New Punch Needle: Moon Witch

I love old postcards and they give me a lot of inspiration for new ideas.
I seem to have gotten into the halloween mood and this was a piece I had to see punched.
It was really fun doing her. It is all in 6 strands with DMC, some that I have over dyed.
It shows that you can do some shading, even with prim sizes.

I hope you like you, she will be for sale this weekend, on ebay.
I debated on aging this piece, it is darker in person and I hate to lose the details by staining it.
If there is enough interest, I will make a pattern for this one.

Scrap top is done

I finally sat down in my sewing room and added the borders to my scrap quilt. I then added strips of the colors along the two sides to cover the sides of the bed. My plan is to use black floss to make tacks in the blocks instead of top stitching. I wanted to do something quick and easy. I do need a border around it though, I will probably go with plain black since it will be part of the binding.



I was thinking, this would make a great quilt for practicing free motion, but I want to just have something to cover the bed, for now and then I can work on something nicer for a winter quilt. I think it will look better once the batting and black ties are in. It is a good example of what you can do with lots of homespun scraps.

The Ugly Angel

Marylou Weidman had a beautiful pillow with an angel on it and writing. Soooooo, I decided I had to make an angel with writing on her wings. I made a simple stump style doll and put a face on her and then the hair. It was a mess, but I gave her a haircut, it is still a mess, lol. Then I messed up the lettering and was too lazy to do it over, so I sewed them on. Then I realized she had no clothes on and got the brilliant idea to use yarn, which I sewed strand by strand down her body, back and front. Not the smartest move;) Could not think of any way to improve her and make her into something presentable, since this was supposed to be a gift for a friend. I decided to sew on a little patch from my angel fabric, ( Which would have made great wings or a dress). Then I put a bow on her neck and I give up, lol. So, this is how she became the ugly angel, imperfections and all. I am still going to send it, she will either laugh or it might give her nightmares;)



To show you that I can actually sew and make dolls, when I am in not in a demented state of mind, here is a kitty doll I made years ago. I used to make these and sell them, but haven't done any in ages. One of these days I will get back into dolls and maybe creating something new and more primitive.

New Punch Needle and Free Pattern Offer

I decided to make a new punch from old designs. I used my pumpkin and crow pattern along with a kitty I had done.
It was a fun piece to make and I used a lot of my hand dyes in it too. This piece will be going up on ebay tomorrow night.

I am also going to offer this pattern free, to anyone who orders a pattern this week. So, if you have been thinking about trying one of my patterns, now would be a great time to try one. For those of you who have already ordered patterns, I will be emailing you a copy too.

You can teach an old cat new tricks.

Izzy always watches as Dora goes up to the sink for a drink.
Dora only drinks out of sinks, Izzy prefers toilet water and dirty sink water, ugh.
Today Izzy got up and watched Dora this time and when Dora left, Izzy finally decided to give it a go.

Here she is contemplating how the water is coming out and how she is going to get some herself.






She finally braved sticking her tongue in the water. I had to do a drip for her, Dora prefers the water to run slowly.



As you can see, she is very happy with her new found skill. I guess I need to buy an indoor fountain for them;)

New Epatterns

I finally sat down and finished making the new pieces into epatterns.
The first is the one, everyone has been waiting for, the dog and cat patterns. There is a pattern for both versions, so you can decide how you want to do them or add a few of your own touches.



The second set is the sheep patterns. I have also done both versions of these with the epattern.
I hope those that buy the patterns, will share photos of their finished pieces with me. I love to see how everyone does them and changes are welcome, I think we should put our own personal touches into our pieces.

You can find the patterns at my ecrater site.

Narragansett Bay Paddle

Yesterday I wanted to go paddling again and since we got a late start, we went to the local launch on the bay.
I was sore and tired when I started and sorer and dragging paddling back, good thing the wind and tide were moving me along;)

Today I took a break, need to rest once and awhile and eventually I hope to get strong enough to do day long paddles.
I worked on my long runner, I just might finish it before the summer is over.

I always get out first, bill is so slow and maybe it is because he pushes me off the rocks first;) While I was sitting there, I could see groupings of starfish all over the rocks.



And this is Bill, going back the way we came. He couldn't remember if he locked the car, so he had to paddle back to check. He is in much better shape than I am, so the extra paddling was easy for him.



I just sat on the water, it was so calm and beautiful out. I enjoyed the scenery and watched the boats putting out pots for oysters.



We went as far as the Jamestown Bridge and took a break. You can see further up the bay and Dutch island from here, so beautiful views. It was way too cold for me to swim. This is what is left of the old bridge, with the new bridge spanning across the bay. Going back was nice, the tide was coming in and the wind was at our backs.