Friday Finishes!

This week I made up some more pillows for lavender. I love doing the simple designs and they make me smile. It seems easier to do simple, small projects with the heat we have been having. The designs are free and can be found on the Facebook group, Primitive Folk Art Quilts and Projects.

I also made up more masks, these will be the last of the camping types. I found the fabrics for the at Walmart and they are not as thick as my good cottons, so I added a third pocket layer. This adds enough to wear as is, or the person can add a filter for added protection. After this I need to find some fun fabric for the boys, in case they go back to school and I would like to make extras for kids who cannot afford nice ones.

And I was able to spend some time with the boys this week. While mom and dad went out, we all enjoyed some time playing outside and keeping cool. Bean loves it when the boys come, I think he gets more excited than them.

Tomorrow we go camping for the weekend, and as usual my body decided to crash. I cooked our meal for the weekend, and most things are packed and ready to go, so I plan on just relaxing and enjoying our site on the water. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay safe.

Friday Finish!

I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoying the summer as much, as is possible. I didn't get much done while we camped or during the week, it was mostly catch up when I got home, but I worked on my quilting and finished another little pillow today.

This is another design by Deborah Cade, and I made up two more to do later.

We had a nice time camping, but it was hot. The campground has a pool, but you have to sign up in the morning to get a time slot, so we were able to take a swim on the second day.

This is our spot, right on the river and surrounded by woods and lots of birds, a peaceful place to relax.

Of course being on the river means, I am on the water as much as possible. It is a small river but deep and it leads to a pond. The pond is full of lilies and plants, but the main passages are easy to paddle along and all deep water.

The area in front of me is all state forest, so a lot of wildlife and birds in the area. I had a hard time getting photos since they were camera shy, but I finally came out later in the afternoon and sat in the lilies to catch a few photos.

This Great Blue Heron was there when I went out each day, I was lucky enough to catch him on the hunt and catching his dinner.

Lots of turtles and dragonflies in the lilies, such a calming place to sit as they flew around me.

And on the way back, I caught this Redwing Blackbird, who had made a nest along the river banks.

It is a nice place to camp and they have activities every weekend. For the fourth they had a wonderful Southern country, rock band and a parade of golf carts on the fourth. Most people didn't wear masks but we kept clear of others and stayed away from the other events, but we will definitely camp here again, everyone was friendly and nice.

This weekend we will rest a bit and catch up on things, but also get out a bit for a day trip. The Ocean beaches are so crowded, you cannot move without people so we will stay away. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and you and your families are blessed with good health.

Friday Finish!

This week I worked on some new stitcheries, both from Kathy Schmitz. When she sent out the newsletter, she showed a fun halloween piece, that was featured in, American Patchwork and Quilting. I had received a few magazines from my friend when we camped together and that issue was one of them.

It was a fun piece, so I decided to use fun colors and I even added glitter paint to the cape and hat. I also antiqued it, so it has that vintage look. I like making prim, but a little whimsey and color for the boys to see, when they visit.

My second piece, I did in simpler colors and kept prim. I enjoy making a few new pieces for fall, to decorate with.  This piece was the offering for the monthly stitch club. She also gave us an extra with a pumpkin to put on a tea towel. I only have a red stripe left, so I guess I need to get more, in different colors.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully Bill and I can find some new places to explore and see the start of foliage. The temps are dropping, so perfect time for hiking.

The two pieces have more dark spotting, but it doesn't show up in the photo.

Friday Finish!

A new month and new stitcheries from the One Stitch Club by Kathy Schmitz. This month we got an extra free one, so I decided to make that first, just in time for the holiday. I almost had it done in time, but yesterday was spent with the kids, so cooking and a party at their house, put me behind.

Today I finished it. I didn't have much time to work on things this week, so I rushed it a bit, but it was fun to do and I used up fabrics in my scrap box. It measures 9" x 7 1/2", great for a small area on the wall.

And of course I enjoyed a day with the kids, even the big kids had fun;) Bill has to stay out of water for another week, but he had fun squirting the kids with the hose. Alex is afraid of the big pool, so he has his own to play in. Hopefully I can get him to the pond without his mom and get him used to the water. She is petrified of drowning, so I think it is best if I teach them myself. Maybe someday I can help her overcome her fear.

Bill has this week off, still not sure what we will do, but the weather will be nice without the humidity. We will be looking at trailers again, I think I make our dealer crazy, I can't make up my mind, large and comfy or smaller to fit in more campsites, plus I want space for the kids so we can all go together. I love the comfort of a trailer, but I like to camp, and I don't need fancy or a bunch of Tv's.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Finish!

This week has been a whirlwind of activity and stress. One thing that helps me to relax is working on a new project, one that I can finish and enjoy for the season. I saw a photo of one of Cheri's old patterns and loved it and thought it would make a nice pillow for the summer. I tend to go with Americana now and keep it throughout the summer.

I printed the photo and recopied it, into a pattern. Then I changed the saying and kept mine simple without the extra stars and stitching. I also used fusible so I could stitch it, raw edge and when it was finished, I added a bit of walnut stain.

If you like the design or want to join Cheri's group, you can go to Quilts by Cheri: Friendship Group. It is a wonderful group of ladies and and a way to keep Cheri's memory alive, with friends and the love of stitching. I have put the design I used, on the group.

I want to thank everyone for your comments and prayers. I tried to answer comments, but Blogger is not sending mail to me, so I may have missed some. Bill is doing well, he had a 90% block in his main artery so it could have killed him, but he went to the clinic just in time, they gave him nitro and sent him to the hospital and with treatment and a few stents, he has no visible heart damage. My son will be having surgery next week to remove one of his thyroids, and hopefully he will not need long term medicine.

I hope  you all have a wonderful weekend. I plan on resting and visiting the kids, then we can get out next week without the crowds.

Friday Finishes!

This week I made a new project and finished one I had started. The first one is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her, One Stitch at a Time Club. Each month she sends a new design to stitch, for two dollars, a month. I decided to join since I love her stitcheries and it is fun to get something new each month. There were a couple, I never did, but I still have the designs that I can do another time, but I do love ones I can make for the holidays and ones I can give as gifts. You can also buy the designs for a dollar more, after she releases them, if you want to buy individual ones.

This one I made for me, loved the design and I happened to have a little hanger and christmas clothes pins. Perfect to hang on my peg rack. She had three words to choose from and I love to use Joy, though I did the word myself, so not the best layout, but good enough for me. I used her crackle fabric and then antique medium, love how it came out.

Another piece I finished was a quilted wall hanging with a design by Cheri Saffiote. This was a free pattern on her Facebook page, Quilts by Cheri - Friendship Group. This will be a gift and I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but the lighting is bad in my house and it is freezing outside. The wool textures don't show up as nice or in true color. It is a little wonky and I used scraps for the border, not perfect, but made with love.

I added the words in the upper two areas to fill in that space. I also received a wonderful gift from my friend Karen. She had made a top with sailors and never finished it, so she gifted it to me with the backing, so I can make something for my beach room. I love it so much, I may make a quilt with it, or a wall hanging, something fun to work on.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have snow coming in tomorrow, so it will be a stay at home day. I will finish up cards and things and then I can enjoy the rest of the season and work on new projects for fun.

Friday Finish and Fun on the Fourth!

I hope everyone had a good week and a fun holiday. We went low key, stayed home for the weekend and spent the fourth with my Sister in Law. I did manage to finish one project, a new stitchery from the One stitch club, by Kathy Schmitz.

I decided to put my rustic birdhouse on a shelf and thought this design would be a nice piece to go with it. I made it into a pillow and antiqued it to match the feeling of the birdhouse. The stitchery club is fun to do, one design a month and they work up quickly.

We did have a nice time at the party. My SIL has access to the beach, so I was able to go for a nice swim and enjoy some time with Nick at the beach. He loves throwing rocks and he got soaked when the waves got him a few times, but seeing him laugh and get excited at things he sees, always brings joy to my day.

I also spent time with Alex, and he has become much more social, and he seems to be such a happy little guy, I am blessed with them both.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with joy and adventure. Bill has to work all weekend and my son wants to do a yard sale in my yard, so I may throw some  junk out and start cleaning out the basement.

The Ugly Angel: Free Pattern!

I wanted to try an angel and I found a wonderful pattern by CatNap Primitives. She also has a free bunny and other wonderful patterns are reasonable prices. It is a freebie offered on her site, at Patternmart.  If you click on the main menu for patterns, click on free and you will find a lot of other free patterns. I like the idea of making my own but I wanted to try some simple dolls and techniques to get some practice in, it's been a while since I have made dolls.

The original pattern is for a tree top angel, but I wanted to make it for spring, so I changed it up a bit. Then I decided to make a satchel bag to hold flowers, but I made a mess of that. I plan on making a calico one to replace it. It was fun to make, but I definitely need practice on my stitched mouths. I think it would be fun to make them as gifts and customize them, to fit the personality and tastes of the person who receives them, so I will have to work on some of my own ideas. I do have doll patterns and a doll clothing book so I can do different styles.

Another mistake I made is, I forgot, if you wet the piece first, do not saturate it with stain, it tends to pull up in blobs. I was able to tone it down a bit by rinsing it back out.

Tomorrow we are getting a storm. It was a blizzard, then a storm, then it went from 15" down to 6" in our area, so I am not complaining. But, we all know weather has a mind of it's own, so we shall see how bad it gets. Of course I had to get out for supplies, crafting ones, lol. Today we got food items so we are all set. I hope everyone stays safe and warm if you are in the storm's path.

Friday Finish!

This week I have been having more done time and the lyme has effected my joints and nerves, so it is hard to do fine work or things that take coordination or strength, so I decided to do some more stitchery.

This time I went though my old files and found a design I had doodled up, years ago and thought it would be a fun one to try. Of course I had to have a saying to go with it and I found an old irish saying and changed the lines a bit.

I was thinking of making it into a design, I need to redo the original and add the saying. I just have to figure out how to get the font to work in the right size and with the photo since my text program had this font and photoshop does not.

As usual I had to do a flash photo, so it tends to be too dark in some areas and too bright in others. I aged it with walnut ink, a fun piece to give as a gift.

It looks like we will be having some stormy weather this weekend, so no outdoor plans. I am so looking forward to warmer weather and long walks on the beach and lots of paddling this summer.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend didn't go as planned, both Bill and I woke up sick, so we spent the weekend at home. The good thing was, free HBO this weekend so we watched movies and I worked on some stitching.

I am having fun making stitcheries from the kindred Spirit's books, and made two more pieces, this time I made them into pillows. I think they would be great bowl fillers or a shelf sitter, great to tuck into those primitive gatherings and nice for gifts.

I added the X's and 1,2,3; I have an obsession with filling in empty space;)

Also, if you like free patterns. Theodora Cleave has the last of her free patterns. They are additions to the original ones that she offered. The designs can be done in a quilt or as small quilts since the designs stand on their own.

Monday Finish!

This year I plan on doing a Christmas piece when I get a chance and it is a great project to do in between projects or when I want to just relax and work on something while I watch movies on the weekend.

I received Kathy Schmitz's newsletter and she had a free Christmas pattern and it was the perfect project to do over the weekend. I love Kathy's patterns and she does offer more free patterns on her website.

I decided to make the stitchery into a pillow and add the word snow and snowflakes in the corners. This design was really fun to do and you could also do it in different mediums, so her patterns are great no matter what craft you do.

The pillow is 10" x 8" and I used walnut stain, once it was finished.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend and enjoying doing some winter crafting.

Monday Finishes!

This weekend I was able to try some projects and spend time relaxing. Nothing like another snow storm to keep my in the house and with Bill home, I had someone to play with Bean so I could get things done.

I had received a notice about a sew in to make pillows and bags for breast cancer patients. The pillows are to hold under their arms to reduce pressure and upside down, work as a cushion so they can use a seat belt. The bag is to hold and hide the drainage bag. I love the idea of helping woman who are going through  tough time and if you are interested in helping others, you can visit Jennifer's Facebook page for contact information, or email me and I will be happy to send you the pdf file, with the patterns and information.

I am not happy with my sewing skills, I measure and leave the correct seam allowance and still get the wrong size. I also think I made too big of an opening. The bag is the wrong size, I am short 1/4" on both sides, so I need to practice on some other fabric till I get it right;) I did mine with an inner lining and I am still thinking about how to attach the handle so it looks nice.

The beautiful cat fabric is a gift from Marylou Weidman. I thought it would be nice to pay it forward by using it to make some fun pillows and bags and I have more prints that she gave me.

Another piece I finished was the free design offered by Cheri Saffiote for the Buttermilk Basin Spring Blog Hop. I love Stacy's hops and all of the wonderful artists who offer free designs for us, to use. I made mine into a pillow and antiqued it, it was a fun project to do. Today there is a stichery and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Love is in the Air!

I finished my hearts today. After I punched them, I sewed on a red wool back and lightly stuffed them.
When I stitched them up, I left a little hole at the top to put the ric rack in. For the edge, I used one piece of wool yarn and gathered it, while I whip stitched it in place. The little gathers give it the little raised bumps around the edge.

I decided to hang it from my homespun, in between the paper decorations.

I took photos after I made them, but they seemed too bright for me. This is how they looked, as is.

And this is how they look, after I used walnut stain on them. One thing nice about using the Tsukineko ink is, when you spray too much, you can pat it down to remove the excess and lighten it back up.

I just drew my hearts onto the weavers cloth, just remember to reverse you letters. You can also make mini ones to hang on a tree, without letters and use up your scrap floss for a hit or miss look.

Monday Musings!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had beautiful weather but Bill is away, which means no one to carry the kayaks;) I was sick most of the week, so I couldn't do much anyways, but finally starting to get back to "my" normal again.

I forgot to show you a photo of the penny back so you could see how I attached them. I did the pennies first, then I lay them on a piece of ticking in a triangle pattern. Once I had them in the layout, I used a washable marker and made dots in the middle of the areas where the pennies lay, on the outside. Then I took my ruler and connected the dots. You can also make it larger by making it more on the outside of the pennies or a complete triangle back that you can lay your pennies on, it is up to you.

You can see the staining better, in this photo. I wanted the backing to be dark enough so that it blended with the pennies.

I also volunteered to babysit, not like my son had to twist my arm;) We had lots of fun together and he was being quite the ham, but it wore me out.

He seems to know what a camera is and loves to pose and be cute.

We spent some time outside. I found a great way to keep him still so I could rest, put him on the grass. He seems to have an aversion to grass, he just sits and plays in one spot, and of course, more silliness.

Then he started making this strange face and scrunching up his eyes, no idea what he is thinking when he does that, but our laughing seemed to be good reason, to do it over and over. Today I started two new projects, so I can work on the punch during the day and stitching at night, so I will be able to finish both by friday.

Friday Finish and Happy Fourth!

My day was spent cleaning and cooking, no fun today. The hurricane blew by without hitting us, but it gave us a day of windy rain, so good day to stay inside and get things done. Now I am all ready to get out this weekend and have some paddling fun;)

This week was a slow week, but I did get one small piece finished. The design is by Kelley; With Hook and Needle. She put some free designs to hook or punch and I just had to do the little drawing on the side, it was too fun, not to do. You can find the free patterns on this Post.

I made a little stitchery and then added a border. It makes a fun mini quilt to hang on a wall to cheer me up.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend.

Friday Finishes and Winners!

This week I actually finished two pieces. The first is a stitchery by Woodberry Designs. You can still visit her page and download the stitchery if you would like one.

My sister redid a room in her apartment with a garden theme, so I thought this would be a nice piece for her new room. I like the saying and it is garden and sewing, so something from me to her since she lives far away.

The original is done in red work, but I liked the idea of using some basic colors on my piece.

The second piece was something quick and easy. I wanted to make a mini americana quilt for my bunny, just for fun. I used up scraps in this piece and hand stitched it with black pearl cotton. I sprayed watered down walnut stain on it, when it was done.

And now for the giveaway winners! The correct answer was B, the story goes that the couple were not allowed to get married so they eloped and paddled away in a canoe. They paddled into the ocean, and when they saw the river, they paddled up and landed at the fresh water brook. The local indians befriended them and eventually they built a home and farm in the same area.

Donna G. gave the correct answer so she is the winner of one epattern and the random number generator picked #11, which is Julie Fukuda. Ladies please email me with the pattern of your choice from my ecrater site.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Framed Angel!

I really loved the pillow I made and I wanted to try it in a new version. I enlarged the pattern so I could do the angel in wool. I also liked the idea of making it into a framed piece, so it is just the right size to fit in an 8" x 10" frame. I decided to have a little fun and used a floral trim around her head and the addition of lace and buttons adds a fun touch. After I finished it, I antiqued it, using more on the rose trim to tone down the bright pink shades.

The design is by Primitive Blessings and can be found under stitchery patterns. It was quick to make up and a fun project to do for yourself or as a gift. I still have to finish my new pattern, so hopefully it will be ready on friday.

The frame is just a cheap black one, I need to go through my craft supplies and organize my frames to see what else I have.

Primitive Blessings Pillow!

When I was going through my paper patterns, I found this one and decided it would make a nice pillow. I scanned it in, but have no idea from where. It might have been from an old issue of Create and Decorate. If it looks familiar to you, please let me know so I can give the designer credit.

I kept it simple and I think it looks nice on my new mail desk. It is fun to just make things for fun and no stress to finish them. This week I am also working on a candle mat and I will be cutting out the appliques for Jan Patek's bible quilt. The pattern was a gift from a friend for my last birthday and I thought it was time I made it. A nice project to work on during the holidays and the cold winter days.

I gave it a heavy stain, but the flash washed it out. We had snow all day, so no outdoor photos.

I can't put up breakable decorations, my kitties are way too obnoxious. I put up 3 small trees and greenery with a sled on a cabinet. As you can see, nothing is safe and this is Moki looking innocent after he tried to chew off the pine from the boughs.

Little Chick Pillow!

Today I finished a pillow with the spring chick design that I won from Stacy of Buttermilk Basin. It is a fun design to do and since it is longer, I reduced it a bit to make a pillow to put in front of one of my wood boxes.

For this piece I used a white muslim and then antiqued it. I also added a little extra stitching and outlines, then I did a blanket stitch around the outer edge of the pillow.

I am not sure, but I think the new batting is causing the stains to pool in one spot.

And her is the back, I used a green  homespun and  you can see how the stain pooled in spots.