Cross stitch and dahlias and a bit of a rant on Slow Stitching Sunday....

It is noticeably cooler...and it was rainy...but right now it is gloriously sunny as I sit on my sunroom porch... and that is all I want to do... sit here and stitch...

The Dude is keeping a close eye on the birds and the squirrels and the chipmunks... and my stitching time has been productive... ta dah... a finish!!! Barbara Ana Designs Autumn Sampler...

Well almost a finish... I just noticed I forget to fill in the sign that says 2018... now this is not a great pic of this piece... I can't for the life of me capture the correct green of the linen... it is so much prettier in person... a lovely  rich mottled olive-y avocado-y green...I tried taking pics of it all over the house and just can't get it to register.

Now I did make a few changes...and yes the color in this pic isn't right either...grrrrr....

Any way... I worked in a big pair of scissors and I changed the cat to resemble Big Dude...  for a piece I started by accident I really am happy with this ...it is whimsical and life could use more whimsical...

Now I can't wait to start the piece I meant to do.... here is the linen I dyed for it...

I'm very happy with this linen... it used Rit Golden Yellow with just a tiny bit of Tan... and again...prettier in person...  but I may start something small first. I have been really obsessed with cross stitching lately...it is all I want to do ...even though there are quilting and sewing and knitting projects I want to do too.. and while Halloween is just around the corner...and I plan to get out my Halloween decor around October 1, I'm kinda Halloween-ed out on cross stitch. I prefer Fall over Halloween and I want more Fall pieces... gonna go root through my Lizzie Kate stash for a small or two...

One of the reasons I'm cross stitching so much is that I hate leaving the sunroom porch...it is  my very best super favorite place to be... I have nice views of some of my plantings....

dahlias here...

dahlias there...

and more dahlias over there...

Now those pics are through the screens...here are some closeups of these lovely blooms...

this is the front view of the first pic... a mix of pink and burgundy colored dahlias...and a close up...

and here is that apricot yellow one...

and some others I have in my yard include this one that looks like a peppermint...

and I have a ton of these pink ones...

and here's one I cut and brought in ...its sitting on the window sill above the sink...

They call these dinner plate dahlias and while this one isn't as wide as a dinner plate it is as wide as a Fiesta ware salad plate.  I planted a ton of tubers... something like 70...several varieties...and I've had pretty good success with them. I got them in late but I'm not sorry about that now as I have some lovely new color while the petunias and zinnias and marigolds are fading. I will plant them again next year but I will get out and stake  them waaay earlier. Most of these plants are over 4 feet tall and have huge stems. I bought some nice garden stakes...48" tall... should have gotten the taller ones... live and learn...next year I'll do it better.

And if you want to see more gorgeous dahlias check out this link on Garden Grumbles and Cross stitch Fumbles...I drool over these blooms!!!

And now for a bit of a rant... as you can tell from all the cross stitch I've been doing I've been purchasing a lot of charts...all online shopping...and for the most part I've had no issues. 123 Stitch is fantastic...good prices, quick delivery and when there is a problem (remember my mangled BBD charts) they step up and remedy the problem quickly. I've had good experiences with The Silver Needle too. But right now I'm ticked off at certain company (but I'm not going to name names at the moment.) The situation is I ordered a couple of charts and some pompom trim from this company on August 28... my credit card was charged immediately... when I got an email confirmation of the transaction it mentioned that it could be 7-10 days before my order would be shipped...okay... I can wait... but I don't remember seeing that info anywhere on the website prior to my making the purchase.  However it is now September 23... in 2 days it will be 4 weeks since I placed this order... and yes I have tried to contact the seller...once through their website and twice by email...and I haven't heard a peep... two of the charts I ordered were Halloween charts... running out of time for them... I will be sending another email tomorrow if nothing shows in my mail... I know this is a single proprietor business but in this day and age this is just not acceptable ... and oh  I forgot to mention that the shipping and handling for the order is twice what  123 Stitch charges.  At the time I ordered I was primarily interested in the pompom trim and added the charts to justify the postage ... that didn't work out well... think I'll be looking for white pompom trim and trying to dye it myself... and now back to stitching to make me happy...

Hope your week is looking good... I've got a couple of lunch/dinner plans that will be fun... the weather is going to be cooler but rainy and then sunny... can't wait for the sunny cool part.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts and then I'm going to put a few stitches in something new...

happy stitching-
carol fun

Pizza on the wall and Jelly on the floor...

So how's your week starting??? I have pizza on the wall and jelly on the floor.... figuratively ...not literally ...thank goodness. I have had quite a productive couple of days with my sewing machine...and here's my progress...


Pizza on the wall...

This is for my younger son... he refers to it as a quilt of his childhood memories... memories which included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, pizza, Pokemon, Mario and other characters I'm not sure what their names are...

It is a busy busy busy quilt but he likes it... the pattern is called Craftsman from Amy Smart... I purchased  the pattern to use with  some Christmas FQs and I thought it would be good way to showcase all these graphic prints... now it still needs a small border and then off to the long arm quilter... I have minkee for the back so it should be nice and cozy.

And Saturday was National Jelly Roll Day... I broke into a jelly roll I have had for a long long long time... the price on the tag was $27.50... the collection was called Fresh Air and it was from Chez Moi. I went cruising the internet for a pattern and stumbled across the blog Runnstitch which you can see here.  She had posted in 2016 about a block that was a mistake that she ran with to make a quilt she called Cherry Fizz...and you can see it here.

And here is my version ...so far...

I had to lay it out on the floor in the living room since my design wall was full of  pizza and Pokemon...this is a very versatile strip idea. Each block takes 2 strips that are 2.5"wide by 6.5" long and 2  2.5" squares of each the jelly roll and the background... I'm using Mustard Grunge as the background and it is hard to capture the true color of this fabric ... it is a very rich gold color.

Now this is the block I'm making...

but you can move the strips around and get this block layout...

or move them another way and get this block layout...

I think I might shuffle the fabrics on this one  if I did it... and I definitely see some interesting possibilities for another quilt or two... 

So with all the sewing I've done I think there will be more in my week. I saw on Amy's Creative Side that she's doing a Blogger's Quilt Festival again... you can read about it here.   Perhaps it will kick my butt in gear to get the binding on my latest project back from the long arm quilter...perhaps...

Since  I have something to show today I'm be doing some link-ups...Small Quilts and Doll Quilts ...and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than housework...and Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag...

Hope you week has some sewing time in it...
happy stitching-
carol fun

Trying to pay closer attention on Slow Sunday Stitching....

Well, where was I last Sunday... I was napping in my chair feeling sorry for myself with a nasty cold... I had mentioned the week before to my family how I hadn't had a cold in ages... I was so proud of myself... pride goeth before a fall...and a stuffed up nose, and a cough, and a scratchy throat.... but I am feeling better today...not fully recovered but much much better...and I have  lots of stuff to show you...

Let's start with the stitchy stuff and explain the title of this post... I finished up my Lizzie Kate Halloween ABC's...it is off to the framer and I was itching to start something new (aren't I always???)... well I had seen a "new" to me chart on IG and I loved it... a Barbara Ana Design ...

I like the whimsical quirky nature of this one and I really liked the pairs of scissors hanging from the branches. I knew that I could purchase this chart as a pdf from The Creative Poppy website which you can find here. So off I went to buy this chart... she has lots of cute charts on the website and I found the one called Autumn Tree and I bought it...and printed it out...and taped the 4 pages of charts together...and dyed some fabric...and pulled the threads ... and jumped right in and started stitching....

Notice anything???  Yeah...this isn't the same chart....this one is called Autumn Tree...the one I saw is called Autumn Sampler ...and while they do have some similar  aspects they aren't the same ....sheesh... now  I had the top 5 branches of the tree completed but hadn't started the motifs...that was my first clue... when I looked the  chart for Autumn Tree there are no scissors hanging from the branches...but I do like the house and the mushroom and that cute little squirrel...he was charted in black but some of you may remember the Moby Dick white squirrel in my neighborhood from several years back... well... what to do... rip out what I had stitched and start over???? Or just go with it??? Well I obviously just went with it. I actually like this one a lot too... here a pic of the whole chart...

The gal in the polka dot dress is cute and so is the little fox...here's my fox...

and here's what I've completed so far...

The linen is 32 ct and I used the Rit Apple Green dye which comes out olive...and I love olive green... I was traumatized by the 70's... avocado green, harvest gold, coppertone...love them all!!!

So I've got a great start on this piece which was no where on my stitching radar, but that's okay...shiny things catch my eye all the time... and I did go and purchase the Autumn Sampler chart and I plan to stitch it too... and I should have paid closer attention to the details on that chart as well,  as there is a little witch and some black cats at the bottom... not liking that detail as I want this to be a more Fall piece... so I'll replace her with a giant acorn from the Autumn Tree chart and I'll add a scissors from the Autumn Sampler chart to the Autumn Tree piece.... details details... it's all in the details, isn't it???

I did get some other tasks completed last week... I hauled out all my Fall stuff and decorated my house... it may still be 85 degrees outside but it is Fall inside... here's my shelf display... those new wider shelves let me put more stuff out...

Starting at the top we have my latest Drawn Thread Welcome along with older Blackbird Designs and Lizzie Kate and lots and lots and lots of pumpkins...

new additions include candy corn striped trees (Joanns) and a candy corn filled hurricane glass...

more Blackbird...more pumpkins and several Debbie Mumm Fall quilts...

Here's the little display cabinet...

That little wagon came from Michaels years ago and I put my Barbara Ana Autumn Keeper over here.

And now to the porch/sunroom re-do reveal... this isn't a big space...about 75 square feet... but right now is it mine...and the Dude's...favorite spot...

the couch is Klippan from Ikea...got the slipcover on Amazon (should have smoothed out the wrinkles but I had just hauled my butt off of it before I took these pictures)...this couch is sooooo comfortable...and since it is flush with the newly painted window sills it is a great spot for the Dude to perch and "chat" with the birds at the feeders...

the Dude on another perch... the recliner that was my son's (he got a newer  bigger  one) and yes that is a chicken underneath... a recent birthday present from a friend... she's is quite large and very pretty...and I don't have to feed her anything because I wouldn't want to  mess up the new carpet... I really love the color of this plaid...got it from Flor which you can see here.

And this is a view from the recliner....it is comfy too... I like having that little shelf to decorate and along with  the corn husk garland is camouflages the electrical stuff... I love having more places to decorate!!! Those turquoise blue pumpkins are a new addition... the result of watching a ton of youtube videos when I was feeling poorly...

So I have to tell you about these videos... I was watching Flosstube videos and somehow there was a list of  other videos that people recommended ...and one thing led to another and I found these videos from a gal who calls herself Auntie Coo Coo...check it out here... this gal shops... A LOT...now she doesn't buy a lot but she goes and scopes out all the places I love to shop for seasonal decorations...Target, Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Michaels, Homegoods,  Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Tuesday Morning, Ikea, etc etc etc... she makes great videos showing all she finds and the prices ...and she has the most calming, soothing voice I have ever heard...if she did relaxation videos I'd be asleep in 60 seconds...LOL 

Anyway she showed some great stuff that I had to track down...and I just saw that she posted a new video about the latest Halloween stuff at Target. She has several videos on the Target Dollar Spot...its called Bullseye's Playground and she shows the tag/price sticker on the items...there is an inventory code (not the UPC thingy) called the DPCI code  that Target and other stores are using and with this code you can go to a website called BrickSeek.com and you can put in that code along with your zipcode and find out if the item is available at your local store.  You can watch the video here... it is only about 7 minutes long...so I learned something new... which will probably get me into trouble... details details...LOL

And to close out this magnum opus I have a couple of pics of my house and yard... as you saw in the porch/sunroom pics I put mums in some of my window boxes but they finally  got pumpkins in at my  local "cheap" garden spot and I got pumpkins...

I love having those pie pumpkins in the window boxes...they require no watering.... and I got my son to haul this one into my rose bed...

Forty pounds of pumpkin-y goodness!!!

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and I know I've said this numerous times before but  I plan to do a post tomorrow on what I played with yesterday for National Jelly Roll Day. I broke out a vintage Jelly Roll and sewed for the first time in a while...

Hope you have a good week ahead... my prayers go out to all those affected by Florence ... I complain about my weather but I really shouldn't ... that is real weather and real problems... take care and happy stitching-

carol fun 

Pining for Pumpkins on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Happy Labor Day weekend to all you of ... the last gasp of Summer... except it isn't... it is HOT HOT HOT...and humid and I am pining for pumpkins and Fall colors and apple cider and hay bales and pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bagels and you get the picture. We had a couple of cool days a week ago... they were so nice, but now we are back to 90s...no rain in the forecast for the next 5 days and a long range forecast of temps still above normal. Mother Nature is not listening to me. My window boxes are toast... I've already ripped out two of them and put in some pretty mums...and tonight I will rip out the other 3 and plant more mums and some cabbages...and then I will have to water like crazy... more money going to the Metropolitan Water District and Duke Energy... ugh!!!

On the stitching front I have made progress... I finished my Lizzie Kate ABC's Halloween...

I am very very happy with how this turned out... I love the little motifs ... a ghost and Frankenstein...

A spooky skeleton...

And Elphaba...

She wasn't charted in green but she should have been...LOL

Now I was going to get this completely finished... "framed" and Priscillafied but as I was looking at the framing materials I have I realized that this piece is big... the stitching is about 6"wide by  11" tall and add a bit of framing to that 11" and  it is too tall to fit on any of the shelves of the display unit...soooooo I'm plotting where I can display it and then figure out just how big I can go. I have 2 possibilities.... oh I just thought of a third idea... will need to put more time into this one.

So with this one done I picked up Matilda Hornbuckle  from Not Forgotten Farm...

I know EXACTLY how she will be finished because I saw this pic (click here ) on Instagram... I raced to Hobby Lobby and got the frame she used and then looked at the stitch count... it was going to be too big if I stitched it on my favorite 32 ct... so I did the math and determined that if I wanted it to fit I was going to have to stitch it on 36 ct or higher. I got out some 36 ct and remembered why I'm not fond of 36 ct.  Two strands of floss are too thick and one strand of floss is kinda skimpy... so I found a piece of 40 ct. linen in my stash and I'm using 1 ply... for the most part I'm getting good coverage ...that BIG shoe may have some issues ...but I'm also going blind... I'm wearing my Mr. Magoo +5.0 cheaters and I'm still having trouble seeing it clearly. However she is going to look super in the frame...

There will be a broom in her left hand ...and I'm changing the colors of the flowers she's holding...they are charted in DMC 3031 Mocha Brown Very Dark... that makes them DEAD flowers in my book...not terribly attractive... so I'm using lovely DMC 783.. a warm sunny gold... I'd love to use this frame for more than Halloween so I'm  looking for small charts with a Fall flavor that can be stitched on 32 ct and still fit.

I want to work on some more small pieces ... it is easier to find spaces to display them and there is the satisfaction of a quick finish...gonna work on that.

My plans are to put away my Summer decorations starting tonight and tomorrow and have my Fall stuff up by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I don't care that its going to be 90... I'll just crank up the AC and pay Duke Energy their pound of flesh next month...

Since I have a bit, a bunch, A  TON of Fall stuff I got started and played with some new door/wreath  decor.

This wreath jumped into my cart at HomeGoods... I got the last one at the store in Loveland but I did see the same wreath at Marshall's ...

I'm swooning over velvet pumpkins... but I couldn't leave well enough alone...and you just can't have too many velvet pumpkins (that is a fact...not an opinion...LOL) I added the little green and white ones to fill in some blank spots. The little ones came from  Hobby Lobby as a floral spray... I just yanked them off and stuck them in. It is hard to see the but the stems of the orange pumpkins are a metallic copper... so Fall-ish!!

And then I needed to update the basket that hangs on the storm door of my porch... I got the basket and all the stems from Hobby Lobby...

Here it is hanging on the back of the door in the living room so I could get a decent picture...and here it is where it will be hanging for a while...

The colors are truer in this picture.

And I'm re-doing my front porch/sunroom... the furniture I purchased back in March turned out to be very uncomfortable. It was patio/outdoor stuff and if you  were only going to be sitting on it for a little bit of time here and then it would be okay...but  I park my butt out on the porch every chance I get and it was lumpy and bumpy and wasn't working for me. Now I hesitated to pitch it and start over as I had spent a chunk of change on it ... it came from IKEA and I stumbled upon an article talking about their return policy. I checked it out here and was amazed that I could return the couch for up to 365 days as long as I had proof of purchase and it was in re-saleable condition. Before I made arrangements to haul it back to the store I spoke with a customer service rep at the store and she assured me I could bring it back for a full refund... so I did. A dear friend has a truck and he helped me take back the 3 assembled sections and all the cushions. The full purchase price was refunded to my credit card.... I couldn't be happier!!! It's no secret I love IKEA...I really really really LOVE IKEA!!! 

My mindset on this room has changed since I had the windows put installed. In the beginning I thought of it as a porch but now I think of it more as a room, a sunroom....So I purchased  another piece of furniture... a real live couch...with springs and padding ...and it is very comfortable... I selected this one called Klippan... I wasn't fond of any of the slipcovers available at IKEA but there are a ton you can find online and I got one on Amazon. Along with the couch I moved a small recliner to the porch... my son got a new recliner for his room and this smaller one was in great shape... I added a little 3 shelf display piece and I'm going to change the carpet. I told myself to wait on  the carpet till they had a sale...and darn if it didn't go on sale the next day. I got these tiles from FLOR... I need to get my handyman to come and install them...and when he does I'll show you the make over...right now I'll show my newest display on the porch...

The garland of corn husks and leaves and pine cones and acorns is camouflaging the electric conduit that runs up that wall ... the basket and the Fall hello came from Hobby Lobby... I "painted" the hello  with Rit Tangerine dye... it was unfinished wood and this was a quick easy fix... I'll be doing that again.  So come on Fall... I'm waiting for you with open arms... and a pumpkin muffin...

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend and that the short week ahead goes well too... I'll be off at least one day till Friday... I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and check out what everyone else is up to... I still need to plant 8 mums and 6 cabbages but its too darn hot right now...maybe this evening...

happy stitching!
carol fun