Squirrels on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello ... Hope you are all doing well... things here are ... squirrelly... literally and figuratively... LOL.. 

Oh I had lots of plans to sew but that didn't materialize. In the last 3 weeks, 2 of my 3 sewing machines have decided they've had enough of me and quit working. Now in their defense they are both at least 25 years old and have seen a LOT of sewing.  When the first machine, #1 of my beloved Jukis started with a glitchy foot pedal I was able to baby it for a while. But then it stopped working all together. It is currently at the repair shop but they are projecting 6 weeks out before I can get it back... I do hope they can fix it but I have some doubts. 

So I switched to my back up Juki... which is even older than my #1 Juki... and after a few days it no longer wants to pick up the bobbin thread... arrgghh... I'm not in the mood to take another machine to be repaired... so I switched to my 3rd machine... an older Janome... and it works fine ... but it isn't a Juki... it is slooooooooow....and every time I go to back stitch my right hand instinctively reaches for the lever on the right side of the machine... and it isn't there... 

What to do? What to do?  I know this is a first world problem... I'm blessed to own so many sewing machines... don't judge... I come from a family that believes having 3 cars is no where near enough vehicles for even one person... when my brother passed he owned over 45 cars... and sewing machines are waaay cheaper than cars...LOL ... So to remedy my situation I went online and purchased a brand new Juki!! 

Oh and along with dealing with getting a new machine, Dan my handyman was finally done with a year long renovation project he's been doing and had time to come and take care of a few things for me. He repainted the bathroom... I think this is the 4th time its been painted in 9 years due to repairs being made to the ceiling & tile work... and yes I have no idea what that has to do with sewing machines... but getting back to where I was headed, I decided I wanted a TV in my basement sewing studio (oh I do like the word studio... sounds so fancy...LOL)... and Dan installed it yesterday... its one of those new fangled ones that picks up all my streaming channels...here's the view from my chair...

Ordered it late on Tuesday and it arrived on Friday... got it all set up ... and I have a quilt all cut out and ready to go.. but it isn't any of one of the projects I spoke of 3 weeks ago... a shiny "squirrel" of a Halloween project caught my eye... 2 x 4 blocks done is Halloween fabrics, of which I have a LOT... Here's a couple of blocks ...

you can find the pattern here, a free tutorial by Film in the Fridge... I've made this pattern before using ALL yellows... its on my bed as I type this... I really like this version as the pieces and blocks are bigger and you have more space to show off novelty prints... some of my favorite fabrics. 

As for other squirrely things going on here... I've been spending lots of time watering the garden... I was given a Deer Park Beautification Award again this year by my little town... so I feel obligated to keep things looking nice... click here to see a video I made walking around the yard... but it is that time of year when it is getting harder. Petunias have said adios as are some zinnas... the small low ones are getting crispy and the tall ones have powdery mildew...sigh...  And while I'm watering I'm looking at all these plants and thinking...you are all gonna die and I'm going to have to clean out all these beds... arghhh... and I will need to do it as soon as I can, because I have 2 outdoor projects... some additional landscape lighting and having the shutters repainted  that can't be done till the beds are cleaned up... 

The dahlias are looking good.. hopefully they'll hang in there through September. I'm cutting several every day and bringing them inside to enjoy.

On the decorating scene...well it's too late for patriotic and too early for Fall... so I'm doing one of my favorite fill ins.... CHICKENS!!!   Here's some pics of what I've done... definite American Jane/Lori Holt vibes in the quilts... I do like the mix of AJ fabrics with Lori Holt patterns. 

The featured wall quilt and tier tray...

The tier tray...

A cute tin toy... the chicken peck and spin...

and a toy rubber chicken from the Target Dollar spot... I couldn't resist the party hat and polka dot sweater...

The large display shelves...

Lots of Pineberry Lane and some getting to be vintage Debbie Mumm ceramic ware. 

The small display shelves... 

 And I tucked in cut fresh flowers from my garden  in those pretty little yellow vases!

The new cross stitch additions are:

The Queen's Garden by The Scarlet House... I really love the little bees and the pompom trim

A freebie from Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching called Summer Chicks,.. you can see it here.  

And check out her postage stamp Autumn SAL... you can see it here... soooo cute... I wanna stitch this too!!

And more from the cross stitch front there is an actual squirrel... this one from WTN&T Autumn's Acorn Gathering...

I'm almost done with him and I have fabric painted for his partner.

I did finish one square from Fragments in Time by Summer House Stitche Workes...excuse the wrinkles... not going to try to take another pic as I'm having difficulties getting these to post as it is.... grrr...

and there's a small start on the second one. I'll be ignoring this for a while till I get the Fall stuff stitched... trying to set aside maybe one evening a week to concentrate on sampler stitching so I can finish up this one and some others I've started. 

Well as I'm writing this on Saturday afternoon we've just had a glorious rain storm... came down in buckets... more on the radar so probably no watering for Sunday either... yeah!! I do enjoy sitting on my sunroom porch when it is raining... very peaceful... and the Lord knows I can use a little more peace... current events have not contributed to a sense of calm, now have they?

Anyway... the week ahead looks pleasant. Dinner with friends on Monday night... watching Elliott on Tuesday... he's all into coming to Grandma's house... every Tuesday he's sitting on their front stoop waiting for me to come and get him. I think having the TV downstairs will be nice for him too... I may get a bit more sewing done ... win-win... 

Well I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... always pretty things to see there. I hope things are well in your world and that you have time to stitch and quilt and knit and crochet and do all the FUN stuff... 

happy stitching-

carol fun