Topsy-turvy on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello --well it has been a  bit topsy-turvy around here for the past 2 weeks.... first there was a week of appointments and problems to be dealt with and then this last week has had me glued to the house dealing with a home improvement project which isn't totally done ... but it is getting there...for over a year I've wanted to replace the interior doors in my house...they were the original 1953 heavy blonde wood ...nice but i prefer white doors... thought about having them painted but it would have required taking them down, sanding them, painting and rehanging the doors...and that wouldn't have addressed the issue of the door knobs that have been falling off or the ugly hinges... soooooo... I've opted for new white 6 panel doors with the brushed nickel hinges and door levers...

Now I need 14 doors for my little house... and it needed 5 different sized stock door slabs along with 1 custom slab... and those doors that can be replaced with the stock sized doors, are all slightly different sizes from the stock slab... so each and every door needs to be custom sized and trimmed by my handyman Dan... and that takes time... a lot of time... so far it has taken a least 2 hours per door and he is not a slow worker.  The doors have all been hung at this point... new hinges put on the door frames ... Dan wants to start to fill in the holes in the door jams where the old hardware was but it is a multi step process as the old hinges were HUGE and ugly and left BIG voids... then he still needs to paint the slabs ( I thought they came painted they are only primed and it is a creamy white, not the white WHITE the trim is painted in my house) and install the door levers... he's been here since Wednesday... and today is Sunday... and I think it is going to take until Wednesday or Thursday to complete this job.

Dan is a great guy and a great handyman... I am so lucky to have him in my life... my little house would not be in such great shape without him... he paints and does construction and minor plumbing and electric and he trustworthy and doens't cut corners... which takes time... and I don't know why it is, but it is this way, I don't get much done when there is someone else in my house... and it alters my routine (I've had to get up early every day this week...ugh)...but,  I can't wait for the doors to be completed... they already make my house look lighter and brighter... it will be worth it, I know...

In the meantime, I have a couple of things to show that I've been working on... first... I've got Prairie Schooler Daffodils all stitched...

still needs to be FFO'd (fully finished object) and I planned to do that before today, as it is March 1, but didn't make it... this is another piece of 32 ct linen I painted...  I also planned to have my snowmen put away and my Spring decor up... but along with the home improvement project, the weather has got me out of whack... for the last 4 days I've woke up ...early, ugh... to  dusting of snow and cold temperatures ... this is the most winter weather we've had all season... it is suppose to hit mid 50's this afternoon and the forecast calls for more Spring-y weather going forward so hopefully when Dan is done with the doors I'll re-do the decor in the house...I've gotten some cute ceramic bunnies from Homegoods/Marshalls/TJMaxx... even a piece or two of Rae Dunn... I am NOT planning to collect Rae Dunn... but... there are some cute seasonal pieces and I've seen some bird houses I wouldn't mind having... oh no... not another collection...LOL

I have been sewing... simple stuff... I threw together this top one evening...took about 5 hours total...honest... I had seen this quilt ...click  here .. on Instagram... simple but striking...now there isn't a full picture but what I saw intrigued me... I loved the color palette... gold, deep turquoise, plum... I added some olive green and threw in some Charlie Harper prints with light backgrounds...

I love how it turned out... it is a free pattern but I can't find the link at the moment... so I'll just tell you it starts with 5" x 10" rectangles of fabric... nothing hard... now the really dark pieces in the top are plum... and what you see is the total extent of plum in my stash...not much... I'll be on the lookout for more ... I sent it off to Quilting by David to get the same loopy panto...and I put together a back from my stash so it was a totally FREE quilt...oh I'm so proud of me...LOL

Then I turned my attention to blocks that have been languishing since July 2015... I had made these Charming Star blocks in an I Spy fashion for at the time, my yet to be conceived grandchild... well said grandchild will be a year old in April and I'd like this to be part of his present sooooo...

all sewn together... got a turquoise minkee back for it at Homegrown, Homesewn...and sent it off to Quilting by David... it will be back in plenty of time for Elliott's party.

Then Friday morning I had a idea about the ziploc bag of leftover American Jane blocks in my sewing room... what if I made a crazy quilt with them??? hmmm... well it might look like this...

I haven't got it all sewn together yet but I think this is the final layout... now there are blocks from at least 4 different quilts I've started and not completed or extra blocks from other quilts... all American Jane collections except for a scattering of backgrounds that are other collections... I know that a couple of blocks were part of a start of a Farmer's Wife SAL that I never  could keep up with...the big blocks were suppose to be flower tops for a Lori Holt quilt...  and the coffee cups, the baskets, the apples, the trees and the stars were part of a quilt in BH&G magazine that didn't get finished either... oh well... I've always wanted to do a quilt like this so I'm HAPPY!!!  I haven't touched the Fresh as a Daisy blocks... and I've only gotten one more 49 patch block done in the last 2 weeks... too distracted by the home improvement project.

A side note - I always like square quilts... and most of my quilts have been square quilts... till recently when every quilt has been a rectangle... hmmm... new direction??

So today is March 1... for me the beginning of Spring... I want to do a good cleaning in my house, but I'm not starting till Dan is done with the doors...  there is  fine saw dust everywhere ... but then there are other projects I have for him too... he use to be available only on weekends but now he's open during the week too... and a have a long list of little jobs I'd like him to tackle... he's happy for the work and I'll be happy to get things taken care of ... should be a busy Spring/Summer around here... I have 2 painting projects I want done... one inside and one outside... will need the weather to cooperate for that and the forecast while warmer has a lot of rain in it... ugh...

OH before I forget... the dahlia tubers are in at Costco... last year I bought 6 bags for a total of 60 tubers ...I bought some smaller bags here and there too but that was my bulk purchase last year... I dug up all the tubers but didn't tag them so when I re-plant those it will be a surprise what comes up... I plan to do better this year with labelling the dahlias... and to start that project I bought not 6 but 7 bags of tubers... I know I should hang my head in shame but instead I'm doing a little happy dance...

I thought that the varieties this year would be the same as last year but they are all different as far as I can remember... look at that ruffly purple and white one in the last bag... I think they are called cactus dahlias and I don't have any like that.... soooooo, that's my excuse for buying 7 bags... hard to pass them up at Costco prices... I plan to plant them closer together this year so I can have more flowers...I've seen pictures of gardens with the plants all packed together and I LOVE that look... now to order some zinnia seeds...

So new month, new plans ... I am going to focus on Elliott's stocking for the month of March... I need to go back to the needlepoint shop and get some more fibers and order the background wool... I know I have till October to finish it but I'd feel better the sooner it is done... I may give myself permission to do a little seasonal piece but the majority of my stitching hours need to be the stocking... I'm already drooling over the new crossstitch that is coming out at market... ALL of Brenda Gervais pieces are WONDERFUL... and I've seen some Kathy Barrick and Liz Mathews stuff I like too ... and Blackbird Designs doesn't usually reveal till the actual market and you know there will be something gorgeous there that I'll have to have ...


Well I will link up with Kathy's Quilts today... I should have some time to look at blogs this evening... doing lunch with my son and Elliott and then watching Elliott for a couple of hours so my son can get some work done... my DIL is out of town for a work event... and my son's job is really busy busy busy at the moment... happy to help out a bit...

Hope you have a great week ahead... I'm looking forward to newly painted doors and some warmer temperatures... and perhaps releasing  the Spring decor from their plastic bins... that would certainly make for a sunnier mood...

happy stitching-
carol fun