“Friendship, love, health, energy, enthusiasm, and joy
are the things that make life worth living and exploring.” ~ Denise Austin

Monday, December 25, 2023

Merry Christmas

 

Wishing everyone a joyous Christmas and a happy new year!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

 This past week I finished a small Kawandi mug rug


And I started another Kawandi.  I have watched YouTube and The Quilt Show tutorials and did it different this time.  I folded over the backing seam and did not stitch it down as i have in the past.  I am also going to wait to add the batting AFTER the first row of pieces of fabric are added.  These are two changes from the earlier small Kawandi quilts.  

AND the next photo shows a way of adding the pieces to tuck the seam under so the edge looks neater.  I like to take photos to share tips and also for a reminder to me in the future!! 


I cut up some pieces of the following fat quarter to put in this quilt.





I had a birthday February 16the........83!   Not sure how I got here so fast...the years fly by!!!


The photo was taken at Marie Callendar's in their library room.


I am linking to Kathy's Quilts

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2023/03/slow-sunday-stitching.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I started another Kawandi....number 8 and it is a mug rug like the last two I made.


I am not not concerned about the rows being straight or my stitches being the same.  I like it perfectly imperfect....makes it so much more fun then perfect stitches! 

Here is the last Kawandi that I finished.


Last Tuesday at my quilt group I learned about a fun improv method of making blocks.  The photo shows the blocks I have made so far.


Check out Terry Rowland on You-Tube. Color wash quilt scraps challenge.  These are so fun to make with scraps and each block is trimmed to 3½".  She has several videos about these blocks.

Last Sunday late afternoon we drove down to the La Jolla to watch the sunset at the ocean.  I had checked the time of the full moon rise and it was close to the same time as the sunset time.  So we thought it would be an awesome thing to watch.  AND it was.  We watched as the sun disappeared into the ocean and then on our way back home we saw the full moon low on the horizon as it had just come up.  The sky was clear so we were able to view both of these....very special time for us.






 
I am linking to Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I have been working on my Valentine Kawandi mug rug that I started I mentioned in last week's blog


sorry for the dark photo.  This is where I am today...almost ready to add the center..

Every morning I check YouTube for interesting videos.  I have a fire stick on a small TV at my desk.  This morning there was a video about momigami.  I have never heard of it before.  For those who don't know it is a Japanese papermaking method described as kneaded paper.  It makes the paper soft like fabric.  In the video she did some slow stitching on it.

  I wanted to try it.  I did some experimenting.

The first photo is watercolor paper that I had painted.  I used a small Japanese  saucer with some lotion and used a clear plate for laying it out to smooth between times of rolling it up and squashing the paper.


Next photo is the piece of paper I tore off a piece to compare before and after.


The next photo shows some denim I am stitching with perle cotton and will be used for a journal cover.  I might be adding some paper inspired by monogami to this piece.


AND I am working on the January lessons from my Joanne Sharpe class 2023 Artfully Inspired Life online course.  Next is a photo from my class book. In the photo is the alphabet from one of my journals of NYC checkered cab alphabet from Joanne Sharp book Artful Alphabets.


I am linking to Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2023/01/slow-sunday-stitching_0329602671.html


Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

 This past week I finished the Kawandi mug rug and started another one.

Here is the finish with a saying stitched in the cneter


The center saying says Create Joy Every Day.  
Here are some photos before I stitched it to the center.  I felt it needed something so I added the words.



Now I am working on a Valentne Kawandi mug rug with pinks and purples and reds.  I did the same different start like the last one with sewing machine zigzag around the edge.  I described how I did this in my January 8 Blog post.

AND the last photo....sharing a favorite snack I discovered several months ago.  They are so good.  LIghtly salted and crunchy...yum!




I am linking with Kathy;s Quilts  Slow Sunday Stitching

Smiles and hugs....Caryl


Sunday, January 8, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I had a glorious time this afternoon sitting on my patio and stitching on my Kawandi mug rug.



I used a different procedure on this Kawandi.  Here is how I did it:

  I started the mug rug by doing a zig zag stitch on my machine on the outside edge.  Lay the backing right side down, then the batting  then the top fabrics.  I used a jelly roll.  The way I did it was to hang the first strip off the edge and fold the edge of the backing over the batting and the jelly roll raw edge on top.  Start zig zagging and each new piece of jelly roll I folded the edge under.  When I got back to the beginning I folded under the first piece and stitched back to the corner.  It is a very fun and fast way to get a Kawandi style quilt started.  The rest is all hand stitching around and around.  I really really enjoy this type of hand stitching...........perfectly imperfect!  

This last week I have been going through scraps of fabric and sorting in piles according to size.  I stitched various scrap sizes on a muslin base starting with a 5-sided center piece.  The following photos are the first before trimming and the second trimmed to 9".



I am linking to Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Happy New Year 2023

 


I don't know what happened to last year....it went by way too fast!

This year I am going to plan more......do more....finish more.  

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Kawandi #5 finish and ready to start another one

 It has been a long time since I wrote a blog post!  

I will link this with Slow Sunday Stitching.

Today I finished #5 Kawandi and it is placemat size.


THis is only the center part of the photo and it changed to this close mode!  OH my it took me forever to figure out how to get a photo here.  I have forgotten so much!  I will send another photo in another post.

Here is a photo of some fabrics I am using in the next Kawandi plus some of my other fabrics.  OH YES....I will be starting another one as I love doing the slow perfectly imperfect stitching!


And that photo was a lot easier to post and it actually has the whole photo I took.

I will be catching up with this year in later posts.

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2022/11/sow-sunday-stitching.html

SMiles and hugs....Caryl

Monday, January 17, 2022

Kawandi quilts and 2022 word and 30 day challenge

 

Happy New Year 2022!  

I finished my Kawandi runner the end of December.  I have blogged about it with photos before and I didn't get a photo when I finished.  I do have a photo that was taken at a friend's house on her design wall  when it was almost done.


And I have started another Kawandi and it is smaller.  Here is a photo


My word/words for this year......schedule plan organize.....

I want to have more of a schedule to my days to get more done.  The days we have plans are the days I accomplish more!  I have a lot of  creative things I like to do and a lot of supplies.  To organize....I have been entering my supplies and where they are in a WORD document.  AND also listing my ongling projects I want to complete....my UFQs,,,,,,unfinished quilts.  Last year I started watching videos on paper crafting and want to do more with journals.  I have a lot of online classes and want to do more painting and lettering.........the list goes on and on!!!

NOW.....TODAY.... I started a 30 day challenge.  30 days create before my birthday. (#30dayscreateb482)  I posted day 1 in my FB group creative happenings workshop.

The photo from today....making stickers with 6" adhesive roll.  I put the back of a magazine image on the sticky side and punch out a shape.  The 2" punch doesn't punch all around the circle and I have to use a scissors to finish the cut.  But a 1" punch works just fine.  I plan to make a bunch of stickers and have them ready to peel off the brown back and put in my journals.



Doing a challenge and posting about it is a great motivator to get going and make some stuff!!!

Anyone want to join in or want to join my FB group....it is private...so answer the questions and I will add you to our group.  

AND here is my creative journal page for January 1st that I posted to the Decorative Journaling FB group.



Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Friday, December 24, 2021

Twas the night before Christmas

 and all through the house............

Here is a page I did today in my creative journal.  

I did some cooking today for tonight and also for tomorrow morning breakfast.

Every year I make cinnamon rolls at this time of year and use a treasured recipe from a dear friend.

It is a recipe from the 60s and is called Ice Box Rolls.  You make them ahead and refrigerate the dough for 1 to 5 days.  Here is a photo I took yesterday when I made the roll mix.


And here they are out of the oven an hour ago.  We prefer them not frosted.


The sausage souffle is in the refrigerator ready for the oven in the morning.


MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone....

Smiles and hugs....Caryl


Sunday, October 31, 2021

Slow Sunday Stitching on the patio


 I put this image on this blog post at the beginning of October and did not finish it and send it!  AND now it is the last day of October today!!  Where did the last  month (last two months) go???

This afternoon I was enjoying some slow stitching  outside on this gorgeous day....77 and perfect!  I am getting to the end of stitching on my kawandi like runner.  It is very enjoyable....I have no pressure on myself to complete it (although it is almost finished).  I am enjoying the process and I am not at all  worried if my stitches are straight or if they are the same length.  I try for straightish lines and embrace being perfectly imperfect!  Here is a small section where I am stitching.

Catching up with September..........we had our 60th wedding anniversary.  Here  are photos of a journal page and several photos of us in the car on our way for a drive to the mountains.



I am linking to Kathy's Quilts         https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/10/slow-sunday-stitching_0864130145.html    Let's go check and see what everyone is stitching.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

31 day August challenge

A new month.........time to renew/change/evaluate...

I have decided not to continue with the weekly goals on this blog and not post every Tuesday to the linky party.  I have done 69 weeks of posting goals....and before that I used to try to finish by Friday for the linky party.  It was a great motivator for me for a lot of years.....but now I want to do something different.  

Note for those who read my last post.....Yesterday I did an update on my last blog post and added a photo of the two fabrics I used for the crazy mini quilt.  I am sure most everyone was wondering how did I come up with that quilt!!.  

I really enjoyed posting on IG every day in August for the challenge by Joanne Sharpe  in her online class to make some kind of creative play artwork every day.  I usually made the decision each day what creative project I would do and many days I did several projects and decided which one to take a photo and post to IG.

Yesterday for the last day of August I worked on three projects that I had started earlier in the month.  Two of them were doodle painting and using pens....one using twinkling H2Os. The other project was using the sheet of faux oil cloth and cut it into different size pieces and sew then on painted papers.  These were ideas from Joanne Sharpe classes over the past few years.  Here is the photo from yesterday.  My IG is carylquilts if you want to see all 31 days of projects.


Smiles and hugs....Caryl