In between moving the sprinklers on Slow Sunday Stitching...

Hello all ... so last week I had made lots of plans for things I wanted to do... and I knew reality would alter them... and it did... I didn't get anywhere near as much done as I had hoped... ain't that always the way??? But I did get a few things completed, at least partially, that were on my list...

First  I did get October from Hands on Designs A Year of Celebrations stitched...

32 ct linen I painted last year ... a scrap just big enough... used my choice of DMC threads... now to fully finish it.


And I started on the Little Bits of Halloween by The Drawn Thread...

not much of a start, but something... I found this linen in my stash too ... neon green and lemon yellow and tangerine... thought about added some splotches of purple but then decided to leave well enough alone. Notice last week I said I was leaning toward the square or the horizontal orientation and this is going to be the vertical one... yeah... decision making can be hard!!  I decided on this one as it uses all of the little design bits and I thought it would be nice to have something vertical for my displays... now this chart is quite interesting... the square version is  totally charted as one page ... then there are several other pages giving you several little design bits and cute cute cute frames and two alphabet arrangements of the word "Halloween"... you have to follow her instructions for how to get the arrangement for the vertical and horizontal pieces... they aren't charted out for you, but it doesn't appear difficult to figure out... now the little bits would made terrific ornaments if you do a Halloween tree... on 32 ct they finish a little less than 2.5" square...

However perusing this chart and starting to stitch the vertical one lead me to thinking about putting this on hold a minute and first stitching one of the alphabet arrangements of the word Halloween... it would be quick (well quicker than this vertical version) and it has hit me squarely between the eyes that Tuesday is already October 1... acckkk... where did September go??? I have a couple of Halloween pieces that are stitched but need to be fully finished and I want them done before I get out my other Halloween decorations... which I want to do this week... say Wednesday...so much to do!!!

And then I spent some time trying to decide whether I should go ahead with Halloween stuff or move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas... I have that November piece from Prairie Schooler and I only put a few stitches into it last week... and there is an adorable Prairie Schooler turkey ..its small... that I'd like to do and a little Pineberry Lane piece... and along with The Drawn Thread Little Bits of Christmas  I found 2 new to me charts from Madame Chantilly that I'd love to do...

Advent Calendar...

Celebrate Christmas...

And I know that Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread will have something new coming out... and while I have no clue what it looks like I will probably HAVE to HAVE it...

On the quilting front I did get all the blocks sewn for the Cherry Fizz quilt... although I think I'm going to call it Fresh Air Fizz, since that was the name of the fabric collection...

now I can see in this picture that I sewed one block together wrong... gotta fix that... and sew all the rows together ...and get a back... and send it off to be quilted...

As for the Christmas Quilty Stars I got nothing done... well, I did fold some of the fabric back up... but I haven't got anything more cut or sewn...and I formally committed myself to having this one done by the beginning of November so I can have it back by the end of November and on my bed for December.... and we aren't going to discuss the QAL for the Down Grapevine Lane's pattern Backyard Chicks... you can check it out here... I have the PERFECT background for this pattern...

this is by Lori Holt... its CHICKEN FEET!!!   LOL... and I'm going to pair it with some of my American Jane fabrics...

it will be cute cute cute... there are chicks on orange and red in this pull...  and yes that is a rubber chicken purse... I've had it for years... I even carried it for a while... don't judge me... its not the kind of crazy you can be commited for... at the moment... at least that's what my lawyer son tells me.... LOL

I did have a semi busy week last week... I babysat on Tuesday for my grandson...the cutest baby in the whole wide world... and went to dinner and the theater Tuesday night... saw the play Come From Away... if you get a chance to see it, do it... it is set in  Gander, Newfoundland on Sept. 11 and the days after that horrible tragedy... it is based on true events... you will laugh and you will cry... one act, no intermission... really really good!!   And I had a  play day with my  friend's 3  daughters who are crafty... I helped one frame a cross stitch piece, helped another get 3  stitched pieces sewn up to be little pillows and helped another get the binding on a quilt... a very productive day for them... this week looks pretty open... but then I always think that... I'm babysitting on Tuesday and have dinner plans on Thursday and there is an appointment for my son on Thursday too... so if I buckle down and FOCUS maybe I can get something accomplished...

Which will have to occur in between moving the darn sprinklers... grrr... I know I complain  a little, somewhat , oh hell, A LOT about the weather but I have good grounds for it this time... we've been in the 90's for 3 days already and it is forecast to last through Thursday... that is a week of WAY ABOVE temperatures for this time of year... excuse me Mother Nature but it is FALL...we've had the autumnal equinox... we should have cool nights and mild days...not this stuff... my yard is a weird shape and I have to water the side yard separate from the front yard and sprinklers HATE me... I always get soaked when I try to position them... and then I need to move them every 20 -30 minutes ... makes me seriously contemplate having a sprinkler system installed... but it really isn't necessary other than a couple of times a year... money better spent on fabric and yarn and graphs and linen...right??? Please nod your head up and down...up and down...thank you...

So I'll link up with Kathy Quilts today and then I have to go out and move the sprinklers... AGAIN...hope you and I both have a productive week -

happy stitching-
carol fun

Making lots of plans on Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all ... well I've been quite busy the last 2 weeks but I don't have much to show for it... I took a long overdue vacation with my younger son at the beginning of the month. Five days in Florida with the mouse who dominates Orlando... we had a great time... stayed at a wonderful hotel in Disney World, the Grand Floridian... rode some fun rides... skipped "Its a Small World" so that song wouldn't be playing in my head interminably... ate some great meals and snacks... there is a International Food and Wine Festival in Epcot that was super tasty... and reacquainted myself with why I'm not fond of flying... oh my goodness ... both flights were packed... and noisy... and while we made a lot of memories we were both very happy to return... Dorothy was correct "there's no place like home"...

But back to reality meant catching up with the stuff which didn't give me a lot of time for stitching but I did make some great plans for projects I want to get to soon...

First I want to make a Quilty Stars Christmas quilt for my bed... I have this one block completed...

and I have all the color squares for the blocks cut out...

at least I think I have them all cut out... there is always that math element that gives me problems... so we shall see... I still need to cut the background pieces and then I can dive into this project. I want this completed...sewn and back from the long arm quilter before December 1... I think there is ample time for this one.

And I picked back up a project that has been languishing in my sewing room... I started it  for National Jelly Roll Day last September and I still really like it (which is not always the case when something has been hanging around for a while) ... I've gotten a some more blocks and a couple of rows  assembled...

The pattern for this jelly roll quilt is called Cherry Fizz and you can find it here on Runnstitch's blog... four more rows... I'm halfway there...I think I need to hit the quilt shop and look for a pretty back for this to push me across the finish line... it will be a throw  about 66" square... not too big...

On the cross stitch front I started November from Prairie Schooler...

my deadline for this is obviously November 1... which also seems doable... and yes every project seems eminently doable when I'm planning... it is the reality of life that is always the issue...isn't it? That fact that there are only 24 hours in a day is hard to get around...

And I had a comment about how do I paint/dye the linen... here is an explanation I posted before... I'm going to try to take a series of pictures as I paint a piece and I will post them here... bottom line... it isn't hard ... just approach it like it was a piece of paper... I like stiff linen for painting and I like stiff linen to stitch on since I stitch in hand...

OK -  first put on some gloves... I use the cheap latex ones... so here's how I painted the linen. I lay the linen on a piece of cardboard... the linen was dry... I use liquid Rit dye, I pour a bit in a mason jar and dilute it slightly as it is pretty intense direct from the bottle. I used a paint brush (for big areas I use a foam brush ... for smaller areas a regular artist paint brush)  and apply the dye directly to the linen taking a little care not to overlap areas too much ... I thought I might get brown splotches were the colors merge but my experience has been that whatever color is strongest stays dominate.... Since I start with dry fabric the dye doesn't seem to spread as quickly as I suspect it would if the linen was wet. Painting is really easy...nothing that requires talent... just slop it on. Lay the first pass of color on in a diagonal fashion... it gives it some motion, IMHO...The hard part is waiting for it to dry.  I clip my wet pieces to a metal shelf unit and let them drip dry....put some paper towels underneath so you don't stain the floor... After it is dry, I place it on some paper towels and  I iron it with a hot steam iron to "set" it to some extent. Now the back of this piece is not as intense with color... it is not a reversible piece of linen... it has a definite front and back. Sometimes after painting a piece I like the back side better than the front side...and that's ok... you have to be flexible.  As a trial run,  I did paint a smaller piece of linen ... after it dried and ironed it, I re- wet it to see if the dye would run... I got just a little bit of residual dye.  I don't wash my pieces after I stitch them so I haven't had any issue with this.

As for dyeing linen... I use diluted Rye liquid dye in a mason jar and just smush the linen in the jar... I start with dry linen ...again you have to be flexible as it turns out splotchy ... but I like splotchy... I like it A LOT!!... Hints - the fabric dries lighter than it looks when it is wet...start out light with the color...you can always go darker... try a little of the color on a scrap or a corner first... my experience has been better when I use no more than 3 color in a piece... any more and it gets too busy... I hope this explains it. It isn't a complicated procedure... just give it a try... my favorite colors of Rit dye are Lemon Yellow, Apple Green, Tangerine, Aquamarine... I pick them up at Joanns with a coupon... a little goes a looooong way. If you are trying to get a certain color that isn't in a bottle go to the Rit website... ritdye.com... and go to the Color Formula menu.. it gives you exact measurements for getting different colors depending on the amount of stuff you are dyeing (look at the drop down menu on the right side )... that said I never measure anything ... I'm doing such a small amount I just guess -estimate how much of what I should add ... which is why I can't do this for someone else as I have no clue how it is going to turn out ... I deeply admire those that dye linen for a living... they obviously keep great records and follow recipes ... I just wing it... LOL


I haven't started the October chart for Hands on Designs A Year of Celebrations... need to paint some linen for it... and I want to play with this new chart from The Drawn Thread... it is called Little Bits of Halloween... isn't it super???  I'm not sure which configuration I want to stitch...

the square...

or the vertical...

or the horizontal...

Right now I'm wavering between the square and the horizontal...

And there is a new shawl pattern calling my name...

the Storm Shawl which you can find the pattern here ... my friend recently completed one and it is so pretty... I have lots of skeins of variegated yarn ... the hard part is deciding which one to choose...

Sooooo... a have a long list of projects and I'm full of enthusiasm... at the moment... lets hope it continues... the weather still feels like Summer even though Fall officially starts on Monday... my flowers are hanging in there because I'm watering them ... a lot... but the lawn could really use a good rain.. not sure Mother Nature is going to cooperate any time soon... I guess I'll have to break out the sprinklers... which means I'll get an outdoor shower as I can never get them set-up without getting soaked...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... and check out what everyone else has accomplished... hope everyone has a great productive week ahead... my "plan" has lots on its agenda, however my "reality" also has a lot on its list of things that must be done... the struggle is real... LOL

happy stitching-
carol fun

Stitching and Dahlias on Slow Sunday Stitching...

Hello  - did another week just fly by for you? It did for me... had lots of stuff going on ... and next week will be even busier... but I did work on a couple of things...

I'm in Fall mode for cross stitching... and I can feel Halloween creeping in... so many many cute pieces I'd love to stitch... and this first one was at the top of my list...

Boo to You by With Thy Needle & Thread...

I dyed some called for 36 ct linen... IRL it is more golden... and I like it a lot... I stitched this with the called for colors 1 ply over 2 threads... it is definitely a more delicate look ... I thought about doing it on 32 ct but it would be bigger than I wanted... this finished about 4.5" wide and 6" tall... I think I'm going to finish her as a pillow...

And I stitched a little Lizzie Kate... this is from the Autumn Smalls chart...

I know this looks dark here... it isn't so much IRL... having a hard time with the pics today... 32 ct and most of the called for DMC colors... I have a little wooden caddy that I might mount this on... or make it into a little pillow... still thinking... and I just realized I didn't sew the buttons on for the owl's eyes...


And I pulled out a piece I stitched late last Fall and made some changes to it... Lizzie Kate's Thankful String...

then...

now...

I pulled out the A and the cornstalk and the Q and a turkey feather and the XYZ and re-stitched them in a dark olive green instead of the light beige... I wasn't happy how the beige didn't contrast with this fabric... I'll be sewing this one into a long  pin pillow like I did with the Winter one... need to find my chart for the Christmas one and I wonder is there one for Halloween?  I'll bet there is ...they are fun to stitch ... I used the called for 28 ct and with DMC you get nice coverage.

And last week I showed you lots of pictures of the inside of my home... today we are going outside... to my newest garden venture a cutting bed of dahlias...

The view from the patio... this is tucked in between my covered patio and my neighbor's house... there was big tree in her yard until this Spring when she had it removed...not sure why... but it really opened up the area and made it sunny ... so I jumped on the idea of a raised bed cutting garden...

Here are some of my dahlias... I wish I had kept better track of the names... they all came from either Costco...or I picked them up in little 3 packs at Meijer's and Krogers... nothing special but boy are they pretty... 

This one is considered a dinnerplate dahlia... it is about 8" across and a beautiful shade of yellow ...one of my favorites!

A bi-colored one a bit smaller... I'm also fond of the bi-colored blooms...

Another dinnerplate dahlia the most GORGEOUS shade of peach... this photo doesn't do it justice...

Again a dinnerplate dahlia... this one makes me think Fiesta!!

I love the shape/form of this one... and the color... I need to get more of this form for next year... I think it is called a pompom ... it's not as big as the dinnerplate one but it is large!

Another bi-color one but smaller ...

Such a pretty burgundy color...

And this one isn't large... maybe 4" across but the yellow undertone make it look like it is lit up from within... love it!!

Last but not least and not all of the varieties I have this gem... yellow with white on the tips of the petals!

These are such wonderful flowers to grow... I know you think I have a green thumb but really all I do is plant, water and fertilize... God does the rest... and boy does he do a great job!!

There is more room in this bed for more varieties next year and my extended flower bed on the side of the house is going to get some dahlias in it too... maybe even some of the pricey ones I see on IG... I will be digging up the tubers later and storing them in my basement till next Spring and replanting them...and with any luck some of the tubers will be able to be split into more flowers!! You can NEVER have too many flowers ... or  fabric... or thread... or yarn... or linen... or charts... or... you get the idea...LOL

Well next week is going to be jam packed with things to do, so I don't know if I'll have anything to show... maybe some knitting... I've got a couple of pairs of socks on my needles ...maybe I'll finish them up... after all it is going to get back up to the 90's again... ugh ugh ugh...perfect wool sock weather...right??? 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today.. I'm off to do some errands and then dinner with my family... Elliott is getting so big... he'll be 5 months old this coming week and is just the cutest baby in the whole wide world.... really he is...no lie...LOL

Hope your week has some fun crafty stuff ... 

happy stitching...

carol fun 

"Falling" into September on Slow Stitching Sunday....

Hello .... anybody home?  I didn't plan on taking 2 weeks off ... but I did... the first week I had troubles uploading my pictures and I threw in the towel... the next week I just didn't feel I had anything blogworthy to show... so to make it up to you ... and I know you are waiting with bated breath... I will inundate you with pictures!!!

It is September 1 and I am over Summer... done done done... tired of watering every night... tired of looking at dead plants ... tired of the heat and the humidity... so officially it is FALL at my house!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE FALL!!  I love the cooler weather and the chance to wear wool socks and pumpkins and acorns and pumpkins and scarecrows and pumpkins and squirrels (the kind that will not eat my window boxes)  and  pumpkins... and you get the picture... so buckle up, I got lots of stuff to share... and yes there is an abundance of pumpkins!!

First off is my September piece from Hands on Designs A Year of Celebrations ...

I painted 32 ct linen and used DMC flosses... changed a few colors ... the little owl is a salt & pepper shaker from Cracker Barrel... a whopping 99 cents.

And on the other end of the TV cabinet it his little vignette...

I'm re-using all those straw bales and the straw I put out for the chicken displays... what a mess it is going to be to clean up... but I'll think about that another day... the dahlia is from my garden... the dahlias are doing great... I'm going to plant even more next year... I'm already looking at vendors online who are taking orders but won't send the tubers till the Spring.... funny story the dahlia bed is in-between my patio and my neighbor's garage...now she is a very particular kind of lady and I asked her if she would mind if I put it there and she was okay with it... her yard is always very neatly kept but she does minimal flowers and they are ALL the same color... geraniums, petunias, whatever ...she has to have them all the exact same shade... needles to say my yard looks like the entire 64 count box of crayons melted ... so the other day she was looking at the dahlias and remarked that she thought they would all be the same height and the same colors....HUH????  The aesthetic is waaaayyy too crazy for her taste... she has a lovely home but it can best be described as 40 shades of beige with the occasional black accent... I'm not kidding... when she was younger she worked as a interior decorator... I know my taste drives her nuts...

Okay back to the decorating at this crazy place... the middle of the TV cabinet...

my giant mercury glass pumpkin and an Autumn from Prairie Schooler with some other glass pumpkins... I got the giant one years ago on sale at Michael's and I don't think I've ever come across one that big again... it has a jack-o-lantern face on the other side... I love mercury glass stuff!

The big wall quilt display...

The quilt started with a panel of those 6 birds and then I added the crazy pieced blocks and sashing... it is all Sandy Gervais fabric...she does fabulous Fall stuff!!! It is one of my favorite quilts ...

And the tier tray...

Some Lizzie Kate cross stitched pieces and a cute scarecrow and a bunch of velvet pumpkins ... I want to add more cross stitch o this tray before the season is over... I have another LK piece I'm working on  and hope to get it done this week so look for an update and a bit of a restyle on this display.

My dining room table...

Sandy Gervais fabrics with Basic Grey Grunge table runner... I think I've made 4 of this exact pattern... love it... My Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler on the wall... the only Quaker I've done but someday I'll stitch another ... I love all the golds and yellows I picked for the piece and along with the Bent Creek Fall Row... they both hang on the wall all year... now the center piece is new..

 I got the  galvanized metal trough at Hobby Lobby ...they had 2 sizes and this was the smaller one and all the little bitty pumpkins and gourds came from Michael's... I have plans to fill this trough with little cross stitched pillows eventually but for now I'm loving this look!

Around the corner from the table is my little yellow display cabinet...

I love the little wagon filled with pumpkins and gourds... it came from Michael's years ago but I saw them there this year too... the cross stitch is a Barbara Ana piece  called Autumn Keeper... and the polka dot pumpkins were gifts from my son... inside the cabinet are more pumpkins and some seasonal quilts...

Just around the corner from this is my tier tray table...

All of these guys are gifts from my son too...  I love that he picked them out for me!!

And around the corner from here is the shelf unit, fully decked out in FALL!!!

From the top...

The Welcome  Autumn by the Drawn Thread... 32 ct linen I dyed.. I LOVE all the Welcomes Drawn Thread has designed... I want to get the Winter one done this year... and on the second shelf is another Barbara Ana... this one is called  Autumn.. I dyed this 32 ct linen too... I LOVE Barbara Ana's tree designs... so many cute motifs hanging from the branches... I also love the little wooden box signs from Michaels... this really sums up my feelings about my home... it is my HAPPY place!!

Moving down...

Several Blackbird Design pieces... The large one is Feast of Friendship ... I stitched an alphabet in the cartouche area instead of the phrase "Feast of Friendship"...not sure why I did that ... but I did...and the 2 pieces below are the Bittersweet ones ... as I remember the one on the right is Bittersweet and the one on the left is Bittersweet September... if you enlarge the pic you'll see that I framed all 3 of these pieces similarly... wood frame with a gold filet ... I didn't add any thing to these as I like them just the way they are...

So that's the living room decor... I am not a minimalist... I do have some other spots around the house that I've decorated but I'll save them for another week... I did the porch and the back hallway and a little bit downstairs in my sewing studio... and I didn't run out of Fall decor!!  I even put some stuff back in the plastic bins!   Now I'm not done by any means... I've been watching youtube videos and out on the West Coast the Target Dollarspots already have Fall and Halloween goodies... I've identified a couple of items I want... just need for them to show up in Ohio... I checked out 3 Target's this week when I was out and about doing errands and all 3 were disaster areas of leftover back to school stuff... hope they get cleaned up and restocked soon... I have dollars burning a hole in my pocket... LOL

Well the week ahead is stuffed full of things to do, places to go and people to see... I had hoped to get some sewing done yesterday but instead spent the day in my yard cleaning up beds. The young man who takes care of my grass and the heavy lifting in my yard came and trimmed all my bushes and put the deer fence back up around my newest maple tree... damn deer damaged it and I lost a trunk of it... and he yanked out 3 overgrown boxwood bushes... I am soooo happy to have them gone... I have plans on turning the area into more garden space... some dahlias and maybe some King Tut papyrus in the back, coneflowers, blackeyed susans, zinnas, and who knows what else... in the mean time I put in a large pot of mums and put out some of my Fall yard decorations... I'll show some before and after pics next week. I thought the area would look really really bare after he took out the bushes but it doesn't look as bare or as large as I thought it would... I have 9 more boxwoods I want to replace... but that is a project for next Fall... I've already brought home 150 daffodils from Costco...and some hyacinths and some alliums... those bags of bulbs are irresistable!!

Maybe today or tomorrow I'll get to sew... I need to get the borders on a quilt I'm making for my son and I want to make a little table topper for the shelf unit on the porch and I have a Fall quilt I started last year I'd like to get assembled and there is a Christmas quilt I have one block done for  and need 15 more... so many things I want to sew along with stitching stuff for Fall and Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas and Winter and ... you get the point.

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today... fingers crossed and prayers going out to all of those in the path of Dorian wherever it makes landfall... sounds like a horrible horrible storm... enjoy your Labor Day weekend and I hope you have a great week ahead... thanks for stopping by!

happy stitching-
carol fun