Friday Freebies!

I usually have a giveaway for my birthday, but this year the time got away from me. I also like to give everyone a gift, so I worked on a design this week.  These are for you, to use anyway that you would like, as gifts or for sale and you can change things if  you like.

I made up three different designs, the first can be done as a punch needle or stitchery.

This one is a star. I was thinking it might be fun to appliqué it with wool, onto a large stuffed star and sit it on a shelf. Or you could do it in punch, appliqué or stitchery and attach that to a large stuffed star.

And the last one is in the shape of a tree. Another piece that can be done in appliqué, stitchery or punched, either on a stuffed tree shape or onto a tree shape if you are punching it. I left the star on top as an idea, for me, I would add a rusty star to the top of the tree. You can use a star button or make a star with wool.

These designs were just done up, so I haven't had time to try some myself, so hopefully I can make some this week. There is no set size, I made them so they fill the paper, when printed out.

Today I had a nice day, relaxing and some fun shopping. One of the things I found today was an old washboard. I loved that it said Yankee on it, and on the other side, it has clearer writing for the company name. The only bad thing is I notice how musty it is. Would love ideas on how to get rid of the musty smell so I can hang it in the house. I know a lot of you buy antique pieces and would love to be able to enjoy them without the mustiness making me sick.

The board is a lot darker in person, the flash lightened it up.

New Stitchery Pillow!

I started my second block, but am so busy with the house, that I am tired at night, so I started a simple project for fun and I think it is a nice gift for friends too. I am also working on a new punch needle design, so hopefully it will turn out well and I will have a new pattern available next week.

This pillow was made with a design by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings. I really like the simpler ones with a saying, great for a prim home and nice to have sayings to remind us of the important lessons in life.

I really think I will make another, except that I will do the angel in wool and then stitched hair and saying. Maybe make it into a framed piece.

If you like this design, you can find under Patterns: Stitcheries: Angels. For the price of a design, you can stitch, punch or work it into a quilt or wool appliqué, not a bad deal for a wonderful design.

Friday Finishes From Freebies!

I haven't had a lot of time to sew lately, I forgot how much time babies take up, but it is all good.
Today he actually grabbed my hands and pulled me close, puckered up and kissed me, two times, so cute.

I wanted to make a stitchery tree for someone who can't have a real one, so I made up this little pillow to hang on the door knob, or a bed post. I found it one the web and it was a mini version, so I blew it up a bit and retraced the design with black pen, so I could trace it onto the muslin. I don't have a link, but I have the design if you want a copy, I will be happy to send it to you, just email me. I cannot reply to a no reply blogger, so if you want a copy, make sure you email me direct, so I can send it to you, once I send I throw out your mail, I do not share emails.

I really like how the design looks in person, but as usual, the flash washes out the walnut stain and doesn't do the prim look, justice. I added the two side stars, they are fun to make and easy to do without a pattern.

Another design I made was this little sheep piece. It was a freebie by Lisa Bongean for last years blog hop. I just realized after looking at the photo of her finished piece that I forgot the stars around the sheep, oh well. I made this one up for fun, a nice little ornie to add to the tree since I am just using cat proof ornies.

We are getting ready for the storm tomorrow, hopefully it will hold off to night time. Tonight we have clouds and it is the peak night for the meteor storm, so that is disappointing. I was able to see six, last night though. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and please stay safe.

Winner and Friday Freebie!

Someone mentioned that it looked like I was giving Nicholas away, lol. No, no way am I giving him up, he is my little sweet heart. He is over tonight so his parents can have a fun night at my Son's Christmas party for work. He got his flu shot today so he is spiking fevers and sleeping peacefully now.
Of course I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure he is breathing and not getting too hot;)

Now for the winner.... #3..... Sandie is the winner! Sandie, please email me with your choice of epattern or booklet and congratulations.

I wanted to make a little something to share with all of you and I just love this saying. I made it on a Christmas tree shape so I can sit it on a shelf or basket. Since Nicholas is sleeping, I cannot use my scanner without waking him up, so please forgive the sloppy graphic, but it will print out well enough to use as a guideline.

This is how mine came out. I rushed it to get it done, and my sewing is a bit off, but it gives me an idea of how it looks and ideas for new ones. I used green weavers cloth for mine. You can use muslin as well or you can use wool or darker fabrics and wash away embroidery papers. I did one snowflake and then decided I like the simpler ones, that is why one is different;) I also need to add a star, hopefully I can find some tomorrow, while I am out.

This is the template I used. I drew my lines on the fabric with a ruler, then rounded off the corners. After I traced the design onto the fabric, I put a thick piece of batting behind it for the stitching. I also added a thick piece for the backing to give it support and added more stuffing after I turned it inside out.  I left an opening on the base of the trunk and stitched that by hand when I was done stuffing it. I added watered down walnut ink to age it. You can also add mini buttons, or bird buttons, as well. Have fun and I hope you enjoy my pattern.  Baby is awake, so time for grandma to go, if I forgot anything, please fell free to email me.

After I finished the saying, I cut out the shape by using a ruler and cutting 1/2" from the line. That is why I had more room for my snowflakes, so you can add them where you want.

Christmas Tea Towel!

Last month I won a wonderful book from SewGalGirl. I was so happy to win since it has wonderful Christmas designs and I was able to use one is a quick way by making a tea towel.

The book I won is called Simple Christmas by Gail Pan Designs. There are designs for wall hangings, table toppers, a gift bag along with others. Enough to keep you busy with projects for yourself and gifts for next year.

Since I am short on time, I wanted to make something quick and this cute elf was perfect for a tea towel. The actual design is on a table topper, something I will make this year, for next Christmas. I modified it a bit to add more greenery, going across, and if you can see, he has a tiny, rustic, jingle bell on his hat. I also use wool for the star and added the word joy. I love patterns that I can make as is, or add my own little touches.

This is an outdoor photo, so the colors are true, but seems a bit light to me, much better in person.
I think it would be fun to do the basket in wool too. I might try the gift bag next, that would be fun to make and great to use for a present package.

Don't forget, the giveaway ends on Friday at midnight, so you still have a chance to enter. Make sure you visit This Posting and leave a comment to be entered.

And for all of you baby lovers. We got Nicholas a high chair on wheels so I can bring him into any room and he can sit and play while I do things. It is also nice to have since I started him on his first food, applesauce. He loves applesauce.

Happy Birthday Christmas Giveaway!

I went through my box of goodies and here is the prize package that I picked out. I hope that you like it.
I wanted to keep the theme similar with the pillow and candle mat and you will also receive two balsam filled, mini pillows.

As an added bonus, I am letting you decide what you want me to add. I have lots of patterns that I no longer use. So, let me know as your entry, what type of item or item you would love to win. Quilting? Piecing or appliqué? Wool appliqué? Punch needle, rug hooking, cross stitch or embroidery? Or something I haven't mentioned, just give me a second choice in case it is an item I don't have.

The giveaway ends at 12 am, Friday the 29th. I will announce the winner on Saturday, so I can get your package out monday morning. I am sorry, but this has to be for US followers only. "To be entered, you must state what crafts you like to do, or you cannot be entered, this is my indication that you are entering the contest." 

This is for followers only, please do not follow just to enter the contest, but if you have found my blog and like what you see, you are welcome to be a new follower. I am hoping to have more quilting done in the new year and time to work on new designs and freebies. Hopefully I will have a few free christmas doodles in the coming weeks.

Yes, it was my birthday, it is over now, lol. I was fighting off the flu with the new meds and today I felt better and was able to catch up around the house. Baby Nick was here all day but my daughter helped when he was awake and I think he was sick too, since he slept the rest of the time.

Monday Finishes and Winner Announced!

First I want to send my prayers and blessings to all those who were in the storm's path.

I finished my pillows today, I was running around all weekend, shopping for fun things to keep the baby entertained. Tonight my son called me on face time and Nicholas was laughing and trying to grab the pad, warms my heart that he is finally seeing me as someone who makes him happy:)

I am better, not great, but not any worse. I did go for xrays, nothing broken, he said it was tendonitis but had no idea what to do. I go to my doc this week, so he can help me out, I hope. I was able to do a lot more today, house is all clean so I can spend the day playing with Nicholas. He comes later, so that will be easier on me.

These pillows were waiting to be sewed and stuffed. I used batting since they are gifts for friends that they can use anytime, so I didn't want to scent them. Sometimes I dab a pillow with cinnamon so the packaged items smell good when they open it.

The angels are designs by Primitive Blessings. The nativity is an old design and I modified it a bit, meant to put a star on it, guess I will do that tomorrow. The two little pillows in front are stuffed with balsam. I wanted to have something that I could make up quick to hand out or add to packages, and I finally found a nice pine design to use. This way they can add it a bowl, place it in a tree, or wherever they want a scent. I made them 4", so small in size, but more in scent.

Mary is on the left, I messed up and cut out the wrong colors for the outfits, she should be in blue, lol.

These ornies are a design by Whimsicals. I have had the book for years and I finally got around to making some. I used marvy markers on two and pitt artist ink markers on the others, but I forgot what, was what, duh. They both worked, they did not run after heat setting, but you do have to be careful when you color in the letters and start away from the line so it doesn't soak out too far. I did the outline stitching after I colored and dried them. The ink doesn't need to be set, but I do it as an added precaution. Of course I soaked them in walnut to grunge them up. The jute is something new at Jo anns, Martha Stewart colored jute, it is a nice dark olive.

And now for the winner. Thank you all for playing along with me, I truly enjoy everyones company since I am stuck home most of the time, I feel blessed to have friends around the world. The winner of a free Epattern or booklet, is Annie of Scrappalachia. Annie, pick any pattern you would like and email me with your choice. Don't forget, Friday is Giveaway day, I will be showing the goodies I will be sending and more about the giveaway.

Speaking of giveaways, the generous folks at Sauder's Fabrics, are giving away a beautiful Featherweight, be sure to visit their Blog.

Liberty Lady!

I am still working on the baby quilt but almost done with the main quilting, then I will do the border. When I am working on a larger project, I like to do small things to take a break and have something I can finish quickly and there are a lot of fun, free patterns on the internet.

One place that has wonderful patterns is Bird in the Hand Primitives. Robin has wonderful free patterns that you can use in stitchery, punch needle or rug hooking. I have also done some in fabric as mini quilts, so something for everyone.

I made mine as a mini doll pillow, so I could add it to my americana setting. I kept it simple and sprayed  it with walnut spray to prim it up.

Today I found another free pattern that would be fun to do for next month and easy enough to do in a day. You can find it at Simply Put Plus. I think it would be fun in wool too, great item to make for your July fourth party.

This week I also checked out Bloglovin' and Feedly. I found Bloglovin to be the better of the two, it has a nicer layout and automatically sends a daily feed to my mailbox. Both are easy to set up, just a simple click to transfer your blogs.

Blackbird Sings Stitchery!

I finally finished my blackbird stitchery, design by Kathy Schmitz. It was really fun to do but it is harder to do the large designs and keep them straight since my light box is not that big, so I had to trace it on my glass door.

I changed a few things, the berries were stitched, but I used wool. I also added a little stitching in the middle and the outside to tack it to the backing. It was way too bright for me, so I had to antique it, lol. The blues are not so bright, but hard to get all of the colors to show up nicely with a flash.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! Bill has to work, so it might be a good day to get the baby quilt done. I was about to finish it and realized I didn't have anything that was big enough for the back and I wanted a nice solid piece for this. I got a nice flannel that is cream with splotches of pale yellow, so perfect for the backing.

I kept this photo larger so you can see the details, not sure if blogger allows large anymore. It seems they keep changing my photo options. The border has also been changed, instead of a larger border, I made mine smaller so it is a combination border/binding.

Dying Floss and New Project!

Yes, I said new project. I get the newsletter from Dover Publishing and every week they send free samples and this one was perfect for a candle mat. I wanted to make it as a gift for my daughter, but I didn't get it done in time, so we shall see what I do with it, after I finish it.

I wanted to try brighter colors for her and I do love the way my hand dyed pink, looks in this piece. You can see where the shades go from dark to light on the flowers. The green is a solid, so I need to over dye some green for future projects.

And, here is the floss that I used for the pink that is in the flowers. That is, the floss before I over dyed it. The beauty of using this floss is that it comes in a package and it is cheap. With a coupon, it saves a lot of money and perfect for over dying.

I usually soak it in tea or walnut, but I thought I would wet the floss and then use walnut spray. It was easier and faster, but it didn't saturate into the middle sections, as well. But, it still came out nice, now I have various shades in dark and bright, so it will be fun to see how this would look in a punch needle piece.

The photo is a bit darker than the actual floss, but you can see how it went from bright to prim with a bit of walnut ink. You can soak it overnight in walnut and then sun dry it, now that it is getting warmer.
If you do not have walnut you can use tea or coffee, but remember that the acids in tea can destroy cross stitch pieces, over time.

Birds..Hearts and Winners!

First of all, the correct answer was 32", yes he is a big cat and his head was bent. I tried to measure him while he was laying on the bureau, but he thought I wanted to play and tried to eat the measuring tape.

So, the winner with the closest guess was Paulette!
The winner of the random number generator was #2 Tubilinha Tiacarminha!

You can choose a pattern or ebooklet from my ecrater site, link in the left hand column.
Email me with your choice and I will send it to you.
Congratulations! Look for another giveaway on Friday, something for the quilters.

This week I have been fighting off the flu, and the weather has been rainy, so it is a good time to relax inside and work on small projects.

I love Kathy Schmitz's designs and she has some free designs on her website that you can enjoy making. This one was for a tea towel, but I loved the design and wanted to make a pillow. I kept it simple and antiqued it, but the camera really didn't want to give me a good shot, and I had to use flash since it is dark out.

The pillow is tea stained muslim and stained again, by me, but it looks shiny in the photo. I forgot to add details to the body, that is what happens when you are sick and dense, lol.

Another design I found for free, this week is, Valentine hearts. I loved how the word love looked and had to try it. I made flat ornies out of mine, using two pieces of batting to fill the middle and just stitched the back on, leaving the edges raw. I over stained these, so I rinsed them out and re-dried them to lighten them back up. The pattern is by Cheryl Fall and can be found HERE. There are two others that you can do, as well and the actual pattern, that I didn't see until tonight. I found the design and now I see how they were actually done.

Christmas Quilt Top Finished!

First a reminder, the voting for The Awesome Autumn Challenge, ends soon, so if you haven't voted, please visit and leave your vote. They are also doing  a new giveaway, so just leave a comment to be entered into the newest giveaway.

Today I finished the top part of my quilt and then I sewed that to the bottom blocks. I went with a simple homespuns green with stars for the border. It matches nicely and has a soft touch, so fun to work with, since the border is also the binding.

For the top, I took a design and spread it out to fit in the space. Now I just need to add the batting and back and I will do a simple black stitch in the blocks and around the border I will probably go with a tan, so it shows up. I even sewed the newest piece, wonky, so it matches the rest;)

The designs are by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings, all free designs.

For those of you who are in the storm's path, stay safe. I plan on enjoying the nice weekend, before we get hit with the wind and rain.

Mini Christmas Quilt Progress!

I had big plans this weekend and we all know what happens to those, lol. I had not time to work on my projects and when I did, I kept getting interrupted. Today I was able to finish the punching on my newest piece, tomorrow I can finish it off. I also worked on my Christmas stitchery blocks. These are all free designs from Primitive Blessings. I wanted to try some mini blocks with mine and then I added a sashing to each. I just put them on, I didn't pay attention to what colors were going where, so it is hit or miss. Then I sewed them together and as you can see, they are all wonky, just like me;)

I sewed them together so I could measure out the top piece, which is what I am working on now. Once I put that on, I will add a solid border and do primitive quilting on the edges of each block and the borders.

The weather has been beautiful and I finally got out for a walk. My cold is finally letting up so I need to  get my lungs back in shape and walking in the fresh cool air, is perfect.

Today I found this site that has a Free Calendar. Forty artists got together and made designs, so you can go to the blog and pick the art work that you like to make your own calendar. It is free and once you pick your owl art,  you can download the calendar and print it out.

This pond is down the road, so it is the perfect place to walk and it is 3 miles around the pond, so perfect exercise for the fall.

Snowed in ... Finished!

I worked on my new piece and finished it tonight. I added a border of various Christmas prints and then added a green border that has stars on it. I think it gave it just enough prim, but still fun. I am not sure if I should use walnut stain on it? What do you think?

The pattern is from Chickadee Hollow Designs and it was gifted to me by This-n-That Fabrics. There is still time to vote for your favorite quilt, if you haven't yet.

I still need to fix the bird, missed a spot with the marker and forgot the green for the leaves on the birdhouse. We won't mention the sloppy job I did on the border binding, my brain cannot think straight so that seems to be effecting my newest pieces, wait till you see my next one, talk about wonky, lol. I wonder if anyone would want this;) For the quilting, I used Lana wool thread.

Snowed In!

I bet  you expected a photo of a snow storm, lol. We did get an earthquake yesterday, that was my first experience with one. It started in Maine, but travelled all the way to RI and it shook the house.

Last month I won some free patterns from This-n-That Fabrics. Today I finally finished the stitching on one, it is called, Snowed In, Lovin' It, by Chickadee Hollow Designs. I thought it would make a nice gift for someone who likes to quilt. I used fabric markers for the colors, as it was done in the pattern.I think the extra color adds a fun touch and gives it some pop. I didn't add hair to her head, and I didn't read how to do the scarf and hat, I just hand knotted pieces to the spots and it didn't come out too bad.

If you haven't signed up to follow This-N-That Fabric's Blog, you should, they have lots of fun contests and right now they are still taking votes for the Awesome Autumn Challenge.

Now I have to figure out how I want to finish this piece. The original is in a frame and I like that idea, or I might make it into a mini quilt. I added a piece of batting before I stitched it to give it a more sculpted look, and it is a great way to hide the stitches.

New Stitcheries and Weekend Giveaway!

First of all, I want to thank all of you who helped to contribute to Kelley's fund for her friends. I am amazed at the generosity of those who helped in any way they can and it warms my heart to know that it will help a family who has been through so much. Not only did she reach her second goal, but it is still going up, the boys will be so surprised and it will take a little bit of the burden away from them as they make the transition of living without their mom.

I finally finished the next set of my stitcheries for my prim quilt group. We are using designs from Primitive Blessings and we are doing them in wools and stitchery, it is our choice and we redo them a bit to make them our own. I messed up a bit on these, but once I am done, I will use black stitching for the quilting and antique it, that hides most flaws;) The blocks are 6" with the sashing.

With the humidity and then rain, it is prime season for bugs. I found this guy on my screen tent, he makes a nice art piece.

And now for the giveaway contest. Yes, I am going to make you think and give me a funny;) There was a bird having a blast, taking a bath and chasing the others away, he thought it was his, but he left before I got back out with the camera. Once he was gone, the gang came back and had the bath all to themselves. Your job is to give me a funny saying for this photo or from one of the birds in the photo. The winner will win their choice of one of my epatterns or booklets. I will draw a name from the comments on this posting. The contest will run through sunday at midnight and I will announce the winner on my monday posting. You can choose my new one or if the winner would like, you can choose a new one that I am working on now. Hopefully I will be finished punching and have the pattern ready for monday.

Davis' Daughter Block Two!

I finished another block, only 4 more lady blocks and one for the middle section, guess I better work faster;) I am staying with the red and blue, mixed with tans and creams, so the dresses will be red, blue and brown shades. The next one will be in the brown family and I am using Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn for the dresses and plan on using it for the border, if i can find some in the stores. I do like the look of the original pattern with blue and tans for the sashing and border prints.

I gave this lady, lighter hair and the green is a lighter shade. I am trying to keep them similar with a little bit of change, to mix it  up. I added an eye to this one, which I will do with all of them and I am thinking of adding laces to the boots.

Newest Blocks for my Angel Quilt!

First, for those who didn't see it, the angel pattern that I base this on was Emily's quilt, by Jan Patek.  You can find the pattern in her Angel book. I have added my own touches and will be using some of the blocks and some from her other designs. I am just making blocks, then putting them together with some filler blocks, so we won't know how it will look, till I am done;)

As far as my first block goes, I did use a Chlorox bleach pen on it. I went near the hearts and rubbed it in with a paper towel. It did work, the stain was gone, but once I rinsed it out, it came back, lol. This time is was lighter, so I might leave it and stitch around the hearts.

The next block I used was from Emily's quilt, I wanted another large block and this one was fun to do since I used wool, which makes it easier and faster to sew.

This block is from the quilt on the back of the Angels book. It is a larger quilt with all types of designs on it, but this one was a saying, I just had to add to my sister's quilt. The sunflower, I took from a small drawing on another book of Jan's.

My last block today, I made from a pattern in the book, Say it with Flowers. I also used this book for the sunflower shown above and the next block I am working on, which is a large sunflower. I think I need some green scroll leaves beneath the heart. Once I finish the sunflower tonight, I will add sashing, then decide where and what types of blocks I can add to finish the size I want.

Giveaway Winner!

I have had a slow weekend, but I finally finished two more angels.
Someone said they would like to see the wings in neutrals, so I used some tan prints for these.
They are fun to do and will make great gifts and thin enough to fit in a card.
The pattern is from Bird Brain Designs. Be sure to visit, she is hosting a giveaway.

And now to the winner of the giveaway...... The random generator picked # 1, so yes, being first can be a  good thing sometimes;) The winner is Patty of Pieces of My Life! Patty, email me with your choice of a pattern from my ecrater site, Congratulations!

Valentine Heart Freebie!

I was in the mood to make another heart and did up a little doodle to stitch on it.
I used two strands of floss and a stem stitch. When I was done, I cut out around the stitches and sewed it, right sides together to a piece of wool. Slit an opening on the back of the wool and fill it, then I covered it with a wool heart and a blanket stitch. A nice simple project that you can whip up in a night.

Here is the drawing that I used, I hope you enjoy making some for yourself or for a friend.