Friday Finish!

 

This week I realized that my hoop idea wasn't going to work. The large hoop would go tight, so I had to come up with another idea. I looked online for ideas and found this one by The Old Tattered Flag. I have a larger frame, so I used the idea and on the part that I had punched, I laid a piece of batting on the frame, to keep the teeth from digging in. I was able to stretch the rest of the fabric on the teeth to hold it tight for punching. It will take me longer, but it works much better now and I will have more even loops.

Since I like to have something simple to work on at night, I made up a couple of stitcheries. These are from a larger design, by Kathy Schmitz,  that I have done and the smaller designs in it, work perfect for lavender sachets. The fabric is something I aged years ago.

This week has been hot and muggy, so not as much time outdoors. Last weekend we went for a ride around the beach areas and even though it was misting, went for a walk along the park path. The paths are dry and the views are always beautiful.

In the last photo you can see the marsh area. In the distance, an Osprey was eating his meal.  We like this area since we can go to several places along the route, to enjoy the views and the birds in the marsh. Lots of egrets this year and always fun to watch.

We tried a day at the beach on the island. The water is freezing, so I had no desire to go swimming. I walked up and down and enjoyed the cooler air. As you can see, we were the only ones left on the beach.

I hope you all had a good week and enjoy your weekend. We have rain tomorrow, so no outdoor fun till Sunday.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I decided to make something new for Valentines. I used an idea from an old Cheri Saffiote pattern with hearts and the hand appliqué. Her's had pieced hearts and I decided to just make up my own for appliqué. I also wanted something longer to fit on my hanging rack.

I added the words and the X's and O's for fun. I also used three old blocks that my friend Kelley, sent me. Using what I had and some fabrics from my scrap box.

We were able to enjoy some time on the beach, even though it was cold. I spotted a seal on the other end of the beach and was trying to move to the side and closer to get a good shot, but just as I got to a good spot, it dove into the water. I was able to get a few decent shots though.

I also spotted a Blizzard of Brants, which are in the geese family.

I took a few photos of the areas around the island. I never get bored of going there or enjoying the views. We also got some nice pieces of glass. The tide was at its lowest, but with the cold, it makes it hard to hunt too long.

I hope this finds you and your families well. The kids are doing fine now, so hopefully this new variant will die down soon. 

Friday Finish!

 

I hope everyone is enjoying some crafting time, now that the holidays have wound down. I have been reorganizing a bit and working on some new projects and getting some old ones together, to finish. I am going to try to do something new, along with something that needs finishing.

This piece spoke to me, It is from the book, Folk Art Favorites and I loved the saying, perfect for the times and valentines. The background fabric is a linen.

For an old project, I took the binding off my Noah's ark quilt. My husband decided to do wall work and got the plaster on the bottom edge. Luckily I had some of the fabric left, so I was able to piece it together for a new binding.

I think I will wait to redo the wall, before I put it up again. Once I get the Christmas things down, we can repaint the walls.

Here are some close up photos, to show some of the details.

We also had a chance to do some beach combing.  We were lucky enough to get to the beach at low tide before anyone else, so I found a few nice treasures.

I hope this post finds everyone well, it seems the new variants are spreading in every state. My son made the mistake of going out with a friend and he got sick and gave it to his wife. I have been sick myself this week, but fighting it off with meds. Today was a snow day and I enjoyed watching all of the birds coming to the feeders. Tomorrow I am hoping to get out for a bit and enjoy some snow scenes around our area.

Working on Weekend!

Not a lot got done this weekend. A bit of shopping, I found a Jan patek book at a thrift store and got some new, larger paint brushes to work on my angel. I also worked on a stitchery by Kathy Schmitz, it is one of the ones, I had picked out with my winnings.

It is a large one, so it is a nice project to work on a bit at a time and keep my hands busy. I am keeping the colors simple, so I am working in sections and deciding on some, after I do the rest, so I can keep it balanced.

We also went to the beach one day, caught it at low tide, so I was able to gather up some more rocks for my collection. I think I have enough now, time to try some pieces.

On Sunday we did another drive and watched a fishing boat come in, then hit the rocky beach for more rocks, but I realized most were rough and not the type I wanted. The ones on the steep sandy beaches are like being in a rock tumbler, they are smoothed by the sands, so perfect for little art pieces.

The seagulls were following the boat in, they know they will be treated when the fishermen throw their excess fish, over the sides.

Today was cleaning day, I would have rather been painting and creating, but it has to be done.

Friday Finishes and Foibles!

This week I finished my quilted piece. It is a pattern called Live Simply by Cheri Saffiote.
I changed mine to three panels, leaving out the house block. I used walnut ink to antique it and it seems to have settled more in some places, but I like how it came out. It gives it a true stained look, totally unplanned.

I hand quilted it with floss and for the middle sashings, I added my own quilt design. I drew it on with washable marker so it is not perfect, but it was fun doing my own design to match the piece.

Since my daughter bought home new germs for me, I have been out of commission this week. I wanted something fun to do today, so I could sit and rest and decided to make a set of hearts to hang on my homespun garland. What I forgot about is, when you draw the design onto the backing, you need to reverse the letters, duh to me. Luckily the heart and V are fine, so I will redo the other two. I made them  like a crazy quilt and then filling them in with scraps from my floss box. It is something fun and easy to do and can be done quickly. You are welcome to copy the idea to make your own. You can also keep them simple and use up your scrap floss in a hit or miss version.

Free Valentines and Projects!

This week I wanted to make something to add to my tree, but I am limited on time and wanted something quick and easy. I searched the web and found a wonderful place with free printables that you can use on a tree or just to decorate. I was also looking at her vintage cards that you can stand on a shelf, might print those out, this weekend.

I printed my designs out on card stock so they would be stiff enough to hang and the aged card stock gives the prints, more of an aged look, instead of using white.

I also printed out some by accident with regular paper, since I forgot to put a piece of card stock in. I used the paper hearts for the back of my hearts and just used a stick glue to put them together. I used a piece of black floss and made a hanger by threading it through the middle. Simple project to do while you watch tv.

I changed my kitty doll with the one dressed in red, to match the setting, better.

My camera was acting up again so I took a photo without the flash. It yellowed the photo, but the valentines are that color in person. I reduced the sizes of the hearts and the envelope to fit my tree. I used the hearts with flowers and the one with writing on it. You can find the designs for these and a lot more at Wings of Whimsy.

Another thing I wanted to try was, dying velvet. I read about dying velvet online and it all depends on what type  you have. I have no idea what type I had, but I assumed it was not natural fibers and I was right, it took the Rit Dye. The bad thing was, I used brown and without thinking, put the red piece in with the others, so the dye bath turned reddish brown.

The original colors I used were, bright red, tan and white. The red got darker and has a nicer mottled look, the tan turned browner and the white is a pinkish brown. Next time I will have to try it without the red. I like how it comes out, after washing and drying, gives it a nice aged look.

And I am also working on a new project. I wanted something simple that I could use for Valentines and spring and decided to use a pattern by Quilts by Cheri, called Live Simply. This is one of  her older patterns and there is a fourth block, but I decided to do three and make a longer piece for my wall. Once I finish the stitchery, I can put them together.

My camera flash decided to go wonky and for some reason when I take a shot, facing down, my lens starts moving on its own, so I guess it needs to go to a shop and see what is wrong and maybe get a good cleaning.

I am also using washable, one sided, fusible to see how I like it. I will talk more about what I do and don't like, after I finish the piece and my brain is working again;) I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Blackbird Sings Stitchery!

I finally finished my blackbird stitchery, design by Kathy Schmitz. It was really fun to do but it is harder to do the large designs and keep them straight since my light box is not that big, so I had to trace it on my glass door.

I changed a few things, the berries were stitched, but I used wool. I also added a little stitching in the middle and the outside to tack it to the backing. It was way too bright for me, so I had to antique it, lol. The blues are not so bright, but hard to get all of the colors to show up nicely with a flash.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! Bill has to work, so it might be a good day to get the baby quilt done. I was about to finish it and realized I didn't have anything that was big enough for the back and I wanted a nice solid piece for this. I got a nice flannel that is cream with splotches of pale yellow, so perfect for the backing.

I kept this photo larger so you can see the details, not sure if blogger allows large anymore. It seems they keep changing my photo options. The border has also been changed, instead of a larger border, I made mine smaller so it is a combination border/binding.