Sewing, Painting, Cleaning

I'm not right on top of this blogging thing. Perhaps some day I'll get the hang of it. I have done a lot of sewing and painting in the last several months though.

My friend and I went out east to Connecticut to a 5-day painting seminar with Ros Stallcup in early October. We spent 8 hours a day painting projects on wood, canvas, or tin and finished the project each day. I learned different techniques and had to try very hard to get my brain to let loose so I wasn't painting so rigidly.

From Connecticut we drove Massachusetts to another 5-day Decorative Painting convention, New England Traditions. I took about 6 different classes there from various teachers and again learned different techniques. I also entered a piece I painted into a competition against other hobbyists. My piece was about 3-feet tall, an old spindle onto which I had put wood putty to look like Santa's face and arm. I added a wooden base onto which I painted a scene of a living room with windows and reindeer looking in at the Christmas tree and presents. Onto the top of the spindle I added a table top and painted Santa and his bag of toys with holly leaves and a faux finished circle around Santa. I'll have to find a picture to upload so you can see it.

To my surprise and delight, I took first place in the Holiday Division and then I was really delighted when I won Viewers Favorite in Hobbyist Division! There were many wonderful pieces in this division so I was really thrilled to receive such an award.
I've also been in a few swaps in the last few months on Art4Mail and I would love to share pics of these. Back in July we had an Animal Pincushion Swap. My swap partner loves hippos so I had to make her a hippo pincushion! Couldn't find a pattern for a hippo so I had to create my own. It took a few attempts but I came up with one. What do you think? She love it

We also had a needlecase swap. I decided to make a pattern I've had for years from Crabapple Hill, called Wild Rose Sewing Wallet. It turned out well, although somehow I got the front of it backward. I haven't been a great paper piecing fan, but I decided to try to again. Since it was only a small bit of paper piecing, it was doable and turned out pretty well.

Then we had a Fall pincushion swap. I received a wonderful Acorn pincushion from my swap partner and I sent a round felted wool pincushion with a 3-dimensional mum on top in fall colors.

For October we had a Halloween pincushion swap. My swap partner sent me a great coffin pincushion! It's covered with fabrick and decorated with creepy things. She found the coffins at Michael's.

I made a "Great Pumpkin" pincushion for her. On our trip out east we found a wonderful Gourd Place, that had laser cut gourds that were painted or dyed. I found a sweet little jack-o-lantern with a handle and put it on top of the felted wool pumpkin pincushion I made.

The rest of the time I've been organizing and re-organizing rooms and getting rid of 20 years of saving things I thought I might have a need for someday.  I've run out of room in the house! I need to get control of my house again!

Finished Pincushions

I've worked on many different pincushions in the last few weeks. I finished a few bunnies, worked on a turtle, found a great thread prince, finished a trio of painted and felted pincushions, and made some teacup dolls. Want to see them all?
First, here's the pincushion bunny I made. It's a Tilda Finnager pattern I downsized a LOT to get it to be this small (pincushion size). I made it for a pincushion swap on Art4Mail and liked it so much, I had to make one for myself. And someone else wanted to swap, so I made another one yet. So after making three of them, I think I'm done making these bunnies for awhile....

I swapped with a friend in England and she sent me this lovely bunny pincushion in exchange. She designed Ms. Bunny herself and appliqued the sweet little flowers and pink ears. Looks like Ms. Bunny is searching for carrots and is very hungry!

One of the online groups I belong to had a challenge for a turtle pincushion, so I quickly made one up and posted it for the challenge. Mr. Turtle turned out ok, but not as well as I would have liked. I'll have to work on him later. My friend brought me a kit of three pincushions that needed to be painted and made into the pincushions from Rhode Island painting convention last year. I couldn't attend the convention with her but she knows how I love pincushions and she couldn't resist. It took me a while to get these painted, but I did! They turned out cute I think and now that they are done I'm planning on perhaps making some more to give to other friends who have admired them (not as a set of three, mind you. . . just ones they've really liked!)
I found this wonderful Thread Prince at a Quilt Shop I visited. I don't know who made him but he is made out of repurposed pieces, such as an old salt shaker, some tatting thread and old laces, along with an old spool of thread, buttons and beads. His head is formed out of clay or wood putty and painted. He is really a lot of fun to look at and can really be used as a pincushion!We cannot forget the little teacup girls I've worked on. These are such fun to do. The patterns are from Happy Heart Patterns and can be bought and downloaded from her site. I have plans to make several more of these. The body is basically the same pattern, you just change what she is wearing and then embellish her differently each time. I've made the garden fairy and then used ideas from the various patterns I bought to create the gardening fairy, based on the teacup I used. What do you think? My sweet granddaughter has turned 6 months old. Time flies so quickly when we get older! She can sit by herself now and she babbles all the time. She is the perfect baby. She only cries if she's hungry or wet or absolutely wants attention! Other than that, she's smiling and laughing. Who could ask for a better child? We definitely have been blessed with her.

Time Flies, eh?

So much for keeping up with my blog.

I've been making lots of pincushions since January. One I made was a crazy quilted cat I designed. It was for a swap. My swap partner lives in England. It was made entirely out of velvets. I actually hand sewed all the crazy quilting on it instead of using some of the crazy quilting stitches on my machine. I enjoyed making Mr. Cat. I learned quite a bit designing him. Next time I will make him wider and his face will be a bit diferent. I liked how I made his front. His back was crazy quilted instead of formed to look like a cat sitting as his front was. I've been meaning to make another one just like him for me, but haven't found the time. Perhaps his picture will just have to do.

I also made a dragon from a pattern I bought several months ago. I though I could make"Daisy" dragon and use her as a pincushion, but after she was completed, I knew she would never be a pincushion. She's just too adorable to have pins put in her. Her arms and legs are movable and bendable. Her wings are bendable as is her tail. But the most adorable part of her is her eyes. They are glass eyes, covered with eyelids, which have eyelashes attached. Her tummy has flowers sewn on and her tail has yarn and fibers coming out of it, as does her head. She definitely was a challenge to make, but she was well worth it!

Of course, in between making pincushions and dolls, I've been taking care of my sweet little granddaughters. Amanda is now 4 months old and she is a dear! She had put on lots of weight and has grown quite a few inches. She's always smiling and laughing tries to talk with little coo's. Her big sister, Mia, is still learning to share but she does love her little sister.

I'm working on painting some boxes that I want to make into pincushions. I hope to finish them soon and as soon as they're completed I will post pictures.

New Pincushions

I read lots of other people's blogs but somehow don't update mine as often as I should. I do keep busy with family and friends and sewing and painting. My granddaughter is growing by leaps and bounds and talking up a storm. She's getting close to being 3 years old. Her new favorite show to watch is Dora the Explorer. She loves to play in the yard with me and pretend the growth at the side of the shed is the Spooky Forest. She makes up Dora stories about the Spooky Forest and the Troll Bridge and makes me laugh. Of course, I don't understand most of what she says because she talks so fast, but if I follow her she's happy.

When she's not here, I spend time making lots of pincushions and other "things". I had great fun making a mouse in a matchbox.

I didn't have an actual matchbox, so I had to make one out of cardboard and cover it with left-over bits and pieces of fabric. Then I found a small piece of fabric I had already quilted and used it for the blanket over the mouse head. Stuffing under the blanket and tacking the blanket down so the stuffing wouldn't stick out completed the top. I then found some color coordinated buttons and stacked them on the four corners of the bottom of the box for feet for the bed to complete the pincushion. It turned out rather cute, I thought. This was sent to someone for a swap, so I couldn't even keep it for myself. I'm working on making another box so I can make one of these for myself. I'll get it completed eventually.

I'm working on a swap right now from CAPC where I was sent two fat quarters of fabric and I have to create a pincushion or pinkeep from the fat quarters. I have two pincushions made already. I just have to take pictures of them. I want to still make a small needlebook for one of the pincushions before I take a picture.

Another swap I'm a bit late sending out was to use hexagons, prarie points, or some other typing of piecing in the pincushion. I just took pictures of my pincushion tonight. I have to upload it and mail it out. Hopefully that will get done tomorow.

Great news....I will have a new granddaughter in December!!!! Yeah!!! My son and DIL are expecting and we found out early this month they are expecting a little girl. We thought she was expecting a boy because of how sick she had been throughout her pregnancy, but we were wrong. I'm thrilled. Little girls are wonderful to spoil and make pretty things for. And her big sister wants to have a little sister to play with!

Well, hopefully it won't be so long before I post again. Perhaps I'll get those pictures uploaded tomorrow and get them on this blog. Until then, have a great day!

Back Again

It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything. I was disheartened about a situation with one of my pincushions which I was going to teach at our local Sewing Guild back in January and I didn't feel like sharing very much after that situation.
I had shared a pattern for a pincushion with my group, Crazy About Pincushions, and had asked that it be used for personal use only. Someone used it to make pincushions to sell on Etsy. Someone else called to tell me they had a copyright on the design. I couldn't teach the pattern to the Sewing Guild and had less than 24 hours to come up with a whole new program.
Sooo, from now on I probably won't be sharing patterns. I can't be sure they aren't copyrighted even if I think I've designed them myself.
Despite the setback to the class at the Sewing Guild, it went well and everyone was happy with their completed pincushion. I talked a bit about the history of pincushions and pins and brought samples from my collection of pincushions.
I've been busy making lots more pincushions these days as the 3rd weekend of this month the Lansing Area Patchers are hosting a Quilt Show at the Summit and the Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists will have a booth at the quilt show. We will be selling raffle tickets for a beautiful hand painted quilt PLUS we are allowing our members to bring items they have made or painted to sell. I will be bringing lots of pincushions to sell. I've been slowly working on them for months, and now I am panicking and trying to make a whole lot more to have available for sale. I'm doing my best to design them myself so no one complains of copyright infringement.
Right now I have to get back to sewing! I'll take pictures to share in a few days.

Where Did the Time Go?

Time flies when life happens. Children live at home then move out, then move back, then move out, then move back, then .... oh it's just a never ending cycle but we never turn them away, do we. The good news is they both started college classes full time a few weeks ago and found day care for little Mia so Gramma Fluff has time to herself most days.

That means she's been doing more sewing and painting these days. I've been making lots of pincushions and finishing quilts I started years ago. The painting, well, not so much, but I have been finishing lots of things.


Here's a few of the pincushions I've finished lately. The first is one from a pincushion of the month kit I purchased from Quilt Fabric Delights in Australia. Their PC kit of the month program is done now, but they had the greatest kits. They still have the patterns. This pattern also had a wrist pincushion and needlekeep, which I also made. I especially liked the fabric which was in the kit.


I played around with some crazy quilting for pincushions and got a little carried away. The first one was designed with a baby theme with a picture of a baby being carried by a stork as the center block. I did the crazy quilt embroidery by hand on that one. It took a few evenings of sitting in front of the TV to complete, but it looked pretty nice, I thought.



The next ones I crazy quilted were designed around a Victorian Lady center block. The crazy quilt embroidery was done by machine on the majority of the block and some hand embroidery was added to complete them. I learned a little more each time I made another one. I have several more printed designs I want to work up into blocks, but I have so many more ideas for pincushions I don't want to get stuck on doing just one type of pincushion.

I also have been working with friends on a handpainted quilt for a raffle for my Painting Group, Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists, HOMDA. Members of the group painted a square of fabric with a flower of their choice and several of us got together and put sashing around the blocks, along with the borders, which are all batiks. My friend, who has a longarm quilting machine, and I then spent about 20 plus hours quilting the designs on each block, based on how each block "spoke" to us. This was quite an experience for me. Then another member put the binding on this gorgeous quilt. It it very impressive now that it is complete! We are selling tickets for this quilt, 6 for $5.00 or $1.00 each. The quilt will be raffled off June 2010. Take a look at it here:

If anyone out there is interested in purchasing tickets, please drop me a comment and I will get back with you about how to purchase.

Last but not least, I've written directions for a flower pincushion that is sooo simple to make. I have to figure out how to add a pdf file to my blog and as soon as I do that I'll share the pictures and pattern for everyone.

I won't wait 6 months to write again either!

Dogs, Kids, Weddings, Pincushions

Such a long time since I've written and so much has happened. We had a wedding on April 25th. My son and his girlfriend got married after a two-week planned wedding. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. It went off without a hitch. Amazing what can be planned in two weeks.

Just before they decided to get married we were in Texas to see our new grandbaby, Lily Harper, born on March 8. What a beautiful baby she is! Mom and Dad are so proud and so are Gramma Fluff and Grampa Todd. Of course, since March she's grown like a weed and daddy Mason says she's laughing and developing a wonderful personality! Hopefully we can go back down to Texas in September or October to see her again.

We've also become grandparents to a new puppy dog, named Shooter. DS and new DIL and granddaughter all live with us for now. They decided they needed a dog for when they move into their new home in early June. So to the Humane Society we went and found a beautiful lab/pit bull mix and she is now part of the family. She's four months old, fixed, has a chip, and is just about housebroken. She is soooo sweet.

And of course what is a new household without a new kitten? They also have a new little kitten named Trinity. She's so teeny, but so feisty. She's black and white tiger colored and she must have been the runt of the litter. She loves to lay under your chin and sleep. At night she likes to sleep on your head and beat on your face. And she's not afraid of the dog anymore. Once she's grown a bit larger, I'm sure she and Shooter will have a lot of fun together.

Last but not least, my favorite pasttime is making pincushions (and quilts and aprons, and anything that can be made on a sewing machine!) I recently spent a weekend with my friends on Platte Lake sewing on whatever we wanted to. We also visited many quilt shops in the northern part of Michigan. How wonderful! I finally got to visit Renee's House of Quilting. She has 300 plus bolts of Japanese fabrics (Kona Bay) and I bought a panel of Geisha Girls along with several coordinating fabrics to make a wall hanging. I can't wait to get started on it.

We also had a lovely Tea Party the night we arrived at the cabin and made some wonderful little "Tee" pin cushions. I spied a larger pincushion one of the gals had and she helped me make a duplicate copy using 3 different fat quarters. Isn't it pretty? So simple too!

My First Blog Entry - WOW

I've always wondered what it's like to have a blog and finally gave in. I love to sew and paint primarily. I used to teach fitting of patterns but haven't done that in a while. I primarily quilt now, but also love to make pincushions, mostly because I can finish them quickly and get immediate gratification.

I also love to do tole painting and my favorite type of painting is of animals. I've been doing that for about 5 years now, although I've been doing something with art since I was very young. At one point in my life I wanted to go into art as a profession and even attended the Center for Creative Studies for a while. However, I found I was more at the bottom of the creative geniuses that attended that institute and abandoned that specific path. Now I use painting and creative sewing as a way to calm myself. Had it become a profession, it would have been more of a stressor.

I hope to use this blog as a means of sharing some of my creative energy with the world. Perhaps I can create tutorials of some of the things I create and share. My husband thinks I should be selling my stuff, but I get more pleasure, right now, in gifting it to my friends who appreciate the time and effort that has been put into it.

I'm currently working on centerpieces for the yearly Christmas Party for our Painting Group, HOMDA, (Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists). I'm making 7 of them and they each take several hours to put together, paint, then decorate. They are fabric snowmen that have a Christmas tree with two snowmen painted on either side, who are decorating the tree. Then the fabric snowman needs a hat made and arms, which I'm making out of floral wire and wrapping with brown floral tape to look like wood and bending to look like arms. In their arms I'm placing a string of fake little Christmas bulbs. The bottom of the snowman has garland around them with larger Christmas bulbs glued in. Finally, they have clay noses that need to be inserted. Now, the clay noses were bought at a painting convention I went to in early November. When I came home from the convention, I pulled the bag of noses out of my suitcase and put them in a safe spot so I would know just where they were when I was ready to use them on these snowmen. I sure wish I could remember where that safe place is. I've been looking everywhere I can think of for the last three days!

If I don't find them by Friday, I'll have to resort to chenille noses as a substitute. I'll post pictures of them on Saturday after the Christmas party. Can't post them now just in case one of the HOMDA members sees this blog. They're centerpieces for the tables, but they are also door prizes and a surprise.

I have a lot to do before Saturday to finish all the things that need to be done for the Christmas Party. We have 26 gals attending. Fortunately I didn't wait till the last minute to get everything done like I usually do, but I wish everything was completed already.

I have my granddaughter coming over everyday starting Wednesday and she's only 10 months old. When she's here I get nothing accomplished. She is the sweetest little thing and she's starting to walk and talk and she loves to follow Gramma around. So the next two days will be full of getting everything else I need to accomplish finished!