Try, try again and tangents a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well I think the last week was less busy than the week before... but in looking at my calendar I was out and about somewhere every single day... sheesh... lots of things that needed to be taken care of but most weren't my errands but stuff that others needed done... and they are now done... 

It has been hotter than blazes here... got to 96 yesterday and  I heard that was the hottest day we've had this year!!  Hello, Mother Nature... it is September, not July... we are supposed to have cool temps, falling leaves, pumpkin  goodies... sheesh... the only thing I got were pumpkin stuff... had some pumpkin spice donuts and a sundae with a slice of pumpkin roll ... hope to get a piece of my favorite pumpkin pie this weekend at a local restaurant...and I'm working on my Fall decor. As I write this it is strewn about the living room... some spaces are done, others are a work in progress ... I want it finished before sundown on Sunday... and that  should be doable... fingers crossed.

As for crafty stuff well there is a fair amount of it this week... let me start with the cross stitch... I really LOVE this piece... Be Thankful by Bent Creek... here's where I was last week..

and here's where I am this week...

and this pic is a pretty good capture of the colors. Now I dithered last week about whether I'm going to have enough of the Weeks Hazelnut to complete this piece. At the halfway point (about the letter  "e" in be) I stopped and measured how much floss I had left ... and by my measurements I had just about half of the skein left. I had a skein in my stash but it wasn't a match for the color. So to be on the safe side I ordered more floss from 123Stitch which arrived yesterday and it is a great match... so I don't have to worry... now to get it stitched and off to the framer. 

I hunkered down in my basement lair AKA my sewing studio a day or two to escape the heat and while there are several Christmas quilts that are started and I should give attention to, instead I started a new one... cause starting stuff is always FUN!!!  I'm using that Weathered Whimsey pattern from Moonkin Stitchery. The directions are easy to follow. I went and measured every FQ to be sure they would be 18" and they were all a generous 18" ... some even close to 18.5"... however these are Ruby Star fabrics and they have  deep printed selvedge... about an inch wide... so while the FQ is cut 22" wide you only have 21" of usable fabric... luckily for this pattern that is enough. 

So I went and cut up all the FQ... here are the strips to make the pieced blocks... 

now I eliminated a couple of pieces... you know I LOVE yellow  but I didn't think there was enough of it...  I would have ended up with just 2 pieces... I like to repeat a fabric/color 3 times...that's more balanced IMHO... that pink piece and the one with the yellow one with the  packages is just waaaaay too neon for me and had to go... 

So here's how it started...

Then I moved on to the layout of the pattern ... full blocks next to pieced blocks... and it didn't take long for me to realize this was gonna be WAY TOO BUSY!!!   

I had a flashback to a Momo quilt project I did a couple of years ago... you can see it here... in that situation one quilt became two quilts in order to tone things down... now I considered making two quilts... but I really don't want two quilts from this collection... like I mentioned before my plan is to give this to Chris/Jenny/Elliott... I think it will be more their vibe... so now my plan is to make the quilt larger and do some sort of  mix up  between the plain blocks and the pieced blocks...

and to use this fabric from the collection as an alternate block for some quiet space... cause this quilt really needs a bit of calm... IMHO...

I'm waiting for more of the background fabric to arrive...so it will be try, try again for this quilt...perhaps I can sew up some more of the pieced blocks this coming week.. and it's gonna be hot for a while still so back to the basement for me!

As for the knitting project... the Opal blanket with knitted mitered squares... I sat down and watched this video and got started... this is my first square... I cast on 60 stitches with 2.75mm needles... at least I thought it was on 2.75mm needles... I may be mistaken...

and it is pretty, but took more yarn than I wanted to use...  6 grams of yarn to be exact... I want the square to be 5 grams so I can get 2 squares out of the little 10 gram mini skeins... so I started a second square...this time I cast on 50 stitches and I know the needles are 2.75mm...

ummm...not only is it considerably smaller... it only used 3 grams of yarn... so I need to try, try again...  OR I may scuttle the idea of getting 2 squares from each mini skein, as I don't want the squares as small as the yellow sample... according to my calculations  I need about 220 squares to make a nice size blanket if they are about 4" square... which is the size of the green sample... can you tell I'm already talking myself into the one square per mini skein idea?  Try, try again. 

So that is a nice mix of crafty stuff and I enjoyed all of them even though each one involved a bit of a  try, try again.. and should we even talk about the decorating?  Yes, yes we should... cause I thought I could get the chickens back in their plastic bins in about an hour... it took all day Wednesday...I'd work a little and then take a break and that would lead to mindless scrolling on my phone until I realized that I needed to get back to the task at hand and I'd put more chickens away but then I'd sit back down and the mindless scrolling would resume... try, try again. 

On Thursday Nick returned the plastic bins of chickens to the basement storage room and brought up 5 bins of Fall stuff... I do love Fall most of all!!  And these 5 bins don't include the one for Halloween or the one for Thanksgiving... sheesh... 

Well here's a couple of pics of some of the smaller displays I put out.... I'm trying to take a pic of everything this year, because when I revisit stuff next year I hope that I won't have to scroll through several different years of posts on this blog to figure out what I did before. Sometimes I just put stuff in the place it was the previous year... other times I try to mix it up ... and this year is a combo of that... some stuff is where it was last year...a couple of things have been moved around... the problem is I have limited space and the Fall decor always seems to expand from year to year... think I need another purge the end of this season... we shall see how that works out... 

Here's the display area in the TV cabinet... a side tangent... this cabinet is from IKEA... here how it looked at Christmas..

I looked online and I don't think they make this exact style anymore... I liked it for the glass door spaces to display quilts (they are hidden behind the stockings)  and the shelf area for seasonal knickknacks.  Well, for a long time I wished I had gotten a console that had an electric fireplace in it... and I saw  this one   at Costco the other day...  I almost bought it but had a thought that I should go home and measure how much space I have... good thing I did as the Costco one is about 20" too big... so I've been looking online... I know I'll have to give up either some quilt space or some decorating space... Nick loves the idea of a fireplace too so I need to figure this out... could be a Christmas gift for us...

Back to the display...

I love those mercury glass pumpkins.. and they both light up... so pretty at night... the cross stitch pieces are both from Blackbird Designs... the one on top is Bittersweet September and the one on the bottom is Bittersweet Lane ... from looking back on the blog I stitched these 10 years ago... where does the time go??

Now for another tangent... these were both framed with the idea they would hang on a wall... which they never have... I've always displayed them propped up, using little wire stands like this one...

and I have a ton of these in various sizes... got them at Hobby Lobby. Well earlier this year carolinacajuncreates on IG showed how you could add a stand to the back of pieces like this... she got them here on Amazon and I bought them too...  2 pieces... that plastic part that has adhesive on the back and the metal stand part...

I've been adding these to my "stand-less" pieces each season when I get them out of storage... I love the look and I don't have to constantly juggle the wire stands. If you check out Amazon they have other sizes and configurations. I just ordered some larger ones which you can see here. 

                                                                                                                                                                           Here's the little telephone niche in the hallway... I'm going with a bit of a scarecrow theme here...

the salt and pepper shaker scarecrows are a new purchase from Cracker Barrel. The cross stitch is from Prairie Schooler  No. 50 Seasons ... I've stitched all four of the seasons... I'm thinking I'd like to add a bit more cross stitch to this display... I remembered the scarecrows from  this Teresa Kogut chart.... it has always been my plan to stitch parts of this as separate little pieces and I LOVE the scarecrows... they would look so cute in this display...sorry another tangent...         

                                                                                                                                                                              I'll show more decorating  pics next week...     

So next week has plenty packed into it... I'm going to work out with Anna on Monday even though it is Labor Day, Tuesday I'll spend some time with Elliott, Wednesday I have to take a certain family member to the dentist, Thursday I have a hair appointment and Friday  Mr. Roof is suppose to come and start the roof/gutter/gutter covers/downspouts/chimney masonry project... they are projected to be here between 7 and 8 am... I'm betting it will be very close to 7am as the forecasted temperature is 80 degrees (better than this Wednesday where they are calling for  90).  

I'm also shifting into birthday mode... my birthday... I'll be 73 this year... now the debacle of my 70th birthday is still quite the painful memory, so I don't want to jinx anything with making BIG plans... gonna shoot for NICE plans...don't over do it... Chris has got a family birthday get together organized for the 13th and he's taking me out to dinner on the 14th... my actual birthday. Usually I treat myself to some new cross stitch project or bundle of FQs or a squishy package of yarn but nothing has tempted me ...yet... I still have time to come up with a thing or two or three or even four...LOL

I'm aware that I still have half of the roof project to pay off and I contacted 3 different companies (2 have gotten back to me) to talk about cleaning out the garden bed and re-landscaping the yard. I want less work for me... I have enjoyed planting and playing in the yard but it has reached the point where it isn't as much fun anymore. I just want to concentrate on my 6 raised beds, my flower rack and the stuff by the garage... that is enough. I'm definitely looking into adding drip irrigation to the window boxes in the Spring... I've got an idea of what I want things to look like, now I need to find someone to execute my plans!!

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... have to get groceries for a family member and then I want to finish up the Fall decorating and sit in my stitching chair... stitch a little, nap a little... Nick's doing burgers tonight... I'm adding some baked beans and some corn on the cob... simple but yummy!

I hope you have a great Labor Day weekend... I have lots of memories of spending the day with my Dad  at a union picnic... he was VP of his union at GE in Evendale, Ohio for years...the picnics were fun... free ice cream... toys for the kiddos... nice prizes for bingo... it was a blast!  I'll be spending this Labor Day more quietly... after I work out with Anna I think Nick and I will go out to lunch and then I'm coming home and vegging out...

happy stitching-

carol fun                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Pondering Projects on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well my week was every bit as busy as I thought it would be... lots of running around, but I got people to their appointments and I had several nice dinners with friends... I worked out with Anna and went to rehab... got out in my yard  a bit... the flowers have gone rogue and I attempted to hack some stuff back... and even though I filled 5 large lawn waste bags, there isn't a visible difference... sigh...  however, I did get  a little bit of crafty stuff done.  So overall a pretty good week. 

At the moment (which is always subject to change) this upcoming week looks a little calmer. Fingers crossed.

Let's start with what I did accomplish... and talk about the new projects I'm pondering... shiny objects that popped up on my radar this week. 

I finished up the little Santa from Prairie Schooler No. 158 Christmas Eve... I'm calling him the Stuck Santa... LOL

And I thought about starting another Prairie Schooler Santa but this chart called out to me again...it's been languishing in my craft room for a while... Bent Creek's Let's Be Thankful...

on Thursday I was thinking/pondering about this one and got up some energy to dye some fabric for it, as I already have all the called for overdyed flosses... and I decided that instead of my usual 32 ct I'd try a 36 ct... that BBD For the Birds piece I worked on a week ago is on 36 ct... and I'm using 2 strands of floss ... cause I like my stitches to have good coverage.. and it was looking fine... and instead of being 17.25" long on 32 ct fabric,  it would only be 15.33" long on the 36 ct .. I though the smaller size would fit better in my displays... so that's what I'm doing... and here's where I am...

and here's a close up ...

I'm very happy with the floss colors on this linen... it is a 36 ct Wichlet Edinburgh that I smushed into a jar with Rit Tan dye... I LOVE the splotchyness. However, I'm not convinced that I have enough of the floss that the letters are stitched in... it is Weeks Hazelnut... and the chart doesn't call for any additional skeins ... and you would use more floss on the called for 32 ct than on 36 ct... but I fear I may run out. I'm going to see if I have another skein in my stash... I like the subtle color changes with over dyed floss, but I LOVE the fact that DMC is way more consistent and if I needed another skein I can be pretty certain it would match. We shall see how this turns out.

Oh and somehow when I switched to this 36 ct I was having a hard time seeing the threads... and I use magnifiers but it wasn't enough...and then I remembered I had one pair of really strong magnifiers left over from before  I had my cataract surgery... so I dug them out and wow!  what a difference that made... now I'm thinking that perhaps my problem with 40 ct is that I didn't have enough magnification... need to pull out that one Rosewood Manor chart I started on 40 ct and see if I can SEE it better...

There were a couple of lazy nights again this week and I did get a sock finished and it's mate started...

I think this pink is so pretty and I don't have any pink pairs in my sock drawer. 

And while knitting I came across this picture on IG and well I GOTTA DO THIS!!   

All the squares are Opal sock yarn and in this blanket they are all the Opal mini skeins... which I have a bunch of, along with a HUGE stash of Opal yarn... I LOVE OPAL SOCK YARN!!! Now in pondering this project which I know will take some time... the blanket in the pic was started in 2018  and finished in 2020. Go here and see more pictures... the only thing that stopped me from starting this is I've never knit a mitered square... I did look at a couple of patterns and I know there are videos on YouTube ... but I haven't had a chance to watch any yet... definitely on my list of things to do this upcoming week. I know this will be a long term project but it is appealing because each little square (I think they finished like 3.5" and use 5 grams of yarn) should work up rather quickly and all the different colors would make different patterns... I don't think I'd get bored with this. 

The maker of this blanket is Gail.Toronto..  Purple Circle Yarn Co. ... here's her website... I ordered an Advent calendar from her last year... here's what it looked like when it arrived...

and here's what it looked like on December 25th when I had opened all the packages...

and I was very happy with it... and the other week she was trying to gauge interest in doing another calendar this year... I told her I would definitely love another Advent Calendar and we worked out the details and I already received mine. I'm being good and won't open it till the beginning of December because I LOVE a good Advent calendar and this is definitely  a GREAT one!

Along with this project two quilt ideas have me itching to sew... first off I'm really liking this pattern I talked about last week... Weathered Whimsey by Moonkin Stitchery which you can find it and a lot more patterns here for FREE!

 And I have two new Ruby Star FQ packs that I think would be perfect for this pattern.  

The first is Merry Happy...

I love the prints... gummy bears and ornaments and presents and wreaths...I think this would be a fun quilt to give to Chris and Jenny and Elliott...they requested a Christmas quilt last year and Christmas quilts are some of my favorite quilts to make... and I already have over 50...maybe 60 Christmas quilts... so it would be good for some more of them to live that their house...

And another Ruby Star collection caught my eye... this is brand new... 1-800-Notion...

I think this collection would also look great using this pattern...and I want to keep this one for me!

I'm a little late to the show regarding Ruby Star fabrics... for a while they just weren't on my radar but lately I like lots of their collections. I used to sew almost all my quilts using brights... and then I wandered away... and these Ruby Star fabrics are in that brights palette... a bit of nostalgia for me... 

oh oh... I opened the FQ bundle of Merry Happy and measured each FQ... they were all about 18.5" in length ... and they are 22" wide... but there is only 21 usable inches as the selvedge is 1" wide... so this will work for the Weathered Whimsey pattern... now I assume the 1- 800 Notion FQ bundle will measure the same but I'm not taking any chances and I will measure ALL the FQs just to be sure before I start cutting... I got burnt the last time I assumed all FQs were 18" in length...

So I am longing for Fall... cooler temperatures...less pollen... lower energy bills... but Mother Nature is still hanging onto Summer this week... temperatures in 90s... yuck... along with pondering crafty projects  I've been pondering what to do with the yard... right now I'm trying to find someone to cut back everything in the beds... and then I want someone to help me re-imagine the yard... more shrubs and less annuals ... less wild and crazy... more civilized ... and less work for me...  I sent an email request to a couple of landscape places that said they'd come out and do a free estimate... I think that's a good way to start... and I did figure out why my water bill was so high... there is a break in my drip irrigation in the front yard that let water pour out in one spot. I have stopped using the drip for the time being and I'm holding off getting it fixed until after the new roof gets put on and beds get cleaned out... I think there is a high probability that there may be another place that gets broken and leaks before all that is finished. 

Plans for next week include working out with Anna, picking Elliott up from school,  and seeing my surgeon for a follow up... that's scheduled for this coming Friday. I went for my 7th session of rehab last Friday... and while I have one more session scheduled they told me it really wasn't necessary. I've reached all the markers they set and they know I will keep continuing to improve...yeah... not sure yet if I will cancel that last session or not. They do give me a nice workout. 

As I'm writing this on Saturday I have plans to do dinner with Chris and Jenny and Elliott and then go watch fireworks in our old neighborhood.  That will be fun... and Sunday I need to get groceries for a certain family member and replace their glucose monitor.... Nick has already prepped a pan of lasagna for dinner.. YUM... hoping to get some sewing/knitting/stitching time in next week. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... hope your week ahead is a good one... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Listless and Lazy on a Slow Sunday...She

 Hello - well it was a week with lots of running around during the day... and when evening came around I was listless and lazy... Monday through Friday I spent all the hours after 6 pm till bedtime plopped in my comfy recliner and all I could manage was icing my knee and scrolling the web...unenergetic and unmotivated to do anything productive... sigh... 

On Monday, I did go and pick up quilts from Delinda... 4 of them... a bed size quilt, a throw size quilt and 2 panels... they are languishing in my sewing studio waiting to be bound... they better have a lot of patience cause I haven't been back downstairs since then.  Tuesday I spent all day with Elliott.. it was so nice... school started on Wednesday... 2nd grade, where does the time go?? Wednesday I had lunch with the quilty ladies... they left around 3 pm... the sitting and scrolling commenced right after they departed... Thursday I took Nick to get his beard trim, did an Amazon return and went to rehab... an hour of stretching and bending left me pooped.... and Thursday evening had me icing and scrolling.  Friday I hung out on the sunroom porch... did a little stitching and napping and a bit of scrolling. 

Now its Saturday and it appears it may be a repeat performance of Friday... sigh... now I did spend some quality time looking through my Thanksgiving and Christmas charts... what to do?  what to do?  I got the weekly email from my favorite online shop, 123Stitch, and they had a lot of Prairie Schooler Christmas graphs on sale... turns out most of them are  already in my stash... sheesh... but I did pull out 2 charts with cute Santas that I want to stitch and I found some pretty blue linen I'd dyed and pulled the flosses I like... and I did put a couple of stitches in.... this is the first chart I'm liking... Prairie Schooler No. 158  Christmas Eve...

I'm playing with the Santa who's stuck in the chimney...

Here's where I am so far...

I'm going to make the fireplace gray instead of brown and black... a bit of home remodeling. I still have the idea that I want a dough bowl full of little Santas... this would be a great addition. 

 I did spend some time with the BBD "She Sights A Bird"... not quite finished. 

As for decorating here's my big shelf display... the overall look... a Pineberry Lane palooza with  chickens chickens and more chickens...

From the top...

Pineberry Lane's Sister's Farm Fresh Eggs ... 

and Mrs. Maguire's Henhouse...

as with all these pieces I brightened them up...  I love the primitive look but not that fond of the brown...

Moving down, my flock of white chickens....and more Pineberry Lane... 

Mrs. Maguire's Garden and Mrs. Maguire Bee Charmer...

I really like the green accents I used in this display... those candles and the funky pitcher I picked up on a mark down end cap at Mejers...  I do love a bargain!

Along with being listless and lazy I'm mulling over what I want to work on next... Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?  I had a long conversation  with a friend who's deep into a Christmas quilt project and that reminded me that I left two Christmas quilt projects languishing in plastic bins last year... 

this one with snowball blocks with my leftover  Lizzie House Tiny Christmas fabrics...

I got more of the background fabric I want to use for sashing, and had an idea to make the snowball blocks look like ornaments by adding a rectangle of a gray fabric at the top... need to think about that a bit more...

and this one... a Christmas tree made of hexagons of  Cathe Holden Christmas Faire fabrics...

Now I found some fabric in my stash for the background... I'm just not sure there is enough of it... and I'm still pondering whether to go for it and see if I can eke it out...  or buy yardage of a new background fabric that will be sufficient...

I don't have the mental bandwidth for that decision at the moment...

And all the scrolling lead me down several rabbit holes... one is Moonkin Stitchery... I've done a pattern or two of hers and she just posted this one ...called Weathered Whimsey... you can find it here on YouTube... it is a free pattern and she links where you can get it. Now I like it because it uses a bundle of fat quarters and  I have quite a few FQ bundles... I'm thinking of 2 I've recently picked up which are Christmas fabrics... as a caveat having done another of her FQ patterns check your FQs to be sure you have 18"... I found that many are just a smidge over 18" and some may be less... and that is a problem for this pattern and many other FQ patterns... which annoys me because the ones that have come up short for me were cut in a factory, not a quilt shop...grrr...

Also I stumbled across this  YouTube video which can see here which shows a new concept layout for Michaels... this one is in Columbus Ohio... I was particularly intrigued with how they are selling fabric... some is on bolts but other fabrics are just swatches that you are supposed to scan and select your yardage and pay for and then they ship it to your house... if you don't want to watch the whole video the fabric part starts at the 14:45 minute mark. Not sure I like that idea...

So the pace of my life has returned to "normal" even though I'm only 3 1/2 weeks past surgery... my physical therapist says I'm doing fine... need a couple of more degrees for extension (that's getting your leg out flat) and about 10 more degrees for flexions (that's the bendy part). I'm back to walking about 2 miles a day... and I'm working out with Anna once a week and doing the recumbent bike a couple of days too.  There's a bunch of things on my calendar for this upcoming week  - Monday: take a certain family member to the doctor... and appointment that I suspect is going to be unpleasant. Tuesday: back to picking up Elliott from school... the highlight of my Tuesday!   Wednesday: doing dinner with a friend I haven't seen all summer. Thursday: working out with Anna because I can't do it on Monday.  Friday: back to rehab. 

And I was just listening to the radio and someone commented that August is just about over... yikes... they are correct ... where did the month go???  I want to get my Fall stuff out but it probably is not going to be this week... the temperatures are cooling down... a little bit... but it is no where  near Fall weather... I did go and pick up some mums and some asters for my plant shelf... the petunias were pathetic ... and dead...

and I'd like to hit Costco... I saw a YouTube video where they had the BIG pots of mums for $18 a piece... that's a good price... maybe I can squeeze a Costco trip in next week. 

An aside... I got a notification from Blogger the other day... that's never happened before... and it informed me that my post for July 5 was taken down because it "violated community standards"...huh??? I have no idea what I said or posted that "violated community standards" and I've never saved my posts elsewhere so I don't have a copy of what they didn't like... as far as I remember I posted a lot of pictures of my patriotic cross stitch and reiterated how lucky we are to live in the land of the free (I'm questioning that now) and the home of the brave... anyway from now on I'll save a copy of each post on my laptop instead of just leaving it for Blogger... I did make a post on IG  which you can find here... which shows 11 pictures of my stuff... do you see anything there that "violates community standards"? I don't... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... need to go get groceries and a prescription for a certain family member. Nick is making pot roast in the crock pot for dinner... and I intend to rest up this afternoon in preparation for a busy week.

I hope you have a great week and that things go just the way you want them to!!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Blackbirds and bungled blocks on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well I'm still hanging in there... did more physical therapy this week... my gait and walking speed are pretty much back to normal... however I still need to work on getting my knee to bend more... it would help if the swelling went down in my knee... I'm icing and elevating and icing and elevating... 

The pace of life picked back up... on Monday I worked out with Anna and had a marvelous lunch with a friend... we talked for hours... Tuesday I did rehab... Wednesday I was a slug... I've caught a cold and while the sore throat and stuffy nose are gone, the cough however will not leave.. and I cough and cough and cough and cough... and you get the picture. Thursday had a lot of running around...went out to our favorite breakfast place, got Nick a beard trim, hit the grocery store, went  to rehab, got my hair cut and colored and went out to dinner... I was pooped... Friday started out quietly but then things fell apart... needed to go change a glucose monitor for a certain family member and while it should have taken 5 minutes it turned into an hour ordeal as we couldn't get his phone and the app and the glucose monitor to talk to each other ... grrrr... there are days I hate technology... finally got it straighten out and then my attempt at sewing some simple blocks together got totally bungled... arrghh... it is now Saturday after noon and things seemed to have settled down. 

It rained last week... it rained A LOT... strong winds on Tuesday uprooted a bunch of 100 year old trees... so sad... lots of people were without power. Luckily we were fine... I live in a neighborhood with a good amount of old trees and overhead utility lines... but we were spared. Lots of my plants got beat down but it is that time of year when I'm to the point that whether a plant lives or dies it is up to them. No special measures will be taken... honestly, I'm more than ready for Fall... 

As for crafty stuff, well there was some productivity... 

I finished stitching Priscilla... don't she Miles make a cute couple?

And while I was thinking about what to stitch next, I read about a Blackbird Academy SAL on Facebook... there is a prompt for each month August through May for a particular motif... August is an alphabet. 

Here's the syllabus for the SAL...

Now I joined the group and  I probably won't do all the months but this did give me a kick in the pants to get out a BBD project that has been in my stash since 2017... I should hang my head in shame... but I won't...LOL... now I do love this project ... but it is BIG  BIG  BIG ... 285 x 285... on 36 ct this is almost 18" square... I love the linen I painted for this... here's where I began...

There will be 9 separate charts... here's how they will look whenever I finish this... 

however mine isn't going to have that vertical column of flowers... I thought I wanted it, but I don't have room for it... and the more I look at it the more I'm fine without it... yes that was a GIANT cope... but it is okay. 

So here's where I am today... 

Close up ...

So according to my  rationale this fulfills the requirement of an alphabet and if I get the bottom half done that would fulfill the requirement of September for birds!! This square makes me laugh because look at the scale of those birds next to the cat... the are HUMONGOUS... mutant birds... I love that the scale of motifs on BBD charts is all over the place... anything goes... 

I'm looking ahead to October... the prompt is a pumpkin... I've done a couple of BBD pieces that have pumpkins already... gotta search my stash for  a new one. 

Oh and have you seen some of the new releases for the Needlework Market... I have my eye on two samplers from Snowflower Diaries and Kathy Barrick is re-releasing some of her stockings but with a chart to do it just as a vertical sampler... I like that idea a lot...I don't need anymore charts ... but I do love having them in my stash... and I think collecting charts is a separate hobby from stitching them... hey some people collect spoons or Hummel figurines or Beanie Babies ...so I'm fine collecting cross stitch charts!

As for sewing... well there's where the serious bungling come in... I've had this quilt top up on my design wall for weeks... all the blocks were done... all it needed was to be sewn together... long columns... minimal places to match... easy peasy... knock it out in no time... NOT THE CASE...

First column went together just fine, second one too... but when I went to sew the first to the second I found that one block ... right in the middle of the first column was wrong... it was too big... I miscut the strips... but since it was too big I could fix it... and I did.. but then there was a too big block in the second column, and then I got to the third column and AGAIN... another too big block... I fixed it... and then the fourth column... and as you've already guessed another block that was too big... the first 3 bungled blocks were an inch too big, the 4th block was only a half inch too big... and it should have been an easy fix... until I cut off an inch on the last strip instead of a half an inch.... arrgghhh... I had put away all the extra fabrics for this project, so I hauled down the bin and searched through it... I was hoping to find enough to do just one more strip... not happening...  took a much needed break...came upstairs to ice and elevate and breath... 

Returned to the scene of the bungled block and made a new one... wised up and started checking the blocks BEFORE I sewed them into columns... there was a bungled blocked in columns 5, 7 and 8... only in one measly column, column 6 were all the blocks correct... sheesh...

But I persevered and it is DONE!!!

I'm calling this Fall Zig Zag... I used the Vanessa Goertzen (of Lella Boutique) book called Jelly Filled...the pattern is called Marbled Cheesecake... don't ask why...  I don't know why, but all the quilts had dessert names...the background is Moda Grunge in the colorway Curry... the fabrics ...each block is different ... are all from Sandy Gervais collections...some are old from Moda and some are more recent from Riley Blake... but they all play together nicely. Sandy Gervais is my favorite designer for Fall fabrics... I've made over 10 quilts using her Fall fabrics... and I'm sure I will make more... at least I hope I will. As I was making this one I sometimes looked  at a fabric and I LOVED it but I wasn't sure I wanted to use it ...because it was an older print and there isn't any more of it...but then I remembered that I'm not getting any younger and if I don't use it NOW it might never get used... so I'm gonna use the pretty fabrics! There really isn't a good reason to save stuff for the future when the future is here...

So I wanted to get this finished so I can take it up to Delinda on Monday... she has 4 quilts for me to pick up... a lap-sized Debbie Mumm, two panels... one Halloween, one Thanksgiving... and a bed sized quilt... I see lots of binding in my future... 

Next week is busy busy busy... Monday, work out with Anna, do lunch with a friend and then go up to see Delinda... Tuesday I'm spending with Elliott, it is his last day of summer vacation, they go back to school on Wednesday... I'm sad... I really liked the time we spent together this summer... Wednesday I'm doing lunch with my quilty lady friends and Thursday I have rehab... nothing is scheduled for Friday but I have a feeling something will come up. 

I've made my decision on the roof... just have to get with the sales rep and give him a deposit... probably will be 3 to 4 weeks before they get to the job. 

Need to get groceries on Sunday for a certain family member and then Nick has made meat sauce to go over penne for dinner... one of my favorite meals... I want to rest up the afternoon for the rest of the week... I think I'm gonna need it.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and check out what's going on ... hope your week ahead turns out just the way you like it!

happy stitching-

carol fun