Friday Finish and weekly friends!

 

This week I finished a piece I was working on, a design by Cheri Saffiote. It is fun to do Christmas throughout the year and I will have lots of gifts for next year. I do plan on selling some things this year, so I need to organize what I have and what will sell.

This piece was done with colored pencils and DMC floss, then I used a bit of glitter floss in each design element to add a pop. I am not sure what the black line by the glove is, but it doesn't belong.

And what is not showing is the edging along the outer border. I did a feather stitch in red and love how it looks on the piece.

Last weekend we took a drive to the ocean and sat at the breakaway. Of course the seagulls were abundant, there are several restaurants in the area, so lots of scraps. They are the same seagull, the darker one is the younger one.

And I always have fun watching the common Eiders, they are great fishermen. The female has a catch and the males are white and black, the other is the younger male.

And we got to watch the seal as it swam in, as the tide was going out. Someday I will get a close up of some seals.

And another thing to enjoy on the docks is, boats, and ferries. Someday I would love to do some art pieces of the fishing boats. I cheated and added a blue sky, not much sun lately.

On the way home, I spotted a few hawks. Bill drives and I saw Hawk and sometimes he actually hears me and stops, lol. This guy was closer, but when I opened the window to shoot, he took off, so I was able to catch him further in the field, high up in a tree. This is a Red Shouldered Hawk.

No sun but lots of snow lately and more today. I enjoy seeing all the birds who come in the snow, they seem to be more active when it is snowing.

And a few sit in the trees, too shy to come to the feeder when I am around. The chickadees are the friendliest, they sit and chatter at me.

And a visitor who is not allowed on the porch, but I let him sit for a photo. I have food in the other feeders that they are allowed to have, but they know there are peanuts upstairs.

And last but not least, time with the boys. Mom and dad were car shopping so the boys spent the day with us. Too cold to go out, so we had fun playing at home. Of course Bean wanted everyone to play with him, he is such an attention hog.

I hope you all had a good week and staying warm. It won't be long before Spring is here, I can't wait.

Friday finish and Freebie!

I hope everyone is done with their holiday shopping and can enjoy some time to relax and enjoy the holidays. We will have the kids over on Christmas Eve, so dinner and gift giving, then on Christmas Day we go to their house. I always save a present for the boys and I will have a little something for guests. 

This week I wanted to try something new, a cookie cutter gingerbread boy. The first one I kept simple and the second one, I added a fun outfit and bells. I love doing these and I think it would be fun to make more as gifts for next year and make them in different styles to fit the person, who gets them.

Another item I made was a gift card holder. I needed something to put the kid's card in and made up a mitten with a nativity scene. The nativity is a design I found on the web and then fit it to the mitten. The mitten is a pale green and the cuff is a green roving that I needle felted, into the felt. The appliqué is all wool, and a few touches that I add as I go. My shapes were different than the original so I just added some facial features to fit. 

The  mitten is a little over 6" long. The stitches are done with a khaki wool thread, but it stands out more in the photo. It's a great, last minute gift idea, that can be done in a day. 

May you all have a wonderful holiday week, no matter how you celebrate, may peace and love fill your lives and homes this year.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to spend more time working on my projects, so I was able to finish one, make a quick one and start a new one. It is nice to relax a bit and just enjoy the season and make a few new things for fun.

I finished the pillows, a pattern from All Through the Night. I love the preprinted fabric, but find it a pain to sew on. But, it is still worth it, love how the prints look, behind the stitchery and wool. I realize that they are not all the same size, guess I should have trimmed by measuring from the cutting line.

The snowman was a free pattern and I changed it a bit. He looks good sitting by the box and just the right height to be seen. The original was actually a floor size, but I like the smaller version. I also found the Christmas box at at the craft store and like how it looks with the pillows. The dividers make it hard to display them nicely, I may take them out for next year.

I also started something new. I still had leftover gift money on etsy and finally used it. I love Michelle Palmer's designs, she is the one who offered the free fox. I fell in love with this design when I saw it and it is so fun to punch. It is large, 11" x 8.5, so I am not sure if I will finish by Christmas, but I am taking my time and enjoying the process and later if things need fixing, I can change them. Not sure on some of the shading and detail on areas that need more definition, but I can wait to see how it looks, all together.

And here is what I have done so far, using what colors I have and added some height to the cuffs and areas around the hat. I am thinking this would be fun to mount on a peg board, that I can use to hang stockings from, for next year.

I finished decorating but seem to see things, I just have to have. Last week it was another church, a prim tree and a snowman piece, I really need to stay out of stores, lol. It is just too fun to decorate for when the boys come over, Alex is at the age where everything is magical.

Here is a little of what I have around the house.

I also like lights and a bit of glitter. The house is on top of the kitchen cabinet and the creches are on my other shelves. Please ignore the beehive cookie cutter, I forgot I put it there, it goes in the craft room. I have an idea for it, with needle felting, another project for next year.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a week filled with joy and peace.

Christmas Pillows!

I loved making the pillow with Cheri Saffiote's free design, that I had to make two more. One was for me, the one with colors and the other two will be gifts. Though, I have been buying new things this year and not sure where I have room for the pillow, lol.

This one is done on a tea towel, I think it would be better if I used towel yardage to fit it better, this was wider than I realized. I also added a few extras to balance it out a little. No tea stain on this one.

I also finished the red work pillow. I like the thicker thread but I think the red is a bit bright, but also nice for Christmas, it will bring out a pop of color in a prim room. Mine was done a little smaller and using more color. I added an extra tree and some stars for balance and they were both done on tea stained fabric by Moda.

You will also notice the star mat on the chair. I was the lucky recipient of the star rugs, that Kelley made to fit my dining chairs.

You can find the design, as well as others, on Buttermilk Basin's blog, still more freebies to come on the hop.

I also had an idea to make a stocking with wool roving. I found a mitten cookie cutter and used that, by putting the roving inside and felting it. I made them too thin, so I ended up putting the two together and just made one. I think it is not worth using my roving on something like this, better with wool or old sweaters.

We did a lot of shopping this weekend. Presents for the kids of course, but I am refraining from over doing it, they are still young, and Nick loves mega blocks, so I am adding to his collection. We also did some antique and thrift shopping, love finding Christmas items that are hard to find and we finally found a tree we liked. My grandmother had a ceramic studio and made a large beautiful tree that I loved and Bill decided he loved the ones he saw in the store too. Most are expensive and we found this 13" tree at an antique store that has booths. It has bulbs and birds and just the right size to put on top of my book case. Of course my red glass angels come out for Christmas.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I am hoping to get all my gifts ready and cards and done by this weekend, so hopefully that works out. I would like to have some rest time this year and I also found some fun snowflake material to make lots of mini pillows to hand out at Christmas. Last year I hid pillows when I went out, this year I want to hand them to people who need a smile or even the clerks at the stores. I can imagine what they go through in a day with all the crazy customers, so they deserve a smile too.

Friday Finish and Hikes!

Last week I was shopping at a discount store and they had needle felting kits. They were only 4.00, so I thought it would be fun to try one. It came with all the materials, a needle and a small foam block to punch on, so the extra tools are worth the price.

The stocking comes all cut out with the printed design, so all I had to do is punch in the roving. I used a bit of my own roving to give it more variation, and swapped the blue for the light green they had. I thought it was too close to the back material. The stocking is felt, so for me it was hard to felt on. It was fun to do and I Think I will embellish it a bit, before I put it together and decide who gets it, so I can put a name on it.

I think it would be fun to get another one and make them for the boys, maybe the baby blue for Alex and I can do Nicks with a gold.

We had some nice days this week, so we went for some walks. The first one was at the park, we walked around the lake and put in 3 miles.

Today we went to the bike path. We hiked down the bike path, which follows the cove.

Since we got an early start and had time, we walked further down and decided to follow an old road path into the woods. It was a nice walk, surrounded by woods and no people around. It came out the the other side of the harbor. Looking back to the area where Bill is standing in the first photo.

Of course Bean was thrilled with coming to a beach and since there was no one around, he got to play off leash. This is the bay side, you can see the ship at port in the distance. On the other side of that dock is the dog beach, that we usually go to. We will definitely come back to explore the area and enjoy walking along the beach, when we have more time. Today we walked 3.7 miles and I didn't realize it was going to be hot, so I  was in jeans and a sweat shirt, definitely a good workout today.

I hope  you all have a wonderful weekend. We are getting rain and high winds, so not sure what we will be able to do in that. I do need more apples before the orchards close, so hopefully we can go apple picking on Sunday and maybe take Nick and get him on a tractor.

Monday Finish!

This year I plan on doing a Christmas piece when I get a chance and it is a great project to do in between projects or when I want to just relax and work on something while I watch movies on the weekend.

I received Kathy Schmitz's newsletter and she had a free Christmas pattern and it was the perfect project to do over the weekend. I love Kathy's patterns and she does offer more free patterns on her website.

I decided to make the stitchery into a pillow and add the word snow and snowflakes in the corners. This design was really fun to do and you could also do it in different mediums, so her patterns are great no matter what craft you do.

The pillow is 10" x 8" and I used walnut stain, once it was finished.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend and enjoying doing some winter crafting.

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!

Friday Finish!

I have finished sending out cards and gifts and now I will try to wind down and start thinking about getting the house ready and a meal planned for Christmas dinner. We will do Christmas eve and the kids will do Christmas day.

I have been hiding my pillows in the stores when I go shopping, it is fun to be sneaky and I hope they put some smiles on the people who found them;)

This week I made something for me. I wanted to have something to hold some balsam to hang on a rack at the top of the entrance stairs. Now my guests will be greeted with the smell of pine. I used a pattern I did in appliqué, by The Teacher's Pet, and did it in punch needle, this time. I used wool for the back and a wool cuff, then I made a pouch from scrap batting to put the balsam in. That way I can take it out after the holidays and the balsam doesn't get stuck in the mitten.

The hanger was made by braiding cotton yarn and sewing it to the inside of the stocking, then I added a few bells. Stockings and mittens are fun pieces to make and you can use any christmas design on them, we all have appliqué patterns that work as well with punch needle.

I am doing some of the old photos from past Christmases with the online cardmaker. It is a great way to decorate old photos and I try to use colors and frames that help to clean up the damage from age. One of our visits to the mall santa. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and are ready to relax and enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

Friday Finishes!

This week I finished two ornaments that are being offered as a BOM from the Wool Applique Group on Facebook, by Attic Heirlooms. It is a free pattern each month, for just that month and for personal use, so no sharing. You can also download this months ornament which is the mitten, by visiting her website and clicking on BOM. Once the month is over, you cannot get it anymore.

I decided to make mine larger, it is a 5" circle. I wanted it larger to make it easier to sew and I will be having them from the homespun line for next Christmas. This way they will be the perfect size to hang in front of the window and be seen from a distance.

I also received a photo from Merrie of her hooked rug, that she made from my Spring Chicks pattern. I love seeing your finished pieces and Merrie did a beautiful job on her rug, that would be a fun one for the kitchen.

We are expecting a storm, again. I decided it was a good day to make chowder and clambakes, so we got the ingredients today so we wouldn't have to fight the crowds tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines day, whether sharing it with a loved one, a friend or yourself, we all deserve a little love and it is ok to treat yourself to something special tomorrow, because you are loved:)