Another puzzler....

Well, I just tried to enter a post for today and this blog told me I was out of room!! Guess I am using 1 GB and that is all they will provide for "free".  Will have to noodle this dilema a bit and see what the next step is.
Right now I wonder if I should wait and begin a new blog on January 1, 2013.  I will let you know...when I know.

Finished Felt

I finished that little candle mat I started quite a while ago.  I ended up sewing a tiny seed bead on each of the points to hold the black felt to the gold felt.

Feels good to complete something albeit small...thought about doing these for church craft sale but they take so much time and I don't think they would sell for that much.  I do think it turned out cute though.

 

A Vacation Day

Took today as a vacation day.  I spent most of the day sewing...perfect.  I am working on the second camping quilt.  Made out of the same homespuns that the first quilt is made out of, this will be a bit smaller and will be used as a nap quilt.  I finished 2 and a half blocks today!  They are sewn onto the paper pattern.  Pete kept me company.

Also started the sewing on a little, tiny quilt that has retro fabrics in it.  The little block in the forground is 2 inches square.  This mini quilt will have yo-yo's on it as well as some hand embroidery.

What a wonderful fall vacation day!

 

Time Flies/Stands still

Life without Mom.


We did go camping one last time for the year in September.  It was perfect.
My happy camper.

Finished the wool felt table centerpiece.

Close up of one section.

Also started and completed a little embroidery project...don't have a finished photo yet.

Got together with my craft group-only 3 of us made it.

And the faithful friend remains...

 

 

 

Camping & Crafting!

Had a wonderful 3 day weekend camping in southern Minnesota.  Great weather, perfect company, excellent lodging and tons of activities! Our little home away from home....

Also saw a bunch of these little floating houses/cabins/cottages-wouldn't these be fun to have as a retreat???

Had some time to read and complete that wool project I have been working on forever!

Actually I have to put a backing of some kind on it and then it will be done after a good pressing.  But here it is!

Also started another project out of felt- supposed to be out of wool felt but I have tons of the regular felt so this little candle mat will be out of regular felt.  I cut these pieces and did the initial hand sewing on them this weekend.

Well, that's the update from a great weekend!

                                                                         

Surprised It's Been So Long

Time does pass quickly...I have been working on many things.  Counted cross stitch at work, wool felt table centerpiece, made curtains for the deck, already had to repair them in less than a week and who knows what else...

Today was a fun day inspired and planned by Michael. The day started with a wonderful rain with a bit of thunder and lightening.  Then breakfast at Perkins.  Drove north to St Cloud and went to Grubers Quilt store, more north to Alexandria and went to the Ben Franklin Crafts and Debbies Quilts and then had lunch at Lake Carlos State Park.  Made a second stop at Ben Frankin too....

I have a photo of my purchases today!

At Grubers I found some Minnesota fabric to back the 2nd camping quilt I am working on, a piece of fabric for a pillowcase and a bar of Minnesota soap that says "Hand Crafted by Ludefisk-Loving Hands in Glenville MN, there is even a state of Minnesota shape in the middle of the soap!  On to Ben Franklin Crafts where I found some different colors of felt, a piece of onion fabric and 3 pieces of fabric for pillowcases.  At store shared by the Debbies Quilts there was this little handmade all wool doll.  It had been $12.00 marked to $6.00 and I got it for $3.00 (for a little neighbor girl).  On our way back through Alexandria we stopped again at the Ben Franklin and I found the striped fabric that I will make into awnings for our trailer windows and the bag of lovely green buttons that was too good a price to pass up!  Fun shopping!

I also finished a small friendship book that has been mailed to a dear friend.  Here is the cover.

I had so much fun figuring out to to make this book and using only things that I had from home.  The key on the front is from the suitcases I was given for my 18th birthday and the cording hanging down from the flower is candle wick that I had from when I was making sand candles in the 70's.  Fun to use some of the treasures that have been saved.  I will show you the rest of the book next time.

Bits and Pieces

I do somehow manage to get some creative time in every several days but finished projects are few and far between...I am working on a counted cross stitch sampler at work during my lunch break.  That wool table scarfI have been working on  has had some leaves and stiches added, went to Archivers this week with my craft group and started a chipboard book for a friend.  No photos of any of those things!  Oh, I also have a curtain partially sewn for our deck.
Today we took a drive to Hibbing to celebrate our sons birthday and on the way I did make some yo yo's and have a photo!

And a couple really cute photos of that furry friend...

Camping again...

A wonderful weekend camping in Minnesota!  High water on the St. Croix River and my 2 mile hike had some deadends where the river covered the path!

None-the-less it was a wonderful hike and the high water made it interesting.

The forest was lush with undergrowth.

Our little home on wheels served us well as always. We gave 4 tours this weekend!

I also found a bit of time to work on my wool project-

Just have the stems and leaves to put on and then finish the back somehow.  There are 8 of these baskets in all and each is a different color basket and floweres with 8 leaves.

                                                                       



Memorial Day

On Saturday I was able to sew up the curtains for Michael's den.  Just a simple valance with some muslin lining.   There are two windows the same size,

The toughest part was Pete....

Sunday was a trip to Duluth to visit my Mom and other family so some more
yo yo's were stitched.  There is more daylight now so got more made on the drive.  I think that we did about 9 hours of driving today as we ran into a huge storm this evening and had to pull over twice as we couldn't see the lines on the road in front of us.

My drawer of red scraps is pretty empty now!

This little set of storage drawers actually has 4 drawers. The next one down holds the little scraps of blues and purples.  As you can see this one has a bunch of fabric that can be used for more yo yo's.

Monday was spent doing folding clothes, some cleaning and ironing.  Oh, I also got the backyard grass mowed and will go to my quilt guild meeting this evening.

Boy these 3 day weekends go fast....



Craft Group & Camping

Thursday evening was a wonderful night with my craft group!  This time we were treated to a group craft taught by my good friend Carol.  She had found a wonderful card to make that included paper folding.  At the end of the evening we had each made one or two interesting cards.  Here are the finished ones.

I hope to spend an evening and make a bunch of these using some of my many scrap book papers and try some other mediums as well as I love how these turned out!

Friday after work we headed out camping for our second time this year.  We are in our 6th year of owning our little trailer and it is so cosy and fun!  We had some weather on Friday and Saturday of 87 degrees so it was quite warm as well as very windy!

I brought along some projects to work on and make repairs on and ended up making a few extra items.  Here are the finished projects on the trailer table.

We had a visitor in our campsite on Saturday who stayed for quite a while...visited the trailer kitchen and took a peek inside my shoe.

It was another memorable weekend.

Another day in paradise...

Honestly, any day that I wake up and realize I have another chance

to "get it right" truely is a day in paradise!

I am a bit behind again in my blogging but another trip to Duluth

 and a few more yo yo's made.

(My scrap drawer of pinks and reds is getting quite cleaned out!)

Have done a little sprucing up too.  This birdhouse was purchased at a thrift store and I used it last summer outside.  When it came time to put things away for the summer it looked a bit tired so I have just given it a new coat of paint.  It looks a bit Swedish!

This birdhouse is another thrift store find and hasn't been used yet.  It was all green (and not a very good paint job) so it is getting a coat of my favorite color- White!!

Another Trip to Duluth

It was a little longer than our normal one and included an overnight stay so a few more yo yo's were made....

It is easy to see which drawer of scraps I had pulled from for this color range...

First Camping Weekend 2012

Headed out of town Friday after work and had a wonderful, cool weekend of camping!

You can see my new walking stick in the photo.  I was able to use it on a hike that was a couple of miles through forest, by the St. Croix River and on leaf covered paths.

Not a lot of leaves on the trees yet but the trillium were out in full bloom!

It was a great weekend and I even made some yo yo's!

Seems as if the road less traveled does make all of the difference....

                                                                     

Trying to come back...

On my numerous trips on the road to visit my mother (it is a 3 hour drive one way) I have been making yo yo's.  I also have gotten together once with my craft group since Christimas.  Right now it is hard to concentrate and the yo yo's are easy to do.  So here is what I have done lately.


Working on my knee in the car....

The best cat ever...resting on the often used prayer shawl...(we both use it!)

These were the yo yo's I made while with my craft group...

Another car trip of 6 hours...

I wonder how many of these I will need to make a quilt of any size????

Plans change....

"If you want to hear God laugh-tell him your plans."

My mother had a stroke on January 26 and life changed...

Yesterday was the first time I had done anything creative since before the stoke...I went back to an easy, comfortable hand sewing project from a long time ago...yo-yos.  I had a small pile of fabric set aside from cutting blocks for church quilts, then couldn't find the forms for sewing the yo-yos.  Finally, found them and was able to sew a bunch up on the drive to Duluth yesterday.

End of the week

Have done some more cutting as well as worked on the little counted cross stitch from Christmas.

Guess who?