Friday Finishes!

This week I decided to do another little Pillow with a design by Deborah Cade. These are really fun to do and they work up quickly. There are others that I plan to do in the future. With the summer heat setting in, it is nice to have smalls to work on.

The designs from the pillows and from another project that I am working on, are from the Facebook group, Primitive Folk Art Quilts and Projects. The one I am working on now is a summer project from Julie Porter. She did hers with log cabin blocks, but I might use my seagull fabric. I will do the stitchery first, then decide on patterns and layout. These are two I worked on, I may use star buttons so didn't finish all of it for now. There are also some sailboats and a lighthouse in the series.

I also made more masks this week. It seems more people are going without but I rather be safe when in public and there is still a mask order in place, so if I see people without proper masks, such as store workers, I will have some on hand to give out.

The camping ones I will save for trips and sell at camps. I will need to replace some supplies and have my machine serviced, so the extra will go towards that.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have hot days ahead, so hoping we can find a less crowded beach for the boys, they do love digging in the sand. We also got some real lures for Nick to try and we will stick with the plastic fish for Alex.

Friday Finish!

First I would like to apologize to those of you, who have blogs. I see to be having a problem with my browser lately, so I am going to have to backup my data and clean out my computer and reinstall my browser and hopefully my computer will run a few more years without having to get a new one. I am not able to comment on most blogs, I comment and it disappears, but on blogs that have security pictures, they seem to work. So, I do enjoy reading your blogs, but I can't always comment.

This week I wanted to do something from my Seaside Ornies pattern. I made ornaments to hang on my tree, but I wanted something larger, so I enlarged the ship and lighthouse. The ship is 5" tall and the lighthouse is 6". Perfect sizes for shelf sitters and a summer display.

I added the pail and one of my felt starfish for fun, along with a piece of driftwood, I found on the beach. I think it would be fun to make smaller pails and items and make a whole scene. Maybe if I get creative, I can make an old salt man to add to the scene. Not sure if I would punch it or do one in needle felted, which would be a fun challenge for me.

Later I can make a better back drop for the scene, I do have plenty of larger canvases. If you have the pattern or would like to purchase this one, you can redo them into larger sizes, even for hooking, I was thinking, larger pillows would be fun. You can find the link to the pattern in the left column, or my Ecrater site.

Last weekend was spent with the boys, which is always something I love, no matter what we do. We took them to the bird sanctuary which they loved, but even the short walk, wore them out, so we will have to take shorter walks for now. The beach is always their favorite, they got to play in the sand and a small playground, just their size.

I am also enjoying my back yard, I am adding more flowers on my deck and garden, and the trees are full and green, and two of the bird houses have residents, so it is my own little sanctuary. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, looks like we finally got away from the rain, so we can enjoy getting out, both days.

Summer Ornies!

This weekend, I got bored. So, I decided to make something new to decorate my seasonal tree. Spring still seems like winter, so I went with a summer theme and my favorite subject, the beach.

I made the designs simple to make it easier for making into ornaments and can be machine sewed. I like how they came out and I did them over the weekend, so they work up quick. I also made them so  you can do the sailboats or pails in different colors, a great stash buster, for those floss boxes.

I am getting a lot of requests for a pattern, so I will work on that this week, hopefully I can get them done in a  few days. I always like to make things first, then I make the pattern and adjust things to make them better, where needed.

I put them together for the photo, but I am thinking of adding some starfish lights and maybe some wool starfish, and maybe a nautical flag for the top.

The weather has been too cold to get out, but today I just wanted to walk the beach. It was cool but nice and I was able to find a few nice pieces of glass. This weekend we were supposed to go camping, but now they are talking about a rain storm coming in, so we may stay home and enjoy one good day before it comes in. Hopefully it will hold off long enough to get out in the morning on Sunday, but Monday will be the worst, so I don't think it is worth the trouble of packing up and preparing for a short trip. I have another at the end of the month, so I can add an extra day to that.

Rocking and Stitching!

I had more rocks to paint, so I decided to get them done and ready for our trip next week. We will be camping near several ocean beaches and areas that people visit, so I can leave some in each place.

I rushed as usual, my arm still hurts and I don't have good control, so did the best I could and got them done. I think if i do more later, I will think them out better and I do think it would be fun to find different shapes to make pumpkins for the fall.

Some of the designs I get from ideas on the internet and some I just freehand. I also have a limited color palette so I use what I have. Luckily I know how to mix colors, so I just made my own shades when needed. The moons I did because it will be a full moon next week, so I am hoping I can watch it rise over the ocean.

Today I was going to clean the house, but I had a couple of rocks and I thought, why not just do them and then I can clean up the mess on my table. The two whales were done, but I didn't like how they looked, but I couldn't figure out what to do to them, so I just added a little color to make them fun. I also did a sunset, I think the ocean ones will be nice to leave at camp or areas that I consider safe to leave them. I always worry they will get lost or fall over, so I am careful about where to place them. One area has a seamen's memorial, for those lost at sea, another good spot to leave one. The fun kid ones, will go near beaches.

I have also been working on my stitchery, it is taking longer than I thought and it seems I have less time at night, so I need to make more me time, for crafting. I think I will stop painting rocks and work on christmas pillows that I can hide, much easier and I can do those faster, so I can make more if i do a few at a time.

I am a bit off with my brain and switched colors without realizing it, I had a brown/gold on the moon area, then went to a dark gold, not sure if i should fix it or leave as is and do the rest in dark gold. I am thinking the darker gold on the moon area, gives it a naive look? Or should I fix it, and if so, what color looks best. I like to add a bit of color without over doing it. Later I will change the initials, but wondering, as a gift, should I use the person's initials or mine as the maker?

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. We have one nice day, then rain and two hot days for our vacation, so definitely spending time at the beach. I may post Monday before we leave, if i do anything exciting this weekend, otherwise I will post later in the week.

Friday Finishes!

Finishes or should I call them  foibles? This has not been my week, on meds so my brain is scattered and my arm is no cooperating so I do not have a steady hand, but even so, I love to create, even if I mess it up.

This month's stitchery from Kathy Schmitz was a bird bath and I thought it would make a nice pillow to go with my bird house. I guess I made it a bit large, it is larger than the birdhouse, so it will go in another space.

I used fabric from her line, which goes beautifully with her designs. I did not have much left, so I had to sew some pieces together and it is a bit crooked. The stuffing is way too puffy, I got it by mistake and using it, but I think I will have to get more of the softer kind.

The finished piece is 7" x 11".

Another thing I want to try was rock painting. Our area has been painting rocks and leaving them hidden around the towns, for others to find. I thought it would be fun to try some and hide some myself. I used designs I found online, nothing fancy, wanted them to be fun for kids, who seem to be the ones finding them. With my arm and fuzzy eyes, my painting is horrid and I think I tried to make too much design in a small space. But, it was fun anyways and hopefully the people who find them, will like them. I guess I need to get more paint colors, I tend to have a more prim palette.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Maybe you can find some rocks and paint some yourself.