Holiday Finish!

 I was able to finish my Christmas quilt, just in time. I machine quilted the edges around the blocks and then I hand quilted around the mittens with black and used white in the patterned blocks. I didn't use any pattern, just made up a mitten template and used a variety of wool textures. It was a fun way to use up wool and some fun fabrics I had gotten, last year.

Last weekend we went to the mill to pick up corn meal. I spotted this guy, outside of the mill.

We also made a stop at the thrift store. This store always has fun things and great prices. I found fun snowmen to add to my collection.

And a nativity set, that I couldn't resist.

After some shopping, we drove around the salt water ponds and I spotted this guy. He was busy fishing, so he didn't mind me, taking photos.

Yesterday we went to the island and walked on a few beaches and around the lighthouse. Lots of Common Eiders and a few Harlequin ducks, braving the surf for a meal. A Downy Woodpecker was enjoying the berries at one parking lot.

We also got to spend time with the kids. Mom and dad went shopping, so the boys stayed with us. While here, we did a family shoot so Ivy could sent photos to her family in Malaysia. This was one of my favorites, the background is AI generated.

Now it is time to get ready for Christmas. We have the kids on Christmas Eve and go to their house on Christmas. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, in whatever way you may celebrate. May you find peace, love and joy in the coming days.

Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. As usual, it came quick, and went by quick, but I enjoyed the moments. I never took any photos, I like to enjoy the moments and not worrying about posting photos. I also feel for those who cannot spend time with family or have lost loved ones, who are not with them, so I kept it low key this year.

I also got sick as usual, but took meds and rested for a few days. I made up a stitchery, so I had something to keep my hands busy and was able to finish it, just in time. I am not sure who did the design, but it was offered on Facebook. 

We also got snow before Christmas, so the kids came over and went sledding on the school hill. I bought sleds last year and we never got to use them. 

Bill gets the whole week and a half off, so we got out for short walks and rides. Jamestown is always a fun place to go to. Views from every side and we were able to go for short walks, before we froze. There is a path that goes uphill to a point and I decided I wanted to see how far it went. It was a nice path and easy to traverse and came out to the end of the point, so we had nice views from a higher vantage point.

Looking back into the cove. 

After we stopped at the state park and looked for glass, not much luck these days. On the way out, I spotted a group of Snow Buntings, a nice surprise.

Today we did a ride around the southern beaches. When it is cold, places that we can drive to and see, without getting out, is always nice. In one area, we have a view of the pond where the boats and ferries go through. Today we spotted some fishermen, throwing in their pots. Not sure if they were crabbing, but looked like crab pots.

In the marsh, we spotted these guys running around the mud flats. 

Rain is predicted for the next 3 days, which I don't mind, it will keep me in and I can start working on finishing some quilts. I plan on finishing one Christmas one, and others that need finishing and binding. I have several with a summer, Americana theme, so those will be in the next batch to finish.

I hope this finds you all doing well and would love to know what your plans are for the coming year. 

Friday Finish!

 Another week zipped by too fast. I spent most of it, decorating the house. I have a mix of prim and fun around the house. One thing I wanted to try was a rag garland. I looked up ideas and found one that I could base mine on. You can find it at Ikorn crafts.

I used up the scraps and smaller pieces to make it, and used a red twine to tie them onto. I was going to put it on the banister, but it was too thin, so I used it on top of my curtain rod.

And I decorated with what I had in the basement, and there is more that I had no room for. 

I found a new place for my Grandmother's quilt.

And some of my nativity collection with a bit of cats mixed in.

And a few trees. This year I decided to put up my cat collection. I could only do so many and I have a lot of larger ones, that don't fit on the skinny tree. I have quilts hanging on the banister and decorations in the kitchen, so it is fun for the boys when they visit.

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday. I am finishing up my cheater quilt and next is getting my cards done. After that I will work on my other quilt, even if I can't finish it in time. 

Friday Finish!

 

Well, I just realized it was Friday and I almost forgot to post. Quite the hectic week with holiday preparations. We had a nice dinner with the kids, and today we mostly rested.

This week I Finished a nativity, that I started last year. I thought it would be fun to try and have something different to add to my collection. 

The bad thing with this panel was, the pieces did not line up exactly so I sewed them by following the front facing pieces since they are the ones that you see. I stuffed them and sewed the bottom after, seemed easier for me to do it that way.

One new thing I did this year was, make corn bread with a mold. I like how they looked and fun for the table. They actually tasted better than when I do them in a pan. The silicone mold was also nicer since they popped right out, no sticking. 

We did shorter rides lately, not as many birds to see, so no photos. Next is pulling out all the holiday decorations and getting the house ready, Christmas is coming fast. I have done a lot of online shopping, so most of the gifts are here and I can enjoy relaxing a bit and getting my cards out. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and can enjoy the upcoming holidays.

Friday Finish!

 

Since I am working on several large projects, I like to have something that I can make up quickly. This Christmas mat is a pattern from BareRoots. I have been gifted a lot of items on top of things I have bought over the years, so trying to finish them, a bit at a time.

Last week we went to the pond, to see if we could find the eagles. None in sight this time, but I did catch a Killdeer at the water's edge.

After we went for a walk at the bike path. Would love to try my new bike there, but it is either too cold or too windy lately. Lots of Chickadees at the park.

Today we went to the lighthouse. It was windy but warmer. Lots of seagulls were enjoying, floating in the winds.

We ended up taking the back paths and found out they go a lot further in the opposite direction, so we got a nice long walk, along with views of the bay. 

Most of the foliage is gone now, but we still see pops of color, here and there. My backyard came in late, so this was last week and now they are bright yellows and falling with the wind. I hope you are all safe from the horrible storms, crossing the middle states. We have good weather this weekend, so hoping to get out for long walks and maybe a bike ride.

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 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 Finishes!

This week I have been enjoying some free time and worked on a few projects. The first is a stocking that I made with Michelle Palmer's free pattern, she offers each year. She has done several and still offers them on her Facebook page with a link to her site.

I didn't add all the stitching that she did and added a few of my own. I wanted to keep it simple but fun, so I added yellow and red glitter threads.

Then I decided I wanted to make something with wool roving, so I made up a little stocking. I will use this to put a gift card in, for the kids. Then they have something to hang on their tree. I added glitter thread to accent the design.

At home I have been enjoying a warm up in the weather. The birds have been visiting more often and I was able to catch the moon as it came up, during the day.

Today I had a me day and Bill took the day off. We went to a town beach in South Kingstown. It is much quieter and has a long stretch of beach. We found a nice spot to park the RV, with views of the ocean. Bean was happy, he got to play at the beach all day and give hugs, to passerbys.

I had wanted to get some bird photos from a beach further down, but by the time I got to the houses, I realized I still had a ways to go and it was getting colder, so no bird photos. But we decided to stay later and watch the sunset. I missed the moon as it rose, but it was still beautiful with the sun setting.

A look down the beach as the sun fell below the ocean. 

The beach doesn't seem to have a lot of glass, but what I find is nice and a few large pieces of pottery. It was nice to get out and enjoy the last slightly warm day. I hope you are all enjoying your week and find time to relax and enjoy the holidays, without the stress.

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!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last week before the busy holiday weekend. I have been taking it easy and working on projects, before I run around to get the house clean and food prepared.

The first thing I finished was a nativity pillow with a design by Cheri Payne. It was a fun piece to do and worked up quickly, so I can use it in time for Christmas. The design is free and in the files at Cheri's group, Quilts by Cheri on Facebook.

The next pillow is a design from an older book by Kindred Spirits. I took the saying from one design and the snowmen, from another. I realize it is a bit cockeyed, but that is ok, my brain seems to be that way lately.

And I got back to working on my punch needle, a design by Michelle Palmer. And with my backwards brain, I realized I forgot to reverse it, the design is supposed to be facing the other way, which is the way I liked it. Of course I got too much done to redo it, and took me this long to notice, lol. I took a phone photo, so the colors are a bit off and I will wait till I am done, then I can decide what doesn't look right and fix it.

And I have been the recipient of some wonderful gifts this week. One thing is a real Native American flute, from my sister. When she was here, I told here I loved the smaller one, that she had, much better for my small hands. Well, she sent me this beautiful flute that is larger and fatter than the one I have, so I am having a hard time playing it. I don't want to hurt her feelings, so I am practicing every day and hopefully I can coordinate my fingers and breath to stop squeaking so much.

And an unexpected gift from my friend Kelley was a beautiful quilt, made by her mother. Her mom became a part of my life, through stories and gifts she would send each year and I would make a few things just for her. She made this quilt for Kelley and now Kelley wanted me to have it, a gift from the both of them. It is something I will treasure, as well as their friendship through the years.

“May you be blessed

With the spirit of the season, which is peace,

The gladness of the season, which is hope,

And the heart of the season, which is love.”

Merry Christmas to you all!