Seems like my cross stitching is for the birds...

I haven't posted any cross stitch for a while as I've been doing more knitting at night ...and reading blogs and articles on the internet... so much to read... but I did get something finished last week...

This is Basket of Cherries... the first release from the Blackbird Designs Garden Club Series. It is the second  chart of the series that I've stitched.  I again had troubles with my overdyed flosses not looking like the picture and not having enough contrast. I just need to realize that this is going to be a problem almost all the time... but I'm not gonna like it. I substituted some DMC in the cherries so they wouldn't all be identical blobs... and the  birds in the chart look blue...mine are definitely gray. I though about picking out some other overdyed flosses for the birds, but I was too lazy to get out of my chair and do it...so they are gray.

I have a personal goal of finishing all 12 of the BBD Garden Club series pieces this year... we shall see...we shall see... and no sooner did I have that thought in mind thank I picked up another project... Christmas Bird by With Thy Needle and Thread....

(and if this pic isn't showing you can see it here....)

I don't think it looks all that Christmas-y and I love the big white urn.... here is my start on the piece which looks wildly different in color from the chart....

I'm using all the called for flosses and linen... a 35 ct Chestnut linen from Weeks Dyeworks. It is pretty IRL and once I get the outline of that big urn in it will be mindless stitching... I like that.... and I noticed a theme... birds... I like birds... chickens are birds, right?? But I don't decorate with chickens except for my kitchen. And I ordered a previously OOP Prairie Schooler chart the other day, which was.... wait for it ... more birds... Prairie Birds...

(and if this doesn't show you can look at it here... Bloggers giving me weird error messages today.)
I was a bit surprised at the price of this reprint, $12 before the discount 123 Stitch gives... and I was surprised that it was printed on very flimsy paper/cardstock... it isn't really cardstock, its definitely more like heavy paper.  But it is better than paying an outrageous price on ebay so I'll be happy. I want to do some of these pieces as little pillows for a display bowl. They are stitched in DMC so I shouldn't have any color issues... that will make me happy too!

The weeks are crazy busy now with stuff for me and my son...and tonight I'm having a big family dinner ...8 people ... which is a tight squeeze in my little house. We're having an all Italian menu... homemade lasagna... chicken alfredo ziti... garlic toast ... and cold boiled shrimp... not too sure how Italian that last menu item is but I know it will be a hit with my family.

So I'll link up with Kathy's Quilt Slow Sunday Stitching and Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. Always lots of pretty things to see on those blogs.

Gotta run...

happy stitching-
carol fun

Trying to find a routine...

Hello there... well last week was a bust in getting anything posted. I LOVE the idea of the 3 day weekend but the reality of the 4 day work week meant too much got squished into too few days. (Kinda like this blog post...you'll see what I mean) I was looking forward to the weekend. but when Friday came I was plum tuckered out and not much was accomplished besides some napping, and I did manage to pull together a family dinner on Sunday evening... I grilled out steaks... on the 22nd of January in Ohio... unbelievable!  It was 60 degrees and I figured we wouldn't see that again for quite some time.

Today was the first day  I've had in a while that I didn't have to go anywhere... so  I didn't... I stayed home and got some sewing done...yippee!!  I'll show you some of the stuff I've accomplished. This was not all finished today but there is some productivity to show for the last 2 weeks.

First, my Bonnie and Camille Swap Blocks...

This is a stack of 64 10.25" half log cabin blocks... now I  need to send off 36 for the swap part. I made enough that when I get my swap blocks back I can put together a quilt for my double bed. I think it will look very summery.

Here's an example of the block I'm planning to do...

I want to do a white on white sashing with assorted colored cornerstones and a nice wide white border... that's the plan right now...we'll see how it turns out.  They were fun blocks to do and I have high hopes for what I'll get back in the swap as the requirements were to only use Bonnie and Camille fabrics and the blocks all have the last round of logs cut 2.5"... that will let you trim your block down if you need.  Now if I can only remember to go get a padded mailing envelope... so far I've been out at least 3 places where I could have picked one up and either they were out of them... or I forgot about it... ahh tomorrow is another day!!!

And something else I forgot to do ...I  forgot to show my progress on  the Three Dandelions Shop QAL of Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. Here is the link to the Instagram board and this my Block 3: Fly Away!

I'm calling Block 4: Put a Cherry on Top

I didn't get my blocks for last week posted till today, because I didn't make them till today... oh well,
Block 5: Raindrops bring Rainbows... this is straight IRL, the picture is wonky...sorry...

and Block 6: Into every life a little rain must fall...

 

that has me caught up till the end of the week when Blocks 7 and 8 are due... gotta sew faster!!! Oh these blocks are a lot smaller than they appear... they finish a mere 6 inches square... and some had 25 pieces in one little block...sheesh... glad these last two were easier... haven't looked at the ones for this week yet.

Also I played around with this project...

polka dotted deer with flowers in their antlers... sounds kinda trippy, doesn't it???  LOL  All the fabrics are from my very well aged stash of Debbie Mumm.  The deer is from the pattern Dear Deer which you can see here.  I reversed the direction of the one on the left and the whole piece is about 20" wide and 9" high. I plan to minimally quilt it and hang it on my back door as a ode to my little city Deer Park.  I know I gripe about the deer a lot but if you can't beat them... and I can't... I can celebrate them... a little bit.

And speaking of deer and thinking of Spring...( I know where did that thought come from??... trust me my mind is a very strange place)... I got this catalog from David Austin Roses  ...

and here's a link to their website. I got to thinking (and that is always dangerous) about what I'd like to plant in my yard this year... I LOVE LOVE LOVE my rose bushes even though it was a constant battle with the deer and the Japanese beetles and the black spot. But hope springs eternal in this gardener's heart and I think I can stay ahead of some of those problems this year ...and yes I may be delusional but I'm okay with that... it is a nice happy sweet smelling delusional little world !  The more I think of Spring and Summer the more I want MORE roses... more English roses!   I've decided I could plant 2 or 3 bushes by the front corner of my house where I had a dead bush torn out last year. I couldn't find a tree/bush I wanted for that spot and now I'm glad I waited. I think climbing roses would be super in that spot as they would grow up the corner post of the porch... in my mind's eye it is going to be gorgeous (again let me have my dreams)... and the young man who mows my grass and digs holes for me said he could put another flower bed in on the other side of my driveway and I could put a couple of rose bushes there too! And David Austin sent a coupon for 15% off if I order by March 24.... and you know I will ...LOL!

So hopefully I'll get into some sort of a routine in the next couple of weeks...no more 3 day weekends till late in February ... I want to stay home more and sew more so that when Spring comes... and I'll be chomping at the bit for it to arrive I'll be able to play in my yard again...roses and petunias are in the forecast for me!!

happy stitching-
carol fun

I'm getting a little paranoid...

Well technology is conspiring against me again...this time my Wifi provider went on the fritz for about 12 hours...grrrr... I can live without TV...don't watch much besides the news but DON"T TAKE my Internet away!!!   I was just getting my butt in gear last night to post when it went poof!!! I'm beginning to think that maybe someone doesn't want me to post...arggh!!!

The absence o f Wifi made for a very quiet evening  which wasn't all bad... I did a bit of knitting...which was... you guessed it...MORE SOCKS!!!

I finished this pair... Zitron Trekking XXL 415... one of those skeins of yarn that I didn't know I owned till I saw it on someone else's blog and then I coveted it. Luckily I looked in my stash and found I had a ball of it ...yeah... the heels and toes are a dusty plum... I think a Fabel from my stash. Now these took a little while as these are "car socks"... socks I only knit when I'm in the car waiting and need to kill some time. Simple stockinette... I need to find another yarn for the car... maybe an Opal  or a Regia...something self striping.


And then there was another Frankensock...

bits and pieces of the little mini skeins from my Opal Advent Calendar and the cuffs, heels and toes are an older Opal . When I cast on this sock I thought I was going to find more greens in the little skeins but I didn't. But I think it is okay because the green plays nicely with the other colors adds a nice contrast...IMHO! Now normally I would cast on the mate right away... okay not normally, but well lately. I've been doing that... but this time something else shiny caught my eye.

this is another Frankensock but it is a lot less busy... almost calm... very quiet... OMG what has gotten into me???  Well this sock is done using only tonal yarns... some Opal and some Fabel and some I don't know where you came from since there isn't a ball band on you,  but you  sure are pretty!  I'm knitting larger swaths of the yarn which I think contributes to it being a quieter sock... I was influenced by these socks I found eons ago....

Now when I cast on my sock somehow I remembered the inspiration being darker... ah the tricks my memory plays on me!   They appeared on the blog Cozy Things which you can see here.   She has lots of lovely knitting. The socks were in this post in 2012...so now looking at my inspiration I can see that I need to got through my stash and look for some lighter tonal yarns... for yet ANOTHER pair of Frankensocks... this shows all the markers of an addiction doesn't it??? Don't answer that ... ignorance is bliss.... blah blah blah... I'm not listening to you... I'm happy in my little yarn-y world with  all its squishy goodness!

And the weather makes me happy to be wearing hand knit socks... it gray and windy and cold outside...but the roller coaster continues and I saw two 60 degree days forecast for next week...which is going to be on of those weeks that has me wondering what day of the week it is all week since Monday is a holiday...and the day we are celebrating my older son's 32th birthday...OMG how did that happen...  I haven't gotten any older (and yes I am delusional here)... anyway spaghetti and meatballs is the requested menu and I'm happy to oblige.

It has been a mildly productive week for seasonal decorating ... all of the Christmas, except for the gingerbread men garland in the kitchen...have been taken down and put away. The snowmen have made a triumphant return and their beady little eyes are following me all over the living room. And I added a new piece to the decor...

Several of my friends had cute wooden boxes filled with mason jars and candles on their tables this season...I loved the look but needed something with a smaller scale for my home.  I found the wooden tray at Target... it is a bread bowl... the hobnail mason jars I got on Amazon and I filled the tray and the jars with Epsom salts and popped in some of those battery operated candles... the little trees were a dollar spot find at Christmas time... my own miniature snowscape...no shovel needed! It has a nice twinkling glow in the evening...

Well winter seems to be having its way with lots of us... hope it gets better soon!

happy knitting-
carol fun

A bit of stitching and a bit of panic on Slow Sunday Stitching...

Sooooo... I meant to post this way earlier today but several events have conspired against me. First thing that happened was my laptop decided it no longer wanted to talk to my camera. Grrr.... I googled what do do when your computer doesn't recognize a device... "hey I'm a camera... the camera you've talked to for the last 3 years... why don't you recognize me? I'm still the same old lovable Nikon I've always been."  The Google results were more  succinct and it told me to "Uninstall the drivers" and then "Restart" and the drivers would re-install themselves. Now if it sounds like I know what I'm talking about, I have a bridge to sell you. I know just enough about my laptop to get me into trouble... and that is just what I did.

I  did have a momentary thought about taking my laptop to Best Buy for them to fix but then decided that..."I'm a late middle aged confident woman and I can do this myself". I really shouldn't listen to the voices in my head... but I did ... and I found the correct sub-menu and hit the key to "Uninstall" the driver"... and it whirred and a little blue circle went round and round and round and round ...and I was getting dizzy watching it as this continued for a very very very very long time. I deduced that the laptop was stuck in some action that wasn't going well ( \remember I really have no idea what I'm talking about where computers are concerned) but I wanted to stop it... and hitting every button I knew did NOTHING... so I moved the the action of last resort for computers and I took the battery out of the laptop. Big sigh...

I let it sit for a bit and put the battery back in and turned it back on... and I got a big, blank blue screen...arghhhh!!! I killed my laptop!!! And then while simultaneously berating myself for my stupidity and calculating how much a new laptop is going to cost me, the blue screen disappeared and my laptop worked... a bit slower but it worked. Thank you God!!!

I tried again to get it to recognize the camera and finally gave up. My younger son showed me how to move pictures from my cell phone to my laptop and I did it this time but I have a feeling he'll have to repeat the process a couple of times before it sticks in my brain. 

And I composed a lovely post... and then hit something and the whole thing disappeared...poof!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!!  Big sigh...deep breath...start again....okay 4 letter words were also uttered... a lot of them!

So here's what I've been stitching... I have 2 new starts for the New Year!

First is the Blackbird Designs Garden Club Series Chart  #1... I've already did Chart # 2 but I'm going to try and do them in order from this point on. 

Of course this piece has had its ups and downs too. I gathered all the flosses for this chart...found the center of my linen and discovered that the I was missing one skein...the skein I need for the center.!  I thought for sure I had ordered some GA Burlap but I can't lay my hands on it... so I substituted DMC 830 or 831... I don't remember which one. And I moved on to the cherries but my GA Mulberry and GA Ruby Slipper were exceedingly close in color... grrr... back to the DMC for a few skeins to get some variety. My love/hate relationship with hand dyed floss continues...

And then there is this start.... the Jeanette Douglas Designs ABC Sampler... here's a pic of the whole piece....

and here is the little bit I've stitched....

I've shown this sampler at least twice before whining that I wanted to stitch this so on New Year's Day I did. Now I had to put it aside because I bought a silk thread and embellishment pack to do this one and didn't realize that the silks would come bundled in a skein of many colors that you need to identify and separate. At $70 for this package of silk I knew I had to place them in individual floss bags with their names on them... and I had no floss bags on hand and by the time I could go shopping the stores were closed. I did get there the next day and I stocked up on floss bags... I bought 3 package... 118 little bags... I won't run out anytime soon. 

So I have plenty to keep me busy on the stitching front... and plenty to do on lots of other fronts too!

I know it is cold just about everywhere in the US and I can't wait for it to warm up.  Tomorrow we should break freezing and by Thursday  the forecast is for 60... with rain... but 60 none the less... I'll take it!   In the meantime I'll sit and stitch ...

Hope you have a productive week ahead... I have high hopes for mine!

I'm going to link up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape tomorrow.

happy stitching-

carol fun 

I have a new appreciation for plastic bags...

What is there about the first of the year that makes you want to straighten stuff up and organize?  I have a couple of closets and my desk that needs to be sorted out and things purged but instead I spent a day organizing my cross stitch stash. First I dumped everything on the floor and on my desk.

I had several boxes with stuff thrown in willy-nilly... charts and fabrics and works in progress and thread and linen... what a mess. I decided that the large WIP's should be stored in one box... threads in another... linen got it's own box... Blackbird Designs got a box...a miscellaneous box...and two boxes of charts...now alphabetized!!!

It took quite a while to get the charts alphabetized... seems like I have as much trouble with the alphabet as I do with counting...you wouldn't think that was a problem with as many samplers as I've stitched, but those 26 letters can be tricky...LOL!!

Now this isn't a slick professional filing system but it is going to save me lots of time when I go looking for something...

Charts from each designer are in a ziploc bag ... I used a LOT of plastic bags... but now it is easy to just grab the right bag and see what I own.   I sorted all the linen by count and even figured out what counts the unlabeled piece were.  Turns out I have a lot of 30 count linen I didn't know I had! I still need to do some sorting of the thread but this such a better arrangement of my stash! I've been wanting to get this straightened out for years... and I have such a new appreciation for plastic bags... they are going to save me a lot of time in the future.

The boxes on the top shelf is stamping stuff... I need to find my label maker and make labels for the big boxes of cross stitch stuff like I did for the stamping stuff.  I think the label maker is hiding in one of the desk drawers I need to clean out... maybe tomorrow I'll find it.

On the sewing side I made a few more of the blocks for the Bonnie and Camille swap and I finished the first two blocks for the Three Dandelions Shop QAL of the Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt blocks... here is the Instagram link.

Block 1 I'm calling " Oh Deer!"

and Block 2 I'm calling "What a cut up!"

It took forever to pick out the fabrics for these blocks... and there was a lot of cutting ... 20 pieces for each 6" finished block.... but I think it was worth it in the end! This pace of 2 blocks a week is very nice... I think it will work for me.

Sooooo more organizing, cleaning out, purging is on the agenda for the next week... along with more sewing!

Hope your week is going  well... we got our first snow here today... I think there is about 2" in my neighborhood but most of it fell after dark so I won't know for sure till the morning. We do have some frigid temps for the weekend but that's doesn't seem as bad as the snow that the South is expected to get hit with.  I'm  looking forward to the warm up to above freezing on Monday. How many days till Spring?? Darn... I just looked it up... 72 days... that's a long time away! Big sigh!

happy stitching-
carol fun

1st Design Wall of 2107...

So 2017 is starting out on a productive note... I meant to post yesterday as I did start a new cross stitch piece and I cast on another sock. But after doing lunch with my sons, daughter in law and her mom, a trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the Van Gogh exhibit, and making a prime rib dinner  I was too pooped to post. I'll catch up with the cross stitch and the knitting later this week but for now...

I haven't posted a Design Wall Monday for a while... but I have been sewing ... and here is some of what I've been working on...


These are for a swap I'm doing on Instagram... Bonnie and Camille Log Cabin blocks...

You do these by making a big block... squaring it up.. and cutting it into quarters... I've made some that way and others I'm doing a quarter at a time. The important part is that each quarter measures 10.25" square and the last round of logs are 2.5" strips. This is fun... but messy messy messy... I have piles of fabric strewn here there and everywhere.

This is a great project for me because I've been hoarding my Bonnie and Camille fabrics for quite a while.  I have various different cuts of the fabrics. I have a FQ bundle of Ruby that I won from Fat Quarter Shop eons ago... I have a charm pack of Scrumptious... and a layer cake of Hello Darling ... and jelly rolls of Handmade and the newest Basics line... so it is quite a nice collection and I think this block will show them off. You can check out what is going on with this swap here...my plan is to make more blocks as I want a quilt big enough for my bed.  Should be a very pretty summer quilt... and it may even get done by then...but don't hold your breath...blue isn't a good color for skin... just saying.


And I put these on my design wall for a group shot... my blocks from Tula Pink's City Sampler book...

I started these as part of a QAL on Instagram... they began  at Block 1 and I didn't jump in until Block 78... a bit behind... the goal was to do a block a day... and as you can see I didn't last too long...oh well... I do LOVE what I got done but I was feeling a bit blue that I couldn't keep up... but then I saw that another QAL was starting on Instagram by Three Dandelions and the pace is much better... 2 blocks a week... I think I can do that!!

They are logically starting with Blocks 1 and 2... and I have till this coming Saturday to have them done...yeah!!! You can check out this QAL here. I think the hardest part of these blocks is first deciding on a theme which for me is Momo fabrics... and then picking out the fabrics for each block... decisions decisions... sewing them together is a piece of cake...and very satisfying... like eating a piece of cake.... I wonder if there is any cake left in the kitchen...hmmmm...

Anyway heere are  two blocks I like a lot...

This is how I imagine Big Dude would look in a tree... if he could get up that high...LOL!

And I like this parrot... the Momo collections have a nice selection of animals which worked out well for this group of blocks that had larger squares and rectangles that could be fussy cut. Unfortunately there are no polka dot chickens so I shall have to settle for parrots and other birds... hey they are fowl and that is close enough.

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with Instagram... so much inspiration...but I spend waaay too much time looking at the pretty pictures. And I keep stumbling upon QALs that I want to do ... along with the Bonnie and Camille swap I found a Swoon QAL that I want to do ... you can check it out here... it runs from Jan 8 to Apr 9... and I think this could be the kick in the butt for me to finish the Swoon blocks which I haven't touched since. OH MY GOODNESS... Jan of 2012!!! I have 7 blocks completed so I only need 2 more. It would be nice to finish that project.  And to me fair to me... and I am always fair to me...LOL... I did do an complete Swoon quilt back in 2011... a Halloween version of 16" blocks which you can see here.    So I'm not a total slacker... well I'm a little bit a slacker where some stuff is concerned. Hey we all have flaws...right?

So I want to sew today and I should go outside and take my Christmas lights down as it is 52 degrees... quite warm for Ohio in January...and it is going back to the "seasonal" temps by Wednesday...but I just am not feeling it right now. I'm not turning them on anymore this season so really no one but me is going to notice...right?   Can you tell I'm talking myself out of it and justifying my actions at the same time... a slacker but a crafty slacker...LOL!!

I hope your 2017 is getting off to a great start... right now I'm full of anticipation of getting lots of stuff done... I'm just not sure exactly which stuff ... but that is ok.

If you have a minute check out this video... an adorable 4 year old explains why New Year's resolutions are so hard to keep... my resolution is to keep doing what I've been doing and stay awesome... we'll see how that turns out...LOL!

happy stitching -
carol fun