Circling back around on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Edited to add:  I've had a couple of emails saying that people are having troubles leaving comments... I don't know why... perhaps because I'm trying to avoid changing over to the new Blogger format... if you want to leave me a message you can do so at   -  cfunliu@aol.com

Hope you are having a good day!!


Hello all - don't know where the time goes to...the days fly by and I don't seem to have a lot to show for them. It has been hot here... really HOT... upper 90s... ugh... my utility bill is going to resemble the national debt... and then there is the water bill... OMG... I've been watering and watering and watering... the flowers are looking pretty good... the grass not so much... taking on a definitely brown-ish hue... I threw in the towel on the monster pumpkin vines that were growing on both sides of the house... they were going gangbusters... largest plants in my yard... but they were taking over the new boxwood shrubs, and the daisies, and the zinnias and were moving on into the lawn... I wish  had more land to grow something this large but its not gonna work on my little lot... I've got some pictures of my yard at the moment... things are filling in nicely... I'm happy with this little corner... a new spot of planting...  peach and pink geraniums, white cleome, purple delphinium, pink gomphrena. and those little seedlings are going to be zinnas... I think I planted the pink ones there... we shall see...

I'm loving the marigolds... still have a couple of bald spots but a good overall look and I LOVE the cannas in the middle... great stripe-y leaves!!

The coleus in this planter overwhelmed everything else I planted in it...

Not sure why the dahlias seem to be lagging... but it is probably the heat.  The ones  I planted in the raised bed are still on the short side... other assorted dahlias I've planted by the foundation of the house seem to be taller.  This variety is prolific... I planted the tubers 3 years ago... and I never got around to digging them up... they've come back again and again ... lots of pretty pink dahlias!

Mother Nature does what ever she darn well pleases.

And circling back around, I've replanted the window boxes... I've never done that before, but the petunias were dying ... don't know why ... same thing happened last year, they didn't last the whole season. Since I went with a random mish mash I continued with that style. I've added in some vinca and some angelonia in pink, purple and white... we'll see if this can hold up till September.

On the crafty side I fully finished (FFO'd) this adorable piece by Melisa @pinkernpunkinquilting...she calls it Bees, Blooms and Chickens and you can find it here on her blog.

Now as always I changed a few things... the linen is 32 ct I painted that was in my stash... I just used DMC flosses I had ... I did the bee skeps in satin stitch and added smyrna crosses in the middle of the flowers. As for finishing I made a mat from cardstock that I die cut with that scalloped edge and added a bow from ribbon that has been maturing in my stash for probably 8 or 9 years... it is GOOD to have a stash of crafty stuff... VERY VERY GOOD!!

I stitched up this Yankee Doodle Hat from Lizzie Kate...

I was going to stick a real feather in the hat but it overpowers the design so I will stitch the feather on the chart ... gotta go find where I stuck my copy of the chart... sheesh... this is what happens when you straighten things up... which I spent several hours doing the other day... things are neater but I don't know where stuff has relocated too... oh well.

And I'm circling back around to the 5 quilts patiently waiting in my sewing studio for bindings...  you can see a snippet the two latest here and here on Quilting by David's IG account...  my goal for the upcoming week is to get the binding on ONE of them... maybe two... then I'll take some pictures... I also dug out the two Christmas tops I made back in January... I have the material for the  backs for both... just need to sew them up and send them off to Quilting by David.

And I am also circling back around to the Christmas stocking I'm doing for Elliott. I put it aside when the Covid hit because I didn't want unpleasant memories attached to it... you understand, don't you?  You can look at a sampler or a quilt or a sweater and remember what was going on when you worked on it...and my attitude during the lockdown was not positive ... and it still isn't 100% positive but I know if I want this done by October I have to work on it NOW... I picked it back up and I will say that I'm more decisive on what fibers and colors I'm using... primarily because I HAVE to work with the stash of needlepoint fibers that I already own... the little shop I bought the canvas from has just re-opened, but for appointments only. I'm going to call next week and set up one so I can order the wool I need for the background. Some of the fibers I'm using are 30 years old... really... that is the last time I did needlepoint on a regular basis... when I discovered counted cross stitch my needlepoint interest waned dramatically... and until the request for a stocking for Elliott it hadn't resurfaced at all. I think I'm a good needlepointer but as I've aged I forgot that it is harder on your hands than cross stitch. Pulling thick fibers through canvas can be a struggle... my hands are tired after a couple of hours, but I will keep going.  Here's where I am today.. you have to click on it and make it bigger to see the details...

last week I did the bear and the train in Santa's sack... and I did the trim on Santa's coat and the snow in the windows and I  figured out what fibers I'm going to use on the garland on the tree.

Here's a pic of the back ... shows how much ground I've covered so far...

I'm going to switch on and off with cross stitch... think I'll work on something I've already got started, although the temptation to start something new is strong and I ordered 4 new charts last week. So many many many pretty things I want to make.

I hope you are all hanging in there with the Covid stuff... I'm still ticked off over the whole thing... I realized the other day that the "15 days to flatten the curve" has now extended to over 120 days... the county I'm in has a mandatory mask rule... I'm okay with it... I wear one when I go into places, I'm just not totally convinced that they are super effective... I'm a skeptic at heart... I ask waaay too many questions.  You know like what is the criteria you are using for making mask wearing mandatory?  And what is the criteria you will use to determine they aren't needed any longer?  I like facts and figures but you can find them to support either side of debate these days. I read a great comment from Scott Adams... he said we are trying to make decisions based on facts and the experts, but it has turned out that the facts aren't accurate and the experts lie... so what does one do??

Okay, so I have lots of crafty plans for the week and not a lot of obligations... there is babysitting on Tuesday and probably a nice lunch out with a friend or two.  My general contractor job is done. My son and daughter-in-law's house has been freshly painted and spiffed up and goes on the market this week. I'm thinking it will be sold by next week. The inventory of homes to buy is very low here and the demand is still very high and interest rates are low... makes for a very competitive market.  The last year in this neighborhood houses have been selling like hotcakes... almost all have an offer in less than 48 hours for the either pretty close to the asking price or even above. Not easy for buyers, you have to jump right away if there is something you want and mulitple bids are commonplace. Fingers crossed  and saying a prayer that it goes quickly and smoothly for them.

Well I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and spend some time seeing what everyone else is up to. Here's hoping we all have a great week ahead...

happy stitching-
carol fun