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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Slow stitching Sunday again and it's still winter here....


Oh how quickly the time flies around here.  Can't believe it's Sunday again and not too much to share of what I've been able to accomplish this past week.  I hope to get my motor revved again to get done what I hoped to for March in the next few days.

Linking up with Kathy Quilts again today.  Finished up my bottom section of the Lizzie Kate Winter Alphabet which I had listed to get done this month (patting myself on the back here for a realistic accomplished goal).  Next month I hope to complete this design.  Only the upper two rows of letters left.

I did change the color of the smoke rising out of the chimney.  The design called for the aqua color which I thought that it was too pronounced, so changed it to a softer grey, DMC#452.  Looks better, there but not there.















The grand children received a new to them Snow mobile and are lucky enough that there is still snow to ride on.   Good for them, but I surely wished this white stuff would go away until next December, I've had enough of it and the cold.  Can you see that bit of brown in the background, I am hopeful that a tinge of green will be there in a week.

Both of them take turns and are becoming allies with this toy instead of fighting with each other.  It's nice to see them growing up and taking responsibility with their stuff.  The pink helmet came with the sled and their Mom had a leftover helmet from her days of playing like that which goes nicely with the little man's outdoor gear.  A huge plus of not having to buy additional gear to outfit them safely.


They'll come in after an hour or two with such rosie cheeks and sparkles in their eyes.  Am so glad the electronics are being put down, another win in my book!

Enjoy your day!  Jane

Monday, March 23, 2015

Day 7 - Tree Bird Hop and a cough recipe

Here is Day 7, the last day this hop is going on.

Monday, March 23

Thanks Lana and Madame Samm!  It's been a Hoot!

I ran across this recipe from Barefeet in the Kitchen so am placing it here for future reference.

homemade COUGH remedy (adapted from Good Food Matters)

2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's if available)
2 Tablespoons Honey - Local raw honey is best
2 Tablespoons Water
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Place all ingredients in a small jar and shake well to combine.  Leave at room temperature for a few days or if needed longer then refrigerate.  Shake well each time before use.  The spices will not dissolve into the liquid.  It will not be a thick syrup, it should remain watery.  Take as needed.
Dosages for adults is about 1 Tablespoon and perhaps 1 teaspoon for children 5 years old and older.  Use your discretion with children under 5 years of age.  

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Just bead it, Bead it



Happily singing my rendition of the Michael Jackson tune today while progressing on the wool table mat.   Beads are all on, next trim the cream color to attached to the harvest red wool bottom.




Am linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday's on Kathy's blog.









Enjoy your week, I'm hoping mine will be somewhat productive.
Jane

Friday, March 20, 2015

Day 6 of the Tree Bird Hop

Stitcher's Meet and Greet 2015

Happy Spring!
Thanks for stopping by and to see bits about my needle passion.  It's nice to have you stop by for the visit and I just poured tea and laid out a couple of biscuits to enjoy.

Hi.
My Name is Jane
              and I love needlework.
                                        Of All kinds........


See I could belong to a QAAA.  
Quilters, Stitchers, Needlewoman Anonymous Addiction Association.  
Okay then, NAAA.

What I'd love to share today are a few of my favorites from the years.  A mix if you will of items I created and treasure.


Blackbird Design- Easter Parade - 2012


































Detail of the frame.  It's absolutely gorgeous and with the aged brassiness and elaborate carved designs reminds me a bit of Romantic times especially with the color mat selected to go with this piece.  More information is here for the Easter Parade.









A new to me stitch, the Smyrna Cross and I actually changed the design in this counted Cross Stitch Pattern to depict the Holiness of Easter with three crosses, one larger for Jesus  instead of the published squares in an X pattern.






Another from 2012 ......my First Biscornu

I gave this to my Mom since she has a hot pink aka: fuchsia color in her sewing room and a lime green and burgundy in the living room.  Oh yeah, she's afraid of color- NOT!



Secret Needle Night Kit, Lil Peep - 2010



 This was a kit I purchased through ebay initially made available through the Silver Needle.  I chose to finished it off as a flat fold and did a ruched silk ribbon edging and used a soft pastel print fabric for the backing. To learn more you can click on Lil Peep.



Joy finished in 2010.
Was a quick happy stitch where I didn't deviate from the recommended threads, linens or design.  


Winter Whites finished in 2010

I used a wooly white for the sheep in this piece.  I love to do alphabets with cross stitch for some reason.


I don't know the name of this piece, just know I finished it in 1991.
 How do I know that?  I actually stitched it into the cloth between the bears front paws,
J EMERSON     1991



Then some of the quilts I've created and loved...


Field of Flowers - 2013
Made for my only grand daughter

with the Pompom Blog Hop Pillow of the same year....


Both of these were quilted by me.   Doing my Happy Dance just thinking about it.

The Alien Invasion Quilt - 2010
 Started this without a pattern, just using nine patches and rail fence blocks alternating with a solid background.  I also have seen this same pattern numerous times and everyone calls it somehting differnt but it all started after purchasing a jelly roll of Alien Invasion fabric line then I dove into my stash.

Had enough of this star fabric for the backing and did a meandering star quilting design on my home sewing machine,
 a Bernina 170,  fondly known as Janina.

The piece de resistance is this......what I did with the BACK!


Funny looking alien ain't he?  LOL  Took me awhile to figure out what I was going to do and then figure out how I was going to do it.    Doing another Happy Dance remembering and it resides in the youngest grandson's bedroom.  Luckily I found a "Toy Story Alien" version lamp which goes well enough with it and it was all gifted together for Christmas one year.  Which reminds me, there is a CARS strip quilt started around here somewhere, I best get to it for his bunk bed before he hits his teens.  lol

The Nile Quilt (shown in the camper while we still had one.) - made quilt in 1999
This was NOT quilted by Me but by Leslie Armando in Glens Falls, NY 


The label sharing the particulars of the quilt.  I drafted a Pyramid design to stretch the eye with a perspective drawing.  Doesn't show too well here but if you expanded it, it would be more evident of rays emitting outward from one central point.  I was playing around trying a new technique using Cheryl Phillips book about adding perspective.   


Lavender Fields - 1999
A color wash Irish Chain
This is a king quilt and it is covering my sleeper sofa.  My home isn't large enough to get a good picture of this beautiful quilt.
It also won Viewers Choice at a quilt show back in 1999.   

The RUN of color in the lavender Fossil Fern fabric

Back then making a four patch posie configuration style pillow to complement the quilt,
but it's not matchy matchy if you know what I mean

Even then I'd make 2 pillowcases to go with a quilt.
Same fabric as the four patch posie styled pillow.

My love of the needle started when I was young.  Before attending any school and I loved to help my Grandmother who would treadle on her machine making nightgowns and other goodies.  I helped by keeping her pins the same depth on the pincushion and/or keeping them all in a line or remembering sitting beneath her machine asking if I could pump the foot petal.    The pin organizing is a family trait that I happily watched all 4 of my grandchildren do the same thing with  my pincushions.

As I was growing up, I sewed often even competing with Mom for time on the Singer sewing machine.  It was a Singer featherweight long before they became a popular commodity like they are today.  I actually made a drawstring bag to hold my curlers when I was 7 and then shortly after that learning to knit.  I remember around 4 or 5th grade knitting a dusting mitten sewn with extra yarn latch hooked onto one side to catch the dust. What colors did I pick at that age - Royal purple and Lime green.  Then knitting numerous slippers for gifts, dishrags and then a cape to wear to football games in my teens. OMG those shoulder seams I sewed together were all wrong and I hated to wear it though I had learned how to change colors for the Greek key pattern near the bottom edge and the fringe I placed on it. You can tell it was made in the late 60's and early 70s.

If I couldn't get to the machine when I was around 9 or 10, I did counted cross stitch, crewel, needlepoint and knitting for my needlework fix.  While in Junior High a friend, Patti and I would skip lunch and save our lunch money so we could go to a fabric store downtown and purchase a McCalls, Burda or other pattern buy fabric and any notions needed so we could make a dress that night and wear it to school  the next day. We had a blast being creative and the amount to do this was a savings instead of buying clothes off a rack. She was my BFF in sports, band, chorus, Honor Society, cheer leading, etc....  Unfortunately her family had a tragic car accident and that friendship ended abruptly with her demise at age 16 while we were Juniors.   But thankfully I learned early on how much fun crafting with like minded individuals was and knew those special times were ones to cherish.

So after that and college and even marrying my High School Sweetheart, becoming pregnant I wanted to learn how to Crochet so Grandma gave me some instructions and there I went. Baby Booties, more dish clothes, a ripple baby afghan and then those granny squares.  YUM! ( I actually made a crochet granny square afghan all edged in black along with a carnival of leftover yarn colors and scraps, but it was destroyed in a flood many years ago.)  Always sewing however I could.  Embroidery, linens, Household items, Strawberry Shortcake Bed Canopy, Roman shades, 3 pairs of Colonial Muslin, Double Ruffled with Cluny Lace trim, coveralls, guns bags, tool organizers,  etc...
I wished I grabbed a photo of the Ornaments I sewed when I was first married too.  My son, age 40 has them all and places them on his Christmas tree each year.  They are made of felt, sequins and beads in many shapes and colors resembling:  Santa, a candle, gift packages, a jack in the box, drums, a nutcracker, toy train engine and other decorative items seen during the holiday season.  I think it started with a kit from Hershner's Catalog.  Such fussy work when I look at them now that I think I must have been nuts!  But realistically we were just starting out and since my husband worked nights and I worked days I found the evening long so enjoyed the quiet with my needle after the babe went to bed.

Present day imagine that, it is something I still enjoy.   Currently here is what I'm focusing on this month:

In the counted Cross Stitch arena: Winter's Alphabet designed by Lizzie Kate

Working with Wool and probably Beads for this candle mat designed by The Little Red Hen:


Machine Quilting on my Bernina 440: The 40 Diamond Quilt based on the 10 minute block pattern.


Thanks for stopping by.  I've enjoyed your visit while sharing our passions for the needle.

Thanks Madame Samm for brainstorming this terrific idea of this Stitcher's Meet and Greet for 2015.  Make sure you check out these others who are part of this Springtime Gathering of the Stitcher's Meet and Greet.



List of 35 Blogs of our today's "Meet & Greet" .
You may need to right click your mouse on the person's name to be taken to a new tab/window of their web address.  




cross stitcher

applique and red work

cross stitcher

applique embroidery

cross stitcher and applique

applique

cross stitcher

embroidery

cross stitcher

embroidery

cross stitcher

cross stitch

cross stitch

cross stitch and applique


applique

cross stitch with decorative seams


wool applique and cross stitch


cross stitch


Thursday, March 19, 2015

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Top of the Day to ye!



Top of the Day to you!

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, 
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world,
with Joy that long endures.
may all lief's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



Tree Bird Blog Hop - MY DAY!

A bird house found at our Guild's Holiday auction in December that I couldn't resist.
Perfect segue! 

I was able to get several items made to share for this terrific Tree Bird Blog Hop.  Lana our cheerleader from It Seams to be Sew  is doing a stand up job keeping all of us bloggers on tract for this hop with Madamme Samm out of commission while she tends to some serious personal business.  My prayers and thoughts are with you and yours Samm.


First, everyone who knows me knows I collect scissors.
Check out this sweet scissor fob for my Owl scissors.
{Love}!


Went shopping this am with DH so I could make some more lanyards for beaded scissor fobs with some little bird beads I purchased on Saturday but am too late to pull that off with the grand children being here until 6 pm this evening.



Had wanted to get a couple more fobs made but I ran out of time.




Was able to sew this Chickadee apron which is made from a panel of A Colorful Season designed by Nancy Mink.  This will be perfect to wear in autumn and my dear DIL happily modeled it for me this afternoon but with the request of not showing her face.  Don't know why, she's quite beautiful and the Mother of two of my beautiful grandsons.    Just saying.
I lined the apron panel with a medium mottled green, the same tone as the printed rope.   Sewed around the perimeter, turned it inside out as in a pillowcase method, then top stitched around all the edges.  It happens to be my preferred method of constructing aprons and it will wash like a dream.  It came with two printed pocket segments but I choose to only sew one on.  The print matches perfectly with the apron base.


When I purchased this I also purchased some yardage of a matching border print of the same line 
to make a 60 degree table runner but again, I ran out of time. 
Harrumph!   
Seems to be the theme around here!


 Now for the piece de resistance,..........

a Charlie Harper stylized cardinal tea cozy.  

Too CUTE!
Love those angry beady eyes (no pun intended - NOT!) popping out of his head.  lol 


I am quite proud of my Cardinal Cozy.  All of this was made without a pattern. [Patting myself on the back for this one, with both it's concept and it's finish.]  Each morning now while I have my cuppa, I will smile and know anything is possible.


See the coaster on the left - themed with the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, only befitting since he's known for quoting:
"Oh Dear!  Oh Dear!  I shall be too late!"

Which sums up how my monkey mind works at times.   I seem to run around like that quite often, usually finishing things up just before the deadline. Friends say I do it to myself, and they are right.  But it's my way of life and how I get to do all I do and help out where I can and want to, while always pushing the envelope to get to more things that I want to do, see or be....  That's My Life.

Anyhow I digress, the coaster was the tool I used to make the cardinal.  After drafting it I realized it was way too big for my little tea pot so reduced it by 60% so it could fit proportionately.   (The next cozy I make I'll be adding to both the height and width since I have a few larger tea pots and these do help keep the tea a perfect temperature to finish the pot.)   I used the same pussy willow fabric for the exterior and the lining fabric, a polyester batting and a Teflon quilted and lined fabric so the finish is quite thick.  Will see how well it insulates my little pot this am!  ;-)

Last year I did purchase the themed fabric Beautiful Birds by Tracy Lizotte for Elizabeth's Studio but couldn't find it and didn't want to waste anymore time looking.  Also I wanted to get some of these other bird themed projects I found done and the ones I had remembered that I wanted to do too done as well.   We love and feed the birds here.  So some time in the near future, you will be seeing more bird projects done.   Like the bird house wall hanging shared in this post.   The quilt in this post because of a bird fabric, or this one started Little Miss Shabby,  a few birds or even more birds here on Counted cross stitch,  another quilt here, and the first quilt with chopped up birds called Autumn Song.    Yep, we love birds around here.  Who knows when I'll find that bird panel fabric or where I put it.  One good thing though, I did find the soft aqua and off white striped fabric I bought at the same time to go with it so hopefully it should surface soon and not a decade later before it surfaces.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my crafts and hopefully you can make some time to check out these other bloggers during this hop to see their creations.  Of course if you leave a comment, I'd appreciate it.  Enjoy your day.

Today's Schedule is:
Tomorrow's Treasures Today
Childlike Facination
Pig Tales and Quilts
Ella and Nesta's Little Room
Thimblemouse and Spouse
Gracie Oliver Arts

It's amazing how creative and different all the projects are.  Thanks Lana, it's been fun!




Monday, March 16, 2015

Tree Bird Hop Day 2 - March 16th


Sew Peace To Peace
Moose Stash Quilting
Buzzing and Bumbling
I Piece 2 Mary
Quilt Doodles
Just Let Me Quilt
Les Quilts
A Stitch In Time

While at the guild meeting Saturday a few friends were working on projects and I snapped a couple of photos of their works.  



 Recognize this Edita Sitar's applique design?  My cousin Diane is making a baby quilt for a friend's grandchild.  She does impeccable work and is so quick to laugh at things.  For instance when I was complementing her work she pointed out the levitating bird.  she's too funny  ...lol  That levitation part will be fixed but she won't be able to bring it to the next meeting since the baby will have it by then.   I asked her to please send a photo of it when it's done.  Her colors are fantastic.


This next share is what Shawn was working on.  Some fussy work on her crazy patch block.  
Isn't it fantastic?  
Well you may ask what does this have to do with tree birds,  
Let me show you.

Notice the hummingbird in the upper right corner.  
It's just a perfect detail with all those other beads, pearls, sequins, rhinestones and lace isn't it.


Then in the lower left corner check out the pearl eggs in the nest.  
Absolutely stunning Shawn!


Both of these are projects I'd love to do too, maybe someday. But in the meantime reality is kicking back in and I have some other bird goodness to finish.

TTFN,
Jane



Friday, March 13, 2015

Tree Bird Blog Hop is here!


Here's a line up of who will show their creations and on which days.  This will be great fun and my day to share is on the 17th.   If you right click on the Blog names, a pop up window will appear to get to that blog address.   Click on it the same day they are noted to share their projects and the tree bird post will be right there on top.











Know I'll be surprising not only you but myself too with what I show you since I am currently finishing up some blocks needed as the prep work for tomorrow's class and I still have that BOM for the guild to finish too.  But I swear it'll all get done if not by the skin of my teeth and having to stay up all night, but done they shall be.  
Did you know I work great under pressure, talk about being a procrastinator and trying to fit in just a few more things first!
TTFN