A Slow Sunday Stitching where I ponder projects and porch furniture...

Hello - sorry I didn't post last week... last Sunday we celebrated my younger son's birthday with a special brunch and dinner so there wasn't much time for anything else.  Several times last week I thought about popping in with an update but there were appointments and lunches out and garden centers...lots and lots of garden centers. Spring has sprung and we had a couple of summer like days which had me itching to pot stuff up ...and I did... again this year I potted up 13 different varieties of petunias on my pyramid...

The petunias this year were already pretty good sizes ...can't wait to take a pic of this in another month or so. If you enlarge the picture take a close look at the purple petunias in the center of the middle shelf...they are gorgeous...and the little pink one on the bottom shelf is a double ruffled petunia... I haven't seen any of those for quite a while.

And here are the pots on my front steps... same combo as last  year...and the year before... peach geraniums and purple and white accents...

And since the weather was so glorious I decided by garden chickens needed a bit of a sprucing up...so I painted them...much brighter than they were...and I added polka dots...

and some close ups...

because you don't see a flock of polka dot chickens just everywhere...LOL... now my beds need mulching ...and I have 48 marigolds to plant in this bed...and I added some new outdoor lighting to my yard...you can see one of  the lights next to the red chick...they are solar with a battery back up... very bright...10 lumens... got them at Costco.

Plans for today include getting my newest window box attached to the house...just in time for the 4 flats of wave petunias waiting in my driveway... weather for this week should be great for planting. 

As for crafty stuff I have a finish to show and I need to report  that I didn't listen to a word I said 2 weeks ago about Stitch Maynia...

Lets start out with something to be proud of before I hang my head in shame...

Ta -dah!!!  Tis Spring by Notforgotten Farm...

The frame was a bargain from Homegoods...and I only added a bit of priscillafication... but I'm very happy with this piece. There is just something about animals in clothing that makes me smile!!

As for Stitch Maynia...well I caved...sort of...there was so much chatter about it on Instagram and on Flosstube...and all the cool kids were doing it ... so I decided to join in. Now I'm not starting 18 new projects... I perused and pondered my stash of WIPs and made a plan to stitch on 9 of my WIPs and start 9 new projects. I'm trying to pick small new projects...several patriotic ones that I want to finish by July...and I'm going to put a few stitches in some Halloween and Christmas projects too. I'm thinking of it as prep work for the upcoming holidays, and yes I am trying to justify my rash behavior. So far on the WIP side I revisited two projects that are very pretty...Vintage Birds by Jeanette Douglas Designs which you can see here...and Lizzie Kate's Things Unseen Mystery Sampler which you can see here. It was fun to stitch on both of these. And I completed Shakespeare's Peddler Mystery Garden Sampler which you can see here. I will be framing this one to display this summer. 

As for starts I have 2 patriotic pieces... Liberty by Birds of a Feather...click here...and Gold Star from Marly of  Santas and Samplers.  I have another patriotic piece I want to stitch on, but today I think I'll work on  a Christmas piece. You don't have to have an Instagram account to check out what I'm up to...just click here ... carolfun53..for updates. 

Now onto porch furniture...well I can say with complete certainty that having the porch turned into a sunroom was the best home improvement decision I've made for this house. I LOVE it...the Dude LOVES it...my neighbors LOVE it... even my UPS guy told me how pretty it looks and all he sees all day is porches and doorsteps!!  I've spent lots of time on the porch stitching and reading and knitting and even napping but I think the Dude has more hours out there than I have... I liked the sofa I got at IKEA but the fabric on the cushions was a magnet for the Dude's shedding ... and I was already tired of cleaning it off every day. Soooo... I decided I would "artfully" throw some quilts on the sofa and then I can just shake them out when the shedding becomes too much...

The porch before...nice but boring...

The porch after... colorful, crazy and comfy...

I changed out the pillows with the Dude's approval...

And here is a look at that quilt... it has been waiting for a binding  for quite a while...

This pattern is Lazy Goose and you can read all about it and how this quilt came together here. Every time I go out on the porch Dude is either on the sofa or on the bench...

As you can tell he doesn't like to be disturbed... LOL... I think he may believe that I did the porch just for him...

Well I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today...got my handyman coming over  to work on several projects and I hope to stitch a little...and I want some porch time for me... hopefully Dude will share the couch.

happy stitching-

carol fun