Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend was busy, I was on the go more than usual, but that is a good thing. On Saturday we went to the quilt show and I did take photos but not too many, so tonight I will show you one and what I bought and then I will do an extra post on Wednesday with a few more quilt photos.

I wasn't too impressed with this show. There were some beautiful quilts but a lot of quilts that look like they were made and put up so they had more to show. The displays were not done too well either, a lot of the quilts were crooked or wrinkled up. There were some good vendors but mostly from local shops and machine stores. It seems you pay to get in, and then you have vendors and raffles and food and I assume they make money from them too? But it was fun to go and see the quilts but I wish they had more vendors from out of state with more variety.

I will show you one quilt that I just loved because I love cats and I love the creative use of materials on this one. This would be fun to do with old jeans and maybe a fabric printed photo of your own pet.

Even thought I don't need to be buying more fabric, I couldn't resist. I loved the cat print and it is a good piece to practice my machine quilting on, then I got the stripes and print to add for border. I am not sure I have enough though and I realized the panel goes longer across, so I will have to cut it into blocks to make it work as a quilt. The dragonflies just spoke to me and the blue batik will be alternate blocks, I have plans to make an inspirational piece with them. The cat batiks were just fun, so I may try some totes or something like that with the cats. I love using chalk pencils to trace right onto fabrics when I am adding letters or designs to give me an idea on layout and how they look but most are too waxy or break, these are really nice and go on smoothly, so I will let you know how I like them.

After the show we went to the lighthouse, I promised Bean we would go for a walk. He is really good when we go out and leave him alone, no more cage. We always find him waiting patiently on the couch, for our return. It was cloudy with a light breeze so it was a perfect day to walk around the lighthouse loop without the crowds.

This time we walked down the steps to the rocks below, the tide was going out so there was more shoreline to explore.

No hurry today, we looked for heart rocks and I found two and it was nice to just sit and enjoy the fresh air.

Sunday we went for a ride to Connecticut to visit a couple of campgrounds. One was in the perfect area across from the state park, but the camp was horrid. It looked like a dump, the grounds were never cleaned from the storms this winter and the seasonal sites looked like a  scene from Ma and Pa Kettle, lol. The second was so much nicer and we found a site right on the river that was double the sizes of the others, so we will definitely be visiting on the next nice weekend. We can paddle along the river right from our site.

On the way home we stopped at the state park and walked around, but no pets allowed in the beach area or camps. After that we stopped at the lake in RI, it borders both states. It was the perfect day for a hike and of course Bean loved getting out for a better walk.

The path follows the pond and there are some nice spots to stop and enjoy the views.

We hiked to the cliffs and climbed up the side to enjoy the views from the top. One thing about Bean is that he is a puller, he likes to take the lead and when we climb, I let him pull me up, lol. It really does  help and take the strain off my back, and coming down I lean back and let him pull and that keeps my balance so he is a big help to get me up and down the hills.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and able to get out and enjoy the spring weather. I am loving the cooler temps, great for hiking and a lot less bugs.

Friday Finishes!

I had a slow start to the week but I finally got some time yesterday to make a few things. I have been collecting needle felting supplies since a friend sent me some and yesterday I made a bunny for Easter.

I got a book from the library called Little Needle Felt Animals, by Gretel Parker. It has a lot of cute animals, done is a cute artsy style so great for beginners. The rabbit in the book is called Moon Gazing Hare and was a basic rabbit with ears, short legs and a tail. Of course I had to completely change it and make mine with legs and arms, as well as floppy ears and more facial features. I also made a carrot for him.

I learned a few things while making him. Always felt your parts to completion before you attach them. Once they are on, it is hard to felt them into the shape you want. I also put the ears too low, but all in all, I think he is cute and it was fun to make.

The photo makes him look fuzzy, but I felted him into stiff parts, then added a little bit extra at the end to give him a more soft bunny look.

Here is a view with his tail. I went with the traditional puffy tail.

I also wanted to try a sock bunny that I found from a free pattern online. She used a baby sock but I couldn't even find a small colored sock, so I took one of my husband's single that I was saving to find the match. It was way too big and I used the inside of the sock for the fluffy head, but the body part is not as nice. It was fun to make though and would be fun to get some socks at the thrift to use for animals.

I stuck the homespun around his neck, still debating on how to finish the body. You can find the Tutorial Here!

Today I got my new stove, so nice to be able to bake again and of course make more cookies. I am so happy with how it cooks, so much better than my old stove and my cookies came out, just right. I also did Beans laundry, of course he had to help.

I was looking for an old basket that I had, for the sock bunny, thought I could put him in with status and some old looking eggs. I never found the basket, but found this old piece that I made in the 80's. It is when I first started doing appliqué and used what I had, and felt for the appliqué. I made up the design and I notice it is a bit crooked, lol. The background fabric is something I hand dyed. Hard to see the rich colors of the piece in the photo, the bunny is a rusty brown.

New Creations from Freebies!

I made a stitchery and never finished it, so this was the year. I had some old fabric, that I used for the border, so something new from old stash. The design is a free pattern from Robin of Bird in the Hand Primitives. She makes wonderful prim designs and offers freebies, a new one is up this week.

On the stitchery, I used fabric markers to color in a few areas, to give it a touch of color.

I wanted to make some pumpkins to match, so I used the same fabric in a Free pattern at Crafty Avenue. They have a few nice free patterns and stitcherys, as well as, epatterns for sale. 

My pumpkins came out differently of course, my brain was all out of whack today, therefore the pumpkins are whacky;)

For the stem, I used my boucle yarn that is green and golden brown, and with two strands I twisted it into a nice stem. It is a fun pattern to play with and make up your own faces.