Felt Applique Wall Hanging

 

This is a felt applique project I made for my mother for Christmas last year. It took many hours to make. It's quite large - I forget how big but it was designed to be about the length of a king size bed. Most of it is from various patterns by Horse and Buggy Country, but I changed the colors to suit my mom's color esthetic. 

A chick was eliminated from this panel and the tulip colors were changed from red and white to pink. My dad hates red and I was careful to make sure there was only a token amount of it. (I was a bit sneaky about including orange as well.)  

The flowers I wasn't completely familiar with I looked up online so I'd have some idea of what they should look like. 

The bunny was changed a little bit to make it more anatomically correct and to look like our little bunny, Bridget. Any rabbits I do in future I will draw out myself so they are more accurate.

This panel was done first. I think it's pretty obvious. It looks sloppier than the rest. 

Since my mom likes black eyed susans some of those had to be included. I also made subtle design changes to most of the small blocks. I did them last and was getting the hang of it. 

It's all hanging on a dark blue background since my mom didn't want any black. She wanted it to be cheerful and colorful so I did my best to make it that way without making it look gaudy. The colors on my computer are not true to the actual project but I'm not a good photographer (you all have already figured that out).

Bread Cloth

This is something I made this year but it's okay to show because the person I gave it to already has it on display. The pattern is from Buttermilk Basin. I need a lot of practice on these normal kind of embroidery pieces. I'm getting better at French dots and stem stitch but other things leave something to be desired. I make a rough sketch on the cloth with a light board then fill in the details with my needle and thread. I find that works better for me than slavishly drawing every last detail on the fabric. 

Snow People

 Since I cannot reveal this years presents yet I will show you one from last year. I made this snowman family for my son for his birthday. It is nostalgic for him because I'd made a whole bunch of them when the kids were small. (I don't know if I was bored or stupid but the end results are as follows:)

Grandma and Grandpa snow people.

 Two gossiping girls and one minding it's own business.

 A newly wed couple.

 A family out shopping.

A snowball fight.

 A snooty family. 

For a little context - here is how they are displayed every year. They are up on a pot shelf dividing the living room from the family room. So they are seen from a distance and there is a front and a back. 

This was the original pattern and inspiration. 

Anyway, the more I made the better I got at it. There is a distinct difference between the first ones and the last ones. As you can see I went a little crazy with them. Ah, the silliness of youth!

Cross Stitch Stockings

When my kids were young I made cross stitch stockings for them. Now that they are adults and, one by one, getting married I am making stockings for their spouses. 

This first one I made years ago from a Dimensions kit. It was a lot of fun to make and not as time consuming as it looks because of all the half cross stitches. I tend to use only the Aida cloth and the floss provided because I like to give it my own touch as far as the fabric inside, on the back, the hanger and the trim. 

 This stocking I made for my daughter in law last year. It is also a kit - this one by Design Works Crafts. I only used the Aida cloth from the kit. I got it on Amazon and the reviews said over and over that it didn't come with enough floss. So I used DMC floss. It's a lot more complicated than it looks because the pattern itself was poorly designed with lots of symbols looking nearly alike. I solved this problem by coloring in the similar ones. 

There is a lot of embroidery and beads on top of the cross stitching that made it take a long time but I thought it was all worth it because the end result turned out so beautifully. Sometimes minor flaws are worth dealing with and this is an example of that. 

Minimalist? Not Yet.

Like everyone else during this pandemic, I've been clearing out my house. I actually do this from time to time but this time - this time I'm digging deep. I've been clearing out... (drum roll)... shoes.

Yeah, you heard me right. I said shoes. I've become a reformed shoe-aholic... at least I hope so. It's been a while since I've fallen off the wagon and I have to stay vigilant and I don't allow myself to cheat.

I only allow myself a pair of shoes if I've completed 50 workouts. Yes, I mean exercise. It's my reward for doing it. I had to think of something that really motivated me.

Thing is, I've discovered something. I can live without all those shoes. I didn't know that. I can even live without buying them. (gasp) 

For my reward, I started out buying whatever my heart desired but for the past year I carefully weighed what I wanted then after a while I started carefully weighing what I needed. When it comes to shoes, this is a completely foreign concept. And, I think you'll agree, an enormous step forward. 

For my reward this time I bought a pair of shoes to replace a pair that needs to be pitched. Weird. Who ever would have thought that would happen to me? After 50 gut busting workouts I bought replacement shoes! I have so matured.

Let's not forget all the shoes I've given away or thrown away. So many. Too many to reveal here. It's too embarrassing. But that's all behind me now! I am a new woman!

I am proud to say, I've got the total count down to less than 40!!! Hooray! 

What? I said I wasn't a minimalist yet!  Sheesh.

White Cabinets

When my husband and I first got married in 1991, we moved into a quirky, downstairs apartment. It was the basement of a duplex that hadn't changed much since it had been built - probably in the 1950's. There was something in the kitchen I loved. White cabinets. In the 1990's white cabinets were a rarity, most were made of oak. Any that weren't already oak were doomed to a gruesome fate.

So why did I like my white cabinets? Because I could see every little dirty speck on them. If I saw a speck, I could wipe it up - walah! Clean cabinets! It took a couple seconds every so often to keep them looking crisp and clean.

 I've had quite a few apartments over my renting days and had all kinds of interesting (we'll use the word charitably here) cabinet materials over the years and I can tell you, by the time I realized they were dirty I had a nasty task ahead of me. It would take buckets of soap and loads of elbow grease to get whatever horrors were encrusted off of there. I really prefer the whole, 'quick swipe of the rag and I'm done' - method. Clean as I go, nice and easy.

Fast forward to our first (and only) home purchase. We moved into our current home in 1999. I thought we'd live here about five years (I say this 21 years later) and I thought after about a year in our home we'd be upgrading the kitchen into something thrilling. So we went with builder basic. It didn't matter. We were going to tear it all out anyway (ah, so young and naïve). That meant oak cabinets.

Don't get me wrong, I like oak. There is nothing more beautiful than oak that's 100 years old and has a gorgeous warm patina. Mission style oak also has a beautiful finish. But brand new oak? Light oak with a coat of polyurethane on top? Blah.

The company my husband worked for went under about 4 months after we moved in. He found work 6 months later and I realized we would not be upgrading our kitchen any time soon.

After realizing we also would not be moving any time soon, I did something that horrified everyone I knew. I painted my oak cabinets white (gasp!). Oak was the fashion, but I painted them anyway.

It's been 17 years of white cabinets. Do I regret it? No. Have I ever regretted it? No. When white cabinets finally came in style, everyone suddenly thought I was some kind of style forecaster - ahead of my time - amazingly fashion forward!!!

When white cabinets are dated (trust me, they will be) I will be outdated, and not in a good way (is there a good way? hmmm... another post, another time perhaps). Will my cabinets still be white? Yes. Will my children and children's children be horrified that my cabinets are still white? Yes. Will that make me change them? No. Not only do they look clean, I know they are clean. I think if 17 years and 5 children hasn't changed my mind, then it's pretty safe to say I like white cabinets.

Various Hobbies

I know it's been awhile. I mean... I may or may not have forgotten, once again, that I have a blog and I'm supposed to post every so often. You won't get a solid statement out of me on that one so you'll all have to draw your own conclusions.

You may wonder if I'm still writing. Well, yes and no. Do I plan to finish my next novel? Yes. Have I worked on it recently? No. This is why it's just a hobby with me. When life gets busy it goes on the back burner. No pressure. I love that.

What I have been doing is trying to simplify my life. I've been looking into minimalism and zero waste. While I can't see myself becoming totally dedicated to either cause, there's a lot of good stuff there to help me out.

One thing that amused me was a youtuber who talked about not using canning jars just because they look minimalist, but to use stuff you already have. What I have is a ton of canning jars. I was given boxes of them, so now I can legit use as many as I want.

This idea of minimizing my stuff and wasting as little as possible has become quite a hobby of mine, and I have to say, I really enjoy owning less stuff. I especially like the first principle - refuse - as in, refuse to buy. Makes my life so much easier. Now my default is to think, 'Is there a way to not buy this?'. I'm surprised at how often the answer is yes. It challenges the creative thinking part of my brain which I love.

More hobbies (I have a bazillion) that I have are related to textiles, wool applique, embroidery, sewing etc. You would think I'm quite domestic but that would not be the case. I am creative. When it comes to practical skills I am lacking and each practical skill I learn is hard won.

The last hobby I'm going to mention today (yes, there are more) is gardening/yardwork. This is something I really enjoy and I love that it's never really finished. There's always something more to do, and planning can happen all year round.

I'm thinking to blog a bit more about these areas of interest of mine, which may become excruciatingly boring for everyone else, but at least I'll be entertained! Or maybe someone else shares my interests. One can only hope.