Creeping into Spring on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - another couple of weeks have whizzed by me... my crafty mojo moved from crossstitch to quilting for a while .... and the weather has me all discombobulated.   The weather has been nice... very nice... and it makes me uneasy as it is waaaaaaaaaaaay too early to be this nice in SW Ohio.   Here are the daffodils on the south side of the house... in full bloom...

and I have some of those petite irises in bloom too...

and I can see my hyacinths and alliums coming up.  We've had several record high days in the low 70s... makes me want to get out there and plant stuff!!  But I know all too well that we could get a frost up to the middle of May ... and that is what?  10 weeks from now... that's a long time.... Instead I was in Costco the other day  and they had just put out the bags of dahlias... so I got a few... a couple... oh I got A LOT!!  

I got these...

and these...

and these...

and there is a 10th bag I didn't  photograph.... that makes 80 new dahlia tubers ... oh and I forgot I ordered some online too... somewhere around 40- 50 more... yikes!  I'm not sure how all the tubers in the ground fared with the really bitter cold snap we had... if it hadn't been for those couple of days this winter has so far been very mild. Fingers crossed that they come back....

As for crafty stuff I got 2 quilts done in the past 2 weeks... the first one is a hold over from last year.... this is Vanishing Time done in my beloved Momo fabrics... here's a link to the construction of the block...

now I made mine starting with a 9 patch  block of 5" squares... one with 9 lights and another with 9 darks... I went ahead and cut them into quarter square triangles so I could mix things up more.  When I got done my blocks were about 13"... but they were a bit wonky... there is lots of bias in the middle of these blocks so I trimmed them down to 12.5'.... I ended up putting 1' finished sashing in because it was a pain in the butt to get the intersection points to match... even with the cornerstones and sashing I still had to finagle the corners...but that said... I still like it. Dropped it off at Delinda's last week... staying with the theme of time I chose a panto called Clockwork... 

Then in a burst of manic energy I made this Giant Disappearing 9 Patch with my American Jane fabrics...

This is the 3rd quilt I've made with this pattern. I like it because you start with a 10" square and you can show off those special prints.  For this version I started with a treasured vintage layer cake of Potluck... probably my favorite collection of American Jane as it has the tape measure and little chick prints. I picked out my favorite ones for the 10' blocks and then cut another layer cake in half... the collection called StoryTime... so I had 5" x 10" pieces. I made the 5" "cornerstone" out of the tape measure print in the brown colorway... This quilt is around 85" square and you can make this in a couple of hours. It took me longer to lay out and rearrange the fabrics than it did to sew it together. It went off to Delinda too!

And I've been working on Nick's new quilt... have all of the HSTs made and all the rest of the pieces cut. This block is HUGE!!!  32" square... only need 4 blocks for the top and then some HST sashing...

I've got the 2nd star halfway done....I'm using the pattern Cinnamon Stars which you can see here. 

As for crossstitch I put down the Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Christmas and the Summer House Stitche Workes Fragments in Time 2022 and picked up Blackbird Designs O Joyous Day... 

Very close to finished... have to fill in those flowers at the bottom and there are a couple of rows of satin stitch.  I'm going to replace the "O Joyous Day" with some sort of little phrase... perhaps " My soul is fed by my garden"... somehow those flowers bigger than the house make me think if my house and my yard. I was looking at pictures I took last summer.... by August the house looked like it was going to be swallowed up by the flowers.

Which leads me to what I'm looking forward to getting from the upcoming Nashville Needlework Market. Brenda Gervais has some wonderful charts... .. first is these bunnies... look how dapper he is with his checked pants!

and then these robins... 

I do like my animals nattily dressed...LOL

And this sampler from Teresa Kogut is gorgeous!

Totally reminds me of my home... I may make the house a bit more yellow but those flowers are perfect.

And somehow I think I need this one too...

There should be a version to include fabric and yarn too!  ROFL!!

As for decorating I got all the snowmen decor put away yesterday and my son helped me haul out all my Easter/Spring stuff. Right now I'm surrounded by  66 qt Sterlite bins filled with quilts and knickknacks... anymore I have to keep telling myself "Rome wasn't built in a day" and " Carol, you can't do all the decorating in one day either. "   I have Sunday/Monday/Tuesday to get it done. Elliott's coming on Wednesday and while I love him to pieces I don't need his "help" with this project. 

I did do a couple of small displays for Valentine's Day....

These are the 2 new pieces I did... the top pillow is called February Basket from Cosford Rise Stitchery and 

LOVE is from Calico Confectionery. 

Been thinking... which always gets me into trouble... about life... a sweet neighbor of mine...only 4 years older than me passed away last week from cancer... so sad... and each passing month has me experiencing another ache or pain... finally got some of my dental work done, a bridge... nice to have that chewing surface back, but had pain for about 2 weeks in the tooth it's attached to... has subsided... glad of that. My arthritic left knee is acting up. Trying to hold off on another cortisone shot until its a bit closer to when I can work in the yard.  And my right hand, also arthritis, has been bugging me too... I'm falling apart a piece at a time and I'm feeling old... and I guess I am old. I'll be 70 this year...how did that happen??? Also have had a stretch of time here with money leaving faster than it is coming in... taxes, my teeth and last week I had to get a new set of tires for my car, oh, and new glasses for Nick.  I have the money but it isn't the kind of spending that brings any joy... Hope March can be a quiet and inexpensive month. 

At the moment, the week ahead looks fairly quiet... a semi-annual checkup for my son, and Elliott on Wednesday, and maybe lunch with a friend. I like the quiet weeks... last week got crazy busy and  even  with me re-scheduling  some stuff.   Things have a way of piling up when you're not looking. 

So today I'm going to sit and stitch for a while and watch some Flosstube videos and do a little decorating. Each season I try to move things around a bit but anymore lots of pieces only fit in one spot due to their size. I looked at my displays from last year and I really like what I did then... might not change much around. I do have a new piece or two of cross stitch to add... and a couple more Easter knickknacks. I wanted a new Spring wall quilt for the living room but I never got around to it.. I realize I need to start like 6 months in advance to get things done in time... may still play with the tulip quilt I wanted done... and then it could be done for next year. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... always pretty things to see there... I hope you have a great week ahead... Spring officially arrives in 22 days... around here the trees are already budding and as I said earlier I already have  nice crop of daffodils... with a forecast of 60 and 70 degree days next week it sure feels like Spring!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Detours down Memory Lane on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - not sure what to start talking about as I've got a million thoughts running through my head simultaneously... yeah it is quite noisy in my noggin... anyway I'll just jump in here and if you hadn't already gotten the idea thing are going to be random with several detours down memory lane.

Weather... always a good topic... perfectly suited to dither about... we have been having less gray days.. YEAH!! ... and it has been unseasonably warm... which I like ... but at the same time it is unnerving... last week I sat out on my un-heated, un -insulated sunroom porch and it was 62 degrees... in early February... in SW Ohio... unheard of!! I have daffodils that are blooming!!!

I don't remember that ever been the case in the almost 10 years I've lived here. Usually at this time of year I'm  freezing my butt off and longing for Spring... right now I'm contemplating putting away my snowman decor... and I have NEVER put my snowmen away before March.... the only thing stopping me is getting up the energy to do it... and a sneaky suspicion that if I do put them away we'll get walloped with a blizzard... kinda like carrying a umbrella to keep away the rain, perhaps if I keep out the snowmen we won't get snow???  I know there is no logic in that thought... but that is just one of the million ones I have...LOL

And speaking of snowmen decor lets have a look at it.... all of this is on the first floor of my house... living room primarily, some sunroom porch and a bit in the hallway... as I look around I may have jumped the shark ... but then it makes me happy to be surrounded by all my pretty stuff... you know I LOVE my stuff!!

I've already shown the porch and the hall so today I'll show the living room... the beauty of this for me is I can see almost all of this from my stitching chair... 

Here's the quilt wall ... it is always my starting point when I decorate this room. 

The pattern is Suburbs from Cluck Cluck Sew... I call mine Mummville because ALL the fabrics are vintage Debbie Mumm and each house is a unique combo... an HOA nightmare... LOL... The swirly panto quilting was done by Delinda... she does beautiful work.   So I posted this pic on IG earlier in the week and tagged Debbie Mumm and I was shocked when she left me a comment... now it was only a clapping hands emoji but it made by day. So I fan girl replied telling her I've been collecting her fabrics for decades and how I'll never part with my HUGE stash of her fabrics... and she replied again thanking me for my years of support and enthusiasm... OH MY GOODNESS!!! Its not only her fabrics I collected I love her plates and tabletop decor...

The tier tray has 5 DM snowmen in it with that cute Prairie Schooler Snow Day piece... and if you look back in the quilt picture you will see  that the bench is covered in a quilt made with all DM fabrics, there is a short stack of other all DM fabric quilts and a DM cookie jar... yes I was and still am obsessed with Debbie... In the living room I have a dozen quilts I've made with her fabrics and there are more in storage.... I shed a tear when I use up the last little bit of a fabric of hers... there was an adorable lady bug print that I used up and a cute Uncle Sam too... lots of memories in those fabrics.  I remember going to the big quilt show in Paducah one year. I swore to my friends that I wouldn't purchase any more DM fabric since I already had a ton... and yet every booth/stall/store we stopped out had so much DM and it was all on sale!!  And resistance was futile and I came home with tons more.... and I don't regret a single yard I purchased!!

And that was just one of the  trips down memory lane  I'm taking today.... now I'll get back to the living room...  here's the display in the TV cabinet...

Prairie Schooler and Teresa Kogut snowman and other cute snow guys I've collected.

The small display shelf  is topped with the Winter Alphabet from Lizzie Kate and my favorite snowman cookie jar.... my son picked this one up for me in a little resale shop.. I love the blue bird on his shoulder and the squirrel ... more sweet memories....

The tall display shelf unit has a ton of knickknacks. Sometimes it is hard to come up with a new arrangement of the stuff I have ... some pieces are so tall they will only fit in on space. This year I moved my Jim Shore snowpeople to the very top... and I like it!!

Cross stitch  pieces are from With Thy Needle & Thread, The Drawn Thread, Lizzie Kate and Heart in Hand... I think next year perhaps I can add a new small stitched piece or two. The round wreath with the cardinal is needlepoint. I made if for my Grandma back in the late 80's ... she displayed it all year long and every time I see it  I flashback to exactly where it was in her living room (she could see it from her chair).  She taught me how to crochet and embroider....  I was her first grandchild and I was her favorite ... and I knew it... I was only in my 20s' when my parents passed away... she outlived both of them and so was with me the longest... oh... another trip down memory lane. 

I have this display in on my kitchen counter... so hard to get a good pick... either it is too sunny or too dark... I do love the snowman with the measuring cups on his head. Got him at Hallmark probably 15 years ago.  And the new Rae Dunn Frosty is so cute!!  A gift from a sweet friend...

As for crafty stuff I've been stitching and knitting... I finished a pair of simple socks with Opal that will be a gift for a friend... and I still had a nice amount left over (it helps that we ladies have smaller feet)... and I really loved the skein... lots of pastel lavender and mint green and peach and yellow... and I had a new skein of Opal with deep purple and magenta and olive and it occurred to me that together they might make a good looking pair of socks....

and IMHO they did!  These just flew off my needles because I couldn't wait to see what would develop. I knit them by alternating the yarns each round so you get those cute little stripes.... and you don't know what color is going to butt up against another. After I finished the one sock I rewound the darker  skein so the pattern would again be a surprise.

And that was so much fun I decided to start another pair like this... this time I picked two of the more Fall toned skeins... golds, olives, browns... I do love Fall most of all and I wear these colors a lot...

Here's what I got so far... I'm loving it... and yes I think I have 2 or 3 pairs I knit with similar yarns in this same fashion... you can't have too much of a good thing!!

As for cross stitch, I'm making great progress on my 12  Days of Christmas by Prairie Schooler.

Four days complete and I've got the spacing worked out for the other 8. I've already gone through an entire skein of DMC 935 green... 

I put that one down and picked up Fragments in Time 2022 by Summer House Stitche Works... I do love this one too!

Yippee the  border met!!  And I got that center band with the alphabet done. I about gave myself a heart attack over it. I stitched it from right to left and I was about at D when I looked at it and recited the alphabet.... which was great until I realized there was no L.... OMG ... how did I miss that??? Turns out there is no L...  don't know why there isn't an L but I'm happy that I didn't have to frog anything.  These blocks are pretty stitch intensive. I still have a little bit of stitching to do on that bird block... perhaps I'll finish that today. I am going to use a different layout of the 8 little blocks. I noticed that blocks 1 through 4 all have a fancy border ... and blocks 5 through 8 have a simple dotted border. I think the piece will look top heavy if all the fancy border blocks were at the top so I'm going to have 2 simple and then 2 fancy on the top and then 2 fancy and 2 simple on the bottom. 

Here's my plan...

I also stitched 2 new Valentine pieces... I'll show those next time with the displays  I think I'm going to pick up O Joyous Day by Blackbird Design... it is almost complete and I'd like to have a sampler finished this month. My tentative goal is to have a sampler  done  every other month this year... we'll see how that works out. I may be a wee bit ambitious here... LOL

Its Super Bowl Sunday... I haven't forgotten I'm just ignoring it since my beloved Bengals didn't make it... already hoping for next year... I did see a great commercial that is going to play ... and honestly if my team isn't playing the commercials are more interesting to me. Anyway back to the commercial is has Zach Braff and Donald Faison and John Travolta.... you can watch it  here.....  talk about memories... Grease is a classic and one of my favorite movies... I LOVE musicals!!  I think I may rewatch Grease this afternoon... and sing along with every song!!

So that winding trip through what I've been up, and and detours down memory lane, sums up the last few weeks. Have a couple of appointments this week but nothing much. A little babysitting and there should be plenty of time to stitch, knit and sew... .sounds real good, doesn't it?? 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... I do appreciate her Sunday link up and love seeing what others are up to. I hope you have some quality me time to do the things you want to do!!

Happy stitching-

carolf un