Happy New Year!

 

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday week. We do not celebrate the new year, just another day for me. I just live for the day, trying to find joy in the moments and keeping busy. I also got a request for masks, 22 of them. I prefer to do a few at a time, it is rough on my arms, lots of cutting and sewing with the 3D masks, but I do like making them. I just wish there was an easier way so I could make more. I see so many people selling masks that do not fit properly and made with thin materials, and they charge more. 

These masks are going to a vet office, that my Niece works at. I made three styles so they can pick the ones they like.

Bill and I have been getting out when we can. The weather is colder and we get rain, but some days are nice enough to do a little exploring.

And we took the boys out,  to the lighthouse. 

It took about five minutes before they decided it as too cold, as you can see from this photo. We headed back to our house and all Nick wanted, was to jump in the hot tub, lol.

Today we got out for another ride and ended up going for a short hike. It was cold but nice to get out and get some exercise.

Along the ride we passed a lot of farms and quite a few Red Tailed Hawks.

And lots of old barns, most were falling down. 

We ended our ride at a pond, where the eagles hang out. We were lucky enough to spot them, but too far away and it was getting dark so I couldn't get a decent photo, but it was still nice to see them.

I hope you can get out and explore in your area, you never know what you will find.

Weekend Wandering and a Finish!

I actually got some sewing time in, this weekend, and I spent a little time working on my painting. I realized I was trying too hard and the little painting is not a good size for the tutorial, so at this point, I am just going to paint it and finish it, then work on the large one with the video tutorial.

I did get to finish my piece for the One Stitch at a Time Club. I love doing the monthly piece, they are wonderful designs and work up quickly. I made mine with lavender so I can place it with my wools to keep the moths away.

I realized when I looked at the photo, that I missed a few pieces of two leaves, duh to me. I can go back in and fix that. I pull the thread through from the side seam and that way it goes in and stays put with the knot.

The green and yellow threads are Cosmo threads, that I ordered with my winnings. I got patterns, but I wanted to try the threads. I have to admit, they are wonderful to work with and I am getting tired of my DMC, twisting and catching and having to pull out and fix them. It seems the quality has gone down, do others notice that?

This weekend we got out for a bit and enjoyed a visit to the island and hit our usual parks for some short walks. We enjoyed views from the cliffs, the boats are starting to come out on the weekends.

We did a little cliff climbing to enjoy the solitude and views in a hidden area.

Of course we had to take Bean to the other side, for a play on the beach. It was high tide so we stayed in one area and let him play, while I looked for sea glass and heart rocks, much better to find it at low tide. The cormorants were hanging out at the rocks.

We had the kids over for Mother's day. Bill did the cooking and Billy surprised me with a new light pad. I have been wanting a new one and this one is large and skinny, perfect for my new patterns. I already have two done on backing that I can work on this week. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I stole this photo off of amazon, it is a 20" long, great for those oversized patterns. It is a huron, adjustable light. I am not sure if it really has more light than my old one though, I still have areas that are harder to see but I may be doing something wrong, will have to test it more with different fabrics.

Friday not-Finish!

I have been working all week on my new piece and as I worked it, colors were not working with each other. Some were too bold, some are too close in hue, so they got lost. So, I started changing colors and changing colors, over and over and now the backing is getting to the point where they threads are not holding properly, so I think I am going to have to start over.

I made it larger and used 6 strands, so I may reduce it and use a mix of 6 and 3 strand, as well as valdani where I can. I had an idea in my head and it just isn't working the way I wanted. The original sea was a mix of blues and greens, a nice look but the colors around it got lost, so it is a choice of changing the sea to a lighter color or making items like the fence a lighter color to go against the darker sea. The cliff is a mess now, I was trying to outline with a black and lost track of where the rocks had crevices, so it is a mess now.

This is how it looks now, I might save this and use some art pens to add some detail and fix things, then I can give it to someone who doesn't care if it is perfect, lol. I also plan on making it into a nautical pillow with a saying and a matching stitchery, wall hanging, so it will be another week to work it all up and get the pattern ready.

Another thing is the position, I think I like the back better, going the other way, just seems to work better but I may change a few things, so I better get to work. Bill has to work the weekend, so I can work on the pieces, though I rather be at the beach;)

The design is called Sailor's Sanctuary and will include a saying.

I decided to give up this afternoon, it was making me nuts, the new changes looked horrible with the light sea, it does have to all come out and I don't know if the backing can take it. So, what to do instead, organize my floss. It is a mess, I have to use floss with numbers for the color charts which usually means new floss and then I make more mess with lose floss, so time to organize it and keep it organized so I can use what I have.

I used card stock and cut strips with my paper cutter. I wrote the numbers on ones I had and the others can go into a hit or miss project. I cut a little slit on the side and top so I could keep the threads from coming lose. For now it is in a box, then I can put it in a more organized box by colors. Easy way to store the thread and a lot cheaper than buying floss cards.

And for fun, here is Izzy, Bald but Beautiful, haha. She is such a conceited cat. The good thing is, she has not puked since she got the cut, so it is well worth it. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will take it easy and work on the stitchery and give my brain a break as I work out the details to better my design, maybe it is time to use my watercolors to do designs first, so I can make better color choices.

Weekend Wanderings!

The rain finally stopped and we were able to get out Sunday and go for a nice walk. We were heading to the lighthouse but I decided to go to Fort Getty which was an old fort in World War II and now it is a park and camping area.

Usually we just go in and drive around and enjoy the views but this time we parked at the entrance and found a wonderful path that went along the cliffs on one side and a bird sanctuary on the other. We went down to the beach area first and I found this little hidden entrance to the other side.

On the other side was another small beach, surrounded by the cliffs and a nice place to enjoy the views and let Bean play. There was a huge dark cloud coming our way and the sun was beaming through, one of those moments that seems awe inspiring.

We headed back up and walked along the cliffs, but it got a bit narrow and I have no desire to fall down a cliff, so we found a path that took us above the cliffs.

The walk goes around to the campground and docks. You can launch boats here, a future paddle for us someday. The lighthouse is on Dutch Island. It is a park now and you can paddle over and camp there, but when we were young, we had a boat and would spend the day on the island and have a picnic on the beach.

We were able to walk along the beaches on the other side and Bean played with some labs who were going for a swim. On the opposite side is the bird sanctuary, I spied this guy feasting on a clam.

Coming back we went back up the hill through the campground, which is closed now. At the top of the hill are where the forts once stood, now you can see remnants of what is left and most have been caved in and covered to keep people from getting hurt in them. This is the entrance to once bunker, a bit too creepy and dirty for me to go inside.

The men would keep watch in here through the slits on the other side. In those days they were afraid the enemy would come up the bay and attack.  During the war, the island was flat so there were no trees in the way.

And my special gift for mother's day was a heart rock. Bill was searching all over the rocks for a heart rock and I said, don't look, the right rock will be there when you see it and there on the sand was a heart rock for me. It was the perfect way to spend the day and know that Danielle was with me in spirit. I hope everyone had a wonderful day.