Friday - almost finished!

 

I worked on my wall hanging this week, something I started over 15 years ago. I can't believe how much time has gone by since I started some projects. I was planning on giving this one to a charity auction for our local shelter, so now I will keep it for now. 

I still have to put some detail on two leaves and I am thinking of putting a saying, Dog days of summer. I have quilted it and done the edge, but I can still work stitches without going through the back, since it is so thick. The bee and grasshopper are designs I got from Wee Folk Art. If you go to her appliqué designs, on page 11, you will see the grasshopper and the story behind it. I was the reader who asked for one.

I will take another photo when I finish the rest. I cannot remember where I got the dog from, the flowers are from books I have and the butterflies were probably from clip art.

This week we missed watching the Viking ship, as it left port from Mystic, so we headed to a beach, further down and were able to watch it as it was making its way to Newport. It will wait there until it is picked up by a cargo ship, to go to Norway. It was far away, so the photo is a bit off.

On the way to the beach, we stopped at the falls. Will all the rain, they are funning faster than usual.

Another day we went for a walk at a nearby park. The falls were heavy there, as well.

During our walk, I was lucky enough to spot another Ovenbird. I use Merlin bird sounds, which is a free app. It tells me what birds are in the area and when I say Ovenbird, I kept looking towards the sound, until I found him.

Today we took a ride around the beach areas, but most were too crowded to bother going to. We decided to stop at Black point, a nice walk along the cliffs and lots of birds. Of course they were all hiding on me, but I enjoyed the walk and the cool breezes coming off the bay.

At home, I have enjoyed all the birds and so far, just sparrows with young, who are quite annoying and noisy. I did spot the House wren making a nest in the old bird house. I also got two blueberry bushes and so far they are doing well with the replanting. I also noticed strawberries on the bushes that Ivy gave me a few years ago, so I am cleaning out the area to give them more room to spread and a fence to keep the critters out.

I hope you all had a nice week and not in the paths of the horrible storms. This weekend is birthdays for everyone, but taking it easy this year. 

I hope everyone had a nice week and holiday. We stayed home and got some things done, which we usually don't have time for, when we are running around. We have family coming in next week, so plans for a family get together for next weekend. 

I have been working on my seaport piece, still in the works and I may add a few of my own touches. I got the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, so I decided to make that this week. I am sticking with a theme for her yearly contest, mine is hot pads. They will be nice for gifts, at Christmas.

This one is a garden bunny and I have a few relatives that like gardening and bunnies. I like giving them a pop of color since others like bright and cheerful decor. I still need to stitch up the outer edge, I like having a bit of a bump there, so they can place things on it, without them sliding off. For some reason the blue marker does not want to go away, so I keep pressing it with a damp cloth and eventually it will go away.

I have been getting a lot of new birds at the feeder, lots of young on their own now, but I still get the ones who make a racket to be fed. In these photos are, a Baltimore Oriole, a Northern Flicker ( first time photo of one in my yard), Red Bellied Woodpecker, and a Blue Jay. 

I hope everyone has a good week. Hopefully I can get out for some paddling and time with the boys.

Friday Finish!

 

Another week went by too fast. This is our anniversary and vacation week and I had no time or energy to get ready. For me, I have to plan, find a place, get the trailer and packing ready, get the house in order and figure out food, not really a vacation, so I gave up on that idea. Not being able to eat a lot of foods, makes it hard so if I do get motivated this weekend, we may take off on Monday for a midweek getaway. Otherwise we will do things closer to home.

I finish my stitchery for Kathy Schmitz's club, another hot pad. It is one way to start using up my stash and I have a bolt of Insulbrite to use up, as well as, way too much fabric. I do want to do charity quilts and will use a lot of it for that. 

We also got to the beach during the week. My SIL moved back to the island, so we met up at the beach. On the way out, this catbird decided to sing to me.

I found a few treasures, as we walked and chatted.

Another day we took Bean to my favorite beach, usually empty, later in the afternoon. Bean loves walking in the water.

It was full low tide and I think someone hit the beach, before we got there, not much to find, but I was able to catch a few pieces in the surf. I was happy to find a few pieces of pottery with designs.

And at home, I enjoy watching the birds. My Downy Woodpecker bought his new son for a visit and a snack. I hope. you all had a nice week and enjoy your weekend. We shall see where this week takes me.

Friday Finish and Feathered Friends!

 

This week I finished my newest stitchery. The design was a freebie offered by Deborah Cade on Facebook. I love coloring in the design but I do wish I had more control over blending, was hoping to make it look more like a water colored piece. I also notice that red is a color that bleeds, no matter the medium, so I have to be careful when using reds since I have to damp it down to get rid of the blue lines.

I added a border and happy how it came out, something cheerful to chase away the winter blues. The design can be found on the Facebook group, Prim Folk Art Quilts and Projects.

And on the birding front, I finally got a chance to see the eagles in action. Unfortunately they were in the middle of the lake on a sandbar, so I was out of zoom range, but was able to catch them mating.

And when the male took off, I was able to get a closer shot as he flew by.

I enjoy birding and watching them in my backyard, but it is getting too cold to stay out for long. Today I watched from the window and spotted this young, female, Downy Woodpecker as she rested from the winds and then went a meal at the suet.

And sitting on the opposite side of the porch was this White Bellied Nuthatch. The wind was gusting and a few times they almost lost their grip, its a good thing they have those sharp talons.

And finally I finished a few more masks. A friend liked the ones I had sent her and wanted more, so I made a few before I found out that she wears bright and busy patterns, so I need to find something that is more toned down to match her outfits. 

I hope you all had a wonderful week and fun plans for the weekend. I am always on the go lately, so it is nice to be stuck inside, working on projects.

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 Finish!

This week I worked on a stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's, One Stitch Club. This one was a fun one to do and I added some color for fun. I am leaving it for now, since I may add a wedding date and name. One of my nieces is getting married and I thought it might make a nice little gift. I will probably add a border and make it into a pillow.

Not the best photo, took with my phone, but it looks much nicer in person.

A short one tonight, my heart is heavy. I found out today that one of my daughter's best friends died. They found her unresponsive, so I am assuming it was a drug overdose. She had called me this week, out of the blue and now I wish I had the time to invite her over. I know the pain her family is going through and a loss for us as well, she spent a lot of time at our house too, when the girls were younger.

This is a photo of them together, now they are together in heaven.

Friday Finish!

First I would like to apologize to those of you, who have blogs. I see to be having a problem with my browser lately, so I am going to have to backup my data and clean out my computer and reinstall my browser and hopefully my computer will run a few more years without having to get a new one. I am not able to comment on most blogs, I comment and it disappears, but on blogs that have security pictures, they seem to work. So, I do enjoy reading your blogs, but I can't always comment.

This week I wanted to do something from my Seaside Ornies pattern. I made ornaments to hang on my tree, but I wanted something larger, so I enlarged the ship and lighthouse. The ship is 5" tall and the lighthouse is 6". Perfect sizes for shelf sitters and a summer display.

I added the pail and one of my felt starfish for fun, along with a piece of driftwood, I found on the beach. I think it would be fun to make smaller pails and items and make a whole scene. Maybe if I get creative, I can make an old salt man to add to the scene. Not sure if I would punch it or do one in needle felted, which would be a fun challenge for me.

Later I can make a better back drop for the scene, I do have plenty of larger canvases. If you have the pattern or would like to purchase this one, you can redo them into larger sizes, even for hooking, I was thinking, larger pillows would be fun. You can find the link to the pattern in the left column, or my Ecrater site.

Last weekend was spent with the boys, which is always something I love, no matter what we do. We took them to the bird sanctuary which they loved, but even the short walk, wore them out, so we will have to take shorter walks for now. The beach is always their favorite, they got to play in the sand and a small playground, just their size.

I am also enjoying my back yard, I am adding more flowers on my deck and garden, and the trees are full and green, and two of the bird houses have residents, so it is my own little sanctuary. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, looks like we finally got away from the rain, so we can enjoy getting out, both days.

Friday Finishes!

This week I kept busy with some new projects. I started with a little hut style house. It is from Lin Wellford's painting houses book, so I basically followed her pattern and added some of my own touches. The roof on hers was done with wood putty to make it stand out, but I just painted mine.

Then I decided I wanted to make something quick and easy, so I did some ladybugs. She also has this pattern in one of her books. The large one is for the garden and the little ones are to hide, when we go hiking. Hopefully the boys will go out with us tomorrow and Nick loves to hide the rocks for me. I really don't hide them, I like people to see them as they walk along a trail.

I also finished a stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's one stitch club. It is not really a design I would use for display and I will be doing americana soon, so I kept it simple and put lavender inside, so I can use it as a sachet.

This week I have a lot of visitors. We put up some peanut butter suet and some cheap wire holders and the birds love it. Of course the squirrels and other critters are enjoying it too, so I won't be replacing them everyday. The other day I saw the guinea hens under the feeder and they had company. This guy is huge and he is all alone, not sure why, but someone said he is an older turkey, the beard which is hanging down in front, is long, which helps to tell their age. I learned something new.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I also wanted to let those who comment know, I do read and appreciate all of your comments, but I cannot always respond if they are no reply or email that I can respond to.

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.

Weekend finishes!

One good thing about Bill working weekends is, I get more things done. And I rather have him doing it now, when it is too cold out, then when it warms up.

I have a folder with Cheri's free patterns and this time I made a stitchery pillow with one of the designs and added lavender. I think it will make a nice gift for a friend who gardens. The finished size is 7" x 5".

I also wanted to make more bunnies, they are fun to make. This time I used wool, the brown shade is camel hair, so nice and soft, the blue is a wool that got felted, so nice and stiff. I also added a little heart, better colors for the boys if they want one.

I was working on my angel painting and the crackle did not work right and made a mess. I ordered the right type and made the mistake of putting over the bad finish, so now I will have to see if I can sand it down or wash it off, definitely not what I wanted, so hopefully I can fix it up a bit and I will show you the results on Friday.

The original free pattern can be found Here!

Friday Finishes?

It looks like another week of not enough time. With Nick here during the day, I have little time for myself and by the time they leave, I am catching up around the house and only have a few hours to stitch, but that is ok, I love having Nick and hopefully we can get on a better schedule.

I finished one more angel, from my old set and started a new one, which will be a pillow for me. I like making larger pillows to set on my chest and Moki loves them too, it is one of  his favorite spots to sleep.

I received two packages this week, I guess it was my lucky week, last week. I won Kathy Schmitz's giveaway on the One Stitch at a Time Club. I enjoyed spending my money and got a lot of wonderful patterns and a pack of threads and material to use for the club. She also sent me some additional prizes, bookmarks, gift cards, a banner pattern and an acorn pin. I felt like it was Christmas, she is so generous with his giveaways and special surprises for me.

I also won a bag from the Green Bag Lady. Not only did I get the beautiful floral print bag, I also got a bonus Christmas bag. I want to make my own, so this way I can use her pattern and see the finished bag, to help me out. I think it is a wonderful idea to use as a gift bag, then I can put gifts or a pillow inside the bag, instead of wrapping paper. I also think it is a nice idea for the cancer heart pillows, then they can carry their pillows and items in the bag, lots of possibilities.

He loves to help, we got a couple of daisy plants to get a start on the garden area. He also loved spraying Bean and Grandma, lol.

And or course Nick, he loves to play outside and that is fun if it is nice out. It is also more relaxing for me if he is playing in one place, instead of running around the house. We took him shopping and he wanted the wheel barrow set, he loved pushing it around the yard. Earlier this morning he and Grandpa where pushing their wheelbarrows around the yard, wish I had seen that, but Grandma slept in so she could have more energy;)

This and That Monday!

No sewing this weekend, mostly getting things done around the house and some shopping before Bill left for the week. I always like to make sure that I have everything that I need so I don't have to worry about going out, if I am down and since I am still resting my back, I have no desire to go out to shop.

My son came over for a Sunday cookout and I was able to download his photos from his phone. Most were ones I didn't want, but I got some nice shots of Nick and Alex, as well as some videos. I have been putting some videos that I take and a few from my son, on my YouTube Channel.

One of the things that happened while my son was there, was the baptism of Nick and Alex. We baptize children as a baby but she wanted to have it with her family, enough said;)

My son got a hotel to stay in while they were in the city, so they spent a week exploring the city. This is a great way to see the city and the mountains in the distance.

They also went to the zoo. Nick is with his cousins, Ivy's sister's kids. I met them while they were here, her sister and I got along wonderfully and her girls are adorable.

And here is a close up of Alex, he does look a bit like Billy in some ways. She is not coming home till the middle of September, so a long wait for grandma.

I haven't been able to work in the garden, just watering since this heat is not helping the new plants. Today it was full of birds, squirrels, a chipmunk and now a baby bunny. I notice a next in the back that had been ravaged, I think this one got away and now he is hiding in the thickets behind the trailer. He was not afraid of me, but then Bean wanted to see what I was doing and scared him away.

Today I got cleaning and laundry done, so hopefully I can get caught up on my BOM's and maybe a new project or two, this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.