My First Love

Oh Painting...how I've missed you.... *smooch!*

I've been a painting walls lately. My bedroom and bathroom walls to be exact, and that's not what I'm talking about here.  Before I sewed, before I quilted, I painted. It was and still is my first love. I just don't have much time for it these days.

This is what I worked on today.

It's a box my grandfather made for me years and years ago. It's not out of really good lumber, just what he had on hand, but it's solid and made with love. I don't remember exactly what precipitated this box building, but I think I made a comment about needing a magazine holder or something like that.

My grandfather was known to keep everything he ever owned, and bringing home anything he found. He might have invented the term "dumpster diving" but there were no dumpsters in the country where he lived. So, we would have to say he "gravel pit swimming"  or maybe "garbage pile poaching".. what a man! He once built a storage house made completely from discarded shower doors and tin. He was a genius and family folks just laughed at him. My family and I still get a kick out of mentioning it and he's been in heaven since 1997.

I stained the box at first. After all, everything else in my house at that time was stained wood. Ugh. How dreary was that? And after all these years, I decided to paint it to match my bedroom wall color. Wanna know where I got my inspiration? Bet you'll never guess...well that is unless you are a collector of Puffs Plus boxes. Yep. That's right. A box of kleenex. They have some awesome designs and I plan to use a few more designs as inspiration for some wall art.  Until then...

...I'll enjoy my little water themed box that holds all kinds of neat things. Paper, notebooks, extra Bibles and other sundry items. This little trip back to my first love has awakened a heartfelt desire to paint more. Wish me luck!!

Linking up with Rock 'N Share at the Shady Porch and Minutes for Me at Crafty Sewing & Quilting.

Joy and Rapture!

After fighting this thing for a YEAR, I finally finished it yesterday.... Hallelujah!

I didn't piece the colored parts, just added most of the muslin. My cousin's grandmother started it and he asked me to finish it. I had to attach every circle to a center and to each other circle then quilt and bind it.

The vintage fabrics were really cool, but I don't think they will hold up to a washer, not to mention be colorfast. So, I am going to recommend he not wash it, but I do think it turned out pretty well considering I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started.

I think I can safely say that I will not try another wedding ring quilt in this lifetime. It might have been easier if I'd started it from scratch, but I don't want to try to piece all those little things to make a circle. Not my idea of fun.

I'm glad to have it finished, and I'm sure he'll be glad to have it back after waiting for a year. I just kept putting it aside because it just wasn't fun. Now that it's over, I'm glad I did it.

Pillow Finish

 It seems like forever since I actually finished a project.

I originally started out planning to add a bright yellow ruffle around the flower, but after much aggravation working with it, I threw that out. I'm thinking it looks better without it anyway and would have made it too busy. This way, you can really see the quilting and the rose.

I just took the orange fabric, cut it into strips, and twisted it in a circular pattern. I tacked it as I went and decided to add the green for the leaves as an afterthought. And because I wanted to make it unique, I added some little beads here and there.

I quilted the pillow itself in a circular pattern. I used a bowl as a starting point, and used a watercolor pencil to mark where I wanted the stitching to go. I sewed it together wrong side to wrong side, and added the green trim like quilt binding.  I'm very pleased at how it turned out and relieved that I finally finished it.

Linking up to Rock 'N Share at the Shady Porch!

Awards!

There is this really cool award running rampant in the blog world... And I've been awarded twice!!

First by lovely and talented Tanya at Frou Frou Britches.  She is a sweetheart and once (a short time ago) when she was a toddler, my mother baby sat her. She is a very gifted seamstress and you can tell by her blog posts that she adores her children and husband.

Secondly, by Marcia at Crafty Sewing & Quilting. She has been an inspiration to me and is a gifted designer and quilter. She is always teaching us something and her quilts are unbelievable!

I will confess a little something here....I have whittled down my blog reading considerably, due to the time it takes from other more important things. I try to keep up with those of you who have me on your blog roll though. Given that I don't keep up as much as I used to, I won't try to award anyone else because I'm sure it would duplicate recipients. I will however, endeavor to list some things about me. I've done that before, but some of you may be newer to reading my blog and won't know these things.

1. I'm a very short person. I barely reach 5'. I used to have an extra half inch, but time has sort of shaved that off. That's what aging will do to you!

2. I've been married to the same man for 35 years this May. Child bride....Ahem. I was 18, but we had been dating since I was 15. That sounds like we came from them thar hills doesn't it? I can't believe we've been together this long in this kind of world. We've had our ups and downs as everyone does, but I believe the best is yet to come!

3. I always dreamed of making a living painting and crafting. The choices I made didn't make that dream possible. It's ok. God is still in control and I'm content. I am having a little taste of it though, as a few folks are commissioning me to do a few things for them. It's nice, and there's no pressure.

4. I have two children and one grandchild. LeLe is my first and the light of my life, J is second and my joy. LMW is my heart and my whole world. LeLe shares this blog with me, but since the arrival of LMW almost 2 years ago, she does well to post once or twice a year. She does update her personal blog regularly though.

5. I've been sewing since I was probably 10 years old. First was just embroidery, and then in high school I learned how to use the sewing machine while taking Home Economics. It's not called that now. The one thing that sticks out in my mind that I created as a teenager, was a pair of tan jeans that I embroidered on. I put blue roses and rose buds on them, that I had drawn out myself. I was sooo proud of those jeans and my boyfriend then (not my husband) was sometimes heard to sing..."I've got a freaky old lady name of Cocaine Katy who embroideries on my jeans..." Anyone remember that song???

6. I have a bit of social anxiety and that's why blogging is such a wonderful thing for me. I get to interact with others who share my interests, without the fear. My Sunday School class and teacher might not agree on that, because I am pretty vocal in class. I feel comfortable there, and so I run at the mouth. I'm making up for lost time I suppose.

7. I started quilting a couple of years ago, and like with everyone else I know who quilts...it has become an obsession. I love the creation process and seeing how my designs play out. And I really love seeing the smiles on the faces of those who receive my quilts. It blesses me more than words can say.

There you have it. Thank you so much Tanya and Marcia for the award. It warms my heart to know I'm even noticed. You both ROCK!!

Wednesday Works in Progress

I've been a bit behind in my sewing, but am finally back on track. Here are two things in the works and I'm excited to see how they turn out.

These are the squares for my latest charity quilt I spoke of in my last post. I still have to machine applique them before I can put them together. I enjoy that process though, when I eventually figure out which stitch works and looks best. I spent some time yesterday experimenting on an extra square deciding what to do.

This will become a pillow for my bed. I've been wanting some fabric with bright yellow, orange and lime green in it, but realized I had scraps that would work for it. After some fiddling, I think I have the design I want to go with. I'm interested to see if it turns out the way I plan.

I'm linking up to Marcia's Minutes for Me and Rock 'N Share at the Shady Porch.

Rainbow Bricks Finish

I finally got this first NICU quilt of the year finished. I just couldn't find the time to work on it like I wished, but it's all done now.

I used a loopy stitch on the border to give it a little more personality. Not that it really needed any.

So, now I can move on to a new project. And I'm going to use the pattern I found here as inspiration. :) Can't wait!


Thanks Tonya for the beautiful fabric!

Pig Sooie Part Deux

I decided to add some kitchen towels to the pot holders I made. I took a little Me time Sunday afternoon and whipped them up.

I very much enjoyed doing this project and am thinking I might like to make more. Easy shower gifts eh?

If I could get some other big name team fabrics, I might just make some for fans of our rival teams.....well, I dunno about that.

Linking up with Marcia again with Minutes for Me!

Also linking up with The Shady Porch's Rock 'N Share!