, ,

Fun Filled Day

, ,

I hope you had a great weekend. We had a busy but very fun filled Sunday that started with strawberry shortcake!After lunch P had her Twinkle Cupcake Recital (five versions of Twinkle on the cello and cupcakes for an after treat).

We did a little tree planting - and look, short sleeves!

The day ended with a walk in the woods.

I think we may have scared the fairies but I am pretty sure there were some there.

It does seem like just the sort of place for woodland fairies.

Don't you think?

I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Solos and Snacks

Whew. I'm glad the weekend is here!

M played his concerto beautifully at the concert on Wednesday and received a standing ovation! I am really glad that we ordered a DVD of the event.

P had her kindergarten concert  on Thursday. It was pretty fun to watch. Kindergartners can be very wiggly. I think it is a good thing that they worked in a lot of hand motions with the songs.

Tomorrow P will have her "Twinkle Cupcake Party." She has learned to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with five different bowings on the cello. She is giving a little recital and there will be "after snacks." P has informed us that her favorite kind of concert is the kind with after snacks. The concerto concert had an after reception, the kindergarten concert did NOT. We had to get our own after snacks after her performance on Thursday. SO, today we will make cupcakes.

Have a great weekend and I hope you can fit in some crafting fun or something that you WANT to do.

, ,

Merry May

, ,

We had a great weekend. It was finally warmish and we spent a bit of time outside and saw lots of signs of spring. Our bloodroot is in full bloom. The redbuds have a tiny hint of red and forsythia are blooming. We have several kinds of daffodils blooming all around the yard and lots of grape hyacinth.

The frogs are making noise in the wetlands.

We have plants coming up in the herb garden. Rhubarb and parsley are making a good show.

We also spent some time pulling up garlic mustard, an invasive weed which has gotten started in a few areas on our property. We pull it each year before it goes to seed. Hopefully we can eliminate it.

Now I need to gear up for the business that is May. We are always busy with planting and weeding and general outdoor activities that have been neglected during the colder months. Everything grows so fast that it is hard to feel caught up with it all.

May is also full of end of year school activities and will be even busier this year with M's graduation. The first of the senior activities will be the Concerto Concert this Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it.  This year there will be thirteen performers. A few will play with the full orchestra back up. It always a great show and I love watching the kids who I have known since they were in Kindergarten or even preschool. P is also having her first concert this week, the Kindergarten spring concert.

I hope I can fit in some sewing and crafting time this month.

,

Nine-to-Five

,

Also finished this week was the mate to Adele's Nine to Five sock.
Pattern: Nine-to-Five by Nicole Hindes

Yarn: Supersock Select by Cherry Tree Hill 100% Superwash Merino
Color: Moody BluesNeedles: 2.5 mm

The pattern was easy to follow and fits great. I like cable detail that flows down the heel flap.

And look, those are grape hyacinths in the background. Spring is springing!!

Hooked

I got hooked on a new project. I was looking for something in the sewing room last week and found a basket of cotton yarn.

I had been planning to make some potholders, so, I started and then couldn't stop until I had used up the whole basket of yarn.  A couple of these will be going to the kindergarten wing of P's school. When I was there making Little Red Hen Bread with them I noticed that they didn't have any pot holders and I had to use my sweatshirt to carry the hot pan from the oven all way back the to the classroom. Luckily I had another shirt on under it!

Cleaning up the slow way.

Now, if I could just remember what I was looking for when I found that basket of yarn... 

,

Happiness

,

Things that are making me happy this week:
a warm sunny day,

daffodils finally opening and other signs of spring, family at home,

onions in the ground, pea sprouts, and other garden growings, family fun with eggs,

drawings by P,

grocery lists with items like "emenems", "londry sope", "toylet papr", and "joose".

What is making you happy?  

String Stars

It is still cold, cloudy, and rainy so here's a burst of color for you.

This quilt is inspired by old string quilts.

I made this quilt top while at my retreat a few weeks ago. I used the same technique that I used to make this quilt and this one.  The basic idea is to sew pieces together until there is a chunk large enough to cut the shape needed for the quilt design. For this quilt I started with a narrow strip of orange and added strips to either side until I could cut out a diamond piece for the star. When cutting the diamonds I made sure that the orange strip positioned the same in each one.

This was a good "use the fabrics" quilt. The sashing width was determined by the about of green fabric that I had. I also used all of that blue that I had for the background.

The binding is the same fabric as the ring in the stars. The back is a pretty purple print.

The quilt measures 42 inches by 42 inches.

Snow and a UFO

I have been progressing on a number of projects both knitting and sewing. The  quilt I started at retreat a few weeks ago is almost finished. I made the top while at retreat and have been working on the quilting in small spurts. I am eager to show that one to you. The lighting isn't good for photography today anyway.

This is what I saw from my front door this morning. Yes, it has been snowing all morning. Isn't it April?

I also pulled out a long buried UFO and did some quilting on it. I'm trying to decide if it needs more. Well, actually I quilted it twice. I wasn't happy with the first quilting so I picked it all out. Good thing it's a small quilt.

I made the top about ten years ago using the pattern Harmonic Convergence by Ricky Timms. The top is made from one piece of hand dyed fabric. 

Lady Bugs!

The spring session of after school art club started this week. It has grown so that I now teach two classes! We are doing some spring themed art. For this three week project they made butterflies, birds, flowers, and lady bugs! I just had to show you these cute lady bugs. I love how they are so different, yet the same.

They drew them on mat board and then covered the lines with glue gel. Next week they will paint the whole board one color. Week three we will put black shoe polish over them.

Trust me, they'll look great.

We also started another project with watercolors. Busy. Busy.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

If you ever find yourself near Dover, Ohio, you MUST take the time to visit the Warther Museum. Freida Warther collected buttons while her husband, "Mooney" created ebony, ivory, and walnut carvings of trains. The incredible carvings are on display in the museum and there is a "button house" that holds over 73,000 buttons from Freida's collection.

She created beautiful display panels to show off her collection.

I love how she sorted them by color, size, and type.

The center button in this star is from Mrs. Lincoln's inaugural dress.

So. Many. Buttons.

These are all bakelite.

She created this panel from novelty buttons and cracker jack prizes.Y

our head will be spinning after a visit to the button house.

You can read more about Freida here.

,

Lavender Quinault

,

This week I got a package from A that had the second of these fingerless mitts.

The pattern for these is Quinault by Marjorie Walter. It was an easy to memorize pattern for elegant looking mitts. I love the braided look to the ribbing and plan to make a pair of socks with the same rib pattern.

The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll in color Twinkle Heather.  It is really soft after blocking. I think these mitts turned out really great. Thanks A.

I've started on the second of a pair of socks for her. I'll let you know when that is finished.

Pieced Points

The project I worked on at retreat last weekend involves blocks where eight points come together at the same place.

I used a hand piecing technique that gives a flat look to the front and avoids a lump of seam allowances all going the same way on the back.

To do this you sew the seam on the machine but stop at the place where the two seam lines  intersect on each piece leaving the tip of the piece unsewn. When all pieces are sewn together press all of the seams clockwise (or counter clockwise). The important part is that they all go the same way around the circle. The points of each piece will make a star pattern. A little fussing with the points may be necessary when pressing.

The resulting flat block is well worth the extra effort. 

Instagram Photos

I finished the Dala Sweater and couldn’t be happier with it! The pattern is #dalasweater by @elenormortensen. More details on my ravelry page. #knitter #strandedknitting #operationsweaterchest #handknitsweater #makersvillage #makersgonnamake
I started this sweater on our car trip last week. I had chosen a different yarn for the horses but it was thinner and didn’t work well with the blue. I frogged the few rows I had knit and subbed in some yarn from my stash when I got home. The y
Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts