Friday finish!

 

I hope everyone has done all they need to, so they can enjoy some time before the holidays without the stress. As usual, I seem to have picked up another flu bug, but doing ok and will be fine for Christmas. I am glad I got all my shopping and wrapping done, so I could relax this week and not do too much.

I hung the new quilt I was working on, on the banister. It is a cheater piece and I added a border to make a lap sized quilt. It was something I could work on at night, by quilting around the black lines. Nothing fancy, but the design is fun and a nice way to greet people when they walk in.

We were able to get out for a bit last week, mostly driving since it is too cold to be outside for long. I finally caught the Horned Larks in the parking lot, at the beach.

In the breachway, there was a large group of Common Eiders. The black and white male seemed to be the leader and wherever he went the females followed him.

We also take drives around the island. It is even colder there with the ocean breezes, but the views are always beautiful and a way to get out of the house for a bit. We ran into this doe, that was walking down the road.

Today I tested a recipe, cranberry cornbread. I wanted to make something a little different for Christmas and the cranberries make it more festive. I really liked how cranberries gave it a bit of tartness. I use Monks sugar and the recipe called for buttermilk. I don't use that but a trick I learned. I warm up milk and then put a bit of fresh lemon juice into it and let it sit, instant buttermilk. If you want to try the recipe, you can find it at Spilling the Tea. 

Tomorrow will be a rest day, we got a bit of snow, so hoping to get out and get some photos with snowy backgrounds. Then it will be time to get the house ready and start cooking for Christmas Eve. The kids come here for dinner and we go to their house on Christmas. I give them presents at our house, then save some for their house. 

My hope is that everyone has a wonderful holiday, no matter how you celebrate it. Even if you cannot get out or be with family, take the time to make the day special, for yourself. Christmas blessings to you all.

Friday Finish!

 Another week zipped by too fast. I spent most of it, decorating the house. I have a mix of prim and fun around the house. One thing I wanted to try was a rag garland. I looked up ideas and found one that I could base mine on. You can find it at Ikorn crafts.

I used up the scraps and smaller pieces to make it, and used a red twine to tie them onto. I was going to put it on the banister, but it was too thin, so I used it on top of my curtain rod.

And I decorated with what I had in the basement, and there is more that I had no room for. 

I found a new place for my Grandmother's quilt.

And some of my nativity collection with a bit of cats mixed in.

And a few trees. This year I decided to put up my cat collection. I could only do so many and I have a lot of larger ones, that don't fit on the skinny tree. I have quilts hanging on the banister and decorations in the kitchen, so it is fun for the boys when they visit.

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday. I am finishing up my cheater quilt and next is getting my cards done. After that I will work on my other quilt, even if I can't finish it in time. 

Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to spend more time working on my projects, so I was able to finish one, make a quick one and start a new one. It is nice to relax a bit and just enjoy the season and make a few new things for fun.

I finished the pillows, a pattern from All Through the Night. I love the preprinted fabric, but find it a pain to sew on. But, it is still worth it, love how the prints look, behind the stitchery and wool. I realize that they are not all the same size, guess I should have trimmed by measuring from the cutting line.

The snowman was a free pattern and I changed it a bit. He looks good sitting by the box and just the right height to be seen. The original was actually a floor size, but I like the smaller version. I also found the Christmas box at at the craft store and like how it looks with the pillows. The dividers make it hard to display them nicely, I may take them out for next year.

I also started something new. I still had leftover gift money on etsy and finally used it. I love Michelle Palmer's designs, she is the one who offered the free fox. I fell in love with this design when I saw it and it is so fun to punch. It is large, 11" x 8.5, so I am not sure if I will finish by Christmas, but I am taking my time and enjoying the process and later if things need fixing, I can change them. Not sure on some of the shading and detail on areas that need more definition, but I can wait to see how it looks, all together.

And here is what I have done so far, using what colors I have and added some height to the cuffs and areas around the hat. I am thinking this would be fun to mount on a peg board, that I can use to hang stockings from, for next year.

I finished decorating but seem to see things, I just have to have. Last week it was another church, a prim tree and a snowman piece, I really need to stay out of stores, lol. It is just too fun to decorate for when the boys come over, Alex is at the age where everything is magical.

Here is a little of what I have around the house.

I also like lights and a bit of glitter. The house is on top of the kitchen cabinet and the creches are on my other shelves. Please ignore the beehive cookie cutter, I forgot I put it there, it goes in the craft room. I have an idea for it, with needle felting, another project for next year.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a week filled with joy and peace.

Free stitcheries and thrift finds!

If you enjoy doing stitcheries and learning new techniques and stitches, you should visit Mary Corbet's blog. Her posting are full of inspiration and tutorials and she offers free patterns. Last week she did a Christmas piece with the word Joy and I just had to try it. I love how it looks and it is a great gift to make ahead for next year.

I made mine into pillows, but I did not stuff them. I might add balsam to mine, so I will leave them as is, then I can stuff them next year so they will have fresh balsam in them. Another idea for those of you who like to send items with a card, is to leave them flat with an opening so they fit in the card. Then the recipient can stuff them themselves.

For the backs, I used the fabric, Christmas Traditions that I got with my gift certificate from This-n-That  Fabrics. I love how it looks and it is great for pillow backings to give it that added touch.

Another thing I love to do is shop in thrift stores, you never know, what you will find. I found these three patterns, only .99 a piece, not a bad deal.

And I found this guy on a shelf, love the raggedy look. I assume he was left in the sun and it faded his mail suit, but I like the dull color and the worn look. Something fun to sit on a bench. We are finally getting snow, lots of it and everything is covered in white, I love it.