens nativity and the tree was with them, so I always put them together. I still need to put up my nativity sets. One my son bought me and I have added to it and the other is a plastic set that we bought after we got married.