Joy and Peace to all.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Joyful Season. Joy and Peace to all.

Many smiles to you.
Linda

A little secret.

Christmas is coming fast.  I think it does every year.  I love the Christmas music, and I don't forget what this holiday is all about.   And yet there is a frantic effort to get every ones gift made and there is always one or two more gifts I have to make. And as always, right now I am way behind. And as always at this time of year, I'm promising myself that next year I will pace myself and make a gift each month so I won't be rushed at this time next year.  (I was even able to keep that promise a couple times in my life.)

I make most gifts. My income is so low that I have to.  But even in those rare years in my life that I had the funds to buy gifts, I still made most gifts cause I love doing it.

I love Christmas - even the commercial part of it.  Even though I can't afford to buy things, I love to get out to the shops and just look.  Tons of idea's and eye candy every where.

So while I'm enjoying Christmas season, there is a secret I will share. It's the real time I always look forward to, and totally relish. And that is those few days right after Christmas.  The star is still shining to guide the wise men, labor is over and Mary is nursing her new baby.  And my little corner of the world gets quiet, and peaceful. Nothing else I have to get finished.  No where I have to go. Nothing intrudes.

While I am frantically stitching, and running with my friends to the shops to 'look see'.  If you see a smile you don't understand - it's cause my favorite flannel jammy's and hot cocoa mix is set aside and waiting.

Thank you for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing every one a happy Thanksgiving.

Smiles to you.
Linda

TAST

Over on http://pintangle.com/ this week the TAST stitch is the strait feather stitch, and the plaited feather stitch. Here is my practice -

These would make real nice borders on something. I think I have just the place for it.

 I also made a little heart with chain stitch in DMC 6 stand floss. I used 3 stands, then laced it with Pearl 5.  I can't show you the rest of this cause it's a gift. but I suppose it's okay to give sneak peeks at what stitching is going on.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

A good old sewing machine

I cleaned my sewing machine and dripped oil in all the little spots. I have a Dressmaker sewing machine that I got at a yard sale about 30 to 35 years ago for $20. (Where does all the years go?)  I can't recall the last time I cleaned and oiled my machine, but it was way overdo.  It gets used a lot, especially this time of year.

The red symbols on the front is pictures of different stitches, and each one has a number next to it.  The number matches a number on a plastic gadget (cam?).  To make that kind of stitch I open the top of the sewing machine and insert the plastic gadget, close the top of the machine, adjust the needle, and slowly stitch along.
A lot of bother to go through for something I enjoy doing by hand. So those "cam" things are still like bran new cause I never use them. The body of the machine shows a lot of dings and small scratches from years and years of lots of use. It still runs good, and still gets lots of use.  My kids, all grown with families now, learned to sew on this machine. I have made costumes for civil war enactments on it. I made prom dresses with it of fine satin. And even made a heavy canvas tee pee lining on it.  Over the years it has handled anything I have slid (shoved, crammed, jammed, stuffed,) under the needle, and still does.
It was probably the best $20 I ever spent.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Cold weather and a few more needle books.

Brrrrrrrrr.  Not used to this cold weather that came on so fast.  The cold weather says Christmas is getting closer. Even had a few snowflakes last night. So I made some hot tea and snuggled into my warm confy chair in my favorite pajamas and stitched while I listened to the wind outside.  (All day)

I worked my way through my stash of fabric pieces.

And through my stash of lace.

Little bits of this and little bits of that. And lots of felt.

As you can see - it was a pretty productive day.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Sick cat

I been busy this week with a sick cat. He has been my buddy for 14 years so I was real worried about him. Scratched himself till his skin was raw and was throwing up. Poor guy looked plum miserable. Turned out he was having a reaction to the carpet shampoo I had used last week. He is doing lots better now. Still looks a little wore out but a lot better than he did a couple days ago.  I had to re clean the carpet to get rid of any residue from the other shampoo. And Gizzlefig had to have a good bath to get any residue  out of his fur and off his skin. He DID NOT. In big capital letters, DID NOT, appreciate the bath.

Last night I was able to get out my sewing and I made a couple needle books.

Thank you for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Sparkly yarn

Did some crochet today with my sparkly yarn.  The colors are real pretty on these yarns and they have sparkly metallic  threads in the yarn that makes the necklaces look holiday-ish.  This one has oranges and browns and autumn colors.

The sparkly red yarn in the next pic looks Christmas y.

 

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Blue needle book

Did a little sewing this weekend.  Just a little.  Got this blue needle book done.

I did button hole stitch around the edge. And I put 4 pages inside.

This past week it has started looking like winter is not too far away. More brown is showing up on the trees, and more bare spots among the branches.  The clouds have lost their summer anger and have picked up a chill.

Well, I think I have ignored the laundry calling to me for about as long as I can.

Thank you for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Crochet necklaces

Did some crochet today. This necklace is a purple blue color.

Here is a close up of the color.

And this one is black and white.

Oh my, it looks like I took it with black and white film. Next time I take a picture of something black and white maybe I should not use a gray back ground.

I took a couple more shots.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Green lace needle book and supper at Christine's

I got the needle book done.  Buttonhole stitch flowers, and made herringbone stitch leaves.

I did buttonhole stitch around the border. And I put 4 pages inside for pins and needles.

My friend Christine came over and we did a little sewing, then went to her house for supper. Her husband grilled some steaks and she made some baked potatoes to go with them. Yummy!

We looked at lots of pictures of crazy quilts on pinterest and got lots of inspiration and lots of ideas. It was a real nice way to spend an evening. Then it was home again, a cup of hot tea while writing my blog, and now I will say "Good Night" to all.

Thank you for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Needle book with green lace

Moving along with my needle book. I decided to put pink button hole stitch flowers on it.

Here it is with the leaves on the flowers.  The leaves are made with herringbone stitch.

Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Finished the needle book.

Finished up my needle book. Did lots of French knots along the lace. And finished the edges with button hole stitch.

 

Needle n thread showed how to make these tiny button hole stitch leaves a couple weeks ago.  Hers looks better than mine does.     http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/09/stitch-fun-buttonhole-stitch-leaves.html

"Needles" is made with outline stitch.

I put 4 pages inside.  The finished size is 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.

I'm keeping this one for myself - but you will see some in my Etsy shop soon.

And then I started on one with green lace.

Also went shopping today with my friend Christine.  Picked up some felt, and a little bit of linen. Joanne Fabrics is always fun to just wonder about in. We also went to Ben Franklin crafts store - another great place to wonder about. 

Thank you for dropping by

Smiles to you.

Linda

Lazy day, and nice cool weather.

A slow lazy day today. Been reading some of the nice blogs out there. Lots of great ideas. And picking through my stash getting some projects ready. The weather has turned cool compared to what it has been, and the cool feels great. Took a walk with my cat and enjoyed the sunshine.
(Yawn)
I'll have more to say and stuff to show tomorrow.
I think it might be nap time.
Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda

Needle books and Dollhouse pilllows

I finished some needle books last night. I had some sewing fabric in my stash, that I thought would make a nice needle book. I did some embroidery around the edge. My photos don't do justice to my work. The colors (in person) are bright and crisp on this one, but the photo don't make it look that way.  I'm happy with my work, just not with my photos. (Practice, practice, practice.)

The inside has 4 felt pages and is a teal-ish color.

I couldn't resist all the tiny angels.  You think they might protect someone from pricking their fingers?

There is 2 blue felt pages inside this one.

More sewing fabric that I had in my stash made a cute needle book. I did some embroidery work around the edge of this one too. Button hole stitch, or sometimes called blanket stitch.

The inside has 4 white felt pages.

 And on this one the crisp colors again came out fuzzy looking.

And inside I put 4 black felt pages.

I also finished up some doll house pillows.  

I love the little chickens on this fabric I found. You'll be seeing more of these, cause there are different colors I'm making.

These owls are not finished yet. I still have to add the stuffing. But I had to give you a peek cause the owls are so cute.

That about catches you up on what I been up to.
Thanks for dropping by.
Smiles to you.
Linda