Fun With Friends

Last time our fun group got together we made slippers.  They were made from recycled wool sweaters are are super easy to make. I made the pink ones and they turned out a little big so I made a second pair out of a recycled wool coat.

Our retreat 2012

Once again our retreat to Brainerd turned out to be fun and very productive for all.

We drank a little wine.

Evy taught us how to make these cute wool roses.

I made a whole bunch of wool brooches out of recycled wool from old coats.

I let them choose their favorite to take home with them.

I taught them how to make little purses out of paper bags and cards stock.

 And boy did they go to town! I tried to stop them but it was an impossible task.

As usual Evy went to town like a crazy person and made massive amount of cards.

Then it was time to say farewell until next year.

Crazy Quilting

This is my latest crazy quilt project. I really haven't been doing mush of it mainly because I'm running out of space in my house to display it and it's a lot of work just to have it sitting inside a trunk. But when our local quilt shop offered a class with wool I just couldn't resist. We started embellishing the seams in class then I finished on the long trip to Fargo this week end.

This is how Lucy Lu utilizes her time. She's not as productive as me.

 A closer view.  Next time we will be adding wool applique pieces such as flowers, bees, a crow, ect.

It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I finished something and this particular project was a kit I picked up at the Quilt Show up in Fargo 5 years ago.

I had my friend Susan quilt it for me and she did a fabulous job.

This is the back side.

Happy Valentine's Day

I made this little table topper using wool and my favorite crazy quilt stitches.

Flower Baskets Wall Hanging

This wall hanging is called Flower Baskets by Wooden Spool Design.  I bought the pattern and kit up in Fargo with my friend Mona about 5 or 6 years ago.  It's made with wool and homespun fabric and was really fun to make. I really like it so it's on the top of my list to get quilted.

Waiting for the cable guy

Actually it  was the the satellite guy.  He was supposed to come yesterday between the hours of 8 and 12. So I waited and waited, embroidered some work shirts (which I don't enjoy so I always procrastinate as long as possible) then I waited some more.  I started working on Tom the Turkey, then got a phone call at 12:01 from the tech that was supposed to be here saying he would be arriving between 12:00 and 1:00 and was that OK?  Ummm, what are my other options? I said fine then I waited some more, worked on Tom more, then at 1:15 started getting worried and a little angry so I decided to make a phone call. Their records showed he was at my house. After several phone calls back and forth (not to him, they couldn't find him and he wasn't answering his phone) the final story was he didn't have the right equipment and had to go somewhere it get it.  By now it's 2:15 and I asked where did he go and how did he know he didn't have the right equipment if he hasn't been here yet and shouldn't he have told me that when he called and shouldn't he have called again when he realized it was taking much longer than expected?
At 2:45 he showed up, no apology, just asked how I was doing. I told him not very good as I was very worried and where has he been?  I left out the part about being mad as I just wanted him to get right to work and do a good job, which he might not do if I started reprimanding him. He had been to a town 40 minutes away to get some equipment, at least that was his story. Anyway, to make a long story short, he didn't have the right equipment and will be back on Friday between 8 and 12. I hope they send someone else.
But on the bight side ..............

Tom the Turkey is done!

Like a Squirrel Gathering Nuts .....

I gathered a couple of little unfinished projects in anticipation of the 2-10 inches of snow they were forecasting. The snow pretty much missed us but I managed to finish my gathered projects anyway.

 This is a Crabapple Hill Design.  I absolutely loved their designs and have done my part to keep their company going.

This is a close up view where the pattern called for french knots, I added beads instead.

This little number was supposed to be an ornament.  I added sand and wool in to inside and mine will be used for a paperweight, or pin cushion or something.

This crazy quilt mitten I started last year and for some reason never finished it. Perhaps every time they forecast snow I'll finish three projects, but for every three I finish I start four more so I'll always have plenty to choose from. The mitten is an ornament and much smaller than it appears.

24 Hours

I was at the lake this weekend for 24 hours.  No TV.  No computer.  No internet. No shower, I didn't say it was all good, but I did manage to finish a few things.  I brought along some odd ball projects that wouldn't otherwise get done.

A sheep needle keeper.  I have one in my Etsy shop, have sold one, and given a couple away, so when I finished this one I decided to keep it for myself.

This little pin cushion works great for those tiny applique pins. I've given a couple of these away  but it's just what I need so I'm keeping this one for myself also.

I finished another case for my glasses. The last some was for my sunglasses, this one is for my real glasses.

Then lastly I finally got started on the May circle for the Welcome wall hanging.

Ewe's Something to Crow About

This project is from the book Cotton & Ewe. The pattern actually has a rooster on top of the sheep but I decided to change it to a crow. I'm going to hand stitch the blanket stitch around  the edges. It's a great book will all kinds of fun projects, it's not just sheep projects but they all work with wool. I like the book so much I had it spiral bound.

April Showers ...........

This is the circle of the month for April.

Circle of the month March

This is the welcome wool monthly circle for March. Not my favorite, but it's done.

January Circle of the Month

I'm not really working in any particular order with these bad boys. I just finished this one for January and the reason is ........ because I miss placed the scarf and mittens and refused to cut out more since I knew they would turn up somewhere as soon as I replaced them. They turned out to be exactly where I thought they would be, buried in one of my tote bags.  Now I am ready to start on the March one.

Welcome February

I finally got around to taking a picture of this months circle of the month welcome wall hanging. It was supposed to have our own name and address, but that just seemed weird to me so I changed it up a little.

Welcome December

Nothing too exciting going on here.  I just finished the December circle of the month for my welcome sign. I really like these so I am managing to stay right on top on them.  Most of them anyway, I still need to go back and get Novembers done.

Another circle of the month done

My mind works in mysterious ways.  I should have been working on the month of November but instread I worked backwards and got September done.  I think the fact that I'm not real crazy about the one for November had something to do with me not getting that one done since I skipped over it and now I am working on December.

Wine anyone?

This has got to be one of the quickest projects I have ever done.  I started it and finished it in an evening, which is almost a recond for me.  I will be giving a couple of bottles of wine from our local winery this Christmas and this little wool porject will be accompanying each bottle.

Welcome

I love welcome signs.  I don't know why, I guess because they are just so welcoming. ;>

This is the most recent one  I finished.

The center is removable and there is a different pattern for each month. This hangs on my front door.

This one I designed just because I like sheep.  There is just something so peaceful about them. When ever I see some, I just want to count them and go to sleep.

This spring/summer one was so much fun to make .......

I made another one for fall/winter.

I don't know when I made this angel one, it seems like a hundred years ago, but it was when woolfelt wasn't really very popular yet. There weren't a lot of color choices  out there so I started dying my own. The rest of these take turns hanging above the closet doors in my foyer.

A Sew on the Go Project

I brought this fun kit called Cool Coasters or Marvelous Mug Mats at the quilt show in Duluth from a vendor called Woolylady. The really cool thing about it is that all the wool was precut and everything you need, including the needle was inside the kit. The only thing I did differently was use different colored pearl cotton to buttonhole around the designs. I started with the thread they provided and it just didn't look jazzy enough, so I set that thread aside and used it for attaching the top and bottom together. Luckily I just happened to have some different colored pearl cotton along with me so I started working on them on the way home. I don't really need coasters so I may put them on another piece of wool and frame them or make a pillow.

Another teapot pincushion

Writing up a pattern for these little teapots has been my latest project. I gave a couple of these little pin cushions away at Christmas time and have had a few people tell me I should make a pattern for them. So I finished the little teapot that I had sitting around, then I made another one, documenting the steps. I had to restrain myself from embellishing too much with beads and such, since I want them to be functional, I thought I better not go too crazy.