Friday finish!

 

This week I decided to try something new with braiding, a heart wall hanging. I used scraps of fabrics and a one inch strip, since I wanted to make small ones. Well, I made my starter piece too large, so it came out larger and longer than I wanted, but I still like it. Since it was bigger, I added a stitched word and a bow for fun. I enjoy braiding and rag braids are easier, since I just tear the fabric and make a slit to attach the pieces. A great relaxing craft, while watching tv.

The colors are off but the bow is the red in the heart.

I also finished one panel of my Christmas quilt. Even with lines, I am still wonky. Hard to work on a long piece, so it takes longer than a regular block. I also need more space on the couch, so I can only work on it when my husband goes to bed. The yellows are not as bright as they look in the photo.

We got out for a ride last week. As always, I enjoy the ride and ocean areas, as well as catching a few birds along the way.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and doesn't get too snowed in. They are predicting up to 8" in our area. Tomorrow we will get out during the day, before it hits.

Final Finish

 This week I have been getting ready for our trip, so not a lot got done in my craft room. I did finish the stitchery and made it into a wall hanging. I added some buttons and an outer stitch and hopefully the recipient will love it. 

Today was cooking, I made corn bread and a big pot of thick soup. I call it a cross between minestrone and  Pasta Fagioli. I make mine with beef and it makes its own broth and then I use petite chopped tomatoes, which I chop a bit more, before I add it.  For vegetables I use frozen mixed veggies, white beans, onion and garlic, so hearty and healthy meal for cooler days.

The weather is horrible, rain this weekend, but Sunday should be better and then a few nice days. It may rain at the end of the week, so it will depend on how bad it gets, and whether I stay all week. Hopefully we can enjoy time outside, paddling and biking. That is the one good thing, cooler weather means I have more energy to do things. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Working on Friday!

 

Not much going on this week. It has been so hot, that we have been staying home and out of the sun. On weekends, the beaches are so crowded, that it isn't worth going. One more day of heat and the weather will be better, so we can get out more.

I have been working on a new project. It is a design by Cheri Saffiote and I got it from the group, Quilts by Cheri on Facebook. I wanted something quick to work on, that I can use now and this was the perfect piece. It is actually a pillow, but I am making it into a wall hanging. With it being so hot, smaller projects are best.

I have also been practicing on my new machine. Free motion is something I need to practice to get the right speed. I am waiting on a table to fit it, so that should make it easier. I also like the idea of doing machine appliqué for kid's quilts and modern ones for the family.

I hope you all have a nice weekend. This seems to be the worst summer, lots of rain, then smoke, now high heat and humidity. Hopefully next month will bring better weather for all of us.

Friday Finish!

 

I finally took the time to finish my Christmas quilt. The design is by Cheri Saffiote. I really enjoyed making this one and it will be fun to have more Christmas pieces to hang around the house. 

We try and get out when we can, it is either too hot or raining. One day I heard a screeching in the back field, so went out to investigate. I found this Red-tailed hawk, high in a tree, who seemed to be calling to its mom. I am still hearing it back there, so hoping it is just a noisy juvenile and mom is around somewhere.

We enjoyed days at the island, it is the quietest beach and I can swim, collect glass and watch the birds. I was finally able to see the new Osprey's in the nest, but the minute I got out of the car, mom started screeching and the babies ducked down. A couple were peaking out to see what mom was yelling at.

Later I went around to the side harbor and was able to catch them, from there.  This nest usually has 3 each year.

I also caught a Catbird who was singing along, next to the pavilion that was having a party with music.

The bay is the perfect place to spend the afternoon, even with the heat, the fresher air is always nice on humid days. A lot of boaters are out now and I saw this boat coming in, love the sails. I hope you all had a good week and not in areas with the bad floods. 

Friday Finish!

 

Another week has zipped by, but I was able to find time to finish my Christmas stocking quilt. I used pearl cotton to do simple quilting around the blocks and stockings. This is one I will use on the couch and let the boys use, so I kept it simple and durable with the heavier block fabric. It was a great way to use older fabric and scraps.

We got out for a bike ride on Saturday. We rode up to the town of Bolton in Connecticut and rode the rail trail from the park, to the town of Vernon. It was a nice ride through forests, past a pond and into the town of Vernon, a stop on the old railroad. 

On Sunday we stayed closer to home, rain was headed our way and I wanted to go hiking before it came. We hiked around a pond, where the foliage was coming in nicely and along the river.

We hiked along the bike path and old railroad bridge.

And we ended up in the fields, surrounded by amazing fall colors, and back to the pond.

We were getting ready to leave when I spotted a white spot in the trees, across the pond. What a nice end to the day, I was able to get a shot of the eagle just as it started to rain.

Unfortunately Bill and I woke up on Monday with a flu or bug, but we are fine now. Another nice weekend ahead and hopefully more adventures to be had. At home I enjoy watching all the new visitors who have come to stay for winter. This Blue Jay was nice enough to sit and pose for a photo.

May your weekend be filled with blessings and joy.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I worked on a new project from Cheri Saffiote, offered on her group, as a freebie.  The group is a wonderful way to remember Cheri and keep her memory alive. This week we lost another fellow designer, Sandra Caldwell. It seems we have lost a lot of designers and good friends over the last few years.

The original design has a pieced backing, but I had some old blocks that a friend gifted me, so I used those. One block has the saying inside, so I made a separate piece and sewed that on. It was fun to make and I may make more with the original design. I am thinking I may do hot pads as gifts for my family members, with designs to fit their likes and my brother and one sister, loves chickens.

I made these for myself, so I didn't mind if they were a bit wonky.

The weather has been all over the place, but we get out when we can, even on cool days. Last weekend we visited Moonstone beach. It is a long stretch of beach so we only did the area where the pond and birding was.

I spied quite a few birds in the dunes around the pond. most are shy so I had to take quick shots. A Sony Sparrow, Greater Egret and a Kingfisher.

On the walk back, I almost walked into these guys. They blend into their surroundings, which is why the beach is closed this month. The Piping Plovers are nesting there, so they keep it protected. The bird with the shorter beak is a Sanderling and the longer beak is a Dunlin.

And lots of interesting things left on the beach, not sure if they washed up or kids left them, but someone has piled them up so the ocean doesn't wash them away.

Along the rode we go, to get there, we happened to see two swans and stopped to see what else was at the pond. That is when I noticed the nest, looks like there will be some new swans this spring. Hopefully I can be in the area when they are born.

We stopped at another beach area to see if the Ospreys were back, and they were. The male was gathering sticks to add to the nest. He would hand them to the female who would decide where it went. This nest is double in size since I last saw it, they have been busy.

It seems Sunday is always the rainy day, but we were able to get some time in, at the beach. I never get tired of the different views since it is surrounded by water on three sides. The island where the lighthouse sits was an old fort and I spent a lot of summers with my family, taking the boat across for a picnic and exploring the island.

Beach combing seems to have dwindled lately, but still fun to look and get a good walk in. I hope everyone had a good week and can enjoy the weekend. It looks like we have another rainy Sunday.

Friday finish and Fotos!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. It was not with family for most of us, but we can still treat ourselves. For me it was Clam chowder and Clam cakes. I made enough for an army, but we enjoyed the leftovers.

This is how mine came out. I follow recipes but change them up to fit my diet. I do not. use spices in my chowder, but I do use salt pork, you have to have that. I also use twice the amount of clams, I like a thick chowder and cakes full of clams.

During the week I worked on finishing my challenge piece for the groups, Quilts by Cheri. We were given the dimensions and sizes for the background, then told to use baskets from her older patterns and make them into something new for ourselves. This is what I came up with and it fits perfectly on a side table I have in the guest room.

On Saturday we went for a short ride around town. It was nice to just get out and we spotted two osprey nests. One I will have to go back to, so I can get close ups, when they are in the nest.

Sunday was another drive to the ocean. We took the side roads and spotted two more nests in the salt marshes. One was closer, but she was not happy that I walked through the bush to get closer.

Today we took a drive, but Bean came and that made it hard to get out for walks, since all the places we found said, no dogs allowed. We did find a new boat launch, hidden behind some houses. It was really beautiful and quiet, but mostly marsh.

There was a bridge you could walk on, the problem, I didn't realized that where Bill is, is in Rhode Island, another step and you are in Connecticut, so I accidentally crossed the state line. And if that wasn't bad enough, I wanted to get a photo of a cardinal in the tree, on the other side. There was a big pile of mud at the end of the bridge, so I stepped on it to see if it was solid. Well, it was not solid and that was when I saw the actually color underneath, it was cow manure, lol. The farmer put it there to keep people from coming onto his land, and I was the idiot who stepped in it.

Further up river there was an abandoned mill, so we drove around and stayed on the RI side to get photos. I was surprised to see so many Double Crested Cormorants along the river, I guess they decided fishing in the river was easier than the ocean. These two are a funny looking pair.

Our final destination was an old cemetery along the larger part of the river, but it was windy and cold and no dogs allowed. It is one of those places that you can walk in, for hours, so we will go back on a nice day without Bean. We were treated to another nest along the river, this one was built on a large crane, so I guess they won't be using that, for awhile.

I hope you all have a nice weekend. We are expecting some rain and cold so I am not sure if we can get out tomorrow, maybe a ride around the island to see what is open for walks and the views. Bill is on 4 day shifts now, so he goes back in on Sunday, then he gets four days off, just wish he got the nice days off. Be safe and find joy in the simple things in your area.

Friday Finish!

Years ago, my friend Kelley, With Hook and Needle,  sent me some quilt tops and I finally finished one. She wanted me to have some tops that I could practice on my new machine, but this one just screamed, hand stitching. She hand pieced the entire quilt, it needed the same hand work for finishing.

I wanted to try something different and easier to see how it worked, so I put on the backing and hand quilted the flying geese blocks and around the borders. Once that was done, I put on the back and did tacks, down the strips, in-between the flying geese. That way I tacked down the backing without over quilting the back. I will be using it and it makes it a lot smoother and softer on the skin. I used a thin striped brown, homespun for the back, so it is nice to lay under.

I don't think it is the best way to quilt, but it worked and I didn't have to worry about pinning or puckering, if I did. I finished it off with a black edge.

I love how it came out, it is more prim in person, just fits the bed, so not sure how much it will shrink when I wash it. The top has been washed, but not the backing. I realize I should have washed both, to avoid puckering when the new materials shrink.

I laid it across the couch, it will be nice to hang on my railing too.

A little closer look. I had to use my wide angle to get it all in, so not the best shots. The bed is extra long, so this longer quilt was a nice size for it and will be nice for the summer. I used black pearl cotton, #12 on it, I like the heavier thread for doing prim quilts.

The turkeys decided to come through our yard, and I wanted to get a photo of the babies. Of course the babies started walking off, but the parents wanted to grab the goodies that fell out of the bird feeder.

And I didn't realize Bean had come out with me and the minute he saw them out there, he opened the gate and running after them. The babies got  upset and  you can see one as he is flying up to the fence. The rest followed and then the parents were stuck, so they flew the other way and went across the street. I could hear the babies calling to the parents and eventually they came back, but walked through the neighbors  yard, I don't think they will be visiting any time soon.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday finishes!

This week I found a free pattern and of course I had to try it. It is a design by a site called Imanufatti. It is in a foreign language, but her instructions and pattern are easy to follow. She has a lot of other tutorials, I will have to check out the rest of her blog when I have a chance.

These would be fun to make up for bowl fillers, to give away or the kids. I made a couple up in a day. I also took the pattern and made it into one shape, instead of separate ears and tail. I was thinking of doing a few more for the boys with a little heart, instead of flowers.

I used a piece of old felt that I had over dyed with yellow. It has a nice mottled and fluffy feel, since I washed it a few times.

I also finished 8 more blocks for my Christmas stocking quilt. If I add three more to the side, it measures 35" x 54". I will pick three new colors for variety and then sew them together. That way I can see how the size fits and how much more I need to add. I don't plan on making a border, just a regular binding on this one. I want it to hang over a rail or couch and still be used, so big enough to be a large lap quilt.

This is such a fun quilt to do, great way to use up scraps and it works up quickly. I am still debating on wether to machine or hand quilt it. Something simple and maybe a good project to take camping, I find hand quilting, very relaxing.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Bill has to work again and it is going to be cold, so I am hoping my crackle comes in tomorrow and I can finish my angel painting.

Friday Finish and Works!

This week Kathy Schmitz gave us an extra, free pattern for those who are in the club. She had made it up for the club and realized we would like to make it now. It was a fun pattern and worked up in a day, I think I might make more. Actually I wanted to make a boy bunny and she gave me permission to redo it as a boy, but I found one of my old patterns and made a couple to work on this weekend. I think it will be fun to make little cut out bunnies for the boys.

Not thrilled with my finish, so I may do two more, a boy and a girl in the method she used, as bowl fillers or shelf sitters. I used my Faber Castell art marker for the yellow and for the pink, I used my watercolor pencil. I was worried about it running, but I just dabbed my brush in the water, then dabbed it on a paper towel and it blended the color without going out of the lines.

I also made up some more stocking blocks. They are fun to do and I know I can actually put this together and finish it, so a good project to get me back into quilting. I am not sure on the middle stocking, maybe too bright, it is a gray check and my sewing skills were lacking this week;)

And I have been playing with my beach finds. I like trying them on different backgrounds and taking a photo to see how I like it. This way I can keep playing, until I get the look I want. I do like how it looks on the patterned paper, but I think the blue is too dark, so I will have to look for some lighter barn wood papers.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have nice weather and of course Bill has to work over time, so no beach combing. I think I need a break and it will be nice to relax and work on my projects. The angel and dog wings are brown sea glass, that we found last weekend.

Friday's Progress

This week I had big plans, one of them being, painting my angel. But, on Tuesday I went to the store and started feeling off and by the time I got home, I realized I had the flu, ugh. So, I took my med and even though I had the flu, it has lessoned the symptoms, but my energy l level was at an all time low. Today I finally felt good enough to get some things done.

One thing I did do, was to prep some stocking blocks and I made up six more, something to keep my hands busy while I rested. Today I added the sashing to see how they looked. Unfortunately I cannot get a good photo, some colors washed out and the red sashing looks too bright. It is not an exact match, but more prim than it looks in the photo. I want to use what I have, and I like the idea of a pop of red.

This is what I have so far, I wanted to see how they look together. Now I need to add some new colors, definitely some golds. Once I have a few more extra colors, I can start sewing them together and build it up. I want it to be big enough to use.

Once it is sewed together, I can hang it somewhere with better light. The blocks are 10' x 7 1/2', and the sashing is 2". I use a 1/4" seam when sewing, so a bit smaller when sewn.

One thing I got while shopping, a new cabinet for my beach room. I realized my wall shelf didn't have enough space to hold my paints, so now I have plenty of room for paints and other items. Bill is building me a long cubby stand to put it on, then I will put my white washed crates in that. I couldn't attach it to the wall and reach the shelves, so this way it will be off the floor but not too high.

I had found some more old slides and this one bought back wonderful memories. Next month, Billy will be 36, doesn't seem that long since he was the little boy I remember. Tomorrow is going to be nice, so hoping to get out with Nick.

"Billy Goats"

Friday Finish!

This week I made a new piece with a free design by Cheri, from her Facebook group, Quilts by Cheri, friendship group. The original is done differently, and I wanted something simpler, so I kept the design on one piece and did it as a pillow.

The finished design is 9" x 12". I made up a drawing of my version and you can find it in the files section, as well as, numerous old designs and new ones that Cheri has shared with the group.

I also had a gift certificate to the Quilted Crow, and I finally used it. It only took a few months to make up my mind. I got Wool & Needle flannels to add to my collection. I have a pack of fat quarters that was gifted to me, then I got some yardage but I needed some lights to balance it all out. Now I am ready to plan a quilt with them. I also got some extra Seasonal Gatherings birds, have used all that I had and love using it in Christmas pieces. The check it to go with the sailor piece, that a friend sent me, it will be used as a border for a quilt in my beach room. And I treated myself to a couple of patterns, one for the beach room and the preprinted stitcheries I got as a treat since I loved seeing the ones done up and want to make some of my own.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have weather coming in, so not sure if I will get beach time.