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.

Christmas Pillows!

This week I worked on some pillows. I wanted to try some stenciled pillows and these are the result. I got stencils on a sale and used acrylic paints. I mixed the paint with fabric medium to make them waterproof and it also keeps them from being too stiff.

I made the pillows to fit the size of the stencils, so you can do them in any size that you want. After I stenciled them, I put them in the dryer for 25 minutes and heat set them. Then I sprayed the lighter pillows with walnut spray. For those I used a stark white fabric and you can see it ages it nicely. The snowflakes were done on coffee stained fabric from moda. With the snowflakes, I added a little sparkle paint, but it doesn't show in the photo.

Once they were dry, I cut them to size and added a piece of batting to each side and sewed them, right sides together. I use the batting so when I fill them, the balsam sits in between the batting. You can leave an opening at the bottom for turning, or you can make a slit on the backside. I used a slit and covered it, after they were stuffed.

I added the border stitching, after they were stuffed. I hide the stitches by pulling them into the edges.

I stenciled them with a stencil brush and used a smaller brush to get into the smaller areas.

The snowflakes were done with white, then a glitter paint over that, so it has a light sparkle to it. The white is not as bold in person, the camera tends to heighten paint colors.

For my backs, I sewed the slit up with a basic slip stitch and then added a penny to cover the area. My camera was acting up today and the flash wasn't working right, so the colors are way off. This is tea stained cotton ticking, a great way to finish christmas pillows. I used green on the others.

Wool Quilt Finished?

I got my quilt finished for now. I am still not sure about the side bards and I might add more embellishment to the stars and the sides, but for now it will have to wait. Hard to get a photo and capture the true colors since there is so much going on. It was windy today so that didn't work out.

I did edge stitching on the blocks where the blanket was flat and left it along where they came out. A bit of this and that, just having fun and doing whatever as I went along. The finished quilt is 54" x 43". It is very heavy, so it will be nice and warm in the winter.

I lightened it up in photoshop so you could see the details, but it is much more prim in person.

After I did the top, I pinned it to the backing and cut off the excess. I sewed the black border/binding onto the front and then flipped it over to the back. That was not the best way to do this, the thickness made the wool bunch up on the sides, so I had to make a few fixes. The new larger star over the kitty is one place I needed a cover fix;) I wanted the border to be a little wider, so I folded over about a quarter inch on the back and pinned that to the back, then sewed it down by hand. This way it has a floppy, softer edge. The green is a loose weave wool, that a friend gave me.

Stitching Progress!

I have been working on two projects and hopefully they will get done soon.

I have been adding some embellishments to the appliques and words, so just a few more things and I can put the backing on. I am just adding things, no thought put into it;)

I am also working on this stitchery quilt by Kathy Schmitz. It was hard getting it onto the cloth since i had to do it on a window, so I need to check my edges to make sure they are straight, before I stitch those up.

Wool Quilt Progress!

I finished sewing up the blocks on my quilt and then I realized the last one, was sticking out too far, so I added a row of wool strips going down. I still have to cut and even it out, then I can see if I need to add anything to them, or leave them, as is. If I add anything it will be something simple, maybe more pennies. Which makes me think it would be fun to add strips to the other side with pennies, a suggestion by one of my followers. But at this point, I just want to finish it, I have so many more project to finish and start.

I am adding details now, just some stitchery in the leaves and flowers and then I will probably do some basic quilt stitching in some of the blocks, but I might do that, after I put on the back, so it will hold them together. I also need to add some words to my green blocks.

Using a plain cotton back to attach the wool blocks, made it a lot easier to lay it out and sew it down. I used a simple blanket stitch on all of the blocks, using a pearl cotton.

I tried a lamp and the flash, but it still came out dark on one end, so I lightened it up, which messes with the colors, but you can get the general idea.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we drove to the Watch Hill Lighthouse. The road to the lighthouse is very narrow and the storm wiped it out, so it is passable again and most of the damage is cleaned up.

During the storm, this area was covered by water, so the keepers were stranded at the tip.

Heartfelt Thanks!

I am touched by all of the wonderful comments and outpouring of your loving thoughts. I truly appreciate each and every one and it warms my heart to know that I have the support and understanding of so many friends.

Today I worked on my wool quilt. I have sewed most of the blocks, just an edge left to do on one piece and one block of pennies. I plan on doing a little extra embellishing and stitchery on some of the pieces, then I will sew on the back and maybe a black binding.

Moki never sits with me or on the couch, but today, he tried getting onto my chair or actually the quilt. He did not care if it still had pins in it, it is wool and kitties love wool. When I laid it on the couch to take a break, he was there within seconds. Now he is on it again, sleeping soundly and comfy without the pins.

Wool Quilt and New Stitchery Progress!

Today I played around with my wool pieces until I got a layout, that I liked. I had some spaces so I added a patchwork and a striped block and at the suggestion of a follower, some pennies. I also added the green blocks and the plan is to stitch words on those. I am doing a blanket stitch to keep it simple and easier than trying to do too many stitches on one big piece. I did a little bit today and got tired so I grabbed my stitchery to work on and what did I find underneath, a kitty block that I had set to the side. Now I need to rethink how that will fit in, but I am sure I can redo the top area and shorten the long piece. I added the longer piece and planned on making the applique later, which is good, since I will change that out to fit the kitty in.

What do you think? I realized I started this in 2009, time sure flies by;)

Another project I am working on is a stitchery called Blackbird Sings which can be found in Kathy Schmitz's book, Simple Pleasures in Redwork. After I find the stitchery, there will be a border and it will measure 23" x 26", the largest stitchery I have done but perfect to hang for spring and summer.

The original is done in lighter colors with a touch of black, I am going with black and a touch of color.

Contest and Freebie this week at Babycakes Blog, be sure to visit and wish her a Happy Anniversary!

Christmas quilt!

Did everyone follow the Henry Glass blog hop? If you missed it, you missed some wonderful patterns for Christmas, but you can still visit the sites and get their patterns. I loved the piece by Little Quilts, a fun redwork piece that would make a nice gift for a friend. Of course I didn't follow the directions and went off on my own, as usual, lol. I am just too lazy to piece those wonderful triangles she made on the original, so I just made mine simple and added some words.

I also made some little penny ornaments with some snowflake designs from my Fa la la la Felt book. I liked the snowflake designs, but now that I see the original pattern I took it from, I might have to make those next;) I used a different blue pen and it does not come out easily, as you can see on these. On the quilt it came out blue too, but I rewashed it and it came out clean, after I dried it. There is no name on it and it was a gift.

Kitties and Foxes!

Last winter I was lucky enough to win one of Lark Crafts giveaways. I won a calendar with patterns and a lot of wonderful felt. I also won the Fa la la Felt book and was thrilled since it has lots of fun designs and things to make for the holidays. I finally got to make some of the cute penny ornaments and did the kitties and foxes. For now I left them as they are, and later I will either keep them as ornaments, or maybe add them to something. The book also has some christmas trees to make, so lots of fun things i can make as gifts for others. The originals are in felt, but I decide to use wool and make them into pennies, so mine are slightly different. They were fun to make and love how they came out.

Fall Penny Rug

I belong to a wonderful group called woolnrags on yahoo and we had a contest last month.
We had to make something with wool with a nature theme and use a piece of gold wool that was sent to us.
This is the creation I came up with. The squirrels are modeled after an antique cookie cutter shape.
I named the piece "Autumn Flames". When I cut the wool and laid the leaves down, it reminded me of the flaming colors on the trees and the golden flames of a fire. I won second place for this piece. First place went to a beautiful fireplace swag.

I am offering the piece on ebay this week, so if you would like to have this piece for your home, it is available.
You can find me on ebay under kitane or type in PRHG.
One of these days I will figure out how to do the html to give you a direct link.