Christmas Tree 2007

Last night we (meaning me) finished decorating the Christmas Tree. It looked pretty. Honest! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it last night. I was waiting for better lighting. Well, here is the better lighting, but unfortunately the tree no longer looks so pretty :( .





My husband heard something around 12:30 am. He went off to investigate and found the tree on the floor. Ornaments everywhere! Lots of broken glass everywhere! Candy canes and bows, oh my!

What a mess.




What you see here on the table is what didn't get thrown away. Fortunately, the glass ornaments have no sentimental value at all! In fact I picked up some last year after Christmas to fill in the empty spots! I mean there are a few left from our first tree. Hard to believe after 21 years. The sentimental ones are from the kids first Christmas, ones that were handmade, etc.. I didn't see any of those broken.














Since we were all sleeping at the time, we really don't know for sure what happened. But, I do have my suspicions. I have a picture of this curious kitty every year checking out the tree. Here is a picture from 2003. But I do have more. And he was hanging around pretending to investigate the noise with us!! So, I don't actually have proof, but I know it was you, Marshmallow, aka Mr. Mushy Marshmallow!



I love you anyway!

Old Fashioned Hearts

I made these last night.

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be working on the angel for my Aunt. I know, I know. All that needs to be done is sew on the wings. Yes, I could have sat and finished her. But I didn't. I'm not surprised. After all, I know me.

I was digging around in my sewing room looking for something. Funny, but I don't remember what. Anyway, I found an old table runner that my Great Grandmother made. Actually, I have a huge bag of them. Doilies, table runners, hot pads etc. (How lucky am I?).I really should take pictures of these. Some I use, and some just can't be used. They are in sorry shape. But being me, I can't just throw them away. So I have been saving them because I just know that I will find something to do with them. And I have! There are matching doilies and a smaller table runner which I do use. And now I have these 2 hearts. I was going to add a button in the center and ribbon to hang them. They look so pretty just sitting there, I might leave them as they are.

I will definitely be making more but with different fabrics. I think I will find a pretty bowl or plate and put that on the matching table runner. And fill it with some pretty hearts. As you would walk into the house it will be one of the first things you see. That would make me smile!






Here is a picture of one of the undamaged doileys in use. That is a small lamp sitting on top of it. Isn't it pretty.

Bathing Beauty Finished

I'm such a bag blogger! It has been a few days again. But I have more pictures to share, so thats a good thing.

A while ago I finished the stitchery for this tote. I finally sat and put it all together. And I'm proud to say that I didn't sew anything inside-out. All the seams are hidden, the handles are on the outside. Amazing! I used upholstery fabric and quilted it. And there is a lining. The stitchery is a pocket too. I just know that she is going to love this!

For Christmas there is usually one gift that I really plan and just know is the "perfect" gift. This year it is this tote to my Aunt. I wish I could see her when she opens it, but she lives in Washington and I'm in New York. Opposite coasts.

This is the same Aunt that will be getting the latest CQ angel. Which is basically done. I just have to attach the wings. Since I told her over the summer she was getting one, she won't be surprised about that. Then again, she knows me quite well. She just might be surprised that I actually finished it!

First Snow

Look what I woke up to this morning! Geesh, but it sure looks pretty. And as you can clearly see, I still have leaves on my walkway. I don't know if they predicted this or not. I guess I now have to start paying more attention to the weather report.

And this is Rags. She's not too sure what to make of this "stuff". You could hear the snow landing on the leaves. Curious, but wary! After a few minutes she was ready to come back in the warm, dry house. I guess I have finally "tamed" this street kitty. Well, to some degree!





Here is Rags with Lucky. Living the good life, snuggling on a nice warm bed! You can tell by their expressions that I interrupted a good sleep.


We had a cat named Tiger who is no longer with us. But he loved the snow. He would go out and run around throwing up the snow and then swatting, chasing, and even eating his own little snowballs. He was truly entertaining.

Spirit of Friendship Dolls

I am finally sitting and putting in the pictures of the dolls I made for the Spirit of Friendship doll swap at CQI. It took me a while to make sure I had the correct picture for the white on white doll. I made 2 others like that for Pat and didn't want to mix up my pictures.
It is a sad but true fact of life that the pictures on my computer are as chaotic as the rest of my life!









I have another white on white doll sitting on my table. She still needs a face, hair and wings. I think this one will be going to my Aunt. Last time I said that I sent it to Pat instead.

Today I made something else for my Aunt. She will be so surprised! I'll post it tomorrow when I take a picture. It sure feels good to be back in my sewing room and enjoying myself. It has been a long time.

Spirit of Friendship Dolls

The mailman was my best friend yesterday! He brought me a package of friendship. My Spirit of Friendship Dolls arrived!! This was a doll swap I signed up for at CQI.
Well, these dolls just made my day. And brought a smile to my face every time I looked at them!





This first picture is the doll I rec'd from Lyn G. She is so soft and look at the silk ribbon embroidery. I love silk ribbon embroidery and just don't do enough of it.
And the itty bitty leaves! They are charms. Just beautiful!!








This second picture is the doll I rec'd from Lynn. (Yes, a different Lynn) and her name is Oceana. Look at that beading!!! And her expression is "serene" to me. I hope she rubs off on me.


I don't think I posted pictures of the dolls I made for the trade. I'll have to go check.

Oh, and Jackie was the swap hostess with the mostess for this. Thank you Jackie!!

Christmas Stitchery

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been doing some small stitcheries. Keeping my hands busy. This was a free one but I can no longer find it to share a link. Sorry. :(











I have been machine quilting the beige quilt and as a reward for getting it half done (yes, I said half done!!!), I decided to make a small quilted wallhanging with this stitchery. I think it came out pretty cute. It is 10 X 12. If you really look you can tell that it didn't come out perfectly straight. I was just happily sewing along and decided to leave it along. I'm not going to loose sleep over this. I was having fun. That is all that matters.












I was at a friends house the other day and she has painted and hung new "stuff" on the walls and I really think this wallhanging "belongs" in her house. Maybe I'll make another one! We shall see.

There are more stitcheries that I made. Four birds actually. All in light brown, dark brown, green and very light yellow. I only have a picture of one to share. I can't find the others.

I truly am my own worst enemy! When I find them, I shall share.

I Won

Look what arrived in my mailbox today. That envelope was taped up pretty good. I was afraid to use sissors so I had to carefully rip it by hand. I pulled out this neatly wrapped package that was tied with some hand-dyed silk ribbon. It is beautiful! And it feels very soft too. (I haven't done anything with silk ribbon in quite some time...)
















This is what was inside. Isn't is just the cutest thing ever?!! And it smells wonderful also. Pat said it was to hang in the car, but of course this is hanging on the wall in my sewing room. I don't spend enough time in my car.
















I won this because I made a good guess about what she was making. So, thank you Pat. I love it!!

Bathing Beauty

Bathing Beauty
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

I'm still here... trying to keep myself busy and out of trouble. I've been working on some small stitcheries. This one called "Bathing Beauty" was the first one I did. My Aunt will be swimming again to help her back. Isn't this the perfect thing to add to the front of a tote. It is sitting on my sewing machine table just waiting for me to sew it all together. I just have to think it through "before" I start. Of course there is the option of following a pattern. Unfortunately I know me, and I wouldn't follow it anyway! Even though I know I will get frustrated at some point, I do enjoy making things as I go along. Hopefully it won't be too long before I have a picture of a tote bag to post!

A walk at the beach

Jones Beach that is. My husband and I enjoy walks on the boardwalk. Of course we don't do this in the summer! That is reserved for sitting at the waters edge. And of course dipping in the ocean with my youngest son. Those days are over for this year. So, the walks are back. We ventured out today not knowing just how far we would get. What is left of hurricane Noel is just touching the coast here. Rain and wind gusts. Actually it isn't raining here at my house, but at the beach it was. And it was painful with the wind blowing it in your face! But no matter what the weather, it is still beautiful at the beach. Here is a picture of the Jones Beach water tower as seen through a wet windshield.

A whole lot of nothing

That is what I've been up to lately. I don't think there is a creative cell left in my body! And what a process it is just to make a decision too. (Way too much stressful "stuff" going on here at home) So, I have decided to make a quilt. I used a pattern that didn't involve any thinking what so ever. Alternating 9 patches. I wanted to make a quilt for my older sister and she likes yellow. I used neutrals and bits of yellow in the center. Well, while I do like this quilt it isn't "pretty". I am not very close to my sister(s), but she deserves a pretty quilt! This quilt will go to my husband who has said that the other quilts are too small. This one is a bit bigger. And he really doesn't care about color or pattern and I do like this quilt. It is peaceful if a quilt can be called that. Anyway, I am machine quilting around the blocks and then I will hand quilt inside the blocks. My winter project.

As for my sisters quilt I was thinking soft colors. Pinks and yellows. Probably a flower basket pattern of some sort.

Before I get to that though, I do have 2 bald cq dolls waiting for their hair and wings for the CQI swap. I think I am probably up to the mailing date by now. I am so far behind in my emails also.

Oh, and there is another doll whose skirt is still just ribbon pinned to her waist. I bet she would like to be finished. Did I mention that she is also bald. Just as bald as another doll that I completed. Do you think I have hair "issues"?

I hope to be back soon!

Crocheting Continued

What happened to my words? Geesh! Lets see, what did I say?
I recently hurt my back. All I did was bend down to pet one of my cats on the head. I cannot put words to what I felt, but anyone who has hurt their back knows exactly what I felt. And it wasn't good!
So, that meant laying around doing nothing as much as possible. So, I was on the couch for a few days. Of course the television was on but there was only so much tv I could watch. I actually do watch tv, but I have to keep my hands busy.
This lead to a discovery about myself that I would never have known. I can crochet while laying on my back! Talk about stretching to find that silver lining!
The previous pictures are of the baby blanket that I crocheted while laying around. It took me about 4 days to finish this. It is a variation on the basic shell stitch. Isn't it pretty?
I now have 2 baby blankets and one baby quilt made. I'm trying to build up a stash of these things for future use. After all, I have 4 children, my sisters have 3 and 4 respectively, and my brother has 1. She is the youngest at 7 but the oldest is 27! Wow, how did that happen? Since I am the only one in the family who can sew, knit, crochet, embroider, quilt, etc.. I figure it is good to start while I have a chance. After all, If I make for one I have to make for 12!!

Crocheting

Photo

postcard
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

Here is the picture of the postcard from Jo. The colors are more green than gray.
Flickr let me put the photo in.

Look what I found in my mailbox...

Isn't it beautiful! A crazy quilted post card from Jo. This survived the postal system all the way from New Zealand to New York with no damage. I'm impressed. I have never seen a fabric postcard and couldn't imagine something like this going through the mail. I have envelopes that didn't survive the trip!

Oh well, sorry for the little tease. Blogger won't let me upload a photo. I will try again later.

crazy quilt atc

crazy quilt atc
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

Here is a picture of a crazy quilted atc that I made this evening. You would think that something this small would be faster to make. Decision making isn't my strong point!
I added rick rack, hand dyed lace, beads, and sequins. The three purple flowers along the bottom are actually sequins. Aren't they pretty.
There is an atc swap starting at CQInternational group on yahoo. This is my first atc for that swap. I'll be making more of these. Hopefully lots since I love these little pieces of art.

Quilted Wallhanging

wallhanging
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

I finished this wallhanging. What a quick and easy project. As you can see it is much brighter than the previous picture. This was taken with my camera and the previous one was with the scanner. The colors are truer with the camera. I just have to sit down and learn how to take better pictures. And then how to edit them on the computer also. I wanted to remove the part of the picture with the hanger and just couldn't figure it out. One of the kids can show me I'm sure!
Oh, and I do have a dowel and hanging pocket (Is that what they are called?) on the back. I put it on the hanger just to get a photo.

I have another one that I finished the top today. This is an applique one. A traditional pattern using red and green fabrics on a white background. Perhaps I'll get it quilted tomorrow.

Can you tell that I like to make things that finish up fast. If they don't then it seems to take me a long time to finish. And finishing is such a wonderful feeling sometimes!

CQ Wallhanging

CQ Wallhanging
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

Here is a picture of small wallhanging I recently finished. This was my very first RR. The theme was "Pink and Cream". While I'm not a big fan of pink I thought the color combination was pretty. That was why I signed up. And it did turn out to be very pretty, I think!
I have more completed RR blocks that I have to do something with. One of these days. ha ha I am a very good procrastinator.
It is a hot and humid day here today, so I'll be indoors in the air conditioning again. And back to the doll that I'm currently working on. I should say struggling with!! It is my own fault though, it is an advanced pattern. I am a lot of things, but advanced certainly isn't one of them! It is a pattern from an older Soft Dolls Magazine and I just had to try it. Pictures will be posted soon.

Under the Sea Wallhanging

Under the Sea Wallhanging
Originally uploaded by sewquilty.

I haven't blogged in quite some time again.... I seem to do computer time in spurts. At least I have finished some things while not sitting here!

This is a picture of a second Under the Sea block that I made. This one is for me though. It is August 21 and I took down a Christmas decoration to hang this up. How sad is that? Apparently I don't look at the walls in my own home! In my own defense these are hanging on the same wall as the stairs so it is only a partial wall. And next to them is a clock that I never look at. There is still another decoration above this wallhanging too. They are the size of postcards. It would be nice if I made something to hang above this and take the other one down. We shall see.

Nice Matters Award

Wow, I've been nominated for the "Nice Matters Award" by Pat and Jo.
Thank you ladies, you have really made my day. I have to go back and re-read the posts. I think I'm supposed to nominate more people? If so, I'll be back tomorrow with some names.