A Little of This and This . . .

This is a little counted cross stitch that is long overdue getting finished!!  I started it in time to have done by last July 4th but it went to the wayside.  I have now completed it!!  YaY!

The wood on the back is a piece of old weathered cedar from the dilapidated fence that sorta encloses our yard.

This is what is on my longarm, Martha today!!  The quilt top was immaculately pieced and so the quilting works up perfectly. 

This is what is on my new design wall.  Sooooo fun to have a design wall!!  The quilt is for a friend of mine that I play bridge with.  A couple of years ago, I made a Quilts of Valor quilt for another friend who had served in Vietnam.  I did not know until recently that Don was also a Veteran.  I told him I wanted to make him a quilt but he just didn't seem to the red/white and blue type of quilt guy.

I asked if I could come see their home so I could get an idea of what I would like to make.  I got there and man-o-man, gorgeous home and all decorated in Asian decor!!  Very elegant!!  Thus the quilt design above that I made up.

Saturday's Smile!!

Credit: I Like Old Things Facebook Page

A Friend's Quilt and . . .

 a newly planted planter!!

I LOVE This quilt!!  It is for a dear friend, Teri, who wanted a calming quilt to put at the end of her bed.  This quilt went through about 4 modifications before I was happy with it.

Below you can see the back.  It is also very calming!!  I will be putting it in the mail on Monday!!

This is the little planter that my brother, Kelly made for me!!  I put some Shasta Daisy plants in it that were given to me by a friend who was thinning out his herd!!

This darling Buddha sits in front of my Cottage to remind me to always be kind to others.  

And below is one of my iris that has bloomed so beautifully.  I think this is an Icelandic Iris.  In front of it are the 5 lavender plants I am going to put in the BIG planter that Kelly made for me.!!

Ha! Ha!  That little planter was so heavy that I could not move it off my planting table, so Kelly had to put it in place for me!!  The planter for the lavender is going to have to wait to be planted until I decided where it is going to go and stay because it will literally weigh a ton!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Heart Procedure and Planters . . .

This has been quite an interesting week!!  A week ago last Monday, I was supposed to have a Cardioversion because my heart has been in afib for the past 18 months.  Some people live with it for years and years without doing anything but I was ALWAYS tired, even after 9 hours of sleep and after a nap in the afternoon.  So, my wonderful Cardiologist said let's try Cardioversion.

Because of logistics, the Cardioversion didn't happen until yesterday.  But happen it did and I am happy to say that after two electrical zaps, my heart is back in rhythm!!  YAY!!  DOUBLE YAY!!

Here is where the electrical pad was attached to the front of my chest.  An identical one went on my back as well!!  It's like a sunburn and it itches!!

My sweet, sweet brother took me over to Eugene about 3 hours each way for the procedure and he drove the entire time!!  Thanks, Kelly!!

Earlier in the week, I asked Kelly if he would take apart a pallet so I could make a planter.

Well, you guessed it.  Kelly ended up making the planter and I am in love with it!!

We had enough wood to make a small planter to see how it would look before "we" made the planter I had in my head.!

Yup, it was fabulous so Kelly proceeded to make the real planter.

Now, how is that for a free planter - well, except for the 5 hours Kelly spent pulling the pallet apart (that was the hardest part), cutting everything to size and then screwing it all together!!  Ta Da!!

And look at our bee-you-tee-ful yard!!  Now to get this beauty planted!!  I used my Christmas gift card to get some lavender plants for the large planter and a Hazelnut geranium for the small planter!!  That's my treat for today to plant everything!!  Especially now that I have some more energy!!  Hoo!  Hoo!!

And this is the neighbor's lilac plant that hangs into our yard!!

Have a joyous weekend!!

To All My Friends . . .

Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!

 

This is Christine . . .

She is one of my longarm quilting clients.  She called one day and asked me if I could help her with a project she was working on.  We discussed it and decided that the front piece and sleeves needed to be done free motion on her domestic.  So, she took those back home with her and worked on them.

Christine used painter's tape to get straight lines and then sewed along the edge of the tape and then removed it.

With the front piece she did a stitch in the ditch type thing and following the design with black thread.

We decided I would quilt the jacket back on my longarm.  She had already cut out the jacket down to size, so it presented a challenge.  But we got it done.

The jacket is reversible and the geometric design Christine chose was perfect.  I basted a 6 inch edge around all four sides of the cut out piece she gave me and got it on Martha.  Beautiful!!

Close-up of the geometric design on the back ~

Christine is pleased with everything except that last picture of her!!  LOL!!  She was standing facing the afternoon sun after all!!  So fun to work on new, challenging projects!!

Thanks Christine for letting me part of your gorgeous jacket!!

Saturday's Smile!!

My new addiction, Cartonnage . . .

took me to a new place this weekend.  I made a book instead of a box.  It's not perfect but I think it turned out quite nicely!!

I used a pale blue linen parchment for the pages

I made it for a friend of mine who has stayed home for the most part this entire year+ of Covid.  She told me she has been doing a lot of journaling so I thought this would be perfect for her.  Plus she loves Kaffe Fassett fabrics and I thought this would make her happy!! 

Next, I get to make a custom box for my younger brother who wants a box to keep his photos and mementos from his trip to Paris and Italy a couple of years ago!!

Saturday's Smile!!

 

Saturday's Smile!!

Happy Easter!!

Saturday's Smile!!