Friday Finish!

 

This week I have been working on hand quilting, on a cheater quilt for the fall. I am stitching around the designs, so almost half way done and should be done by next week. While camping we stopped at Herman Melville's house and museum. We didn't take the tour since we had Bean with us, but we were able to go in the gift shop. I got myself a whale cookie cutter and tried it out this week.

I decided to add a Christmas hat on him, for fun. Then I glued him to a small piece of driftwood. I did an AI background so the driftwood is thicker than it actually is. It was fun to try, but I think I do better when I freeform my pieces, cookie cutters have their limits.

This was Melville's home, where he wrote, Moby Dick. There are also fields and paths to walk on the property.

We got to go on another bike ride. This time we did the upper area, between two towns, so we enjoyed a quiet ride. It goes through a lot of wetlands, so we saw lots of critters in the ponds and marsh birds.

It also went through wooded areas and then along a river.

Another day we went to the Natural Bridge park. The natural bridge was formed by years of glacial melt.

And this bridge was built by man, roped off since it is dangerous now.

And while shooting photos, I noticed this strange formation, caused by the waters carving it out, over the years.

We did ride along the Mohawk Trail. There are a few stops with views of the mountains, nearby and you can see some of the ones in the surrounding states.

We spotted this sculpture, along the way. 

Another place we visited was an area called Greylock Glen. We found a beautiful waterfall, and also the park nearby. There are paths at the park and ones that take you to Mount Greylock, so we walked around a pond and enjoyed the mountain views.

Another place we visited was the Norad mill, which houses 3 floors of shops. We went to the pet store and Bean got a new toy and a bag of cookies. Then I went to the candy store and got the boys some treats.

It was a wonderful place to stay and the area has a lot to offer for outdoor adventures. We stayed at Mount Greylock campground, similar to a state park with spacious sites, but more amenities. 

I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoying the fall weather.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had a nice weekend, even though storms rolled in, both days. I check the weather map in motion to figure out when the storms will hit, so I can plan how long we have. It was pretty accurate and we were able to spend a few days on the beach with time to get home before it hit.

On Saturday we went to East Matunuck Beach. It is a long beach, with an area at one end, that is roped off for the birds, so we walked that way first. Lots of rocks and plenty of driftwood and I have been thinking of ideas, for using it. Today it is sitting in a bleach wash, then I can sun dry it tomorrow.

We decided we had time to walk to the other end, which comes to a breaker wall, the opening to the Salt Pond area.  Bill was enjoying the view.

And this is the view, Bill was looking at, Galilee, this is where the fishing boats and ferries come in. As you can see, the fog was coming in, as well.

Sunday warned of early storms, so I noticed that the last area to get hit was Jamestown, so it would give us more time out.

We found our own little piece of heaven, with a few friendly visitors enjoying a quiet swim.

Bean got to come this time, he had lots of fun playing with another pup and being silly in the water. Here he is, showing his walking on water skills.

Here he is, levitating rocks.

A close up of the sailboat in the cove. Love the old sail, on her.

And before we left, the racers and larger sailboats were coming in, to beat the storm.  Newport is in the background.

And I didn't leave, empty handed. It was a rocky beach and not much glass on the surface, but by digging through the piles, I was able to find some nice pieces. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and found your own adventures.

New Pattern: Jonah and the Whale!

Today was a busy day and I almost forgot to post. Bill had his second surgery to fix the eye, they did cataract surgery on and all went well and he is seeing much better now.

I was able to make another whale but my arm gave out from two days of punching, so I just kept it simple and slightly different, than the first. I also made a pattern, if you would like to make your own. You can use any old piece of wood or check your local craft store, they carry a lot of weathered board pieces now.

I just laid this whale on one of my boards, I need to find some more flat drift wood, or I may use a piece from an old bureau I saved.

If you would like to buy this pattern, you can find it at my Ecrater Store. It would also be fun to do as a rug or applique piece and with a change of colors, perfect for a child's room. The pattern includes both whales, since they are a little different.

It looks like a stormy weekend, so hopefully we can get out for a walk before it hits or in between storms. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Whale and Driftwood Punch Needle!

It seemed to be too long of a week. Our anniversary week and Bill took it off, but it rained on and off, so we never got to do anything we had planned. We got some time at the beach, but I never got to relax or work on anything, so today I made up for it, lol.

I have been collecting driftwood and thought it would be fun to design something to go on a flat piece. Today I made a whale with Jonah inside, based on old drawings I had seen. I wanted to keep it simple and see how it would look, so it is not perfect, but I like how it came out and with a few tweaks, I can make it into a pattern. I have already gotten interest in a pattern, so I will be working up a new one, that may be different, so I can make two in this set.

I would love your input, what you do and don't like, anything you would like to see in nautical or beach pieces? I antiqued this piece, the blues were too bight and light, I tend to grab floss out of my scrap box, to use them up. I also had to go with 6 strands, since I can't seem to find my smaller tip, so I will look for that tomorrow.

I want to thank everyone for the anniversary wishes. I try and answer comments, but some are anonymous and some have no email, and not all come to my email. If you have a question and I cannot answer you, I will answer those in the comment section.

We had planned on taking the kids out a few days, and on Saturday I got too sick to do anything. Sunday they came over and had a fun day at our house, I was still weak but having them, always picks up my spirits. Unfortunately Bill put way too much chlorine in the pool, so my son bought one of their small ones to play in. That along with squirt guns and we all got cooled off. Bean had a blast too, but he got so excited listening to the boys screaming that he tore off the lower half of my screen tent, ugh. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and made memories of your own.

Monday Meanderings!

This week we are staying home and trying to just enjoy being out, when the weather is good. We had an early fathers day with the kids over for dinner. We did a family visit to look at trailers and it was fun to see how we all fit, or not, but nothing that was just right for us, so we will wait until we decide what we want. Hate to buy too much if they don't come with us.

Sunday was a relaxing day at the beach. The air was cool and windy, so there weren't too many people at the beach. We found a few nice pieces of glass and got some exercise, walking up and down the beach. I found some nice driftwood, as well. I need to get a cheap dish pan so I can soak them, then they will lighten up more, when dry.

We also enjoyed the birds in the area, a Great Egret flew over head and the Lesser Terns were in their nesting areas and if you got too close, they would dive bomb you.

Today I decided to go to the beach again. We stopped at the store first and I was able to find a speedo for only 12.00, couldn't beat that price. Once we got to the beach, I realized it was warm enough for suits, luckily I had extras with us, so we could beach comb and walk in the water.

I found a few nice pieces, we walked and looked, more than hunting today, less glass, but easier on the back. Always thrilled when I find a nice piece of pottery with a colored spot.

After beach combing, which was a lot of walking, we walked to the furthest point of the beaches, which took us the the breakers. Between the walking back and forth and the full walk, we did well over 4 miles today, lol.

For a perspective, we are at the end of our walk and the dots in the sky is where we were beach combing.

On the walk we met up with this little guy, a Piping Plover. They are very busy birds, so hard to get a photo.

Then I noticed a knob on his leg and this is what I found. He has a hitchhiker.
I hope  you all had a wonderful weekend and a wonderful week to come.

Friday Finish!

This week I was behind since Bill had his cataract surgery, but all went well, so one more eye to go. It is so nice that it goes so quickly and easily and he won't need to wear his glasses anymore. When Bill is home, I never get much done, he distracts me too much, lol.

But, I decided to try a new piece for my beach display, a whale. I looked online for ideas and liked the more realistic look, so I redid the design a bit and enlarged it. I thought it was large enough for turning, but I was wrong, the tail would not go through and I ended up ripping more than a few loops. I had to slit open the entire back to turn it easily, but it is for me and no one sees the back, but the large slit made it sew up more tightly and turned his tail. I definitely have to rethink how I design something so it sews and turns easier. To fix the pulled loops on the tail, I used my ink marker and colored over the white, that was showing.

He is 6" long, so the next one will be bigger and thought out better. I would love to know how others turn small areas for shaped pieces, that are stiff like this. I was thinking I could sew by hand, by whipstitching the backing to the piece, so no turning.

I have also been making my yard more bird friendly. I bought a new house, a beach one and more peanut bricks, the birds love it. I learned that Robins and other species like an open house to build their nest on, so something to find for some future houses. I found this under my porch, the robin keeps leaving it, every time we go out there, so hopefully they will hatch.

And of course we got one last good weekend of glass hunting without the crowds. There is less glass to be found with everyone enjoying the nice weather, but I still found some nice pieces and a little plate of plastic corn. Nick went home with that one, he thought it was neat.

Tonight I watched the boys while their parents went birthday shopping. They are a handful, but we kept it calm most of the night. Tomorrow is their birthday party and then we will hit the beach for a little bit, before we go home. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Friday Finish and Finds!

I finished my turtle, that was it for this week. I am working on a new stitchery of the month and other projects and gardening and keeping up with the house and animals, it seems I have less and less time lately, to do it all.

I love how he came out, not perfect but he is fun and makes me smile.

And one thing keeping me busy is, stripping and sewing strips for rug braiding. The great thing is, it will cut down on the old wool stash from the thrifts and I will have it ready whenever I want to make a little rug. I think I will make a mat for the cat dish next, the thinner wools will be good for that. This is just a start, I was trying to sew on my machine and the bobbin messed up again, so I think I need to get my little Juki out and use that, not worth wrecking my good machine, sewing on wools. Sew by hand is relaxing while I watch tv, but it will take me forever.

And of course we went to the beach on the weekend. We stopped at the southern beach after shopping and the tide was almost in, but we still found some nice pieces. The second day we went to our favorite spot, at low tide. There were a few beach collectors that got there first, but I found quite a few pieces that they missed.

And I have been enjoying some time on the porch, my way to relax and unwind. Lots of critters and birds are enjoying the feeder. The squirrels are a pain, they knock all the seed out of the feeders and I have seen them batt a few birds to get it all for themselves. The Guinea fowl have been spending more time in my yard, even taking naps. There were six and now there are only two, not sure if they got hit by cars or predators.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have rain coming in, but I am s sure I can squeeze in some more beach time.

Friday Finishes!

This week I worked on an art piece. Something I have been wanting to try and practice a few techniques on. I decided to go with a small 5" x 7" canvas board. I used a new product, Liquitex matte medium. It went on a lot easier and nicer than the heavy gel, but I noticed bleeding right away.

The end result for my transfer was a bit more faded than the usual, but I did use plain copy paper and a design from one of my photos, that I put through an art filter. So, it wasn't that bold to begin with and gave me the effect I wanted as a background image. Once I cleaned off the paper, most of the red went away, so I was happy with that, as well.

This is how it looked, I did enhance the buildings with colored pencils.

I decided to further enhance some details by painting over the buildings and some of the surf. Then I started playing with things I had in my beach finds. First was the driftwood log, then I found a rock that looked like a body with an arm and some shapes and rocks that I liked and it became a little scene of me at the beach. I used wool for the hat and gloves, small pieces of glass and a shell. It was fun to do and when done, I added glass gel beads to the sand and under the boats. The boats are also my photos, I printed them out and cut out the boats.

I also finished my rug, I decided to stop since I was running out of the dark blue and truthfully, it is hard on my arm and slow going. It is 36" x 26" and I decided to put it at the top of the stairs. I gives a nice pop of color in a dark area and Bean can lie on it when he is waiting for us to get home.

This was done with precut wool, that someone had given me. It is a bit thinner than I usually work with, so the next one I will do in thicker coat weights.

And of course we went beach hunting last weekend. I am trying to keep from over doing it and making sure I get some straight walking in, great exercise and gives my back a rest. We found some nice pieces on Saturday.

And Sunday we got a bit more. I will definitely be making more mixed media art and using some of the fun pieces I find, as well as the glass.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

This week I have spent working on my rug and my hand quilting, still lots to go. I have been wanting to make something felted, so yesterday I worked on a stork. I got a book from the library, but you know me, I looked at the pictures and did my own thing.

I also have been wanting to try a wire form, so for this one I used chenille. I made a body part, wings and feet and then I wrapped roving around the main frame, to get started. Once that was done, I added the roving to form the stork.

It was nice having a form to work around without thinking about attaching the pieces, but it also made it harder to felt, since I had to work around the chenille and once I hit it and broke a needle. I think I enjoy free form felting better, I have more control over shapes and forming the shape to get depth and details.

Not what I wanted to happen, but not too bad. I think I will go back and fix a few things, definitely his big feet, lol. I can cut off the excess and reform with new roving.

Since I have made a long length of braid, I started sewing it together. I tried following the directions for sewing properly, which didn't work for me. The braids are smaller and not formed perfectly, so I have to sew under some and through others. As long as I can't see the thread and it is sewed tightly, I am fine with that.

This is what I have done so far, it is taking a lot longer than I remember. I work on this for a bit during the day and my hand quilting at night, eventually both projects will get done.

Here is a close up, I cannot get the true green. It is bright, but more a blue/green shade, with dark blue and medium blue.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have a nice day tomorrow. I have decided it is time to get out for more hiking and less bending over the beach, so hopefully I am up for a good hike tomorrow.

Free Easter Bunny!

This weekend I took a break on Saturday since it was windy and cold. It gave Bill a day to work on the bathroom, though I am not sure how much he really did, lol. On facebook there is a group called Homespun Whimsey - Woolen Friends. She offers free patterns and block of the month. When I saw the bunny, I knew I had to make one.

I used what I had in my stash drawers and did more prim stitching, but I wanted to add a pop of color too. I like having things that the boys enjoy too, so more color in my pieces, lately. It was fun to make and I put it on the wall with rug tape. A great way to hang pieces without wrecking the walls.

On Sunday the boys had plans with mom and dad, so Bill and I went exploring by ourselves. We went to a small wooded park, that has paths and along the way, artwork by local artists.

It was a short walk, but fun to see something different and I left a painted rock along the path, for someone to find.

I was in the mood for a longer hike, so we went to the bird sanctuary at Trustum Pond. It was more crowded than usual, but we could still enjoy some quiet hiking along the paths and the local wildlife along the way. There are fields that are off limits for hikers, but I spied this guy and snuck in a little way to get a shot. A red tailed hawk, perfect spot to watch for mice in the fields.

The turtles are still hibernating, but we spied this beaver in the pond.

At the entrance, there is an area for birds with feeders and water, so a great place to see varieties of birds that are coming and going for the spring migration. This little Tufted Titmouse sat just long enough to get a shot.

The tide was going down and I wanted to check out the beach nearby. It was windy and cold, so I did a quick look in the immediate area and grabbed what I could, but too cold to stay out too long. The beach was covered in rocks, I know there was tons of glass in there, hated to leave, lol. The larger round piece was so clear, I grabbed it, thinking it was probably a rock, but I realized it was glass, so a nice find.

Hopefully I can get in the creative mood this week and start working on some art projects.