Friday Finish!

 This week I worked on my bed quilt and was all excited when I got it all together, then I saw it is too short. The guest bed is a long, so I need at least two more rows, then with a border, it should be the right size. Luckily I found some more old fabrics that I can add to what pieces I have enough of, to blend it in.

At night I do hand work and finished a little mat to put on my old bench. It was from a Need'l love book with a Christmas theme, so I changed it a little to make it more Americana.

I also finished the rose I was working on. As usual, I over painted it by trying to follow the instructions and made more of a mess, so I gave up. The next one I am working on is a design I redid from a photo I took.

I have also been working in my gardens. My DIL gave me strawberry plants a few years ago and this year they are finally producing. Some are growing strangely and a lot have bites out of them, but I still get a few for myself.

On nice days we are getting out for walks. The bird sanctuary is one of our favorite places. Always a nice walk and lots of birds. I caught an Eastern Towhee along the path.

At the end of one point, you can see an Osprey nest. I am not sure what they were doing, but the dad was moving a large stick and the female was helping. 

We also stopped at the ocean to check out the waves and caught this fishermen, coming around on the rough side of the rocks. 

With rain on and off during the weekends, we get out when it stops. We went to another bird sanctuary that is down the road and enjoyed walking around the pond. Lots of birds in the area, but none sit still or are hiding in the bush.

I hope you all enjoyed your week and have a good weekend. I need to get going on old projects and now I have to get ready for a trip in two weeks. We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, but keeping it simple by going camping. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted to use up some precut pennies that I had from my stash and some from a friend. I still have lots of wool, so it is fun to use what I have and make something new. I decided to do stitcheries on the pennies and used a loose chain stitch so it has a bit of a rope look. It seems a lot bolder since I used a lighter floss but I did wash antique medium over them, to tone it down. The camera seems to pick up more lightness. 

I just added what fit on the back of the piece I had and made it up, as I went along. It was fun to do and a nice way to keep my hands busy while I watched tv.

Over the weekend we had a family get together. My sister got a trip home for her Christmas present from her daughter and son in law, so they came this week, to visit and some sight seeing. My brother and nephew, as well as my son and family, so it was nice to have family get together. It was hot, so we enjoyed time under the trees when the breezes picked up.

I also spent some time at the beach. One day it was sunny and warm, so great for swimming, the next was cloudy and cool, which was so nice with all the humidity we have had. I even found a few treasures. 

Today we had an early dinner and went to the beach later. It wasn't as hot but the waves were rougher. I was able to slip into the ocean for a quick swim, in between the waves and found a few pieces of glass that the waves threw up. More heat for the weekend, so we won't be outside as much. It seems we wait all winter for summer, then it is too hot to be outside. I hope you all have a nice weekend and a break from the heat.

Happy Valentines!

This weekend, I had to take it easy. At least it was snowing and the roads were horrible, so I didn't mind staying home for once. Since my arms are still a bit sore, working on my regular stitchery was a bit tough to do, so I made up a small quick project to do, just in time for Valentines.

I have a draw full of pre-cut pennies, so I picked some out and that saved on cutting them out. I picked a scrap piece of wool that is too thin to hook but has a nice purple hue with specks of colors thought and red hearts. I finished the smaller pennies with a simple wheel stitch to turn them into little yellow flowers with a triple french knot on top.

This is an easy project to do and you can make them in any size, using those little scraps of wool that you just don't want to throw away, turn them into pennies. If you have never made one, there are tutorials online and you can find circle templates to print out and trace. Freezer paper is the best for cutting out pennies, especially when you are making a bunch. I did get a circle cutter, still need to try that on wool.

And the winner of the pattern giveaway is..........  Lauren, of Rugs and Pugs! Congratulations Lauren, please email me,  your choice of pattern. I am hoping to get my runner finished this week, now that my arms are feeling better.

Freebie Friday Finish!

Since I got a new computer, I don't have my old bookmarks, still trying to figure out how to transfer and the methods are not working for me, so bit by bit, I look them up and make new folders for the new computer.

One website I love to keep my eyes on is, Rusty Tin Roof. They offer a free online primitive magazine that has tips and articles and free patterns. Their fall issue is out and there are a lot of fun fall patterns, including one from Penny Lane Primitives. The pattern is for a penny rug that has cats and pumpkins and a hanging pocket. I made the hanging pocket yesterday and finished it today, so it is a simple project to do in a day, as long as you do not have an obnoxious pup trying to get you attention.

I messed it up a little bit, but it still came out nicely and a fun piece to enjoy for the fall season. I also added a little antique stain, after I took the photo.

I was playing around with Funny pho.to for my memorial photo that I do on Facebook. I did one with fall leaves to put on her page and I liked how this one came out. I think it would be a nice one to print out on photo paper and frame for the new room. I like the primitive shabby look and think it would look nice in the room.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, we will be babysitting while my son repairs a section of his house.

Monday Musings!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had beautiful weather but Bill is away, which means no one to carry the kayaks;) I was sick most of the week, so I couldn't do much anyways, but finally starting to get back to "my" normal again.

I forgot to show you a photo of the penny back so you could see how I attached them. I did the pennies first, then I lay them on a piece of ticking in a triangle pattern. Once I had them in the layout, I used a washable marker and made dots in the middle of the areas where the pennies lay, on the outside. Then I took my ruler and connected the dots. You can also make it larger by making it more on the outside of the pennies or a complete triangle back that you can lay your pennies on, it is up to you.

You can see the staining better, in this photo. I wanted the backing to be dark enough so that it blended with the pennies.

I also volunteered to babysit, not like my son had to twist my arm;) We had lots of fun together and he was being quite the ham, but it wore me out.

He seems to know what a camera is and loves to pose and be cute.

We spent some time outside. I found a great way to keep him still so I could rest, put him on the grass. He seems to have an aversion to grass, he just sits and plays in one spot, and of course, more silliness.

Then he started making this strange face and scrunching up his eyes, no idea what he is thinking when he does that, but our laughing seemed to be good reason, to do it over and over. Today I started two new projects, so I can work on the punch during the day and stitching at night, so I will be able to finish both by friday.

Friday Finish: Penny Rug!

This week I noticed a few people working on penny rugs and the diamond shape, in particular. I have always wanted to do one and since I have a box of precut pennies, I thought I would give it a try.

I went with the colors I had, and thought brown, green and orange were perfect for a fall piece. It is small so it is perfect for an end table or a candle mat for one of my bureaus. I sewed the pennies first, then I laid them out in the diamond pattern and marked off the batting so that it lay in the middle of the outer pennies. I used a piece of tan cotton ticking and sewed the pennies' outer edges to that.

After I finished it, I sat it in walnut stain, overnight. It was still lighter than I wanted, so I sprayed some extra walnut ink on the front and especially on the ticking, since that was lighter. Now it is nice and dark and has an antique look. I am not sure if that shows, as well in the photo.

This is a fun lap project while I watch television and I think it would be fun to make some for presents, this year. This mat is 15" long and 10" wide in the middle.

You can see some of the dark staining in the photo, and in person, the ticking is a dark brown. The pennies were precut, but I had to trim down the middle two circles as I went, so they are not perfect circles, but I like my pennies to be a little wonky;) A great project for the weekend and a great way to use up small scraps of wool.

Flower Mat Finished!

I finally finished my wool mat, though I took a few short cuts to make it go faster and get it done. I did not add the bugs or spider web, I just wanted a flower piece for my table. The problem is, it doesn't look good on my table so I need to find a place for it or maybe it will be a gift.

I finished it off by adding a linen backing and a blanket stitch. The original was done with a nice edge, but I am too lazy to make a binding.

Not perfect, but not bad. Pattern is Flower Garden Crazy, by Primitive Gatherings.

For the back, I used a linen that has the feel of wool. I found it in a thrift shop and I thought it would be nice for a backing. I cut out the design and left about a half inch of excess so I could tuck it under and keep a nice edge on the back. I pinned it and turned the edge under as I did the blanket stitch, not perfect, but not bad;) The crooked edge came about when I did the stems, I was a bit tight on the stitching.

Flower Garden Crazy Mat Progress!

This week I have been working on my wool crazy mat and the bird stitchery. I want to use the mat before summer is over and finally getting to the end. Once I finish the last wool appliques, I can add the stems and extra stitching. On the original they added a border, but I am just going to add a backing and do a blanket stitch around it.

I am trying to stay close to the colors they used and using what I have but hard to see the true colors and shades in the photo. The flash makes the colors come out too brassy and the blacks too light. I also find that they way I pieced the blocks made them smaller so I have to reduce some of the flowers to fit.

The pattern is by Primitive Gatherings and I think it will be a nice pattern to keep for the flowers and make smaller pieces with them.

The original also has a spider web, where the white daisy is. I turned it around and left it plain. I tried some pearl cotton on a couple of the flowers on the right, I like the thicker thread for the stems, what do you think? I found it at a yard sale and over dyed it so it is dark and light green shades.

Pattern Winner and Oldies but Goodies!

I have been blogging for five years on Blogger, but I had a blog, previously, on Yahoo. At the time I didn't think and lost of the postings and photos, but I did save a lot of things on my memory stick, so I do have a few of the old things that I had posted about.

I used to sell on a regular basis, on ebay and I may start selling things again. Today I was looking through the stick to find a photo for my sister and found a few things I had forgotten about and things that bring back wonderful memories.

This is an older rug that I made years ago, I think it was for a challenge swap, I have no idea. My short term memory encompasses the past few years too. I really like this pattern but see things I don't like and ways to improve it, so I would like to redo it and make it into a pattern, but I can't remember where I got the idea from.

Here is a box I painted with one of my designs. I used to make them and add a matching item to go with it, usually a punched piece or a needle keep.

And thinking of summer vacations, this was the first trip Bill and I took after we started kayaking. We were paddling around an island and came upon this house, that was built on a rock. Talk about a house on the water, lol.

I was also looking for simple penny rug ideas and found this Penny Wreath. I love the idea, but I think I would make it more prim, maybe one in fall colors and one for Christmas. Not sure if I would use styrofoam, I would rather use a flatter back for them. Maybe I can have Bill cut me out a thin wood circle for it. 

And now for the winner of a free epattern. The lucky winner is Glenda! Glenda, please email me with your choice of epattern from my ecrater site. Today I started going through my patterns and found a couple that I could share in my anniversary giveaway. I will take some photos and give a sneak peak of some of the goodies, next posting.

Shabby Apple Winner and Pattern Giveaway!

I really enjoyed doing this giveaway, it is always nice to give something special to my readers and Shabby Apple was very generous in giving away one of their beautiful dresses. This week they are having a summer sale, so be sure and visit. Dresses are 20% to 80% off!

I used the random number generator and #14 came up. The lucky Winner is MelancholySmile! I will email you with the list, so I can send your information to Shabby Apple. Also, be sure to visit Melancholy's Blog, you have to see the wonderful chicken coop that she and her husband built.

This week I was lucky again, I know, you are all sick of me entering contests, lol. Actually I just happen to visit sites at the right time, this one was for the first commenter and I won something twice this week, so I will refrain from doing another;)

Many of  you may be familiar with Terrye French, she is a wonderful artists who does designs for folk and whimsical painting patterns. She also does designs for publications like Create and Decorate and goes by the name, The Painted Pear Basket.  I won her newest book, A New Day and a Little Whimsy. So many wonderful designs that I can make for our home and gifts for my friends. I also won a pattern of my choice, Terrye has wonderful epatterns too and they work well in different mediums so you don't have to be a painter to use her designs. I will be painting and working with the designs in different mediums, in the coming weeks and will share my creations with you.

And now for the giveaway! Visit Terrye's Website, The Painted Pear and tell me, what is your favorite pattern? I will choose a winner on Monday night from all of the comments on this posting. Also, visit Terrye's blog, Painting with Friends. She has a lot of wonderful freebies that you can use.

Don't forget, this is my anniversary month and I will be doing a giveaway at the end of the month, so stay tuned for more on what will be in the giveaway.

Primitive Stars!

Voting is still open for Patriotic Quilts! Visit This-n-That Fabrics and scroll down to view the quilts, vote for your favorite!

I wanted to make some new things to decorate with and I had this pattern, by Buttermilk Basin. They are a nice size, so great for those areas where  you want something a little extra. I used cotton ticking for the fronts and antiqued them with walnut spray. Now that it is nice out, I use the sun to dry them and save on the electric bill.

I put them here for now, so you could see how they look in a setting and to show the size. The penny rug on the bench is one of my designs, I made a few different styles and one of these days, I will make them into patterns.

And here is a closer look. I had fun making them and think it would be fun to do some smaller ones.

Primitive Table Bench!

I finally finished the table bench I was making for my friend's birthday. It is a bit late, but done.
I had finished it and grabbed a can of spray for the finish, except I had grabbed a can of red paint, ugh.

With the storms and cold, I didn't want to work in the basement, but I finally got down there and sanded off the red paint and repainted it black, then stained and put a real finish on it this time.

The pattern was from Mercantile Gatherings, 2010 Holiday Issue. The pattern itself is from the Wooden  
Nail. They sell patterns for different types of primitive wood items, so a good place to find patterns if you would like to make things for yourself. My husband made the bench and I do the finishing.

Winter Penny Rug!

Today I finished a new piece for next year. I will be working on Christmas all year long, so I can make all the pieces that I never got to, this year. I will also be finishing some projects and quilting some tops, so hopefully I can get it all done. I also want to make a quilt for a new Grandson who will be arriving in May.

This piece was made with a design by Buttermilk Basin. The original design has tongues on the sides, but I decided to leave mine out and blanket stitch, in cream floss, around the edge. I will be using it as a wall hanging instead of a table mat.

One thing I love about winter is the snow, especially when we get just enough and it stays on the ground. Bill was taking photos of me while I was out getting some exercise. I dress for warmth, definitely not fashion, lol.

GIfts and Giveaways!

Today I got a wonderful package from a swap on our primitive quilt group. We went with a pouch this year and I was definitely spoiled by Jeni of The Willow. Jeni is one of the girls behind the new magazine, Primitive Quilts and Projects, my favorite magazine and the only one I subscribe to. There is always a few things I want to do in each issue and even if I only do two, I am still getting my money's worth in patterns and still lots of patterns I haven't had time to do, so it is a nice treasury of projects for the future.

As you can see, Jeni made me a lot of beautiful prim items. I love the bag and not only did she make the ornaments, she made up kits so I can make my own, so I have something to start for next years's gifts;) The kitty pattern is a punch needle penny rug and I had loved that when I saw it, she must have read my mind. I can't say enough, how much I love my goodies.

And the wonderful thing is,  you can make  your own gingerbread man with the free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects!

I also received some beautful Christmas cards with a gift inside. Nancy of Tom Miner Quilts and Folk Art, sent me a beautiful woolie ornament to hang on my prim tree. I love it and I love prim ornies that I can hang on the small trees. Mary of Quilt Hollow sent me a beautiful mug mat, the photo does not do it justice, her stitching is beautiful, I would hate to ruin it with spilled tea.

I also wanted to let you know about a contest being held by This-n-That fabrics. If you recall, I entered the fall challenge with my Gourdy's gang and won second place. Now you can enter their Christmas challenge by submitting your christmas quilts and wall hangings. There is no reason not to and you get a chance at winning a gift certificate. I would really love to see my followers enter the contest and win a wonderful prize, so visit their blog and submit your Christmas entry.

So Many Blessings!

This month has been filled with wonderful giveaways and I have been the lucky recipient of a few. I wanted to share my wonderful prizes with you and the wonderful people who have made the giveaways possible. Winning such great prizes allows me to enjoy quilting and eventually make charity quilts with the money I save, I have been stocking up on batting.

One book I have always loved was Jacquelynne Steve's book, Fruitful Hands. I fell in love with the pineapple quilt, a simple but fun piece and something that would look great as a wall quilt for my dining room. The book also has recipes and patterns for quilts and smaller items that would make wonderful gifts. You can visit her blog, The Noble Wife for inspiration and she also has some wonderful freebies.

This is on my to do list. The giveaway was sponsored by Henry Glass Fabrics. If you love quality fabrics and giveaways, be sure to sign up for their blog.

Another giveaway was hosted by See How We Sew. I won the book "Quilting 101", by Sue Rasmussen. It is a wonderful reference guide for quilting and it is definitely something I need lol. I am always forgetting the basics and what types of needles to use for projects, so now I have a reference that I can refer to, as I quilt and things I can learn to do better.

And today I received another fun prize, something I can make for myself and as gifts for my friends. I was able to choose any pattern from Cath's Pennies. I have always loved her designs and not only does she make wonderful patterns, but she gives directions with photos on her blog to help  you in creating your own pieces. 

It was a tough decision, I love all of her designs, but this one is perfect as a gift too and I have gingerbread buttons, so they will be perfect for this design. You can see this and many more at her website, Cath's Pennies Designs.

Voting is Open!

I thought I would add a new post for the voting. There are a lot of wonderful pieces, so enjoy the photos and vote for your favorite. I truly believe that you should vote for your favorites, not to vote for me, if I ask, I don't find that fair.

My favorite is the kitty house and the ocean piece.
You can see the entries and vote at Stumbles and Stitches.

Here is another photo of the mat in a new setting.
I really think I need to switch those two stars, it is really bugging me, lol.

I haven't been feeling great this weekend, so hard to get a steady shot.

Joyful Heart Mini quilt!

I decided to make the other pattern that I won from Valerie of The Wooden Acorn. I made it into a mini quilt and on mine, I added a little kitty. It is a fun pattern to do and worked up quickly and I think it would be nice to make a few to give to friends. If you are looking for something new to do, Valerie has some wonderful patterns at her Etsy Store.

 On the home front, the guys are almost finished with the porch and that will be it, for them. Bill is doing the front siding, since that is cedar. The store was able to match the siding, exactly, so now all I have to do if figure out what color to make the door.

Easter Bunny Penny Rug

Last week I was one of the lucky winners of Valerie's giveaway. Valerie of Wooden Acorn offered 3 designs to 3 winners and not only did she send me the design, but another one I had liked and some sewing goodies to use for my pieces. I am amazed at her generosity, and the extra goodies. If you love primitive and working with wool, visit Valerie's Etsy Store, she has lots of wonderful patterns that I have my eyes on.

 And of course I had to make the chick piece, right away, perfect for spring. I made it into a little wall hanging and added a few of my own touches. I made hay for the basket, by unwinding jute strands, then weaving them into the empty spaces. I love the house piece, as well, that is something I can make a few of, as gifts.

The pattern is by Buttermilk Basin Designs. I realized I forgot to decorate the other butterfly, but I was not pleased with the lines I made on the first one, so I will change that and add dots.

Wool Penny Ornament!

I decided to make some more snowman ornaments, but I used wool this time.
I cut them out free hand, so they are a bit wonky, but that is the fun of prim.
After I sewed the penny together, I cut a slit in the back and put some crushed pine in them, so now they smell like a fresh pine tree. I thought it would be nice to put in a christmas card, hopefully they will fit;)

I ordered the pine from Paine Products. They were easy to order from and fast delivery. The ornament pattern can be found Here! I used a paintbrush and watered down walnut spray to soak into the stitchery and darken the batting. To cover the slit in the back, I added a double penny with a stitched snowflake in the middle.

Moki has been enjoying the nice weather, nothing like the sun to keep him content.

New Camera!

My new camera came today and I was thrilled. He even gave the battery and charger with it, so I was happy. Then I realized it didn't have a card, not so thrilled, especially when I saw the prices. But, I did have my old camera and yes, it is the same kind of card, so I have a memory card. Now I am all set and took some practice shots. But wait, how do I get the photos in, no computer cord, ugh. But, luckily my minolta uses the same size cord too, so I could put them in. Found out my Mac is too old to upload any software to use it. So I hooked it up to my Dell and it went right in without any drivers, but I prefer to use my mac since that has photoshop. Guess a new Macbook is on my wish list;)

The camera is really complicated, way too many buttons, but I was able to download a pdf manual. It is also heavy, so I will probably have to use a tripod to get good photos indoors, all my shots came out blurry. I also don't see a flash, no idea where that is, have a feeling I have to buy one to mount on top. But for free, I am not complaining, will just have to save up for extras.

I stole this photo off the web, this is what it looks like, reall

y large double lens, which adds to the weight. I couldn't even figure out where the zoom was, guess I have a lot of reading to do;)

I definitely won't be taking this out in the kayak, glad I got the pocket waterproof camera. I think I need to make a sling pocket for it, so when I go hiking at the sanctuaries, I can carry it without the band choking my neck.

This is the best photo I could get today. It is an older piece that I have in the house. The sun has been fading the edge. I did have to put it through photoshop, but I got better and more true colors and this was on a low setting. At least now, you can see more detail and the patterns of the wool, so I hope I can figure this out and get some better shots of my pieces.

Today I worked more on my hexagons, hand stitching the inside of each hexagon, but on the outer edges now, so hopefully I will have it done tomorrow.