Lazy Sunday

With the holiday, I opted to stay home and relax.
I do not like crowds and traffic, and being the first beautiful holiday weekend, everyone is out and about.

Bill worked on ripping up my office floor. The old dirty rug is gone and next he will put in good plywood and the wood floors.
I plan on making my office into a guest room and bringing my things into my basement room where it is cooler in the summer.

While he banged the floors out, I hid on the porch and cut up a bucket of jackets. I decided it was time to clean up my cellar mess and reorganizing, so cutting the jackets is the first start. This is all thrift wool. Some people plan for disasters, I plan for a possible wool shortage, lol. As you can see by the fur, Casey never leaves my side.



And Dora sits at the door, fretting until we come back in.



This is why my screen is full of holes. Now Dora is feeling really stupid, getting stuck in the screen, was not the plan;)

Patriotic Prayer Stitchery

I finished another one, I do enjoy making these, as you can see.
It is a good brain break but I am starting to get new ideas for things I would like to make and design, but for now, I am content with making things for fun.

This is another design by Tiffany, of Twigs n Sprigs. I start by making her design and then I put a border on.
Then I see what space is left and add my own touches. After I made this piece, I wet the front and then sprayed the walnut ink, full strength. I think it gives it a more aged look. So if you want an overall aged piece, mix the walnut spray with water. If you want a random, water stained and aged look, wet first, then spray onto the piece. I am tempted to keep this one for myself;) I need a new americana piece, but I may do one in applique and stitchery for my drying rack.

Friends Stitchery

I finished one stitchery tonight.
I have been moving slow lately and working more on my yard, so I am tired when I am done.
I have a few more to finish, so getting there.

This one is another design by Tiffany from Twigs n Sprigs. They are just too fun to do up and make great gifts for friends.
They fit nicely in a yellow envelope, so it is a way I can give gifts and not spend too much on shipping.
This one is only 7 1/2 X 6 1/2. I did the stitchery on a dark tea stained fabric and then used walnut spray, when it was done to age it more.

Sunday Sanctuary

This week I have been working on my yard and gardening, so not a lot of large projects going on.
I am making stitcheries and finishing some new ones, they are great to keep my hands busy at night, while I am watching tv.

Today we went for a walk at the Trustom Pond Sanctuary.
The paths lead through a field and then through the woods, ending on a point, surrounded on both sides by the salt water pond.
At the end, there is a little tower where you can view the pond and the ocean beyond the dunes.



From there, we go across a side path, meandering through woods, past streams and an old windmill of the former farm.
On the opposite side is another point of land, where you can see the islands and birds nesting in the area.



On the way back we stop at a small pond, to see what we can find, out and about.
Bill spotted this guy, I am nearsighted, so I can only see when I use my zoom lens;)



And in case you want a closer view of his warts, here he is, lol.



Bill also spotted this bird, hiding in the bushes, waiting for something to come by for dinner.
I really need to get glasses.



I am glad we dawdled at the pond, or I would never have gotten the chance to see this guy. No glasses needed to see him, he is huge. He looks like something from the dinosaur era.



And to let me know, all is right with the world, he looked right up at me and smiled:)

Americana Stitcheries

Summer isn't too far away, so I thought it would be fun to do some patriotic pieces.
Both pieces are designs by Tiffany of Twigs N Sprigs. I decided to reduce them and make smaller pieces.
I think they will be great for gifts, though I do love them myself;)

This one was fun and I think it would be fun to do in colors too.
The blue marks are from my chalk pencil, that comes off when I wet them.
I also used a darker tea stain, more like a coffee color, so it gives it an aged look without using walnut spray.



I love the primitive angels, they make wonderful pieces and are so fun to work in any medium.
I used fabrics that my friend Kelley sent me, so I cannot tell you what maker they are from. They were perfect for these pieces.

My entry for IHAN's Giveaway

Kelly, from IHAN is having a wonderful giveaway and we had to pick one of the things to do, to be entered.
I choose showing my sewing room, without cleaning it first.
Kelly is giving, on lucky winner, the chance to win an Accuquilt Go fabric cutter and I want one!
Even though I don't want anyone else to win, check out her contest and her store, she carries a lot of wonderful notions and supplies, all at discounted prices.

This is my sewing area. My machine, a really fancy embroidery machine, that I have no idea how to use and don't ask me what possessed me to buy it, that is another story;) It does sew like a dream and I will learn how to use it, someday. I hang unfinished projects on the chair and on the ladder. I find old cabinets at the consignments and use those to store my sewing items in. And I use plastic, it isn't pretty, but it is functional. I have large basets on the floor too, to store yarns and wool in. That is my chair, my favorite tool to use, lol. I can wheel around the room, while I am working.



This is most of my stash. I really need to organize it again. I take things out and throw them back and now it is all mixed up.
I love cabinets with shelves for things I like to see and doors to hide everything else. As you can see, there are cats everywhere.



And this is where I do my main work, cutting and piecing and ironing. I do like to iron and press my seams as I go.
The table is really too low for cutting on, but would be easier with a Go cutter;) I have baskets on the walls to hold my scraps, scraps on the table and a mix of this and that in boxes and plastic under the table. Since I couldn't clean, you can see my rulers hanging. They go with the basket area on push in hooks. It is a great way to store them and easy to grab. Of course my radio is there too, I love to listen to celtic music when I am creating.
So, now you know what my room looks like normally, especially when I am working on a bunch of projects at once. One of these days I will organize better so I can find things and some curtains would be nice.

Kitty Kapers

Today I got a scratching pad for the kitties. Basically cardboard and catnip, but worth a try.
It seems all the kitties cared about, was the catnip. Rolling in catnip is what my kitties love.
Izzy is the calm one, she rolls and makes happy faces.



Dora is another story, she is way to smart for her own good. I was doing something and when I came back, I found her and the bag of catnip on the bottom shelf.



Dora really gets into catnip, rolling is the first step, she has to rub it all in her fur.



Then some more frenzied rolling and contortions.



To falling in love with the object holding the catnip. At this point, I had to get my penny rug, before she went into her claw mode. I think l need child prove locks on the cabinets, but I can guarantee, Dora would figure that out too;)