Merry Christmas Finishes!

This week I took it easy and worked on some new projects. I just wanted some down time to make things for fun and not think about anything else. Last year I made a mitten with a pattern from The Teacher's Pet. This year I used the same pattern and made some punched ornaments and another felted ornament with a few changes.

I reduced the pattern to make the ornies, perfect size for my pencil tree. For the back I use a piece of wool. I like to keep them bright instead of staining, since I may regift them later and my sister who loves snowman has a tendency to buy my snowman pieces when she comes to visit.

I also made it in a felted version. I used a loose weave piece of wool and punched the snowman and hat. For the scarf, I felted in a bit to tack it on, then I did stitches to keep it from falling out. If I over felted it, it would fall apart, and I wanted a 3D effect. A few buttons and a felted cuff and it was all done.

We have snowy weather coming in and I am hoping it stays further north, since we are going to the kids. Just in case, I decided I better buy some extra food in case we get stuck at home. 

This is the house I grew up in, it was one of the original farm houses in the area. May the light of love  shine on you and your families and your home with blessings.

GIfts and Giveaways!

Today I got a wonderful package from a swap on our primitive quilt group. We went with a pouch this year and I was definitely spoiled by Jeni of The Willow. Jeni is one of the girls behind the new magazine, Primitive Quilts and Projects, my favorite magazine and the only one I subscribe to. There is always a few things I want to do in each issue and even if I only do two, I am still getting my money's worth in patterns and still lots of patterns I haven't had time to do, so it is a nice treasury of projects for the future.

As you can see, Jeni made me a lot of beautiful prim items. I love the bag and not only did she make the ornaments, she made up kits so I can make my own, so I have something to start for next years's gifts;) The kitty pattern is a punch needle penny rug and I had loved that when I saw it, she must have read my mind. I can't say enough, how much I love my goodies.

And the wonderful thing is,  you can make  your own gingerbread man with the free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects!

I also received some beautful Christmas cards with a gift inside. Nancy of Tom Miner Quilts and Folk Art, sent me a beautiful woolie ornament to hang on my prim tree. I love it and I love prim ornies that I can hang on the small trees. Mary of Quilt Hollow sent me a beautiful mug mat, the photo does not do it justice, her stitching is beautiful, I would hate to ruin it with spilled tea.

I also wanted to let you know about a contest being held by This-n-That fabrics. If you recall, I entered the fall challenge with my Gourdy's gang and won second place. Now you can enter their Christmas challenge by submitting your christmas quilts and wall hangings. There is no reason not to and you get a chance at winning a gift certificate. I would really love to see my followers enter the contest and win a wonderful prize, so visit their blog and submit your Christmas entry.

Christmas Quilt Finished!

First I want to thank all of you, that voted for me in the challenge at http://tnt512.blogspot.com. I came in second and was thrilled. I was practical and got a few packs of rotary blades, I will be doing lots of quilting in the next few months. I will show you the fabrics when I receive them. They are also running another giveaway this week, so be sure to visit and enter to win some fabulous fabric and a pattern.

Yesterday I finished my quilt, but I wanted to take an outdoor photo, so I waited. It didn't help, the photo still didn't come out nice. I think I need to take my camera in and see if it needs inside cleaning on the lens, the hazard of taking photos on the water;)

I hand quilted around the blocks and the sashing with black pearl cotton. I use the border as my binding, so when it is done, I fold the extra front, to the back and hand sew it down. This time I tried a tea stain, but it wasn't dark enough, so I added coffee and still didn't work. I finally added walnut crystals to the mix and a little vinegar and it came out just right. It primmed it up without over darkening the design.

The stitchery designs were all freebies from Tiffany of Primitive Blessings. Tiffany's designs are great for stitchery or punch needle, and great for gift ideas.

The quilt measures 25" x 19".

Here is a closer look at the blocks and stitching. I used black to keep it prim. The one difference I would make, would be to put the greenery around the saying, further out on the top block.

Christmas Quilt Top Finished!

First a reminder, the voting for The Awesome Autumn Challenge, ends soon, so if you haven't voted, please visit and leave your vote. They are also doing  a new giveaway, so just leave a comment to be entered into the newest giveaway.

Today I finished the top part of my quilt and then I sewed that to the bottom blocks. I went with a simple homespuns green with stars for the border. It matches nicely and has a soft touch, so fun to work with, since the border is also the binding.

For the top, I took a design and spread it out to fit in the space. Now I just need to add the batting and back and I will do a simple black stitch in the blocks and around the border I will probably go with a tan, so it shows up. I even sewed the newest piece, wonky, so it matches the rest;)

The designs are by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings, all free designs.

For those of you who are in the storm's path, stay safe. I plan on enjoying the nice weekend, before we get hit with the wind and rain.

Mini Christmas Quilt Progress!

I had big plans this weekend and we all know what happens to those, lol. I had not time to work on my projects and when I did, I kept getting interrupted. Today I was able to finish the punching on my newest piece, tomorrow I can finish it off. I also worked on my Christmas stitchery blocks. These are all free designs from Primitive Blessings. I wanted to try some mini blocks with mine and then I added a sashing to each. I just put them on, I didn't pay attention to what colors were going where, so it is hit or miss. Then I sewed them together and as you can see, they are all wonky, just like me;)

I sewed them together so I could measure out the top piece, which is what I am working on now. Once I put that on, I will add a solid border and do primitive quilting on the edges of each block and the borders.

The weather has been beautiful and I finally got out for a walk. My cold is finally letting up so I need to  get my lungs back in shape and walking in the fresh cool air, is perfect.

Today I found this site that has a Free Calendar. Forty artists got together and made designs, so you can go to the blog and pick the art work that you like to make your own calendar. It is free and once you pick your owl art,  you can download the calendar and print it out.

This pond is down the road, so it is the perfect place to walk and it is 3 miles around the pond, so perfect exercise for the fall.

New Stitcheries and Weekend Giveaway!

First of all, I want to thank all of you who helped to contribute to Kelley's fund for her friends. I am amazed at the generosity of those who helped in any way they can and it warms my heart to know that it will help a family who has been through so much. Not only did she reach her second goal, but it is still going up, the boys will be so surprised and it will take a little bit of the burden away from them as they make the transition of living without their mom.

I finally finished the next set of my stitcheries for my prim quilt group. We are using designs from Primitive Blessings and we are doing them in wools and stitchery, it is our choice and we redo them a bit to make them our own. I messed up a bit on these, but once I am done, I will use black stitching for the quilting and antique it, that hides most flaws;) The blocks are 6" with the sashing.

With the humidity and then rain, it is prime season for bugs. I found this guy on my screen tent, he makes a nice art piece.

And now for the giveaway contest. Yes, I am going to make you think and give me a funny;) There was a bird having a blast, taking a bath and chasing the others away, he thought it was his, but he left before I got back out with the camera. Once he was gone, the gang came back and had the bath all to themselves. Your job is to give me a funny saying for this photo or from one of the birds in the photo. The winner will win their choice of one of my epatterns or booklets. I will draw a name from the comments on this posting. The contest will run through sunday at midnight and I will announce the winner on my monday posting. You can choose my new one or if the winner would like, you can choose a new one that I am working on now. Hopefully I will be finished punching and have the pattern ready for monday.

So Many Blessings!

This month has been filled with wonderful giveaways and I have been the lucky recipient of a few. I wanted to share my wonderful prizes with you and the wonderful people who have made the giveaways possible. Winning such great prizes allows me to enjoy quilting and eventually make charity quilts with the money I save, I have been stocking up on batting.

One book I have always loved was Jacquelynne Steve's book, Fruitful Hands. I fell in love with the pineapple quilt, a simple but fun piece and something that would look great as a wall quilt for my dining room. The book also has recipes and patterns for quilts and smaller items that would make wonderful gifts. You can visit her blog, The Noble Wife for inspiration and she also has some wonderful freebies.

This is on my to do list. The giveaway was sponsored by Henry Glass Fabrics. If you love quality fabrics and giveaways, be sure to sign up for their blog.

Another giveaway was hosted by See How We Sew. I won the book "Quilting 101", by Sue Rasmussen. It is a wonderful reference guide for quilting and it is definitely something I need lol. I am always forgetting the basics and what types of needles to use for projects, so now I have a reference that I can refer to, as I quilt and things I can learn to do better.

And today I received another fun prize, something I can make for myself and as gifts for my friends. I was able to choose any pattern from Cath's Pennies. I have always loved her designs and not only does she make wonderful patterns, but she gives directions with photos on her blog to help  you in creating your own pieces. 

It was a tough decision, I love all of her designs, but this one is perfect as a gift too and I have gingerbread buttons, so they will be perfect for this design. You can see this and many more at her website, Cath's Pennies Designs.

Moki and a Mini Quilt!

I took this shot of moki, doing what Moki loves best, hanging out in his cat tree.
I put it next to the window and he sleeps there now and a perfect place to look out the back door and watch the world.

Our primitive quilt group is doing a BOM for 9 months and along with the moderator, we are redesigning some of Tiffany's free patterns. I started the first one as an appliqué piece, but changed my mind. I have wanted to do a mini stitchery piece and thought this would be perfect for it. I made my blocks 3 1/2" and the sashing will be an inch wide. It will be a fun piece to hang for next year. I also got some sad news about one of my sisters, there are 6 girls and 2 boys in my family. She found out that she has late stage breast cancer and because she has had bypass surgery, they have to be careful with her treatment. So, I have started a lap quilt to comfort her while she goes through treatment. I am using Jan pateks Emily quilt as a base, and will add a few of my own touches. I am hoping I can get it down by next week and mail it off to her as a surprise when she starts treatment. Hopefully I can work on it without messing up, since I will be rushing;) 

Gingerbreads, Baskets and Berries!

I have been decorating and that means, digging out old things and reinventing them.
I found this wooden box in a sale rack and it I decided it was perfect to add some greenery to. I picked up the garland after Christmas so a big savings and it is perfect to put in containers and then primp up boughs to fill it out. Then I decided to try some gingerbread men from a free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects. I traced the design out a bit smaller and wider and used wool to make the details. I used a coffee muslim and then stained them with java ink. My gingerbread men look as whacky as if I tried making real ones;) I have it sitting on an antique stool, but put it here for the photo. I had to lighten the photo, they are much darker in person. I will add some red berries when I find some more.

I also went shopping, sometimes we want something new or in this case, something old. I found this old basket in a consignment store. The original price had been marked down four times, so I got a good deal. It was perfect to sit on an empty chair and fill it with greenery. I used another garland and then cut some pine boughs from my neighbors yard;) Then I cut some red berries and added those, so it makes a nice grouping for the basket. And as you can see, Moki likes it too. Nothing like the smell of fresh pine;)

Gifts and Goodies

I am still being surprised by friends and today I received two more boxes and love being spoiled;)
I am behind on my daughter's piece, since she had to stay here a few days, while her car was being fixed and not sure if I can finish it by tomorrow night, will see.

One of the gifts this week was a late birthday present from my friend mimi. She hooked this piece for me and then mounted it on the base. It looks great on my bureau.



My friend lauri, Mizmaine sent me a wonderful box of goodies and here is one special present she sent me, an old sewing box, filled with goodies. Of course I took most of them out;)



One of the items in the box was a prim gingerbread, it was perfect for my candle box.



Then my friend Kelley, sent me another box, as if one wasn't enough. This one had some wonderful handmade goodies and this rug, she made for me. I love the colors, it fits perfect in my home.



And this tree is a find, that I got at a consignment store. I had to have this wonderful feather tree and next year I will make some real decorations to put on it;) I feel so blessed with my family and friends and my wishes that all who visit will be blessed this Christmas with family and Love.