Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all my friends, old and new, blessings for the holiday season and may your festivities include, family, friends and loving memories.

I snagged this photo of my grandson before I was unfriended, so Christmas this year will be bittersweet for me, since my  DIL persists in being mad at me and will not come for Christmas. But, I have joy in the fact that my family is healthy and I am surrounded by friends from all over the world.

I also found an old photo when we took the kids to Edaville Railroad in Massachusetts. The boy with the glasses is my nephew, Phillip. He is now a grown man who has served our country been a reporter on the war front.  May your holidays be filled with happy memories with your family.

Christmas Quilt Finished!

First I want to thank all of you, that voted for me in the challenge at http://tnt512.blogspot.com. I came in second and was thrilled. I was practical and got a few packs of rotary blades, I will be doing lots of quilting in the next few months. I will show you the fabrics when I receive them. They are also running another giveaway this week, so be sure to visit and enter to win some fabulous fabric and a pattern.

Yesterday I finished my quilt, but I wanted to take an outdoor photo, so I waited. It didn't help, the photo still didn't come out nice. I think I need to take my camera in and see if it needs inside cleaning on the lens, the hazard of taking photos on the water;)

I hand quilted around the blocks and the sashing with black pearl cotton. I use the border as my binding, so when it is done, I fold the extra front, to the back and hand sew it down. This time I tried a tea stain, but it wasn't dark enough, so I added coffee and still didn't work. I finally added walnut crystals to the mix and a little vinegar and it came out just right. It primmed it up without over darkening the design.

The stitchery designs were all freebies from Tiffany of Primitive Blessings. Tiffany's designs are great for stitchery or punch needle, and great for gift ideas.

The quilt measures 25" x 19".

Here is a closer look at the blocks and stitching. I used black to keep it prim. The one difference I would make, would be to put the greenery around the saying, further out on the top block.

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.

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.

Christmas Pillows!

I finally finished off the pillows I have been working on.
I am stuck on the couch most of the time. My coughing killed my ribs, then the ribs being so painful, I don't breath well, so I got sick again, so back on meds. Hoping this time it will go away, I have had enough. Since I have to sit on the couch, hand stitching is a great way to keep my hands busy. I am hoping I can get the binding done on my angel quilt and finish that next. The patterns I used for the pillows are from Primitive Blessings. If you are looking for something fun and quick to do, Tiffany has a lot of wonderful free christmas patterns.

Since I don't have the energy to do a lot or lift, I have been throwing things together to put some holiday in the house. I put some greens in a basket, put a cardinal in and instant decoration, along with one of my old kitties, that I made.

It's Starting to Look like Christmas!

I was able to finish some things today, so I I have been able to put some things up and finish one project today.
I am keeping simple, since we know how tempting large trees, tinsels and jingle noises to certain furry kitties. I moved the three trees and put them in a corner with some furkins and things that could sit around the tree without getting ruined. It looked nice with the lights on, so I had to go with no flash. I like the dark look though, nice warm feeling. It is hard see, but yes, the toppers are all cats;)



I finished a piece that I found in the Quiltmania magazine. It is a design from Sandy Gervais. Love the issue and the special winter issue is another I want, hope I can find one in our area. I changed a few things on mine, of course. I used an old chenille blanket for the snow and added words to mine. Not sure if I should leave it, like this, or put something on the snow area? I wanted to hang it at the stairs, but I forgot wool doesn't stick to my sticky tape, so need to find a new place. I still have to finish my angel piece, so that can go on the stairs instead.

Online Friendships!

I and I am sure a lot of you, have made some wonderful friends on the internet and through blogging.
Friends who we would never have known without online access and are blessed to know them.

This week, being rough with my rib pain, was a bit better by the generosity and thoughtfulness of my friends and the wonderful contests that they do. I have entered contests for the prizes like we all do, but have enjoyed the blogs so much, that I visit often and have made friends with many of them.

I wanted to show you some of the wonderful things that they have given me and some I have won.

This pilgrim doll was made by Jane, of Nothing Plain by Jane. It was part of a contest run by TDIPT and I was the lucky winner of Janes pilgrim doll. Is she not the most beautiful thing and the face details are wonderful. TDIPT has a group of wonderful artists if you are looking for finished primitive goodies.



Another prize I won, was from Madalynne of Pineapple Primitives. She generously gave away 12 handpainted ornaments and I was the lucky winner of this beautiful santa ornament. I love hand painted items and it looks wonderful on my tree.



Then this week, out of the blue, I received a package from Mary of Quilt Hollow. She sent me a card and a beautiful pin cushion that I will treasure and use. It sure made my day when I was feeling blue.



And to top it off, Carole of Quilting Adventures sent me a surprise package. I had chosen Carole's name in our group swap and
she went and sent me a little something to say thank you. She wasn't supposed to do that;) But it sure was nice of her and so much appreciated to get something to perk me up. She wrapped the present in this beautiful piece of homespun, I love homespun. I really needed those tissues, too, lol.



Inside was a beautiful wood, spool holder that her husband made. I should have taken side pictures, his work is so beautifully done, I just love it. It might just be the thing I need to hold my thin wool skeins when I machine couch. I just feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends, who seem to send me something, just when I need them. And also blessed by my friends and visitors who leave me such wonderful comments.

Giveaway Winner!

Still resting, which is not fun, but I spent half the day working on a new cross stitch and the rest, working on the piece.
I could not finish it tonight, so tomorrow I will finish the piece and tomorrow, I will have a new freebie pattern that you can make up for the holidays. Since I have no photos tonight, I stole this one from facebook. This is how santa arrives in our town. In place of reindeer, kayakers lead the boat into the harbor.



I want to thank CSN for sponsoring the contest and hope you will visit their site to see all of the wonderful things that they sell.
And now onto the winner, The generator picked number 31, which is Kelley Belfast! Congratulations to Kelley, who has told me that she is using her prize to make someone else very happy this Christmas.

New Mini Santa Freebie!

I decided to make a smaller version of the santa, which I showed below.
Today I redid the original to match, as best as I could, so you can make a smaller version for your mini trees or as a gift for a friend.

Look for a new company sponsored giveaway, coming soon. Perfect timing for christmas.

Enjoy the new version of my pattern. Please, only use this for yourself or as gifts.
I could not get the stitch maker to do the stitches, like I did, but it is just straight stitches going out from the top of the hat, in different directions. I will need to get the upgrade to pro, to do better stitches, I think. My piece was done on 18 count aida.

New Christmas Stitcheries!

I am not having one of my better days. I went to antique a few pieces and one came out with dark, just in the middle.
So, I washed it out and then redried it, but the red from the wool had soaked through and turned the design into red blotches.
I rewashed it and letting it dry, so will see what happens. It was one that I put more work into, so hope I can fix it.

I decided to redo my santa into a smaller ornament and changed his arms to simplify it.
I was going to make two, but it took me three days to make him, I am a really slow cross stitcher. That and I cannot see what I am doing, as it is;) The other looks off to me and now I know why. It is a design by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings and there are supposed to be stars, stitched on the bucket. But I had another idea, to add two small jingle bells with jute. So, that will go on next.

Tomorrow I will be stuffing my face and sitting in a chair afterwards, lol.
My kids will be coming and we cook the main foods and they bring some side dishes, so that helps me out.
My wishes, for all of my visitors, have a Blessed Thanksgiving, filled with family, love and good food.

Winner and Free Christmas Cross Stitch!

As always, I hate having one winner, so I made up a new cross stitch, so everyone can have something tonight.
I decided to make a cross stitch out of the design I punched. I like how the cross stitch came out and I did change mine a bit.
This is for a gift and I wanted it more prim, so as I stitched I changed things, I tend to do that with my designs. I antiqued it and then wet it a bit, so you can see a bit more dark where it is damp still.



Here is the cross stitch version I made up for my visitors. You can use this for yourselves or as a gift, but please do not make prints to share or to sell. If you want to change it up to make it more prim, you can do that if you like. I added a border from my program for those who like fancier borders. If you have problems seeing the squares or printing, please let me know. I ran out of some colors in my printer, so I couldn't test it. The colors I use in the graphic are not what I use for stitching, I just like to use colors that are easy to see, for printing out.



And now onto the winner of my Birthday Contest! The winner of the prize package is....... Cat Haven Crafts!
Please email me with your snail mail, so I can send your prizes to you.
Look for more contests and freebies in the future.
And I want to thank everyone who left such wonderful comments and made me laugh, as well.

Happy Santa!

I decided I need to doodle again and see what I come up with.
So, I doodled a santa and then made it into a punch.
It is fun to do up a design that I make, to see how it looks worked up, sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't.
I decided to go up in height for his mustache, but the beard looked too flat, so I went back and pulled some out and added some longer heights to the beard and left some shorter. I like how the texture looks.

On the kitty front, Moki is doing well. Izzy has decided to harass him, which means she likes him. She likes to sneak up and attack him, but Moki hasn't learned that it is play;) Dora is really getting out of hand, she is taking out her anger on my house. She is climbing all the cabinets and last night she knocked over a candle holder, good thing it was a thrift buy;) Today I am not sure what she was doing, but I was trying to enjoy a hot bath and heard a crash and found my lap frame, upside down on the floor. The needles left a couple of gauges in the wood. I sure hope she gets over it soon.

Santa Punch Needle!

I finished my santa piece. I wanted to use real wool on this one, so I split the yarn into two smaller strands, so it would fit the large punch needle. I raised the heights on the outfit and beard area, to give it more depth, as well. For the border on this one, I used a boucle green yarn with a vintage over dyed wool and twisted them into a cording, then I sewed it on.
This piece is for sale and will be listed on ebay saturday night, unless I get an offer before hand.

Today I played with my cross stitch program and made some silly designs. As soon as I come up with something decent, I will post a freebie pattern.

No sign of Moki today, I sure hope he is ok.

Christmas Ornaments!

I can finally show you what I made for the Holiday issue of Mercantile Gatherings.
Using Tiffany's patterns, I made two ornaments that you can make for Christmas.
For Santa, I used wool yarn on his beard and wool yarn was used on the reindeer.
I used rick rack to hang them with. If you would like to make your own, you can order the winter issue now, or you can find the patterns at Primitive Blessings.

A bit of new and old

Tonight I worked on my dog quilt. I have added some new things, since I last showed it and tonight, I added three fireflies and the grasshopper. I messed up on the legs, so decided to call it a night. Now I will add the details on the critters and flowers and then decide if I want to add anything else. The firefly and grasshopper are courtesy of Wee Folk Art. If you are looking for fun appliques or projects, check it out.



As for old, this santa was painted in the early 80's, it is almost an antique;) It is one of those figures that you bought and painted yourself.



And this is what it is like at my house, the dog gets presents on Christmas. He loves to open presents.



I had to throw away his favorite squeaky toy, it was getting really gross. Now he has a new toy to play with, but he has a hard time getting it to squeak. He really gets off, trying to torture his squeaky toys.

More christmas at my house

One of the things I love at Christmas is Nativities. This nativity was our first, it is italian plastic, lol. I just love this set and I am always on the lookout, at the thrifts, for pieces that match. We got it at a discount store that is long gone, so I have to rely on finding them second hand. It is a great set for a kitty house, they can't break this one;) The wonderful stitched pillow was a swap present from my friend Imi, in Holland. I really wanted a piece like that and didn't have time, so I was so happy when I found that in my goodie box.



I found this wooden horse at the thrift store. I do like brighter folk art toy items, to decorate too. It cost me a whopping two bucks.



I love this sled and wish I had gotten another. I got it from a post Christmas sale. The snowball and crow was made as a gift, from my good friend Jacque.



And from Christmases past, this hand carved Santa. Yes, I carved him myself. I am not a great carver, but I have made a few things and enjoy making things with wood.

Thrifty Monday

I don't know if I would call this thrifting, but I found some items today in our local consignment store. I actually find nicer things and some antiques, and a lot cheaper than the thrifts lately.

I wanted a big basket for my dining bureau, but I guess I got one, too big. It just didn't look right sitting up there, so I put it on the floor and an old piece of cloth and guess who decided it was a fun place to play hide and jump out at the dog.



It is a wonderful old basket, with the wood staves on the outer sides and bottom. There is a little damage, but the basket is still in good shape and perfect for prim decorating. I played around with what I had and some more pines from outside. Would love ideas on what to do with it. I was thinking old quilts and dolls would be nice too. If you have a picture of a big basket and how you use it, would love a link, to see it. The cardinal was a swap gift this year and the sled, something I painted years ago.



Izzy loves to follow me around and play games, as you can see, when I put the other items back on the bureau.
I spent half my time, vacuuming the cat hairs, off of the fake poinsettia.



I also found another tin candle holder in the sale aisle, this time in black, for only 2 dollars. I hung it above the old basket, I found, earlier this year.



Another fun find today, was this pair of folk art rooster, candle holders. They are hand hammered, they look great on top of my kitchen cabinet, but had to take a picture in a lower spot, to show you.

Christmas Creations

I was able to finish the punch I started when my arm gave out, luckily there wasn't too much left to do.
It is ok, but not what I wanted, lost the detail in the lettering. It says Believe. This is a pattern from Primitive Blessings which you can get as an epattern.



Another piece I made this week, a small wool hanging from one of Tiffany's designs at Primitive Blessings. I have always loved this one and want to do it in a quilted piece, but for now, a small one was perfect as a gift. Of course I had to add my own little things, the flowers and bird.



I enjoy going to other blogs and seeing all the wonderful decorations and Christmas trees, but this year I only put up my small ones. My large tree is usually decorated with cats, yes, all cats! I have been collecting them for years, so that is my theme. Since I couldn't put the tree up, due to obnoxious kitties, I put my tree topper out, so I could at least enjoy that;) I like the cat santa, but I wanted a cat angel, so maybe next year, I will make my own.

Lots of Christmas Goodies!

Today I got two surprise boxes from my group swaps.
One was from our ebay group, USAPRIM which consists of a group of talented ladies who create primitive goods for sale on ebay.
I got lots of wonderful items, to use around my home and couldn't wait to hang them up. I am amazed at all of the beautiful work she did.



My other box was from a fellow quilter on my primitive quilt group. She made me a wonderful kitty hanging, she knows I love cats;) She also made me a cross stitched piece and little did she know, that I really wanted one, but have no time to make one, so it was the perfect present. The purse she knitted and felted, what beautiful work.



I also had a good day shopping yesterday, got lots of goodies for presents and found myself another candle holder. I can't have to many of those, lol. I stayed home today to finish up what I started, it was hard to do the punch, but it was a small amount, so I did it. Now I have to get back to the cellar to spray the last side of my nativities. I am happier with these sets, even though they are not perfect. And for those who asked, I am not selling these, they are for presents. I may do some next year and will be working more with wood and some carving, so will see what I come up with.

Another happy thing for today is, I won a contest:) I won 4 half yards of Patrick Loose's new fabric. I can't wait to come up with a design to use it in. Check out his site, he has lots of fun and whimsical patterns.

Christmas cuttings and carvings

I thought I would show you something new and something old. The first are two santas that I made years ago. One was a cast santa that I painted and the one on the right is one I carved and painted. I am not the worlds best carver, but I do enjoy creating things out of wood. I haven't carved in years, not sure my hands can handle it anymore.



Today I was tired from running around so much and working on gifts, so I took a me day. I made paper trees and reindeer. It is amazing how long it takes to cut paper, but maybe I am just slow and easily distracted;) I made these to go on top of the tv unit, but i had to put down lower to get a picture of them. The glue is still tacky, so once it dries better, I can pull out the trees a bit better. If you would like to make paper snowflakes that are unusual and artistic, check out Daves paper snowflakes. A search will bring his site up. Lots of great snowflakes to copy and ideas on making your own. The trees I made from an old pattern in Better Homes and gardens. I think the old issues had the best patterns in them. If you check out your local thrifts or library, you may find hard copies of their christmas issues.