Sunday, May 31, 2015

A bit of stitching...

Its a cloudy day here...looks like it could rain any minute... a good day to stay inside and stitch. I've made progress on my BBD Early Morning Read sampler from the booklet Weekend. I've got over half of the alphabet stitched and I altered the floss color on the "C" and the "N" to represent my sons' names.


I love the heart and the two birds.. I still need to stitch the band around their necks. I did the heart in Smyrna cross rather than Algerian Eyelet. I so prefer Smyrna and it is so quick!


This sampler has a wonderful border... those flowers are so pretty and I like that you use several different colors of floss for them. Some of the flower pop and other fade into the background a bit... a look I like.


In fact, the flowers on this sampler put me in the mind of my roses. Here are a couple I cut, and they are on display in my kitchen.


The one in the center is the same type of rose as the other two, it is just several days older. The rose is called Jump for Joy and is a floribunda... not sure what that means as I picked it for the shape and the color. A nice clear peach that fades to a soft pinky peach and it smells so good.

Okay off to stitch and listen to my beloved Cincinnati Reds play ball. They redeemed themselves a bit by winning the last 2 games after losing 9 in a row... ugh! Check out what others are working on today on Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching here.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Friday, May 29, 2015

A finish for Friday...

The week has certainly flown by, but I was able to finish something...my Charm Pack Cherry quilt done in batiks! Just finished the binding last night.


This is the second quilt I've done with the Charm Pack Cherry pattern which you can find here for free. And this won't be the last one I do. They are lots of fun. Right now I'm thinking of doing one in Halloween fabrics. I have a couple of charm packs and  it would be fun to fussy cut some motifs from my sizable stash of Halloweenie fabrics and add them to the mix.

Terry Finnerty of the Walking Needle quilted this one for me in a variegated thread. The panto she used is a large scale design that has a very modern vibe and it is hard to see that it is a panto and not a free motion design. Love that!


I started with two charm packs of Pat Sloan's One for You One for Me batiks and added in a couple more from my stash. I'm really loving that turquoise background too.


Since Big Dude lacks height and opposable thumbs I had to corral my youngest son into holding this quilt while I took pictures. He is an awfully good sport about it. Hmmm... I just noticed something...I was looking at the first Charm Pack Cherry quilt I did... here... and  other Charm Pack Cherry quilts and this one isn't exactly like the pattern. Somehow I've rotated my blocks so every other fabric is a piece of background. Not sure how I did that but I like it! Also I extended the colored pieces into a border which isn't what the pattern calls for but I like how it makes the design area larger.


Well the weekend is upon up and I've got a few things I want to do, but mainly I want to relax. Next week is a busy one... somehow I have 3 different evening events to go to, which is way more than I usually get out...not exactly a jet setter here... LOL!

Hope your weekend is an enjoyable one!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

It's Wednesday???

Well the 3-day weekend was lovely, but as always seems to be the case, I totally lose track of what day it is. I did a little yard work and cross stitched a bit, had a good time at Taste of Cincinnati, and enjoyed a cook out at my older son's home. I spent a little time thinking about what quilt project I wanted to do next...and was very very very tempted to start a new quilt but in the end, I straightened up my sewing room and got back to work on my APQ Go 4 It quilt. You can read about theQAL here. I started this back in February and...

Ta-dah!!!  81 blocks are sewn together.



My design wall still has the Phillip Jacobs Stack N Whack on it so I had to photograph it on the floor. The ridges you see are the rug underneath it. I was too lazy to move it. Big Dude dropped by to give a quick once over and seems to approve... however there may have been a bit of an incentive in the kitty treats I offered... just saying.


At this point it measures about 81" square. I want to get it up to about 86" and plan to add some scrappy random low-volume borders.


There is quite a variety of fabrics in this one. I should have keep track of how many fabrics I selected but I didn't...oh well. And you may remember that I dithered  and moaned about wanting to have all the directional fabrics in this quilt point in the same direction...ummm...fugeddaboudit! The more I sewed all I wanted  was to get these blocks finished! Right side up, upside down,  cross ways... I DON'T CARE anymore! My only criteria was that I didn't want the same fabric to touch and I think I succeeded in that regard. However Big Dude may have to make a closer inspection to verify that conclusion.


I do know there is a healthy amount of that cute little chick fabric scattered liberally across the top... and that makes me happy!



Now to get the borders on and get this one off to Terry to quilt...and give Big Dude a few more kitty treats!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Everything's coming up......

petunias!! Hit it Ethel(Merman)... LOL! Okay so the song doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but everything is coming up petunias at my house.


I finally got the sleeve sewn on my Stack N Whack petunia quilt and got it hung in my living room. All of the hexagons were cut out of the fabric in the border, a Phillip Jacobs print from a couple of years ago. Phill does great florals...he is also the designer of the Spiral fabric I'm using for the Stack N Whack on my design wall which you can see here. I LOVE his style.

Terry Finnerty of the Walking Needle quilted this one for me in an all over swirl. You don't see it clearly on the front on the back it is easy to discern.


You get so many different hexagons with this large scale fabric...


I think my favorite hexie is the one that looks like a peppermint...


And in keeping with the Everything's Coming Up Petunia theme here are some of the pots I planted...


I've got those yellow and white striped petunias I was hunting down all over Cincinnati in the pots on the porch railing and in the window box I have purple and white striped petunias mixed in with the hot pink geraniums. I know they are a bit hard to spot in this picture but they are they and I'm hoping they will fill out nicely as summer progresses. And speaking of summer how is the weather in your little spot of the world? We've roller coastered again from the 80's to the 60's...and this morning it is downright chilly. The high is only expected to get to the upper 60's today but I saw an 88 in the forecast for next week so I know this is just another dip on the ride.

Memorial Day is Monday...how did it get here that quick? Don't have any big plans yet except for going to the local food festival, Taste of Cincinnati. Plan on going first thing on Saturday before it gets too crowded... and there will probably be something on my grill before the weekend is over. Other than that I plan to take it easy... sew a little, knit a little.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Monday, May 18, 2015

Trying not to spiral out of control....

So I've sewn all the hexagons I can from stacking and whacking this piece of Phillip Jacobs fabric...


and this is how it looks...


Now there are 54 hexagons here and I was able to sew a total of 63 hexagons from that repeat.  To keep the pattern going in this layout you need 12 hexagons to make 2 rows so I'm  3 hexagons short of adding another 2 rows. I could cut full hexagon shapes from the remaining fabric but right now I'm leaning toward leaving this as it is... no need to let it spiral out of control and get bigger and bigger and bigger... as I am normally inclined to do. The potholder to twin size quilt incident in my past still haunts me... LOL!


In looking at the photo of the design wall I think I have too many hexagons that read light on the right hand side. I can change out a few with the ones I have left over. Not making this bigger gives me options... and options are good...right?

I got some great spinning designs out of this fabric...


Now to buckle down and sew the rows together and get this done. The crafty ADHD is quite strong right now as I have 2 new layer cakes begging to be cut into... and at least 6 other projects in various stages of unfinishedness. I should hang my head in shame...but I won't...when it is their time they will see the light of day again and get finished. What did Descartes say, "I think, therefore I am"... for me it is "I have lots of UFO's, therefore I am...crazy... LOL!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Sunday, May 17, 2015

LMNO...on Slow Stitching Sunday...

The title "Slow Stitching Sunday" seems to be a bit of a misnomer today as I have been rushing around trying to tie up some loose ends on several projects. I have had some nice evenings of stitching in the past week while I listened to baseball games that weren't easy to take. My beloved Reds stink and there isn't much hope that improvement is in the offing... so stitching makes those multi-run games easier to take.

This is Blackbird Designs' "Early Morning Read"-from their book Weekend which you can see here. It was published in 2011.


I love the colors in this sampler, Crescent Colors Calico Kitty, Cinnamon Toast, Perfect Pie Crust, Tennessee Red Clay and Used Brick. I have no idea what the linen is I am stitching on, but it is the most beautiful shade of peach-y marigold. It is a hand dyed and it is hard to capture the true color in a photo... the closest I can explain it is, it is a lot like DMC 3827. I wish I knew what it was because I want more!

After stitching a few letters I wanted to see how the border would look and off I went. So far, so good and I love the shape of these flowers. This one I stitched  is in CC Perfect Pie crust and it reminds me of my newest rose bush...



this is a David Austin rose called Charlotte. It starts out a deep yellow and fades to a creamy white. I love the shape of English roses as they remind me of peonies, another favorite flower that has too short a life span in my opinion. With these English cabbage roses I can enjoy the shape of peonies all summer long.

Hope you are having a nice Sunday...I'm having the newlyweds over for dinner... looking forward to watching Mr. Selfridge and stitching the evening away.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2015 - ROYGBIV

I just figured out...okay I just saw this on someone else' blog and  read all the info Amy posted about the Blogger's Quilt Festival...and realized I could enter 2 quilts...yeah! This quilt is my entry in the ROYGBIV category...Postcards from Kaffe, Brandon, Phillip and Mary!


I got the idea and the pattern for this quilt from Debbie at A Quilter's Table and you can view her tutorial here.


When I first started this quilt I thought I could keep it small ... wall hanging size... but in the end it is a nice lap size...it just got away from me! This happens to me lots...once I set out to make a potholder and it ended up being a twin size quilt...I have issues with self control - LOL! Anyway, this is 9 blocks wide and 15 blocks long. All the colorful prints are either Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably or Phillip Jacobs and there are no duplicates. So in a way this is a scrappy charm quilt too!  I LOVE bright colors and these fabric make me very happy! I've collected black and white text prints for a while and I love how they look when you pair them together.


I used a tiny block and white dotty print for the separating strip on each postcard and I used it for the binding too. The quilt was quilted  in a bright variegated thread by Terry Finnerty of The Walking Needle.


So you may have identified prints from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably and Phillip Jacobs but are you scratching your head about Mary? Well, I'm talking about Mary Engelbreit.. and this is my favorite postcard message...


I've had this black and white print in my stash for a long time and it made the perfect postcard... don't you agree?

Thanks so much for stopping by... if you like what you see and have some time please read my other posts... I have lots of interests...quilting, cross stitch, knitting, making cards and jewelry... notice cooking and cleaning are no where on that list. I do them but under duress...LOL!

happy stitching-
carol fun

AmysCreativeSide.com

Friday, May 15, 2015

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2015

Oh it is that time again... The Blogger's Quilt Festival...and there are so many wonderful quilts to see! Thank you to Amy for putting this all together and thank you to everyone who stops by here to see my quilt. This quilt is hot off the press... hot off the long arm machine (thank you Terry Finnerty of The Walking Needle)... and hot out of the dryer! All warm and crinkly and smelling like summer!

The pattern is Mahalo by Fig Tree Quilts which you can see here...and the fabric is from Abi's Hall collection On the Wing, which you can see here. I think it is a match made in heaven!


This quilt measures about 85" square so I'm entering it in the Large quilt category which you can view here. I love all the different prints  and it has all my favorite colors... yellow, blue, gold and orange! Such happy happy colors!


These blue bird prints make me smile from ear to ear... I have a special place in my heart for all types of fowl (chickens are my favorites as you can tell from my blog header - LOL!)


And if you look closely or make the pictures bigger you can see it was quilted with a bird panto in a variegated yellow/orange thread...birds birds and more birds...love it!


This quilt is a match made in heaven for my bedroom...the walls are blue and the drapes are a golden yellow buffalo check... see?


I even made pillowcases to coordinate with the quilt for a complete ensemble...oh I am getting fancy schmancy here...LOL!

Hope you have enjoyed looking at this quilt... there are so many lovely ones to see... I'll be glued to my laptop for quite a while checking out quilts and new blogs. I love how seeing a quilt opens up a new world of blogs to investigate. And if you have some time please poke around my blog too... I have lots of crafty interests and ways I avoid cooking and cleaning...LOL! No one on their death bed said "I wish I had spent more time at the office" or "I wish I had cleaned more toilets".

happy stitching-
carol fun

AmysCreativeSide.com

Monday, May 11, 2015

I think 3rd time is the charm...

This is the 3rd arrangement of these Stack N Whack hexagons I've played with, and I think this is the one!


I wanted something different from my standard layout of these blocks. I like how you get rings of hexagons and one blends into another.

I think it will show off the individual blocks nicely. This is by no means the final placement of the hexagons, as I will want to distribute the colors across the top.




I've got a ton of things I want to play with this week, including this quilt top and the modern TV Dinner one I had on the wall last week. There is that cross stitch sampler I started yesterday...I have 3 letters stitched...woo-hoo! And I have a bunch of flowers I want to pot up... petunias, and geraniums, and plants I don't know the name of, but they were pretty!

However, I should get to this pile of quilts too...


I got three quilts back from Terry Finnerty of The Walking Needle and they all look great. Need to get the bindings on and pop them into the washer and dryer.

So many things to do... so little time! I think I'll forgo cooking and cleaning and laundry and just do the fun stuff!

happy stitching-
carol fun


Sunday, May 10, 2015

M is for....

Mother!  Happy Mother's Day to one and all! I hope that your day is spent with your loved ones...that's what is on my agenda... along with my own Mother's Day tradition of a guilt-free start on a new cross stitch project.



I started this tradition for myself years ago when I received the chart and fabric and floss for this piece from my boys as a Mother's Day gift.


I have forgotten the title of this piece but it is my Ewe and Eye and Friends. Love the colors and that the big alphabet is done in large Smyrna crosses...they give the sampler so much texture. I think you can see it if you click on the picture.

Last night as I was laying in bed I thought about what I would want to start today. I purposely blocked out all visions of the many many WIP I already have. Mother's Day is not a day for guilt, it is a day for joy!  I remembered a couple of Quaker pieces I've tucked away but somehow they just didn't talk to me. Soooooo... this morning I started to go through my stash and this popped up. I had totally forgotten about this one, but it was kitted up and ready to go.


The sampler is by Blackbird Designs and is titled Early Morning Read. I love the flower border and the colors, shades of red and rose and even a hint of peach. Those two birds in the lower right melt my heart and then there is a heart right next to them! LOVE it!

This sampler is in this book by Blackbird Designs...


It was published in 2011 and it includes lots of different projects from quilts to cross stitch to a hooked rug to making candles in a tea cup...thoroughly enjoyable.

I am comfortably seated in my stitching chair with my new sampler, watching my beloved Cincinnati Reds play the Chicago White Sox, and listening to  the play by play from my favorite sports broadcaster, George Grande. I'm going to dinner at the newlyweds home to celebrate the day. They've invited her mom, dad and grandmother along with me and my younger son for a steak dinner and cupcakes... what a lovely day it is!

Happy Mother's Day and happy stitching!

carol fun



Thursday, May 7, 2015

Minor changes...

I'm a little late for WIP Wednesday but here it is anyway. I made some minor changes in the rectangular blocks for my TV Dinner quilt.  You can see the pattern  by Modern Quilt Relish here.
The fabric is from Carrie Bloomston's Paint collection which you can see here.



If you make the picture bigger you can see where I inserted bits of text and fabric into the blocks that were solid colors. To my eye those blocks of solid color were flat...and kinda quiet... and I wanted them to be, well... louder and.busier! I like busy! Busy busy busy!

In some blocks I just inserted a little strip of another one of the solids...


But with several of the other blocks I was able to wedge in a bit of text fabric...


with little messages...


Now I have to assemble the center. Since I'm making this a bit shorter than the pattern calls for I'll be making adjustments in the spacer blocks. I'm thinking I may cut them random lengths and make the center less regular...we'll see.

Okay, off to get stuff ready for a garage sale tomorrow. I'm thinking this is the last garage sale I will ever do.  I've priced stuff cheap cheap cheap but it takes A LOT of time to get things ready. Ninety nine percent of what I pawed through I forgot I had... and until I knew I had it, I didn't miss it. I just ended up feeling guilty about stuff that was already bought and paid for and forgotten. It would have been easier to have NOT opened the boxes and taken them to Goodwill... which is where anything that doesn't sell will be tomorrow night.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Gardening and thank yous...

First off I want to thank Marsha & Judy for giving me ideas of where to find those yellow stripe petunias! I had success finding them at a new to me local nursery, Bloom and Berries in Loveland Ohio...here is a link to their web page.

I snapped up 10 plants and I will say they looked a bit nicer when I bought them yesterday, than when I took this picture today.


I gave them some water right before I took this picture as they are at bit bedraggled. I know I talk complain a lot about the weather but really...last week we had night time temps near freezing and today is it 80! Tomorrow is suppose to be even hotter... and this is only the beginning of May. Not our normal weather.

I also got these plants to mix in with the petunias...


the purple ones are Angelonia in Angelface Blue, the orange ones are Diascia in Flirtation Orange. I hadn't seen either of these before in these colors. They are also Proven Winners. Blooms and Berries is Proven Winner nursery and had lots of plants I hadn't seen before. I think I need to visit them again...soon.  Tomorrow I'm going to get some potting soil and plant them in the new pots I have in the garage. I'm going to put them on my front porch railing.

I will say the warm hot weather has made me raring to go with planting. I'm going to do lots of pots and I want to edge my beds with marigolds and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new 6 foot long PVC window box. The one I have now is wood and it is split and cracked...it won't make it through the summer. I will have to paint the new one when it arrives but it is suppose to last forever...or at least for my forever...LOL!

Also I want to thank Carol who identified my text fabric and sent me a link where to find it. You gals are all great... my own personal shoppers!

Well the neighborhood is abuzz with lawnmowers and edge trimmers...you'd think it was summer! I refuse to turn on the AC this early in the season so I have all the windows open a fan going. Poor Big Dude...




I'm wearing capris but he has to wear a fur coat. He's catching the breeze through the screen door and a few zzzzzzz's.

happy stitching-
carol fun