Whale and Driftwood Punch Needle!

It seemed to be too long of a week. Our anniversary week and Bill took it off, but it rained on and off, so we never got to do anything we had planned. We got some time at the beach, but I never got to relax or work on anything, so today I made up for it, lol.

I have been collecting driftwood and thought it would be fun to design something to go on a flat piece. Today I made a whale with Jonah inside, based on old drawings I had seen. I wanted to keep it simple and see how it would look, so it is not perfect, but I like how it came out and with a few tweaks, I can make it into a pattern. I have already gotten interest in a pattern, so I will be working up a new one, that may be different, so I can make two in this set.

I would love your input, what you do and don't like, anything you would like to see in nautical or beach pieces? I antiqued this piece, the blues were too bight and light, I tend to grab floss out of my scrap box, to use them up. I also had to go with 6 strands, since I can't seem to find my smaller tip, so I will look for that tomorrow.

I want to thank everyone for the anniversary wishes. I try and answer comments, but some are anonymous and some have no email, and not all come to my email. If you have a question and I cannot answer you, I will answer those in the comment section.

We had planned on taking the kids out a few days, and on Saturday I got too sick to do anything. Sunday they came over and had a fun day at our house, I was still weak but having them, always picks up my spirits. Unfortunately Bill put way too much chlorine in the pool, so my son bought one of their small ones to play in. That along with squirt guns and we all got cooled off. Bean had a blast too, but he got so excited listening to the boys screaming that he tore off the lower half of my screen tent, ugh. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and made memories of your own.

Friday Finishes!

Well, I guess our flu wasn't over yet, Bill woke up coughing bad on wednesday, so I made him go to the doc and he got medicine for both of us. I got the sore throat and sinus, no cough and now that I am on meds, I won't have to worry about that. Hopefully we can enjoy the weekend, Sunday is going to be beautiful and I really want to get out and enjoy a day of nice weather.

The good thing is, I had plenty of time to rest and work on some new pieces. I am still working from the Kindred Spirt books and made an easter pillow for me and two that I can give as gifts next year. It is fun making up things I can give next year and sometimes I like to have things to give just for fun.

Now I am going to have to buckle down, I have two weeks to make a baby quilt for the new baby and since I know it is another boy, I can get to work on it. I have an idea, now I just need to draw it out, figure out sizes and get it made, lol.

I had one more piece that I stitched, but didn't have time to finish it today. I have some ideas on ways I can change the finishes, fun to experiment and try different things.

Another thing I love, is to see the work from those who use my patterns. Deirdre of The Old Rose Cottage made a beautiful rug, using my Spring Chicks pattern. I love the lighter chicks against the dark antique background.

Friday Finishes!

This week I have been busy finishing up some pillows and I just had to punch something;) I still have balsam and I was thinking of making some little stockings that I could fill with balsam and hang, so my  house smells like fresh pine.

One thing I love about making stockings is it is a great way to use up the floss nest in the scrap box. I just grab pieces and use what I grab, so it gives it a nice scrappy look. I attached a piece of red wool to the back and then a loose weave wool for the cuff. A little bell  and a hanger and you have a fun ornament that can be made with what you have.

The stockings are 6" long and I used walnut stain on them to grunge them up. I love making these and I think it would be fun to make some all year round, to give as gifts for next year.

Since I have another bag of balsam, I need to use it up since I only use fresh balsam. I bought some material with a fun print and tried some mini pillows to see how they look. These will go to relatives and friends who like brighter colors and I will make extras to hand out, to people I meet and need a smile. I might add a jingle bell to the center. I tried my rusty ones and it looks nice, but I will get some red ones to keep with the brighter colors and not everyone likes rusty bells;)

Looking for something free and something you can color, use for stitcheries or pattern ideas? Check out this ebpage for a Free 98 Page Coloring Book. There are lots of beautiful designs by artists that have shared their artwork for the coloring book.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We have a nice day for tomorrow and I am hoping we can do one of our drives and see what new places we can find.

Friday Finishes and Foibles!

This week I finished my quilted piece. It is a pattern called Live Simply by Cheri Saffiote.
I changed mine to three panels, leaving out the house block. I used walnut ink to antique it and it seems to have settled more in some places, but I like how it came out. It gives it a true stained look, totally unplanned.

I hand quilted it with floss and for the middle sashings, I added my own quilt design. I drew it on with washable marker so it is not perfect, but it was fun doing my own design to match the piece.

Since my daughter bought home new germs for me, I have been out of commission this week. I wanted something fun to do today, so I could sit and rest and decided to make a set of hearts to hang on my homespun garland. What I forgot about is, when you draw the design onto the backing, you need to reverse the letters, duh to me. Luckily the heart and V are fine, so I will redo the other two. I made them  like a crazy quilt and then filling them in with scraps from my floss box. It is something fun and easy to do and can be done quickly. You are welcome to copy the idea to make your own. You can also keep them simple and use up your scrap floss in a hit or miss version.

First Christmas Finish and Rug Punching!

I finally finished my candle mat and it is my first finish for the new year and my first piece for my Christmas box. The design can be found on Q is for Quilter along with a second holly design.

I used Finca #8 on the leaves and it really is a nice floss, stitches nicely and smoothly. When I finished I used walnut spray and it seems to have made it's own design in the middle.

I also started a rug, which a friend sent me for Christmas. It is a fun pattern and I thought it would be fun to try punching with it. I am not so sure about the punching, it is way too packed, especially on the cat. The wool is thick and a dark brown with specks of white and black in it, so it is a fun yarn, but maybe I need to take some rows out and see if that helps. I was thinking of doing the design in punch and the background in wool hooking, but not sure? My frame is not big enough to do punching all around, so it is either that or pull it all out and start over with wool and regular punching, which I am leaning towards.

The design is by American Pie Designs. I also think it would be easier with a smaller rug punch, mine are size 10 and I find it hard to punch and tiring after a while.

Indigo Blue Table Mat!

I finished my table mat this weekend and love how it looks on the table. We got a slate blue couch and just having something that matches, really warms the area up. The table is really an old cupboard top that had a stained glass front, but that got broken and now it is used as a table top with shelves to put my things.

This is the top, as is. I had to wash it to get rid of the chalk marks, yellow is not easy to get out. It shrank up and warped a bit, but fits the spot perfectly. The mat measures 23 1/2" x 13".  I stuck the candle on top so you could see the colors. I have a reproduction pencil box that sits there and holds my scissors and other items.

I decided it was too white and bright, so it got a walnut ink wash. I dried it in the sun and it got spotty, so I rinsed it down a bit and resprayed, then dried it in the dryer and now it has just the right aged look. The extra washing and drying, warped it more, but is is laying flat now, on the table.

Here is a close up of the staining and my stitching. I used DMC floss, 2 strands of #612. A great color for when you want a lighter, primitive shade.

I also decided my rooster was too light, I do like my darker prim look. I used walnut on the main colors and then tried java ink on the orange, but it muddied it on the outer edges of the tail, but it does look old now. Now I have to decide how I want to finish it. Today the summer UFO's went in a box, they will have to wait till late winter. Now it is time to get going on Christmas, I am hoping to have projects finished in time, this year;)

Friday Finish: Penny Rug!

This week I noticed a few people working on penny rugs and the diamond shape, in particular. I have always wanted to do one and since I have a box of precut pennies, I thought I would give it a try.

I went with the colors I had, and thought brown, green and orange were perfect for a fall piece. It is small so it is perfect for an end table or a candle mat for one of my bureaus. I sewed the pennies first, then I laid them out in the diamond pattern and marked off the batting so that it lay in the middle of the outer pennies. I used a piece of tan cotton ticking and sewed the pennies' outer edges to that.

After I finished it, I sat it in walnut stain, overnight. It was still lighter than I wanted, so I sprayed some extra walnut ink on the front and especially on the ticking, since that was lighter. Now it is nice and dark and has an antique look. I am not sure if that shows, as well in the photo.

This is a fun lap project while I watch television and I think it would be fun to make some for presents, this year. This mat is 15" long and 10" wide in the middle.

You can see some of the dark staining in the photo, and in person, the ticking is a dark brown. The pennies were precut, but I had to trim down the middle two circles as I went, so they are not perfect circles, but I like my pennies to be a little wonky;) A great project for the weekend and a great way to use up small scraps of wool.

Friday Finishes and Postcard Giveaway!

This week I wanted some eggs to fill a basket and love the look of speckled eggs. I didn't like the ones in the stores or the prices, so I decided to make my own grungy eggs. I found paper mache eggs at Jo anns and I had coupons, so I got a couple of packs at half the cost.

I painted them with acrylic paints and let them dry for a day. After that I tried watered down walnut ink on them but it kept dripping and sitting in a box left some blobby spots, so not the best way to age them. I think the best way would have been to sponge it on and use less water with the ink. After I aged them, I used black acylic paint and splattered spots on them with an old toothbrush. The trick to getting a speckled look is to not over load your brush with paint and keep the paint at the top of your brush.

Not perfect but not bad, nice prim look for Easter. I started out with an eggshell white but decided I wanted colored eggs. I have my little bird sitting with it and a bunny next to it, but moved them so I could get a clear shot of the eggs.

I also made another postcard and want to share this one with my readers. I forgot to stain the card first, so it got done after I painted the design. I wanted to add a saying but there wasn't enough room, so I added "Friendship Flowers" in German with fraktur font.

To enter for the postcard, you must live in the US, 48 contiguous states. To enter leave a comment and if you have ever sent a postcard out of the US, what area did you send it to, and what was the cost to that area. Or a card sent in an envelope, which is what I would do if I sent it that far;) I will pick a winner on monday night. If you have never sent something overseas, that is ok too, just leave a comment to let me know you are interested.

I have not had time to make up the new pattern, so hopefully that will get done next week. Hopefully a nice weekend and some outdoor exercise will relieve some of my stress;)

Postcard is done in watercolor pencils and antiqued with walnut ink.

Make it Monday: Springtime Candle Mats

When I have time or need a rest, I love to browse blogs and find new designs that I can make and share with others. Last week I found two wonderful circle designs that were perfect for spring and you can make them too.

To make a candlemat, I trace the design on light colored fabrics and stitch with DMC floss. When it is finished, I use a clear plastic lid that is larger than the piece and trace the circle around the design. Then I mark off a half inch with dots around the circle and cut out along that line. This gives you sewing allowance and room to add an outer stitch. I also use a piece of batting and do the stitchery with that on,  it gives more definition and hides any stitches you need to carry.

The design for this mat can be found at Crafting With Jack. He actually has two, so you can make one for yourself and one for a friend, they make wonderful gifts.

On this piece I used tea stained muslin and Distress it. It was nice since I didn't water it down, but you do have to use more of it to get a bit of staining.

On this mat I used white Kona since I wanted to use a gold for the flowers. It was also stained with Distress it. I think I like this one the best, the colors show up nicely and the dragonfly is a nice little touch. You can find this design at Humming Needles.

This weekend my husband was sick and my daughter was home and I was sick and taking care of them, so we stayed in and rested. I got a bit bored so I decided to amuse myself, or should I say Izzy. She was so funny and when the birds flew away she was looking up and around for them.

Welcome Quilt!

I finished another small piece this week, a welcome quilt from Whimsicals. It can be found in the book, From Mom and Me. I have a few of Terri's older books and love her designs and thought it was time I made this one.

It is a simple pattern and I used wool for the applique, so it was easy to make up. It is the perfect size to hang on my wall rack with the heart piece, for now, then it will be gifted to someone.

I made a simple border instead of the one that went with the pattern, but I like the black fabric around this design and with the antiquing it worked nicely.

Here is the piece on the drying rack, love how the walnut ink stained on this piece.  For small quilts, I water it down and then brush it on with a paint brush, it gives it a more aged and spotted look. I also dry it on a rack in the front loader, so it crinkles it up a bit and it also gives it an uneven look, but I don't like ironing it out to straighten it, since it takes the wrinkles out.

Another trick I like to do is, antique the clothes pins. I soak them in watered down walnut ink and let them dry in the sun. It gives them a nice aged look for hanging quilts.

New Stitchery Pillow!

I started my second block, but am so busy with the house, that I am tired at night, so I started a simple project for fun and I think it is a nice gift for friends too. I am also working on a new punch needle design, so hopefully it will turn out well and I will have a new pattern available next week.

This pillow was made with a design by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings. I really like the simpler ones with a saying, great for a prim home and nice to have sayings to remind us of the important lessons in life.

I really think I will make another, except that I will do the angel in wool and then stitched hair and saying. Maybe make it into a framed piece.

If you like this design, you can find under Patterns: Stitcheries: Angels. For the price of a design, you can stitch, punch or work it into a quilt or wool appliqué, not a bad deal for a wonderful design.

Friday Finish .... Angel Candle Mat

This week I have been resting and getting ready for the holidays, but I always enjoy having a project to do at night. I saw this pattern in the book, Two-Hour Quilted Christmas Projects by Cheri Saffiote. It is an older book, but you can still get copies at a good price if you watch ebay. It is filled with a lot of wonderful projects and patterns that you can use as is, or remake into new ideas.

The pattern was more of a picture, not sure if it was an actual pattern, but I thought it would make a wonderful candle mat. The original has the vines done differently but I wanted the smaller type to fit a candle mat.

On this one, I used an outside light source, so it picked up the walnut stain.The actual piece is more blended with darker spots, which are showing up more.

Winner and Friday Freebie!

Someone mentioned that it looked like I was giving Nicholas away, lol. No, no way am I giving him up, he is my little sweet heart. He is over tonight so his parents can have a fun night at my Son's Christmas party for work. He got his flu shot today so he is spiking fevers and sleeping peacefully now.
Of course I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure he is breathing and not getting too hot;)

Now for the winner.... #3..... Sandie is the winner! Sandie, please email me with your choice of epattern or booklet and congratulations.

I wanted to make a little something to share with all of you and I just love this saying. I made it on a Christmas tree shape so I can sit it on a shelf or basket. Since Nicholas is sleeping, I cannot use my scanner without waking him up, so please forgive the sloppy graphic, but it will print out well enough to use as a guideline.

This is how mine came out. I rushed it to get it done, and my sewing is a bit off, but it gives me an idea of how it looks and ideas for new ones. I used green weavers cloth for mine. You can use muslin as well or you can use wool or darker fabrics and wash away embroidery papers. I did one snowflake and then decided I like the simpler ones, that is why one is different;) I also need to add a star, hopefully I can find some tomorrow, while I am out.

This is the template I used. I drew my lines on the fabric with a ruler, then rounded off the corners. After I traced the design onto the fabric, I put a thick piece of batting behind it for the stitching. I also added a thick piece for the backing to give it support and added more stuffing after I turned it inside out.  I left an opening on the base of the trunk and stitched that by hand when I was done stuffing it. I added watered down walnut ink to age it. You can also add mini buttons, or bird buttons, as well. Have fun and I hope you enjoy my pattern.  Baby is awake, so time for grandma to go, if I forgot anything, please fell free to email me.

After I finished the saying, I cut out the shape by using a ruler and cutting 1/2" from the line. That is why I had more room for my snowflakes, so you can add them where you want.

Friday Finishes!

I had a slow week, a bit of sewing a bit at a time, but I was able to finish one project and make two small ones.

I have been working on the stitched pillow for months, and I finally finished it. It is nice to have a large project that I can work on when I am done with one and waiting to get the next, ready. This is a design by Kathy Schmitz in her book, Simple Pleasures in Redwork. I have made a few of the projects from her book and have a few more that I like, a book that has a lot to offer with all types of projects.

I added the border with a reproduction print to match the blue couch. I do wish I had looked at the border before sewing it on, it should have the top and bottom with the longer pieces to balance it out, but it will have to do. It is an odd sized pillow so I cut up an old pillow to fit the size.

Since my hands are still bothering me, I did up some small stitchery pillows. I can't just sit and do nothing, so hopefully my hands will heal soon and I can get more done. At least I will have lots of gifts for this year:)

The angel pillow is a design from the book Heart Warmings by Pieces from my Heart. I reduced the design for a mini pillow. The deer is a design by Robin of  Bird in the Hand Primitives. Robin has a lot of wonderful free designs that she changes with the seasons.

I antiqued these and then added some stuffing and Balsam. I add stuffing to keep the pillows from being too heavy for shipping.

Christmas Pillows!

This week I worked on some pillows. I wanted to try some stenciled pillows and these are the result. I got stencils on a sale and used acrylic paints. I mixed the paint with fabric medium to make them waterproof and it also keeps them from being too stiff.

I made the pillows to fit the size of the stencils, so you can do them in any size that you want. After I stenciled them, I put them in the dryer for 25 minutes and heat set them. Then I sprayed the lighter pillows with walnut spray. For those I used a stark white fabric and you can see it ages it nicely. The snowflakes were done on coffee stained fabric from moda. With the snowflakes, I added a little sparkle paint, but it doesn't show in the photo.

Once they were dry, I cut them to size and added a piece of batting to each side and sewed them, right sides together. I use the batting so when I fill them, the balsam sits in between the batting. You can leave an opening at the bottom for turning, or you can make a slit on the backside. I used a slit and covered it, after they were stuffed.

I added the border stitching, after they were stuffed. I hide the stitches by pulling them into the edges.

I stenciled them with a stencil brush and used a smaller brush to get into the smaller areas.

The snowflakes were done with white, then a glitter paint over that, so it has a light sparkle to it. The white is not as bold in person, the camera tends to heighten paint colors.

For my backs, I sewed the slit up with a basic slip stitch and then added a penny to cover the area. My camera was acting up today and the flash wasn't working right, so the colors are way off. This is tea stained cotton ticking, a great way to finish christmas pillows. I used green on the others.

Mini Flag Quilt!

I wanted to make something quick and fun again, so I used a pattern from the summer issue of Primitive  Quilts and Projects. The original is framed and I wanted to make a framed piece, but I didn't have the right sized frame. I have lots of old frames but of course not the one I need and I don't want to buy more, so I quilted it.

I added a little extra stitching around the outside and a border so mine measures, 9" x9". I also used fabric instead of wool. It is a great piece to put in those areas that need a little something, but too small for a regular wall quilt.

Union Cradle Quilt!

I wanted to make something fun for me and also a piece to enter into the contest at This-n-That Fabrics. The contest is for patriotic quilts and I have always wanted to make this design by Barbara Brackman. You can find the pattern in the book, Civil War Woman.

I soaked it it walnut crystals and tea but it didn't come out the way I wanted, so I laid it on the floor and sprayed it with my walnut ink. I wanted this one to look like an antique quilt and I really like how it came out. I used black pearl cotton to do the quilting. I also used fusi-boo for the batting. I really like how well it stays on and it has a nice soft touch.

I wanted to redo my office into a guest room and thought that a civil war soldier theme would be fun to design around. Something fun for a little boy and a place where I can display my husband's trains and steins.

I tried different shots, I think this quilt needs to be draped on something or part of a cradle display.
I reduced the blocks and applique by 20%, so my quilt came out as a 36" quilt.

Here is how it looks spread out. I could not get a good straight on shot or an outdoor shot, another rainy day. You can see the dark areas in the quilt, in person, it looks like a quilt that has been used and aged. I had to lighten it a bit so you could see the detail.

Flower Candle Mat!

I finished my candle mat, it took longer than I thought it would, but well worth the effort. I got the design from Dover Publishing. They send email once a week with free samples, so well worth signing up.

I used some of my variegated floss for the flowers and a solid green for the leaves. To make the circle, I use an old plastic lid and trace around it with a wash out blue marker. I added some yellow french knots to the centers to give it a little extra pop. I decided to antique it, I think it looks nice on my firkin, but it will probably be a gift.

And here is a shot to show you the design and details. I still have the design, so if you would like a copy, just send me an email.

This is a bit light and pink, but I lightened it, so  you could see the detail better.

Dying Floss and New Project!

Yes, I said new project. I get the newsletter from Dover Publishing and every week they send free samples and this one was perfect for a candle mat. I wanted to make it as a gift for my daughter, but I didn't get it done in time, so we shall see what I do with it, after I finish it.

I wanted to try brighter colors for her and I do love the way my hand dyed pink, looks in this piece. You can see where the shades go from dark to light on the flowers. The green is a solid, so I need to over dye some green for future projects.

And, here is the floss that I used for the pink that is in the flowers. That is, the floss before I over dyed it. The beauty of using this floss is that it comes in a package and it is cheap. With a coupon, it saves a lot of money and perfect for over dying.

I usually soak it in tea or walnut, but I thought I would wet the floss and then use walnut spray. It was easier and faster, but it didn't saturate into the middle sections, as well. But, it still came out nice, now I have various shades in dark and bright, so it will be fun to see how this would look in a punch needle piece.

The photo is a bit darker than the actual floss, but you can see how it went from bright to prim with a bit of walnut ink. You can soak it overnight in walnut and then sun dry it, now that it is getting warmer.
If you do not have walnut you can use tea or coffee, but remember that the acids in tea can destroy cross stitch pieces, over time.

Easter Candle Mat and Winners!

I decided to try an Easter mat and use one of my patterns for the center design. The bunny is from my Spring Flock pattern. I am having fun trying different designs to see what I like and how well they look together. I think I might like this one better with the leaves on the inside and the feather on the outside?

I picked two names, each person will receive a gift certificate number which they can use at the Quilt Show. The winners are..... Cindy and Anna! Email me and I will send you, your numbers. Thank you for joining in and I always love feedback.