Betwixt and Between on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - I feel like I'm betwixt and between on so many levels... first Mother Nature can not make up her mind whether she's okay with Spring or wants one more taste of Winter. It was super rainy here in SW Ohio as it has been lots of other places too. The sprinkler project is done except for showing me how to operate it and repairing a landscape lighting fixture. Hoping to set up a time to have them show me the ropes this week and while I said in jest that my having a sprinkler system installed would result in a super rainy Spring, I didn't mean it... it was a joke... but Mother Nature took me seriously... arrghh... and she's giving us a break on the rain Monday and Tuesday (fingers crossed) but we're going to have lows in the 20's and highs only barely 50 degrees... things are budding and I hope they won't get zapped. There are 35 days till Mother's Day, which around here, is the date it's usually okay to plant stuff in the ground... I can't wait!

As for projects well I'm betwixt and between there too.... I really got into the Blackbird Designs  The Sweet Birds Sings....I got all the stitching done except for the berries... they are charted as eyelets but I'm going to do them as Smyrna crosses... 

and I want to add a cartouche with an alphabet inside at the bottom. I started to chart it on Thursday but I was tired and I put it aside... need to focus to graph it properly. I may do the letters over 1 thread so it doesn't take up a lot of space.

Here's a close up of the sweet birds...

So while I was mulling over the charting I grabbed a WIP from my chairside basket to work on... this is Every Opening Flower by With Thy Needle and Thread... it was the opening project of my 7 for my 70th birthday... before that event went up in flames... 

This was where I was at in November of last year...

And here is where it is now...

It is a beautiful sampler... I love the linen I painted for this ... I think this will be the next WIP I focus on. 

However I might get a little side tracked by two other projects that are sitting next to my chair and loudly calling for my attention. The first is a new market release also from With Thy Needle & Thread called A Daily Reminder... 

I heard that there is going to be a SAL for this starting I think today. Now I LOVE the design the way the alphabet wraps around the 3 borders  and that all the letters are done in Smyrna crosses  and that outside border of satin stitches... it has me swooning LOL... the called for linen is Arboreal by Cedar River Linen... an interesting design choice that I like... but you know me... anymore I dye or paint all my linen... and  Friday night I went to dye a piece for this chart... and I didn't have a piece of 32 ct Wichlet which I LOVE for stitching in hand... it is stiff and it stays stiff even after dyeing... I know lots of stitchers love Zweigert because it is soft... not my personal preference... so because I'm chomping at the bit for this project I dyed a piece of 32 ct Jobelan for this. I started with a dunk in  Apple Green Rit dye, and it didn't look dark enough... so I put a glug of Rit Tan in the jar ... and while this was wet I wasn't sure I liked it... but it dried I'm pretty happy with this... is is darker than I normally stitch on, but not toooo dark and I think the mottling of tan adds interest... here are both sides ...not sure which I'll use ... and IRL this is beautiful... it has a lot of depth and movement....my phone does not capture greens well and as you've seen I stitch on a lot of green linen... sigh

I was watching a Flosstube video with Brenda and Laura the other day and they talked about how they weren't fond of highly mottled linen... and since I always seem to be on the "wrong" side of the current trend I LOVE highly mottled linen ... and of course I LOVE LOVE LOVE colored linen... I always have. Long before I started dyeing and painting my own linen, while the charts would call for some shade of beige I'd find a colored linen to stitch my version on... color makes me HAPPY!! Always has... as a teen I convinced my Mom to paint my bedroom a sunny yellow... and in my first apartment where I couldn't paint the walls I bought a sunny yellow bedspread for my bed... and now in my little house there's color everywhere... every room is painted a different color... the bathroom is turquoise, my bedroom is blue, the craft room is green, the kitchen and the sewing studio are yellow... the living room is a khaki tan which makes a great background for the olive green couch and the turquoise and green rugs and the yellow furniture... well...how did I get off on that tangent...LOL

Any how... I think this looks great with the flosses...

I think my version will have a much lower contrast than the original... and I'm okay with that... I like when parts of a sampler get pale and ghosty... I  plan to make the house yellow...it calls for Classic Colorworks Peanut Brittle but I might change that to Queen Bee because that matches the brick of my house and I'll do the flowers in a pinky floss... maybe Gentle Arts Woodrose...and I just noticed there is a bunny charted inside the fenced yard... oh that is definitely gonna be a chicken instead...LOL

And then there was a market release from Teresa Kogut that I also LOVE... Coco's Garden... I'm doing this on 32ct Jobelan... for some reason I think this needs a true evenweave fabric... 

This is 32ct Jobelan... for some reason I think this needs a true evenweave fabric... I used Rit Dye Aquamarine for this one... it's hard to tell in the picture but there is a lovely mottling/crackling effect going on with the linen and I really like it!  I'm using the called for DMC flosses... oh I'm going to make the bunny white... DMC 3865... I think he'll show up better on the aquamarine... and it is totally unrealistic to think I could get this done before Easter ... but if I get a few stitches in it I can revisit it later and shoot for next Easter... which is April 5, 2026... plenty of time...LOL

As for sewing I spent some time in my studio and got more blocks done for the 18 patch Jelly Roll quilt..

.

I think I'm going to make this square... 6 blocks by 6 blocks...  I do admit that some of the fabric pairings are less than perfect but  an uglyone here or there isn't too noticeable. 

Here's a closeup of some of the blocks... I'm trying to pair busy prints with not so busy prints...

I'm still working on my Easter decor... going to redo the porch display this week.  Here's the tier table in the living room... it is in your face yellow with lots of yellow knickknacks and stitching...

These little chick pillows are from WTN&T Jellybean Jubiliee.

This piece is a Blackbird Design from the book Thank You Sarah Tobias called Pins & Tulips Pincushion... it was supposed to be a 2 sided pillow... that bottom line of alphabet would have been stitched on the back... I like it this way with the whole alphabet showing... as far as I know this is an OOP book ... I tried googling it but nothing comes up. 

Next week is busy busy busy... I have 2 doctor's appointments that were made 6 months ago... one with they retinal eye specialist and the other a check up with my primary. I have Elliott on Tuesday.  I'm doing dinner one night with a friend and I'm getting my hair cut and colored on Thursday... and once my lawn guy gets the yard re-seeded the sprinkler guy will come and explain to me how to use the system... which should be this week too!

But today I'm going to  take it easy and stitch and maybe do a little sewing... it is grey and rainy and chilly and  yucky...I'm waiting for Annie to belt out "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow"... lol

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is More Fun than Housework ... hope your week ahead is a good one and that you have time to stitch and sew and that is isn't as soggy as it is in SW Ohio...

happy stitching-

carol fun  

Some BBD and other musings/tangents on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well it was a nice week...kinda quiet and easy going... I like that a lot. Went to dinner with friends... went to lunch with a friend... went to have a coffee with another friend... puttered around the house... my urge to purge was minimal... so far I cleaned  one pull out shelf in the kitchen... and then promptly filled it up with other stuff... need to fine tune this project... I've been reading articles which suggest setting a timer and work for say 30 minutes... that might help... we'll see.

The sprinkler guys were here almost all week... the weather has been wetter than they would like... I'm convinced that putting in this system is going to guarantee a very wet Spring and Summer this year... that will benefit all my local gardener friends... I'm taking one for the team...LOL

As of today the weather is trending warmer... but still wet... I'm soooo ready to plant stuff ... and it is still waaaaay too early to do that. Nick helped me assemble the other 2 raised beds... now to get the my lawn guy to shovel in compost... that probably won't happen till after the sprinkler guys are done... which I think will be next week... fingers crossed.

There was a lot of running around this week so productivity in the crafty areas was spotty. I told myself I was going to finish up the Teresa Kogut Faith Hope Peace & Love  chart... I fibbed... I could not put down the Blackbird Designs  The Sweet Bird Sings... this is a very enjoyable stitch...

And stitching on this had me musing about other Blackbird Designs that are UFOs... so I pulled out a couple to look over... and they are both BIG projects... one I still  LOVE  ... the other I'm just liking and rethinking my plans. .. 

First is the Loose Feathers Series titled For the Birds... this one I LOVE... I found a note in this project box saying I started this on my birthday in 2017... and it saw a little action in 2021... it needs A LOT more action...LOL

My plan is to stitch all 9 on one piece of linen... I love the linen I painted... I just wish I had cut and  painted a larger piece. I wasn't aware of a couple of other stitchers' finishes of this and they left room between each chart to add some decorative sashing that looks great. I may swap the positions of No. 7 and No. 9... there is a a decorative band on No. 9 that would line up nicely with the ones on No. 1 and No. 4....  I think that arrangement will look great too... 

Then there is Blackbird Designs Garden Club Series... circa 2015... this was supposed to be 12 separate little projects, each done on a different linen and then stitched together and framed... which to my mind would be a logistical nightmare for a framer... I'm not sure how you'd get that many different pieces of linen to lay flat and not pull at the seams... currently my plan is to frame some of these and make others into small pillows.. the design area finished 4" square so they'd be nice to stick in here and there... now that said,  the 2 I have stitched are not my favorites of the group... oh well ... one has to start somewhere.

A lot of these charts have a piece of the called for linen stuck inside... and I'm not fond of most of them... the weave is looser than I like... I can see me subbing in new linen for the ones I do end up stitching.

Here are the first two charts stitched...

I'm no stranger to BIG Blackbird Projects... here is my Anniversaries of the Heart... I worked on this on and off over a 2 year span and finishing in December of 2013... one of my favorite pieces I've ever stitched!

As for quilting I took  2 projects to Delinda to long arm... one is going to be a whole cloth quilt...white on one side and pale blue on the other side using a panto called Graffiti that I've used on another quilt and loved.  The second top I took was the American Jane Honeybun...I got all the rows put together and  sashing on all 4 sides and went to add a border... but the fabric I had wasn't big enough... so I decided that it was a sign that the quilt was  done... and I was done with it... found some cute teapot fabric in my stash to make a back... it will be a nice throw size... and I forgot to take pictures of either project before I dropped them off... oh well... 

Now to move onto other quilting stuff... like putting bindings on something from this stack of quilted tops...

lots to choose from... I'm in search of motivation... which I did not find... sigh...

Instead I cleaned off the design wall of the two projects I had up there and started a NEW quilt .. one that  wasn't anywhere on my radar until  Thursday... I was scrolling mindlessly through Instagram... something I do waaaaay tooooo much... and saw a quilt that was just completed from a QAL... this is it...

Side note... Do you join in on QAL, quilt a longs or SAL, stitch a longs?  How well do you keep up? I'm gung ho at the beginning but I've never gotten a project done within the timeframe of a QAL or SAL... motivation leaves the building before completion every time... sigh

Back to the inspiration - I like how Spring-y it looks and that it is easy to sew and it was done with a jelly roll... I have a jelly roll or two or three or four or a whole LOT of jelly rolls... here's a link to the free pattern... it is called 18 patch Jelly Roll from Material Girl Quilts....

So I went downstairs into my stash and found a two Spring-y jelly rolls ... both from Chez Moi from Moda... these are old collections...not sure exactly when they were produced but I know I bought them a looong time ago... one was priced at $35 and I doubt that is what I paid for it (for comparison jelly rolls retail for around $45 at the moment) and  one was still wrapped in plastic and it had a big red X on it... that tells me I bought this off of the marked down precuts cart that use to be in the back corner of Fabric Shack next to the cutting counter. There were always some great bargains on that cart. Fabric Shack is still in business but they never reopened the brick and mortar store after Covid... they are strictly online now and I am deeply disappointed and more than a bit miffed that they haven't reopened. It was my favorite quilt shop ... I had to drive over 30 minutes one way to get there but it was always worth it.  I asked the owners about reopening many times but they ignored my queries. They still have fabric in the building and as far as I know still pay a lease on the property. It is a family owned business that also has a home dec shop in the same town (Waynesville OH) and that shop is open. Nowadays I buy most of my fabric online because this shop is closed... and it's just not the same.  I purchase precuts and before I would shop and buy fabrics from many different collections... some days my focus would be yellows or tone on tone green or plaids or low volumes and I get a third of yard of a bunch of stuff.. sigh... I have many great memories of this store... ok... sorry for the tangent...

Anyway I found  two jelly rolls from Chez Moi... one called Sophie and the other called Lulu and they go together quite nicely...and I can tell from the tag designs that Sophie is an older collection than Lulu... 

and

 and so far I've paired up strips to make 35 blocks...

 and I've got 13 blocks made... 

this is a great project to work on when you only have a couple of minutes here or there... I've run down (well not exactly run... I'm still holding onto the banister as I don't want to fall again..LOL)  to my sewing room several times and been able to get a couple of blocks done ... very satisfying... I plan to work on it more today as the rain that started on Saturday is going to continue today and most of next week... see I told you if I had a sprinkler system installed it was going to be a rainy Spring... sheesh... 

I  looked at my calendar  and next week is filling up... I'm watching Elliott on Tuesday, first time since my fall back in December. I think I'll get the oil changed in my car on Wednesday. Taking Nick to see a friend on Thursday and hoping to see a new framer on Friday....and I should devote some time to purging more items from my house.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is More Fun than Housework... the plan is to stay home all day... Nick is making dinner... should have time to stitch and to sew... a great way to spend any day...hope your week has time for the fun stuff!

Oh I've had several people tell me that they can't leave a comment here... and I don't know why that is...but if you have something you want to share my email is in my profile... go to the sidebar and down below the picture of the adorable curly haired child in the frilly dress standing in her Grandma kitchen is the info you need... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Things are coming along on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - how was your week? Mine was pretty good... lots of stuff going on... nothing is finished... but things are coming along... Remember when I said it looked like it would be a good week weatherwise for installing the sprinkler system?  Again... weather guys can't be trusted. It rained all weekend so on Monday they called and said the ground was just too soggy to run the trencher... this is the trencher... it was cold so I took this pic from inside... ignore the screen...LOL

So they came on Tuesday and planted a whole bunch of pretty pink flags... these mark where the water lines and sprinkler heads are going to go...

And you can see that this is still a work in progress... Wednesday they got some of the drip irrigation laid out and they were quite happy  that instead of tapping into the main water line of the house, they are going to be able to use the spigot on the side of the house... this was unexpected... I always anticipate problems whenever I have anything done with the house, nice to have a potential problem eliminated... Thursday and Friday were cold, spitting rain and super windy... they worked a little ...  but it's coming along... the daffodils are looking good... but I'm already planning to plant more this Fall... I didn't put any new ones in the ground last year and I think that is the first year I've skipped in the last ten. 

My lawn guy got super busy and let me know that he wasn't sure if he could assemble my raised beds... insert frowny face... so I decided I'd assemble them myself... however it really is easier with 2 people and Nick helped me out...  

we have this one assembled and 2 more to go... things are coming along...

As for indoor projects I didn't touch my sewing machine again this week... sigh... I did change up the quilts in my bedroom as my new mattress got delivered on Monday. I was told they would be here between 3pm and 7pm...and we waited patiently... about 5:30pm Nick and I were getting hungry... if the mattress had been delivered we'd have gone out to eat... but it hadn't ... so we ordered pizza and not 2 minutes later I got a text saying they'd be here in 10 minutes... sheesh... I'm liking it so far... and it has a 1 year exchange period... and it's looking Spring-y with my Scrappy Happy Tulip quilt ...

this was a Lori Holt pattern from a planner back in '16 or '17... I love the chunky primitive feel of these tulips!

I'll show a little decor here... I'm still tweaking the bigger displays... this is the telephone nook...

the stitched white Easter egg was a gift from a friend ...  below is the Spring String from Lizzie Kate. 

As for stitching... I got some of my Market order... Farmer's Market  ABC's from Little House Needlework, Americana White from October House Fiber Arts,  Coco's Garden  from Teresa Kogut and both of the Blackbird books, Gifts of the Season... and the ONE I WANTED THE MOST... The Sweet Birds Sing...

Now I told myself that I would finish up the Teresa Kogut piece Faith, Hope, Peace and Love, before I started anything new.. but like many things I tell myself this was not an entirely true statement... I did stitch on it a lot this week ... and this is where I left it...

it's about 75% finished... a couple little motifs in that third block and the word Peace ...  it's coming along...

However, I COULD NOT STOP myself from starting the wonderful bird piece from The Sweet Birds Sing... I first saw this piece about a year  ago on IG... it was a retreat piece and I didn't know when it would be released... and now it's here!! 

I painted a piece of 32 ct linen with Tan Rit Dye to get a mottled effect... its a little warmer IRL than what is showing in this picture... 

I got all the fancy flosses and I can't wait to get down to the birds... and I left some extra space at the bottom as I'd like to add an alphabet to this... I love the vertical orientation of this piece!

I'm also going to stitch the little pillow...

This is going to be such enjoyable stitching!

As for the outlook for this coming week to get things done... more rain today ... but there looks like a couple of days that will be conducive to outdoor work... fingers crossed... I'm not in a hurry for the system as it has been fairly wet ... and part of me expects it will be a wet summer because  that's the way things go.    I have sat out on the sunroom porch a couple of days with a space heater... nice to watch the birds and a nice spot to nap... still trying to adjust to the time change.

Plans for stitching is to work on BBD The Sweet Bird Sings... maybe get my Lori Holt Easter pieces FFO'd... not sure what else. It is Spring Break week for Elliott... they are going to a little cabin AirBnB in Indiana for a couple of days and then  a children's museum... should be nice... I watched Elliott last Friday evening while his parents went out to dinner and to the theater for Jenny's birthday... we had a great time... he really got into Lego-ing and spent like 2 hours creating little robots... I'll start watching him again on Tuesdays in April.  This is my last week of physical therapy... I need to keep up with the exercises... since I'm not sure when Anna, the personal trainer will be available I might check out a gym...  I've gotten back to walking 7000 steps a day which was my goal... my knees hurt but that's not from the fall, that's from arthritis... and I'll have to deal with that. 

Before I end this I want to share a picture of the magnificent magnolia tree in my next door neighbor's yard... Jane who lived there when I moved in and has since passed away had this planted in the corner of her yard... every year it is so PRETTY in PINK!! 

However, many years the blooms have gotten zapped with a frost that curtailed this spectacle... fingers crossed that won't happen this year... IF the weather guys are correct the temperatures should hold above freezing for at least the next ten days...

Hope Spring is settling in where you are... the weather trends look positive here in SW Ohio and I'm more than ready for it... almost moved all my winter stuff to the back of the closet but I'm glad I waited... I've still needed those turtlenecks a couple of days ...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... hope to have a quiet day... got a crockpot dinner planned and no place I have to go... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

                                                                                                                                           

Projects inside and outside on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello ... well last week has me believing that Spring may have sprung...the trees are budding, the daffodils are blooming and the temperatures are warm enough  to open the windows and air out the house! I've been feeling energetic and bouncing around from project to project... but they aren't all crafty stuff ... I'm getting several outdoor projects started and that makes me happy! 

Here's how the week played out... after being cheated out of an hour's sleep which I haven't fully recovered from....I was still of the mind that I'd leave my snowmen up another week or so... but by Sunday afternoon, with the sun and the warm temperatures and the windows open in the house I knew that their time had come... so I banished them to their plastic storage bins and Nick carried them back down to the storage room. 

Monday he carried up the Easter stuff and I set to work making displays and getting the house looking all Spring-y... and here are a couple of pics... 

I went with the same wall quilt as I LOVE that yellow and pink combination... the fabric collection was Verna from Kate Spain and the pattern was Jelly and Jam from Fig Tree...

I got out the yellow tier tray and added more pink and yellow... 

up top is Be Hoppy by Emily Call ... who doesn't love a big pink bunny? And below in the tin  is Holiday Hoopla Easter by With Thy Needle & Thread... and another pink bunny....

Here's a look from across the room (and no the room isn't nearly as large as it appears in this picture)... I love this Stack N Whack quilt and it looks so good IMHO on the back of the green velvet couch...

Here are some close ups of the blocks... they were all made from the fabric that is the border. It is  Phillip Jacobs print called Brassica... which means cabbage... but when I whacked it, it looks more like roses... I call this my Coleslaw quilt...chopped cabbage... get it? Oh I crack myself up. 

An aside... they still make this print... and they make it in a bunch of colorways... you can see them here. 

Middle...

Left...

Right...

This is the easiest Stack N Whack... it is squares ... you only need 4 repeats and you have 4 different possiblities for each block. I went back through the blog and this is the best pic I can find of the total quilt... this was my design wall back in April of 2012.... time flies, doesn't it???

As I remember the bunny tier tray next to the TV came from Dollar Tree a couple of years ago... 

up top is a piece from Jelly Bean Jubilee by With Thy Needle & thread...  I stitched several from this booklet. 

and below are a bunch of bunnies from Prairie Schooler No. 178.

In the middle of the TV cabinet I have  more bunnies and more stitching... 

the little brown bunny in the arched flat fold is freebie from Pinker N Punkin called Bunny Jar.... and the framed piece is Spring from by Prairie Schooler No. 50. 

On the bottom is the  Spring chart from the booklet Seasons of the Heart by WTN&T and I stitched a teeny tiny pillow of the tulips from this same pattern.

Now I have a few more cross stitch pieces I want to add to the displays and that's what I worked on this week... three of the little stitch cards from Lori Holt...

the bunny and the carrots are from Set T and the tulips are from Set A... I went with the same border on all of them... but if I had paid attention I would have opted for the border from Set A... but I had the bunny and the carrots stitched before I realized I like the border on Set A more... oh well. 

I also pulled out Faith, Hope, Peace, Love from Teresa Kogut... th, some is is a Patreon chart and as far as I know it hasn't been released yet... 

Now I'm changing all the colors starting with the linen, which I dyed with Rit Apple Green... this is charted in a very limited color palette... a couple of shade of blues and bunch of beiges and browns... it is nice but not my cup of tea... this isn't a great pic of the linen... it is prettier in real life... really it is...

I've picked a palette of blues, greens, coral/peach, and a bit of brown and beige. I started this in April of last year and I was agonizing over my color choices for each motif... but now that it has had time to "mature" I'm just kinda winging it... I love that it has all my favorite motifs ... birds, houses, flowers and an alphabet... I'm content to work on this for a while... hoping to get my Needlework Market orders this coming week and something there may change my plans... will have to wait and see...

As of the other projects that have been keeping me busy... I decided on a company for the sprinklers and drip irrigation. Put down a deposit. They sent out the crew that marks the underground utilities and are planning to start the job tomorrow, weather permitting and the forecast looks favorable.

Then with a recommendation from a friend I found a contractor who will do the porch/deck/landing for the front door area. He has done a ton of work on my friend's house and her house is gorgeous. It's not a big job like her home was but he said he'd likes having the small jobs too. No date set for the start of this project, but it would be better for the sprinkler project to be finished before he starts as they would be getting in each other's way.

My lawn guy is going to have his employee start on my raised beds ... and as soon as the sprinklers are done he's going to work on re-seeding my lawn... it is a mess... the hot dry summer did a number on it along with my lackadaisical watering... new grass seed and fertilizer and sprinklers that are on a timer should make a big difference. 

Oh and I have one more project I want to get to.. I want to get the blinds cleaned... they are so dusty ... I had a company come once before and the take down the blinds, take them out to their truck and clean them and then put them back up... all in a couple of hours... need to set that up too. 

And I'm having an urge to purge some stuff out of the house... picked up some big cardboard boxes at Costco and need to go through a bunch of my display stuff. I have a ton of risers and trays and knickknacks that I liked when I bought them... and some I've used  but some have never seen the light of day. I'm hoping this urge holds long enough to actually get stuff done... fingers crossed. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... hoping to spend some time on the sunroom porch stitching... have a great week!

happy stitching-

carol fun