Happy New Year's Eve eve

Well, one holiday down and one more to go!  What a whirlwind time it was leading up to it!  My kids and their kids came over Christmas Eve.  The little grandkids (5, 3, and 2) had a blast and were excited beyond description.  Then Christmas day hubby and I exchanged gifts and just had a nice quiet day.  Then Thursday my son came back over with his daughter (she lives in Florida) so we had another nice day of visiting and telling stories and laughing a lot.  Then Saturday my step-daughter, her son and her daughter came over to exchange gifts.  We opted to go to Hot Dog Heaven instead of cooking more!  :)

I belong to a Small Quilts Group online and we had a Secret Santa swap this year.  These are pictures of the gifts I received.  The basket was hand made.  Don't you just love the candy cane fabric!

I made 19 of these little felt gingerbread men as gifts!  Aren't they adorable!

 

I made these two yo yo Christmas trees as gifts to different people.

 



 



I did these cross stitch pin keeps for a friend.  She also got the bowl and one of the yo yo trees above!  These were quick and fun to make!

Two of my Christmas trees.  The quilt was a gift to me.

I made this about 2 years ago or so.  This year I made four of them - one for each of my kids and their families. 

I had thought I would take a nice long break from "crafting"  - at least until the middle or end of January but already I'm itching to do some quilting and/or cross stitch and whatever else comes to mind.  The Small Quilt Talk group's January small quilt challenge is a bear claw quilt and I just might tackle that.  I want to start a Jane Harris sampler which is huge so it will be a while before it's finished.  I'm going to put one of my rugs on the frame with the hopes of finishing it soon as I've three that I've started but not finished hooking not to mention binding, etc.  I've signed up for two hook-ins - one in April in Amish Country (Ohio) and the other in May in Chagrin Falls (Ohio) sponsored by the Western Reserve Rug Hooking guild.  My friend, Sharon, and I are planning to check out a local quilt guild and possibly join it.  I'm actually thankful for the upcoming cold weather so I won't be tempted to be zipping around here and there instead of crafting!  I already have a couple of ideas for Christmas gifts next year but I just might have to go and buy some more fat quarters more in the colors I'd like to so them in.

I hope you have a very healthy and Happy New Year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Char


How is everyone else doing?  Are you tired of crafting and need a break?  Are you already ready to pick up something to do?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends!  I had an enjoyable Christmas (pictures to follow in the next day or so).  But I am very glad it's all over!  I need to plan better next year because I sure don't want to be this pressed for time again!  And I think I need to rethink what all I bake and cook - there are a lot of left overs of everything.  Tomorrow we'll be freezing the left over ham because there is no way the two of us will eat what is left over. 

I hope you all had a blessed Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!

Char

A little of this and a little of that!

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here!  Wow!  Time flies!  I've been a busy crafting girl for sure.  I made this small maple leaf table runner as part of the October Challenge for SmallQuiltTalk group.

I also finally finished a punch needle project that I was working on.  I've decided I don't like the ribbon and will be removing it and replacing it with twine.

 

I've been doing some cross stitch for a Christmas gift.  But I can't show pics of those yet.  I am working on some Christmas decorations which are also Christmas gifts.  And I joined a Secret Santa swap with the small quilt group and have been working on a gift for that.

Lucky for me that all of these are pretty transportable because I've spent a lot of time sitting at the hospital while my husband had a heart cath.  Then a week later we went to the ER because he was in atril fibrillation.  Then a week after that he had a colonoscopy.  Then a week after the colonoscopy he had to have iron administered IV and we were there for over 6 hours.  So with all of this sitting around waiting I've gotten a lot done.  I will be posting pictures after the holidays.

Today we got up to a dusting - okay maybe a tad more than a dusting - of snow.  I'm going to make a pot of chili for dinner and hunker down the rest of the day working on Christmas gifts!  Yay!

Hope you all are have a good day.

Thanks for stopping by and please come again!

Char

FINALLY!!!! My craft is all reorganized...

...for now!  I'm sure I'll have to tweak it as I go along but for now I can actually find things!  Yay!

Here are some after pictures!

This what the wall and area rug look like.  I also replaced all the white plug covers and switch plates to an antique black.

This was as I started putting the furniture back in...

This is my sewing area.  My hubby took two metal file cabinets and attacked a countertop to them.  Lots of room to work on.

I took all my fabric out of plastic containers and placed it in the pantry that I had in my craft room.  The top shelf is fabric for projects I want to do such as making rag quilts for the boys, some pillow cases, and a lap quilt for my daughter.  I was amazed at the fabric that I had!  The next two shelves are fat quarters, charms, 10inch fabrics as well as 1/2 yard or yard cuts.  I also have some seasonal fabric on the third shelf.  The bottom shelf is holding my muslin and batting.

Here is my sewing table all set up ready to go!

This is my work area.  This is where I cut fabric or whatever craft I happen to be working on that I can't take out to the living room and work on it in my chair such as bracelets, cards, etc.

This is my rug hooking corner.  The top cabinet has scraps of wool, packets of dye, a dye book and a stripper for rag rugs.  The bottom shelf holds larger pieces of wool, linen, and patterns.

This is my big rug hooking frame from Ault's.  Another thing I found as I was cleaning this room was that I have plenty of patterns already on linen as well as the wool to practically complete the project!!! Again - I had no idea I had so much!!!!

This is the closet in my craft room.  It holds my cross stitch and punch needle supplies.  The top shelf is a little of this and a little of that such as extra toilet paper, paper towels, Christmas cards, etc.  The second shelf is the punch needle supplies as well as yo yo's that have been made - just need to make more to finish a project.  The third and fourth shelves are my cross stitch supplies - floss, aida, etc.  The bottom of the closet is my quilting projects that just need to be quilted.

So, after I got this project finished I took a couple of days to dust, vacuum and mop floors in my house.  Then I went on a road trip with a friend and her daughters to a fabric shob.  Of course, I had no intentions of buying any fabric while there but some of the fat quarters just leaped into my arms!  LOL!  Then I just HAD to have 1/2 yard of two different fabrics.  And while I was there I saw many more civil war fabrics that I'd just love to have at a later date!  After that hubby and I went to Amish country here in Ohio where I bought swag valances for my craft room (I'll post pictures of that once I get them hung), some potpourri for my living room and craft room, and some other little odds and ends. 

Now I'm ready to start working on something.  However, I have a punch needle project that I'm sooo close to having finished punching so I think I'll do that before moving on to a small quilt.  I bought a kit a year ago and I think I'd like to tackle that so I can hang it in my living room.  I have a fall quilt that needs to be quilted but it's still been too warm to be quilting something that big so I'd like to get the smaller quilt done and up.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you've enjoyed my journey of reorganization!  I threw out bags of junk, took boxes of things to the goodwill and still have a ton of stuff left!  :) 

Take care and have a great evening!

WOW! Re-organizing my craft room was a bigger task than I imagined it to be!

I have finally started working on my craft room.  And what a monumental task that has turned out to be!  I started with removing everything from the room.  Hubby and I took up the carpet.  Then cleaned the walls and painted them.  Now I'm in the process of sorting through everything and trying to organize my room in a way that makes sense!  I'm hoping to have one area for my sewing/quilting supplies, one area for my rug hooking/rug making supplies, and one are for my needlework/cross stitch/punch needle supplies...not so sure that's really going to be able to happen!  Wow!  I have a LOT of "stuff"! 

Here are some of the before pictures!!!  This room is located off the kitchen and tends to be the catch all room for everything.  And while I was working I was just too tired to keep trying to straighten it up.  The room is 10 x 10 and believe me - it had a lot of stuff crammed in it!!!!

 This is where I put some of the stuff from my craft room.  I also put some of the stuff in the office and in the kitchen!!!  YIKES! 

Here are some pictures of the room emptied...

 The closet will be worked on as I start replacing "stuff" back in the room.

 The color on the wall is called "Evening Stroll" sometimes it looks blue like this and sometimes it looks like it has more green in the blue.

The area rug that I put down instead of the thick carpet.

So, that's it for now.  Stay tuned for more pictures once I get it put back together.  I spent most of yesterday going through my plastic containers of fabric.  WOW!  I had a lot of fabric, some of it is dedicated to a quilt project but most of it is fabric I had left over or that I bought.  A lot of it I don't remember even buying or why!!! LOL!

Hope you're having a great day!  Stop back when you get a chance!

Char

Mixed emotions

As most of you know - I retired from work this past Friday (August 2).  I was so excited and happy when I got up that morning.  Then on my way to work I remembered to turn on my personal cell phone and got the special ring that I had a message.  So I drove on into work thinking it was my sister calling to be the first to congratulate on retiring.  When I parked my car I listened to my message and it was her husband telling me that she had died at 1:30 Friday morning.  No explanation of why or what happened...    Even though I'd been expecting it as she had been having heart problems since she was 30 and in 2000 she had by-pass surgery that she just never completely bounced back from.  Over the past 3 weeks she was calling and telling me about the problems she was having and I was encouraging her to get to the doctor.  Well, apparently she passed out at home, her husband called 911, they took her to the hospital around 11:30 Thursday night and she died at 1:30 in the morning.  Her husband had opted to go home when they told him she still hadn't regain consciousness.  So we'll be heading down for a celebration of her life.  So...mixed emotions - I'm happy to be retired but sad that she's gone.  She was only 57 years old...

Rain, rain, and more rain plus a little of this and a little of that!

We had more storms roll across the area today.  About 20 minutes before I left work to come home (only 16 more days 'til I retire!!!) we had a tornado warning, the sky was so black and the rain just came down in sheets so I stayed.  We had no ac today at work so as the day wore on it got hotter and stuffier and downright draining in there.  So I was anxiously waiting until I could leave and then that happened.

 Back in the spring when I was working on the front yard gardens my helpers came over.  Dominic (one of my grandsons) takes his job seriously and was just having a field day with the garden fork while Little Miss Juleigha (my great granddaughter) just walked back and forth.  Dominic was also very busy stomping on ants that he found in my garden.

 This is a dogwood tree that I planted in memory of my mom.  She loved dogwood trees and this year it bloomed like crazy.  I want to get a pink dogwood next hear and plant it close to this one.  This is part of my back yard.

 This is my hydrangea bush.  I guess with all the rain and the cooler temps at night at the beginning of spring made it bloom like this.  However, the weeds I just can't get rid of.  We spend hours pulling and pulling until it's practically bare and then it rains and before you know it they look like this.  This only takes about a week to look this way.  These weeds come up very easily but have a long runner on them.  I don't know what to do to kill them without hurting the hydrangea.  We also have a tree growing up inside the hydrangea.  It's very frustrating!

And here is my handsome little Dominic.  He had to smell the flowers then told me that my flowers were bootiful!

I have been doing some punch needle...duh!  Should have taken a pic of my progress...oh well - I'll show the finished product.  :)

Hope that those of you that might have been adversely affected by all the storms across Ohio are okay and didn't suffer too much damage!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Char

Say what? Bloglovin? What the heck is that?

I've been reading on a few of the blogs that I follow that they were notifed by Google that Google will no longer support their blogs.  To my knowledge I never received any type of notice like that.  So I'm posting with my usual blogspot to see what will happen (and today is July 1). 

Any hoo - my summer has gone by pretty fast.  I haven't gotten a lot of crafting done - well not as much as I have wanted to get done - mostly because I'm just being lazy.

It's hard to believe that just one more month of work!  It feels kind of surreal and I find myself on the weekends wondering if I'll really keep myself busy or fall into a bad fit of the lazies?  I know the first thing on my list of absolutely have to do...CLEAN AND ORGANIZE MY CRAFT ROOM!!!!!   I plan to move every thing out of there, pull up the carpet (it's way to thick and hard to roll across when I'm sewing), put down an area rug (I saw one at Lowe's that I just love), and then put everything back all neat an orderly.  I figure that will take up the first year of retirement!  LOL!

Sorry no pictures... 

What a difference a day makes!

It was so nice when I left for work this morning.  I looked longingly at the chair on the front porch and wished I had time to sit and have my coffee out there.  Soon....  :)

My hubby informed me that we have hummingbirds!  Yay!  They were at the feeder in the back yard.  I was hoping they would be attracted to a feeder in the front yard but it might be too hot there as it gets full sun all the time.  So last night I removed it, cleaned it and will probably put it up in the backyard as well.  One can never have too many hummingbirds!  :)

I've decided to take Friday off so I can work in my garden, help my daughter with the graduation party list and just enjoy the weather!

Sorry there are no pictures - for some reason my computer is very slow in uploading pictures so I have to do it when I know I have lots of time to "play" with it.  I have more pictures of my fairy garden and pictures of my granddaughter before prom and I'll have pictures of my front garden this weekend.  Then it will be back around to the back to finish back there.  Never a dull moment in my life but not as exciting well maybe eventful as Julia's of Petals and Wool!  That woman is always on the go and has such interesting stories! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Char

Gardening and this is just the beginning!

Below are some pictures I took of the garden under my tree - that is going to become my fairy garden.  The fifth picture down shows the front of the tree after.  For some reason I'm having  a hard time labeling my pictures tonight.  So, I think I'll stop for now and post more stuff another day.

We still have the gardens up against the house to work on, the side garden, and I still need to clean up my hydrangea.  Then it's on to the front yard.  But in looking at the weeds growing up as I drove into my driveway it just might be the front garden next!



 

 

This is the front of the tree before.

 

 



This is the west side of the tree - before.

This is the back of the tree before.

This is the east side of the tree after.




 
This is the back side of the tree looking south.

This is the west side of the tree - see my little garden fairy?


 

Another view of the west side of the tree after.




 Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

Char



You know the old saying "My eyes are bigger than my stomach"...well...what do you say when...

...your eyes are bigger than you crafting speed?  I guess that's what you'd say.  I have been busy making a baby quilt, trying to fit in a little cross stitch (and not having much luck) and preparing to go to a rug hook-in this coming Saturday (April 20) down in Amish country.

This is the fabric of the baby quilt I'm working on.  I'm actually hand quilting it now and that part is almost finished.  I did not add the zig zag fabric, though.

This is a book from Kathleen Tracy that I bought because my friend started making these small quilts and putting them on her end tables and I love them so of course I had to get the book!

This is another one of Kathleen Tracy's books.  Again - loved the patterns in it - had to have it - just had to!

Then while I was purchasing the two books above, of course Amazon had to add the "people who ordered these books also ordered...." and this was another book I bought.  It's by Alice Berg, Mary Ellen Von Holt, and Sylvia Johnson. 

So, while I'm quilting I'm thinking I need to go buy some civil war fabric and I need to buy some 30's fabric, and, and, and.  

And I'm thinking I need to not do anything more with rug hooking for a while.  Then I get the newest issue of Primitive Quilts and projects and they have a rug in there called "Down Home" that I feel I just must make!  But I told myself that I would not buy any wool this weekend at the hook-in.  Then in the same thought I was hoping this one vendor (can't remember the name) that was there last time would be here again.  They had some really cool cabinets, drawers, etc.  The drawers are perfect for wool dye.  WHAT?!  I don't have time to dye! 

So - see what I mean by "my eyes are bigger than the speed I craft"?!

I'll post a picture of the finished quilt.

Hope you all have had a good week so far!  Thanks for stopping by!

Char