Final Finish

 This week I have been getting ready for our trip, so not a lot got done in my craft room. I did finish the stitchery and made it into a wall hanging. I added some buttons and an outer stitch and hopefully the recipient will love it. 

Today was cooking, I made corn bread and a big pot of thick soup. I call it a cross between minestrone and  Pasta Fagioli. I make mine with beef and it makes its own broth and then I use petite chopped tomatoes, which I chop a bit more, before I add it.  For vegetables I use frozen mixed veggies, white beans, onion and garlic, so hearty and healthy meal for cooler days.

The weather is horrible, rain this weekend, but Sunday should be better and then a few nice days. It may rain at the end of the week, so it will depend on how bad it gets, and whether I stay all week. Hopefully we can enjoy time outside, paddling and biking. That is the one good thing, cooler weather means I have more energy to do things. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Almost finished!

 

I got all the stitch work done on my new piece. I still need to add the buttons on the color area. I have a small red heart for one and I wanted to use an anchor button on the other, but can't remember where I put the extras. I am not sure if I should make it into a pillow or a hanging, but I have time since it will be a Christmas present.

As far as the trailer fiasco is going. I joined a group for that type of trailer and saw that the same trailer with a question about towing, with the same truck we have. They all said not to do it, the weight was too much, so now I am debating again. To just cancel and give up for now or go look at a smaller one tomorrow. One has most of the same things, but a big outdoor kitchen, but no indoor table. One has a smaller table, so will decide tomorrow. I really wanted something the family could go in, but if I get bunks I lose the larger kitchens, comfy seats and storage, and that would be nicer for Bill and I.

The photo looks light and bright but the colors are much deeper than they show. I will trim down the border when I decide how to finish it.

We seem to spend more time at the lighthouse, since it is always cooler and the air is so refreshing. It also doesn't hurt that I never tire of the ever changing views.

Lots of wave action with the passing storms.

And with the tide coming in, not the best place to be fishing. It amazes me, how many people stand close to the edges of the cliffs with waves coming in. Every year people are lost who get too close.

Another day we enjoyed a longer walk and just stood and enjoyed the views, along the way. Lots of boaters were out.

Sailboats, Working boats and Skidoos.

And to me, waves are mesmerizing, a few shots with a longer shutter speed.

And in the field, people were flying kites. These two were fun ones. This weekend I need to get things ready for our trip next week, we will be gone till Saturday morning. I am hoping I can just relax, sit in the cove in my kayak and enjoy nature. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and are not getting hit with the smoke, we have had it here, but not too bad.

Still working on!

 It seems the weeks go by and I don't get as much done, as I wanted. Our trailer buy turned out to be disappointing. It seems the previous owners didn't mention that they had a leak, so the whole slide would have to come off, new flooring put in and then back together again. Our dealership was going to do it, but we decided to look at a newer one. I love the new version, but then what do I see in the bedroom, a puddle of water. So, if you ever want to buy a Wildwood, make sure it doesn't have a leak. So, we ended up getting a better trailer that we had before, much better quality. It is a little smaller, but has a real kitchen, recliners and plenty of storage. Perfect for us and enough room for the boys to stay, but might be a bit cramped for the whole family. 

I have been working on my stitchery, lots of work on this one, but almost done. Working on the final touches and embellishments. I plan on doing a multicolor border, so I will be done by next week. Since I am not sure yet, if we can get the new trailer in time, I will be getting the RV ready. It seems a few spiders have moved in and I do not sleep with bugs, lol.

We also went to the town beach, love that it is close so we can go, just for a swim. While we were swimming, the Ospreys were flying overhead and catching fish. It is amazing to watch them as they dive down and splash into the water.

I also noticed some birds at the end of the beach. A family of Laughing gulls and always fun to see the young ones as they learn to fish on their own.

One day we went to the island for a swim. This is what I spotted on the beach, made me wonder if I wanted to go in the water. It is a Sand Shark, so not too scary.

The water was rough and wavy, but fun to swim in and no crowds.

At home I have enjoyed seeing more young come in. The Cardinals had 2 girls and a boy, but they are shy and fly off when I come out. The other is a female Cowbird, she has been on her own now, and knows where the food supply is.

I hope you all had a good week and not in the flood zones or storms coming through. We have a lot of wind tonight and some heavier storms expected overnight. A nice week coming up, so I hope that you all get better weather and can enjoy the rest of the summer.

Working on!

 

This week I have been fighting off something. I am seriously thinking it was from mosquito bites I got when I was working in the garden. Luckily I had meds and Lyme meds, so took what I had and rested a lot. It affected my bones and joints, so I didn't have much energy this week.

I decided to make up a stitchery to work on, when I felt better. This is an old Cheri pattern and thought it would be nice as a gift. I will add buttons and maybe do a pillow or small wall hanging, will decide on that later.

Last weekend we went out for a little ride around the island and enjoyed seeing the birds in the coves. 

I also got some shots of the new Osprey. I guess they only had one this year. Dad bringing in the catch.

Coming in with dinner

And feeding time

At home I have been watching a lot of new arrivals. Unfortunately I spotted this juvenile Coopers Hawk with its meal. They are not the best hunters, so they tend to go after birds. The photos are at dusk, so a bit odd looking.

And this is what he had, another Flicker. This one was enjoying bugs in my yard, so hopefully the hawk doesn't get him too.

And another new arrival. This is a juvenile Cowbird. It can fly on its own and eat, but it's a bit confused. It is all alone, so I think his mother left her egg in another birds nest. Once they get too big, the other bird will stop feeding it. It also calls out constantly, but no sound comes out, so it lost its voice. 

Today we went back to the island. I am feeling better, so enjoyed a nice walk around the cliffs. Lots of sailboats are out now.

We also had company, thousands of Dragonflies. 

We decided to explore the inner paths and got a closer look at the Osprey on the radar tower.

After we went to the other park and I got to enjoy a swim in the cove. The tide was going out, so I swam in the channel, against the tide, so I stayed in one place.

There were a lot of Egrets in the surrounding area, so I had plenty of company. Bean was enjoying swimming too, but he won't go that deep. I hope you all had a good week and enjoy your weekend. 

Friday Finish and Freebie!

This week I was able to get a few projects done. I got some new colored pencils and wanted to try them out. I wanted to get the inktense, but they are expensive. I ended up getting Faber Castell's Goldfaber pencils. They are 1.49 a pencil, which is nice since you can choose the colors you want and not waste on colors like white or black. For black I prefer to use their ink markers.

The first piece I made was a design by Cheryl Seslar. I traced the design with a washable embroidery pen, then colored it in with the pencil. The material is a stiff white, that I got for punch needle, but it is too stiff and loosely woven. It was ok, but a bit scratchy for coloring on.

Once I finished that, I used fabric medium and a bristle brush to move the colors around. When wet, they do blend in, so nice for more detailed projects when you want to add shading and mix colors. This was a practice piece, so I kept it simple.

It was too white for my tastes, so I used antique medium afterwards and there was no bleeding of the colors.

The second piece is a free design by Lori Brechlin. I really loved this one, the fabric was darker and softer, so the pencils colored more smoothly. I will have to try different fabrics and techniques, in future projects.

Here are two pieces that I used to try their colorfastness on. The flower was done with a fabric medium, the heart was just colored, so medium used. Once dry, I washed them in dish soap and scrubbed a little, then let dry. As you can see, no color bled out, so either way will work.

This was done with the bad weavers cloth, so you don't get the nicer look that you do on cotton.

Since I love making things from freebies, I decided to make one of my own. I found this saying and it was perfect for Valentines day. I did use the cheap fabric on this too, a good way to use it up. For the stitching I used black #12 pearl cotton. It is a fun and simple project you can do over the weekend.

I hand wrote the saying, so you could do one of your own. It is not exactly like mine, I tend to change things as I go. With primitive stitchery, you want your letters to be a little wonky. I did forget when I was recopying the e's on the third line, so just remember to pull the end down more. You can stitch t he hearts, do appliqué or use buttons, as well. 

And as an added bonus, I found a template online and added the saying inside. You can change it around if you want or add something to the empty spaces, but I wanted to give you one with the shape, that you can use to print out and have fun one.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Finishes and Painting Progress!

This week was a mix of catching up around the house and lots of cleaning, mixed with some sewing and punching and a bit of painting. I love making small items, that work up quickly and I looked on Pinterest for a free patriotic stitchery. This one said free on the photo, but I could never find the original site, that it came from.

It was a fun little piece to add to my mini pillow collection.

I also was in the mood to punch something small and new. I actually made this in a day, as you can see, I was not paying attention and did the flag backwards, duh. I just made up a flag and added a whale, something fun and quick to do. You could add any shape or design to a flag, you are welcome to copy my idea, but you may want to do it the right way, lol.

I also got back to my painting. I realize I just have to make time if I want to do more crafting and then I take breaks to clean and get other things done. I also have to stop when my brain goes on hold or my vision goes blurry, but I was able to do some base coats. I will be adding more as I go, but I like to see how they look with the main designs, before I decide what I want to add. There will be a background coat, which will be sanded so some of the paper designs will show through. I like the idea of writing something inspirational for the lighthouse and something patriotic for the angel.

The lighthouse is my own design from a photo I took. The angel is an extra free design from Teresa Kogut's  Angel tutorial.

Talking about something inspirational, this photo was taken by a woman in our town, last week. This is the cemetery where Danielle was buried. A message of God's promise and I know she will be waiting for me, when my time comes. 

May you all have a wonderful weekend and find the blessings in each and every moment.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was browsing for new design ideas and stumbled onto a site that I hadn't been to in years. It is called North Pole Christmas and they have a lot more patterns and crafts than they used to and a great place for designs that you can use in any medium, as well as crafts and cards that you can print out.

I wanted to do angels so I picked some angel designs that I liked and tried them in stitchery. These were fun to do and I added sayings to go with them. I think they would be nice with rusty  bells attached too.

I also want to do brighter ones so I will be trying something else with some new ones I found, we shall see how they turn out. I like to make things I can give away and I think it would be nice to have some fun ones for people who prefer that, and a nice idea for nursing home patients to have something they could hang in their room.

I can see doing these in appliqué mixed with stitchery and punch needle, as well. I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have nice weather with a mix of rain so hopefully we can get out for some new adventures this weekend.

Friday Finishes!

This has been a rainy week so it was a good week to work on some new projects. The first one is a free design by Cheryl Seslar. I have had the pattern for years, so not sure where I got the free one.

I wanted to have fun with this one so I used more color. I will make it into a mini quilt and it will go into my gift box.

The second piece I made is from another design I found on the internet. I am not sure who the designer is and the site is in another language, so I hope it was free. I just loved this one, love the saying and the cute angel, just brings a smile to my face and hopefully the person who I decide to give it to. The photos are not the best, so hopefully I can get some nicer ones when I finish them.

I added a few fun touches on this one, the hair is done with a chain stitch and the stars are an addition. I also used batting on this one, that way I get more depth in the piece, the raggedy ann is done just on the cloth and a looser weave, I think I prefer the muslin for stitchery.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have rain on and off so hopefully we will get some breaks and out for a few walks.

Giveaway Winner and Suggestions Please!

First I will get right to the winner of the birthday giveaway. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and Birthday wishes. My birthday was on November 21'st and I had the baby all day, so I celebrated on Thanksgiving instead. I made stuffing, then let my husband cook and my daughter vacuumed and I sat in my sewing room and caught up on some projects.

I wish everyone could be winners and I wanted to do a freebie, but it seems time slips by lately and I have one week to get all the gifts ready and cards out, ugh.

I used the random generator and the lucky winner is #11, Jennifer768. Congratulations Jennifer, please send me your address so I can get your package ready to ship out this week. I will add some patterns and goodies to surprise you;)

I do have a lot of stash and plan on doing some cleaning so look for more giveaways in the coming year and I will do them by types of crafts so there will be something for everyone.

I have been working on a project for a swap and finally got it all together. It takes me a long time to think about what I want to do and then pick out the perfect fabrics and then change my mind and add new things, lol. I saw a photo and she had a raggedy doll, so hoping she likes this. My question is, should I just leave it alone or add more to the tree and pocket. This is a mug rug, a bit larger than I planned, so I guess it is a mat now. It looks more prim in person, I had to do a quick flash photo and the    wings are a speckled white. That I think needs some walnut to prim it up and maybe her stockings. I thought of adding bells on the tree, but it is to be used for tea and not sure if bumpy things are a good idea, lol. The pocket is for the silverware.

What do you think, is it ok as is? I still have to sew the binding to the back though. Not sure if you can see, but I did the applique in a black prim stitch. I forgot to outline stitch the tree, knew something was off;) Any suggestions are appreciated, my brain is getting off antibiotics, so I tend to be a bit daft.

The angle is a design by Cheri Saffiote, from one of her old books and the rest I just made up as I went along.

Kitty Pillow and Quilt Progress!

I have been resting this week, but I have been stitching. I definitely did more, last week, then I have all year, lol.

This week I received a wonderful prize, that I won in a giveaway from Barbie Jo, of Cleo and Me. I won a wonderful pillow that she made, with a kitty theme, isn't is adorable, I love it! I am thinking I need to redecorate my office with fun kitties. I haven't been using the room lately, but I do need a computer space and it has a chaise, so it would be a good place for me to relax and create. I think a room filled with kitty decor would be a fun place to do that.

Be sure to visit Cleo and Me, there are a lot of fun patterns for all types of sewing and punch needle.
The fabrics she used, look so wonderful with the stitchery.

On the sewing front, I have been working on my americana quilt. The main fabrics are from Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn line. The shirtings are from different lines. I decided to add a little appliqué, but I wanted it simple. Barbara and I had talked about doing a quilt that we liked, which had appliqué circles on it, so I thought I would try it on this piece. I added an extra round of shirting and now I am using the jelly roll in a hit and miss border, around that. I will add one more row in a darker color for the binding. So, what do you think?

Annie Stitchery Finished

I finally got around to finishing my Raggedy Ann stitchery.
I used dmc floss for the stitchery and the big quilting stitches.
It really was a fun pattern to do. I used a material that looks similar to the blue florals, that you find on the old annie dresses.
I added some fun buttons and antiqued it to age it.
If you would like to make one, you can get the free pattern at Kaarens.
She has a new freebie on the first friday of the month, so she will have a new one, next week.

Don't forget, the contest and the pattern sale end tomorrow.

Annie Stitchery

I needed a hand break, so I decided to try stitchery.
I got this Sewing Annie for Kaaren Johnston's site and thought it would make a great gift for a friend who collects annies.

This is my first attempt at stitchery, something i have never tried before.
I did a back stitch, a bit sloppy, but my hands are not what they used to be, so my friends have to live with my sloppy stitching;)
I just looked at Kaaren's and noticed I didn't sew in the eyes and I forgot about the tie. I left that last, since I want to do a real tie for her. I am debating on whether to make a little pillow or quilt from it. I found some blue and white floral print that matches the original annie dress, so I thought it would be perfect to border this piece. I will age it more when I am finished.

I used tea stained fabric for the back, a dark red for the stitching to keep it prim and a blue chalk pencil to do the design with a light box.