I think it may be Spring on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all ... well the weather this week and the fact that it was the vernal equinox on Wednesday have lead me to believe Spring is here... and the clincher is my beloved Cincinnati Reds play their opening day game this coming Thursday... yeah!! Weather forecast is for 65 and sunny and dry... should be a great day... hope springs eternal when the season starts... we have some better pitching and fielding. The owners have spent some money on the team this year and I hope it pays off. Opening Day is Cincinnati is quite an affair... there is a parade around noon which has a big turnout and all the local media cover everything that happens that day... it is sort of local holiday... people let their kids skip school if they have tickets for the game... it is a BIG DEAL!!  I'll be watching from the comfort of my stitching chair. My son had tickets for Opening Day a couple of years ago... he said it was a blast to attend.

Well I ran here and there last week but I did get several things accomplished. My group of quilty ladies gets together once a month and they were coming to my house after we did dinner at Cheesecake Factory, and that always spurs me to finish stuff. I got a quilt back from Quilting by David and I'm really happy with the panto ....

Here's a close up ... the pattern is called Just Roses...

And here is the Dude inspecting the quilt...

I'm happy it met with his approval... here's the back... I LOVE this fabric!!

And since the remnants of this quilt were still all over my cutting table I decided that a new table runner for my dining room table would be lovely... I knew the quilty ladies would ogle it...

I just quilted a big wavy line on this ...

I also love that Lemondrop Grunge... so pretty and Spring-y!!  

And I wasn't done yet... there were still some bits and pieces so I made a little mini-quilt...

I think I have this collection out of my system now... this fabric is the Painted Garden collection from Crystal Manning... it came out a while ago... and she has a new collection called Growing Beautiful that has captured my attention... 

I think this is BEAUTIFUL... and I LOVE that little pop of chartruese greeny yellow... that's gonna be my background color. I've been stalking the web looking for pre-cuts of this collection to no avail. My friend wrote to Crystal and she was  told  that they are digitally printing the fabric and the factory didn't have the ability to do layer cakes/jelly rolls/charm packs... darn... but I like this SOOOOO MUCH that I broke down and purchased a bundle of fat eighths... should be here this week. I'm thinking of doing something simple (I like simple... A LOT)  so it shows off the fabrics. 

I put the little mini quilt out on the sunroom porch... I think it looks great there...

I like the bit of softness it brings to the display...

And not only was I productive on the quilting front I also was on a roll with my cross stitch...first I finished stitching April in the HoD A Year of Celebrations...

I changed the tulips to yellow from purple... and used my choices of DMC... I still have a week to FFO it.

And after that was done I picked up one of my new Market haul pieces... Easter Holiday Hoopla from WTN&T... everyone on IG said it was a quick stitch...and it was...I changed most of the colors... some of the overdyeds I didn't have and others I didn't like, so this is a mix of Weeks/Gentle Arts/Classic Colorworks/DMC... I put the last stitches in this morning and went right to work FFO-ing it... I never do that ...don't know what got into me but I'm happy with the results!!

I stitched this on 32 ct linen I painted with very diluted washes of Lemon Yellow and Aquamarine... the little tart pan came from Michaels... I think it was $3... the rose-y pom poms were in my stash as was the ribbon. I will be able to reuse this for other charts in this to be released series...

And here it is in my display...

The other Easter piece was a gift a couple of years ago from Wicked Stitcher... I love those bunnies!!

Now what to stitch next... I think I'm done doing Easter stuff...and maybe even Spring stuff... may move onto Summer... I have several pieces I want to do with a chicken theme... and even though I said I would stick with small pieces  When Flowers Blossom from WTN&T is calling my name...

I'm thinking that a soft yellow or green background would be pretty and perhaps make both of the houses yellow-y gold... on 32 ct it would be about 8" high and 12" wide... maybe I'll have time tonight to pull some threads and maybe paint some fabric... 

But first I need to work on dinner... my son and his wife are coming over... we use to get together every Sunday but the schedule has changed... my son is the prosecutor for our little town and does Mayor's Court on the first and third Mondays of the month...so those weeks we get together for dinner after he's done with that... so that leaves the other Sundays for me... it is a nice arrangement. We are all on pins and needles awaiting the arrival of their bundle of joy... should be arriving before Easter ... so close... 

OK -just popped the prime rib roast in the oven for a sear of 30 minutes... need to prep the asparagus and I'll put together a salad and slice some avocados... I made a pasta salad yesterday and we have fresh strawberries and rolls... should be tasty. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today ... hope you have a great week wherever you are... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Where some projects leave me feeling better than others on a Slow Sunday Stitching...

Hello all -- another week...another DST, I'm all off kilter, why do we do this twice a year week... I'm still not shifted to where I was before ... maybe by the end of next week. Anyway it was a semi-productive week, but not in the ways I had assumed. But I'll take finished or partially finished projects whenever I can find them.

First off on Tuesday I decided I should paint and dye some linen... all 32 ct... I cut several pieces for specific projects and some randomly sized pieces. I always start out painting the linen and then if I don't like how it looks I stick it in the mason jar with whatever leftover dye I have... sometimes the results of the smushed in the jar are waaay better than what I started with...sometimes not. Here is the pile of what I did...

As I've said before the colors are better in real life... that green at the 12 o'clock position and the turquoise at the 5 o'clock spot are kinda pretty... intense with some nice mottling... the lighter stuff is mostly pale yellow and light green and the piece at 10 o'clock is a opalescent dyed a pale tangerine. I did 2 long cuts for the LHN Spring ABCs... the dark one at 6 o'clock got overdyed apple green as I didn't like the bright orange swatch I had painted... the lighter piece at 3 o'clock isn't making me happy either. Instead of trying to include 3 colors I should have stuck with one or two... overall I'm feeling kinda meh about this bit of productivity ... perhaps I'll be happier when I find the right charts to go with them. 

Wednesday came and I was still in a painting mood...and Mother Nature was cooperating as it was sunny and not too breezy. Remember last week when I said I may paint the shelf unit on the porch... well I did!!! Now normally it would take me a minimum of 3 months to get around to a project like this but I found a chalk paint (that said I wouldn't have to sand) and they had the paint at Home Depot... the Behr Chalk paint in Granny Smith Apple (which looks NOTHING like the sample on line)... it was one of their standard colors but the lady at the paint counter said they could mix any color I wanted. Anyway armed with a new paint brush and foam rollers and a snazzy drop cloth I jumped in... I ended up painting both the shelf unit and the bench I have in that room.

Shelf unit...

Bench...

Not sure you can see it but there is a bit of this spring-y lime-y green in the carpet tiles which is almost a spot on match. I've never used chalk paint before but since both of these pieces were inexpensive wood that had a shiny finish on them I hoped the paint would adhere better without having to sand. I did end up putting a spray on Zinsser primer on the shelf unit. I thought the white color of the primer would also help cover the dark color of the wood. I didn't use any primer on the bench. Now after watching about 100 videos I decided not to wax either piece. If you wax them and you end up changing your mind you have to remove all the wax... and I may change my mind with these. Instead I'm going to use a spray polyurethane coating on them... but Mother Nature hasn't cooperated since I got the paint on ... so I'm waiting for another nice day with temps in the 60's and little wind to complete this project. I did find that the paint on the un-primed bench was east to scratch...had to do some touch up... so I'm sure a coating of some kind is necessary. I do like the matte finish of the chalk paint. so that is a plus.  And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color!!! This project has made me happy so far...

As for stitching I have  a finish... just put the last stitches in this one Saturday night... Good Deeds by With Thy Needle & Thread...

It finished about 7" tall x 11" wide... not sure how I'll FFO it... maybe see what I've got in the basement before I think about professional framing.  This project makes me happy!!

And with this one complete I picked up the April installment of Hands on Designs Year of Celebrations...

I changed the flosses to DMC... 2 greens 2 oranges 1 turquoise 1 yellow and 1 white... it does have a BIG cloud in the upper left hand corner, which will take a while... but once I get the outline done in turquoise it will be mindless. I want this done before April rolls around and it should be doable before the week is over... I like the linen I painted but have no clue why I cut such a small piece.  It is a good thing I'll FFO this myself because there isn't much extra fabric to work with.  I think this project will make me happy when it is done...

And I do want to finish April pronto so I can move on to something new... several of the new charts I purchased last week are calling my name. I told myself to work on small stuff but one of the bigger charts I bought is really yelling in my ear...will have to see how this works out. 

The nicer weather this week (excluding Thursday evening where we had a tornado warning) has got me itching to work in the yard. I got my yard guy to pull out two barberry bushes in my yard... gonna get some hydrangeas to replace them ... and I pulled some of the winter stuff out of my window boxes ...and that is when I saw this...

these are solid resin HEAVY window boxes... they are very well made and not cheap... and warrantied against cracking and breaking... but this isn't a situation where the corner cracked off... no... the DAMN squirrels are sharpening their teeth on the corners of several of my window boxes!!! I am so ticked off... I'm usually very tolerant of the rats in the nice fur coats ... I don't chase them from my bird feeders...live and let live... till now... this is WAR!!!  I'll repaint the boxes and the damage won't show much when I plant but this has got to stop. Not only have they gnawed on the window boxes I found a spot on the gutter flashing where the paint is gone and they've gnawed on my house... is it made of gingerbread???  A year or so ago I put cayenne pepper in some planters to keep the squirrels from digging in them. I'm going to get a mega sized bottle of cayenne pepper and spread it in all the window boxes ... hopefully that will deter them. I also read where you can mix it in with the bird seed and it has no effect on the birds but the squirrels don't like it... they'll have to find a free meal elsewhere. Obviously this project has made me mad... 

However the yard is showing signs of Spring... I have one daffodil in bloom...

and lots more have buds ready to open... and I have one little bitty iris...

The hyacinths are also popping up and I had the lawn reseeded and some weed preventer put down... can't wait till I can buy annuals!!  I've been watching gardening videos and seeing so many pretty petunias and other plants. Not sure exactly what  color combo  I'll put in the window boxes ... I looked at some pictures from last year and while I love the yellow petunias they get overtaken by the pink ones... maybe I'll just do one color this year...but what color???  I saw some tangerine petunias but they are pricey and I need a ton to do all five window boxes.  Well I have plenty of time to think about it... I probably won't get to plant till the beginning of May and should wait till after the last chance for a frost which is around Mother's day here. I also need to stay out of Costco...another bag of dahlia tubers came home with me... I'm up to over 60 tubers to plant...need to order more stakes too!!  LOL

Well lots is going on this week... eye exam for my son, dinner out with my other son and daughter-in-law, monthly get together of my quilty lady friends and we are celebrating a birthday, lunch with a cross stitch friend and taking my son and his buddy to an anime show...I think the only crafty things I'll get done will happen when sitting and waiting ... oh well, there are always socks I want to knit.

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today ... hope you have a great week ahead!

happy stitching- 

carol fun 

I declare it to be SPRING... on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Just a warning ...this is LOOOOONNNGGG... I didn't plan it to be but I have lots to chat about... Chatty Carol ...that 's me!   Remember Chatty Cathy and Chatty Baby dolls?  I still have a Chatty Baby somewhere...but she doesn't chat anymore... perhaps I should take some cues from her... but not today!

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Hello everyone... I have declared that SPRING has officially arrived... at least in my house... Mother Nature is trying to cooperate with my agenda today... it is sunny and 50... however the winds are fierce... blowing around the sunroom porch as I sit here and type... it certainly whistles, but I'm believing it is blowing in better weather. And the sun is definitely appreciated to brighten my mood about the time change... which I HATE ABHOR DETEST... I'll keep my rant short this time... it all boils down to the same thing... quit playing with the clock... it will get lighter longer ... as it has done since the dawn of time... we could all wait a couple of weeks and have it occur naturally, instead of forcing it and screwing up everybody's body clock and sleep schedule.  And now I'll shut up about it... but I won't be happy about it...and you can't make me... LOL

So to implement my declaration of SPRING I banished the snowmen to their plastic bins for another year and broke out my new decor... bunnies... lots and lots and lots of bunnies...  and some chicks... and lots of yellow... the happiest color in the world, dontcha know?? So I spent most of my Saturday decorating my home... and true to my dear Father's description of me that I "bounce around like a BB in a boxcar" I bounced from space to space to space, back to the space I was working on 10 minutes ago, and then to another space.  I wear a Fitbit and I recorded 7500 steps ...and I never left the confines of my living room... maybe decorating can be an Olympic sport??

Lots of pictures... first the display shelf unit ... now after I putzed and putzed and putzed with these shelves I sat in my chair and gazed upon my handiwork and the thought crept into my pea brain that perhaps I had jumped the shark and done too much... so I slept on that thought and pondered removing some items... and then I thought  naaay... it makes me happy  to see all that lovely stitching and do-dads... I've determined I am the anti-thesis of Marie Kondo... there is just so many things in life that spark joy for me... can't be a minimalist.

The shelves...

oh my goodness... a bunny bonaza!! Lets start at the top... One of my newest Spring cross stitch pieces the Lizzie Kate Spring String...

I stitched this on 28 ct. evenweave that I painted with Lemon Yellow and Tangerine Rit dyes... I used DMC floss and changed the colors to suit me... it is a lot more turquoise than the chart.  Moving down to the next shelf... another Lizzie Kate pattern ... Spring Smalls...

This time it is 32 ct linen and again I turquoise-ed it up... the box is from the Dollar Spot at Target or as it is now called Bullseye's Playground... it has a handle that it hard to see in this pic and it measures  about  8" long and 4" deep and 6" tall with that wire mesh insert.  It is called an "Art Caddy" and it was in the section with kid stuff. They had it in 3 colors, bright blue, a natural wood tone and this turquoise... it was $3... I bought this one and the natural wood tone one... I think I'll stain it olive green for a Autumn display... the turquoise should work fine for the other 3 seasons. All those tulips were from Micheals... 2 bunches, $2 each and the stiff ribbon accent is from Walmart... it has a little clip on the end.

Also on that shelf is my bunny in the big blue dress that I stitched last year... the chart is Ah tis Spring!  by Not Forgotten Farms...

and isn't that little bunny sitting on the polka dot egg cute?  Picked him up at Cracker Barrel... I love their gift shop... cute stuff I don't see elsewhere.  And flanking the  LK Spring piece is a flock of chicks and a bunny cookie jar I got at Kroger's last year and an egg cup wearing bunny slippers... I have a small collection of egg cups with feet... I think they are hilarious!!

Moving down another shelf is my Sampler Hill by With Thy Needle & Thread... with its' 98 tulip border... I do love a good border... now I had this framed previously and when I got it back I did not like it... and I stewed about it and finally just took it out of the frame and stuck it in my needs to be FFO'd box... I do love this sampler and it is so SPRING-Y ... so I decided to finish it myself and Priscilla-fied it... I'm much happier with it now...

some greenery and a burlap ribbon and a covered button all mounted on a wood frame from Hobby Lobby... and yes more egg cups have feet...

On that same shelf we have a bunch of decor... some old and some new...

That bunny cake came from Hobby Lobby years ago... I use to have a boy version but it got broken... the frolicking bunnies are a salt and pepper set I got at Homegoods this year... I saw them on someone's shopping video on youtube and immediately coveted them.  I went to my Homegoods the same day and they had one set of them which I scooped up and headed to the cash register with... last Fall there was another cute themed salt and pepper set I liked... I looked around a bit more and as I went back to the display another lady grabbed them ... wasn't going to let that happen again.

And on the shelf beneath I have a bit more cross stitch and decor... the stitching is 2/3 of a chart by Blackbird Designs and that easel came from Micheals..

And on a side note I think you can see in this picture my major improvement to the shelf unit which is a making decorating so much easier... do you see the "glass" on top of the wire shelf?  It is plexiglass that I got cut at Lowe's to fit the shelves... each shelf in this piece is the same width but a different depth... and trying to get stuff to stay where I wanted it was often difficult because of widely spaced wires.... when I first put them on the piece they looked like glass to me and it is so nice to work with. Best idea I've had in a long time!  Not my original idea... I saw that they had done the same thing at Micheals on some of their display pieces  and I copied from them.

Anyway on the left side of this shelf is some decor I've had for years... a giant bunny head and a pretty dish with mercury glass carrots and a peek at the stack of quilts below...oh and that little chick I showed last week.

I know... there is a LOT of stuff here... but I LOVE my stuff... I love that I  can display it and enjoy it ... Marie Kondo doesn't have any clue what joy all this stuff sparks in me!!

And if that wasn't enough ... like those infomercials...wait wait, there's more... a new 3 tier tray and a new display with new cross stitch... ta dah!!

I just purchased this tray yesterday at Hobby Lobby... I like that the sides aren't high so you don't need to prop stuff up to display them... it has a turned wooden center and the edges of the trays are copper... I had seen this the day before and went home and thought about it ... decided I wanted it... went back and it wasn't where I saw it the day before...accckkk... someone beat me to it... I looked around a bit and found it wedged into another display ... I might not have even noticed if that is where it had been in the first place ... perhaps someone tucked it there for safe keeping for me... at least that's what I want to believe...LOL

Here's the top of the tray...

The tulip holding bunny is old but the cross stitch is new... the Bunnies chart from Prairie Schooler... I just finished this as a little pillow... no extra trim or fabric... and I love that crinkly paper that I filled the trays with... it is Easter "grass" from Walmart ... I had some in green but wanted yellow and was floored when I went there and they had TWO shades of yellow... that never happens... usually when I want an item  in yellow I'm lucky if I can find one choice ...

Moving down to the  other levels  we have a trio of  adorable bunnies from Walmart ( FYI Walmart has some very nice seasonal decor for a good price... I think I paid under $3 a piece for them... I hadn't thought of shopping for decor items there until I started watching Auntie Coo coo's videos on youtube... she loves Walmart and does a great job showing what they have and what the prices are)

And on the bottom tier I stuck the other two PS bunnies into a galvanized mini-tub  ... they make a cute couple, dontcha think?  So that is the majority of my SPRING decor... but not all of it... I'll show a few other things next week. I still want to make a new table runner for my dining table and a topper for the shelf unit on the sunroom porch... and I'm thinking about painting that shelf unit... I like the look of  it but not the dark wood... it shows all the dust.. still mulling over what color to paint it... I'm leaning towards either a dusty turquoise or perhaps a muted yellow or a green... something  not too lime-y ... perhaps a bit of olive green... decisions decisions... need to go to check out paint...

So did you enjoy seeing all the new stuff that came out at the Nashville Market?  I know I did and I jumped into ordering right away... here's my haul...

Starting in the front  and from left to right, I got the first portion of the Square Dance series by Heart in Hand... very cute monthly designs only 40 stitches square... and I got a plethora of With Thy Needle & Thread charts...but not all I want... I tried to be good... I'd like to do the Easter  Holiday Hoopla piece...  a bunny holding tulips is right up my alley ... and instead of "framing" it with a hoop I picked up a fluted galvanized round tin at Michaels which should work if I stitch it on 32 ct... stay tuned... the back row is the 3 Blackbird Design books that were released and a beautiful sampler from Kitten Stitcher/Shakespeare's Peddler, "A Saviour's Praise"...now I don't know if I'll ever stitch this one but I had to own it... the border is spectacular ...you can see it here.

And since I've  mostly forgone  my  semi-annual rant on Daylight Saving Time I shall put in a bit of a whine about the Ooh - La - La book by BBD... it does have several pieces I would like to stitch in it... but it also includes 2 charts for pieces I have already stitched. One is called  "Le Poulet"... you can see my piece here.  I stitched it back in 2015... it was a stand alone pattern... a pattern that I had somehow bought twice ...and now have bought a third time...sheesh... and the other piece is called "A Bit of Spring" in this book... when I stitched it back in 2015 it was in a book called Weekend which had a lot of quilt patterns and a bit of cross stitch... then the pattern was called "Early Morning Read".  You can read my post about it here.  I would still have bought the book even with the repeated patterns but I don't remember ever seeing them do that before and they don't mention anywhere that the book includes previously published patterns.

I ordered these patterns from 2 different places... some came from Fat Quarter Shop ... they have started selling cross stitch patterns and had those BBD books available right away... they have free shipping with an $80 order... the other patterns came from Kitten Stitcher's site  Shakespeare's Peddler... she offers a flat $3 shipping charge.  I normally shop with 123 Stitch and I still will... my past experience is that 123 Stitch has been slow to get in new charts particularly those from With Thy Needle & Thread so that's why I went elsewhere...and less than 12 hours later 123 Stitch posted that  they had those same patterns. I assume they've realized how competitive the cross stitch market is getting. There are a bunch of little independent on-line sellers these days and Fat Quarter Shop is big player in the online market.  As with any competition the customer should come out on top with this... I know I'll look around more next time I order. No one site has everything you want, so I have "to let my fingers do the walking" ... do you remember when that was a catch phrase for using the telephone book? Gawd I'm getting old...LOL

Well that was quite the magnum opus wasn't it?  Don't have any dinner plans as we went out for breakfast this morning as a family... son and DIL are going to her parents for dinner this evening... it is her birthday tomorrow.  I was none too happy to get up early this morning ... and it seemed even earlier with the time change...but the omelet was tasty and I'm hoping that getting me up early today will ease me into the time change...now I just have to avoid taking a nap... and Big Dude isn't setting a good example here...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... have lots of plans for the week for stitching and sewing...  hope that your week is full of stitching time!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Sunny quilts on a Sunny Monday...

Well it is very very cold outside but sunny... I can take the cold if the sun shines... the snow event they predicted wasn't much... it stuck to the grass but not streets or the sidewalk... hope it is the last snow of the season.

I've gotten a bit of quilting mojo back and have some stuff to share... I think getting my quilts turned around so quickly with Quilting by David is motivating me to get things done... even old UFOs are enticing me to release them from their plastic bins and finish them!

First off is this quilt top...

The pattern is called Ruffles by The Pattern Basket...you can see it  here.  Very easy... I added cornerstones and made it smaller ... it finished about 60" square .... a nice throw size.  I used a Painted Garden by Crystal Manning layer cake and some Lemondrop Grunge... love the combination of the 2 ... have you seen her newest collection?  It's called Growing Beautiful and there is a nice article about it on Moda's blog today... you can check it out here. 

Here's a close up of the blocks...

I started this quilt back in June of 2018, so it is a relatively young UFO...and while this is an older fabric collection but I was able to find some yardage for the back... I'm into pretty backs... and this large floral is gorgeous!

I even went ahead and made the binding so this one will be in the mail tomorrow!

And with that UFO finished I remembered another project I started and lost interest in and consigned to a plastic bin... I started this one in January of 2016... it has been properly aged... the pattern is  Double by Missouri Star  and you can see a video here. The fabric collection is Curio by Basic Grey and when I talked about it on my blog back in 2016 I thought the collection was about 5 years old... so that would make it 9 years old now... it has grown up... LOL... now it isn't my usual bright palette but  I like it a lot. Go here to my blog back then and see pics with truer colors... I'm still annoyed at my phone... my older iPhone took much better pictures.

I  do love the typography prints in this collection ...

And the color is this pic is pretty true... I have plenty of that border fabric.

I originally planned on adding a couple of borders and  making this a double bed sized quilt but I've changed my mind... just going to add that one border and leave it throw sized... and another UFO will bite the dust!!

I also have a couple of finished quilts to share... first off is my Hot & Cold Running Strings...

Sorry for the wonky angle but with my design wall full I just laid in on the floor and got up on my little step stool to take a picture...

The texture from the quilting after I washed it is superb...

That turquoise fabric in Basic Grey Grunge in the Pool colorway... I only started this quilt the end of last year so I don't think its been around long enough to get UFO status...  and here's a look at the back...

This is a LARGE scale print... I think a 24" repeat that I purchased eons ago to do a Stack n' Whack... I love the print but have finally come to grips with the realization that I am never going to make all the Stack n' Whack quilts I have yardage for... so I decided it was better to use it than to just put it back on the shelf... I don't plan on leaving this planet any time soon, but it does make you ponder your mortality when you acknowledge that you will never live long enough to use all the fabric you've bought. I saw a great meme the other day that said  I've come to realize that buying fabric and using fabric are  two different hobbies... so true, so true...

And my American Jane Moda Love quilt arrived on my doorstep on Friday... now I don't have it bound or washed yet but I thought you might like to see the quilting pattern on this one...

another wonky...shall we say "arty" view  as this one was laid on the floor and I was tottering on the top step of the little step stool... I hope to get the binding on this one tomorrow... and here's a look at the quilting...

I chose the Orange Peel panto  and I like the look of it with this quilt.... and here's a peek at the back...

Lots and lots and lots of little chicks!!! This makes me smile...perfect for my crazy chicken obsession!

So with all this productivity I'll be linking up with a couple of blogs today... Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday...Quilting is More Fun than Housework for  Oh Scrap!... and Love Laugh Quilt for Making Monday...

Hope you have a good week ahead... need to get all this snowy weather pushed across the country and gone... official Spring is less than 3 weeks away... I have visions of petunias and dahlias dancing in my head... can't wait to get back into my yard and play...

happy stitching-
carol fun

A dearth of activity on Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all... another week of blah weather being topped off today with snow and followed up with a return of the polar vortex... March is in like a lion... it better darn well leave like a lamb and it can leave any time now...this has not put me in a "Spring-y" mood so I didn't get around to changing out my decorations... maybe this coming week...I did a little of this and a little of that but not much to show.

I did stitch one more Prairie Schooler bunny...

and I don't think I'll stitch any more of them... I'm bunny-ed out...

I wanted to move on to stitching the LHN Spring ABC's ... but I don't have a piece of linen long enough for it.

Ordered a BIG piece a minute ago from Everything Crossstitch... should get here later this week if it is in stock... they are only up the road a piece in Dayton, OH. They are just an online store... wish they were brick and mortar ... I'd be there tomorrow.  I like the stiff 32 ct Linen when I want to paint a piece... I get this kind in Antique White. If I'm going to scrunch it up and dye a piece the 32 ct Belfast Linen works fine... it is a bit cheaper and softer. Since I stitch in hand with no hoop or q-snap I prefer a stiff linen. 

Oh I did get around to FFO-ing March in the Year of Celebrations... a wee bit of the wearing of the green...

All the sparkly stuff - shamrocks and hat and sequin spirals were one floral pick... I just disassembled it ...I really like this monthly series ... need to get started on April... and did you see the monthly series that Heart and Hand showed at the Nashville Needlework Market?  Check it out here... she shows them stitched as one long piece and individually... I want to do them individually...  I think I read they are only 30 stitches square so they'd be quick and easy to tuck in here or there. 

And did you see the new stuff from Blackbird Designs?  There are some pics here... OMG I am loving all of them.  And there was all of the With Thy Needle & Thread stuff which you can see here I wanted too... so much for being frugal...LOL.. seems I've been doing a lot of shopping lately... picked up more cute decorating pieces at Cracker Barrel the other night...

ain't he adorable?  He's a salt/pepper shaker...only .99 cents... cheapest piece I've bought.. found other stuff while I was there and ended up spending $20... and dinner was good too! 

Even though it is snowing as I type this hope springs eternal for gardening... they finally got the bags of dahlia tubers in at Costco... they did really well in my yard last year and I've been anxiously awaiting their appearance... saw them for the first time today... got 5 bags...  I have NO self control...LOL

In my defense these are a steal... 10 tubers in each bag for $12... $1.20 a tuber... I've seen them elsewhere for several dollars a tuber... I'm doing yellow, orange. pink and burgundy this year.  And I've been watching garden show videos on Garden Answer... you can watch them here.  Can't wait to get my window boxes planted up again...think I'll pick a new color combo this year... last two years I've done yellow/pink/lavender...may go brighter this year. 

So I made a list last night of things I wanted to accomplish today... I have done NONE of the things on my list... not a one... I've tried to do a couple of them but ran into a snag here and there... maybe tomorrow will be more productive. And if you want to see what I've gotten done quilt -wise check back tomorrow. I've finished a UFO from back in June of 2018 and I've pulled out another UFO...this one from January of 2016 that's close to being finished. It needs a border and I've decided it is going to be a smaller quilt than I originally planned... that should help get it done. Also I will have pics of the Hot and Cold Running Strings... the quilting is wonderful on it ...and I've already gotten back the American Jane Moda Love quilt ... David turned it around in a week... I gave him a finish date of 3 weeks out... I really enjoy his quick turnaround... now to get the binding on it and wash it and put in on my bed. 

Well I hope you have a good week ahead of you... I know a lot of the country is still dealing with winter weather... did you know the first day of Spring is March 20?  And that the time changes next Sunday on March 10... tune in for my semi-annual rant about that ... LOL... 

Anyway I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... checking out what everyone else is up to makes me smile!

happy stitching-

carol fun