Klosjes....

Well, I am having issues uploading photos to Blogger today but I did manage to get one to work. Here are all my Klosjes together. I think I did 13 this week. This is a photo of all the Klosjes I have done in the two weeks I've been sewing them. I am still enjoying it so will keep on stitching. :)

My thrifty find at Goodwill.....

Today my daughter and I set out to do some grocery shopping and a trip to Costco. We stopped off at the Goodwill to donate some items and decided to have a look around the Goodwill store. I haven't been in a Goodwill store in years! A fellow FB and blogger friend, Kim, from Threadheads Unite, always has a Thrifty Thursday post on her blog and it inspired me to stop in and have a look. We looked at the books and my daughter found one she liked, brand new for $2.99 I must remember to take my son to look for books there since he always must have a book to read at all times. :) We wandered on through the store and looked at the furniture, glasswear and various items. Wandering down one isle up on the top shelf I spotted......A QUILTING HOOP!!! It's one of those hoops that is made to sit on your lap so that as you quilt it can turn easily as you need it to. I have always wanted one of these hoops. My husband bought me a quilt hoop for my birthday last year and I was hoping he could make additions to it to turn it into one of these. I am not sure what it's called, but I love it and was so happy to spot it. I have seen them displayed at quilt shows but they are always so expensive. This one was sold at Craft Warehouse for $38.99 but I bought it from Goodwill for $12.99. I am so excited to try it out. I think I will start with this little table topper I made in reproduction prints.
What do you use when hand quilting in your lap?

A Klosjes Saturday as we welcome the first day of SPRING...

This is my first week making these cute little Klosjes'. I love them, but more important, it is my first time hand stitching and I LOVE HAND STITCHING! I wish I would have attempted this years ago. I am so excited about it, I keep thinking of all the different patterns I can do by hand. :) The hardest part is the tracing and cutting out of the pieces, all I want to do is get to the stitching. Hmmm, maybe I can pay the kids to do the tracing and cutting out!!!?? ;)
The two spools on the bottom right are gorgeous prints given to me by Ann. I love the warm tones. It's too bad this photo does not really show the colors as they really are. I can see myself purchasing warmer tones next time I'm out at the quilt shop. For now though, I have enough fabric to keep me stitching these for a long time.



Today started out a beautiful day for the first day of spring in Oregon! The sun was shinning and all you could hear was the humm of lawn mowers all throughout the neighborhood. I took full advantage of that warm sun and did some yard work of my own. I pulled weeds, pruned bushes and had my youngest son mow all the lawns. The yard looks great!!! Flowers are blooming, trees are budding and allergies in our house are in full force! :) In this photo you can see the white buds all over the trees. At first glance I think it's snow.
This afternoon after working in the yard I made Peanut Butter Blondies! Two things we love in our house, peanut butter and chocolate. :) These brownies are so good. I thought I would share a piece with you, hope you like it. ;)

My first Klosjes.........

Thank you so much Ann for passing the pattern for the little Klosjes (spools) on to me today. I was so excited to get started on my very first hand sewing project! I traced the pattern to my template plastic and found some reproduction prints and got started. For my first block I think I did pretty well, but I do hope they get better with each one, since this one is far from perfect.


I wish I would have timed myself once I started sewing so I could see how long it took me to make. Maybe on my next one. :) I can see right now, these little spools are going to be rather addicting, just like the little baskets are.



Here is a picture of my first spool and also the basket I was sewing today. This basket was sent to me from a dear FB friend from Australia, Lisa. Thanks Lisa. :) Thanks again Ann for sharing the spools pattern and taking me along with you on this journey. :) xoxox

Piecemakers......

I have had over ten cross-stitch patterns by Told In A Garden for about 14 years now. I picked them up at a garage sale a friend of a friend was having. I think she may have even given them to me for free. I was always drawn to the Amish patterns and thought I had hit the jackpot!!! :) Of course, I did not know how to do cross-stitch, but I would learn. I did start a small project back then, but was teaching myself and with taking care of three kids under the age of 5 then, finding the time for it was not easy. I put them away and just pulled them out last year after seeing my friend Ann working on a pattern. My kids are all teens now and I have been inspired and encouraged by some wonderful Facebook friends to get back to doing what I love. (thanks girls ;)) So I pulled out my patterns and chose one to start on. I chose Piecemakers 2. It was supposed to be stitched on a parsley aida, but I could not find a green shade near me, so I chose to use an ecru color. That was the mistake of a beginner. I did not think too far into it and realized after stitching on it for a while that some of the pattern would get lost in the background. I will end up having to stitch around some of the ladies aprons etc. to make them show up more. I have learned a lot from working on this piece and have enjoyed every moment of it. I can't wait to get it finished and start on another one. I am farther along than this last updated photo and will add a new photo soon. I love having many projects going at once. I enjoy being able to decide what I'm in the mood for and choosing what to work on. Sitting behind my machine, hand stitching baskets or working my cross-stitch. And soon I will have the little spools to hand sew and hand sewing is new to me so I am very excited to learn.

Trick or Treat Baskets....

Today I am working on these little baskets from the book Where The Cold Wind Blows. My friend Ann got me started on these and I just love them. This has been an ongoing project that I have really enjoyed. I am still not sure exactly how many I will make. I make mine 6" and that seems to work better for me. Stitching on these is so relaxing. I have been using reproduction prints. I have never made anything with reproduction prints before this and I sure have fell in love with them. I will share more of these baskets as I make them.

Facebook friends signature block exchange

Today was spent getting my signature blocks done for a Facebook block exchange. We all used the same block and had to use different Batiks for each corner. I chose to use Batiks in tropical colors. They are so yummy! They make me want to head to Bora Bora! :) This pictures does not really show how beautiful these prints are. There are 100 blocks that I need to sign and send off. I am left with 200 Half Square Triangles! That's great! A bonus from all that work. I am thinking of making something for my sister with those leftover corners since she is a beach lover and also loves these colors. This was a productive day since these will need to be signed and sent out soon to meet the deadline.

The Adventure Begins......

This is the first post on my new blog. This is where I will share the adventures of my quilting/stitching life. I'm not sure I will have enough to keep this blog interesting but we will see how it goes. I have been so inspired by other quilter/stitchers so I hope my little pojects will do the same. Let the adventure begin.............