Friday Finish!

 

As usual I am working on several projects and started a new one. Most are taking time, so I always like to have a smaller project to finish for the week. I found this design from Dearie Dolls, who seems to have disappeared from the web, but still has her blog with freebies.

I made this for the kids, so I wanted it to be fun. I am still trying to get the blue pen out, but once that is set, I will use glitter in the snowballs. It is still wet, so it looks discolored.

Last week we went for a ride and stumbled onto a ceremony at the Westerly cemetery. It was for an area that only had one grave and later it was found out that there were 172 people buried there. They had veterans from each era represented and this group did the 3 gun salute.

On the weekend we drove into Connecticut so I could get some fabric and then stopped at a park for a walk. Lots of birds along the river, most were far away or constantly moving, but I got a few decent shots.

After we drove to Eagle landing on the Connecticut river and I was surprised when I saw the nesting eagles, hanging out in the trees nearby.

The next day we went into Connecticut again to visit the fish hatchery. They have paths along the river and into fields, so a good place to walk and enjoy the birds. 

Today we went to Jamestown, a nice place for a walk and enjoy some beach time, Beans favorite. I caught this bird, hanging out on a rock. I hope everyone had a nice week and nice weather for this weekend. 

Friday Finishes!

 

The bad thing about being sick is, you can't get out to shop or the beach, so I am stuck at home. The good thing is, I have plenty of time to work on projects. It seems I have a good day and then downhill again, but at least my body is fighting. Having injuries adding to the mix,  doesn't help and hopefully I can get well enough to get checked out and fix my problems this winter, so I can get out and have fun when the weather gets nice again.

This week I started by finishing a needle felted piece. I saw a design on the web and wanted to try it. I didn't get the exact effect I wanted, but it came out pretty nice. I need to make a wooden board to mount it on or maybe find an old piece I can mount it on. The star came out too thick, wanted it thinner and less bold.

Then I made up some mini pillows to use up the balsam I bought. I gave some as gifts and Nick took a couple home, so the rest will go to neighbors and the milkman. 

The last piece is from The Stitch of the Month Club. I always need hot pads to put dishes on and this will be fun to use at Christmas. I seem to have gone a little wonky on one edge.

I hope everyone had a good week and not getting covered in too much snow. I am hoping to get out tomorrow to do a little stocking stuffer shopping for the boys. I have been shopping online but I want to get a little candy and small items to fill a stocking. I have one more quilt to finish, hopefully by Christmas and will have to put the printed nativity aside and finish that next year. It will be easier to put away without stuffing it, and I need to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner.

Friday Finish!

This has been one of those weeks. Having the kids over, wasn't a good idea, we got sicker. Bill tested positive for Covid, so I know I have it too. On top of that, I have been taking my Lyme meds to fight it off and I had a spell and found myself waking up on the floor, with lots of bumps and bruises. So, the bad thing is, I haven't been able to do much for Christmas packages or cards, but hoping to start those this weekend and get it all done. I was able to do some shopping and got most of the boys presents, so that will be something I won't have to worry about.

Another good thing is, I have more time to make things for me. I made up a pillow with another design in the book, Snow Happy. I used a dark tea stained fabric and off white floss, for something different. I have two prim pillows that needed something in between and this was perfect.

I also made a balsam pillow with a design by Robin, from Bird in the Hand Primitives. She offered the free design on her Facebook page.

Before we got too sick, we spent a few hours at the beach on Saturday. I was able to get some photos of the Great Blue Herons, 3 different groups have stopped on their way south, and haven't left yet.

And since I wasn't feeling great, I walked more and picked up less, but I was lucky enough to find a blue ball and a nice piece of pottery.

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying time during the holiday season.

Friday Finishes and Freebie!

I have been busy this week, finishing up things and now I am done with gift making. I will make more Christmas for fun, which I love doing at Christmas and I will have them for next year. I have tons of snowmen stitcheries that I can do. One thing I am thinking of is, making the larger ones into pocket pillows, so I can just send that and the recipient can put in their own pillow form. It will be easier to ship and less cost, what do you think? Would you be happy if you received just the pillow cover?

This week was the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, so I had to do that and have one more gift. I wasn't happy with the bright colors so I antiqued this one.

I also made the last of the snowmen pillows. I wish I had more to give, it seems everyone likes this one, especially my family members, but I will have to decide who gets one, since there is no more time to do more.

Another project I worked on was, my pillows I made last year. I never got a change to send them out and I decided I should add a touch of color. I used a red and gold trim, so it pops, but not in the photo.  I like how it looks on the square pillow better, the wonky one would have looked better with a bulky yarn to hide the bad shape.

And this week's freebie is by Diane Knott. I made mine more simple, in the penny style, but it is a fun idea to use with thick wools and small designs. We all have patterns that can be reduced and fit into a smaller circle, so it is a great project to use up leftover wools. You can find the pattern at her facebook page, with the link above. I over cut the scarf pieces, so they are not placed right.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and time to enjoy holiday making, without the stress. We did some early shopping for Bean. We got a new couch and I am retraining him, to stay off. He is not happy but he loves his new bed and gives him his own comfy space.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to make two items and one is a freebie. The freebie is offered by Michelle Palmer on her facebook page, Michelle Palmer Artist. She offers one each year, and I love this new one. It was fun to do and can be done in primitive wools or bright wools.

The stocking is about 9" tall. I think it makes a nice gift that you can add some candy to, or some lip balm, etc. You can find the pattern at the link above. You can see a little shading on his head and tail, I used walnut ink but it faded as it dried, so I can add a little more.

My next piece is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her One Stitch Club. I decided to do it in Christmas colors,  on a tea towel,  perfect for a gift.

This week I was able to get in a beach day. Bill has his laser surgery and a late appointment the next day, so we got in a  few hours at the beach. I got  quite a few nice treasures, that large chunk is an old green piece and the larger rock would make a nice shape to do a nativity scene.

Do you see that smaller dark piece above the green and yellow one?

Well, I got a nice surprise when I put it to the light and saw that it was a piece of red glass with a gold decoration on it.  I almost threw it away, thinking it was a piece of a new bottle.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and not snow bound. It is colder here, but it will be sunny.

Friday Finish!

I have decided it is time to get going on Christmas, it comes so quick and I am always rushing, so I am starting early. A friend gifted me an older book, Kindred Spirits Christmas. I love the older books and designs, they are prim, easy to work up and can be modified, if I want.

This one was a large stitchery, so I reduced it for a smaller pillow. It is 9" x 7", just the right size to set in a grouping or on a cupboard. I really love the design and think it would be fun in bright colors or with applique figures, so I may do another for people who don't do prim. The material on this one is a medium brown, but it is hard to see that in the photo, this one I may keep for me.

I also want to do at least one new thing each week, something I can make to give or hide in stores during the holiday. I loved doing this, it worked up quick and you can use felt, which is easy to get. I happened to win a batch, years ago, so now I can use the green bolt for these trees. If you like the idea of giving gifts to others, just to bring a smile, you can check out my facebook group; DSmiles4miles.

I didn't add a hanger yet, but I will add a tag with a saying and the group name. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we have one nice day and one rain day, so I plan on making the most of tomorrow and checking out areas, we missed last week.

The pattern for the trees and other free felt patterns can be found at Touch the Beauty.

Friday Freebie and Winner!

Thank you all for entering my contest, it was fun reading the comments and quips. The winner of a free pattern is Kim Budash! Congratulations Kim, you can pick any pattern from my E-Crater store and email me with your choice.

For everyone else, I thought I would offer my newest idea as a freebie. I wanted to try a technique with Press and Seal and I have been wanting to make something as a gift that I can give to members of our choir, especially the ones who sang at Dani's funeral and I thought this would be a wonderful gift for them.

As for the press and seal, I liked it in one way and not in others. I found sewing through it, hard with the larger needle that I use for pearl cotton. It stayed on but the lettering faded as I went and I used a black art pen on dark wool, so I am sure that didn't help either.

This is how it looked with the stitching on the Press and Seal.

It pulled off fairly, easily but then I had to get around those small letters, that was not easy. I pulled and the stitches pulled so it messed a few up. Then I realized it would be easier to clip as much as I could and that made it easier to pull out the pieces between the stitching. Once I got going, it went faster. I also messed up on some spacing, and I guess it shifted a bit, the design is not perfect and I had a hard time following lines with the chain stitch.

I took out some of the stitches on the wing and fixed it up a bit. I cut out a second piece of wool and a piece of batting cut smaller than the design and blanket stitched them together. Then I added some leaves and red balls. I used pearl cotton through the top and put the leaves on top of that.

This is how it came out. I am not thrilled with this one, the wings are a mess and I think the lettering needs to be lighter? You can also add a bell to the bottom, this one is rusty but I may use new ones for choir gifts. What I want to do is try another but make it neater and not so prim, as the gifts.

Here is the pattern I used, you may use it for yourself or as gifts. All I ask is, if you come up with a better look, please share. I really wanted to make something special and I think this is a wonderful idea as a gift so please share you pieces with us and better ideas to make nicer lettering.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, filled with joy and adventures.

The bell is 5 1/2" long, but you can make it as small or large as you want. I think this would be nice in a larger version to put on the wall.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend Bill had to work so I used the time to get caught up on my blocks from Buttermilk Basin. One block was a pumpkin and I decided to change mine to a turkey and pumpkin for Thanksgiving.

I kept the candy cane simple, but I did add some jingle bells, not sure if that is a good idea for a quilt and not sure how big the quilt will be, but I think it will be more for display than use or maybe I may end up gifting it, if I don't make a mess of it. I had fun with the mitten, added a few embellishments for fun. I am thinking about the sashings and border, maybe blue?

Here are all the blocks with the layout. I think I have some out of order, but I think this looks good, do you? The blocks are a bit larger than the original, so I will be cutting them down to size.

On the home front, I have been trying to get ready for Christmas, and with only two days left, I come down with a stomach flu, such is life. We are going to go with turkey again, that way Bill can do the cooking and I will do a few dishes, so I can get the house done and not over do it.

Ever since I was young, I have had a believe in Christmas wishes and miracles. Today I was granted two of my wishes, one was for a friend of my daughters who was coming home for Christmas and missed her flight, but today she made it home, so that made me happy. She was one of my daughter's best friends so it will be good to see her again.

The second wish was for my daughter's gravestone to be in by Christmas. Well, two days left and no word from the company. Bill called and they said it was there and ready to go in and when we got to the cemetery, the caretaker was just pulling up to pour the foundation. He told us that it will be ready to go on, Christmas Eve. What a wonderful Christmas present for us, yes Christmas wishes do happen.

I want to wish everyone A Merry Christmas and blessings to all who have followed me this past year, been there for me, during the good and bad times and lifted me up when I was low. May all your Christmas wishes come true!

Twelve Days of Christmas: My Day!

I hope you have been following the Twelve Days of Christmas, each day there is a new tutorial or free pattern that you can make, just in time for Christmas. Thank you to Wendy for hosting the hop and all of the ladies who are participating. You can follow along each day by clicking on the banner.

I love to work with wool and I know most of you, love wool as well. I also love doing pieces with inspirational words and I think Joy is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy my project and make one for yourselves to remember to keep Joy in your hearts, each and every day, this season.

I have given instructions, if anything seems confusing or you have a question, you can email me, anytime. The bells are about 5" long, but you can make them any size by enlarging or reducing the design.

This is  closer photo of the bells, the garland goes across my windows, with more bells and ties.

Have fun with the pattern, instructions are a guideline of how I made mine, but you can change it to suit your likes.

Instructions:

Materials:

Wool

floss

red berries (Beads, buttons or french knot.)

Rusty bell

2” styrofoam ball.

Red and green homespun 1/4” strips

Jute

Clothespins

Bells:

Cut out 3 bells, 3 bell backs, letters, candle, 2 leaves. Sew on the appliques with a blanket stitch.

Attach berries

Sew back and front with a blanket stitch, starting at the bottom and when you come around to the end, attach the bell with the same thread.

Balls:

Cut strips from the green homespun and wrap them around the styrofoam ball, until it is covered. Take a red piece and wrap it around the ball, twist around at the bottom and come around the opposite side, tie into a tight bow, leaving a few inches of the tail, to hang from the clothespin. 

You can buy pre-stained clothespins or soak them in walnut ink to age them. You can also have fun and paint them in christmas colors.

To make the garland, take a piece of homespun and a piece of jute and twist them together. Add  red ties if you like to fill in the spaces, and you can add larger rusty bells, as well. The length depends on how much you add to your garland and the size of your window, or area that you hang from.

Pattern Pieces:

Another fun thing to do for Christmas is baking treats that everyone will love. I have made these for years, they are great for parties and your guests who come to visit. They melt in your mouth and I haven't met anyone who didn't love them.

I hope you enjoyed visiting today and don't forget to follow along each day.

Finishes and Finds!

This weekend was busy, with Nick and the holidays, I didn't get much done in the sewing department. I had some designs cut out to make into pillows, but all I finished was the applique, so I need to finish more pillows and get them done this week. I am working on the instructions for the piece that I made for the Christmas Blog Hop, can you believe it starts tomorrow and my day is Friday. Be sure to visit and see what fun projects that the other girls are making.

A design by Primitive Gatherings. Of course I changed it and made it simpler, so the extra embroidery is not on mine.

We had a day off from Nick sitting, he is not a good child to take shopping, lol. We went to A Bee's Buzz which is a big barn full of antiques and primitives. They have booths so you never know what you will find.

I usually don't splurge but I don't have that many nice Christmas primitives and I want to redo things this year so when I saw this display, I had to have it. It is an antique drawer filled with toys around a decorated and lighted tree. I love the battery lights, I need to find some for my other small trees, so much easier than having to find a space with a plug.

I also started decorating today. I made the wool piece and the longer piece was made by my friend Karen.

I also loved this piece, something different and nice to have something to decorate the kitchen with.

My find of the day was this magazine rack. It is handmade and it was marked down to 15.00. It is a little warped at the bottom, but not that noticeable. I will use it in my sewing room, I can keep the books and patterns I am using or want to make, in it and save space by hanging it on the wall.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I have been decorating today, a bit bittersweet but I am determined to keep the magic and joy of Christmas in our home, it was Danielle's favorite holiday.

Friday Finishes!

I am still making pillows and it is fun to do new designs and with all of the blog hops this month, there were plenty to chose from.

The snowman design is by Kathi, from Heart to Hand. Kathi didn't have a blog so you had to email her for the pattern and it is wonderful and fun to make. You can now download the pattern, on her website. I only did one snowflake on mine since I wanted to keep the pillow size down. I used stuffing and balsam in this one.

Another design I have made before is the Christmas Angel by Pieces from my Heart. I reduced the design to fit on a little pillow. Balsam and stuffing in this pillow, as well.

I am working on the Christmas Hop piece so that will be finished this weekend, but you have to wait until December to see the reveal;) If you are looking for some free designs to do your own stitchery pillows, I found a french site that offers a lot of Christmas designs, some I have never seen before. Check them out at Cathy Creatif's.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be spending the day with Nicholas, so I am planning a fun party day with a special dinner and I even got him a present, a fisher price nativity set. He loves playing with my figurines so I thought this would be a fun gift for him and hopefully Bean won't try to eat it.

Friday Finishes!

I actually finished two items this week. I had so much fun making the first snowman, that I had to try another. I started out by using a drawing from a coloring book page, but then I messed up and had to redo things and change things and now he is, what he is.

I use a variety of roving, whatever I have on hand is what I use. Some is loose and harder to felt and others like the spongy type roving, work up quicker and they are easier to sculpt. I really messed up on his boots, the shape and position was not what was on the original, so I had to pull them off and redo them a bit smaller, but they still looked odd. So, I stared at it and thought, items would cover up the bad look, and the snowballs came into play.

I wanted to give him a shovel and I realized after, I forgot the handle, so I added a little topper handle, after I took the photo. The camera makes the roving look loose and fuzzy but it is tighter than it looks and some items are more like thick felt.

Here is a side view, you can see I sculpted the scarf. I felted the scarf before I put it on, then I did more sculpting, once it was on him.  This one may go to my sister, I have been making gifts one at a time, as thanks you, for those who helped us this year. It makes me much happier to make a gift and surprise someone than to sit down and write thank you notes.

I also finished another stitchery block, from Theodora Cleave. Two more to go and I will be making them into a quilt. I think it will be a fun spring quilt and I can use a floral print, with them, we shall see.

If you have not been receiving news or following Stacy's blog, Buttermilk Basin has started their Christmas blog hop, so don't forget to follow along. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be watching Nick again and Bill is working and our new bed is coming and I am not ready. 

Friday Finishes!

This week I finished two things, a stitchery block and the newest ornament of the month.

The ornament is offered by Attic Heirlooms and you can get it for free each month. This month was a candle and I kept it simple, but I may add something to it, later on. Maybe when Christmas buttons come back, I can find something fun to add to them.

The stitchery is a free pattern set, offered by Theodora Cleave. I really love working on these, the designs are fun and they just make me happy when I work on them. There are seven garden blocks, so once I am done, then I will decide a layout for them.

This week I have been looking at vacation places. We had planned on a vacation to celebrate our 40th anniversary, now I just want to get away and relax so trying to find something on the water, allows dogs and doesn't cost a fortune. I also like a nice kitchen and bed, I am not into dirty places;) So, at this rate, I may not find anything or if I do, it will be booked for that week. I have found some but it seems they never answer my emails, not too sure how good home away is?

Monday Finishes!

I was able to get in some sewing time this weekend and finished one piece, made another and started to finish a UFO.

The first piece is a design by Plumcute Designs. This was one of the free designs in the Buttermilk Basin spring hop. The original design is in a small hoop. I planned on putting mine on a wood heart, but the piece was too big for my heart. So, I went with a simple square pillow and added the saying.

I added a bumpy yarn by using  two strands and gathering it, as I went around to get a full decorative border. I added a cord so I could hang it on my peg rack at the top of the stairs.

This next piece is a free design from the Wool Applique group on Facebook. Trish from Attic Heirlooms is offering the designs and she also offers them on her website, but you have to get them during that month. I am making mine over sized because I will be hanging them on a line with clothespins, for a Christmas garland.

Another project that I have been wanting to do is a Christmas runner with blocks that my friend Lauri sent me. I finally got it into my head, how I should have sewed them to get them even, after I was finished, lol. I do not take things apart, so the uneven edges will stay;)

The middle section is white so I am trying to decide, if I quilt it, how should I quilt it and what design. I wanted to hand stitch it with black threads but not sure if i can do a nice design that way. Or, should I put an appliqué in that section? Would love suggestions.

I bought material to match it, but I wonder if it is too light? What do you think of the border fabric? It is more tan than the middle sections, but I plan on tea staining the piece, so the middle will be darker in the end. I hate to buy more fabric but I could also go with a dark red or green for the border?