My annual swim pool party was quickly approaching and I decided to make two quilts to toss on the chairs in case it got cold.   This year we are having a movie outdoors and I was thinking it might get a bit chilly.

My back yard has shades of blue and some green.

But the wonderful Target got smart and decided to sell some sassy Orange/Coral chairs and accents.   So I added them to the mix and now this fabric from Moda is perfect.

I decided to do a chevron quilt and divide the fabrics in half, making one blue tones and the other one orange.   I did fine on the blue side, but the orange became orange/teal/some blue fabrics.   But it did work out

Here is the layout for the blue quilt.  I wish I had a larger table.

Here is the orange one completed.  as you can see, there is some blue pieces in it.   oh well.

The completed quilts.  I decided to do the quilting in a wavy ocean sort of pattern.  I took an awesome class from Craftsy.com that was quilting by using your walking foot.   It was super easy and I loved how it came out.

Here it is on the chair.   I redid the chair pads with this awesome blue print from joann.com (HGTV print) and the pillow came from Target.   Love how it all ties in together.

Just so you know, here is the ugly fabric on my chair before I redid the cushions.

Short of prepping for the party, the quilts were done and now off to decorate!!!

Yikes, was I ever so behind on my quilting.  I had my annual Summer Pool Splash Party and I got so behind.  I sewed two quilts to use on the patio and that took all my time, plus decorating, making pillows, getting a movie screen, etc.   Good time had by all, but heck I am so behind.   So here is a crash update on my Vintage Farm Girl Quilt Squares!!!!

Baking Day Block

 

 

Butter Churn Block

 

 

Canning Season Block

 

Chicken Foot Block

 

 

Churn Dash Block

 

 

Cool Threads Block

Here is the next one!!!!

Corn and Tomatoes Block

I really liked this block, easy and cute!

#CornAndTomatoesBlock
#FarmGirlVintage
#FarmGirlFridays

Continuing onto this block

Country Crossroads Block

Not so sure about the pale pink color, but once the quilt is put together it will be fine.

#ScrappyCrossroadsBlock
#FarmGirlVintage
#FarmGirlFridays

This one was a sewing disaster

Crops Bloc+

 

Egg Basket Block

 

Farm Fresh Flower Block

Farmhouse Block

 

Feed and Seed Block

Fresh Pears Block

Furrows Block

 

 

Gingham Block

Was trying to use the new Papertrey Ink Beer stamp stamp and die set.   This darn card took me all day.  LOL, I guess everything does not go smoothly.

I decided to try to make some condensation on the card, just like the Make it Monday cards.   Please note that this is a shaker card with little micro beads in the glass to be the illusion of bubbles.  Sigh!  I could explain everything that went wrong doing this card, but instead I think I will just enjoy the cuteness of the card.

Enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

I love Lori Holt, her fabric, her designs.   Nothing is more wonderful that quilts, sewing, farm girls, fresh veggies from the garden and all things wholesome and good.

My family comes from a long line of farmers.  Hard working farmers who survived from digging in the ground and planting seeds.

My Great Grandfather Charles Ray in 1930 on his farm.  This was probably Missouri but I do not know for sure

Lyle Ray, my Great Uncle (son of Charles Ray) in 1931

Delbert and Martha (Blackwelder) Whitten, My Great Great Grandparents!  Probably in Wichita Kansas.

In fact my farming roots go way back to the early history of America.   However something went amiss in my genetic code, I cannot grow a thing to save my life.  My Grandmother could take a stick and put it in dirt and grow a plant.  I kill cactus.   Just a fact.   To make up for it, I love the concept of farming.   So I guess I will quilt, sew, make jam, cook and be a wanna be!

So back to the sew along.

I checked out Lori’s Blog and was thrilled to see a new sew a long was happening as well as a new book.   AWESOME!!!  Perfect timing

Her awesome book…look at all that quilting yumminess!!!

Luckily I was able to get her fabric bundle.

I  got her fabric bundle, plus I decided to pull a variety of charm packs of 1930’ish type fabric.

Of course I keep finding little charm packs here and there in my stash, so more will be added.   The wonderful thing with a charm pack is the size is perfect for these smaller blocks

But on to the quilting.

The first one is APRONSTRINGS

My 2nd one is AUTUMN STAR

My third square is BABY CHICK

Off to make the new quilt squares!!!!

So spring is in the air, and my head turns towards gardens, outdoors and pretty things placed in my backyard!!!

I had seen on pinterest, many watering cans with jewels coming out of the spout and I wanted to make my own!   I must have been thinking about this for 8 months.  Today I sat down to do it and it only took me less than hour and it was super easy.    8 months planning.  1 hour to make.   LOL, isnt that always the way it happens.

To start with I searched for a watering can.   My neighborhood is Southern California is definitely not a rustic antique, flea market kind of town.  Goodwill charges a fortune for basic junk, and finding any gems is basically impossible.  So I resort to Amazon!   Amazon will find me a watering can.   I first searched for a rustic galvanized watering can but then decided to go with a enamel coated watering can is an assortment of colors.   The trick of this purchase is you could not guarantee which color you would get.   Lucky for me I got the color I wanted, a nice cool aqua.

To find your can, check out Amazon here.

There are 5 delicious candy colors available, but it is random so keep an open mind.  Of course if you live in a wonderful place with fun junk or awesome flea markets go for it!

Make sure you get a watering can that the spout head comes off either by screwing it off, or prying it off with tools.  Just make sure you can get it back on.

GATHER SUPPLIES

I found crystals and acrylic crystals at a variety of places, JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels, Amazon and Hobby Lobby.  I think they even have beads at Wal-Mart.   I just grabbed beads that were clear or blue (so it looked like water).  I had wanted to have some drop crystals for the end so I actually used some crystals that I had from QVC (Valerie Parr Hill).

I also got some 30 gauge wire.   Definitely can buy that at the places I mentioned above.

I doubled my wire and either did a small bead at the end of the jewell to keep my jewels from falling off

or if the jewels were chained, I just ran the wire thru the top and added more crystals.

I then just created different strands with a variety of jewels.  Some were all clear, some mixed with blue.  What ever tickled my fancy.

I really used no tools except my fingers.  I just placed each bead on the wire and then added another until I was satisfied with the look and length of the strand.

Taking one strand, I inserted into the sprout hole and pushed it thru until it went out the back opening.

I did this with each strand mainly focusing on the inter circle of dots on the spout.  However you can choose to use all the holes or focus on the outside holes with the one middle hole.  Really it is up to you.

I decided to stop at 6 strands because some of my beads were very bulky.  If you are doing many small beads you may want to do more

Once I had all the strands into the spout.   I decided to twist the stands together and tie it into a knot.  Then I twisted some more to tighten up the strands to the base of the spout and then I bent it onto itself to keep it from coming apart.  At this point I forced it back into the spout opening.

Now I twisted the spout head back onto the can

And now I am finished.   Oh my goodness it was so fast and easy.  Have no idea why I dragged my feet so long to make this project.

I had gotten a shepherd hook from JoAnn Fabric for 50% off to hang my can off of.  The weight of the jewels automatically tilted the can so it looked like it was watering.  Cool.

Here I am watering my rock….LOL, only kidding.

This is where my flower plate garden is going.  So far I only have one flower plate, but have the supplies to make several more.

In this pic you can see my lone flower plate.  No I did not make this one.  I bought it off Etsy.   You can also see my solar cattails that glow at night.

As soon as I get my flower plates done, I will share with you the process!

Thanks for looking!!!

Here it the last of the FOUR cards I made for the challenge and I guess I saved the best for last!!!!

I had gotten the new Prima Scenic Route Water Color pencils and wanted to use them!

So using each color (except the black) I created an ombre effect on the background and then stamped the largest stamp from the stamp set in the kit.

I pulled out some glittery embossing powder from some craft show I went to, I was hoping to get a different look.  I also used the same powder on the heart.

I liked the card, but mostly the water color!!!

Thanks for looking

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp February 2015 Card Kit
Tim Holtz Water Color Paper
Prima Water Color Pencils – Scenic Route
Creations Unlimited Embossing Powder Silver Seas
Madeira Super Twist 983-313 Smokey Quartz
Papertrey Ink Heart Prints Die
Silver Vellum Paper
My Favorite Things Blue Prints #20

Also posted in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Texture

This card was a combination of the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge.

The Simon Says Challenge asked for texture

and the

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge #201 asked for stencil from a cover plate and embossing plate.

So I used the Papertrey Ink heart coverall to make a stencil and used translucent embossing paste.  But then used distress ink over it to really show off the hearts.

Thanks for Looking!

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp February 2015 card Kit
Papertrey Ink cover plate heart die
Papertrey Ink Tag Sale #7
Wendy Vecchi Translucent embossing paste
Distress Ink Worn Lipstick
Tattered Angels Cherry Blossom Shimmer Mist
Seam Binding
Vellum

So this is actually the third card I made.  I struggled with the brown but wanted to go outside my comfort zone.  So I focused on kraft and brown and a touch of pink.

This was a very simple card and it was a struggle to create.  I could not really pull it together, but sometimes you just have to rub on a saying and let it go!!!  I also used a little stitching on the top to attach the banner.

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp February 2015 Card Kit
Papertrey Ink Notched Heart Banner Die

So I dragged my feet to make the cards from the card kit.   Especially since Valentines day is over with, I really lost my desire to create cards with hearts and valentines.   But tehn I found out my sister got the card kit subscription.  I was thinking WAY COOL, we can challenge each other to make cards.  So the goal was to create THREE cards and actually did made FOUR cards.

My first card is the LOVE card.  I liked the die from My Favorite Things and I thought it would work great with the card kit.  I decided to color my own ribbon with distress stain from Tim Holtz.   This worked out great and the color matched the card base.

So here is the stupid mistake I made.  After I made the ribbon,  I took my card front and turned it over to glue it to the base.  Well I guess I did not clean my work space as cleanly as I should have.  Dang it, I got red ink on the front, mostly on the bottom of the tag.  So I ended up cutting a new bottom piece and placed it over the bottom.  Cannot really tell, but zoom in on that letter L and you can see the patch job I did covering paint.   It was not a good day.   But it got better on the next card.

Thanks for Looking!!

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp February 2015 Card Kit
Seam Binding Tape
Distress Stain – Festive Berries
Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium Embossing Powder
My Favorite Things Die-namics  LOVE die
Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banner

This Challenge is to create a blue ombre card.  I love the ombre look and especially blue.  So it was fun to do this card.  When I inked up the card, I decided what ever I put on top had to be a glitter paper, especially a dark tone.   I pulled out one of my favorite glitter pads.  These colors have a dark tone like pewter or coal.  This paper is nice and is smooth but it is hard to cut, so I had to run it thru the machine a few times to ensure it cut properly.

What I love about this paper stack is the colors are almost a pewter tone, and I have used this paper a lot.   So I thought I would share.  I got it at Joann’s Fabrics on sale so I think I paid 3 or 4 dollars for it.

Ok, on to the card.  A very simple card

I used Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder to match the tone.  I like how it came out!

Thanks for looking

Supplies:

Neenah Solar White Card Stock
Papertrey Ink Simple Stars Stamp Set (for quote)
Papertrey Ink Dangled Star Die
Distress Ink: Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire
Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder
DCWV Twinkle Glints Glitter Paper