Holiday Hand Towel

Another fast attempt to add some holiday fun to the cabin.  I quickly digitized a very simple cross stitch snowflake in my Bernina V6 software.  Copied it five times and sewed them out in a row on the band of a hand towel that has been used, but not too abused.  Just enough decoration.  The way the snow lasts up here in the northwoods, I can probably keep this towel in use until May.  I will wash it now and then, of course.  Jerilynn

She's Getting Lazy

Sharp and long-time Jerisew(s) blog readers will recognize the above shot of Christmas coasters from a 2010 post.  I am conserving my energy by posting the old photo, but today I made more new Christmas coasters.  You see, I am in my studio, at the cabin, and all my Christmas decorations are at our condo in a different town.  At some point we are moving to the cabin full-time, but until the condo is sold, I will have items in both places.  How in the world does Oprah handle as many houses as she has?  Does she have duplicate Christmas coasters, too?  This time, however, I used cream colored thread on the tree, holly, and ornament.  I think I like it better than the black.  I think I will use my Bernina V6 digitizing software and make a new design to add to the collection...maybe a pine cone or candy canes.  I am not sure how a candy cane shape will be a good, table-protecting coaster, but that is where the challenge begins!  Jerilynn

Inspiration

Hi!  Didn't think I would be gone this long.  My dad had another heart attack and it has been, needless to say, a stressful week or two.  Good news is that he is better, back at his apartment, and can drive starting on Monday.  Add that to the Thanksgiving holiday, the first one that my mom is in a nursing home, and, well, you get the picture.  I didn't have much of an opportunity to do any creating, just getting good ideas.  I sometimes think that is half the process, though.  Don't you?  When you are really doing mindless tasks and not really seeming to be doing much.  But in the head you are working out designs.  Yep.  So now I just need to get an interface to plug into my brain and auto download ideas to the computer.  The above shot is from the Purlbee.com and is their Hudson Bay knit blanket.  I have been on a huge camp/Navajo/Amish/Pendelton kick lately, so when I saw this blanket, I thought it was something I would like to knit.  Well, the yarn used would total over $300.  Not going to happen.  But, then  my mind starting to work on the problem and came up with a good idea.  How about doing a Hudson Bay blanket in quilting cottons?  The stripes could be one solid color or they could be squares of colors:  the red stripe would be squares of different reds, etc.  The background could be, of course, the solid white.  I also think I am going to try to do some kind of Hudson Bay thing in woolfelt.  Maybe a pillow.  I need to spend a day or two getting things back to an organized state, and then I will spend some solid sewing/creating time.  I hope you still will check in with the blog now and then.  I have missed writing it, but just was a bit out of sorts.  Jerilynn

From Mighty Oaks

This is a picture of the necklace that I will be  making once I get back to the cabin and my jewelry tools.  It is from Beadaholique and the kit I ordered has all the stuff I need for it plus some extra stuff for earrings, etc.  There are lots of acorns at our cabin and in the autumn it is almost like walking on marbles sometimes.  One year the grandkids made games to play with the acorns - an acorn olympics.  I have always liked those cute little capped balls, and when I saw this necklace, I thought it was one I needed to make.  I must get it done soon - it is almost time to think that red and green stuff is stylish.  Jerilynn

Studio Time

Wonderful day spent in the studio putzing around. A bit ago I bought Redwork from The Workbasket that had a CD of hand and machine embroidery redwork designs. It recently bubbled to the top of the pile, and, avoiding other tasks I should have been doing, I decided to sew out the 12 flowers of the month. I got 10 done, 2 to go. Once they are all done, I need to figure out how to frame them out and sew them together for some sort of quilt. While sewing, I spent a bit of time staring out the window and marveling how different my view is now that the trees are bare. Lots more water. I also love how the sun sets in a different location - previously over to my right: now it is right in front. Rock star viewing. I shot of couple of pictures. You had to be there. There is a full moon tonight. I hope I have a good water reflection view by the time I go to bed. Jerilynn

Gorgeous Purse!!

Wowie kozowie. Dian S. at Indygo Junction made my Permission Purse using machine embroidered circles on the squares rather than using machine stitches. Absolutely gorgeous!! She used the Artistic Quilt Blocks designs by Ace Point Designs. You can find them on the Oregon Patchworks website here. There are several Artistic Quilt Blocks collections, and I thought the Collection 3 looked pretty fun. The thing about downloading embroidery designs...pretty instant gratification! Plus, they were on sale...such a deal. I sewed just one block out so far, and my color choices turned out to be not the best, but I think I love these! I might play around with the kaleidoscope feature on my Bernina V6 software to see if I can make some of my own designs. Seriously, I love the purse that Dian made! Jerilynn

Knervous Knitting

I am doing some nervous knitting and decided to give the whole dishcloth/potholder thing a rest for a few days. I found a pattern in the book Knit Noro for a Zigzag scarf. You can see a little of the Noro Silk Garden scarf in yesterday's blog photo. I wondered how the scarf would look narrower, so I stopped knitting on the wider scarf and started a red wool Zigzag using 15 stitches. The zig and zag are also more frequent. I think I am liking this. Of course I do. It is red. It is garter stitch. It is mindless. Jerilynn

The Days are Numbered....

How much longer will this be the view from The Red Chair? We are back at our condo for a few days for youngest grandchild's birthday and realtor interviews. Yep, we are going to put our condo on the market and live full time at our cabin. I am finding it harder and harder to leave the cabin and feel most at home there. We are conflicted: we love the condo and our neighbors and the location, but having two big Northern Wisconsin homes is a bit crazy. Not a great time to sell a house, both market-wise and time-of-the-year-wise, but call us crazy! We are starting to force our kids to make a list of "stuff" they want. After moving my folks around these past 9 months, it will feel good to lighten our load. So far it has been interesting to see what some of the desired items are. I think childhood memories are involved at times. Once we have all the wishes listed, we will go through and try to figure out who gets what. A delightful task, for sure. Maybe this is why people don't do this until after they are long gone! I do know, though, that The Red Chair and The Red Couch will not be on the give-a-way list. That is for double sure. Jerilynn

Heavenly Help

I was in a funk because my Bernina V6 software suddenly stopped working! I have no idea what I did, but there it was...just not working at all! I researched the internet to see if others had that problem and didn't really find much of an answer. So, I went downstairs to start dinner and maybe have a glass of wine to calm me down, when Carl looked out the window and said "Wow, do you believe that sunset?" Seriously, it was this purple in real life! I dashed to get my camera and get a shot off before the light changed. Quite the view. It just kept getting better, too. All different colors. Carl made burgers, I got out the pasta salad I had made earlier. The Relax wine was nice and chilled. Dishes cleaned up, wine gone, I announced I was going to go and try to figure out how to fix my software. Opened it up...and all was normal!! I think the magic sunset not only fixed my mood but also the software. Heavenly. Jerilynn

Do You Think This Guy is a Sports Fan?

I finished another tee shirt quilt for a friend of my daughter-in-law. I like making these things. They are fairly quick using my serger and a fleecy blanket on the back - no batting. I have showed you these before, so nothing too new here. But, what was different this time...the person wanting the quilt made as a surprise for her husband had "pre-cut" some of the shirts. Oh, oh. Yep. All different sizes. Some little squares, some rectangles. I usually just take the shirts, plop down a big square ruler and cut around! Not this time. I had to do a little thinking. So, what I did was base the squares and rectangles on units of 4, with the biggest square 16" and the smallest square 4". So, I fit the 16", 12", 8", and 4" combos together like a puzzle. It actually turned out quite good! Not that I want to think that hard again. Jerilynn