Winter smiles......

Cozy home

Blue and white quilt blocks

Snowman on the porch. 

Nothing fancy but it sure turns the frown upside down

 and adds beauty to the day.

Winter...

Winter comes

Day by day

My heart is warm, 

 my nose is cold, 

and my toes are froze.

Wishing to be like the bluebird

Singing a happy song anyway.

This week is the farewell to February.

Winter goes.

Beautiful  Winter  :)

Janita

The sweet and sour of life...

Last week was hard.

We had to say good-bye to two people in our lives.

Last week was beautiful.

It seemed like the most beautiful day to go to heaven.

I hope I fly away to heaven in Autumn. 

Last week was sweet.

My dearest friend came for supper.

I love old friends.

For us, there is always

 some distance between visits.

It makes the reunion all the sweeter.

I wish Life were all sweet.

But in this world there will be sorrow. 

Creating beauty around me helps lift the sorrow.

I helped a friend decorate a couple of weeks ago.

She shared some of her garden goodies.

The leaf plate has found a happy home.

I transformed some coasters in to something more appealing to me.

The leaf has danced right off the plate behind the bear.

The before......  fabric is kind of ho hum...

This little coaster makes me a little dizzy....  

but it is happy here.  

The coasters are stuffed with some crushed cinnamon and cloves.

I just made a pattern from a leaf in the yard.

Fused it on with some Heat N Bond lite

 and did some primitive stitching around the edge.

Zig-Zagged over some twine  for the stem.(first step)

I used some old shirts to remake the tops of the coasters.

Makes me happy.  

Even in sorrow......God is still good.

I made another sweater pumpkin :)

It all started here

(The stem might be too much over the top)

It was a long sleeve on that sweater!

My daughter called it Whimsical. 

I guess it will stay for now.

That is the beauty of creativity. 

You can express yourself any way you want. 

She  fits in with my other sweet pumpkins.

Emmy and Addilyn.

I try to make the house fun for my grandkids.

 The joy and blessings of Grandchildren always lift my spirits.

The best therapy when my spirit is low...

 piece my way to 

A finished quilt top.

I started this in April of this year.

.... just started with some inspiration from here and there. 

It is my own design I didn't follow a specific pattern.

Where would I be without my sewing machine????

The rhythm of the machine soothes my soul.

 This quilt started with a layer cake of

Sweetwater's fabric line

"Mama Said Sew"

 I needed a little bit of extra yardage to make it all work.

Now to get it quilted :)

Teach me to number my days..... 

Life is short.

Make it beautiful.

A special welcome to all those visiting from the Quilting Gallery 

I invite you to follow along on Bloglovin

Janita

September smiles ..... Beauty takes time.

For what ever it is worth I am going to go through the process

 of what it takes for me to create a home that makes me happy. 

FIRST...

I head to the basement and pull up my tote(s) of Fall things.

Then I begin to arrange and rearrange.

It may seem effortless

 to just show you one picture of the finished space

Lets talk REALITY here..... 

It may take days or weeks to put the space together....

It is a process of 

arranging.....

and

Rearranging....

walking away.....

Coming home and walking by....

Sleeping on it....

Asking my girls what they think of the space...

Life is not fancy here....

But I want it to feel special.

This picture is Take #1

It is pretty but it doesn't make my heart sing.

Not loving the clock on the plate so much.

I start to ask, ok what do I love about the space?

I love the little pumpkins on the plate.

What seems to be to much? 

Though I always love a candle by the front door.... 

I have two in this space.

I love the wire pumpkin but it seems to be too much here.

You can  see through it but it still seems too big and too much.

You never know unless you try it.

So let the rearranging begin.

I know I am dating myself here....

The Yankee candle shade and plate are old.

But I love bittersweet.... So I'm keeping it :) 

I think this candle works better in this space.

Now that I have moved the candle.....

 I need something for the basket plates

Feeling like I want a little more orange to tie in the orange table runner.

I just happen to have an orange sweater....

Picked it up last year for a project that never happened

Perfect project for a rainy day....

And I know the plans I have for you:)

Hello Sweater Pumpkin :)

tutorial can be found here

More sweater pumpkin love here

Looking yummy....

but still don't have a good feeling for the two similar shapes of the 

gum ball machine and the Yankee candle lamp.

Little Putka Pods  come down off the picnic basket.

Love in a bowl. 

I like the texture of the sticks and the little pumpkins together.

I like something that smells good to welcome me

when I don't have a candle burning.

The wind up clock from my husbands 

childhood has been moved up.

Feeling a little too much shine.... 

need  to take something shiny away.

The wind up clock has been moved back down.

Did I tell you it is a process of rearranging :)

Still not feeling the two tall skinny shapes and

because you never know unless you try it .... 

I replaced one tall skinny shape with another.

Yes I really did think the pineapple might be kind of fun.

Because I like the unexpected to show up now and then. 

It was a NO.

This is how it stands.......  

Until the end of Fall or until

I get another creative light flash in my brain :)

Then again Real Mini Pumpkins in the house

 could change everything.

Welcome Home!

I love the homemade touch.... Fall Quilt I made

I love Creativity.....Sweater turned Pumpkin

I love Memorabilia..  Old Clock

I love White Plates:)

I'll take a picnic any season.

I love Sticks!

I love Layers of YUM!

Hope your house has a smile in it this season :)

Reading the "Nesting Place" right now. It doesn't have to be Perfect to be Beautiful

you can be encouraged here to live a beautiful life herehttp://www.thenester.com

A special welcome to all of you who are visiting from the Quilting Gallery.

Hope you will follow along by way of email. 

Janita

This is a Pink Post with a Smile.

Reporting in on Operation "Move It" Monday.....  this is where I Post my progress on what it takes to get an old sewing project out of the Bag and on to the Bed.
It all started Here

 

This  is my FIG in a bag.

Project # 2

FIG= Fabric In Gestation and has been in a bag for longer than I care to admit.

 

This quilt is for my Granddaughter, Addilyn.

 

She was so sweet when she saw it on the arm of the chair.

She said, 

"Nanny who is that for?"

I said, " It is for you, but it is not finished yet."

I opened it up and showed her then folded it back up .

Later I was feeding her little brother in another room

and she came in the room

 with the quilt all wrapped around her

with a sweet little proud grin.

 Walking in like the queen.

When I told her she couldn't play with it until it was finished.

She said," Can we finish it today".

I tried to tell her that it couldn't be finished in one day.

But she always came back with a time later in the day.

"Can we finish it after we pick up Emmy"

 

"Sorry honey it will take more time "

 

Such a disappointment.

 

"I will finish it, but not today."

 

She was totally bummed!

 

 

 

 

This quilt reflects my love affair with the churn dash block.

 

It went into the bag because I needed time to think.

 

I wanted to add some words but I wasn't sure what words.

 

 

 

 

 

And so the thinking has come to this.

 

 

I have one word on  and working on the second.

 

I think I will like it........

 

but not exactly sure right now.

 

It is the beginning of the doubting stage because I can't see the end.

I am making it up as I go and that is risky.

 

And soooooo..... today the applique continues

 

Trying to learn needle turn applique and it is

slow going.  If you like to do needle turn applique I salute you.

 

 

 

 

I love Pink Yes I do!

 

Too many girls here to not like pink.

 

Miss Emerson, my little first grader, and...

The tale of the missing teeth.

She couldn't be prouder!

We have been patiently waiting for this toothless grin.

The tooth fairy has been good to her.

 

And on the home decorating front...

 

 

 Taking this from

 

BLAH..... 

 

 

To Beautiful :)

Just need a little courage to push the pink button.

If I do it then I probably need to paint the end table white or grey.

And that is another project all for a little bit of pink!

 

Decisions...... Decisions.....

 

 

 

I can see buds on the flowering almond bush

 

More pink coming soon!

 

janita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips from a turtle....

You don't have to be speedy

       sometimes it is more about slow and steady.


                               The important thing....

                                                is to FINISH!


Today I am sharing a UFO  that is now FINISHED!!!!

I know cold and snow is kind of a sore subject right now
as spring has been slow in coming....

so I'll just warn you.... this project is SNOW related.

 

I am a good starter..... I am not so good at finishing. 

So can the heavens just open for a moment
             and let the angels sing.... HALLELUJAH!

It feels REALLY good to have this finished!!!!! 

This project was probably pieced over 4 years ago.

                    SO  Sad!

I brought it out of hibernation in January of this year,
decided to move it forward and  labeled it.....
                 
                   MR. January UFO.

 Today it is SO LOVED!!!

It is adorned with DMC embroidery floss ,

 quilted with Pearle Cotton #12.

The fabric used are a mix of cottons and flannels.
The snowman noses are wool.

                   
   I am on a journey to learn how to hand quilt.

 In the beginning stages it is a journey of learning to persevere.  My fingers got tired of being poked with a needle.  I  had to tell myself to keep moving forward even though I was always wondering if I was going to like how it looked in the end.   I challenged my self to set small goals each time I sat down to quilt... focus on what is in the hoop at the time... don't worry about the end.... trust thy self.... somehow  it all comes together :)   My mind wanted me to quit constantly.... and surrender to machine quilting.... because it was taking toooooo long.

NOTE... Do NOT surrender.

 A hand quilted finish is sew wonderful!

 Sew Satisfying!  Sew worth the time it takes to do it! 

                

Poor guy in the middle

          

The back of the quilt

Raw edge applique-

trying something new.

Used this stencil

 then fattened up the lines

to make it a bit chunkier.

Philadelphia Pavement

made with Recycled shirt

free pattern here

First time incorporating a label into the piecing

Pattern....

"Frost Bite"

Created by

Teachers Pet

http://www.the-teachers-pet.com/quickies.html

I have modified the pattern slightly by adding the snowflakes

and changed the borders up a bit.

Hand quilting ..... it makes me happy.

Janita

Linking to Sarah's Can i get a Whoop- Whoop