Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend was full of emotions, a year has gone by and Danielle's birthday. I wanted to finish her quilt for this birthday, but by the time my joints loosened back up, it was a few days away and when I took it out to look at it, I realized I had sewed on a few blocks, on four different rows, backwards, so I will be doing some seam ripping before I can sew it together. I will finish it and I will decide what I want to do with it someday, when the time is right.

We found some beautiful pink flowers and planted those in front of her gravestone and then we took a walk at one of her favorite spots. It was good for me to do something for her and with her in spirit.

On Sunday it was a beautiful day so we decided to go to the island and walk around at the other forts. I started out with little energy but once I got out in the fresh ocean air I got some of my energy back and we ended up exploring new path ways at the different areas of the fort.

The first stop was the pier in Jamestown. We drive by every time we go there, so this time we stopped and walked along the docks and enjoyed watching the local fishermen and tourists who frequent this area. That is the Newport Bridge in the distance.

This is a panorama from the top of the forts. There are turrets where the gunners would stand watch and underground bunkers below that I have no desire to go into.

At another section of the park, there is a beach and we sat on the rocks to enjoy the views and Bean was people watching as usual.

One area we climbed goes up to a high peak, above where we are sitting, but not much of a pathway, so we just stopped at the top. Bean loves to climb, he is really agile, but also too daring, so we keep him on a short lead, when we are on the cliff areas.

We found a new path that took us up to the highest point on the coves, I think I could just sit here all day.

And on the way home, we stopped so I could take a photo of the windmill. Yes we have a windmill in Rhode Island, at least one. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and if you didn't, I hope that you can get out and find the hidden treasures in your area.

Friday Finishes and Winner!

This week I have been working on several projects. The first is a pillow that I made the top for and never finished, so I decided it was time to finish it. The design is from Rebekah Smith's book, Wool Appliqué. This one I did in full size, but I made the pillow back too small, so I ended up cutting off some edges to fit it better.

This one is for me, love kitties and fun to have something new I can decorate with.

The second piece I wanted to finish by today, but it does not fit in the frames I have, so I have to rethink the finish. It is a design from the Spring issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects. It was fun and quick to do, just wish I had reduced it a bit so it would fit in the frame better. This will be another item for the gift box.

The Winner! I used the random number generator and #3, Sandi of Shhdesigns is the winner of one of my patterns. Congratulations to Sandi and you can email me with your choice of pattern or booklet.

Tomorrow is Danielle's birthday, she would have been 31. I plan on getting some spring flowers that I can plant in the front of her grave and grow through the summer, but not sure if the stores have them yet. I also want to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather, a nice walk is just what I need.

I made up a card for her, it is from her first birthdays. I had forgotten a lot of things and seeing the photos brings back such wonderful memories and years of joys that we shared together. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Monday Finish and Find Giveaway!

This weekend I decided to make another small piece to put in my Christmas box. I love Cheri's designs and this one came from one of her old books, 301 Country Christmas Quilt Blocks. You can still find old copies online, but it seems everyone is wanting them now, so getting harder to find. I was lucky and found my copy at a thrift store.

I really enjoyed making this one, it is happy and meaningful. I added extra stars to fill in the empty spaces at the bottom and I left it, as is. I am not sure who will get it, so I didn't want to stain it and think that may darken the design too much, I like keeping this one bright and happy.

The little quilt is 6 1/2" x 7 1/2". Mini quilts are fun to do, great for small spaces and a great way to use up scraps.

Yesterday was a nice day but windy and cool still so we decided to go the the antique barn. It is a nice ride and you never know what you will find. One thing I always look for is cast iron, cat door stops. When you are hunting in a shop full of booths, you have to look carefully, sometimes items are hidden behind other items and guess what I found, a cat door stop.  I thought it would be fun to line them on the stairway.

Can you guess which one is the newest one? Make a guess and I will pick a name from the guesses. I will pick a name on friday night and the winner can pick any pattern or booklet from my ecrater shop.

Friday Finish!

I finally finished my new punch needle piece, but I finished it with sore joints and fuzzy brain, so I messed up a bit on my piece. I had an idea for a border and added the braided look, after I punched the piece, so it is a bit off. The actual pattern will have it drawn on paper so it will be done right for the pattern;)

On top of that, I tried to unscrew a top that did not want to open and bruised my old injured fingers, so no drawing for me right now, the pattern will be done next week. I tried to write today and it was basically scribble, so not enough control to redraw patterns.

Of course the flash, brightened up the colors, even though I antiqued it with walnut stain. I was trying the fake lilacs to get the camera to see the colors better and it did help. The finished pillow is 7 1/2" x 6 1/2".

Hopefully I can get back to normal after this weekend, time to cut off the meds, they mess me up more than the lyme, it seems.

Today I posted a photo of Danielle and thought I would share it with you and the poem that I found. This is her great grandmother at Easter. Kids tend to shy away from the elderly and Billy would keep busy elsewhere, but Danielle always sat and gave her grandmother lots of love. She had a good heart and truly cared about other's feelings.

Turn Again To Life

If I should die and leave you here a while, 

be not like others sore undone, 

who keep long vigil by the silent dust. 

For my sake turn again to life and smile, 

nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do 

something to comfort other hearts than thine.

Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine 

and I perchance may therein comfort you.

Mary Lee Hall

With her birthday coming up, I wanted to give a gift in honor of her kind spirit. A friend of mine is doing a walk and a raffle to help raise money for MS, in support of her daughter in law. She is offering a beautiful log cabin quilt for the raffle and each 20.00 gets you one entry into the drawing. I think it is a wonderful thing that she is doing and if you are interested in contributing to her team and getting a chance to win the quilt you can visit Team Triple Threat. The walk is on the 16th, Dani's birthday, so it makes it even more special for me. The quilt is no listed on the website, but she is taking all the names from the donations and entering them into the raffle.

Monday works in progress!

This weekend I worked on the latest free BOM from Buttermilk Basin. They are really fun to do and work up quickly, I can't wait for the next one, it will be a double, so I can't wait to see what she has planned for the extra longer block.

The original calls for a female cardinal but I saw a lot of Blue Jays being done and since my letters are red and we do get a lot of Blue Jays in the winter, I made mine into a Blue Jay.

This is what I have so far, I love how they look together and it will be nice to have a beautiful quilt, I can hang for next Christmas.

Another project that I started is, a freebie from Cheri's Facebook Group. I am doing mine with scraps and homespuns and will decide if I want to make changes, after I sew the blocks together. There are flowers and a chicken that will be going on, so I will sew them together next and add those and see how it looks.

This is what I have so far, can't wait to finish and hang it on the wall. The pattern is called Jane's Baskets.

I wanted to thank you all for your good wishes. I am always sick or in pain, but when you live with it as long as I have,  you get used to living with it. It has just been a tough year and this is a tough month, and having the support and love from my online friends, means a lot to me.

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 Stitcheries!

With the holiday weekend, I didn't have time to do too many things in the sewing room, so I made up a couple of small stitcheries that I can add to my Christmas box.

They are designs from the Kindred Spirit Christmas book. I didn't finish them off since I just finished them today, but I love the tree piece for a balsam pillow, so I will probably make the pillow, but wait till next year to stuff it so I can use fresh balsam. I think it would be fun to get more prim buttons and maybe try some mini bells instead of the bright buttons. The angel may become a mini quilt. I like the idea of making mini's that I can fit in a small envelope and send as a gift.

No walnut stain on these, the backing is tea stained muslin, so I will probably leave these alone.

Yesterday we had my son and Nick for dinner. I was not feeling great so I took it easy and used all my energy for Nick, but it wore me out. Today was a rest day, just watching tv and a little simple stitching.

I took Nick to the playground and we even went down the slide a few times, though a kids slide is not made for a ladies rear;) He loved his knapsack filled with goodies, especially the flower lollipops. Sadly he started getting a fever before he left and tonight he is worse so my Son is taking him to the emergency room to be safe. I sure hope my sweet little guy is ok. They are leaving early tomorrow morning, so not sure how this will effect that.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.