Friday Finishes!

 

This week I was able to finish a little quilt I was working on. I had the striped fabric and some star fabric, so it made the perfect flag to hang on the wall. I added a few patriotic sayings that I like and a couple of wool stars. The little stars are rustic metal and gave it a nice touch.

I wanted to have something to do on my down day, so I made a little felted raccoon. It was a from a kit, so I didn't follow the directions exactly and I messed up with my perspective, but it was fun to do.

Last weekend we took a few short walks. The heat keeps us from doing long hikes, so we went to the park near the ocean. It was cooler in some areas but hot in others. Lots of birds but they always fly away when I spot them. I was able to catch an Eastern Towhee in the bush.

We went down the road to another area that has a path, that leads to a little tower. The views of the beach and ocean from the tower. 

After we went to the pond, but both areas were crowded so it wasn't worth going for a swim. Tomorrow we head to Maine. Unfortunately I got another tick on me, while gardening and this one seems to have affected me. I am back on meds and going through ups and downs, so hopefully I can beat this one too. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I may do an extra blog this week, since I will be taking lots of photos. 

Friday finish!

 

This week I decided to try something new with braiding, a heart wall hanging. I used scraps of fabrics and a one inch strip, since I wanted to make small ones. Well, I made my starter piece too large, so it came out larger and longer than I wanted, but I still like it. Since it was bigger, I added a stitched word and a bow for fun. I enjoy braiding and rag braids are easier, since I just tear the fabric and make a slit to attach the pieces. A great relaxing craft, while watching tv.

The colors are off but the bow is the red in the heart.

I also finished one panel of my Christmas quilt. Even with lines, I am still wonky. Hard to work on a long piece, so it takes longer than a regular block. I also need more space on the couch, so I can only work on it when my husband goes to bed. The yellows are not as bright as they look in the photo.

We got out for a ride last week. As always, I enjoy the ride and ocean areas, as well as catching a few birds along the way.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and doesn't get too snowed in. They are predicting up to 8" in our area. Tomorrow we will get out during the day, before it hits.

Friday Finish!

 

I am trying to finish old projects and found one in a box, in the basement. This was a runner I was making for my sister and for some reason, never finished it. It is a pattern I found in an old Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The original has a quilted middle, but I left that out. The only thing I did was hand quilt around the appliqués and border to finish it. 

It is done with old fabrics from an old fabric store that had sale bins, so not choices I would make now. The only bad thing is, two flowers have staining, so I will try and get those out and then send it to my sister. The side view makes it look shorter.

Last weekend we got out for a ride, still too cold to be outside for walks. We stopped at the breachway and enjoyed some fresh air and the incoming waves, for a bit.

The next stop was at the marsh. Lots of birds in the area and always nice to enjoy the area.

Our last stop was at Point Judith. It's a great place to park and see the ocean, without having to be outside. 

Another gull came in and let me take its photo. There are always a lot in this area since a lot of people get take out seafood nearby and sit here to eat, so they wait for leftovers.

Another day we stayed close to home and took a ride through the old base. Lots of businesses in the area, but a lot of area is left for wildlife.

With the snow and colder weather, I am seeing a lot more birds. There is a flock of Black-eyed Juncos that have decided that they like hanging out in my yard.

And a new pair of Cardinals, they are shy but the female finally decided to eat out of the feeder and stays nearby in the scrub bush.

And today I was able to catch the Sapsucker. It hangs out in the maple tree and has been drilling holes, all over. Usually the sap runs in February or early spring, so I guess he is making sure that he will get plenty when it comes in.

I hope you all had a good week. We are staying in a cold spell and maybe a little more snow next week. It seems the weather is reversing and the south is getting it all. 

Friday Finish!

 Christmas is coming and as usual, faster than we would like. I have done my shopping and the house is decorated and packages and cards are all done. Now I can relax a bit and plan our meal, we eat at our house on Christmas Eve with the kids and give them some presents, then on Christmas we go to their house and I save some presents to open then. 

I am working on finishing up my cheater quilt and after going through some of my old books, I decided to make a small piece from a Whimsical quilts book. It was fun to do and I still have plenty of wool to use up, so I grabbed most of it from my scrap drawers. I added the snowflake buttons for fun.

Last week after shopping, we drove around the beach areas. We saw a boat coming in.

And one going out. 

And as we drove by the town beach in Narragansett, we just missed seeing Santa, as he rode by.

With Bill working days, he gets up early and falls asleep early, so hard to get out at night to see the lights around town. He does have a long week off for the holiday, so hopefully we can get out more to see them before they are gone.

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and can enjoy some time for yourself and Christmas around your area.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted to work on a new project. This is a design by Cheri Saffiote and perfect to add to my Summer decor. The original design is four blocks with the same design, so I made mine into a smaller wall hanging and added the saying. I realized after I took the photo, I forgot to add the stars. I have mini star buttons that I will add on.

Last weekend was Alex's first communion. He looked so cute, all dressed up.

And a family photo at the altar.

One afternoon we walked at the local preserve. It is a nice walk through the woods and down to the bay.

On Sunday we went to a local park that had a grand opening with giant trolls, made from found materials. 

And a second one, hidden in the wooded area.

Today Bill came home early, so we headed to the bird sanctuary. It is nice to walk along the paths without the weekend crowds. We got to see the Ospreys, hidden in the back area.

A first sighting for me, a Common Yellowthroat.

Lots of Catbirds in all of the areas, so there are always a few who will come out and pose for me.

A few more of the birds and critters that I could get a shot of. Most were busy flying back and forth and always in tree areas, so I couldn't focus in on them. I hope you have a good weekend and can get out and enjoy nature in your area. With the warmer weather, a lot of birds are coming in and you never know what you will find, if you look up.

Friday Finish!

 I am finally at the point of finishing my long pillow, but I still have the details with glitter threads, to do. I like putting a pop of glitter on some pieces, especially for Christmas pieces. I wanted to try a few ornaments, so I made up a couple this week.

For the snowman head, I used a foam ball to start and wrapped it with roving and felted it in. I placed it in some greens for the photo, but I will add a topper so I can hang it on the tree. The star started out with one idea, but I couldn't get it the way, it was in the photo, so I just made a simple hate on mine.

I am still trying to get good shots with my camera, not sure why I cannot get one, but most were at a distance on cloudy days, so that is one reason. I know I tend to move when I press the shutter, so I need to be more still, it's a shame since I had lots of great bird shots but they were too dark and blurry.

I decided to try some in my back yard, that way I had a sunny day and I could brace myself better. I have a lot of winter visitors and a group of doves who like to hang out in a tree by the feeder.

I also have way too many sparrows, they keep multiplying, every year. This one was in the back and nice enough to sit still for a photo. These came out a lot better, so I know I need light with this camera, to get sharper photos. 

I hope you all had a good week and enjoying the holiday month. I got a lot done early, so I can enjoy working on a few projects for fun and most of my shopping is done, so I can relax and enjoy it more. 

Friday Finish!

This week I have been working on my stitchery, and made some progress, so hopefully I can finish it this week, so I can have it ready to use when I do Christmas after the holiday. I always like to do small projects for fun and try some new things for the holiday.

This is a needle felted project that I did, from an idea I saw on the internet. I used a cookie cutter to make the original shape, then added the features for the Santa. It was fun to make and I have a few other ideas I can use for more star shapes.

 

Last weekend we got out for a ride and stopped at a few places. One place was the Umbrella factory, I wanted to take a photo of the Emu. For some reason, there was only one now and it was enamored with Bill.

We also stopped at the Breakaway. In season it is also a camping area, but now you can camp for free, so maybe if we get a nice weekend, we will try an overnight. The beach is nice and as long as it isn't cold or windy, a great place to be.

And we drove to the next beach and I caught a few birds in the inlets. I still haven't gotten good shots and realized one setting might have caused the problem. I have a touch screen and it was on, so every time I put my face against it to shoot, it messes with the focus, so hopefully I can get some good shots this weekend.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am doing better, mostly tired out from coughing so much, but today I was able to do a little yard work, so hopefully I can get moving and clean, plan a menu and cook by Thursday. Bill does a lot of the main meal and I do the side dishes, so that helps. 

Friday Finish!

 I was able to finish one piece, that I started this week. They are designs by Cheri Saffiote in the Facebook group we have in her honor. I wanted to play with fabrics and love how the background on this one came out with the cat.

We have been able to get out more, with the nicer weather. Last weekend we enjoyed a walk at the bird sanctuary and then stopped by a local beach. They had a lot of birds in the area, across the street. One area was full of Snowy and Great egrets, as well as a few Blue herons. Migration is in full force, so more birds are stopping to rest and feed before they move south.

Today we took the boys to Mystic Seaport. In all the years that I have lived here and been in Mystic, we have never gone. We got a grandparent pass, so it includes the boys and special events through the year. The boys had fun exploring the shops and the ships.

Of course Alex wanted a photo with all the anchors. We ate in the pub, but the food wasn't that great and found another place that had more kid friendly food, so they enjoyed a plate of fries. There are a lot of things to do and enjoy, so we can visit the ones we missed this time.

I hope you all had a nice week and enjoy your holiday weekend. The apple orchards open for the season, so we are all going to pick apples tomorrow and I am hoping the pears are good this year, I love those too.

Friday Finish!

 

I finally finished my angel quilt. The pattern is by Cheri Payne and offered as a free pattern in her Facebook group. I changed it up a little, but it is mostly the same as the original, except for the dragonfly, which was on another pattern in the pack.

Last week we went to the sunflower field. It wasn't as crowded so we enjoyed a stroll through the pathways that cut through the field.

On Sunday we went on a paddle in the cove, at the park on the island. The tide was up so I was able to come around and get closer to one of the nesting Ospreys. The young are getting big and love the look on their faces.

On another cove, I spotted this Loon and it seemed like something was wrong.

I watched as it finally moved and made its way to the water. It wasn't able to walk and dragged its feet. I looked it up online when I got home and found out, Common Loons cannot walk on land and they rarely come out of the water, except to nest. They also need 30 feet of water to take off, so I learned something new. I think it was a young one and just. resting or maybe got stunned while out, but it seemed fine, once it go on the water.

And we paddled into more open waters as we came around. This was one of our views, looking up into the bay.

And lots of boats in the area, this one passing the old lighthouse on Dutch Island.

And at home, more birds are coming to the feeders, migration won't be far away. The hummingbirds are more active, filling up with fuel for their long flight south.

I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoying the last days of summer. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I have been slowly working on my sea piece, and need to cut the rest of the pieces and hopefully finish it by next week. I am in a patriotic mood, so I have put out my summer decorations and seeing areas that could use some new things. The first thing I made was a rag wreath.

I had a wire frame in stock and plenty of fabric, so a no cost project. I saw one that had the red, white and blue to represent the flag, so I made something similar. I also added a star to the side. I rip my strips so they are more raggy, but easier than cutting so many.

One afternoon we headed to the bike path to see the baby owls. Of course they were not in their usual spot when we got there and I couldn't find them anywhere. I did see quite a lot of different birds, these are the ones I was able to catch.

And a Great Blue Heron flew overhead and we spotted him in a tree further down.

After we went over to another area to see the Osprey. She was sitting on her nest and he was looking for their next meal.

We also spent time at the beach. We had a rainy day so once the rain stopped, we headed to the beach. The skies looked ominous, but the waters were calm.

 And I was able to find some nice pieces floating in the water and further up the beach. I think more people are finding this beach and I am finding less on the beach.

I hope everyone had a good week and enjoy the weekend ahead. We are getting higher temperatures, so I will be avoiding the crowded beaches.