Friday Finishes!

This week I have been busy finishing up some pillows and I just had to punch something;) I still have balsam and I was thinking of making some little stockings that I could fill with balsam and hang, so my  house smells like fresh pine.

One thing I love about making stockings is it is a great way to use up the floss nest in the scrap box. I just grab pieces and use what I grab, so it gives it a nice scrappy look. I attached a piece of red wool to the back and then a loose weave wool for the cuff. A little bell  and a hanger and you have a fun ornament that can be made with what you have.

The stockings are 6" long and I used walnut stain on them to grunge them up. I love making these and I think it would be fun to make some all year round, to give as gifts for next year.

Since I have another bag of balsam, I need to use it up since I only use fresh balsam. I bought some material with a fun print and tried some mini pillows to see how they look. These will go to relatives and friends who like brighter colors and I will make extras to hand out, to people I meet and need a smile. I might add a jingle bell to the center. I tried my rusty ones and it looks nice, but I will get some red ones to keep with the brighter colors and not everyone likes rusty bells;)

Looking for something free and something you can color, use for stitcheries or pattern ideas? Check out this ebpage for a Free 98 Page Coloring Book. There are lots of beautiful designs by artists that have shared their artwork for the coloring book.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We have a nice day for tomorrow and I am hoping we can do one of our drives and see what new places we can find.

Friday Finishes!

This week I finally got the time to finish one item and make something new. It seems that I spend more time cleaning and taking Bean out, he really is an energetic pup and if i don't wear him out every few hours, he spends his time indoors, annoying me.

My great niece got a giant dollhouse last Christmas and so far she has decorated it with Barbie items, so i wanted to make her a rug for the house. I picked an antique design from Kopp's book and kept the colors in pink and blue, since those are her favorite colors. I wanted to use 3 strands of floss to keep the rug in scale, but it was way too much work and repetition, so I jumped to 6 strands for the background. It gives it a bit of a raised effect and it is not what I envisioned, but I am sure she will love having a real rug for her doll house and maybe someday she will get real furniture for it;)

If it were me, I would spray it with walnut ink, but she is a girlie girl and bright it will be. The rug is 7 1/4" x 6".

Another idea I had, was to make little tea coasters and stuff them with balsam. I thought a small piece like that would fit nicely into a thank you card and I could give them out as little gifts too. I used one of my photos from the trip and printed it on printable fabric, but I misjudged the size and they have become little pillows. I do like how they look and still a nice gift idea. I don't really like the stiffness of the fabric paper and I really do not trust the inks if it gets wet. I did heat set it and then run under cold water but I did notice a bit of red ink. It is a nice idea to use with photos to make pillows or even a mini quilt from your favorite trip.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have the annual art show in Wickford and the folk art music festival in Newport, so hoping to get to the art show, I haven't been in years.

Birds and Braids!

I found this free pattern on Wee Folk Art and thought it would be a fun and fast project. I wanted to use it as a holder for my crushed pine, so instead of stuffing it, I used batting and sewing the crushed pine into the batting. That way I could blanket stitch the piece, without the pine, falling out.

I need rugs and the hooked rugs are getting destroyed by the animals, so I looked online for some new rugs. I did find some I liked, but then I thought, I can make braided rugs, why buy one, lol. Soooo, I got the one I started, and went back to work on it. I use my scrap, heavier wools on braided rugs, so the colors are dependent on what I have. I am trying to keep the blacks and darks mixed in, but pops of color always look nice on a braided rug. I was planning on using it in the living room, not sure yet, but it will be put to use somewhere. Braided rugs are great for obnoxious kitties. Moki loves the one by the back door, he rolls in it, rolls it up and snuggles in it. Now he is inspecting the new one and finding it to his liking;)

Wool Penny Ornament!

I decided to make some more snowman ornaments, but I used wool this time.
I cut them out free hand, so they are a bit wonky, but that is the fun of prim.
After I sewed the penny together, I cut a slit in the back and put some crushed pine in them, so now they smell like a fresh pine tree. I thought it would be nice to put in a christmas card, hopefully they will fit;)

I ordered the pine from Paine Products. They were easy to order from and fast delivery. The ornament pattern can be found Here! I used a paintbrush and watered down walnut spray to soak into the stitchery and darken the batting. To cover the slit in the back, I added a double penny with a stitched snowflake in the middle.

Moki has been enjoying the nice weather, nothing like the sun to keep him content.