Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to make two items and one is a freebie. The freebie is offered by Michelle Palmer on her facebook page, Michelle Palmer Artist. She offers one each year, and I love this new one. It was fun to do and can be done in primitive wools or bright wools.

The stocking is about 9" tall. I think it makes a nice gift that you can add some candy to, or some lip balm, etc. You can find the pattern at the link above. You can see a little shading on his head and tail, I used walnut ink but it faded as it dried, so I can add a little more.

My next piece is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her One Stitch Club. I decided to do it in Christmas colors,  on a tea towel,  perfect for a gift.

This week I was able to get in a beach day. Bill has his laser surgery and a late appointment the next day, so we got in a  few hours at the beach. I got  quite a few nice treasures, that large chunk is an old green piece and the larger rock would make a nice shape to do a nativity scene.

Do you see that smaller dark piece above the green and yellow one?

Well, I got a nice surprise when I put it to the light and saw that it was a piece of red glass with a gold decoration on it.  I almost threw it away, thinking it was a piece of a new bottle.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and not snow bound. It is colder here, but it will be sunny.

Friday Finishes!

This week I made a new project and finished one I had started. The first one is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her, One Stitch at a Time Club. Each month she sends a new design to stitch, for two dollars, a month. I decided to join since I love her stitcheries and it is fun to get something new each month. There were a couple, I never did, but I still have the designs that I can do another time, but I do love ones I can make for the holidays and ones I can give as gifts. You can also buy the designs for a dollar more, after she releases them, if you want to buy individual ones.

This one I made for me, loved the design and I happened to have a little hanger and christmas clothes pins. Perfect to hang on my peg rack. She had three words to choose from and I love to use Joy, though I did the word myself, so not the best layout, but good enough for me. I used her crackle fabric and then antique medium, love how it came out.

Another piece I finished was a quilted wall hanging with a design by Cheri Saffiote. This was a free pattern on her Facebook page, Quilts by Cheri - Friendship Group. This will be a gift and I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but the lighting is bad in my house and it is freezing outside. The wool textures don't show up as nice or in true color. It is a little wonky and I used scraps for the border, not perfect, but made with love.

I added the words in the upper two areas to fill in that space. I also received a wonderful gift from my friend Karen. She had made a top with sailors and never finished it, so she gifted it to me with the backing, so I can make something for my beach room. I love it so much, I may make a quilt with it, or a wall hanging, something fun to work on.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have snow coming in tomorrow, so it will be a stay at home day. I will finish up cards and things and then I can enjoy the rest of the season and work on new projects for fun.

Friday Finishes!

This week was a slow one, been fighting off the flu and it finally got me, so I have been taking it easy and today was a couch day, hopefully that means it is on it's way out.

I was able to finish my blocks from Cheri's Facebook Group. These are fun to do and work up quickly and she still has all the blocks and instructions in the files, so  you can still get in on the fun.

I oversized mine since the cloth is thin, next I will cut them down to size and add the sashing and work on the log cabins to go with them, a great way to use up scraps.

Since I had extra time and I wanted to take a day to just make something, I tried one of my cats as a halloween kitty with a moon and stars. I was trying to make it scrappy by changing the heights, and more loosely, a no thinking day of punching;)

We went to pick out our prize and there were no baskets left, was hoping to get a nice gift basket, but there were other prizes available. Some were just not my style and then she looked up and said, oh and this beach window. Well, that was fate, the perfect piece to put in the beach room. A bit shabby chic, and thinking I may put an ocean print behind it, or I can just paint a simple ocean and sky? It is on the wall shelve for now, not sure if i want to hang it, it does have a heavy chain on it, but I like that space and I can decorate around it. I also have a double oar to hang on the wall above it. I like how my starfish lights look, around it.

The saying is perfect for my room. I hope everyone has a nice weekend, we have rain, so maybe another rest day and hopefully some sun and a walk on Sunday.

Monday Finish!

I decided not to post on Friday since I didn't have anything to show. I seem to have over did it and all my joints from my hip to my neck are out of alignment and so painful, I have been laying on the couch since then. It is frustrating for me since I hate laying around and if I have to, I need something to keep my hands busy but I was flat out, most of the time.

Yesterday I was able to move more so I got my snowmen ready to finish and was able to finish the rest today. It is for my sister so I kept it fun and brighter. I like how it has a prim feeling but also fun and a pop of color with the off white stitching. The one problem I had was, getting the blue ink off, it went through 4 rinses and it is still there so I may have to add a bit of stain to see if that will tone it down. I used a fabric that may not have been all cotton, so that could be it.

The designs can be found at Christmas Coloring Pages. They have a lot of different designs and lots of similar ones that can be used to make a mini quilt or a larger one. It is a bit wonky from shrinking up, but I will be rewashing it and then I can block it better.

I also got a new photo of my sweet grandsons, I sure miss Nick and I can't wait to meet Alex, but they are not due home until September. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and hopefully I can get out more next weekend, I do miss paddling and was hoping to get out more this year.

Twelve Days of Christmas: My Day!

I hope you have been following the Twelve Days of Christmas, each day there is a new tutorial or free pattern that you can make, just in time for Christmas. Thank you to Wendy for hosting the hop and all of the ladies who are participating. You can follow along each day by clicking on the banner.

I love to work with wool and I know most of you, love wool as well. I also love doing pieces with inspirational words and I think Joy is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy my project and make one for yourselves to remember to keep Joy in your hearts, each and every day, this season.

I have given instructions, if anything seems confusing or you have a question, you can email me, anytime. The bells are about 5" long, but you can make them any size by enlarging or reducing the design.

This is  closer photo of the bells, the garland goes across my windows, with more bells and ties.

Have fun with the pattern, instructions are a guideline of how I made mine, but you can change it to suit your likes.

Instructions:

Materials:

Wool

floss

red berries (Beads, buttons or french knot.)

Rusty bell

2” styrofoam ball.

Red and green homespun 1/4” strips

Jute

Clothespins

Bells:

Cut out 3 bells, 3 bell backs, letters, candle, 2 leaves. Sew on the appliques with a blanket stitch.

Attach berries

Sew back and front with a blanket stitch, starting at the bottom and when you come around to the end, attach the bell with the same thread.

Balls:

Cut strips from the green homespun and wrap them around the styrofoam ball, until it is covered. Take a red piece and wrap it around the ball, twist around at the bottom and come around the opposite side, tie into a tight bow, leaving a few inches of the tail, to hang from the clothespin. 

You can buy pre-stained clothespins or soak them in walnut ink to age them. You can also have fun and paint them in christmas colors.

To make the garland, take a piece of homespun and a piece of jute and twist them together. Add  red ties if you like to fill in the spaces, and you can add larger rusty bells, as well. The length depends on how much you add to your garland and the size of your window, or area that you hang from.

Pattern Pieces:

Another fun thing to do for Christmas is baking treats that everyone will love. I have made these for years, they are great for parties and your guests who come to visit. They melt in your mouth and I haven't met anyone who didn't love them.

I hope you enjoyed visiting today and don't forget to follow along each day.

A Freebie Finish and Weekend Fun!

Today I made a halloween cone from a freebie I found on the web. It is from Country Sampler and I added a link to the PDF File, since it asks you to subscribe to get it, for some reason. But, I found a direct link so you can use that and make one for yourself.

I messed up, seem to do that a lot lately, lol. I forgot to put it on the fold when I cut, so I just did a blanket stitch to sew it together. In the original, the sew line is in the back. I also added the tie and a couple of jingle bells. I had to take a photo on the floor in the kitchen so I could get better light on it.

This weekend we watched Nicholas for the day while his dad worked on their house. He played outside with grandpa and Bean and then we took him to the toy store. He used the word, Wow, a lot. I was looking for a few things so he would have toys to play with, at our house, but nothing good and we ended up going to a smaller store that carries toys and a little plastic wagon that he can use in the house. Of course he had to try out the toys in the store, I think this is, what do you mean, you aren't buying it for me, look;)

Sunday we went to the antique barn, and I was so excited when I saw a vintage tin halloween garland, then I realized, it was not for sale, errr. Since we were at the north end, we went apple picking at the orchard I went to as a child and we took our kids there. It has new owners, but the new orchard is dog friendly and Bean was in heaven. He was like a kid in a candy store, apples, people, dogs and more apples. Nothing like hundreds of round red balls on the ground to get him going.

" I think I need my own bag!"

Monday FInish!

No wandering this weekend, we got lots of wind and rain, so it was mostly shopping and a car ride in the rain, to get out. I didn't get anything done this weekend, but today I finally made a pattern, I have been wanting to make.

The pattern is by Blue Moon Beginnings and if I recall correctly, I got it for free from an issue of Rusty Tin Roof's magazine. You can download the latest issue or any of their back issues. Each issue has free patterns in it and some will work and some won't, from the older issues. If you don't subscribe, it is free and you will get their seasonal issues.

The pattern is more prim and I cheated a bit on my faces but I will try the actual pattern and different versions for fun. I used a coffee stained muslin for the cat and a tea stain for the snowman, then I added more stain to the snowman. Valerie has a lot of fun, prim patterns and they do come as epatterns, so if you are interested in seeing what she has, you can visit her Etsy Shop and see what other patterns she has.

The photo came out lighter, so the cat is not as dark brown, as he actually is. It also makes the streaks of stain on the snowman, more pronounced.

It was so miserable at the lighthouse, even this seagull was not happy. He decided that a puddle was better than being in the windswept ocean.

Friday Finishes!

I was able to spend time working on projects this week and it was a great stress reliever, as well.

The first piece I finished was my Christmas wall hanging. The pattern is called Hang The Stockings by JoAnn Mullaly. 

For mine, I added some star quilting, in some areas. I also stained it, then let it sun dry so it got more of a splotchy effect. As the sun pulls the moisture away from the fabric, it leaves the walnut stain behind, so it is not as controlled but gives it more of a true aged look. It is hard to get a true photo of the piece since some colors pop and others darken too much, it is more blended and yellowed in person.

I needed something else to keep my hands busy so I made up another punch needle star. This time I used the cat design from Renee Mullins and extended the scarf into the bottom of the star. I was trying to raise the loops on the scarf but it didn't work out the way I wanted, I would have to go higher on the loops, so I will have to try another piece and practice my sculpting.

I still need to clean it up and fix some spots, then I will do up all of the stars, into ornaments.

Another thing I did this week was to antique a wooden cat, that I found. I can't pass up a .99 cent deal and will a little sanding, some antique medium and a rusty bell, he is now a primitive kitty. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and hopefully I will feel good enough to get out and enjoy the good weather, we are  having.

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.

Lucky Me!

Last week, I found out I was the winner of the giveaway hosted by Primitive Handmades Mercantile. They are a new group of primitive artists who sell on a monthly basis. I hope you visit their site and check out the talented artists, maybe find a gift for yourself or a a friend.

I received three prizes so far, two more are on their way. I haven't had much time to make myself too much for valentines, so it was wonderful to win this giveaway and have such treasures to display.

I received these three hearts from Susan of Olde Threads. They came in a  beautiful package, and have a wonderful prim smell to them. A picture just doesn't do these justice, they are filled with sawdust and the fabrics are wonderfully aged to perfection. I love the way she bundled them and added a key, makes a wonderful grouping.

The second prize I received was two hand hooked pillows, made by Kathy of Woolfind's Keepsakes. They are in a hit or miss style, but she blended the colors so beautifully, a perfect match to go with any grouping I have, so something I can use all year round, just love them.

And third, but not least is a set of three primitive hearts. These were made by Teresa of Teresa's Prim Treasures. They are a deep red and with the added rusty bell and pin, they are perfect for a prim valentine. I love the way she uses the wire to hang them, they are perfect for hanging on my racks. 

Punch Needle Angel Doll

I know I shouldn't be using my hand, but I have been stitching all week and just had to punch something.
I decided that punching a pillow would be too much work, so I came up with something new to do.
I took one of Primitive Blessing's patterns and made it into a doll shape. I moved the arms down, to the side, so it would be easier when sewing. I left out the wings and used vine twigs instead. On the original, she had a tie with stars, so I made one with jute thread and bells. For the bottom, I left it open and then cut a piece of wool in an oval, to give it a wider bottom, for sitting. I am not sure on her wings, I just sewed them on with thread, so I might redo them.