A little of this and a little of that on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - so how was your week?  Mine was up and down... spent a lot of time dealing with some family situations where one is waiting for the other shoe to drop... and it hasn't... but it will... eventually.

Last Sunday Dan the handyman came over and helped out with several projects around the house... got the new carpet put down in my bedroom... and I LOVE it!!

Now it turns out that I count carpet squares about as well as I count quilt blocks... which means not very well... we were short several squares, but in my defense the carpet covers a larger area than I had first planned. I ordered more squares which came on Wednesday and Nick helped me get the rest of them down on Thursday... and we got the new drapes hung...now they haven't been steamed yet but I'm going with the idea that some of the wrinkles will hang out...LOL... bad pun... I'll work on them soon.

Dan is always so helpful but somehow one projects leads to another new project... in this case, the flooring on the sunroom porch. I have the pretty plaid carpet squares which have been fine for several years now, but lately they've started to shift and slide... Dan took them up and taped them back together but after a couple of days they are still shifting here and there... and when he took them up we found several near the storm door have water damage and mildew... Dan cleaned up the mildew but with the rainy weather we've had and continue to have it's gonna come back. So we discussed other flooring options and I think I'm going to go with tile... Dan does great tile work... I've seen numerous examples of bathrooms and kitchens he's worked on... The sunroom porch isn't big... 7 feet by 10 feet... he estimates he could do the job in about 2-3 days... and with tile I wouldn't get any water issues... right now I'm leaning toward these tiles...

shades of turquoise and I think the hexagon shape would be very interesting... 

I know I don't want anything bland and beige ... now hexagon tiles are gonna take a lot more cuts but Dan said it will be fine... need to go see the tiles in person and purchase them and then see when Dan can get to the job.

Oh and another house project popped up... I needed to find a lawn service that will spray for weeds and fertilize... the young man who mows my grass and has done other lawn projects can't do the chemical stuff... something about needing a license to do that in Ohio...so he told me to find someone else to do that work... and funny story... I called the business that is affiliated with the company that put in my sprinkler system... I figured I'd keep it all in the same basket... anyway when I spoke to the sales rep and gave him my address he said it was already in their computer system...HUH??? I've never used a lawn service like this before... well, it turns out that the previous owner had used the exact same company... like 25 years ago!!!  Now what is even more interesting about this is that I was told many times when I moved in that the previous owner was quite involved with the lawn... it was his pride and joy and everyone always said how nice it looked... and right now it ain't looking so good... I just assumed that he did all the work himself but it appears he had a little help... and I'm going to get some too... they should be out this week to start treating the weeds... there is nut sedge that has creeped over from my neighbors lawn and it needs to go. 

Last week I talked about my big Christmas plans, but I'm still waiting for my FQ bundle to arrive... I did get two cuts that I want for the Tiny Christmas bed quilt project... 

this will be background or sashing, not sure yet...

and I think this is cornerstones... and the background in these pics is the carpet on the sunroom porch that needs replacing... 

Can't wait for the FQ bundle to get here!

As for working on this wrinkly mess that is the  Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread I just got a bit more done... I finished all the red on the house and did the mortar work on the brick side and got in a few more letters... current status...

I switched my attention to  Farmer's Market ABC's by Little House Needlework....and I got it DONE!!

These pics show the color of the linen very well...

I need to go to Hobby Lobby and see if I can find a piece of wood to finish this on ...I want to change out the seasonal decor here in a week or so and I want this done for that display. 

Oh and I got a little more sidetracked with some cute new Halloween charts... a dear friend is stitching these and I had to have them too!

These are from Notforgotten Farm and you can find the patterns here...

we have Sprout...

and Oswald ...

and Boo Berries...

I want to stitch them on some Halloweenie looking linen... but first I have to paint it... orange, lime green, purple  and a touch of yellow... that's the plan... such a cute trio!

I got a measly 2 more blocks done with the Tula Pink fabric... and neither is a dupe of what I've already sewn, so that's good. 

but they are pretty!!

Oh and I forgot to post the small shelf unit patriotic display... so let me show it before I disassemble it...

Up top I have Stars & Stripes by Blackbird Designs and the little pillow is freebie from La D Da called Flag City ... I left out the words Flag City and added a bunch of stars...

in front of my mini flag quilt done in vintage Debbie Mumm , on that little metal caddy I have patriotic chickens... the pattern is Rise and Shine from Scissortail Designs.... I think I'll use this again when I get out my chicken and garden stuff next week.

The left side of the middle has a vintage Longaberger flag basket and knickknacks from Jim Shore and Rae Dunn and the Double Eagle sampler from Prairie Schooler No. 8 American Primitive and next to it is Liberty from Birds of a Feather...

and to the right side on the middle shelf  I have Free and Brave by the Drawn Thread  and below a snippet of the chart  Eagle from The Sheepish Design...  this is old and I thought it was OOP but the link will take you to a PDF version of the chart...who knew? not me!

And over on the tier table I have more Jim Shore knickknacks...love the red.white and blue birds and the guy and gal are from  Farmyard Parade by WTN&T...

Well the weather guys this week were way more accurate and we've had quite a bit of rain.... and the forecast for next week also looks rainy... on the plus side I don't have to water, but the minus side is the weather is sooooo humid... and if I didn't complain about the weather what would I have to talk about...LOL

Upcoming week is a busy one... Monday I have a semi-annual eye appointment at the big clinic here in Cincinnati... and it is one of those appointments where sometimes you are in and out quickly and other times you are glad you packed a snack, that your phone has a full charge and you have some handwork to do... I suspect the appointment will be like that as it is a Monday... but I'll end the day going to dinner with friends... Tuesday is for Elliott, Wednesday lunch with the quilty ladies and we'll celebrate a birthday, Thursday I finally got around to calling the blind cleaning place and they are scheduled for 9 am... they come in a big truck, they take down the blinds, clean them in their truck and rehang them... I used them years ago ... this cleaning is over due... and maybe Friday I might start to un-decorate so I can re-decorate before Elliott is back next Tuesday... if I have the energy... and now that I see all that is going on next week I hope that I have some time to be productive... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... trying to take it easy... I need to go over and watch Elliott for a couple of hours to help out ... both parents have places they need to be at the same time and neither is a good place to take Elliott... 

Hope your week ahead is a good one...not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny, not too rainy... just right!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Christmas planning & an assortment of tangents on a Slow Sunday

Hello - so how was your week?  Mine was pretty good... and I'm starting this month (okay I'm a little late but anyway)  with a new outlook... can't take credit for this thought but it has propelled me into some planning and hopefully productive action.

Half of 2025 has passed. The other half is a gift to do better every day.

As you know from reading this blog I always have plenty of things I want to do... lots of seasonal stuff because I love changing the decor in my home to fit the holidays and the weather... and you also know that I'm obsessed with the weather... LOL... and it is either too hot or too cold or too rainy or too dry... yeah I'm never totally pleased... except for those brief interludes in Spring and Fall when I can turn off the HVAC stuff and open the windows and tell Duke Energy to take a hike!   

Also I'm prone to tangents as you've just witnessed... ok back to the thought that has got me wound up right now... everything takes time... and while the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago...and the next best time is today... the time to work on Christmas projects is NOW!!  Sooooo I picked back up the Noel Sampler... here's where it was last time I released it from it's project bag...

and here it is now...

I had to spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to get this back on track... I made an error on the house...and then I counted lots of other motifs off of the house... and while some were definitely wrong others weren't... don't ask how I did it, I just did ... and the more I worked on this the more errors I've made... argh... it is a good thing that the motifs are spaced out....anyway  I spent a substantial amount of time with this last week but it is really coming along... the red on the front side of the house is almost done... then there is the brick on the side and the roof... but I'll probably move down to the next line of alphabet for a break... sooooo much red.... LOL... it needs to be finished in time for it to be framed by the end of November...oh and I think I've decided on the 3rd piece I want for the wall on Christmas... this is Blackbird Designs The Bells on Christmas Day from the book of the same title...

I might add a little turquoise into this and I want to stitch it on a green background  like the Feliz Navidad sampler I already stitched.... and yes I am being quite ambitious with my Christmas plans!

I thought about taking the Prairie Schooler Christmas ABC's to Hobby Lobby for framing... but that is as far as I got... just thought about it... sigh... 

Next on my agenda of stuff I want for Christmas is a new quilt for my bed and my current FAVORITE fabric collection is Tiny Christmas by Lizzy House... I've ordered a FQ bundle and some background fabric and a back but it hasn't come yet but OMG...insert happy squeals!!

there are elves and candy canes and stamps ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE the stamps... I collected them as a child and I still love them. As a kid I would go to the post office with my Grandma and she would ask to see what stamps were available and told them she wanted to see the pretty ones... and now I'm an old lady and  I do the same thing!!  I love that there are floral stamps and holiday stamps and stamps of people I knew of and people I have no clue about... in fact I purchased these stamps recently...

I HAD to have the dahlia ones ...

and I contemplated some tulip ones... and I'm getting ahead for Christmas with these... 

but I'm inclined to put Christmas stamps on lots of stuff that isn't even Christmas... cause they make me smile!

Anyway... that was another tangent... I'm looking at patterns for this Christmas collection ... I want something to show off these fabrics... but it has to be simple... cause that's all I'm up to these days and at the moment  this pattern that I've done that I've done before is in the running.... hmm... can't find a pic of this totally finished... but this is it... 

It is called Double Square Star from MSQC and you can find it here... I haven't done many quilts with pink in them but the last couple of years I've definitely been smitten with pink Christmas stuff... you may recall that I decorate the sunroom porch with a pink theme... and this year I want to do my bedroom in a pink theme... I'm could make those little sashing stars pink! 

And another quilt I'm considering is this freebie from FQS called Fat Quarter Cubes... you can see the pattern here... and I've already made a Christmas quilt with this pattern and the Heather Ross SugarPlum collection of fabric...and somehow I can't find a finished shot of this quilt either... but it is done...

Hopefully the  Tiny Christmas fabric will come soon and I can make a decision and jump on this.

I've been in this house for 11 years come October... where does the time go??  I'm ready for a little update... and to that end I'm hoping to put down this carpet today with the help of Dan the handyman...

it is from FLOR and it comes in 17" squares... this is 4 of the tiles... no 2 are alike and you get a random pattern... I like the bits of rose and blue and turquoise in with the gold-y yellow... I've used this brand of carpet in my sunroom porch, my dining area and the craft room I call the green room... I like it because it colorful and highly patterned and is easy to adjust the size of the rug to the area you are dealing with... 

and along with the carpet I'm going to hang these drapes... 

a golden yellow velveteen with pom pom trim... I LOVE pom pom trim... anyway I think this is going to be very pretty and kinda girly and I've never done that before... at if I don't do it now when will I ever get around to it??  I'm going to get Dan to help me hang them  today and I can steam out the wrinkles tomorrow. 

And I got off on another tangent  this week... sewing one... I haven't touched my sewing machine in ages but this week I was smitten with a block kit I saw on Avalon Bloom.com ,.. kaleidoscope blocks made from Tula Pink's collection Untamed... and the particular fabric is Hello Dahlia in the Moonbeam colorway... I've never purchased pre cut blocks before but I love kaleidoscope blocks and I know how much time it takes to cut them out... so I was intrigued... now this block can only be put together one way so that eliminates the time and dithering about how to orient that pieces and it definitely makes the sewing go faster... the blocks come in sets of 12 and I got 4 set..I got carried away...LOL.. and I already stitched one set before I took this pic...

and here are the first 12 blocks I did...

and I LOVE them... now the kit included fabric for the corners ...you can see the fabric in the pic above this one... but this is brighter than I want... I'm thinking of going with something in a lavender... I've never used much of that color before but I'd like it...  I don't know if I will get any identical blocks out of the other packages.. I'm okay either way as I'm not sure how I will set this or how big it will get... 

So the weather guys lied to me again... we didn't get nearly the rain they said... in fact, as of writing this on Saturday we've gotten one nice downpour and one weak sprinkle... and with temperatures pushing 90 I've had to water the flower boxes and the raised beds and the pots... but I did figure out how to use the sprinkler system... actually I was pushing the right buttons in the right sequence I just wasn't waiting long enough to see the way it works... I was thinking ALL the sprinklers would pop up at the same time on the AUTO setting... wrong... they go off sequentially... zone 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 7, 8, 10, 11... zones 1 and 9 are the drip irrigation and it also does it sequentially... and it has worked beautifully this week.  The outlook right now is almost identical to last week ... lots of rain forecasted... but we know how it actually played out... so my sprinklers will probably be used again... but that's why I bought them, right??

Next week looks pretty calm... Elliott on Tuesday and I'm sure there will be a lunch or dinner or two with friends. Now I really need to get the basement storage room cleaned up and the garage... but the weather is not going to be conducive to the garage clean up so perhaps, just perhaps I can do something in the basement. I know how I want it all to look when it is done but stuff is scattered here and there and everywhere... I need to get it organized... but it is work and there are much more fun things to do like stitch and sew and knit and nap... 

Hope your week is a good one... I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... Dan the handyman is suppose to be here in a bit and I have a bunch of things I want him to help me with...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Plenty of patriotic on a Slow Sunday...

Ok - I had a heck of a time getting this done... some photos would post, others wouldn't ... some would work as a smaller file, other's posted as a big file... so the quality of the pics are hit or miss... and it took all day to get it to this point. I didn't include any links for the cross stitch pieces as things got wonky and I got aggravated.   If you want to see some better pics you can look at my IG post here...

 Hello ... so are you as confused as me as to what day of the week it is?  Holidays are great but I get all off whack as to what day it is... Friday seemed like a Sunday...and then Saturday seemed like a Sunday and now today is Sunday... good thing my phone keeps me on track... had a quiet  4th of July with Nick... worked out in the yard a little bit ... stitched a little bit... and napped a little bit...ok maybe more than a little bit... but the recliner on the sunroom porch is very comfy. 

My knee is feeling better and better... I went out and did lots of watering the other evening and it wasn't until I was completely done that I realized my knee hadn't bothered me at all... yeah!!  Fingers crossed it lasts a for a good long time... doctors say you can get 6, 12 maybe even 24 months from one PRP shot... I like the sound of that.

As for decor well I'm enjoying all my patriotic pieces... and there are plenty of them... here's the big display...

At the top is Welcome Summer by The Drawn Thread...

On the first shelf I have July from Prairie Schooler..

in the middle is a portion of Liberty Dwells by WTN&T...

and Flag Folk by Notforgotten Farm...

Moving down I have a Blackbird Designs piece from the book Souvenirs of Summer and another snippet by WTN&T  from Summer in Baltimore...

in the middle Grand Old Flag by WTN&T...

and finishing this shelf is Wee One Libby by Heart in Hand...

Moving down another shelf I have  Star Spangled Spectacular by  WTN&T  and a freebie from Marly at Samplers and Santas called  Liberty Star...

in the middle I have a couple of selections from Red, White and Bloom by WTN&T...

and finishing up with Hurrah! from Pineberry Lane...

whew... quite a collection don't you thing?  Plenty of patriotic!!  But you can never have too much patriotic or Christmas or Fall or snowmen or chickens or birds which is why I have so much of ALL of them...LOL

As for crafty stuff I worked on a couple of things... I picked back up Little House Needleworks Farmer's Market...

I want this done in the next 2 weeks when I plan on changing out the patriotic decor for some Summer and garden and chicken decor... and I think it will look really cute paired up with this ....

a small Debbie Mumm cookie jar with a great garden look!!! I found this on eBay... yes I need to stay off of eBay... but when you find treasures like this can you blame me? LOL

On the 4th of July I started my project for the #america250sal on IG... I'm doing the American Sampler by Primrose Cottage... 

this one fills all my wants for a sampler... a house, a great alphabet and a good border... I like that this one has multiple different borders... no boring borders... and I'm happy with how the colors are popping on this linen. I dyed it with Rit Evening Blue... got a little bit of mottling ...  now when I first started cross stitching 40 years ago my plan was that every piece I did would have a house and an alphabet... I erroneously thought that would limit what I would stitch... ROFL... as of this year I've stitched over 100 samplers and the majority do have a house on them... not very limiting was it???   And I have an idea for doing a couple more patriotic pieces so next year I could hang them on the wall next to the Eagle quilt...

see where I mean... I also want to do 3 pieces that are Christmasy to hang in that spot ... I have one completed... 

Prairie Schooler Christmas ABC's...

and one started...  Noel Sampler from WTN&T...

and there are 6 months left so maybe ....just maybe... this is a goal I can reach.... we shall see... not sure what I want for the 3rd piece. But I'm always planning and plotting ... just need to be more productive.

My plans for cleaning out the garage or the storage room did not materialize... I tried working in the garage on Monday but the humidity was stifling... I retreated to the AC... and we went out to dinner two different evenings with friends... that was nice. It was another HOT week and I'm hoping for the rain that is forecasted... one weather app says rain M/T/W/Th... and the other says W/Th... I played with my sprinkler system a bit ... it has a program that as I understand I should be able to push a few buttons and it would take over... but I don't seem to be pushing the buttons in the correct order... I watched a couple of videos and I thought I understood, but it's not working the way I want. Hopefully the company I bought it from will swing back and give me another lesson... that was suppose to happen last week but no one came... oh well... 

Plans for this week have Elliott on Tuesday  and a haircut on Wednesday but not much else...I'm good with that.  I picked up a couple more plants on Saturday to stick in the places where stuff didn't grow or where the deer made a meal out of a plant... just a little pick me up for the garden. It would help if it rains as that would make the ground softer.. fingers crossed that at least one of the weather forecasts is correct.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and after looking around over there I'll see if I get anything productive done today... I started strong on Saturday but pooped out around 3pm... I'll blame it on the heat even though I was inside... oh well...

happy stitching-

carol fun