Just "chick-ing" in on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all ... well I got a few things done and I'm "chick-ing" in today with my newest display... August is a perplexing month to decorate for... too late for patriotic... too early for Fall ...although I am soooo ready for Fall ... so I've decided that August will be National Chicken Month at my house!!  I know that "officially" it isn't till September but since someone somewhere arbitrarily picked September I can do the same thing in my little corner of the world...

Here is an overall pic ... just click on the pictures to view things more closely...

And this is the top...

a little family of chicks... the Welcome Summer from The Drawn Thread and Fiona... our local celebrity hippo... she's a ceramic figurine from Rookwood pottery.... below that...Pineberry Lane is well represented here... along with my latest finish from Nikyscreations called Summer Scissors Sampler... I tweaked it a little and left off the sign that said Summer so I could use it in any season... I think it looks nice as a pillow... the giant rooster was a purchase from a Hallmark shop over 15 years ago... I've used him on and off but he's languished in a storage bin for the past 6 years... I'm sure he's happy to see the light of day...

The next shelf...

showcases another large chicken which came from Hallmark, a little galvanized caddy with ScissorTail's Design Rise and Shine,  and my recent purchase of a ceramic truck from Hobby Lobby... I'm glad I got is when I did as I looked last week and there were only a few left... the truck reminds me of one my brother owned...his was more faded blue but I'm liking the turquoise ... the cross stitched piece is a nice complement, don'tcha think?  I believe I'll have to stitch more of these trucks ...they are fun! There is a giant wooden egg tucked behind the big chicken and the little "metal" chick... I got both of them back at Easter time ... I knew I'd find the right display for them... just had to have some patience...LOL

Below that ...

Goodies I've collected here and there...  some items were gifts and others came from all the usual stores... Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joanns...by now I'm sure you've noticed the layer of straw that is on each shelf... it seemed like a good idea when I started, (and isn't that true of so many plans that go awry???)... I love how it looks but I think it will be even more insidious than Easter grass... I'll bet I'll find it in the house in February... I plan to use it for my Fall displays too... I think I'll just save the little bales and suck the rest of it up in the vacuum... as I remember now... and really it just now came to me... I think that's how I got rid of the fake snow I used for my snowmen display... oh my goodness... memory is fleeting... but on the up side, every old is new again...LOL

I did get the binding on the quilt I wanted to display... except it didn't get finished till like Thursday...

 I kinda wish I'd made it a bit longer... but all those blocks were left over from another project  before I started to assemble the quilt and I didn't want to make any more... the blocks are from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book and the chicken is from Cluck Cluck Sew's pattern call appropriately Chickens...

now the pattern is for a  block, but I assembled it without any of the background, turned under the seam allowances,  and then blanket stitched it to the already quilted piece... I love all those American Jane fabrics... I really want to make another quilt or two or three with them... and somehow the combo of Lori Holt pattern and American Jane fabrics is just right!

The tray has a nice collection of chicken salt and pepper shakers, most of which were gifts from friends...they are just the right scale for a tier tray...

So that's the decor for now... I'll leave it up till early September when I'll break out the bins of Fall goodies. I'm enjoying walking around Michael's and Hobby Lobby and seeing all the cool Fall stuff... so far I've only bought a few small items... which is good as I kinda running out of display space for Fall stuff... but it is my FAVORITE time of the year... love the colors and the temperatures and everything pumpkin!!!

Busy week ahead... got an electrician coming to check on a wonky light switch along with doing family dinner... I babysit Elliott... I have a guy coming to give me an estimate on some bathroom work, my son has an appointment and I'm doing dinner with the quilty ladies...and who know what else will happen! I've started 2 Fall/Halloween cross stitch pieces ... I want to put some more time in on the quilt I'm making for my son ... and I want to finish up a quilt top I started last September that is in Fall fabrics...would be nice to have it done for this Fall.  With the forecast of high temperatures and a heat index over 100 sewing in the basement may be just the thing to do...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today...always fun stuff to see there... hope you all have a good week... time is flying...how did it get to be mid August already?? My sainted Grandma told me that time goes faster the older you get... which I believe means I'm getting old... I don't want to think about it ... maybe tomorrow... hey it worked for Scarlet!



happy stitching-
carol fun

Some Additional Assembly Required on Slow Sunday Stitching ...

Hello all... another week flew past... and without checking my calendar I can hardly remember what happened... sheesh... I'm getting old... I do remember having coffee and a coke with a friend...that was good... and my son had a check-up and that went well... but other than that not much stands out...

The weather was weather... not too bad... some rain... had to do some watering... more petunias died... saw mums at Home Depot but they always want sky high prices... so I'll wait a little longer... the dahlias are full of buds and I've had to stake a bunch of them ... I've already decided I need more of the dinner plate varieties and the pompom ones...and I need more purples and white ones...and more light pink ones... yeah this is getting addicting...LOL... good thing I don't drink, smoke or do drugs... flowers and fabric and yarn and thread are waaay more socially acceptable ways to spend my time and money... they make the crazy seem almost normal...at least that's what I tell myself... it doesn't sound crazy to me at all... oh I think that is the definition of delusional, isn't it??? Don't want to know... not listening... fingers in ears... ROFL...

I did get some stitching done and I've even FFO'd ... that's fully finished an object this week... first is August from Hands on Designs A Year of Celebrations...

kept it simple ... a golden yellow burlap bow, a small silk sumflower and a little bee pin from JABCO.

And this one I've had finished for a while but forgot to share it...  Sister's Farm Fresh Eggs by Pineberry Lane...

I painted the linen and changed the colors and pinked it up a bit... I really like the chicken wire frame... I stained it with Rit dye... another burlap bow, a flower from my cardmaking stash and some leaf-y straight pin accents.

Another Pineberry Lane piece... Mrs. Maguire's Hen House...

I love this frame for its hen house shape... it was clearanced at Michael's ...and brown... I spray painted it white and removed the clip. The rickrack edging was a bit tricky... I tried dyeing it without much success as it is 100% polyester... so ended up "dyeing" it with a Copic marker...I am so glad I have a stash of crafty supplies ... they come in handy again and again.


And here is the truck from Hands On Designs Fresh Eggs Farm...

the galvanized frame is from Michael's... that polka dot burlap ribbon is from Dollar Tree ... I need to go back and get more of it... too cute... and I've accented the piece with more JABCO pins... I accidentally pulled the chicken off of the straight pin so she's stuck on with a bit of adhesive.

Already last week I knew what I was going to do with ScissorTail Designs Rise and Shine and here it is...

this little galvanized caddy came from Hobby Lobby as did the silk flowers and I again used some of my JABCO pins... aren't the chickens cute? I've been collecting these pins for a while and I'm glad I'm finally using them ... they are too cute to sit in a drawer.

I still have a couple of other things I want to FFO and then re-decorate the living room. I'm declaring August to be National Chicken month at my house...oh my goodness... I just looked it up to see if there is such a thing as National Chicken month and there is... it is September... so I'm gonna be early... for me September is when I break out my Fall stuff ... anyway... I'm  going to do the shelf unit and my tier tray with chickens ... and I have a new wall quilt that will feature a chicken... gotta get it bound and a sleeve made...so as you can tell there is some additional assembly required.

Doing dinner with the family on Monday evening and I'm babysitting Elliot on Tuesday...I want to get back down in my sewing studio this week. Yesterday my handyman was here and he knocked out a bunch of jobs I had for him... got my Christmas present rain barrel hooked up ... just need some rain now... cut down the legs on the workbench I got from a neighbor... it was in the neighbor's  basement and was probably there 50 years... it was definitely handmade for someone waaaay taller than me... now it is shorter and will make a great potting bench on my patio... it is painted a funky 50's green... I'm going to see if I can match the color as I really like it... he fixed the faucet and the doorknob in the bathroom... repaired a hole in a hollow core bi-fold closet door  (probably saved me $150)... and the best thing he did was replace all 24 light bulbs in my studio with LED bulbs... WOW... the light down there is way more white and clear... the fluorescent ones definitely had a yellow cast ... I've been wanting to change them for a while ...glad to have all these jobs done. I still have a couple of larger jobs I want him to get to but he is so busy... will have to wait a bit longer but it will be worth it. He does great work and a competent handyman who doesn't gouge you is a rare find.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts  today... and perhaps if I get that quilt bound and the sleeve done I'll post tomorrow too. I have four more blocks to do for my son's Quilty Star quilt and I know I'm going to sew that pattern again ... besides the Christmas quilt... maybe a version with my Kaffe fabrics... or one with my American Jane stash... it is such a fun block and goes together fast. Oh, all the With Thy Needle & Thread charts I showed last week arrived... I think with was Thursday... I've already pulled some threads and dyed and painted linen for 2 of them... need to get the other stuff FFO'd and then I can dive into them... need more hours in a day... and I don't mean Daylight Saving Time... you know how I feel about that...LOL

Hope you all have a good week ...

happy stitching-
carol fun