Waiting for SECOND SPRING.... on a Slow Stitching Sunday...

      So last time I was here I thought Spring was in the air... but it was actually FIRST SPRING... we've returned to SECOND WINTER...  it turns out snow flurries were still  lurking ... ugh... my daffodils and hyacinths don't seem to mind and lots of other stuff is poking up... it will be a surprise when it blooms as I'm not sure what I planted in what spots... ahhhh... the joys of gardening... and the colder weather didn't stop me from buying some new plants for my yard... 2 little shrubs called Anna's Magic Ball... click here to see them...  love that chartreuse color ... and I splurged and bought a tree form lilac called a Boomerang Lilac... you can see it here... it is supposed to bloom TWICE a season once it's established... gonna have it planted right by the front door of the sunroom porch space... the fragrance should be wonderful!!! Now for us to move onto SECOND SPRING... LOL

As for crafty stuff... I did get the rest of my Spring decor out... I'll show a couple of spots... and I've been doing a lot of cross stitching and a bit of knitting but I haven't turned my sewing machine on for  weeks... no mojo... I thought it would come back after I cleaned out the storage room ... I had everything piled into the sewing area so it was messy messy messy... but now it nice and neat but I dithering between projects... still have the Momo quilt on my wall... it's getting late to do a tulip quilt... I have a patriotic quilt languishing, just needs the rows sewn to each other... might want to start a quilt with my Jen Kingwell fabrics... should work on quilt for my son... bought a new quilt book with layer cake patterns... I have LOTS of layer cakes... and while all of these projects are chattering, I'm just not feeling like sewing. 

So lets turn to what I have been feeling like doing... cross stitch Spring-y stuff... This first piece is from a new to me Ukrainian designer Stitchy Princess Black...here's a link to her Etsy... her patterns are pdf so you have immediate gratification... this one is called Easter Rabbits...

now if you look at the pattern it is cute but very brown... I wanted something more Spring-y... so I stitched this on 32 ct linen I dyed with Rit Petal Pink... changed the bunnies to white ones and eliminated the acorn and pine cones and subbed in more flowers....

So here's my wall display... 

The quilt is from years ago... Jelly & Jam pattern from Fig Tree Co. and  Verna fabric from Kate Spain...  in the tier tray below Be Hoppy is Easter from WTNT Jelly Bean Jubilee and below that another WTNT piece  Holiday Hoopla Easter... 

And I FFO'd  Be Hoppy by Salt & Pepper Stitching...here's a link to her shop... I'm very happy with this one too... and I wanted a pink "frame" for this piece but had no pink paint... so I mixed my own with some pearlescent white and red and I loved how it turned out... it is just an inexpensive  8 x 8" board with a clip from either Hobby Lobby or Michaels... I took off the clip so I'd just have the board... I don't think I've ever done anything this pink before... but I LIKE IT!!! 

here's Easter from Jelly Bean Jubilee...

and the cute bunny from  Holiday Hoopla...

And here is the side shelf unit...

The new pink Easter Rabbits is keeping company with a gift from a friend....

below I have a basket of tulips with Spring from Lizzie Kate...

on the bottom shelf a tiny lady with a GIANT tulip... that's from Pineberry Lane... 

and other assorted knickknacks...the mercury glass duck is one of my favorite Spring pieces...

I'll show more Spring decor next time I update here... in the meantime I got lots of goodies from the Nashville Needlework Market...

I have NO self control...LOL...  as you can see some WTNT, BBD, Jeanette Douglas, Lila's Studio, Hands on Designs, Chessie & Me and Plum Street... there is so much talent out there!!! 

And you know how I love organization... my philosophy is that you can have waaaaay more stuff if you organize it!!  The other day I stumbled across this over the door organizer... you can see it here on Amazon... they have a couple of colors and for some reason the green was the least expensive and I love green... and the room I put this in is painted green... in fact I refer to it as the green room... very creative aren't I?  LOL ... anyway here it is in action...

I love how I can now see all my Rit dyes... before they were in a big box and I had to root through it every time I was looking for a color... and now I can see what I have and that I have multiples of some colors...hey, don't ever want to run out of Lemon Yellow or Apple Green!!

So don't know exactly what the next week or two will bring... still dealing with dental issues... I think it is going to be a year long process, but at least at the moment, knock on wood, nothing hurts... got some outdoor projects I'm waiting for contractors to do... new lighting and a new raised bed for my dahlias... I've bought a ton of dahlia tubers... it will be a surprise when they all show up on my doorstep to join the 9 or 10 or maybe 11 bags I bought at Costco and all the ones I dug up... now all the ones I dug up won't be viable, but usually a good portion are... you can never have too many dahlias!!!

Hope things are going well for you... the precarious state of the world certainly makes me and I'll bet most of you uneasy... I keep praying ... that good sense makes a return to this planet...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... and if you are inclined and are interested in samplers from the past check out this hashtag on IG... #xstitchsamplersunday....  I started it a couple of weeks ago for stitchers to showcase those treasures we stitched years ago... we always show our latest creations but those we did in the past are fun to revisit and reminisce about...  

happy stitching-

carol fun 

PS... I know I missed my semi-annual rant about Daylight Saving Time... I still HATE it... Fingers crossed that they will move to stop it... heard it won't be till 2023... I never understand why if something isn't working you can't stop it NOW, TODAY... why wait days, weeks, months... if it isn't working now then get rid of it... so there's my rant... maybe it will be my last one...on this subject...LOL

I can feel it in the air.... on a Slow Sunday....

Hello all... wandering back in here... oh yesterday was a GLORIOUS Saturday here in SW Ohio... sunny, high of 72... now it was also quite windy but I know that's because a rain front is on its way for today... and there a forecast of more seasonal temperatures for later in the week, but as I type this I can feel SPRING is on it way. 

I'm writing this on Saturday so it can post early on Sunday and right now I'm sitting in my recliner on the sunroom porch... and this is my view....

I put away the snowmen and broke out the bunnies!!! I love having seasonal decor, but the actually changing of the knickknacks and whatnots takes more and more time... I'm getting old... and I don't like it one bit!!!  Insert stompy foot & frowny face... I'm blessed that my younger son totes things up and down the stairs for me ... he's a lifesaver for my knees... and in years past I could put away the outgoing stuff, get out the "new" stuff and arrange it all in one day... that ain't happening anymore... one day to put things away... and then a couple of days to get the "new" stuff where I like it... I do try to change things up here and there... There are always some items that are so large they can only land in one place but I work on mixing things up.  I patted myself on the back because the only really "new" item I purchased was one small pink bunny... who will go great with the display I'm going to make with this cross stitch when I get it done...

maybe today I can finish it up... This is Be Hoppy by Salt and Pepper Stitching... you can see her stuff here on Etsy... I changed a couple of colors to go with the lemon yellow linen but overall such nice clear Easter-y colors... 

I haven't made any progress on quilting... here are the blocks I have sewn so far for Vanishing Time... and here's the link for how it is constructed... it is a disappearing 9 patch variation... I'm liking this A LOT... but just haven't felt like sewing... but then the events of the last week haven't been easy to understand... I'm sure I'm not the only one who's still having good days and bad days... and sometimes both in the same day... ooops... wandered off there... back to the blocks...

My excuse for not having anything new to show is life has been hectic on the personal side... how did I end up with sooooo many appointments in February???  Mammogram, semi-annual eye clinic visit, dentist, endodontist, dentist again, semi-annual visit for my son, dentist for him... someone once told me when you retired you fill the time up with doctor's visits... I laughed... they were dead serious... and now I understand... it's that getting old stuff again... my knee hurts, my teeth need fixing, and a re-occurring problem with a blocked salivary gland which leaves me looking like John McCain... has filled up lots of hours... 

BUT.... I'm headed into March with a plan to sew and stitch more and spend more time sitting in my sunroom porch than I do sitting in medical offices... 

Lots of stitching I want to do and the light out here when the sun is shining can not be beat... 

Here's another display I made... The quilt is my version of a Lori Holt tulip pattern... lots of hot bright colors...

a bit of Fiestaware, a cute stitched bunny... don't remember where he came from... a tier tray of colorful eggs and the little chick in the egg display is a gift card from Target... got it for nothing...cheap decor...LOL

This quilt use to be my palette ALL the time... but I'm doing lots of different palettes these days... Momo... vintage 70's, avocado green with some harvest gold...American Jane.... clear crayon colors but not intense... Tilda... soft pastels... Jen Kingwell... 50's prints ... there is just so many pretty collections... I need to spend more time with a needle and thread and less time on the internet... I keep telling myself I'm burning valuable daylight but like this blog... I get chatty with lots of people trying to fix all the ills of the world...needless to say we haven't been too successful...

Well I hope next week brings brighter weather and a brighter outlook for the world... I keep saying my rosary... are you old enough to remember praying the rosary for the conversion of Russia?  I have a memory of dear Sister Dorothy telling us about this in the 2nd grade... that was a looooooong time ago... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and spend some time seeing what everyone else is up to...

happy stitching-

carol fun