Giveaway Winner!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Mine has been busy, it took a few days to recover and then days of catching up with cleaning and decorating, but I was able to get it done before my sister got here. Now I am busy or more like, my time is being eaten up by a sister who talks non stop and it is literally exhausting.

I was able to get my stitcheries done, one for me and one was a gift. It is a design by Kathy Schmitz for the One Stitch Club. It was fun to do and a nice addition to my fall decorations.

And of course I have been glass collecting, the first two are from my SIL's and the larger, last one was from today. We took my sister to my favorite glass beach and luckily no one had been there today, so I found some really nice pieces and some nice old chunks. If you can see the one in the center, it is almost a heart and has red on it. There was something about it that was interesting and it wasn't until I picked it up after cleaning that it looked off, so I shone the flashlight and believe it or not, it is a piece of brown glass. Not sure where the paint came from.

We took my sister to Jamestown and hit the usual beaches and lighthouse, so she could get photos and I took lots of her at different locations. She did find one nice white piece, I just seem to have a knack for seeing and finding it;)

At the lighthouse she wanted to climb around the cliffs, she is braver than I am when it comes to heights.

And she took some photos of us, we never get ones with both of us, since I always take the photos. Here we are, being a bit silly.

 And of course we had to get another batch of apples, she loved doing that and they still had peaches, so I got a bag full, love fresh fruit.

And now for the giveaway winner! The lucky number was 4, Mindy of Raymond Homestead! Please email me your address and I will get your table mat in the mail. Congratulations! I do plan on doing more, I do have a lot of Christmas goodies too. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully my sister will find some friends to hang out with, I really need a break;)

Happy Valentines!

This weekend, I had to take it easy. At least it was snowing and the roads were horrible, so I didn't mind staying home for once. Since my arms are still a bit sore, working on my regular stitchery was a bit tough to do, so I made up a small quick project to do, just in time for Valentines.

I have a draw full of pre-cut pennies, so I picked some out and that saved on cutting them out. I picked a scrap piece of wool that is too thin to hook but has a nice purple hue with specks of colors thought and red hearts. I finished the smaller pennies with a simple wheel stitch to turn them into little yellow flowers with a triple french knot on top.

This is an easy project to do and you can make them in any size, using those little scraps of wool that you just don't want to throw away, turn them into pennies. If you have never made one, there are tutorials online and you can find circle templates to print out and trace. Freezer paper is the best for cutting out pennies, especially when you are making a bunch. I did get a circle cutter, still need to try that on wool.

And the winner of the pattern giveaway is..........  Lauren, of Rugs and Pugs! Congratulations Lauren, please email me,  your choice of pattern. I am hoping to get my runner finished this week, now that my arms are feeling better.

Friday Finish!

I love to work with wool and when I saw Rebekah's book, and the projects that others were doing, I knew I wanted to have her book. When I saw a blog hop with a giveaway of her book, I had to enter. I couldn't believe I was the lucky winner of her book and even more excited when I saw all of the wonderful projects in it. You can see her book and other wonderful wool patterns at Rebekah's Website. She also sells kits and wool if you want to get the time worn look of her pieces.

I decided to start with the cat pillow and I have finished the top, so far. It will be set on another piece of wool but I wanted to look at it and decide if it is ok, as is or if I should change anything, before I make it into a pillow. What do you think? Of course I changed a few things and used buttons for the eyes. I wish I could get the colors better, I tried using dark and prim hand dyed wools from my stash. I used DMC for the stitching.

Of course the colors do not look right in the photo, the background is a darker brown shade and the spots of blue or yellow are markings I made, so those will get washed out.

I won the book from Doreen of Vermont Harvest Folk Art, who is a wonderful artist in her own right. I love her unique pumpkin men and the pieces she creates. She also has wonderful patterns and PDF patterns so you can buy and start working on it right away.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am still trying to decide on a trip for tomorrow, so a new adventure and hopefully more foliage now that a week has gone by.

Giveaway Winners!

Well, I had a piece to finish today and I was getting ready to make it into a pillow and the phone rang and then it got late and Bean wanted to go out, then the neighbors dog came over to visit and wore Bean out for me, so by the time I got done with things, I gave up on the idea of finishing the pillow tonight.

So, we will get to the give away winners. USAGypsy is the winner of the funny caption, very clever thinking the tarp was the tent and no one knew how to put it up. Picturing that made me laugh:) The random generator winner is Wendy of Ravenwood Whimsies. Ladies, please email me with your choice of epattern or Ebooklet from my Ecrater site.

Since I have no finished photos tonight, I thought I would go with an oldie. This is a photo we had taken at the local state fair, one year. Bill was away on a trip, so I took the kids to the fair and we had a photo taken. Of course Billy wanted to be the man and have a gun. It is fun to look at the old photos and remember the happy times with the kids.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Bill has to work again, so hopefully I can catch up with all the things I never got done today and get some projects cut out, to work on.

Friday Finishes and Winner!

I have been busy making snowman pieces for my sister and still have a few things to finish but I did get a couple of things done this week.

The first thing I finally did was, finish my pumpkins. I sewed and stuffed them, then added a twig for a stem. I decided not to stain them for now, I like the brighter colors to go with my fake leaves;) They are darker in person, but with my shaky hands, I have to enhance the photos so that lightens them up.

Another finish is my snowman mittens. I like making mittens with punch needle and there are a lot of possibilities with designs. I used a design by Renee Mullins and added a star. I used a blue plaid for the background. I am wondering if I should fix them since the floss seems a bit too thin and the fur top is smaller than I wanted and I don't like how the stitching shows. I am thinking I could twist strands together to thicken it and add a jute or ribbon tie.

I kept this brighter since it is for my sister and I didn't think she would like my grungy look;)

I finished the punching on the snow fairy, but I need to finish the edges and make a hornbook to mount it on. This is a pattern by Brenda Gervais and I made one for myself and put it on a basket. For this one, I will use the hornbook cutout that came with the pattern. I used different colors to keep it more in keeping with shades my sister would like.

This one done in 3 strand floss, it took me a week to make it. The mittens I did in 6 strands and it took me 2 days, I think I like 6 strands better;)

And now for the winner of the epattern giveaway. The winner is Shelley of Red Quilts. Shelley, please email me with your choice of epattern or booklet, your choice. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

If you would like to have something fun to do and something free, visit Rusty Tin Roof and download the newest newsletter. You will find interesting articles and free patterns, including two wool sewing projects.

Friday Finish and Winner!

I have been working on a  couple of projects this week, but only one that is finished. My sister saw a snowman piece online and decided she wants me to make her snowmen pieces and she will be visiting this month, so I am making a few of them before she gets here. One is a punch needle and I am doing it in 3 strands, so slow going;)

Since I need something that I can finish in a  few days and I also needed an indoor wreath, I decided to make one. I used various fabrics with dark oranges, browns and golds with a touch of yellow and really like how the colors look together. The colors go perfectly with the prim look. I did get some fake picks to add to it and then stuck the apple in the middle. The apple was a set that a friend sent me.

And now for the winner of the giveaway. The blob in the water is a cormorant. It was sitting on the water and the minute I hit the shutter, it dove under. The winner of the free pattern is Kathy Mackie! Kathy, email me with your choice of an epattern or ebooklet from my ecrater site.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We have more rain coming in but we will try and get out on sunday for a drive up the Connecticut river to revisit the castle and drive up the river to enjoy the foliage.

Weekend Wanderings and Winner!

First I will announce the winner of the giveaway. The winner is Sunny! Sunny please pick a pattern from my ecrater site and email me with your choice, congratulations! And thanks to everyone for playing along with me this week. I had some fun and I wore myself out, lol.

The last paddle was Sunday and we stayed close to home since the traffic get to be too much on the weekends, at our favorite spots.

We went out of the harbor and planned on paddling down the bay. As we were getting ready to take off, Bill started talking to another paddler and he ended up paddling with us for a bit, so we had to take it slower and didn't go as far, as I planned.

Here are the guys chatting away, nice for me since I could relax and enjoy the views and take photos;)

The wind was blowing and of course against us, so that made paddling slower too. The fun thing is the waves were larger and I love rolling on the ocean. We decided to paddle to the point and stop there since the cove side is calmer and there is a nice spot for swimming.

And the point is narrow at this end, so I could walk across to the bay side and enjoy the views and the breezes.

On the way back we spotted a trawler coming in, the seagulls were flocking all around it.

Once the trawler came though the breakers, the seagulls all congregated on the rocks. I guess all that tailgating tired them out. Of course the week is over and I am finally relaxing and wanting to go out again, lol. I hope everyone had a fun weekend and now it is time to get back to creating, I have a lot of projects, waiting to be finished.

Friday Finishes and Win!

Did any of you follow the 100 Blocks giveaways? I didn't win a magazine but I was the lucky winner of Barbara Cline's book, Diamond Chain Quilts. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by her quilting and all of that piecing, but once I read her tutorials and watched the video, I realized, even someone like myself, can make beautiful quilts like this.

I received my copy of the book and she has wonderful tutorials and photos that show how to make the quilts along with beautiful quilts to make. I love how she uses colors and turns them into quilts that have a 3D look, something I would love to try. I also love irish chain quilts and this is a wonderful new take on chain quilts.

 This quilt shows the effect of using color gradiations to get a 3D look, I would love to make this for Christmas. Be sure and visit Barbara's blog, Quilting Gal and learn how she makes these fabulous quilts.

Another thing I started this week was a garden angel. Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies is having a challenge using her free doll pattern. She supplies the pattern and then you can design her with a gardening theme. Sounds fun and you have a month from today to finish her. I hope you can join in, on the fun.

I made my body so I can stare at her and come up with ideas before I start. I am thinking simple and using some flower material for her clothes and accessories. I am not the best doll sewer, good thing she will be covered in clothing;) I used tea stained muslin, so the dark stripe is how the material went on that section.

Another thing I finally did this week was to paint my bench. I wanted to do a painting on top, but I haven't had the time and I just wanted it painted. Of course I realized I had no light blues so used what I had, a bit bright and for some reason it did not want to sand down. I gave up and antiqued it and left it as is, later I can let my husband resend it and repaint it. For now it serves it's purpose, a foot stool in the bathroom.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We are getting rain but it looks like we will have breaks, long enough to get out for some walks.

Postcard Winner!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We finally got some warmer weather and I was able to get out and enjoy the fresh spring air.

Yesterday was the best day, warm enough to hike but still cool enough to enjoy it. We went to my favorite place, Stepping Stone Falls. The rain storms have filled the rivers up nicely and the falls were roaring down the rocky steps, I love the sound, it is so soothing.

This is a spot that we usually like to sit and enjoy the falls, but in the spring the falls fill the entire rocky area.

And now for the giveaway winner.... The winner is Saundra of Woodland Junction! Congratulations to Saundra, please email me with your address so I can get your card out to you. 

Giveaway Winner and Suggestions Please!

First I will get right to the winner of the birthday giveaway. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and Birthday wishes. My birthday was on November 21'st and I had the baby all day, so I celebrated on Thanksgiving instead. I made stuffing, then let my husband cook and my daughter vacuumed and I sat in my sewing room and caught up on some projects.

I wish everyone could be winners and I wanted to do a freebie, but it seems time slips by lately and I have one week to get all the gifts ready and cards out, ugh.

I used the random generator and the lucky winner is #11, Jennifer768. Congratulations Jennifer, please send me your address so I can get your package ready to ship out this week. I will add some patterns and goodies to surprise you;)

I do have a lot of stash and plan on doing some cleaning so look for more giveaways in the coming year and I will do them by types of crafts so there will be something for everyone.

I have been working on a project for a swap and finally got it all together. It takes me a long time to think about what I want to do and then pick out the perfect fabrics and then change my mind and add new things, lol. I saw a photo and she had a raggedy doll, so hoping she likes this. My question is, should I just leave it alone or add more to the tree and pocket. This is a mug rug, a bit larger than I planned, so I guess it is a mat now. It looks more prim in person, I had to do a quick flash photo and the    wings are a speckled white. That I think needs some walnut to prim it up and maybe her stockings. I thought of adding bells on the tree, but it is to be used for tea and not sure if bumpy things are a good idea, lol. The pocket is for the silverware.

What do you think, is it ok as is? I still have to sew the binding to the back though. Not sure if you can see, but I did the applique in a black prim stitch. I forgot to outline stitch the tree, knew something was off;) Any suggestions are appreciated, my brain is getting off antibiotics, so I tend to be a bit daft.

The angle is a design by Cheri Saffiote, from one of her old books and the rest I just made up as I went along.

Monday Finishes and Winner Announced!

First I want to send my prayers and blessings to all those who were in the storm's path.

I finished my pillows today, I was running around all weekend, shopping for fun things to keep the baby entertained. Tonight my son called me on face time and Nicholas was laughing and trying to grab the pad, warms my heart that he is finally seeing me as someone who makes him happy:)

I am better, not great, but not any worse. I did go for xrays, nothing broken, he said it was tendonitis but had no idea what to do. I go to my doc this week, so he can help me out, I hope. I was able to do a lot more today, house is all clean so I can spend the day playing with Nicholas. He comes later, so that will be easier on me.

These pillows were waiting to be sewed and stuffed. I used batting since they are gifts for friends that they can use anytime, so I didn't want to scent them. Sometimes I dab a pillow with cinnamon so the packaged items smell good when they open it.

The angels are designs by Primitive Blessings. The nativity is an old design and I modified it a bit, meant to put a star on it, guess I will do that tomorrow. The two little pillows in front are stuffed with balsam. I wanted to have something that I could make up quick to hand out or add to packages, and I finally found a nice pine design to use. This way they can add it a bowl, place it in a tree, or wherever they want a scent. I made them 4", so small in size, but more in scent.

Mary is on the left, I messed up and cut out the wrong colors for the outfits, she should be in blue, lol.

These ornies are a design by Whimsicals. I have had the book for years and I finally got around to making some. I used marvy markers on two and pitt artist ink markers on the others, but I forgot what, was what, duh. They both worked, they did not run after heat setting, but you do have to be careful when you color in the letters and start away from the line so it doesn't soak out too far. I did the outline stitching after I colored and dried them. The ink doesn't need to be set, but I do it as an added precaution. Of course I soaked them in walnut to grunge them up. The jute is something new at Jo anns, Martha Stewart colored jute, it is a nice dark olive.

And now for the winner. Thank you all for playing along with me, I truly enjoy everyones company since I am stuck home most of the time, I feel blessed to have friends around the world. The winner of a free Epattern or booklet, is Annie of Scrappalachia. Annie, pick any pattern you would like and email me with your choice. Don't forget, Friday is Giveaway day, I will be showing the goodies I will be sending and more about the giveaway.

Speaking of giveaways, the generous folks at Sauder's Fabrics, are giving away a beautiful Featherweight, be sure to visit their Blog.

Giveaway Winners and Works in Progress!

This week I have been working on my wool piece. It is a design called A Gentle Life by Threads That Bind. I fell in love with this, when I first saw it and finally got around to making it. The original is in a frame and I have an idea for mine, so hope I can make it work, and my husband can make me something I have in mind;)

I still have the words and some details to finish.

Another thing I decided was to redo my braided rug. I was going to make stair treads and gave up on that idea so kept going and the rug was going to be too long for what I wanted. I also used lighter weights and smaller strips and realized it would not make a durable rug for the long haul, so I took it apart. I have a pineapple chair pad that I made and thought it would be perfect to put in the middle and the braid around it, and have it become a circle rug. It will be good practice to do a circle rug and learning how to attach a braid to a rug, to see how I like it. Moki likes it just the way it is, the perfect cat  toy.

And now for the winners! I picked two winners and they are....... Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies and Missie of Hallbrook designs. Email me with your epattern choice. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. As for the things in the water, I have no idea what they are, just that there were thousands of them in clusters, so I assume it was something that bloomed or hatched.

Charity quilt top finished and Winner!

I guess a lot of you know me and with the blue strips, guessed it was a boat. I wanted to do something simple, since this is for babies and kids in the african orphanages and they will be washed a lot. I was going to machine stitch it, but my body gave out this week and it was easier to hand stitch in my chair. My stitching isn't the best, but it is sturdy;)

The finished size of the quilt is 44" x 55", to fit the size of the flannel backing. I was going to put that on today, but my brian wasn't working, so I cleaned house while I had the energy. If you would like to know more about the charity quilt drive, you can visit Rosemary Youngs blog for more information. They are easy to do and a good way to use stash and help others.

The camera makes the colors pop out, but I really like how they go together. I still have more of the fabric, so I will do a patch quilt with them. The boat design came from a book by Sara Sporer.

Here is a close up of the quilt, outside. You can see the fabrics and designs a bit better on this one. For the appliqué I used wash-n-gone. You sew it rights sides and turn it, so no needle turn, which makes it easier to sew quickly and easy to sew through. I messed up a bit on my points, but hopefully it will smooth out when I wash it.

 And now the winner of the giveaway.... Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies! Congratulations Wendy, email me with your choice of an epattern or booklet from my ecrater store. And if you see this before midnight, I noticed that Wendy is having a giveaway too and it ends at midnight tonight!

What was it giveaway winner!

I admit, I knew what it was, but not what type. So I looked it up and found out it is just a juvenile seagull, simple as that, lol. He had beautiful markings though and a nice wing span.

This is what he will grow up to look like. Though this guy looks a bit rough around the edges.

I used the number generator and number 9 is the winner, Carol of Firecracker Kid Primitives!
Carol, email me with your choice of an epattern or booklet. I also noticed I am close to 400 followers, guess it is almost time for a follower giveaway, so once I hit 400, I will be hosting a giveaway.

Have you made anything new for fall or Halloween? Check out This-n-That's fabric blog, they are having a contest, so check it out and get your entry in.

On Sunday it was so nice, we decide to keep driving and go to the breakers and lighthouse at Judith Point. It was a lot more crowded, and the road is narrower with all the storms, but with a jeep we were able to find a spot in the back lot.

We climbed up a hill that has beautiful views of the area and an area with benches to sit and enjoy the views.

We sat for awhile and I noticed that there was some room opening up at the lighthouse, so we headed over and was thrilled to find out that the gates were open for the coast guard house and we could go out onto the lawn and walk around.

Did you know that the Coast Guard Coordinated the evacuation from Manhattan and that it is known as one of the largest evacuations in the world's history. Here they guard the coast and rescue people who have no sense and stand on slippery rocks;)

This was such a beautiful place to just sit and watch the surfers. We won't mention that the area is surrounded by rocks, but I guess they know where they are.

                                     

And this guy was catching a nice wave. Perfect place to spend the rest of the day.