Antique Mail Desk!

I have always wanted a wooden desk with drawer to keep mail in and also to decorate with. Every time I decorate the bureau, the kitties knock it all over, so I wanted something large and heavy. It is decorative and practical and exactly what I wanted and my wonderful friend Carol and her husband, made me one.

I started painting it and then things got hectic and when my nerves go hay wire, it makes it hard to sand and do wood work, but i finally got the last coat of paint on, then sanding and antiquing. I finished it off with a matte spray and I think it came out nicely, considering I got sloppy and rushed it;)

The first coat was a light gold, then black over that, then I sanded it down in areas to show the lighter paint. I used a brown antique stain which gives it a nice aged look. I still have to decorate this area.

Another thing I did was to clean my shoe rack, it does get dusty and half the shoes were on the floor. I have had these slippers since the 80's and I thought it was time to let them go, lol. I have no idea if they are collectible and one came apart at the feet which I could fix. The bear is Captain Joshua Bear, and Bill got me them, one Christmas. They are cute, but totally impractical, not something you can walk in too well.

Friday Finish!

This week I have been doing a lot of stitching. I wanted to make a runner for my dining bureau, so I used similar materials on this pieces, as the one on my dining table. I did the half square triangles with the first method on Jennifer's Blog. It is an easy way to make more blocks quickly but I still had to cut and press and then sew them all back together. I even made them larger and cut them down, but still didn't match up my blocks, I am a lost cause, lol.

I hand stitched it with black pearl cotton #5. It took me most of the week to do that and tonight I decided not to stitch on the border and just finish it, as is. It is slightly larger than I wanted, but I know it will shrink, once I wash it. I am also working on finishing my mail box, which will go on top, so hopefully I can finish that, this weekend.

I added some things for the photo, love how the orange shades look with the dark woods and white walls. The runner is 56" x 20".

Of course my shaky hands and flash, ruin the colors, so here is a close up, showing the fabrics I  used. I  wanted to do a big stitch, but I keep making tiny stitches. I think I should do machine quilting on my next runners.

Now onto Christmas, I have a lot of things I want to make and hope I can do at least half of them, lol. I also bought 3 bags of Maine Balsam. I plan on making pillows and ornies for gifts and I think a giveaway for Christmas would be fun too;)

Vintage Fabrics and Apples!

My Sister in Law used to craft and as she cleans, she finds things and gives them to me. This time it was books and fabric. Most of the books are old patterns and magazines that aren't my type or ones I can reuse into new things, so those will go to the salvation. I am not sure on the fabric. The blue with flowers is a bit stiff, reminds me of curtain or pillow fabric, so wondering if it would be a good backing for quilts, for my daughter. I had to wash it, since it smelled like musty moth balls.

There is at least 5 yards or more of the light blue floral.

She also had this panel with some fun prints. I hated to wash it, but the smell was horrid. It might be fun to make something out of it.

I am still using my big bag of apples. I made apple cookies and apple crisp. Today I made apple burgers and apple butter. It was the first time I have made it and I used all of the apple so the natural pectin thickened it nicely and it tastes good, even without sugar. It will be nice to use on rice cakes. I am still looking for the original recipe for apple burgers. I sauté onions and grated apples in butter, then add that to the hamburger and bread crumbs, then you make small patties and back them in the oven, my family loves them.

For the apple butter, I cooked the apples for about 4 hours, than cooled it down, put it in the blender and then cooked it for another two hours.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had a beautiful weekend and perfect weather for walking. It is the perfect time of year for walks along the cliffs, the sun is shining and the cool ocean breezes are so refreshing.

This area is especially nice since you can walk along a trail or explore around the rocks and the tidal pools. A container ship was heading for the open waters.

The gulls were gliding with the winds.

Another path follows the cliffs and veers off into the woods. Fall is grape season and even though I can't eat them, the smell was heavenly.

Beautiful flowers line the path on both sides.

And some strange plants, as well. 

It was still early when we got home, so what better way to end the day, then apple picking. We went home first and grabbed Danielle, she picked a smaller bag for her brother and his wife and I got a bag that I am wondering, how I will eat them all, lol.

Yesterday was another great day for a ride and a walk. We walked along the salt marshes but the bugs were so bad, we walked really fast and I didn't take photos. On the way home I saw a sign that we go by, every time we are there. It says, The Fantastic Umbrella Factory. I thought it was a shop and decided we should go check it out. 

Well, it was much more than a shop. It was a group of buildings that are interconnected by paths and trellised arches. It was well worth the visit and we got some more walking in. Most of the items were made by local artisans, but not my cup of tea. 

This was a fun part of the walk, a bamboo forest. I am not sure if it had an out, we couldn't find it, so came back the way we started.

It also had a garden center, ducks and other fowl walking around and even some goats and ostriches.

It is amazing what you find in your own backyard, so it is well worth exploring places in your own neighborhood. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. 

Lots of Wonderful sights to see on the walk around the grounds, but I never did see any umbrellas;)

A Gentle Life Finished!

I finished another piece, A Gentle Life by Threads That Bind. I love this pattern and it was fun to do. I used tea stained muslin and wool with a simple stitch so it worked up fast. The original is in a frame and I didn't have one that size, so I added a border, so I can hang it on the wall. I also did some quilting around the applique and edges.

The problem is, I had to wash off the marker and added a little more walnut stain so it warped a bit in the dryer. I will have to do a steam press to straighten it, before I can put it on the wall. I used a stiff black fabric for the border, which I think as too thick for this piece.

Here is a close up of some of the sheep, I used different whites and textures for the sheep. Some is off the bolt and some is from old men's jackets.

Scarecrow Quilt!

I wanted to make something to put on my small window in the dining room. That room has glass french doors so I don't use curtains and having one on the little window would throw it off. So, I decided it was a good place to decorate with a quilt for the seasons. I use little clip ons that hang on the rod and clip to the quilt, so it is a perfect way to hang a quilt and easy to change them out.

The quilt is from a design by Jan Patek called, Sunflowers and Scarecrows. It was in the fall issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and I finally got a chance to make it. I love the layout and sunflowers, but I wanted to use my scarecrow which is in my fall booklet. I got a bit carried away with the fabric choices, but I wanted it to be fun. I did a prim stitch around the designs and the blocks with black pearl cotton.

As you can see, I had to get some kitties into the quilt;)

I also won a giveaway from Sauder's Fabrics and received a wonderful book on making mini amish quilts and they even gave me an extra surprise pattern. They are so generous in their giveaways and have several of them running right now, so be sure and visit.

Pumpkin Punch Finished!

Last week I started a punch needle piece for fall and today I finished it. I had to work two days straight, but I got it done. I also got all of the applique done on my wall quilt, now I can quilt it and finish it.

The pumpkin is a pattern by Brenda Gervais called Boo and Jack. It was a lot of punching, the finished size is 7" long and I am a tight puncher. I used DMC for the main colors and valdani for the kitty. I love their black shades. To get the multiple colors, I just grab similar colors and punch in random patterns around the pumpkin. I have a collection of tree branches that I save for projects like this, so I used that instead of a pumpkin top.

I hope you enjoy my newest piece and everyone has a wonderful weekend.