Hello - it was brought to my attention that I haven't been giving this blog any attention in the past couple of weeks... so I'll try to rectify the situation today... April has been busy... a birthday party for Elliott... he turned 3... Easter... a bunch of lunches and dinners with friends...two outdoor projects around my house... dental appointments... ugh... I could have done without that last category, but it appears they will continue into May, June, July, etc.... double ugh...
As for what I've been doing crafty wise I've been following a couple of messages I received recently... first message was from a Flosstube video where the missive was you should stitch one what YOU like... don't be influenced by what everyone else is doing... and the second message was a remark from a dear friend that maybe I should focus just on cross stitch... and that's what I've been doing... I have several quilt projects waiting for me, but I'm just not feeling it... but cross stitch has me in its clutches... so I've been stitching stitching stitching... and I'm sticking with 32 count... I've been swayed to pull out some 40 ct. and I've been working on this piece for a while...
Bower Birds ... ok ... I was going to insert a picture here but for the life of me I can not figure out what safe place I put this project in... I live in a small house... and I pride myself on my organization but I've looked everywhere I thought it would be... maybe this THE sign that 40 ct is not for me...LOL
I did finish up this piece... Brite Birds by Kathy Barrick... it is a freebie...
Rit Apple Green dye for the linen and for the floss... lots of bits and pieces of Gentle Arts Dried Thyme... I LOVE that color but I must have at least 10 different dye lots and they range from olive to pine... and not enough of any one dye lot to start a new project with... but I think it worked out well here... I stitched the extra bird so I could use this frame I found in my stash... and yes along with a stash of patterns, and flosses and linen I have a stash of picture frames... I think this one came from Michaels... it had black trim and black clips... I took them off and painted all the black trim with 3 different shades of green... I like how it turned out...
And I banished the bunnies and broke out the birds for a re-fresh of my decorating... here's one of my displays... I LOVE all the green and turquoise...Up top with my Brite Birds is my snippet from the chart Bobbin' Along by Notforgotten Farms and a little pin pillow from Little House Needleworks called Alphabet Birdhouse... I did on 28 ct over one... like 40 ct. I don't think I'll be doing that again either.. LOL...
I even FFO that little HOPE freebie from HellofromLizMatthews... I like how it sits in that little bird tray...
And here's another little FFO...and I do mean little... this is only about 1.5" x 2.5"...
they are the tulips from the WTNT Seasons of the Heart booklet for Spring... and the pincushion is a recent purchase from Avi8rlady... here's a link to her etsy shop.... you could use it by your sewing machine to hold pins or clips but I like it for my display and it is perfect for showing off some of the polymer clay pins I have from Just Another Button Company!
Switching back here to stitched but not FFO'd pieces is my Spring from Seasons of the Heart booklet by WTNT...
I dyed the linen with Rit Golden Yellow and Tan which gave me a lovely honey color, and then I splotched some more Tan on it... turns out Tan had a lot of green in it which I like.. using DMC for this and I plan to display it on a spool like the chart picture...I'm planning a whole display with these pieces from Keeper of the Pins by WTNT
and some other sewing/tomato charts I have in my stash...
And if that wasn't enough stitching I decided I needed to do Spring from Prairie Schooler No.50 .... I've previously stitched Winter and Fall...
now this is on Aida... and I suspect this is 18 ct not 16 ct as using 2 ply is a little snug... but I know I wouldn't like 1 ply at all... I painted this quite a while ago and re-discovered it when I got out the chart... it was waiting there for me... this is nice comfort stitching.
Right now I can't get enough of the cross stitching.... so I'm riding this wave... I already picked out another new project I will start on Mother's Day... it has been my tradition for years to start a new piece on Mother's Day... my gift to me... I'm going to do the Green Pear Sampler by From the Heart... you can see it here... I'm even treating myself to the silks for this because I love the muted look of this piece and while she gives you a lovely DMC conversion it is more intense...
As for my outdoor projects I've finally got my landscape lighting installed... and I love it... I think I'm going to have him come back in the Fall and add a few more path lights... they look like this and shine the light down so at night they illuminated my flowers... the daffodils looked great before they faded.
And I have a brand new LARGE planter box for my dahlias...
this is 4 feet wide and 24 ft long and about 20" high... along with the dirt I had, I added 3 more cubic yards of mushroom compost... I'm hoping to put some veggies in it too... trying carrots and maybe some cabbage and leaf lettuce... we shall see...the box in the bed is the first of I think 5 more outstanding dahlia tuber orders... I lost track of what I bought so it will be a surprise when they arrive... LOL I am chomping at the bit to get outside and play in the yard... my empty window boxes are taunting me... but even though today is GORGEOUS... 80 degrees and sunny ... the rest of the week isn't as nice... still some 30 degree nighttime temperatures... last year I got ahead of myself and had things planted up by the first week in May...only to have to unplant stuff and put it in my garage overnight for a couple of days... I'm really really really gonna try to stop myself from planting till mid May... that's when it is suppose to be safe from frost around here.
Well next week we celebrate my younger son's birthday and then Mother's Day is after that... I need to shop for a patio set ... think I found one I like for the price I want to pay at Krogers... I've already cruised a couple of garden centers but I didn't buy anything yet... I am enjoying the sunny days out on the sunroom porch... so glad I enclosed this little space... it does have terrific light for stitching... and I'm planning on doing lots more of it!
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing check me out in IG at carolfun53... I try to post something there a couple of times a week...
I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today...even when I don't post I always check her out every Sunday...
Hope you are have time to stitch or do whatever it is YOU WANT TO DO!!
happy stitching-
carol fun
