Poppy Repost

Remember when I told you about the 8 Poppy quilts that my group had made? Here they are altogether. See the post "Finished Poppy" from June 29, 2014 to see what I'm talking about. These 8 little quilts are fabulous! You can click on the picture to see it enlarged. Enjoy.

Tea towels

I made these tea towels from Susan Branch's teapot pattern. Today she posted the pictures on facebook.  The towels were so much fun to make. Here's a link to her facebook page.

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Susan-Branch-FOSB/102900461659

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day America! I just finished this little wall hanging and I love the colors! Hope you will too. Enjoy!

And here are the decorations I have for my front door this year. Love how it turned out!

Finished Poppy

Seven of my quilt friends and I have completed a group project. We each started with the original design you see here.

 

Then we cut the design into 4ths, and shared with 3 other people. The only "rules" we had were theme, colors, and size. We could embellish it or not and add anything else we wanted. Here is my finished flower. All eight finished quilts are now hanging in a quilt show for the month of July and they look fabulous together! I'll try to take a picture of all of them soon to show you. Such a fun project!

 

 

 

 

 

Before and After

I needed to recover the cushions for our rocking chairs on the screened porch. I had some tea towels available that I bought with this in mind. Of course I didn't have enough for both cushions front and back so I improvised with some fabric from my stash. It worked perfectly. The tea towels are the ones on the upper cushions in the after photo.

Before

 

After

A new Iris

This Iris is a new one we planted last year. Today we have the first blooms and it is lovely! It is in a bed with yellow Daylilies, white Shasta Daisies and Lavender.

Monkey quilt

This is what I've been working on the last few months. A before and after picture, the theme was Monkeys. I've already put it in the mail so it is on it's way to the new baby, who is my great nephew. I included a John Deere fabric in memory of my Dad who liked tractors. The monkey fabric is corduroy for an extra texture. New binding technique, a flange added.

 

Old Birdbath

What do you do with an old birdbath? One that has rusted some on the bottom and is very hard to clean? I had my hubby drill a few more little holes in the bottom and then I planted it with succulents that don't need much moisture. Here is the finished product, in front of the blooming azaleas. Nice touch to the garden along the pathway.

New project

This will be a new project. My quilt group is working on this and I'll show you the outcome later on. Just wanted to share with you the "before" picture. Stay tuned!!

Little things

Just some little quilt items that I've completed since January 2014. I have more in the works but I'll report on them later. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Before and after

Remember this?

Well, it took me longer to finish it than planned but I did finish it in December, 2013. Here is the finished little quilt. Enjoy!

Fingerless Mitts

I have been knitting lately and that's good because I needed these when we had very cold temperatures. They are fingerless mitts. The pattern is a free one from Ravelry...Mitt Envy. I used left over sock yarn, and they knitted up like a dream.

Cooking

I cooked a casserole last week that had cabbage, ground beef, onions, cheese and tomato sauce in it along with some herbs. It was ok, not spicy enough for us. Next time I make it,

 

I'll add some hot peppers or green chilies to it. But I wanted to show it to you. It does look delicious, doesn't it?

Hubby's birthday

This is my husband's birthday month. So to make him feel special, since he doesn't want a cake, I've made him this little quilt. Happy Birthday honey!

Christmas boxes/baskets

I made these little boxes or baskets for friends at Christmas. They were so fun to make. I think I'll make them again in other fabrics. What do you think?

Knitting Cowls

These are three cowls I've knitted since the first of November, 2013. They were Christmas gifts to family members this year. It is an eyelet pattern that I converted from a flat, knit back and forth, to knitting it in the round. I love how the eyelets seem to melt into the fabric of the cowl. Easy to knit. Enjoy!

Knitting a cowl

 

This is what I've been knitting for the last few weeks. It is a cowl. It is an eyelet pattern that I turned into circular knitting. It was a flat back and forth pattern, so with a little tweeking, I knitted it into the round. It turned out great! I am using it again for another cowl that I am almost finished with. More pictures later with this same design and I think you'll love the yarn and how the design looks so much different than this one. Come back to see it soon!

While I was sewing

Last month while I was busy sewing, this Calla Lily was blooming in my garden. I forgot to post a picture then, so enjoy it now. Also the second picture is a work in progress. I'll show it later when it's finished. Hint, it's small and I like simple things.

Little things

Ok, I've been busy sewing, so that's why I haven't been here. You can see the results below. The houses were supposed to be pieced, but I made templates of them and appliqued everything down. My favorite way to sew and go.   I gave myself a challenge to use only homespuns (plaids) for the houses. I love how they turned out!

The other one is a version of an old pattern that just spoke to me. In fact, I have 2 other versions of that same pattern, that I plan on making sometime in 2014. Ahh, projects to dream about. That's why I love to quilt. Enjoy!

Baking Day

I recently tried my hand again at making sourdough bread. I didn't have such a great time with the starter the last time I tried (many years ago). But this time I had success. The loaves didn't rise as much because I used part whole wheat in the starter, but the bread turned out so nice! Yum!!

 

I also baked banana walnut muffins and bread. Double YUM!!

 







 

 

Happy July 4th!

Happy July 4th to America. Wave your American flag to show how much you care for our freedoms.
Enjoy my little Patriotic vignette.

Lunch with Friends

Recently I made lunch for 3 of my knitting friends. I served quiche, homemade yeast crescent rolls, tossed salad, chocolate brownies, and shortbread cookies in the shape of little Scotty dogs, along with vanilla ice cream. Two of the ladies are English born, so the Scotty shortbread cookies were a big hit. I had pieces of lace, a pair of lace gloves, a long strand of pearls, and my Mother's watch on the table along with Mom's china. I also cut blue hydrangea blooms from my garden and put them into napkin holders that also served as vases. It was a very nice time having lunch with friends! Enjoy the table view.

A quilt for a friend

This is my neighbor and friend, Alice, who is completing her 3rd quilt. This quilt is for her friend who soon will retire. Alice has sewn all the blocks by hand, and is now going to quilt it by hand. She has done a wonderful job with the quilt, and I got to see it in the making. How exciting!

Peony

These are the first blooms of our Peony in the garden. Such a lovely soft pink color and the fragrance is divine. Because I didn't stake the blooms, they were lying on the ground, so I had to cut them and bring them inside. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Oxalis

Our oxalis are blooming their little "hearts" out! I just love these little flowers. They make me smile.

Pictures from my garden

This Clematis is blooming for the first time since it was planted 2 years ago. I guess it took awhile for it to like the place where it was planted. I can see it from our screened porch and I love looking at it when I'm out there.

Jewelry pouches

I've been sewing again. I made these jewelry pouches for my sister and two cousins for our retreat this year. They were fun to make and quick and easy. The blue one (inside and out) is mine. I made it as a prototype for the others.

Sister/Cousin reunion

Every year my 2 cousins and sister have a "girls" reunion. Our Mothers were sisters, so we keep the reunion alive for them. We just completed it for 2013 and had a blast. We shopped, laughed, and laughed some more. Here we are about to eat dinner one night at my house. So fun! Can you tell which one is my sister?

Little houses

This is my current project I'm working on. It is machine appliqued, homespun houses. I should have it finished very soon. Come again and see the progress.

Socks again

Since we are still having "winter" here (more rain and cold weather), I decided to finish a pair of socks. I love knitting socks! This pair has 3 baby cables running down the middle of the sock. Fun yarn too, isn't it? Enjoy!

Valentine's or just hearts

This is a gift I made for a quilt friend. We celebrated Christmas in February this year. She loves blue and yellow colors and hearts. This table top quilt will bring her smiles all through the year. It was so much fun to make for her.

Quilt made for a male

I finished this quilt recently, and it will be for a male. My quilt group gives our quilts to the Wounded Warriors  for use to anyone who has served our country or for family members of those who served. This quilt is made up of fabrics that I had from an "ugly" fabric swap online. I added more bright fabrics and I hope the person who receives it, will like it.