Minor injuries causing plans to change on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - so how was your week?  I had plans to work in my yard and spend some quality hours on the needlepoint stocking but none of that came about... minor injuries caused me to change my plans and that's okay... I'm happy with what I did get done... 

First issue was my left knee was killing me... I have some arthritis  in it and I got a shot of cortisone back in December but it had worn off... and since I was trying to baby my knee my right hip was hurting too... ugh... broke down and called the doctor and they were able to get me in the same day for another shot...yeah!!!...  told me to go home, elevate and ice it and take it easy... I decided working in the yard was probably not a great idea... I have purchased about 3 flats of annuals... mostly marigolds and some snapdragons... I got conflicting info from the local weather guy and the national weather guy... local guy says chance of frost has passed... national weather guy keeps sending me text messages with frost advisories... so I'm erring on the side of caution and I haven't planted a single thing... next week is Mother's Day... should be okay after that ... and there is much much much more I want to buy... I've only gotten 2 of the fancy petunias and I want about a dozen more...

Then somehow I got a split/cut on the corner of my thumb... seems like no big deal... except every time I went to work on the stocking it would split open ... lots of tugging with this piece... however cross stitching doesn't put that pressure on my thumb so I picked back up the Prairie Schooler Garden Alphabet  No. 61... I started this one back in March or April of last year... at the time I started it I thought I could stitch a square a day and finish it up in a month... which I could have done... if I had actually stitched a square a day... oh well it is done now...

I used a 32 ct linen I found in my stash ... a nice soft yellow with a gold cast... used the called for DMC and added a purple for the eggplant and the violets...need to get this one, along with 2 other larger pieces I have finished off to the framer... I'll put that on my list for this upcoming week...

And I engaged in a bit of sewing... as I said last week, I picked up a layer cake of Songbook at my local quilt shop, Homegrown Homesewn... I really LOVE the colors in this collection... the rusty oranges and the olive greens and the turquoises, and while I don't gravitate to the navy blues I really like it in this  collection... I'm even okay with the gray too (and I usually toss any gray pieces) but the gray is more of a gray blue so I'm okay with it.  I found a great pattern on MSQS that only required one layer cake...no extra background... it is called Skylight and you can see the video here... 

Now I did toss 2 of the 10" squares ... they were a tone on tone white and I thought they would just read too too light in this quilt... instead I subbed in 2 squares of olive green Grunge from my stash... I've very happy with the substitution..  and here's the top ...

now I was going to go back to HGHS and pick up some fabric for  a border but it turns out that the precuts are in stock but no one has any yardage yet... big sigh... I was gung ho to get this one finished... hopefully in a week or so I can get some more of this collection... I'm thinking the light tangerine... 3rd row up from the bottom, 3rd block in from the right ... for an inner border and then I haven't decided what color for the outer border but it will definitely be one of tossed leafy prints... navy??  turquoise??? not sure yet.

Soooo I switched my focus to a quilt that I started last year about this time... Simple Pleasures by Brenda Riddle which you can see here...   I put it away and I think I got again during the summer but it was banished to limbo in a plastic bin... I'm thinking third time is a charm... when I got it back out I realized I only needed two more 49 patch blocks and five more 9 patch blocks... yesterday I did one more 49 patch and three more 9 patches... the end is definitely in sight!!! Here's a messy shot... half on my design wall and half on the floor...

I want to get this one finished this week... I even found yardage for a pretty yellow back for it...you can see it peeking in the corner of this picture... it's time has come!!!

And I spent some time participating in the Blackbird Design Weekend Stitch Along on Instagram... you can see it here at this hashtag   #bbdweekendsal... it was the idea of Brenda and Laura of Brenda and the Serial Stitcher Flosstube fame... the idea is to spend some quality time with any Blackbird Design chart that you want... it could be a new start or an old project.. now I have plenty of pieces that fit into either category but I decided to go with one I started in 2017 and I'm not sure if it saw the light of day again till 2019 and now it has burst from it's plastic storage bag again... this is my start on the Loose Feather's series For the Birds...

there are nine charts in this series and I plan on doing them all on one GIANT piece of  32 ct linen that I painted... not sure why I put this away cause it is soooooo pretty... I LOVE the colors!!!  I'm happy with my progress ... almost have this complete...   I  still have to fill in the house and back stitch some vine-y stuff... some lazy daisies and some french knots.... this is chart #2, The Light Upon the Lawn...I may even be able to get some stitches in on chart # 3 - She Sights a Bird... it has a cute cat and an alphabet... it will go the left of this one. I've started n the middle at what will be the top and will work my way right and then left and then down. 

 Now I've seen version with a fancy dividing border between the 9 charts but I don't think my piece of linen is large enough to add it ... need to recalculate... but even if it doesn't get the dividing border it is still going to be a LARGE and lovely piece... 

The plan is to have the first weekend of every month to be the #bbdweekendsal... that would be nice... this is definitely a long term project but if I stitched on it a bit every month or so it would keep it in my radar... 

So I should have a bit more stitching time today... doing a birthday celebration for my younger son this afternoon... a carry out spread from Chipotle and some little individual pineapple upside down cakes from a local bakery... all I have to do it go pick up the food and take it to my older son's house ... where does the time go??  My younger son, my baby,  is 31 his birth was one of the most stressful days of my life...and I know that the birth of a child is always stressful but somehow we managed to cram in several over the top high stress situations within a  12 hour period... to start,  we bought a new car, we sold our house (we were being transferred from Ohio to California) and I had a premature baby with totally unanticipated major health issues... when I look back on it I wonder how I managed, but I did...things got very very messy with lawyers and doctors and me learning how to do  medical procedures I  had never known about... he has come a very long way... medical issues, developmental issues... we've seen a lot... it is so nice to be able to celebrate his birthday just the way he wants it. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... always enjoy looking at what is posted there on Sundays... and if you want to see how far I get with this #bbdweekendsal just check out my IG @carolfun53 and I'll post an update there.

Hope the weather is improving where ever you are... we are getting nice temperatures and everything is leafing out and getting so green... now I need to bring on the flowers!!

happy stitching-

carol fun