Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

The mothers in my life have gone to heaven but are dearly missed.  I wish they were here to shower with gifts and affection today.  Today, I am saying prayers for people who have lost the mother in their life.

Proverbs 31:28

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Flags and Rags

The Memorial Day flag quilt is completed.  It will find a home on the front door for the holiday.  I did not pre wash the fabrics because I wanted it to get the puckered look of an old quilt.  I remember a whole cloth quilt from when I was a child.  It was a dreamy blue floral with a very puckered texture.  I was going for that texture here.

I also made a rag rug.  I used 7/32-inch nylon clothes line and my trusty Janome Memory Craft 3000.  I wrapped 1" strips of fabric around the clothes line using washable glue sticks to secure the fabric.  I then coiled the line in an oval shape and zig zag stitched the rope together.  There were problems with the zig zag stitch occasionally that looked like it may be due
 to the machine's bobbin tension.  I remedied this problem by rethreading both the needle and the bobbin.  Also a heavy jeans needle is a must if you try this.  Here's a link to a tutorial that gives more tips.  The blocking tips are helpful because the rug does not finish perfectly flat.  You can get it flat with a bit of coaxing though.

 http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2014/05/make-your-own-rope-rug.html

The rug is very scrappy, purposely.  I like the mixture of brights with low intensity colors.  I find the muted colors break up the intensity of the loud bright patches and make the scrappy look visually pleasant.

As you can tell, our critters liked the rug.  They were on it almost as soon as it was on the floor.

A Patriotic Little Quilt

A little patriotic quilt top because Memorial Day is coming.  I am too excited about this little creation.  I come from a long line of fine quilters.  They were all my dad's sisters.  The talent was amazing.  I've never attempted to piece anything, but today I succeeded!  What do you do to celebrate Memorial Day?






This pattern comes from this bookhttp://www.amazon.com/Little-Quilts-Through-House-Designer/dp/1564770338/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430864392&sr=1-2&keywords=little+quilts

Trillium Woods - Wildflower Woods

We took a hike on Sunday.  The trillium were in full bloom.  The forest floor at Grand Rapids' Aman Park was aglow in white with occasional flourishes of purple, blue and yellow.

Spring is a glorious time in Michigan.  Our winters drag on and most of us become weary of the cold and cloudiness.  Spring, however, is our promise of the amazing Michigan summers.  If it were summer here the entire year, the influx of population would be uncontrollable.  We have it all from May to October:  beautiful white sandy beaches , fresh water inland seas, and low humidity.  If God owned a summer cottage it would surely be on the shores of a Michigan lake.  Ahh, it's good to call Michigan home!

If you're in the area, Aman Park is located on Lake Michigan Drive in Ottawa County between Standale and Allendale.  Despite its location in Ottawa County, it is a park maintained by the City of Grand Rapids.

More Tunisian Crochet and the Critters I Love

Tunisian Crochet is something I'm liking!  Usually, I avoid variegated yarn for all projects except dish cloths, but the Easter-like colors drew me into this one.  I have to admit that the variegated yarn exceeded my expectations.  There's more info about this project here. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/mtmercyme/tunisian-crochet-washcloth-2/photos?source=more

The second Tunisian Crochet project is a placemat.   It is completed in the honeycomb stitch and has a single crochet border in the variegated yarn.  Please try not to notice that this hasn't been blocked.  You can find more information here:   http://www.ravelry.com/projects/mtmercyme/tunisian-crochet-placemat

I need to make five more placemats but I am seriously thinking of sewing placemats instead.  It's faster and I won't cringe when they get baptized in butter or spaghetti sauce!

We got a new family member last weekend.  He's a very black cat whom we've named Oswald -- Ozzy for short.  We're all in love.  Chloe, our Jack Russell terrier wants to be in love, but doesn't quite have the knack for playing with a kitten.  Oh my, hopefully they'll be great friends soon.

Tunisian Crochet

Oh, my friend, Carol Ann taught me Tunisian Crochet this past Friday.  I needed something more to do with yarn!   Here's my dish cloths.  Not to bad for a first try!  The edge is a bit uneven on the first try, but -- oh well.  This is a fun technique that a little like knitting and a little like crochet.
The pattern can be accessed here and it's free!  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/mtmercyme/tunisian-crochet-washcloth

A tutorial on Tunisian Crochet is here:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCA7huAGYE4

This is my first attempt.  The first photo is my second try.  Interestingly, this is the same table in different light.  I wasn't intending to do a light study, but there you go. . .

Tales from a 1927 House -- Our Sunroom

Nearly seven years ago we moved into our current home.  It really didn't (we thought) need a lot of work.  Since moving in we have discovered a weak electrical system, lack of storage space, and a leaking sunroom roof.  The sunroom was a major selling point in buying this house.  Ten beautiful windows that look out into what used to be a quaint wooded area.  I remember sitting in the room when the house was being inspected and thinking -- this is my spot.

The roof over the sunroom was flat, something very common houses constructed in the 1920's.  We thought the flat roof wouldn't be a problem as the former owner assured us it had just been re-roofed.  But flat roofs and Michigan winters are not amicable companions, and two winters ago, during a thaw cycle, the roof began to leak.  After talking to our friend and contractor, Gary Allen, we decided we would put a hip roof on the structure.  The door that walked out onto the flat roof would be replaced by a window.  Gary is a creative and resourceful fellow and mentioned that he had an arched window sitting in his driveway (a Pella window, even), that he felt would look nice in a gable.  We would have to add a cathedral ceiling.  We liked the idea.  So here are pictures of our project.
 

This is Gary in our old "before" sunroom.  The ceiling was an Armstrong fake wood product.

The roof peeled off.  There wasn't a salvageable board in the roof.

This is the interior after the arched window was set in place and the gabled roof put on.

The exterior -- almost complete -- it turned out kind of cute!

Just recently I finished making Swedish shades for the ten windows in the sunroom.  Now a Swedish shade isn't that big of a deal to make -- but ten of them took quite a while and quite a lot of effort.  I like the way the room looks now -- although I would like to change the seating in the room to accommodate more people -- that will come later.  I do love the color though and I like the shades.  The whole family is very happy with the project.

The new ceiling is natural beadboard.  Although the floor isn't visible here, it is oak that was stained to match the existing floor in the rest of the house.

See more of the sunroom project at my blog