Friday finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice holiday and can enjoy a relaxing weekend. We have cold and windy weather, so not great weather for being outside too long. Since I was busy with the holiday, I decided to make a few pillows with an old pattern, I had done before. 

This is a design by Red Button Company. My buttons were a little larger than the original ones, but they still worked.

We had a visitor to the yard this week. I was trying to get closer, but it spooked him and he flew away. It is a Pilieted Woodpecker.

We also had a nice dinner with the kids. Today my son came over to help my husband, with a new bathroom vanity for the basement. We need to work on our main bathroom, so I wanted a better vanity I could use when they start working on the other. Unfortunately they found mold and damage from a leak, so they had to put in a new floor and we will have to get a real plumber to fix the pipes.

I hope you all have a nice week and finding time to enjoy the coming holiday weeks.

Friday Finish and Finds!

 

This week I got two free designs from Theodore Cleave Designs. I receive her newsletter and she offered them if you emailed her, so I couldn't resist. Her designs are fun and whimsical and a joy to make. I still have a bunch of stitcheries that I need to make into a quilt, from years ago.

These are nice since I can work them up into pillows and they will be nice as gifts or for sale. I went with a black outline and bright colors, perfect for Christmas.

I also spent the afternoons at the beach, the tide was midway most of the time and the waves were high and powerful, so not the easiest way to find glass, but I found quite a few nice pieces.

Most of the time, the beach was empty but a few people came to enjoy the beautiful weather on some days. Today while we were there, they were having a wedding on the beach. On this day, we had a sky writer who did some music symbols over Newport, where they are having the folk festival.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and fun plans for the weekend. 

Friday Finishes and Freebie!

I have been busy this week, finishing up things and now I am done with gift making. I will make more Christmas for fun, which I love doing at Christmas and I will have them for next year. I have tons of snowmen stitcheries that I can do. One thing I am thinking of is, making the larger ones into pocket pillows, so I can just send that and the recipient can put in their own pillow form. It will be easier to ship and less cost, what do you think? Would you be happy if you received just the pillow cover?

This week was the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, so I had to do that and have one more gift. I wasn't happy with the bright colors so I antiqued this one.

I also made the last of the snowmen pillows. I wish I had more to give, it seems everyone likes this one, especially my family members, but I will have to decide who gets one, since there is no more time to do more.

Another project I worked on was, my pillows I made last year. I never got a change to send them out and I decided I should add a touch of color. I used a red and gold trim, so it pops, but not in the photo.  I like how it looks on the square pillow better, the wonky one would have looked better with a bulky yarn to hide the bad shape.

And this week's freebie is by Diane Knott. I made mine more simple, in the penny style, but it is a fun idea to use with thick wools and small designs. We all have patterns that can be reduced and fit into a smaller circle, so it is a great project to use up leftover wools. You can find the pattern at her facebook page, with the link above. I over cut the scarf pieces, so they are not placed right.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and time to enjoy holiday making, without the stress. We did some early shopping for Bean. We got a new couch and I am retraining him, to stay off. He is not happy but he loves his new bed and gives him his own comfy space.

Friday Finishes!

I was actually able to get a few things done this week and even decorate the house for Christmas. It is a hard time of year, but I keep busy and enjoy making presents for others and decorating for the boys. I even put up my pencil tree and my unbreakable kitty ornaments, I know Alex will love that. He goes around my house and says kitty kitty, meow meow. Maybe grandma has way too many cat collectibles, lol.

I finished and hung my snowman piece, a free design by Buttermilk Basin. I really loved doing this one and love looking at it. It hangs from my front windows. I did the back with a premade quilted backing in black, that way it blocks out the sun and it doesn't shine through.

I also made up 14 balsam pillows. I still have a balsam, so I guess I need to make more, the next will be with the snowflakes. I cheated and bought a runner for my table. I plan on making runners for each season to fit the new table, fun projects for next year.

I also made two of the pre-printed pillows by All Through the Night. I have mixed feelings about these. I love the designs and they seem simple, but it took me awhile to stitch them, you have to be exact since the designs are printed on. The material is also a bit stiff and thin for my tastes. But, I still love them and love how they look, so I would do more of her pre-printed designs.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Always make sure you take the time to enjoy the holidays and creating for them, sometimes we try to do it all and put too much pressure on ourselves.

Friday Finishes!

I was able to get a few things done this week and it is nice to finally make some progress on my unfinished items. The first is a BOM by Buttermilk Basin. I made the blocks, except for the largest one, so that got done and I was able to put it all together.

I know my piecing is wonky, it always is, but I can live with that. I added a single border to keep the main fabrics from raveling while I did the stitching, that will be trimmed down and another darker border will go around that. I did a feather stitch on the seam lines, hard to see in the photo, but I will take better photos when I finish it. I plan on quilting around the designs with a matching thread once I put the batting and backing on. There isn't a lot of room, so I think an outline, would be enough for this one.

I also finished some more pillows, using stitcheries that I made last year and some simple snowflake ones.  I have two more bags of balsam, guess I need to make a lot more and most will be with regular fabrics like the snowflake pillows and some with other designs, that I have in my stash. Some will go into gift boxes or as gifts and some will be hidden for others to find.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and holiday. I am finally feeling better from another bout with the flu and Bill has it now. I am hosting dinner so I will have to spend time getting the house rearranged and clean for company.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to finish a few things. I am trying to do at least one UFO at a time, along with new pieces. I have so much that I never finished so I am doing the ones for Christmas first, then I can decide on the others.

This is a free design that I have been wanting to do and finally got a chance. I love making pillows that I can put around the house and this one was quick and easy to do. The original design was on a  wool background with snowflake stitchery, but I decided to use snowflake fabric.

The design is by Karel Hamilton and you can find it at her facebook group, Wool Appliqué Love.

I also got some new frosted paint and tried the oven bake method. The two jars in the middle have been baked. It does set the paint and makes it washable, but I think it looks dull and thick. It also emits a paint smell, while baking, so not a good thing to do, unless you can open the windows. The others are done with a mix of decoupage, one I added too much so it looks more spotty, so more paint and less decoupage, just enough to thin the paint and give it a bit of a sheen. The one I use is an antique decoupage, so it keeps the look of old glass.

You can see how the new blue looks, compared to the jade, which looks more green. They are more bright looking, than they are in person.

Another thing I finally finished was my snowman block from last year's BOM, from Buttermilk Basin. I am going to keep mine as is, with a fancy stitching on the lines, and a small border, so I can use it as a hanging on a curtain rod, for the front window.

My son sent a photo of the boys, Nick wanted to be a football player, so that is what they both went as. I think Alex fits the part much better, lol. He is such a character.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have rain again, so I doubt we will be able to hike up the hills, since everything is wet and slippery. The last of the foliage is coming in fast in our area, so I am hoping we can catch a few more places before it is gone.

New Blocks Finished!

I finally got the newest blocks done and some embellishments, I am thinking this will be a wall hanging so I am adding bells and buttons to make it fun. The hard part will be quilting it, but the good thing is I have my new machine and it will be able to quilt around any bumps.

I love this BOM, it is from Stacy of Buttermilk Basin. There are two more blocks, the W and the longer side piece, can't wait to see what is coming this month. Stacy is at a show so it should be coming soon. I will also have to start going through my stash to see what I will use on the sashing.

Here is how they look together, this one is for me;)

This weekend was the end of Bill's vacation. Saturday we had plans to visit the kids, then they changed it to visiting us and having dinner at our house so we had a cookout, they ate, Ivy fell asleep, the baby cried when I held him and then Nick finally warmed back up to me and we had some fun time together. I am hoping we can get Nick next weekend, maybe take him apple picking, he loves that.

On Sunday we had no plans, a storm was coming so we went shopping and bought our suits. It hadn't rained and I decided to go to the beach and just enjoy the fresh air. Bill went swimming and I just relaxed. We also got a show when hundreds of migrating starlings flew around the area in formations.

Here is one side of the beach, only a few people, best time to go to the beach. Blue skies and sun.

Here is the right side of the beach, cloudy and ominous. We spent a few hours at the beach and not a drop of rain, but behind us the storm had come in and rained at home, so the beach was the place to be. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This week I am hoping to get Cheri's Blocks made, another fun quilt with wool. You can get her blocks on her Facebook group, Quilts by Cheri.

300 Followers! Giveaway Tomorrow!

I came on this morning and saw that I now have 300 followers. Have no idea why anyone wants to read my dribble, but I do enjoy and appreciate all of my followers and the wonderful comments. So, I guess in honor of my 300 followers and all the giveaway goodness that I have received this year, I will be having a giveaway tomorrow.

For those of you who ask me a question and have a no reply, I cannot answer you.
I am frequently asked if I sell things, yes I do and sometimes I sell what I show, so you can ask;)
This year I need some me time, still fighting off symptoms and I have my good and bad days, but at least I have good days, so I take that as a hopeful sign, that someday I will get better. I want to work on new patterns and creating, so look for new things this year.

This is a sled I painted a long time ago. It had gotten dirty in the basement, so I cleaned it up and antiqued it a bit. His beard was done with textured snow paint.

Christmas quilt, punch needle and Izzy!

I finished two more pieces today. The first is a free pattern called Home for Christmas by Hatched and Patched. It was a fun piece to make and I used wool for the applique to make it easier. My tongues are a bit whonky though.

The second is my snowman punch, I ended up making it into a pillow. I like how it came out and pillows are nice since you can sit them on shelves or use in bowls and baskets. The design is by Brenda Gervais.

The kitties are being their usual obnoxious selves, pulling down garland, walking off with candy canes and knocking down anything in their path;) And sometimes they are quiet and find a nice cozy place to sleep.

( Sidenote ) For those of you who voted for Dora in the kitty contest, I want to thank all of you. She won second place in the voters choice, so I will be getting some new fat quarters, thread and a round cutter!

Homespun Heaven!

My friend Kelley sent me a surprise box this week, I love surprises.
Kelley has been cleaning out her supplies and books and this is the wonderful fabrics I received this week.
I love homespuns and speciality fabrics and there is lots of those and a lot of future projects I can enjoy making with them.

 I finished another punch needle piece, tonight. My friend Cyndi sent me the pattern as a gift, so I decided it was time to make it. If you visit Cyndi's site you will see the rug she made from a custom pattern that I made for her.

 I am thinking of making a card holder with it, by attaching the punched piece to a hand made wool card holder. It still needs aging, it is a bit bright. I also need to tweak a few spots, I used 3 strands on the designs and I think I punched a bit too tight.

Have you seen the Henry Glass, Jolly Holiday Party? It is a fun blog hop, prizes and free patterns for the holidays. I already printed out a couple, to make for gifts.

The pattern for this piece is a design by Brenda Gervais, of  Country Stitches.

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.