Craft Camp

A month or so ago Ellen and I had the opportunity to attend a women's craft retreat in the Texas Hill Country. I can't rave enough about it. It was set at her summer camp, but we got to be in a more grown-up friendly area of the camp. All of our meals were provided and we had access to a big room set with tables, outlets, etc.

The women we met from all over the state were truly amazing, hilarious and full of life. There were about 20 women who did everything from scrapbooking to quilting to beading to painting.

Ellen beaded

 

 

 

 

 

And she made a Valentine's wreath

 

 

 

 

And a few wreath pieces were fashioned into a barette

 

 

I worked on a long-time UFO.... a Karen Stone pattern that I have fallen in love with all over again. It was really nice being able to spread everything out to see what I had done and so I could ensure a good variety in colors and block patterns.

 

 

 

 

They are hoping to make this an annual event and Ellen and I are definitely going to be first in line to make reservations next year.

Hello March!

I have been away from blogging for awhile because my family needed every bit of extra time for the last couple of months, but I'm hoping to get back on the horse and rejoin the blogosphere! The next few posts will take care of some catching up.

 A while back one of my favorite catalogs was running a sale on light weight cardigans that I thought would be perfect for embellishing. So far*, I've only finished my daughter's. She picked out the pattern and the colors. I used a water soluable stabalizer to stitch through, and I think it turned out pretty cute.

 

 

I also wanted to show off this bracelet that Ellen made. She's been tearing out photos of jewelry from some of our favorite catalogs as inspiration and recently came up with this using new beads, old beads, bits of broken jewelry and even an earring. I absolutely love it and have put in an order for one soon!

 

 

*Note to Nicole: It's not to late to return your un-embellished cardigan for some decorating! :)

One more new start

I've started a new cross stitch pattern this week - another one from my friend that I received for Christmas. We have flocks of red headed parrots in my neighborhood that make a huge ruckus squaking each dawn and dusk as they feed. So I am a huge fan of parrot patterns.

What I'm working on Wednesday

I've started another Bonnie Hunter quilt: Crabapples! This is my absolute favorite pattern and I love working on it.

A new year of crafting

I've kind of been all over the place-crafting wise. I've finished a quilt top designed by Bonnie Hunter:

I also completed cross stitching a pattern that my best friend gave me for Christmas (one of three from my wish list - yea!)

Do you see the mistake in the pattern? I didn't realize it was missing an "F" in the first row until I got to the F. By then it was too late because if you pull out that silk thread it leaves so many tiny bits in it that you can never get them out. And if I inserted it, it was going to throw off the line up of it all. So I just forged ahead and will count it as handmade quirk. :)

Christmas Quilting

Now that my family has received their Christmas gifts, I can post the two quilts I made.

Five years ago (wow) I gave my brother and sister-in-law a set of monthly seasonal wall hangings -- minus the November and December that I didn't get finished on time. I figured I had 10 months to finish those two, so no sweat.

Life intervened, and it took about 4 (?) years to give them the November. I wasn't wild about the December pattern, so I finally redesigned it this year and got it to them by mid-December. Yea! Complete set!

The triumph is somewhat dampened by the fact that I still have the December and January wall hangings to complete for myself.

I made a quilt for my mom for Christmas. I really loved how it turned out. I embroidered the center blocks, then used them for a class I took at the local quilt shop some years ago.  I then let them 'marinate' for the appropriate amount of time before setting them in the coordinating fabric I had managed to not cut into and finished it in the summer - hallelujah! - well before Christmas, so that hand-made gift was stress-free.

Handsome quilt holder!



Mom is still debating on whether she will hang the quilt or continue to snuggle under it. I'm glad she likes it!!!

Lola definitely had the Christmas spirit:

Patrick won't let her wear the sweater outside because he thinks she'll get picked on by the neighborhood dogs.

Belated Christmas Posting

I finished this ornament before the holidays, but didn't get a chance to post it. I really loved how it turned out. I found the pattern free online somewhere. My daughter started it sometime earlier this year and I finished stitching it up and finished it with some felted wool and chenille trim.