Bad blogger rambles on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - yes I have been a bad blogger... no real excuse, just unmotivated... lots of little things getting me down... aches and pains (it sucks to get old) ... the world in general (and isn't there a lot to be annoyed with there?)... but today I shall try to remedy the lack of posting with a little bit of this and that... and I will ramble a bit too...  oh if you do wonder where I am some days you can always check out my IG... carolfun53... I have put some stuff up there in the last couple of weeks... it is easy since I can do it all from my phone... the blog requires uploading and downloading and it doesn't happen as quickly as on my phone and the older I get the shorter my attention span... and it wasn't that long to begin with...

So it is August... too late for patriotic, too early for Fall... but I am longing for Fall... we've had over a week of 90 degree plus temperatures...ugh...  so many flowers to keep from dying...my water bill will be ENORMOUS!!!   But I put my red white and blue back in their plastic bins and got out some chicken stuff..  Here is the big shelfie...

lots of Pineberry Lane stuff... and until I started putting this together I hadn't noticed how much of it is stitched on very similar linen... 32 ct painted with Lemon Yellow and Apple Green Rit dye... at the top is my Prairie Schooler Garden ABC... I'm going to find a permanent location for it eventually... but right now I like it as part of a seasonal display.

And here is the other shelf unit...

Now that chicken block (from one of Lori Holt's books... as I remember Farm Girl Vintage... is new ... it makes use of the stand I re-discovered when I did the patriotic display... I want to use this more... it is nice to tuck some quilting in with the cross stitch and the knickknacks...  And the Welcome Summer piece from The Drawn Thread fits nicely at the bottom... I LOVE long narrow pieces so this gives me an idea for more display arrangement...  and on the bottom shelves at bit of Stitchin' with the Housewives... and  freebie from Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching... and more Pineberry Lane... can you tell I like that primitive style... but done up in lighter colors... hey, you can not go wrong with yellow... don't let anyone tell you it is a difficult color... it isn't ... it is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!   And the good Lord knows we need more HAPPY in life...

On the quilting front I got the baby quilt back from the long armer... Delinda at  TheTShirtQuiltCompany did this one ... love the panto with the hearts and it shows up so nice on the minky back... it has been gifted and now my deadline projects are down to 1 item... the Christmas stocking which I will finish ASAP... I stating this publicly to remind myself that the deadline to get this finished for Christmas is Oct 1... 

And I got borders on the Acorn Quilt I started last year... it is at Delinda's waiting to be quilted...

And I put together this quick top... 

the panel from Kitty Corn... a charm pack of 5" squares and a bit of yardage... this is a small quilt and it can't be any bigger than this to fit where I want to hang it... I had to cut the panel down quite a bit... otherwise half of the cute Kitty would be hidden behind the yellow chest where I want to hang it... I'm thinking a spider web panto in beige... need to get it off to be quilted. 

As for crossstitch... I picked up A Needleworker's Sampler from the framer and I'm very happy with this one...

And I got the urge to do some Fall/Thanksgiving stitching and found this piece, Give Thanks from Threadworks Primitives... 

I dyed this piece a while ago... love the gold color... if you want a color that isn't straight out of the bottle go to the Rit Dye website... here... they have color formulas that you can use to make just about any color you want... look at the drop down menu... it give you an idea of how much you will need...now I never use as much water as they recommend but it does give me an idea of the proportions I need and I wing it from there. I have another Threadwork Primitives piece I want to do that also has a Thanksgiving vibe... you can see it here... and I think I have enough of that gold fabric left to stitch this one too... fingers crossed.

As for stuff around the house I've been watering like crazy and I'm so ready for Fall... my window boxes are quite pathetic looking... I want to rip out the fading vinca and petunias and geraniums and put in some pumpkins... maybe another week or so... thinking about fake pumpkins... think if I put some sort of stake in the bottom I could secure them so they wouldn't blow away... a bigger $ outlay right now but I could use them for years to come... and hopefully I could pick up a bargain at Hobby Lobby or Micheals... ideas ideas... 

So I think the hot weather is breaking... should get some rain today...yeah... I'm mulling over what things I want to get to once I have the stocking finished... several projects that are already started, both stitching and quilting , are interesting and of course several new projects....I can't wait for Fall weather... and Fall decorating... it is my favorite time of year... I always think things will be cooler by the first of September, but  the reality is it won't get Fall- ish till probably the end of September, but I know I won't be able to wait that long to pull out my pumpkins...

Hope things are well with you... I have my up days and my down days... been praying a lot for our country and the world... glad I have my hobbies to distract me for  a while... I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts ... I think I might have some time today, to spend on the sunroom porch watching the birds and the squirrels and reading some blogs... that would be a nice  way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

happy stitching -

carol fun 

A Combo Slow Sunday/Design Wall Monday rambling, because...

I'm late late late... Hello all!  Where do the the hours go??? I've been semi- busy and partially productive in the last 2 weeks... along with spending waaaaaay too much time scrolling through IG and surfing the net... the mindless activity of someone too tired to get their butt out of their chair... that would be me... 

I usually try to get my Slow Sunday post together on Saturday so it can show up early, but obviously that didn't happen... and it is late in the day so I'm just going to post my Design Wall Monday here too. 

So what have I been up to?? Well, I've spent a lot of time outside in my yard watering, and it has been rewarding as the flowers look great... the dahlias are really coming into their own ... here's are some I picked the other day...

This one is my new favorite... I LOVE the orange-y glow

And this appeared in my yard last week... the Deer Park Beautification Award... 

This is the 4th time I've gotten this award in the 7 years I've lived here... and I am unashamedly smug about it...LOL... I get lots of compliments on my yard... people walking by while I'm watering and people who stop in their cars and roll down the window to tell me how pretty it looks... and I'm more than a bit competitive and every year when August rolls around, I may say it doesn't matter... but it DOES!!  I really really really really  want that sign in my yard!! So I'm busting my buttons that graces my yard...  

On the crafty front, I finished stitching A Needleworker's Sampler from WTN&T...

The charts has 3 dogs on it... and I like dogs but it didn't seem to fit with the needlework theme... so I replaced two of them with my initials ... and the 3rd one I replaced with a spool of thread...

I took this piece to the framer last Monday... hoping for a quick turn around... they've been having trouble getting in certain moldings and I've had a piece there going on 8 weeks or more... decided to try another frame and hope it comes in soon too... 

And today (Sunday) I turned my attention to a deadline project I needed to get to...  my handyman Dan who you know is like family to me is expecting his first grandchild... a little girl... and I've met his daughter who is expecting this little bundle of joy numerous times... a very sweet young lady... anyway her due date is early November... so I thought I still had time to put together a baby quilt... but I didn't think about there being a baby shower before that date... and the baby shower is scheduled for the end of August ... yikes... gotta get my butt in gear... which I did today...

It turns out that the mom-to-be's favorite color is also YELLOW!!!   So I thought a yellow and pink quilt would be appropriate... all of these fabrics came out of my stash... and look at this square... I did not fussy cut it... in fact I had a very small scrap of this left in my stash and this is how it came out... it was meant to be!!

 I got the idea for this design from Aunt Em's Quilts... you can check her out here... she has some wonderful ideas for scrap quilts... and here is the IG post that inspired me... she calls this Jumbo Scrappy Star... and you could make it any size you want... I went with a 3.5" finished square so with a small border it turned out 45" square... now to get some minkee for the back and then see if I can get someone to long arm quilt it for me quickly... otherwise I'll be the one quilting it and I really don't want to be that person... years ago when I lived in Modesto (over 30 years ago) I belonged to the nicest little guild... it had 2 meetings a month...one was a business meeting and the other was a program... and after each meeting lots of us would go to Marie Callendar's restaurant for pie... oh it was so much fun...anyway, where was I going with this story...oh yeah, back then most of us were quilting our own tops ... either by hand (OMG I can't believe I did actually do hand quilting ... never again)... or on a machine or maybe take it to a long arm quilter who had about 5 panto designs... anyway one of the ladies in the guild was always turning out the most beautiful tops but she never got around to quilting them and she declared that she wasn't a quilter... she was a topper... and I'm a topper too!!! It is great that there are so many long arm quilters now with so many beautiful pantos to choose from... and I'd much rather piece a top than quilt a top...

And I finally got around to a guilt project that has been hanging over my head... I got my furnace/storage room re-arranged and re-organized... now it ain't pretty but it is certainly easier to access all my stuff...and I have a LOT OF STUFF!!!  I think I have entered the realm of "organized hoarder"... but I prefer the "curator of good stuff"...LOL

On the right, a wall of bins with seasonal decor ...and in front of them baskets filled with my seasonal crossstitch pieces... to the back lots and lots of yarn, sorted and in bins on top of a huge heavy dresser that belonged to my sainted Grandma... trust me it is there even if you can't see it...

And on the other side of the room another piece of furniture I have no space upstairs for, but I don't want to get rid of it.. on top lots and lots of cute tier trays... below... lots and lots of picture frames... I'm a sucker for a cute picture frame that is 50% off!!

It amazes even me how much crap great stuff  I've hauled into this house in the last 8 years... but I LOVE LOVE LOVE all my stuff... I tell myself that when I shuffle off this mortal coil it will be easier for my kids to get rid of all this stuff because it is organized and largely in plastic bins... oh how I adore a good plastic bin...LOL!!!  Now I can set up the appointment for the Duke guy to come inspect the inside meter... he can actually walk up to it!!!   There is a nice size area in the middle of the room that is completely empty... and while it is compelling to fill it up, I'm going to try to restrain myself... for a while... 

Soooo... next week has filled up... haircut for my son, babysitting, dental appointment for my son, appointment to get the oil changed in my car, lunch with a friend... and the things I want to do here at the house.  I finally got my patriotic stuff put away and I've hauled up (ok actually my son Nick hauled up) my chicken stuff... but I haven't gotten anything arranged yet... and I need to get back to the stocking... I found a great font for the lettering and it is only 5 letters long... wanted get that finished by the end of the month...and I want to stitch some smalls from the new release by WTN&T  Jack o Lantern Jublilee...you can see it here... and there are two more quilt tops I want to get to... oh maybe 3... one is Fall and the other 2 are Halloween... need more hours in a day... and then I shouldn't waste them mindlessly scrolling through IG...oh well...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and tomorrow I'll link up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making... Hope you have a great week ahead... typical August weather forecast here, hot and a chance of rain most days... fingers crossed for the rain so I don't have to water every day...

happy stitching-

carol fun