Friday finishes!

 This week I worked at finishing my Easter quilt. This was a free pattern being offered on Cheri's Facebook page. They have kept it open in honor of Cheri and her family is gracious enough to let us use some of the older patterns.

I added the extra bird on the branch and lettering. The bad thing is, I used washed fabric and new and it shrunk in the front, not the back. The good thing is, no one can see the back, lol.

One day I wanted a quick project to do. I also wanted to try one of the animals in a kit I got, the bunny was perfect for now. I could not get a sharp photo, not sure why, but always seems to happen with felted pieces.

Last week we went for our usual ride around the ocean beaches. In one parking lot, I spotted this guy, he was really interested in this empty pack, not sure why he wanted it.

I also spotted a Peregrine Falcon, first time I got one, sitting still.

We also stopped at the dog beach, Bean loved getting out. He had teeth removed last week, and since he was feeling better, he was ready for some beach time.

Along the way, we spotted lots of Ospreys and got a few shots. The first one was in a parking lot and every time someone got out to walk in the restaurant, it had a fit. The last one is one of the tallest nests in the state.

One day we stopped by the kids to drop off a box. They were sick so I left it in the back, with some health remedies and goodies for the kids. On the way home we stopped at the park for a walk. The boardwalk was nice and easier for me to walk on. Someday when my foot heals, I want to walk the trail around the main pond.

Today we went to the island to enjoy some time outside, before the rains come tomorrow. Lots of seagulls in the area and others, so it was nice to enjoy walking on the beach and getting some warmer, fresh air.

I hope that everyone has a nice weekend, and not in the paths of the storms. It is sad to see all the devastation across the country and feel blessed to live in an area that is not prone to severe weather.

Friday finishes!

 

I have been busy this week, making some new things and trying new things. I tried some new paint markers and enjoyed using those. Much easier than painting and I am able to do a few rocks in a few hours. I am making more rocks so I will have a bunch for when the weather warms up.

I also made another chick, this one came out bigger and fatter and definitely went too big on the eye. I got some new roving in a lighter yellow and it is perfect for chicks.

And I also tried resin casting. I have been wanting a way to showcase my sea glass and also make gifts and I thought resin, would be a good way to show it off. I tried a couple with items I would get upset about, if I messed up. 

I over filled the molds,  but I learned what I should have done, so hopefully the next ones will be better. I need to get thicker molds so I can use larger pieces of glass. 

On Saturday we went for a waterfall ride. We stopped at several, one closer to home and then into Connecticut.

On the way back, I told Bill to take a side road to see what we could find. I was surprised when we got to the end and saw an old ski area and then Stepping stone falls. We always come from the other end and never knew that the road kept going into Ct. Of course we had to drive down, the bumpy, rutted road to the falls, but well worth it. I got to try my new filter on the falls.

The waters were high and the normal path was flooded, so we went around to the other side, to get the traditional bridge shot. Something we have done, since I was a little girl.

 On Sunday we went to Ninigret bird sanctuary. We spotted a family of deer, hidden in the woods and a few birds in the area.

On Monday we went exploring. I wanted to grab some craft supplies, so we headed up to the stores and then headed to the eagle pond. No eagles, but this swan, seemed to enjoy having its photo taken.

We then drove into the old part of town, to check out the old mills. We were able to talk a nice walk along the River walk.

This old mill is being converted into condominiums. It was wonderful to walk along the falls and listen to the rushing water.

I hope you all had a nice week and enjoy the weekend. We have frigid cold weather for a few days, so I doubt I will be outside for long. Good time to stay inside and work on new projects.

Friday Finish!

 

Another week that went by too fast and I didn't get as much done, as I had planned. I was able to finish the stitching on my Christmas piece, so now I have to cut it to size and add a border, then I can quilt it. I decided to try a little chick, with needle felting. 

I had a photo of one I wanted to make, but mine came out differently, since I started with a cookie cutter. I made the mistake of peeking to see how it looked and it puffed out of the frame. So, I had to do the rest without the frame. I will try more and try to get it a little more rounder, like the original one, but fun to practice and I did better on the eye, this time.

Last weekend we went to Connecticut and checked out a few of the ocean areas. We went to the point and enjoyed some of the views and watched the ferries. It is a nice spot since you can sit in the car and not be outside too much, way too cold.

The lighthouse at the top left, is all that is left of the Little Gull lighthouse. My grandfather was a keeper there, at one time. It had a large home with several families living there, but storms have washed away, most of the island.

Then we drove to the UConn campus down the road, lucky kids, who get to go to this campus.

On the way home, we spotted this funny scene, in a marina.

The next day we stayed local and went to the island. I never get sick of walking on the beaches, and I even found a marble.

We also went to the point and walked around for a bit. Another place that has spectacular views of the ocean and Newport.

A close up of the lighthouse, behind Bill and Bean.

A hidden fort on the hill.

And this Red-tailed hawk, landed nearby, just as we were getting back in the car.

I hope everyone had a nice week and fun plans for the weekend.

Friday Finishes!

 

This has been a busy week, but keeping busy, keeps me from letting all the crazy in this world, stress me out. I made a few new things and finished an old item. I made this rug, years ago but never bound it. I actually enjoy binding, I find it relaxing and it was so nice to see it done. The pattern is by Mad Hen Primitives and the kit was gifted to me, by a friend. I am still unsure about the bold blue on the wing, I may just change that.

I also saw a free pattern for cloth carrots, but of course I just made them myself. I just made some triangles, sewed them together and added strips of cloth for the top, fast and easy.

And I made another set of rocks, to hide. I love doing fun ones, an hopefully they will bring smiles to the recipients.

Last weekend we did a drive around the beach areas, it was cooler so we just enjoyed the views. Along the way we spotted a group of Red Breasted Mergansers. They are so funny, trying to impress the females.

On the way home, we decided to go to the old base, to see if the owl was around.  I was thrilled to find her in an area that I could get some nice shots. She is so beautiful, but it won't be long before she leaves.

We also spent a few days at the beach. Beautiful weather and great way to get some exercise, as we find treasures.

Today Bill had the day off, so we took a ride to Newport and spent our time at the bird sanctuary. As usual they all flew off when we got close, but I was able to get a few shots of a Northern Mockingbird and a Song Sparrow.

The walk around the point is beautiful, surrounded by the ocean. You can see a lighthouse in the distance, even though it was foggy around the little islands. On the way home we stopped at my favorite beach and found more glass. The Newport Beach has mostly white pottery, so it was fun to spend a little more time on my favorite beach.

I hope everyone had a nice week and fun plans for the weekend.

Friday Finishes!

It seems like I have less time to do some things but more time to relax at night and work on projects. This week was a new stitchery by Kathy Schmitz. I got an idea to try something different and made an egg shape to put it on.

It was fun to make and I love how it came out. The egg is 9" tall so a nice size to display with my other Easter items. I used Gold Faber colored pencils to color it and thicker rug yarn for the edge.

I also had time to make up some Easter masks for the boys. I was hoping to find something more for boys, but Nick loves pretty colors and Alex doesn't care, so they will be fun to wear for the season.

Most of our time is spent at home for the doctors. Bill has surgery next week, so I am trying to organize my time so I have time for me and hopefully I will be able to get out by myself when the weather warms up. I do need my outdoor time and it won't be long before the birds come home from the south, so I can't wait to go back to areas where they nest.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and is doing well.

Friday Finishes and Finds!

This week seemed to fly by, I had lots of plans and didn't get as much accomplished, but I was able to do a few things. I think the heat is getting to me, and it is continuing into next week. Of course we may get showers finally, right at the same time as the boys belated birthday party, lol.

One good thing is the first of the month and a new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's club. I decided to do some more lavender sachets and I kept them simple, omitting the extra stitching in the basket and some outer pieces.

One I did with pearl cotton and one I did with DMC variegated red. I think I like the red best, the blue is a bit light, but fine for a sachet that I will be hiding in my wool.

I also got out over the weekend to hunt for glass. We found a lot the first day, and we spent 4 hours looking, and I had my helpers. I even found an old rusty hook, not sure what I will do with it. If you look towards the bottom left, you will see a face rock, complete with 3d nose and a smile, that will be fun to paint.

The next day I found less, but some nice pieces and the big rock at the top will be an owls head. I ended up throwing away the piece of bottle, too new and it was cracked and sharp, so not worth keeping.

And as you can see from the first photo, I used some of my rocks. I did some simple ones this time and the hearts were a design I saw on a cookie. The problem is, I was supposed to make the stripes in the opposite direction and my brain went backwards, but they still turned out, ok.

The chick and dog came from the first finds. I have the others ready to go, but wanted to finish a few this week and I can do some more, next week. One the back I write my group name, DSmiles4miles and ask them to smile at the next person they see, that is the payment for finding and keeping the rock. I am hoping to get a large batch made, then when it cools down, I can hide some on our walks and maybe take some on vacation.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The boys had to postpone their birthday in May, so they are finally getting a party. And Bean is on house rest, though he seems to be getting back to his old self. He injured his leg and had an inflamed tendon, so no jumping for now.

Friday Finish: Easter Postcard

I am not sure I would call this a finish, more like a failed experiment, lol. I wanted to try a postcard and decided to just go for it and see how it worked out. I made a mess, but I learned a lot, about what not to do.

I used Peltex for the base of the card, it is double sided fusible, so a nice product to use for postcards. A friend send me precut pieces, so I could use them for practice. I took scraps of fabric from my basket and just laid them down in a random pattern, then ironed them to the Peltex. I wanted to do machine stitching, so I realized if I wanted to stitch, I could not have the plastic back on it, so I put the backing on too, big mistake. If you are doing a lot of stitching, wait to put on the back side;)

It was not my best week to be doing fine work, my lyme is messing with my nerves again, so I don't have the control I need for this. I stitched all over the place, and my jerky motions made the stitches jump and as you can see, it is a mess. I will have to slow down, working too fast with free motion is another bad idea, on small pieces. I used a design from an old book I had, with country designs, perfect sizes for practicing.

It is a fun project to do and fun to experiment, well worth a try if  you have never made one. I will be doing more and getting used to stitching small areas and I think it would be fun to do some mixed art ones.

Things I did learn was, use a 90 sized needle if you are working on Peltex, otherwise your thread breaks. Variegated threads are fun to use if you don't want to change the threads, it gives you a variety of colors on one spool. For the appliques I used Pellon fusible.

I cannot believe I am showing you this, but some of us, learn better from our mistakes;)

For the back, I used a postcard print out and traced the lines on. You can find printables that you can use for the back. I used a Pitt artist pen to do the lines and word, it dries immediately and it waterproof.

This is why you want to wait to put the back on, not a pretty sight. Even though this one was a mess, it was fun and I can't wait to try some more.

Little Chick Pillow!

Today I finished a pillow with the spring chick design that I won from Stacy of Buttermilk Basin. It is a fun design to do and since it is longer, I reduced it a bit to make a pillow to put in front of one of my wood boxes.

For this piece I used a white muslim and then antiqued it. I also added a little extra stitching and outlines, then I did a blanket stitch around the outer edge of the pillow.

I am not sure, but I think the new batting is causing the stains to pool in one spot.

And her is the back, I used a green  homespun and  you can see how the stain pooled in spots.

Little Chick Mat!

I was thrilled to get my giveaway gifts this week, just in time for the holidays. My husband is going to help my son with the electrical wiring in his new room, so I thought I would make them a little gift for their new home. I used the wools that Stacy, of Buttermilk Basin, sent me for the pattern and my own wools for the backgrounds. The kids like new and bright things, so no dark fabrics or aging on this one.

The piece was small, so I added a larger background so they can use it on a little table. The blanket stitch was done in gold, but of course the flash made everything look brighter and shiny. I thought the white wool with the flecks of pink and blue were perfect for this project.