Circling back around on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well it was another week when things didn't happen the way they were planned, and now me and some others are circling back around... it started right off the bat on Monday. The company who installed my new windows several years ago were coming back to replace a window that doesn't seal all the way. This was the 2nd time they were dealing with this same window... and... now they will be coming back a 3rd time because again, the window doesn't seal. Now this is through no fault of mine. They are the ones measuring and manufacturing and installing.  It is all covered by warranty so it doesn't cost me anything but I am getting a bit annoyed that they will be circling back around in 6-8 weeks. I'd like this particular window to seal tightly before the weather changes again...

And speaking of weather, the week started out very rainy but as of Friday it has been GORGEOUS!! Sunny, no humidity, high temperatures only in the 70's... I'm typing this as I'm sitting on the sunroom porch with all the windows open... this is my idea of PERFECT weather!! 

But backing up... remember how I said I'm always worried that projects around my little house tend to go awry... well that's what happened Wednesday when they came to install the new downspouts, gutters and gutter guards.  The roofing crew was under the mistaken idea that the gutter guards that were on the house were staying... they aren't... the new gutters are wider than the old gutters... but they nailed the edge shingles in such a way that the gutter crew couldn't get the old covers off... argh...so right now they are all the old gutter guards are bent up at a 90 degree angle, awaiting the roofing crew to circle back around and fix the problem... the supervisor apologized profusely and I'm on the schedule for them to come back this Thursday, weather permitting... and as of today there is rain in the forecast for Thursday... so we shall see how this plays out...

Dealing with these house issues gets me all discombobulated as I want things done but I don't have any way to make them be done... sigh... so I tried to distract myself with some knitting... I'm really liking these knitted mitered squares... and I got two completed this week and I've started a third... 

The first one I did is on the right... pretty in pink...  and the second one is on the left..

and the second gave me fits....

now I love how the colors blend... but you see those ends on the right... that is where the little skein ran out... it was a factory wound one with an Opal ball band... I didn't weigh it prior to opening it up and it is labeled 10 grams... but I suspect is was underweight...  I had some other yarn in my stash that matches pretty well but I wasn't happy with having to stop and go searching and then circling back. I will be weighing before I begin  from here on... now the skein that is a loose hank is from my Advent calendar last year and  I've knitted one square with it and there was plenty of yarn...so I'll be knitting more with these.  This is a great project for my short attention span... just about the time I'm to the end, I've gotten a bit bored with the colorway, and I look forward to starting a new one... which is what I plan on doing after I finish this post.

I hardly picked up my needle to cross stitch... maybe I'll do more this week... 

What I did do  was a lot of sewing... I finished this quilt top...

this is the Baklava pattern from the  It's Sew Emma Simply Jelly Rolls book and the fabrics are left over Ruby Star Merry Happy from the quilt top I did the week before...  I took both of the Merry Happy quilt tops up to Delinda on Thursday so I should get them back in plenty of time for Christmas giving... and I'm so proud of me... I even went ahead and made the bindings for both so I can get right to it when they return. 

Oh I added fussy cut cornerstones to the pattern... in my opinion it is easier to assemble the blocks using cornerstones instead of one looooong strip of fabric... and I also get the chance to tuck in some cute stuff like this little mushroom...

So since my design wall was empty  I rummaged through the plastic bins in the root cellar and found this project I had barely started last year around Christmas.  The fabrics are a Fancy That Design House Collection called Olde World Yuletide... 

this a GORGEOUS collection IMHO... the deep blues and the dark browns are so rich looking...  and some fabrics have a touch of gold metallic!

Well I had found another free pattern from Moonkin Stitchery... this one is called Rock Climb and it only takes a layer cake... no extra fabric needed... you can see the video here... anyway I started cutting up my layer cake and I messed it up ...big time... I had 6 pieces stacked was suppose to cut a piece 4.5" and I cut it 4"... arghh... no way to fix that... so I put it aside ... ordered another layer cake... and then Christmas came and the motivation to work on it went... but I'm really liking  it now...

there are 6 blocks here... and this is by no means where these blocks will end up at... but it's looking good.  And I got a surprise when I opened up this plastic bin... not only were there layer cakes and a note about the pattern in the bin, there was also a FQ bundle of this collection... what?? Not sure why I bought it but I do LOVE it so now I need to come up with a good pattern for it... 

Oh and if you are a fan of Fancy That Design House like I am check out the collection for next Christmas... you can see it here... it is called Twinkle & Tinsel... OMG... I want both of the panels and a FQ bundle and the tea towels... I want it ALL!!  I'll be anxiously awaiting this release in May/June 2027.

With the cooler Fall-like temperatures I'm enjoying my Fall decor...  here's the big shelf unit that I get to look at from my living room stitching chair...

Up top is a Bent Creek piece called All in a Row... and I'm in love with those little mushroom candles... picked them up last year at Micheals. Moving down the Blackbird Design's Harvest of Frienship...

 

I framed Primrose Cottage's  Autumn Quaker... 

and to the right I have 3 little pillows from Prairie Schooler No. 164  and Barbara Ana's Autumn. 

I really like this little group in of white ceramic pumpkins and Calico Confectionary's Fall Most of All.

and last but not least (and probably one of the first seasonal pieces I ever stitched) Lizzie Kate's Autumn Alphabet. 

I have plans to get the Halloween stuff out the end of this week ... not making any guarantees how the week will go. I have to call the dentist first thing Monday morning as a family member broke a tooth... hopefully I can get them an appointment quickly. I have my time to work out with Anna on Monday but if it conflicts with the dentist she's really good at working me in later in the week. Tuesday is my Elliott day... I will receive more education on numbers and Minecraft...LOL.. Wednesday I'm doing lunch with my quilty lady friends...we are celebrating my birthday and Laurey's birthday... Thursday I have a 10am appointment to meet with the gal from the landscaping company. I'd love to get this project started... and Thursday evening I'm doing my monthly dinner with another friend. Friday is suspiciously empty... I feel I've forgotten something... 

I looked ahead to see how many days till Christmas... 89 days... seems like a lot but I know it will fly by.. the days always do ... I watched an interesting post on X with a woman who was 88 years old. She talked about wanting to make them most of the time she has left on this earth... she looked to be in great physical shape, was going a trip to Turkey and described her outlook on life as frenetic... and I get it... so much I want to do, but while the spirit is willing the body doesn't always accommodate... my left knee is doing fine, but for several days this week my right ankle was hurting... I think I tweaked my Achilles tendon so I put on a compression sock and babied it... it's feeling better but it makes me mad... I seem to have no control over when body parts decide to act up ... 

Well I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... I'm loving my time out here on the sunroom porch... forecast for the next several days is PERFECT... hope I can spend more time out here... knitting, stitching, watching the birds, napping... it's a great life... LOL

Hope your week is a great one too!!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Reflection and rambling on a Slow Sunday...

Hello-- well all in all it was a quieter, less hectic week than I've had in a while...there were a couple of things that went squirrelly but I got them worked out. I even had a day where I didn't leave the house all day!!!   Don't remember the last time that happened... but I sure enjoyed it!  This post got really looooooong ... lots of reflection and rambling... just a head's up... 

I had plans for starting some new cross stitch on my birthday but instead opted for napping  and putting a few stitches in this sampler... A Cheerful Heart by Shakespeare's Peddler... and I was perfectly happy with that decision.

I also spent some time reflecting on stuff I've done and want to do and life in general... I'll go into that later in this post... first let's talk about what  crafty stuff I did this week...

I decided to stick with the knitted mitered squares... that is portable and I like watching the striping in each square develop. Here's the one I finished this week...

there's a section in this one... crimson and gray... which gave me Ohio State vibes...LOL... and as soon as that one was done I started another square... very pink!

We had 3 days of 90 degree weather... too hot for me... so I retreated to my underground lair AKA my sewing studio and worked on not one but TWO quilt tops!! First is this one... my modified layout of the Weathered Whimsey pattern from Moonkin Stitchery using the FQ bundle of Merry Happy by Ruby Star... 

And  here are a couple of my favorite blocks ... I love the egg ornament!

This top is 80" square... I'm envisioning a quilting panto with peppermint sticks... I vaguely remember Delinda used a panto like that on a Christmas quilt I did a while ago... 

And because I had a FQ bundle and I had already cut about 99% of it into 2.5" strips I felt obligated to do something with them... yeah, yeah,  I remember I said I didn't want to make a second quilt out of this collection, but then I tell myself a  lot of things that I don't agree with later. ..LOL... sooooo... this book was sitting on my cutting table...  Simply Jelly Rolls by Sew Emma...

and as I was paging through it this pattern caught my eye...Baklava... all the patterns have food names, don't ask me why...

 anyway here's where I am so far... there will be 4 blocks across and 4 blocks down...

this one should be about 72" square... it is an easy pattern, that I can see me making again cause I got a whole lotta jelly rolls in my stash...

And I got the binding on one of the finished quilts languishing in the basement... this is the vintage Debbie Mumm Halloween panel...

Isn't this panto super?? the only kind of spiders and spiderwebs I like....LOL

Delinda .... The T-Shirt Quilt Company.... has so many cool panto designs... and while I drop my stuff off and pick them up she does a ton of mail order business too. 

As for decor here's some more of what I have scattered about the house....I took this pic across the room accidentally and I like it... it makes the room seem bigger than it is...LOL

On the wall I have one of my favorite quilts... and I truly mean that... it started with a panel of those 6 birds and I was determined to use all of them in the quilt... and I filled everything in with crazy pieced blocks  using lots of collections of Sandy Gervais' wonderful Fall fabrics... you know when people say if there was a fire or other calamity and you had to grab stuff and leave what would you take?  This quilt is the one I would want to take... birds and Fall stuff... both favorites with me!!

I got out a different tier tray stand... this one came from Target a couple of years ago... and I managed to get  quite a bit of cross stitch on it... 

Up top I have a Lizzie Kate piece from the chart Seasons...(oh I just saw you can get this pattern as PDF on 123Stitch... how cool is that?) 

... and next to it one of the Garden Fairies by Prairie Schooler... I did this on 40 ct... not sure how I saw it but it was 10 years ago... younger eyes... LOL... anyway I got the chart individually but now you can get all 5 in one chart... Prairie Schooler No. 210... Prairie Fairies...ooooh.. I love the rhyme!!

Below I have more Lizzie Kate....Lizzie Kate Autumn ABC's (and this one is also available as a PDF)... and two little leaf pillows which are snippets from the Bent Creek Autumn Soapbox pattern that I showed last week. 

Over on the TV cabinet I have this little vignette... I love this pumpkin because it is skinny so it takes up less space when I have to put it away.... and it has a bird on it!  I need to go back to Hobby Lobby and get another one of those cute wheelbarrows... I as I recall it came in orange and silver ... and I like tucking a little cross stitch pillow in them... in this case a piece from Pineberry Lane's chart Cats & Jacks,

 

Over on my tier table I have some cute scarecrow figurines that Nick bought for me and a companion piece from Cats & Jacks... and below the Lizzie Kate  Autumn String. 

The rest of this is my reflection and ramblings... you can skip if you'd like... I'm just trying to put my thoughts in order... 

I had a lovely dinner last Monday night for my birthday at Texas de Brazil...(a suggestion... go on a week night, not a weekend... way less crowded and spectacular service) ... it is one of those places where they walk around with meat and serve you at your table... the salad bar is fabulous.... and so are the desserts... I had a citrus creme brulee...so yummy... and I got to spend some quality time with my boys... the icing on the proverbial cake.  And as I contemplate my 73 trips around the sun I'm reflecting on the good things that have happened in my life and thinking about what I want to do with how ever many years more the good Lord gives me... I have no plans to toddle off this mortal coil any time soon... I hope to live as long as my grandmothers... they were in their 80s... I've already surpassed the life spans of my immediate family...my parents both passed before they were 50 and my brother was only 62... but I know I have less years before me than behind me.  The last month or so I've been concentrating on getting the house in the best shape I can. The new roof has a 45 year warranty... I have no illusions I'll be around for that but hopefully Nick will.. The furnace and AC unit are only 4 years old ... the water heater is 11 years old but I know who to call when it dies.... and I made a decision about the yard.  I want everything that is now growing (except for the tree-form hydrangea and a dogwood bush) cleared out. I want a landscape that is primarily low maintenance shrubs and perennials... something I won't have to spend a lot of time on and neither will Nick when I'm gone. To that end I talked with 2 different landscape companies... I hope to hear back from them in a week or so as to cost (this is gonna be pricey) and a new layout.  Something less crazy than what I've had in past years. 

I've thought about whether I need to curtail some of the activities in my life... and I'm ready to reduce my gardening time... I'll play with the 6 raised beds and the patio planters but that's enough. As for crafty stuff, well that is harder to figure out. Realistically I know I don't need another quilt or another sampler or another pair of socks or another knitted or crochet afghan... but I still want them... and my little house is getting stuffed... so I'm going to be doing a modified form of the Döstädning... the Swedish Death Cleaning... clearing out unnecessary belongings so your family does not have to do it later. Some people frame this as looking at an object and deciding if they bring you joy... ummm...that't not gonna work for me as almost ALL my stuff brings me joy... that's why I have it...so I'm trying to embrace another tactic... ask whether it supports the life you actually want... I can definitely let go of some decor items and some fabric and some card crafting stuff and some jewelry making stuff ...and I have some ideas where to pass it off. 

And yes I will still collect stuff but I'm working hard on if something comes into the house, something has to leave.  The plan is one room at a time... gonna start in my bedroom and go through my closet and dresser and the under the bed boxes which have more sheets in them than I will ever use. Then I think I'll work on the kitchen... I have a ton of Fiestaware... I think I have place setting for like 20 people...and my dining room table seats FOUR... do I really need 6 large platters and 8 large serving bowls... probably not. 

My goal for the  my next trip around the sun is to be more mindful of what I'm doing... I tend to bounce around like a BB in a box car (my sainted Father's description of me)...there are plenty of projects that need to be finished up and I want to give them more attention... and this may be my biggest gift to me ... I want to give myself more peace and grace... I'm the quintessential Type A... ADHD... go go go person ... which is why that 6 weeks of being confined to my house with a fractured tibial plateau was a prison sentence to me...I do find myself enjoying being home all day ... I LOVE my little house!! So  I want to spend some time sitting quietly and enjoying it... a bit of stitching or knitting or crocheting in my hand and a cup of tea on the side table... now I still want to come here every week and show a little crafty stuff and some decor... and kvetch about the weather and the time change (oh it's coming, you thought I forgot?? never!!)... so I hope you'll join me ...

Circling back... next week isn't real crazy... I need to get back home Monday after working out to let the guy in with the replacement window... that's been months in the making...Elliott will brighten my day on Tuesday...  hoping to see Delinda this week and pick up a quilt and drop off one... a monthly dinner with a sweet friend ... and take a certain family member out to dinner another night. The weather is trending in the right direction for me... highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's... turn off the AC open the windows and air the house out!!

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

happy stitching-

carol fun 

I got squirrels on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - it was a week... of squirrels... and shiny things that kept me running here and there ...here and there... right now it is Saturday afternoon and it has been a lovely day... celebrated my birthday with my family ... had yummy lunch at Chris house ... got to spend some time with Elliott... he's big into trying to explain fractions to me and told me that on Friday the teacher let him teach part of the math lesson...so proud of him...  and now I'm plopped in my stitching chair on the porch... after I write this I'm taking a nap!!

Monday through Thursday was mostly the normal running around... a dentist appointment for a family member, I got my hair cut and colored and Nick and I had a pizza dinner with friends... but Friday... Friday was way out of the ordinary... the roofers arrived at 7:30 am... now if you know me that is hours before I normally wake up, but I was awake... and if I hadn't been, I would have been because the pounding and hammering was non-stop till 7:00 pm... by 11:00 am they had most of the old roof torn off... and it was laying everywhere ... in the driveway, in the flower beds, on the front porch... to the extent that I couldn't get out of either door in my house... I was able to get one guy's attention and ask them to clear me a path out the front door as it looked to be the easiest way out ... and they did ... and Nick and I escaped for a couple of hours... I should have taken my knitting and gone and sat at McAllisters with a sweet tea, but I felt compelled to come home. There is something about having unfamiliar workers around my house that just puts me on edge... I always fear the worst will happen in these situations ...and for the most part things work out fine... but I'm a world class worrier ... so the whole thing stresses me out.

As for crafty stuff I did get some things done... and I have some decor to show... I'm really enjoying my Fall decorations even though it got into the 90s's again this week... and darn if there isn't a couple of 90s again this coming week... not nice Mother Nature...not nice...

Starting off I got the Bent Creek "Let Us Be Thankful" done... ta dah!!!

I dropped it off at the framers and I picked up the Bent Creek Autumn Soapbox...

I love this orange-y frame!! It really makes this piece POP!! I've got it hanging up out here on the sunroom porch where I can admire it from my stitching chair... 

And here is the decor on the porch... there is a definite squirrel theme out here ... which is kinda weird since I'm not fond of the little critters in my yard... although those new squirrel proof/resistant bird feeders are doing a great job keeping them from eating the bird seed...now if they'd quit chewing on my window boxes I'd be even happier....

Up top I have a sampler from Prairie Schooler No. 66  Autumn Samplers... I LOVE this piece... such a beautiful design and lovely colors...and those squirrels running around the border... see I can't get away from them...LOL

On the middle shelf I have squirrels from With Thy Needle & Thread... the chart is called Autumn's Acorn Gathering... find small animals dressed in clothes irresistible... dontcha love his necktie?

And on the bottom I have a Ewe & Eye & Friends piece called Simply 855... I searched the blog and I stitched this 15 years ago... where does the time go??

This is the small shelf unit and I packed a lot of cross stitch into these 3 shelves...

Up top I have Barbara Ana's Autumn Tree ... I love all the little things  perched in the branches... 

and over on the right side along with the white pumpkin mini quilt I have The Drawn Thread's Welcome Autumn ...

I know I've said it numerous times but I have got to get around to doing the Welcome Spring chart... I've done Fall, Summer and Winter...  I was going through my charts the other day and pulled out Spring... I have to sit down and work on the conversion from the called for silks to overdyeds... that would kick me in gear... I think..

oh got sidetracked... a stitchy squirrel... a shiny thing... LOL... on the bottom two shelves I have on the left side....

in the arched frame I have Gather by Pineberry Lane, nex to it I have Barbara Ana's Autumn Keeper, and below I have the Flowerpot Sampler by From the Heart Needleart ... there a memory attached to this one... I stitched it in 2011 when I broke my wrist... I got out a Q-snap frame and stand and stitched with one hand... it kept me from going crazy...LOL

and on the right side... 

The little box with the flowers has that says Autumn is from Lizzie Kate's Autumn Smalls, below is Pinkernpunkin's Pumpkin & Bittersweet, the little pillow is Blackbird Designs Waiting for the Harvest, (I think this is OOP as a single chart but it is in the book Winds of Autumn) and the  last one is the pumpkin design from The Stitcherhood Quaker Pumpkin... I made it a white pumpkin instead of an orange one.

Now I thought I'd start a birthday stitching project... but as of this moment I haven't had the time to pick something... theoretically my birthday isn't till Monday and I'm taking the liberty of making it a 3 day celebration ... Sat/Sun/Mon... so I could come up with something later today or tomorrow... don't have any plans for Sunday except hanging around the house and truly appreciating the quiet of no hammering....see I told you it stressed me out... sigh...

As for knitting, I tried, tried again and this time I cast on 80 stitches and it turns out that pretty much uses up 10 grams of yarn... for comparison... 50 stitches, 60 stitches, 80 stitches..

this would be a great project to take here or there ... very portable ... and I like that idea... BUT a colorful shiny knitting squirrel popped up on Thursday and OH DO I LOVE THIS TOO!!

I found it on IG here....This one is called a Jelly Roll Blanket and you can find the pattern here ... I bought it and downloaded it and I'll have to say I was having troubles understanding how to get that seamed edge... which turns out to be the way you attach one column of knitting to the next... but then I found this video and that made sense... I do think the gal in the video does the edge thing a little differently from the pattern but I understand what she did... and I played with the pattern starting a "column" but I feel like it is kinda skimpy and too narrow... I think I might start over.. it is pretty mindless and I have a great need for mindless knitting in my life... it keeps me from hurting other people...LOL...and like the knitted mitered squares it uses Opal sock yarn...lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of Opal sock yarn... and I have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of Opal sock yarn... a great match... the only drawback is that after you make the first column it gets unwieldy to take here and there... each additional column is knitted in such a way that you have to attach each new row as you knit it... so this would be a stay at home project... and I'm not sure which I want to work on... they are both long term kinda projects ... decisions decisions... I'm not ready to commit yet... 

As for the Christmas quilt I started last week... I made a couple more of the pieced blocks... I changed my mind about how big it should be... right now I'm planning on about 80" square... and doing a layout of print or pieced block with an alternate of "plain" fabric... I'm waiting for the "plain" fabric to arrive... I did find a nice wide back for it... a red/green/white diagonal stripe... looks Christmasy.... 

Upcoming week going to work out with Anna in the morning and have dinner reservations that evening at Texas de Brazil...one of those buffet places where they come to your table with lots of different meats... the salad bar is sooooo good too and they have wonderful desserts... my favorite is a citrus flavored creme brulee... Tuesday I have someone coming to look at the yard... I desperately want the flower beds cleaned out and then I can work with someone to redesign the beds... and I'll pickup Elliott from school... Wednesday looks quiet.. Thursday  I have a semi-annual eye exam, they'll dialate my eyes... not looking forward to that... so far nothing Friday or Saturday... I would like to get another bid or two on the garden cleanup but I've made 2 other inquiries that didn't pan out... why is it so hard to get someone to do yard work?  I'm more than happy to pay a more than fair price... sigh... hopefully I'll get a handle on this soon.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... as I said my plan is to chill all day... Nick is making a pot roast for dinner which is always yummy... maybe I'll get the motivation to pick a birthday stitching project... or maybe I'll just pick back up one of my  many many many UFOs... I'm happy for another trip around the  sun, but the older I get the less I need to really "celebrate"... I'm just happy that I have my family and friends and my little house and yard and all my crafty stuff...it is a very nice way to live. 

I hope your week ahead is a good one... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

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