Friday Finishes ….. Almost

It as a slow week this week, but I did finish a new punch needle piece. My friend Kelley sent me a pattern, a few years ago and I decided it was time to finally do it. The design is by Brenda Gervais and she put hers on a hornbook. I am still deciding on how I want to finish mine, I need to go down to my supplies and see what fun things I have to mount it on or maybe make my own.

I still need to age it a bit, I don't want to darken it too much but I want it to look old. I used different heights on this one, so the letters stick out a little more and the light background is at the shortest height.

Today I sat around waiting to feel better so I could clean the house, that never  happened. I gave up and started a new punch needle. This is a freebie from Robin of Bird In The Hand Primitives. She has put up two freebies, so check them out, both are fun to do in any medium.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone got to enjoy the weekend. We had beautiful weather but hotter than I would have liked. On saturday I wanted to go for a shorter walk to a new area. It said 3 miles, but I wasn't thinking, that was for one side of the park, in one town, once you cross the bridge, you are on the other side which added another 3 miles. So, we walked over 6 miles and it was hot and the mosquitos were out in full force.

I had a map, so we headed to the bridge. What I didn't know was, we went on a different trail so we actually went in a different area and found a different bridge.

As you can see, the bridge had a long wooden walkway. That is because the area is swampy and swampy means mosquitos. I am glad I had bug spray with me.

After we walked up and down granite hills, we came out to the back side of the bridge we were looking for. The original bridge was used as a crossing to move granite to the next town. Then another was built and the floods carried it away. Hopefully the new metal bridge will last longer.

The views from the bridge were worth a rest stop. Rushing waters on one side, calm on the other. This is the river we paddle on, but a section we haven't been on, something for a future paddle.

I finally had my bearings for where we were on the map, so the next stop was a historic grave. The grave sits near the river and I found this grave from a revolutionary war veteran.

Our final destination was the overlook. A beautiful place for a lunch break. A place I will definitely go back to and hike on the other side of the trails which criss cross the river.

Sunday was another hot day but we had to finish the new door frame and walls, so we did some shopping for supplies and Bill got that started. While we waited for the dust to settle, I decided it was the perfect time to go for a paddle at our town harbor. The tide was high in the afternoon, so the best time to enjoy the coves.

We paddled up to the breakers and enjoyed the cool breezes and the water was warm enough to sit in and cool down.

We went into town and enjoyed people watching, or maybe they were watching us;) A perfect way to end the 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!

Weekend Wanderings Giveaway!

Saturday we stayed home, we had a new slider going in to replace the french doors. They finished putting the door in and Bill is doing the framing. Today he put the spray foam in the frame area and as usual got foam on more than the door and one thing was, my long ark quilt that I had hanging over the doors. I think I can just take out the stitches on the border and then cut that off and rebind it, I hope;)

Sunday was a beautiful day and too hot for one thing and too cold for another. I decided to just get out for a ride and a few walks in areas near the ocean for the breezes but away from the crowds.

The first place we visited was a short walk next to a park. I had read a story online about an event that happened here, so I thought it would be fun to check it out, since it was a short walk. So, for this contest, tell me what story you think is the real story about this place. I will draw a name from the winning answers and one from all the comments. The winners will have their choice of any one of my epatterns. The contest will end on Friday and I will announce the winner, Friday night.

A. A peace treaty was signed with the local indian tribe.
B. A couple eloped and landed their canoe here.
C. The Mayflower landed here.
D. Roger Williams started the first baptist church with an outdoor sermon, here.

Then onto the real hike. We went back to the glacial park, it has great trails and if you hike on the upper trails, great ocean breezes.

My daughter loved the views from the rest area. Great place to just sit and enjoy a cool breeze without fighting the traffic.

On the way back I spied a Lady Slipper, a nice way to end a beautiful day.

Montana Majesty Mini Quilt!

This week I have been working on my flying geese quilt, hand sewing takes a lot longer but I am on the last two rows of quilting, then I can do the ties and bind it. I am trying something new with it, so once I finish, I can explain how I did it.

I wanted to make something quick and smaller and one quilt I have been wanting to make is Montana Majesty by Nancy of Tom Miner Quilts and Folk Art. I love the idea of doing strips with scraps but I don't have the time to make another large quilt, right now. So, I made a mini version.

I used wool for my appliqué and reduced it. Then I took strips that a friend gave me from one of her log cabin quilts. I kept sewing strips together until I got a size that fit the design and sewed them together. The border is also from my friend, so I got to use up some of my scrap stash. The quilt is 17" x 14".

I used #5 black pearl cotton to do the quilting and a prim stitch around the design and then in each strip and border. Next time you want to play with your scraps, try making a mini version of your favorite quilts. I also used wools from my thrift wool stash.

Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and got to enjoy some nice weather and time with friends and family. Memorial day is a time that we remember our parents, who have all passed and except for my mom, were in the armed forces.

We also got out and enjoyed some nice weather between the rain storms. Saturday was a day for a drive to the ocean and walks at the lighthouse and then along the rocky cliffs.

The tide was low so the seagulls were coasting on the wind, looking for tidbits along the rocks.

Black Rock was the perfect place for a hike and walking around the rocks.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the beautiful day.

This week is Nicholas' first birthday, so Sunday was time with my sweet grandson and sharing his special day with him and the family.

Dad and son, who I think have that same sweet smile.

The fun was birthday cake, this was his smash cake, just for him to make a mess with. At first he started crying, then he finally realized that it was fun and tasted good too.

He got lots of presents, and Grandma and Grandpa could not resist getting him this special present just so we could see that wonderful happy smile, on his face;)

Today we went for another walk. It was raining in the morning and then I thought it had stopped but it kept showering on us. The good thing was, the woods were so thick and lush, we didn't feel it in the woods.

It started raining again when we hit the beach, but I decided to keep walking and was rewarded with being able to watch this guy, catching a crab in the shallow waters. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finishes!

This week I finished my sailboat wall hanging. The design is from a book by Sarah Sporer called One Summer at the Shore. I added a few details to the lighthouse and some stitched seagulls to mine. When I finished, I added a bit of walnut stain to age the muslin more.

I also made a felted lighthouse for fun, a few months ago. Today I finally finished it and made it into a small case, perfect for sunglasses.