Owls

Ten little owls all in a row

One flew away

Where will he go? 

Well, I think he will be going to West Texas

I wonder which one?

Finishing old projects and starting new

Last spring I had a dear friend that was planning to move and downsize at the same time.  I and another friend volunteered to help.  More like sold ourselves into slavery.  The other lady does a lot of hand work, so she started taking all the cross stitch, couchette and knitting to her house to organize.  The friend that was moving went through it all and made two piles, keep and let go. We went through the let go pile and took a few things.   Now my friend had 5 complete sets of DMC thread.  The other friend wound one complete set on to bobbins.  She kept one set, gave one to her sister and sold the rest.

We were in the last closet and running out of time before the actual close date and move date.  I pulled a large tote out of a closet thinking it was stabilizer.  It was not.  It was more needle work.  My friend had gone to the bank and to run some last errands, so we both grabbed an end of the tote and put it in her car.   Several days later six ladies was at the second ladies house.  WE opened the tote.  It had Just Cross Stitch kits from 2002-2005.   There was also a   Mill Hill Cross Stitch calendar.  Another friend fell in love with them, but does not know how to cross stitch. Another of the six said she would do one for her for Christmas.  She took July.   I could not believe that I said I would do June.  Some where along the way, I ended up with August, through December.

This is a long explanation for the projects I have finished in the past three weeks.


August was already half over, so I did September,  then October after completing June.  I will get pictures of these next week.   Then I started November. I completed it the week before Christmas. 

Then I started December.  

I finished it Monday after Christmas

Then I went back and did August. 

I had never applied Mill Hill beads before.  I learned quickly. The beads do not show up in these pictures.

Today I started The Bag Ladies of the Fat Quarter club.  I am getting these one at  a time, so I started with Ernestine.  I will be linking up with the Facebook group each month to show progress. 

 I got this far today.  These are pre-printed and colored, so all I have to do is stitch

  I purchased this Dorcy  Head light today. It has an elastic band to go around your head.

The front tilts down so it shins directly on my needle work.  This photo does not show the brightness very well, but it has 8 LEDs

Christmas 2017 and More???

being a hobbyist... I work with... stitches..knitted, crocheted, sewn, crossed..  tried embroidery.. (it was very painful.. not only for me but for the supplies... I did learn... a few new not so nice words.. but I learned something...

Much like My Mother in law.. I have many hobbies.. but unlike her I master none.. its all about having fun ... I am trying really hard not to collect any other hobbies....  Hubby goes made trying to keep up with them all..

Today I pulled an old hobby out.. and did some pixel editing..

before:

and after..... The original was a free image online..  I have no claim on it... I just edited to suit the blog that  supply images too..

I have already started knitting for next year.. trying to get ahead of the power curve..  so I don't have as much stress.. Stress is a major trigger for me... Flip out Drama Queen here! haha laughing at myself helps tons.

and tada!!! a quilt..  that is in the works!!!

This is a blanket I am making one of my sons, he picked out all the fabrics with his dad and they planned the whole thing... I just get to do the labor... again???  hmmm...  hahaha!

They had to lay it out on the king size bed.  This will be a graduation gift... even though he graduated this past Jume!... 

Seeing Stars

I decided I would make Stars for the girls this year.   These are from a pattern Holiday Stars  by Poor House Quilt Designs.  I have also made their fold and stitch Wreath and Leaf Topper.   And of course I start having so much fun , I do not know when to stop!


They start out as rectangles, 2.5, 3.25 and 4.25.  There are other sizes, these are just the ones I chose.  You can make six point or eight point stars. All of the rectangles are interfaces with Pellon decor bond.  The front of the star is cut smaller and a 90 degree  piece cut off to form points

 This shows the small (5 inch) and the medium (7 inch) sizes. these are 6 point stars

 Then a facing is added.  I matched the facing to the back fabric.

  These are the large 11 inch size.  I made these 8 point stars.

The front and back are sewn together and turned. You fold them in half length wise and sew then together across the middle, width wise.  This proved to be a problem with my machine.  Each section has around 12 layers of fabric and stabilizer on the seam/folded side.  Multiply that by 3 and the machine balked.  I was getting a presser foot error.  So I improvised. I remembered way back in the stone age, I was taught to grade seams to thin out the bulk.  So I cut the stabilizer out of the seams.
That resolved the issue on the small and medium stars.  I still had to hand tack the large ones together.

They were pretty, but not flashy.  They needed decorations. Sorry this one is blurry.  Now, I can sew almost anything, but I am not a glitzy flashy person. I called in help.  My daughter came up the alley and helped out. It is amazing what buttons and crystals can do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I told the girls to pick which ones they wanted.  Knowing my girls, I knew they would both pick the same ones.  So I opened my mouth and put my foot in!  I told them that if they both wanted the same one, I could make more.   I only had to remake five.

  I call this pile of scraps Star Dust!

Finished the Mug Rugs

Doug about the sideways pic . My Phone's acting up again . Just wanted to share the finished work . Still make several mistakes but how else can I learn!

Mug Rugs for Karen

The Brother machine and all the noises it makes still scare the daylight out of me...

But I refuse to live in fear... plus I really want these mug rugs for my bestie Karen..

Plus this is proof I'm not just knitting. ..

I couldn't have done this without out Mom!  So freaking blessed I have the best in laws on the planet!

Numb knitting

Today I had 3 soild hours of knitting on the 2nd sock for eldest son Christmas gift.

Also started a giant swatch of a fishermen's rib for a baby blanket. ..this what I call numb knitting. ..where I can knit while relaxing and watching tv...

Socks though the whole reason I started knitting. .. Knitting them keeps me on my toes...