Come Craft With Me...

Gathering of Friends

July 17th, 2010

Time: 10am

Where: The Gettysburg Homestead

The next date has been set for another prim friend/crafting gathering. This will be a day of crafting, new friendships, and what else... eating. This is open to anyone who would like to come. (My overseas or Canadian friends you are welcome too. LOL One of you told me you would bring Lamingtons.) Bring a friend if you don't like to travel alone. Don't have a project you are working on? That's OK come and socialize anyway and see what everyone else is up to. Maybe you will learn something new. Want to learn something specific? Let me know and I'll see if someone that is coming can help you or we'll figure it out together. The more the merrier or the tighter we'll be packed in my home. LOL. I have a new project I'm dying to start but I need a hooker to help me!!!! What???? NO not that kind of hooker a rug hooker. GEEEEEZZZZZ. LOL.

Please email me if you are coming so that I can give you my address. FYI I live in Wayne County Ohio if that helps! LOL. That and so I can plan to be sure I have enough seating.

Also please bring a snack to share. You know us ladies get us together with good friends and good food and we may never leave or get anything done. I'm telling you now I WILL talk your ear off in person.

My Projects Yet to Be...

You all know I am a trash picker at heart! Well, I happened to be driving home from the store the other day when I spotted some old pickets from a fence sticking out of the top of someone's trash can. This of course was on a main street here in town. LOL. I stopped and tried to pull them out but they were stuck. Grrrr.... now what I'm not gonna unload the trash just to get them out. So back in the car I went. I just couldn't stop thinking about them... I swear I heard them calling my name!!!!! Please don't let us go to the trash dump!!!! Seriously I know I heard that. I pull in the driveway and guess who is in front of me???? STEVE!!!!!! He'll do anything for me. He couldn't get out of the car fast enough for me. I told him to get in the car I needed his help. And he got in without a word. LOL. Around the corner we went to the pickets. He parked the car and got out. He couldn't pull them out either so he unloaded the trash and rescued these babies...

Fabulous I know you're jealous... I just have to let them dry out cuz they are really wet.



My next treasure Steve and I found a few houses down the street while we were out for a walk. I remarked how awesome it was and wondered why it was out for the trash. My son and his friends happened to be out riding bikes when I told him to go look at the chair and see what was wrong with it. So like a good boy he went and looked and reported that it was sturdy. Since we were walking I asked my son to go trash pickin and get it for me. LOL. He and his friends went and parked their bikes ran over and then carried it home and put it in the garage. Woohoo I've taught my son well!!! It needs a good cleaning and new seat cover. I think it'll work well for my computer instead of the folding chair I use now. There is a little piece of wood missing so maybe I'll paint it too.



Lastly, not a trash find but FREE!!!! I came home from work one night to find this sitting on my table next to the front door.



My Mom dropped it off because there was a hand written note on the inside..."Harland's bonnet". I know my Mom had an Uncle Harland but I'm not sure if it was on my Grandmother's side or my Grandfather's side. The one thing I can tell you it is over 100 years old!!!!! You should see the stitching on this bonnet. The one thing I noticed was there are 4 ties not 2. Hmmmm.... I have it hung over the little dress in my living room on my shelf. I was so excited!!!!

A little update... I hate talking about me but I've had several emails about how my doctor's appt went. My doctor seems to think I might have several herniated disks in my lower back. I had Xrays today and have an MRI scheduled for next Monday. He gave me a new medication to help me sleep called Elavil. I am still working to find the right dose but have hope. I am sleeping about 4-5 hours in a row before my back spasms wake me up and I have to change positions. He informed me that people with Fibromyalgia are sometimes prescribed this at low doses to help them sleep. All I can say is that most of my mid back and shoulder pain subsides for most of the day since starting it. The low back pain is another story... LOL. For now I continue working and searching for new employment opportunities to try and save my back.

I forgot to tell you all I am finally going to take my kids on a vacation!!!! I have never been able to afford to go on one since my son was born 10 years ago. I've saved some money and I am taking them to Oglebay, West Virginia in July. My son is so excited. He has never been outside of Ohio!!! Steve is coming with us because I can't stand to drive for that long and he and my son are planning on fishing and golfing together. They had a great summer time package I couldn't pass up. Hopefully they can do something about my back before then.

Boy my thoughts are getting random... I'm almost done with my quilt. I just need to do the binding and it will be done! Maybe it will be done by July 4th after all. LOL. Then I'll work on my box tutorial because my dining table will be cleared off. Thanks again for visiting!!!!

Blanket Stitch Tutorial For My Left Handed Friends

First, if you are right handed this might confuse you so please don't read this! LOL. After stating in my last post I am left handed I had a request from a friend to please show how a left hander blanket stitches. I LOVE all of you right handed people, but when you do tutorials on some of this the south paws scratch their heads and wonder how to go about doing it. Of course we do all of this backwards and have messed up projects because we can't figure it out. So.... my south paws get a piece of practice fabric and lets do this.

If my pics are too blurry please let me know and I will take new ones!!!!

First, knot your thread and bring it to the front of your material at the bottom of where you want your stitch to start. I happened to have a piece with a seam so I could show if you had a penny rug and had two different colors.



Then take your needle above the seam or edge about 1/4 inch diagonal from your initial stitch.



Next bring your needle up through the fabric directly below where you just went in beside your initial stitch. (the extra thread is on the left so I could show you more clearly, but you will want the extra thread looped on your right hand side)



Now as you pull the thread through the fabric make sure you have the thread under the needle laying on the fabric at all times.



When the thread is pulled all the way through the loop. It should resemble a backwards L if done correctly. The needle should be on the left of the loop.



This next picture shows you in one step how to do the next stitch in one step. See how the thread is always under the needle.



Pull through...



So on and so forth. Note, as left handers we tend to get a slant to our stitches as well as our writing LOL. You will need to take extra care to try to keep them straight up and down. When you complete a "row" or are ready to tie off take a tiny stitch over the backwards L to again "lock" it off and take your needle to the back of the fabric and tie a knot.

My Newest Projects!

Uggghhh... LOL I typed the heading and clicked publish before I typed anything. It's gonna be a great day!

Thank you all for your comments on my last post. They were all spectacular ideas. We are all just so creative! I knew I could depend on my friends for inspiration. I really LOVED the 13 star idea BUT since I am still so new to quilting I figured I'd stay simple. I decided on this...



As you can see I am hand quilting it. It's gonna take me awhile and I'm not so sure it'll be done by July 4th, but hey I at least started it right? Steve said on my next one he would help me with the layout of the 13 stars. My NEXT one???? I do have other fabric for another one. WAIT what am I saying another project!!!! LOL. Alright I took all your advice on the fusible webbing. I actually had some in my stash o' craft stuff!!!! Ummmm... we won't get into that part of the project. LOL. I then taught myself the left handed crafter to do a blanket stitch. It's not perfect, but I can live with it.



Notice I didn't do a close up because I found the points of the star difficult to stitch. So enjoy it from far away. LOL.

In this next picture what do you see that's different?



I made this little bag. I saw someone in Country Sampler had one on a peg rack so I figured it would look so cute above my little desk. I think I should write something on the chalkboard. Oh yea $0.00 dollars spent I already had everything!!!! This project took all day. Well, OK the coffee staining did. It was so humid the stupid thing wouldn't even dry in my oven! So while that was drying I worked on the following project.



This is the first machine stitched piece I've done. Look familiar? LOL. Yep left overs from my quilt I made a few months back. Hmmm.... do I here someone say how about giving that away in a giveaway??? huh what???? Hmmmm.... LOL

Oh and I asked my customer if I could show their bonnet I made them and they agreed. I thought it came out awesome.





Alright all my "window peepers" LOL here's a few more pics before I close. I am on my way to the doctor today AGAIN for my back. I have now developed sciatica in the last week and am still having mid-back problems too. I am sleeping sitting up in 2 hour increments. You'd think I'd get more crafting done!!! LOL. So... who knows my career as a paramedic may be over before I know it.

On with the show...







Don't you hate me for teasing you??!!!

I Need HELP!!!!!!

This will be a short post because I'm in the middle of a project. But in order to move on I need some help! This is just one of many projects I have done this weekend. Though no one came to my Come Craft With Me Day I crafted all day long by myself. Actually I've been crafting AND redecorating all weekend long.

So here we are...



I am making a flag quilt thinga ma bobby! Alright I'm not sure exactly, but I do know it needs stars. Here is where I need your help. I know I am NOT putting 50 stars on here BUT I can't decide 1 or 13? OK next question should they be fabric or should I stitch it with embroidery floss? I am hoping you don't say fabric because I have no idea how I'm going to do that! LOL.

Above view...



This was sew simple so far. Straight lines everywhere. I already had all the fabric so no money spent on this recently.

Alright just so you come back I'll show a sneak peek at my redecorating.

My Favorite Colors to Use

I've had several requests for the list of colors I used on my boxes in my dining room. So I will show and tell exactly what I used on each box. I'm hoping I remember!

Let's start here. I picture again of all of them.



Here's the colors I use. I buy whatever is where I happen to be that day. If you click on the picture it will get big and you can see the exact paints. There is one missing because I used it all and it is Apple Barrel (Wal-mart) Spice Brown I think (?). As you can see most are from Wal-mart. I remember reading somewhere someone saying they didn't like Apple Barrel because it is thin. I agree it is thin, but it's cheap and I can always put more than one coat on. The other one's, with the exception of the Olde Century paint, I got at Pat Catan's. I don't know if they are available at other craft stores. I don't have very many near me.



First row on the left...

This started out as barn red and burnt umber. I didn't think the burnt umber showed up enough so I added navy blue.



Yellow ochre and burnt umber



Pewter grey and burnt umber



Are you noticing a trend? LOL.

Middle Row...

top one pewter grey with burnt umber...



Just burnt umber...



Pewter grey and brown spice....



Third row...

This one was an oops! Do you remember your elementary grades when they tell you when you mix colors you get other colors? This was yellow ochre base. Then I though oh cool navy blue on top would be awesome. UMMMM HELLO!!!!! that makes GREEN!!!! It was a really neon green! Now what? so I added burnt umber to tone it down and now I LOVE it!!!!



Top one is yellow ochre with burnt umber.

Middle one is barn red with burnt umber.

Bottom one is spice brown.



With these next ones I'm trying very hard to remember what I used.

barn red, hunter green and yellow ochre...



Olde Century Olde Forge Mustard and Spice Brown...



This is the same box in both pictures...

This one is yellow ochre, barn red, and pewter grey... I think. It's so sad I can't remember. LOL





I hope this helps some of you. Like I told one of my readers, who emailed me, I have some other boxes here that I'm going to try to paint and show a tutorial on how I get the blended colors. Give me some time, but I will try to work on it.

My Ebay Winnings and More...

Wow it's been a long time since I talked to you last! Not much has happened other than working so you really didn't miss out on anything.

Like I said on Friday I decided to bid on a few things on Ebay recently. I haven't been on let alone bid in over a year. I remember when I was first introduced to it I ummmm kinda got addicted. No seriously addicted! That is when I was in to Longaberger. I bought almost all of the old Fall Series baskets that are now retired. I got market baskets, Mother's Day baskets, and pottery. Ugghhh now I don't even decorate with them. I do use some of them though. I used to think that they were only to sit around and look pretty. LOL. So, for now I am being very careful.

First off I bought these Civil War repro blue fabric squares. They are 5 inches. I will either use what I have or add some more out of my stash and make a quilt for my dining room. Yes another project to add to my list.



Next I got this repro coverlet. The colors are brown, black, and white. I figure I can fold it to hide the fringe. I am using my daughter's camera because even though my son found mine someone stole the rechargeable batteries out of mine and I'm to lazy to take the batteries out of hers and put it in mine. LOL





Lastly, I got these boxes to add to my collection. Only $20.50 for both.





Steve and I had our Memorial Day picnic on Sunday with my ex-sil Tiffany. We had all the fixings courtesy of Steve. He basically cooked it all and it was very good. Let's see he made a huge fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, blueberries, red raspberries, strawberries, and grapes. Next we had steaks grilled with asparagus, summer squash, and zucchini grilled also. Then I made for the second time ever homemade ice cream. It didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I will try again. Ummmm... I had an issue of not communicating with Steve about what I needed. I told him whole milk not Vitamin D milk. So he bought Lactaid milk because the carton said whole milk. My fault! I think that might be the issue why it didn't thicken like I wanted. I mean it couldn't be that Steve watched the ice cream maker for me.



LOL I was having issues with the top part fitting on the paddle to turn it. I had to keep putting pressure on it to get it to grab. So Steve volunteered to sit and relax with his feet on the top and play his PSP. LOL. Ahhhh the rough life. LOL.

Today is suppose to be hot and sticky as we have some storms moving in supposedly, so I will be making a special request bonnet for one of my readers. They asked if I would make a bonnet out of a specific fabric they had seen at Hobby Lobby. I said sure, but I didn't have one near me. So they went out and purchased the fabric sent it to me and now they get exactly what they want. ;-) ( you know who you are. LOL) This is hard to see but it is great fabric. It is blue ticking type that already looks coffee stained. I'll show you the finished product don't worry!!!!



So I better get off of here and get cracking!!!! LOL.