Working on!

 

This week went by, way too quick. Lots of plans and as usual, only a few things got done. I have several projects I am working on and a quilt I got ready to hand quilt. We will be leaving our RV at a camp next month, so we will be able to spend days there and overnights when we feel like it. It will be easier since Bill doesn't have to drive around and he can relax, and I can get out and bike and paddle, right from our site.

One of the projects I started is a new painting. I wanted something simple and a change to try a pattern from a painting site. It will be a nice summer piece, but the instructions are written with a small photo of the finished piece. I am just looking at the photo and trying to copy it and some of my old skills are coming back to me. The pattern was smaller than my canvas, so I added more water and I will paint in some whale parts.

We got a chance to enjoy some time at the beach. My happy place.

And a few beach finds. This week the tide was high in the afternoon, but the waves threw up a few nice pieces.

And on another beach at the southern coast, I went for some photos of birds, but no luck. As I walked back to the truck, an Osprey flew overhead, carrying a fish. We followed it to the area that I had seen a nest and found him in the nearby marsh. It was a beautiful area with a lot of birds, and across from the fishing fleet, so we will definitely go back for the day.

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy getting out this weekend.

Friday Finish and feathered friends!

 

This week I worked on finishing a new piece. I finished the stitching, but I still need to make it into a pillow, or maybe a wall hanging. I am not sure if I want to add a saying, it depends on what it looks like when I cut it down and add a border. The photo makes it look grainy but the colors are much brighter and smooth looking. I was trying to go for a pen and ink, with watercolor look.

We didn't do anything exciting last weekend. We rode around and realized we couldn't stop on the side of the road or down a back road with the trailer, so time to use the truck for exploring. We stopped at a bike path, but no parking so not sure how we can walk on it without parking, but we can park at the other end if we ride our bikes. I really wanted to explore a bit on the end, since that is the part that follows along the river.

I have had a lot of visitors this week, something to enjoy during the week. I think the young Downy Woodpeckers are the most fun. They are less afraid of me and they will hide behind the rails and peak out at me, but sometimes they are still enough to catch a shot of.

I also had a new visitor, a female Red Bellied Woodpecker. I had to shoot through the window, or she would take off. 

Today I was able to catch the male. He is a lot more skittish and it took three tries, just to shoot through the window. The minute he sees me move, he takes off, so I have to be sneaky.

You can see his belly in one photo, that is why they are called, Red Bellied Woodpeckers.

And a few others that I was able to capture. I used a different camera body with the zoom and in some ways, the photos are better, but it seems the camera has problems, so I may have to take it back for a fix. The focus wasn't always working and the menu wouldn't work sometimes, unless I shut off and on again. Luckily it is under warranty. It could be the lens, since I didn't have the problem with the other new lens. I guess I need to read my manuals, lol.

Friday this and that!

No finishes this week, mostly things I am working on. One is the fall table topper, I am hand quilting it, so that might take a few weeks. I also seem to have gotten something, a flu, covid who one of my many weird problems, but I have meds and they are taking care of, whatever it is. Of course this is the week that Bill took off and now we can't go on any trips, just in case. But we can do day trips and with the trailer, I am self contained.

One item I am working on is, a needle felted angel. I wanted to try making one by using a cookie cutter to start, for the shape, but I think I prefer making them on my own. I would have rather made a more artistic angel and had better wings, but it is not too bad and I will add arms and change it up more as I go.

And this is where I stopped with my angel. Having a photo helps me to see what I need to fix and what I want to do. I think I made her look a bit pouty, doesn't match love too well, lol.

 I also enjoy watching the birds that come to my yard, I have three Downy Woodpeckers that visit and they like to chatter at me, they keep me amused.

And a new Cardinal today, have never seen this one. I have a pair that stays here and the male will not let any others in the yard, so was surprised to see it, so it may be one of their young.

And I was able to find some new fabrics, some I found at Joannes along with heavier white for the lining. This batch I found at a local quilt store, she had a lot of nice girl fabrics but not as much for boys. I wanted to get some fun ones for the boys and I can donate the extras.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have rain tomorrow so I will stay home and rest and then I am hoping we can get over to Newport for some walks at the sanctuaries and picnics at the parks.

Friday Finish!

I actually had two to finish, but life got in the way. I have been sick as usual and thought it was the lyme acting up, but it seems the tooth I have been complaining about, finally had it's last run. So, I had to wait to get in and finally had it pulled. Hopefully all the weird symptoms I have been getting are from that, for now I am waiting for the pain to wear off. You would think in this day and age, they would have come up with something with ripping teeth out with pliers, lol.

It is also a warning if you get a root canal and have it capped, to know that it can still get infected. In fact, it is more prone to get infected in the space that is left and since the nerves are cut, you do not feel the pain. It can go on for years and make you sick, mimicking a lot of other diseases, so something to consider if you have doctors telling you there is nothing wrong and it is all in your head;)

I was able to finish off my angel painting. This was the first one I started by prepping the papers and drawing on the angel, but I never painted it. I had messed up with the drawing, so I finally redid the lines and followed the tutorial for the face.

The problem was, my brain went on hold and I totally lost track of what I was doing and what she was saying, so I messed up on the coloring and shading. Since I did a nice enough job on the painting, I decided to just keep it simple and in a more folk art style. I added a hand and boat, and made stars on her halo, so a bit americana.

Then came the finishing and crackle. I had crackle on hand, so used that and it did not work, it actually blobbed the finish, so I used warm water and washed what I could off. Luckily there is a gloss finish on the painting, so it didn't do too much damage. I ordered the right crackle and finished it with that, and I got some nice crackling in some areas and blobs in others.

So, this is how she turned out, not like I planned but not too bad. This is my second one, so maybe the third one will be the charm.

You can see the way it blobbed up in the upper left corner. What you need to know when you use crackle is, buy the right product for the right job. The plaid crackle is to put on top of a painted object like a box, then you add another layer of paint, to get the crackling effect. For a painting, you use Jo Sonya's crackle, which goes over your painting. This is a technique that I learned in the online class by Teresa Kogut, of Gather Dream Create, so I cannot explain the actual process. I thought it was good to know for those who are using mediums, to read up on the types and what they are used for, before you buy.

This is a close up of the actual crackle effect, I love how it looks and hopefully the next one will come out as nice. I plan on doing a simple painting with my own design first, to try out the technique, then I will try another angel.

Friday Find and Fotos!

I am still working on my stitcheries, slow going lately, but they will get done;) Getting ready to go camping is taking up my time this week. I am stocking up with light weight items to keep the weight down and paper plates do not have to be washed;)

While we were looking for a rug at the home store, I found a fun item in the sale rack. I loved the painted wood design and the etching, had no idea what it was, but it was happy and only five dollars. Bill thought it was a chalk board sign, but I looked it up and it is a magnetic house sign. I guess it came with magnetic numbers but none with mine, thus the five dollar price tag. But I still love it and I think I will look for some fun magnetic letters to use with it and put it in my new room.

Camping brings back a lot of memories for me, especially at Burlingame, our state park. People come from all over to go there, so it is harder to get in now. It is a nice campground, has a beautiful lake to swim in and close the all the area beaches.

We went there when I was a child, all 8 of us. As you can see, I am wearing a summer outfit, not sure if that was my suit or clothing. My mom would dress me after we went swimming and I would run back into the water to swim with my brothers and sisters, I loved the water.

We took out kids there, they loved camping too. Bill usually does the cooking when we camp.

And as you can see, they loved the water too. We will be going for 4 days on Sunday, so I may be gone till then or back early, not sure if I will like being alone at the camp when Bill goes to work, so we shall see how it goes. No electricity so we will be on battery power for lights and no internet, but I will bring projects to work on and my art supplies so maybe I can relax and do some new designs. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

A Gift From the Heart!

One of the things are crafters and artisans, is that we need to create. We need to create when we are happy, and we need to create when we go through sadness and grief.

I wanted to make something as a gift to my daughter from her father and I, a piece of our hearts to hold, until we meet again. I started thinking about it and each day melted into the next, until it was the day before the wake and I had not begun. Too much to do, too much chaos and pain and too many good meaning relatives who had not idea what to do and tired me out.

I had the saying stitched and decided to put it on a velvet heart. I had lots of ideas but no time to add lace or a border, but I finally decided that it was not what it looked like, but the love I put in. I sat in my sewing room that morning and worked on finishing it.

The saying was from our hearts, it was how we felt.
The little heart is a piece from her clothing as a child
The flower, is from the ones I used for her brother's wedding pillow.
The guardian angel is a gift I gave her on her first communion.
I made the saying into a pocket and inside is a photo of the three of us, at her baptism and a smooth white pebble from our beach walks.
On the back, I made hearts from the material that I used for her quilt, a birthday gift for her, our three hearts, forever.

The heart was placed in her arms, to hold, until we meet again.

The back of the pillow.

The night we got home, my house was a mess and we had company coming after the funeral, so Bill and I did what we could to the main living area. I had taken down Easter decorations and had some up, so just left what I had, but the tree looked sad without nothing on it. I found an old flower that I had from a wreath and remembered I had some in a box and this is what I did with them. The photo is a gift from her friends, they had it framed and I put it on the table. It is her final goodbye.

I also wanted to share the card we had made for her. I needed to do things myself, for my daughter, to let her know how much I love her and how much I miss her, so I did a design that they used on the card and the poem below is the saying on the back.

I feel like all of you have been my family and support through all of this and I still have things to do that I am not ready for, but I also have my faith and the love of others, to keep me strong.

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road,

and the sun has set for me.

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little—but not too long,

and not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that was once shared.

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take, and each must go alone.

It’s all a part of the master’s plan, a step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart, go to the friends we know.

Bear your sorrow in good deeds. Miss me, but let me go.

Author Unknown

Shabby Apple Winner and Pattern Giveaway!

I really enjoyed doing this giveaway, it is always nice to give something special to my readers and Shabby Apple was very generous in giving away one of their beautiful dresses. This week they are having a summer sale, so be sure and visit. Dresses are 20% to 80% off!

I used the random number generator and #14 came up. The lucky Winner is MelancholySmile! I will email you with the list, so I can send your information to Shabby Apple. Also, be sure to visit Melancholy's Blog, you have to see the wonderful chicken coop that she and her husband built.

This week I was lucky again, I know, you are all sick of me entering contests, lol. Actually I just happen to visit sites at the right time, this one was for the first commenter and I won something twice this week, so I will refrain from doing another;)

Many of  you may be familiar with Terrye French, she is a wonderful artists who does designs for folk and whimsical painting patterns. She also does designs for publications like Create and Decorate and goes by the name, The Painted Pear Basket.  I won her newest book, A New Day and a Little Whimsy. So many wonderful designs that I can make for our home and gifts for my friends. I also won a pattern of my choice, Terrye has wonderful epatterns too and they work well in different mediums so you don't have to be a painter to use her designs. I will be painting and working with the designs in different mediums, in the coming weeks and will share my creations with you.

And now for the giveaway! Visit Terrye's Website, The Painted Pear and tell me, what is your favorite pattern? I will choose a winner on Monday night from all of the comments on this posting. Also, visit Terrye's blog, Painting with Friends. She has a lot of wonderful freebies that you can use.

Don't forget, this is my anniversary month and I will be doing a giveaway at the end of the month, so stay tuned for more on what will be in the giveaway.

Narragansett Bay Quilter's Show: Part One!

Today we went to the quilt show and I made a video of the show, but the quality is horrid and the photos are too small to really see the quilts, so I will show a set at a time. I wasn't as impressed with this show, as I was with previous ones, but there were a lot of beautiful quilts and inspiration. I didn't buy anything, but Bill bought a bunch of tickets for the Basket raffles. He filled them out, then gave them to me, to put in the ones that I liked the most, so heres hoping I win one, though I won't count on it, lol. I hope you enjoy the quilts.

I loved the use of shirting in this one.

This one is a basic nine patch, but made special, by the fussy cutting of the squares.

A fun quilt with a lot of piecing and wonderful use of fabrics.

Beautiful colors and designs

An interesting take on americana and nine patch

This is just fun

I really like this, unique piece of art in fabric

Truly gores, beautiful appliqué and quilting

A nice folk piece

What is so wonderful about this piece? It is a mini quilt, so much detail in such small spaces.

And the last one for tonight. This is a unique piece, love the idea of using a seed package as a design

Spring Bird PunchNeedle!

Sometimes I just have to have a book and Bonnie Sullivan's book, Bonnie's Garden was one of them. The book is filled with a lot of wonderful wool projects for quilters, rug hooking and a punch needle project. I plan on making a few of the projects, but I thought I would start out with something small and this is the result.

It is a small piece, 4" x 3" and a perfect piece to hang from my peg rack.

 I thought I would share some giveaways when I see ones, that I think you would like. Marylou Weidman has a wonderful blog and I love to visit every day and see all of the fun and wonderful pieces that she and her classes create. A memory quilt is a fun idea to make for yourself or a family member, so be sure to visit her blog for inspiration and enter into her newest contest.

Bible Block

I wanted to make something creative and different, so I tried a block from one of Harriet Powers bible quilts. I kept some of the colors similar and added my own ideas to make it brighter, since this is the nativity scene and I will use it as a christmas piece. I want to add a saying to go with it, so I have to decide how I want to do it, then I plan on antiquing it heavily so it will look old and not so bright. Not the best photo, the flash makes it look like it is all standing out and really emphasizes my bad stitching, lol.

Animals, two by two!

I added a few more things this weekend. I finished Mrs. Noah and the tree and then added some animals. I took the elephants from the Country Days book, but I think they look a bit babyish, so I can going to add tusks to mine.



On the right side I went with zebras. I used the horse pattern and traced it out a little differently, then used this fun striped fabric that my friend kelly gave me. Later I will add birds and some will go on a back or two. I think it is coming out a little wonky, trying to keep it with the bottom lines for layout, but my brain is wonky too, so wonky it shall be;)

Still waiting for the camera part, it is supposed to come on the 15th, but I sure wish they would hurry, so maybe I could get some shots that show the colors better. So, you will have to bear with me and look at my horrid photos for now;)

Sea Bird Quilt!

I started a piece last night, but it was late and i was tired, so decided to finish it today.
I joined a flicker group that is making quilted pieces from Charley Harper designs.
They are wonderful designs and great practice for art quilts and machine quilting.
I started with the machine, then I added hand stitches and decided it would look good with walnut stain.



I still have a lot to learn with machine quilting, but it is fun practicing and I really like how this one came out.
I decided to antique it and hang it in my bathroom, since I have a mermaid theme and a few sea items will go nicely in there.
It is the perfect size for a small area next to the bureau.

I still don't know how I will edge my quilt, first I will do the panels and lay it on the bed, then I can decide what to do next.

Welcome Spring Wallhanging!

I finally got around to finishing off my bird piece.
This is a pattern I found in an old Better Homes and Gardens magazine, done by Carol Armstrong.
I love how it came out and wanted to use it for my entry way to bring some spring into the house.
I added the Welcome by using a script font and then tracing it onto freezer paper and using some of my hand dyed wool.

I would have liked to add quilting to it, but with the wool, I cannot get the free motion foot around those pieces.
Next time I will do the quilting first, then add the appliques.
I ended up doing a simple double border stitch to take the sandwich together.

This is where I put it. My husband made me a smaller coat rack after he added wainscoting to the walls.
The wainscoting goes down the stairs at an angle, so I couldn't use my large straight one, anymore.



And here is a closer look. With winter hanging on, I needed some springtime cheer;)
As for the kitties, they have lost interest in the new bubbler. It seems the bubbler is too intimidating, they rather have running water to play in.

Fraktur Pillow

I wanted to try a fabric painted stitchery, with a fraktur design.
With my frakturs I use watercolor and wanted to try the same look.
I used my watercolor pencils and then small amounts of water.
It wasn't what I was hoping for, so need to try other watercolor mediums.
With this piece, I used the walnut stain and dried, then sprinkled water on it and let it air dry.

I have also been asked about my stitcheries and if they were for sale.
I have been making them for fun, so planned on gifting them, but if you are interested, feel free to email me.
I am enjoying making them and have some ideas for new designs that I can make into sets.

A bit of new and old

Tonight I worked on my dog quilt. I have added some new things, since I last showed it and tonight, I added three fireflies and the grasshopper. I messed up on the legs, so decided to call it a night. Now I will add the details on the critters and flowers and then decide if I want to add anything else. The firefly and grasshopper are courtesy of Wee Folk Art. If you are looking for fun appliques or projects, check it out.



As for old, this santa was painted in the early 80's, it is almost an antique;) It is one of those figures that you bought and painted yourself.



And this is what it is like at my house, the dog gets presents on Christmas. He loves to open presents.



I had to throw away his favorite squeaky toy, it was getting really gross. Now he has a new toy to play with, but he has a hard time getting it to squeak. He really gets off, trying to torture his squeaky toys.