Well that didn't go like I thought on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... well I thought I was going to have a ton of time to be crafty and productive last week and that isn't at all how it went... it started in Sunday when it rained twice... totally NOT forecasted ... but it was lovely for my garden... and it started my week off on a great note... Monday was quiet and Tuesday Elliott was here... we had a very nice day... and then the wheels fell off ... I was suppose to have financial meeting Wednesday but it got rescheduled...and then my cleaning lady ,who I haven't seen in months as she's been sick, called me out of the blue and said she could come and  clean... so she did... and then Delinda called and said my latest  quilt was ready for pick up but the only time we both could meet was that afternoon, so a trip to Springboro ensued... Thursday had errands and a spur of the moment dinner invitation from friends ... and Friday finally got a little less hectic...  but Saturday turned into one of those days where you get up, do a few errands, some one stops by and  the next thing you know it's 6pm... where did the day go??? and yes having even one engagement a day seems busy to this retired slug... I like staying home, as long as it is my choice... don't tell me what to do, as I'm immediately oppositional ... I'm stubborn ... and I've always been that way... probably not going to have any major change at this stage of my life... 

So all of that was to say I got hardly anything crafty done and feel like I was very unproductive... that Christmas quilt I've been working on has gotten no attention... I did sew up a couple more American Jane spool blocks ... I like them but still need another 8 of them...

As for cross stitch... I didn't even pick up the Noel Sampler... instead I did put a couple of stitches in one of the Prairie Schooler A Prairie Year  pieces...

I told you it was just a couple of stitches... not lying... this is going to be the clock for January... I changed it from red to brown. 

And then I got distracted with this chart... Vibrant Flowers by Kathy Barrick...  I like the house with the giant flowers and I may get around to stitching it, but I bought the chart for the little pillow piece.... I love the saying and with  a slight change of hair color the garden gal will be adorable... I'm gonna make her a red head... LOL... but I still have a ways to go...oh I'm doing this in the called for DMC conversion. 

I was able to get my patriotic stuff put away and Nick helped me to get out my chicken decor... and it putting out my displays I realize I have a nice amount of chicken knickknacks but I really could use a bit more cross stitch... soooooooooo I went on 123 Stitch and these gals just arrived in my mail box ....

they are too stinking cute and all of them have names that speak to me... Beatrice was my SIL's mother name, a very sweet lady... Florence was my aunt's name... Hattie to me is puppet on the Uncle Al show from my childhood... Batty Hatty from Cincinnati... gosh I'm old old old... and Myrtle is the name of the street that my daughter in law's Dad grew up on and it is just blocks from my house... I pass it every day... anyway I think these gals would be great additions to my displays... and hopefully a quick stitch that I can add before the end of August when I change decor again... 

Also I got this chart... Bringing Good Cheer from Blackbird Designs... oh this is sooooo pretty!!  I went ahead and ordered the overdyed flosses too... need to dye some linen for this...

This is the 3rd one in the Christmas Sampler series and I've already stitched 2 of them...

 Merry Christmas

Feliz Navidad 

I'd love to add this to my Christmas display... Blackbird does the BEST Christmas samplers IMHO...

I picked up my Prairie Schooler  Garden Sampler from chart No. 45... I've got it hanging in my sunroom porch... which is great because I'm out here every chance I get and I can enjoy it from my chair.

I got this one framed at Hobby Lobby... the did a nice job... it could be a little bit tighter but the price was right... only $52... gives me memories of Joanns framing... I got so many bargains there and they had a wonderful framer...she had owned her own shop for years before working at Joanns and she did great work with stitching... I didn't realize how good she was and how great the prices were until Joanns got rid of the framing at  all the Cincinnati locations... some pieces I'm okay with paying a higher price for, but seasonal pieces I want to be easier on my  pocketbook... 

And here is my sunroom porch display... I tweaked a few things from a couple of months ago... I like the mix of garden and bird stuff...

At the top is Good Deeds from WTN&T... and a bird from a Blackbird book but I don't remember which one...

Middle has the Magic Garden Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler... I change this one A LOT... Teresa says her version was  inspired by the Tim Burton production of Alice in Wonderland... which may explain why the flower border on the left was charted in black... mine are definitely more daylily looking...  

the little pin pillow was my foray into stitching over one on 28 ct... this is Birdhouse Alphabet by Little House Needleworks... and in the little watering can is a tiny  gal from Pineberry Lane... she was a freebie called Wee Crowned Maiden... you can find her here....I have no clue why I didn't stitch her crown.

Bottom has The Queen's Garden by The Scarlett House and a companion bird to the one up top...

The weather has gotten a tiny bit cooler and less humid... I turned off the AC and opened the windows to air the house out... rain is forecast for Mon/Tues/Wed... fingers crossed... have lunch plans on Wednesday with my quilty lady friends and nothing else on the calendar but I know that could change... I hope to get some time in down in my sewing studio ... and maybe get a chicken stitched up this week... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is more fun than Housework... after I get the flowers watered I should be free to  spend some time on the sunroom porch... my favorite place to be these days...

happy stitching -

carol fun 

Where wondering, leads to wandering, leads to wondering "what was I thinking?" on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - and how are things in your little corner of the world?  It was a a pretty good one last week...I'm writing  this on Saturday afternoon and I haven't had to water since Monday... but I'll be doing it later today. Got surprised by a couple of pop up storms that doused the gardens fairly well on W/Th/F... however, like all weather, things are changing and the forecast is for upper 90's and no rain... sigh... what I really want is Camelot where it rains overnight several times a week... and I shall dream on.  If you'd like a little  tour of my gardens click here... it is a link to my post on IG...I can't get it to load here...

Had 2 doctor appointments last week where the conclusion was  my ailments are "age related" ... which means you are old... and not much we can do about it... nothing really earth shattering...."age related" macular degeneration but not at the point for any interventions... come back in 9 months...  and  nighttime cramps in my feet and toes for which they don't know why that happens and suggested a magnesium supplement... I'll give it a try.

As for more upbeat chatter I was semi-productive this week. Spent some quality time in my sewing studio and added 8 more blocks to the Jolly Good FQ 4 Patch  Quilt...

I have 8 more cut out and will need 8  more after that to make the quilt 36 blocks... would love to find a cute Christmas- y wide back for this... 

And I got the binding on the Tilda spools... 

I know this isn't a great pic...I was thinking of doing a glamour shot of the quilt draped over my neighbors' new fence with my dahlia beds as a back drop... but it is too hot right now for that.

And this is when the wondering, lead to wandering, lead to "what was I thinking"?... 

So I really deeply truly LOVE LOVE LOVE this spool blocks... you may remember I have another Tilda spool quilt started... this version will have a solid spool center...

The blocks will go both vertically and horizontally... the spool part is taupe and the background is a golden yellow Grunge... right now this one is napping on a tray...  

Back to the binding... as I was sewing it on I was looking around my studio and contemplating a bit of an update to the room... I have considered changing  the direction  of my sewing tables but I'm not sure it would be any better than what I have now... I looked at the quilts I have in the room... on the back of a comfy chair... an American Jane quilt... 

over this little cabinet... another American Jane ... this one a amalgamation of different blocks left over from other projects.... and yes I do have some little cross stitch pieces I want to add to that tier tray... they are stitched but not FFO'd... sigh...

and this quilt over my cutting table... 

Now I made this quilt about 10 years ago when almost everything I made was BRIGHT... and this is no exception. If you enlarge the pic you can see it has a very cute border and all the spools are bright stripe-y fabrics.  And my mind wondered  if another spool quilt... with American Jane fabrics... might be just the project to freshen up the studio...

So I went and checked out my AJ fabric stash... and you aren't seeing things, that is a rubber chicken on the middle shelf... it is a purse... I actually carried it for a while...LOL 

and found a bag of charm squares in those bottom baskets which are the perfect starting point for these spool blocks... 

oh I forgot to mention the spool blocks is the Biscuit Quilt from the Sew Emma book Simply Jelly Rolls ... and before you know it I'd made 2 blocks, just to check it out my idea... oh I really really like these!!

In short order, I  cut all the centers I will need for a 15  block quilt which would fit nicely over my cutting table...each piece is a different fabric and while some are the same design they are different color ways... nice and scrappy...

 I didn't have any brown AJ fabric for the spool ends but found that crackly print in my stash that works nicely... it will be a FREE quilt!  and we are not going to think deeply about the way I'm justifying this... LOL

So while I was standing there cutting out the fabrics I got to wondering about other AJ quilts I've started and left stranded in plastic bins... I am a cruel quilter... so I wandered into my root cellar closet that has many many many bins of fabrics and partially finished projects and found not one but two more AJ  quilts...

This first one was a sew along back in 2020 for the pattern Fresh as Daisy by Pen & Paper Patterns and you can see it here...

as you can see I did not complete the sew along and have 9 blocks... I have 2 more cut out, but I think I was planning to make  this a bed sized quilt ... one of those  "what was I thinking" moments ... but now I'm thinking a small lap quilt of 12 would be adequate...

And then there was this AJ project... which I don't even know the name of ... but from the contents of its plastic bin I KNOW was I planning on making this a bed sized quilt... What in the heck was I thinking???

 There a a bajillion little triangles in this ... and what  you probably can't see in the pic with the photo of the design and my "plan" but the date on this is 2008... which pre-dates this blog by 2 years... that was a looong time ago...and I know that I am never going to get back to this...

sooooo my current plan is to trim up the edges and quilt this and turn it into a runner that I can use on the bench in the living room for when I get out my AJ quilts and chickens...and my plan is to do that in the next 2 weeks... fingers crossed. 

Don't know what this says about my wondering and how it leads to wandering... but I do wonder about myself sometimes and I'm glad my vices are crafty... otherwise I think I'd get into a lot of serious trouble...LOL

I did get my craft room tidied up slightly... I made notes for the 3 patriotic pieces I started stitching and didn't finish so hopefully I'll be able to figure out what I planned to do with them next year.

And I put some quality time in on the Noel Sampler from WT&T...

now I don't usually do the entire border first, but after getting the top and right side done I wanted to see what the left side would look like and before you know it I was stitching the bottom too.   I have an error somewhere... I can not find it but when I got to the bottom I'm one stitch off... just gonna leave  it... there is some wiggle room in the bottom area where I can have one less  unstitched row... and I'm making a note on the pattern so if I put this away without finishing it I will know what happened, because one of the biggest lies I tell myself is "I'll remember what I did"...LOL

I did get some nice 16 ct Aida in Wren for the Prairie Schooler  No.13 A Prairie Year  that I want to do ... and I picked up all the needed flosses at Hobby Lobby... and somehow I've managed to keep myself from starting this BIG project... but I have a feeling temptation will overcome me soon and I'll have to start one of them.

Next week seems pretty easy... Elliott on Tuesday and an financial appointment on Wednesday... I'd love to spend the other days at home...  like I said, I want to get the patriotic stuff put away and get my chicken/garden stuff out... and I'm getting better in practicing that this is going to take longer than it used to ... I'm not as young as I use to be, but hopefully not as old as I'll get... I saw a little video on IG where a guy  was talking about his philosophy of life... he pulled out a paper tape that had the numbers 1 to 100 on it... he said that the average age for men is 75 and for women is 81... he tore the tape at 75... then he tore the tape again at his age (57) and tossed it aside and held up the small  piece that was left and spoke to the fact that this is the probable amount of time he has left in life and that he needs to make the most of it... he was grateful for all the time he has had but reflected on how he needs to be mindful of how he spends his days... and I'm trying to do that too. I'm lucky that most days I do get to do just what I want to do... the only issue is, there seems to be more I want to do in a day than there are hours... gotta make the most of what I have left, correct ?

Well, I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and with Quilting is more fun than Housework... hoping to get in some sewing and some stitching... will need to water the garden... Nick has already prepped what he want to make for our dinner... life is good...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

 

Trying for a re -set on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello all... I know I sound like a broken record (does anyone even play records anymore?) but the days just fly by... my sainted Grandma told me as a child the time flies the older you get... the woman was absolutely correct!!  I got a few things done but not the ones I thought I would do... but hey, any little progress is a good thing, right?

Did you have a nice 4th of July?  Nick and I spent a quiet day at home... it rained... several times... I was so happy because I didn't have to water... and we grilled some steaks and had corn on the cob and pasta salad and that chinese broccoli slaw I like... very tasty... and in between the rain showers we went out for an ice cream... all in all a lovely day. Now I could have done without neighbors shooting off fireworks randomly throughout the day, but the law changed in Ohio and they are now legal so nothing can be done about it... and while the rain  on the 4th definitely kept down the "celebrations" they made up for it last night.... over an hour of explosions ... right now I'm extremely happy with my neighbors ... it is annoying when you are deep into concentration reading or stitching or napping and one pops off ... BOOM!! and I jump...not sure what they get out of it and I assume they are clueless about how much others dislike them... scared pets, people with PTSD, people who do shift work and are trying to sleep,  small children who were put to bed hours ago... it is so totally  thoughtless and inconsiderate.... and yes right now I'm a crabby old woman.  Sorry for the rant....

With the holiday being on a Thursday I got all discombobulated... woke up on the 5th thinking it was  Sunday... don't know why... then I realized it was only  Friday, so I got my butt in gear and went and got my  car's  changed and they washed the outside of my car... it needed it.  

The heat is still sticking around but rain on Thursday and Friday was much appreciated and fingers crossed more is forecast for later in the week. 

My water bill came...yikes... I know I watered a lot but I wasn't expecting a bill 40% higher than normal. And my utility bill came... not sure if  it is because I got the new AC or because there was a stretch of about 5 days I didn't run it but that bill was less than I anticipated... we shall see what next month brings.

Well last week I was in a bit of a funk and thought I needed a re-set... and like all my ambitious plans it took until Thursday to kick in ... and here is my re-set... Christmas in July!! I figure if I start some holiday stuff now it will be done by December... always wishful thinking...LOL

First off I pulled out one of the samplers I had kitted up for my birthday "7 for 70" celebration last September which didn't totally materialize... this is the Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread... I dyed the fabric with Apple Green Rit dye and I'm using all the called for DMC flosses...

I've seen this one stitched a lot and I've always loved it...  I love that the border changes ... I want to get the more stitch heavy borders done next week... and maybe those 3 trees on the right... that big house is going to take a while....overall,  my goal is to have 3 medium to large Christmas samplers to hang in my living room next to whatever Christmas quilt I hang... this would make the second one... and this is the first one...

 I finished this is January and used the same color linen...I'm thinking whatever I pick for the 3rd one should also be stitched on Apple Green linen... I have a couple of ideas for the 3rd one, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself here as I still have quite a ways to go on this one.

And I went downstairs and turned on my sewing machine and stitched up some more blocks for a project I started last December... the pattern is Fat Quarter 4 Patch and it is a freebie from FQS that you can find here... the fabrics are the Basic Grey line Jolly Good... Basic Grey does the best Christmas collections IMHO... 

I really like these blocks ... they are easy to make, show off the prints very nicely and are BIG... they finish 15". Now I'm not sure how or why I purchased the quantity of  fabric I have for this quilt... I can tell I purchased a FQ bundle but I also have some fat quarters and some yardage of several of the prints.  I think I can make 24 block with no repeats... but I have enough fabric to make this fit my double bed with some prints being repeated... and there is enough left over to make another smaller quilt... but I have no clue what I planned for that smaller quilt... anyway I'll start with 24 blocks and go from there... I think it is  a very Jolly Good looking quilt... so far these are my favorite blocks... I bought yardage of this one...

and this red is so pretty!

I also piddled with 3 different patriotic pieces and not a single one is done... I may just put them away for next year... I was perusing IG the other day and saw 2 Prairie Schooler projects I'd love to do... and I swear I screen shotted the pics or saved them but I can't find  them now... arghh...

Anyway the stitchers had done all of the charts in Prairie Schooler No. 13  A Prairie Year as little pillows in a big dough bowl... this is the chart... I actually have a cardstock copy that a sweet reader of this blog reached out to me with... here's the chart...

And there was another stitcher who did all the charts in Praririe Schooler No. 24 Prairie Birds as little pillows to put in a dough bowl...  here's that chart...

Now I think that I'd like to do all the calendar ones from PS No. 13 on a tan neutral 16 ct Aida... I think I'll purchase this fabric rather than dye it myself... but I want to do the birds on a pale colored 32 ct linen ... perhaps  Evening Blue or maybe the new Sage ... I need to calculate how much fabric I need and I will dye it and some extra... I have to do it all at once as I can never recreate a color... I have a lot of admiration for people who hand dye fabrics for sale... it is an  art and a science... anyway  I think both of these projects would be great ongoing ones which are easily finished and  will give me that nice sense of satisfaction from a job completed... we shall see... I'm going to Hobby Lobby and get all the flosses I need for each chart so I can kit them up... oooh squeal... another new project that is BIG but doesn't present as BIG... I'm psyching myself out here, but all is good...

As I mentioned before all the rain is making the garden look great... here's a gratuitous pic of one section...

and here is the prettiest dahlia that has bloomed so far.... if I remember correctly this one is called Belle of Bamera ... I love that deep peachy orange color! It kinda glows...

So what's on the agenda for next week?  Got an appointment with a retinal specialist on Monday... I'm sure they will dilate my eye... oh joy... Elliott will be here on Tuesday and so far nothing else  is on the calendar... I'm good with that... hopefully we'll get more rain mid week... I do enjoy sitting out on my sunroom porch and watching the rain ... I put a nice floor lamp out there so I can have more light when I need it and it is my favorite place to stitch!

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts ... hoping for a quiet day today that I can get more stitching done and maybe sew up a couple more blocks...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Patriotic Panache on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello all... have you been keeping cool?  It has been a real struggle here in SW Ohio... we had 2 rain days last week but it was a very minute amount of precipitation... and right now I am sooooo tired of watering... I don't mind watering the flowers so much but I've been trying to keep the grass from turning brown and I'm not having a ton of success... supposedly there are a couple of chances for rain next week... fingers crossed and saying my prayers... 

As for crafty stuff, well, I'm in a funk... I put a few stitches in 5 or 6 pieces last week ...bouncing around... I'm torn between doing seasonal stitching... Melisa at Pinker N Punkin Quilting posted 2 patriotic pieces that I really like... go check out her blog here.... you won't be disappointed ... she has so many cute things she shares... and  then along with the BIG samplers I showed last week there are a  couple of intermediate size projects I released from their plastic pouches for a brief moment or two... they still have my heart too... I just can't find the mojo and stamina to stay on one project, but I really want to FINISH something... and I'm debating whether to pack away my current seasonal stitching and jump ahead to Fall or Christmas... I have several partial stitched pieces from last year and other interesting charts I've acquired since then... and I really should get into my crafty room and organize the charts I've dumped in a basket ...

I didn't turn on my sewing machine again this week... I did get some more hexagons cut out of my Debbie Mumms but I have a loooong way to go on that quilt... and if I stand too long cutting stuff out my knees end up bothering me. I've tried cutting fabric sitting down but the angle is just off for me. I know I'm doing lots of kvetching here... I'd blame it on the dog days of Summer but that is suppose to be the end of the season, not the start... I've spent way too much time sitting in my recliner on the sunroom porch in front of a fan and scrolling mindlessly through the internet... I know it is a waste to time... sigh... I need a re-set! 

Okay let's move onto something more creative and interesting ... 4th of July is Thursday and these are my displays... here's the small shelf unit .... lots of patriotic stitching  and knickknacks here...

From the top moving left to right...  Stars & Stripes from Blackbird Designs and Colonel Sammy, a freebie from Notforgotten Farms. 

another small quilt on the table top stand ... this time a flag with Debbie Mumm fabrics and yes ALL of my patriotic quilty pieces are sewn exclusively with Debbie Mumm fabrics... I LOVED her stuff for years and years and  years and I still do! The eagle on the left side is a snippet from Summer in Baltimore by  WTN&T and the sampler eagle is a from the chart called Eagle by Sheepish Designs.  Check out Kitten Stitcher for some older Sheepish Design charts... I've picked up several there. 

Middle shelf has  Star Spangled Spectacular from WTN& T and Liberty  from Birds of a Feather... love those high stepping fellows! And the flag waving gal is a snippet from  Hurrah! by Pineberry Lane. 

Bottom shelf starts off with the Double Eagle Sampler from Prairie Schooler  then another WTN&T piece, a snippet from  Liberty Dwells (do you see a trend here... I'm big on stitching just a piece of lots of charts... I chalk it up to my short attention span...LOL)...

and the shelf finishes up with  Lizzie Kate's Yankee Doodles. 

Moving around the room,  there is the little bump out with my matching chairs from the now defunct Pier 1 and the piecrust tier table I got in a thrift store and paid more for the paint I used on it than I paid for the table... I have coordinating flag quilts each done all in Debbie Mumm fabrics...

and on the tier table the Farmyard Parade  from With Thy Needle & Thread with a patriotic chicken I made years ago with more Debbie Mumm fabric.  You can never have too much Debbie Mumm!!

Here is the big shelf display... 

from the top Welcome Summer from The Drawn Thread... this was the first one of the series that I stitched... I've got Fall and Winter but still haven't gotten around to doing Spring... some day... some day...

July from Prairie Schooler... and a freebie from Samplers & Santas called Liberty Star...

mounted on the cheese grater is Libby by Heart and Hand... I'm pretty sure I got this finishing idea from Priscilla of Stitching with the Housewives and I love how different it is!

The middle two shelves...

On the pedestal is a chart from the  Blackbird Designs book called Souvenirs of Summer... it has been re-released and you can find it here... in the truck bed and the Uncle Sam on the 2 tier stand are pieces from Red, White & Bloom by WTN&T.   Liberty was a freebie from Lizzie Kate that I got off of Pinterest. 

Flag Folk is from Pineberry Lane... and as I do will all the prim pieces I definitely brighten this one up!

That bottom shelf is filled with female pretties... first off is Grand Olde Flag by WTN&T... it is mounted on a cookbook stand I picked up at Target Dollar Spot years ago and I painted it navy blue... in the back of the tricycle is another piece from WTN&T book Red, White & Bloom  and leaning against the tricycle is a snippet from Sheepish Designs Betsy. 

Oh in the front basket of the tricycle is a tiny little flag waving girl from the Eagle Chart by Sheepish Designs... I like doing the tiny little pieces and they are fun to tuck into the displays... and this last pieces is a total stitch of Hurrah from Pineberrry Lane.

I currently have 2 other patriotic pieces started... but I don't think they'll get finished this year. I will probably leave my patriotic stuff up till mid July as it has been out since early June... I have some Summer chicken stuff I'll get out for a bit of July and August and then move onto my FAVORITE season Fall!  Already longing for cooler days... 

I still have a couple of  patriottic pieces to FFO and I'd love to stitch one the most recent charts from Melisa. I was going to start the other day but when I pulled out the Aida I had picked up at Michaels I was deeply disappointed in the fabric... stiff and thin... yucky... not going to spend all that time stitching on inferior fabric... I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and picked up 3 packages of the 16 ct Aida I like... don't want to run out again... and I want to get the bindings on the quilts I picked up 2 weeks ago ... and I have a  pair of capri pants I want to get hemmed ... it is no fun being short when it comes to buying clothes... and I'd like to get more hexagons cut out for the Debbie Mumm quilt and I think I'm going to pull out the Christmas quilt I started last December and work on it... a bit of Christmas in July... perhaps that will help lift me out of this funk... 

I was looking at my stats and as of this post I've done 26... I only did 28 in ALL of 2023...now this is no where near the 150 I use to do when I started this blog... and I scratch my head and wonder how I did it... I had 2 boys who took up the bulk of my time, I volunteered and did all the housework stuff and still found time to be more productive where crafty stuff was concerned.. I know I'm getting old...I walk slower and things just take longer to accomplish... I have more free time but seem to have less to show for it... too many distractions on the internet... that's what I'm blaming it on, but really it is just me doing way more vegging out than I should. 

I'll link  with Kathy's Quilts today... only a couple of things on my calendar for next week... Elliott and a hair cut ... and I should go get the oil changed in the car... been putting it off... Nick and I plan to spend the 4th of July at home... there will be plenty of fireworks to see from our front yard... the neighbors 2 streets over have been setting off stuff for over a week already... 

I hope you have a good holiday ... maybe a picnic... I really would like some homemade potato salad and a brat... need to make that happen...

happy stitching- 

carol fun