Two Fun Projects

 Now that we are settling into the new house I am able to find some time to work on my projects. I have been stitching most evenings while we watch a cooking show or two. Last night I decided to take my new felting kit for a little spin. A few months ago a lady posted on the local Fron Proch Forum that she had some felting kits that she was never going to use. Jon mentioned it to me in passing saying "what's a felting kit" and I said, "message her first that I will take it then I will explain." It was a great deal!! So last night I made a little rooster:

He was a super fun little project .I might make another one tonight, or stitch, or who knows!!

I also have been quilting a lot lately. I have a large project I'm working on (no photos of that yet, I keep forgetting). I have another version of my pumpkin quilt prepped to sew. I started on a strip quilt - very beginning of it. And I finished a neat little project as a lap quilt for a friend who is leaving the country to live in South America for a while (I can't wait to visit):

I'm plannin to make another one of these with a black patterned background to keep here because I had enough of the colored fabrics. 

but for now it is time to go rake the roof! 

Fast Forward a Year

A lot has happened and a lot of it precluded time spent with my hobbies. The whole of 2022 was the sum of a series of epic happenings. I left a job I loved with an environment I found intolerable and moved to a job I love with coworkers to match. I moved from NY to VT. I sold a lovely little house and bought a large, impressive 200 year-old home - with the repairs to match. I lost a dog (miss you Leifr) and gained a rodent infestation. I went to the Grand Canyon - it is definitely grand! I feel like I spent half the year on hold with vendors and medical offices. But most importantly, I am happy to be living with Jon, my two dogs, my two cats and have an awesome stitching room:

The cats are happy because they apparently have each co-opted a queen sized bed:

The good news is that I have found a little time with the onset of the new year (mostly the inability to have access to contractors during hunting season) to get in some time for crafting. I did have two finishes in 2022 that I never posted. One was another in the alphabet series I have been working on and off over, I think, more than a decade now (oof). The other is a delightful Haloween quilt which will have a matching pumpkin facing the other direction (any time now):

I have made some progress over 2022 on the Red Bird project. I think I will need to purchase more of the green, but I am working through the rest of it for now:

And I started the letter P in the alphabet series and have rocked it in the last month (having the flu for a week helped because I only had the energy to stitch for the few hours I was awake):

And today I finished most of a quilt top for a lap quilt I am working on. I just need to add a colorful boarder with a white-grey outer border:

I'm pretty proud of this quilt because I learned how to make the rounded flower corners in a quilt block. 

It is lovely having a room where I can relax and focus on making things. I need the quiet and space to re-ground myself. Also, the view out towards Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks is not to be trifled with.

A Little Stitchy Time

 The winter weather has been so rainy and just not conducive to being outside. Perfect for stitching! I started a new project. None of the ones I have in progress were speaking to me. It is a delightful red bird with a deer - just right for a mid-winter project. This is what I have done so far...

It is stitching up quickly and has been very soothing. I am questioning if I have enough of the fibers though because I think I was planning to stitch it on 40 count over 1 and I decided on 32 count over 2 with three strands. Oops. Looks like I will have to get more. 

A Small Step Forward

 It has been a very busy few months. I finished another semester (my 4th) of schooling towards a nurse practitioner license. I had a huge scare with one of my dogs...he will be having a long awaited surgery next Tuesday. I lost another one of my dogs. She was a wonderful girl and I very much miss her. And now I am going to be able to get back to hiking, resting, recovering...and hopefully stitching and quilting!!

This evening I was able to finish a small bit of a larger project. I completed the March installation of my calendar project.

I recently purchased a notebook and am planning to try creating a journal to track my projects. I am excited to be able to have some time to devote to making things!

While I was out hiking over the weekend I was also able to make some progress on my alphabet sampler project. Unfortunately I don't have a photo yet.

A Busy 6 Months

 I can't believe it has been over 6 months since I have posted. Just before my last post I had hiked a couple of the Adirondack 46 hikes (Donaldson and Emmons)./ After that I was hooked and ended up hiking almost every weekend and some Wednesdays throughout the summer and some of the fall. I ended up hiking 38 high peaks in just about 4 months. Needless to say I didn't have much crafting time. Then fall hit and I started classes...again, no crafting time. But during winter break I was able to get in some project time. 

I finished a quilt for my mom over the summer using some random fabric squares I got in a grab bag...it came out kind of wild but really fun. She (of course) loved it:

During the semester I started a quilt for a friend of mine that had been percolating in my head for almost a year. This was my first attempt at applique and I think it went pretty well:

Then, a work colleague gave me some "ugly" fabrics and I decided to challenge myself to make them into something interesting. I used a pattern I have worked from before and ended up making a bunch of wall hanging/place mats. There were 9 total, here are a few:

After that, I made a quilt for my car. This one has a sheet of the emergency wrap inside of it to help retain heat in event of an emergency. Currently it is with my longarm quilter so I don't have a photo of it completely finished but here it is:

Then 2021 arrived and I kept on quilting. This one was a kit I bought about a year ago. I decided to make it for my dog sitter because he has been such a champ for me all year with the frequent hiking trips and other random emergencies. He deserves a quilt (also because he thinks it is neato and therefore is craft worthy):

I also finished quilting one of my bay window decorative quilts. This one is for spring, but I have it out now because I haven't finished assembling the winter sandwich.

And I made a fun little block with the leftovers from the ombre weave quilt:

I did get a chance to cross stitch a bit, but I don't yet have a finish to show for it. 

Sadly, classes are startting again, so I will be going back into a work mode rather than a crafting mode. Maybe this summer I will be able to get in more quilting and stitching!

A Bit of Noodling

Life has been busy. No change in my work schedule, tutoring is back on the table, summer is here and all of the outdoor stuff is going on, yardwork, and yet I still found a little time to make a mini quilt:

This matches the quilt that I made for the bed in my spare room. It is going to look so awesome togwether. I am just waiting for the quilt to come back from my longarm quliter :-).

I also got another 4 pieces done in the calendar project:

I started March and hope to be finished with it before next March!

But first a little hiking:

Spring is in Full Swing!!

It is so gorgeous out and I am on vacation...win!

I was a busy bee last night and cleaned the dog room (steam cleaned the walls - weird but necessary with 4 large beasts) and did a bit of yard work. I was able to get the inside of the house cleaned because every good vacation begins with feeling good about one's nest. I even did a bit of stitching! In the process I remembered that I had not posted a finish...

I completed the January chart from the Fun Every Day! perpetual calendar by SamSarah. I'm a bit over halfway through February. So much for getting them done in their respective months!

I picked up a bunch of Satsuma Street patterns: http://jenncharts.blogspot.com/. I love them for the bright colors. I have a couple set up to start, but the usual projects are still pending. So many options!

I'm planning to stitch more today, but I first will go out paddling for a while. It is so nice outside and Gleason wants to spend some quality time with me.

Then maybe a trip to the hardware store since spring time is project time!!

Enjoy :-)