I have another of the Blackbird Designs Reward of Merit pincushions finished.  I'm pleased with how all of the colors look.  I'm not sure where the fabric or the trim came from, but it matched the aesthetic really well also.  I decided to put a few buttons on the side, the same as the picture that is online.  I did cut this out very close to the edge of stitching, and I really like how that looks, but it was something you have to be really careful with when completing the finishing.  I ironed a piece of very lightweight fusible interfacing on the stitching only.  This adds a little more thickness to it, and helps to stabilize it more.  I like trying to create balance between the amounts of fabrics around the stitching, and also with the trim.  

I love this quilt pattern from Villa Rosa.  It only requires a charm pack and some yardage.  The finished size is 36 x 45.  I actually do not add the banding on the top and bottom of this pattern so that it will finish as a square.  We have a round kitchen table, so  I think that the square shape looks nice without covering the table completely.  I did use it on the kitchen table because I want to protect the wood top.  I used a line of Moda fabric called Potting Shed.  It is from quite a while ago.  I didn't have enough for the back, and had some scraps that I was piecing together.  I was thinking of making up a table runner, and didn't like how it came out.  I wasn't sure what to do with it, but it was great for the backing of the quilt.  I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I'd very much recommend the Villa Rosa Designs patterns for pre-cuts- they are really pretty patterns that are easy to do, and the ones I've tried don't take a lot of time.  The name of this pattern is La France.

This project has been at this point in my stash for a long time.  I may have even written another blog post about it!  I have really struggled with this project for some reason.  I love the color of the linen that I choose, but it is quite dark.  There is also something funny about the weave of it, where it is very tight, and I find it really hard to see the holes.  I bought this beautiful frame to put it on, which seems to help.  I am going to really try to finish this in 2022, because I would love to have it framed, and I have the perfect spot for it on a wall between the kitchen and living room.  If I could just get it finished!  Maybe committing it here will help increase my motivation to move it on to some sort of stitching schedule. :) 

I just love this project!  I wanted our kitchen to have a lavender theme.  I love lavender, and it was also even a theme of our wedding.  I don't know much about decorating, but I wanted to have purple as one of the colors in our kitchen, because I thought that it was a unique color for a kitchen.  I then have been making items to decorate our kitchen with a lavender theme, and even some things with sheep.  I didn't know that sheep are kind of an obsession of mine. :)  I found this printed fabric image, I believe at a quilt show- sometimes I forget where I acquire my stash!  I also had this absolutely gorgeous piece of plaid wool that I wanted to use for something special, I loved the color and print on it- again a mystery stash acquisition.  I decided to make it into a very simple wall hanging.  The stitches I used were a blanket stitch and  the feather stitch.  The thread I used was a variegated purple Valdani brand thread.  The variegation is really nice because it looks like many different shades of purple.  I felt that it looked a little plain, and that it needed something, so I tried something outside my comfort zone, which was adding the flower on the side.  I just drew it out freehand on some fabric and wool scraps I had, and then did some embroidery to add some texture to it.   On the flower I did French knots, one of my favorite stitches.  I often wish that I had drawing/artistic skills but it wasn't too complicated to draw this out to have a kind of folk design, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I will definitely try more of these kinds of wool projects.  

I have to say how much I adore this fabric, and how dreamy it was to work with.  I started with the blouse, and in the process I realized I didn't have anything to match with it.  So, I decided to make shorts to match.  Unfortunately, when they are together, it looks like pajamas!  I was disappointed, but after getting feedback from my husband and friend, it definitely looks like pajamas when worn together.  Also, I'm not sure also if the shirt is a great fit for me, it is very boxy.  One thing that I'm happy about is how the buttons came out and how they match the fabric. I have been wearing them as separate outfits.  On to the next garment sewing project! 

Here is another quilt that I used a Villa Rosa Designs pattern.  It was given to me as a freebie, and when I went to file it away with my quilt patterns, I realized I had the perfect use for it. I wanted to make a simple quilt, using fabric from my stash.  It was for a graduation gift, so I had in mind gray and pink colors, but I do think that it needed some more, so I added in the turquoise blue and the yellow.  Not all of the fabric was from stash, but about a 1/4 of it was, which was a good exercise for me, to look into my stash and see what I could use again.  I used a fabric by Kaffe Fassett for the panels on the side to coordinate everything together.  The finished size of the quilt is 54 x 72.  I machine quilted it.  I did like how it tuned out. 

This is a wool applique pattern by The Woolen Needle, called Counting on Ewe.  I saw this as a model in the store, and just new that I wanted to stitch it.  I have a very narrow wall next to a closet, and it was the perfect spot for it.  Sometimes with wool applique projects, I have not wanted to do them even though I liked the design because the kit will come with primitive colors that have darker colored backgrounds, that also seem autumnal to me.  For example, the stitched model of this had a black background with a dark brown plaid, and the accents being hunter green, burnt orange, and brick red.  While the looks really pretty and has a certain aesthetic, it doesn't match the color in my decor.  I tend to want to always follow what the designer created, and then end up kind of 'stuck'.  For this, I decided to think outside the box, and challenge myself to pick my own colors.  Because my kitchen is purple and green, those were the colors I decided to use.  I am so pleased with the way the colors look, because I think it still think it has a primitive quality to it.  I also decided to use a back lining, even though it wasn't required in the pattern.  I think having a backing just creates a really nice finish.  

My very first punchneedle!  I had been collecting punchneedle patterns for quite a few years, thinking "I'll eventually do this at some point."  I did take a class with a wonderful teacher at a quilt shop.  I even used a vacation day for the class because I had been waiting to learn how to do it.    There was a free kit with the class, and we used a specific hook and also a hoop.  Several months later, I was at the Vermont Quilt Show, and bought a punchneedle frame, and also a different kind of hook.  I actually really like punchneeding in this way better.  I didn't mind the other hook and hoop, but I like the frame for myself, because you don't need to be tightening the cloth over and over again.  When I purchased the frame and hook, it came with a free pattern, so had picked this little sheep.  I am very new to finishing punchneede, so I just mounted the piece on to some wool and put a backing on to it.  I have a little hook that it rests on that is hanging on the wall.  Now, even though punchneedle isn't a project that I work on frequently, I do always have a project set up.