Daffodils, A Birthday and Cross Stitch

My husband and I were both under the weather earlier this week so that negatively affected how much sewing I got done this week.  Hopefully, I can make up for it next week!  I did manage to add some blue and brown to my cross stitch project.  The brown part will be a windmill, eventually!  

Finn received this Lambie toy for Christmas and, recently,  almost removed Lambie's reindeer antlers.  I sewed them back on by machine with a mending stitch, which was distressing to Finn and he barked at me as I sewed. He was happy to have Lambie back to play with. 

 

I started to sew a little folk all doll for a little friend who celebrated her 5th birthday this past week.  It will be a belated gift!  

My hellebore flower opened and these mini daffodils put on a show this week. 

By next weekend, I should have some primroses in bloom. 

I started a new book--I had read lots of positive reviews and the book is living up to the hype.  I have added this one to the list for the book club that I lead for next year. It is an epistolary novel, written in letters. 

Today is Finn's 8th Birthday!  Our daughter bought him a volcano toy with 6 little squeaky dinosaurs that hide inside.  Finn very enthusiastically took all the Dinosaurs out of the holes and had a great time making them all squeak.  The gift got a 10/10 from Finn!

Finn's face looks a bit squished here...  LOL!  The dinosaurs did not stay in a neat row for very long!

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique. 

Kintail Retreat Report

 Christine and I spent last weekend at Camp Kintail at the crafter's retreat.  Others were making paper crafts, scrapbooks, knitting and painting. Four participants were quilting.   It's always fun to see what everyone is making. The food and snacks were plentiful and tasty too. 

My first project was an open wide zipper pouch that I had started at home. This one may just stay here for me to use.  This project was a good place to use the large scale print that I loved but would not be good to cut up into smaller pieces 

Next, I made two rainbow scrap challenge blocks.  Yes, I have started a 4th RSC quilt for this year...  All of the blocks I am making are made from squares and HST's.  This newest block was inspired by one I saw on Facebook. I'm going to match the dots in the background fabric to the scrap colour.  This month's colour is red.  I will be working on my red blocks next. 

Every year, the VP of the Oxford Guild hosts a VP quilt day--she chooses the pattern and everyone makes the same quilt with their own fabric choices.  I had a solid jelly roll and the dark gray background fabric in my stash.  The VP day was on Saturday while we were at the retreat so both Christine and I worked on our blocks on Saturday while the others were sewing at our guild meeting place.  I made 14/20 blocks at the retreat and will work on the rest this weekend. 

Christine's big project for the weekend was a queen sized quilt top that had been aging for a while in her sewing room as a bag of fabrics...  She finished the top and will now be looking for a backing and a long armer.  There are lots of lovely low volume fabrics in this quilt top.

I made this scrappy quilt top at the last Kintail retreat and quilted it at this retreat.  I have found some binding in my stash and will get that attached and sewn down soon. 

Finn has come to stay at our house for his annual Spring visit while our daughter is busy at work.  He held the quilt top down while I cut the batting before the retreat.   He is very helpful. 

I added some more hand quilting to my pineapple quilt at the retreat as well. I need to get back to working on this one on a regular basis if I want to finish it...

Finn has been keeping us entertained and supervised...

I made him some banana, peanut butter and yoghurt "Pawsicles" this week.  These are a big hit!

In my "spare" time, I am knitting poppies for a Remembrance Day display in Ingersoll where the quilt guild meets.  I found red and black yarn in my stash and started on my first poppy...  we have already established that I am not the fastest knitter so don't hold your breath waiting to see a large pile of completed poppies next week. 

I finished my second Folk Art Critter--a rabbit this time.  I gave this cute bunny to my daughter for Easter.  It is sitting on her bookshelf.  I hope to make some more critters soon. 

 I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers,  Angela and the RSC folks and Frederique this weekend.  

My Bluebird of Happiness!

As I have said previously, I signed up for a year of Threadhouse Academy classes this year and have been working away at several, but not all of the projects.  This month's project is Folk Art Dolls taught by Jo Avery.  They are too cute to resist so I decided to make a bird first.   I used a piece of felted wool for the beak and hand stitched it down with pearl cotton blanket stitches.  I embroidered the eyes and the X's as well as the fly stitches on the body. The legs, feet, and wings also have some hand stitching.  The pieces are quite small, so its a bit fiddly to get everything put together and stitched but I am delighted with the finished bird.  The fabrics are all from the Fablism line of wovens.  You can see they have a tendency to fray... but I managed to get the project put together neatly. 

I'm calling him the "Bluebird of Happiness!"  

I've started a second critter but you will have to wait until next week to see it. There are lots of pieces to keep track of...

I finished off the cross stitching on my Funky Rooster this week and hope to get it assembled next week. I have some felt to use for the beak and waddle.  I plan on putting my name and the date on the blank section in the middle. 

We had a really weird thunder ice storm this past week.  The ground was covered in ice balls the next morning.  They were all melted away by the end of the day. They sure made a lot of racket when they were being lashed upon us from above!

Finn had a haircut this week.  Here are  the before and after pictures. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique again this week.  Happy stitching!