English Paper Piecing Hexi

My English Paper Piecing Hexi Stripe block completed.  Surprising to me was how hard it was deciding where the place the hexes, in what order.  I think I just got frustrated and started sewing them together and realized it was not in the order I liked, but fixed it by putting different hexes on the bottom of the one I started with.  Another surprise was how much I enjoyed hand piecing and hand appliqué.

You can see with the fabric choices why it was hard to decide where to put what.  I'm still not happy about putting two reds together.  Oh well, no big deal.

I have a feeling I may be a little behind on these blocks. With summer coming the girls need me to be with them outdoors.  I am almost done with my next block, better get on it.  Until next time, I bid you all adieu!

The Artful Bird

My husband took the girls up North to help his family open the cabin for the season.  This gave me the perfect chance to try out the Wren pattern from Abigail's book, The Artful Bird.  I knew my first time around would not result in a perfect bird, but I have to admit flaws and all, I do like my little Wren a lot!

As I was taking pictures of the little Wren I was mesmerized by the wonderful aroma of my Lily of the Valley.  Just love that smell.

I hope to get the chance to make another one with more thought out fabric.  I was imagining a yellow with two shades of black and gray.

Thank you Abigail.  I hope to make some more birds from your book and get better at bending the wire for the feet.

For a first time go at it, I was rewarded, in my opinion, with nice results.

Have a good day, and may the song in your heart find expression through your creativity.

My Second Etsy Purchase

I was looking for some art print to put in our main bathroom.  I saw this print from Juri Ramanov here on Etsy and I thought it would be just perfect.  It arrived packaged well and the print was curled so I have been uncurling it for some time now.  I saw the perfect frame for it at the thrift store but it was $28.00, which was a lot of money for a thrift store frame.  If you donate items they give you a 20% off coupon so I didn't buy it.  Life got busy and I totally forgot about it.  When I went back to look for a helmet for Audrey I looked for it and of course it was gone. (boohoo) I had to settle for second best.  This frame below.  I do eventually plan on getting a different mat, but for now it will just look a little tacky-wacky, and that is ok.  I was thinking a green mat might look good. This frame cost $14.00 plus 20% off.

Below is a picture of just the owl without the tacky-wacky frame.

Is it or is it not Adorable!?  No wonder owls are so smart, they read all the time, even when they are relieving themselves of their bodily waste. (hehe).

Have a great day!

Works In Progress

I really wanted to post something this week, so I decided to post something I was working on. After making three faces I put this aside and now I can't remember what hook size I was using.  I'm sure I will figure it out.

Three heads are better than one.  I was having some issue making a head that looked good in her hair.

Her hair looks like a helmet, but a hat goes on top of it.  I still have to construct her other arm and decide which head she will have.  I am also working on my Craftsy block of the month too.  Scary how fast time is flying.

The weather has been a little unpredictable lately.  70's one day and 40's the next.  This day picture was taken on a warm day.  Audrey helped Sean pick dandelions.  She is so proud to be a good helper.  Every once in a while she likes to put on clothes she has outgrown.

When a snack attack happens, there is no time to wash hands.  As my father always said "you have to eat a pound of dirt before you die".  (my thoughts...if you eat a pound of dirt, you very well could die.)

 
My little Jamie's reading skills keep getting better and better.  She likes to read the dictionary from time to time.

A few really late Easter pics.  My husband is growing a huge garden this year.  I thought his green thumb was appropriate.

Lots of egg salad sandwiches will be eaten in April with me wondering why I only make egg salad sandwiches in April because they are so yummy.

Jamie finds a Golden egg with one hundred dollars inside.  No, I think it was a quarter.

Craftsy Broken Spider Web Block

I really like the scrappy look of this block.  I got the idea of doing one half in light scraps and the other in dark scraps from a book.  It is pleasing to my eyes.  The whole quilt would be neat because you would get a light colored spider web and a dark one too.  I finished it just in time!  Last day of the month.  Tomorrow new blocks.

My husband took this picture of my girls. Sort of has a spidery feel to it.

I better try and clean up my stash.  Fabric thrown everywhere.  I like browns, purples, blues and pastels.

Cup cozy and my big mouth

I spent most of my "craft time" this weekend crocheting a cup cozy for a coworker I hardly know because of my big mouth.  She saw my cup cozy on my desk and commented on it. Asking if I made it and how cute it was.  Well my ego was so appreciative of the compliment it made my mouth say some ridiculous thing like "would you like me to make you one?" I can tell you she didn't hesitate for one heartbeat to say YES.  I daresay I did not make haste in getting it done, but it started to nag in my conscience that I gave my word and I had better get it done.  So I whipped out my pattern and got going wondering why it was not turning out like the one I made for myself.  After struggling for awhile I realized I had incorporated what I liked from several patterns and did not at that time write the combined pattern down.  A lot of crocheting and then uncrocheting was going on this weekend (frustrating - as this was something I was just going whip up quickly - HA!).  She, (Jane) has a hoodie the color of the green in the cup and she looks rather good in it with her peaches and cream complexion. Well everyone knows this shade of green, which I will call Kiwi, goes very well with teal.  They compliment each other. I hope she likes (loves) it.  After making one for myself I realized I don't like the yarn too close to where I am drinking.  So that is why there is almost an inch of the cup exposed.

I feel guilty this cup cozy is not going to my sister.  I guess it will teach me to watch what I say when someone compliments my craftiness.  One good thing is that when I do make one for my sister I will probably crochet a line of teal on the bottom of the cup also.

The other goings on in my life are my girls.  Here are some photos of them growing up so fast.

All winter they talked about painting the sidewalk when it got warmer.

Starting some tomato seeds and saying hello to our friendly worms that aerate our soil.

We went to several thrift stores to find a used helmet, but wound up buying a brand new one so Audrey could try out her new bike with training wheels on it.

The entire family shared in this new milestone.  Is this considered a milestone?

It is one of my deepest wishes that my girls establish a close bond and will be there for each other throughout their lives.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Craftsy Block of the Month March

My first block for March, the String Block completed.  Made with foundation piecing.  So fun to sew.  I found some pre-cut fabric at Tuesday Morning and wonder how it would look on my string block.  When I finished the block, I thought, oh how interesting.  Then I put the block down and a little while later happened to look upon it and thought how happy the colors were.  I had extra fabric already cut up and I knew I didn't want to do the other foundation block with the same colors (why not, I'm not sure), so I decided to play with the extra fabric and came up with this doll.

The colors are happy to me.

Foundation pieced doll made from leftover fabric.  I became overly ambitious having her hold some beaded wire that spelled out Peace, but it gets lost and may be distracting, so I will probably get rid of the beaded wire. I tried different designs with the beads and still nothing.

I was lazy about her back. I am really enjoying this block of the month by Craftsy and Amy.  I am trying out new blocks that I may not have gotten around to trying for many years.  I feel I've accomplished something but am not committed to making an entire quilt.  I'm looking forward to trying out the next type of foundation block.  So much fun!!