Hello - I had every intention of posting last week but between catching a cold and the time change I was feeling puny all weekend. The cold has pretty much cleared up but I'm still suffering the effects of the time change...and if you've read this blog for any time at all you know I DETEST the time change with EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING... a bit over dramatic??? NOPE... I've tried going to bed earlier but I'm not falling asleep... just laying there... I can't seem to shift that hour. I did set my alarm to get up earlier, but then I'm tired during the day, end up taking a nap and repeat the cycle... again and again... Just leave the time where it was. Yes it is lighter later, but if you wait 3 weeks it will be exactly where we are today. We get 2 to 3 minutes more daylight every day... times 20 or so days and bingo... 1 hour difference.... See I told you I DETEST the time change... I'll get off my soap box now.... but the time change, and then add to that the gray and gloomy weather, and I just haven't been feeling really productive.
Spring retreated and we are having second Winter... the weather we should have had in February has shown up in March... I knew we would pay for those 70 degree days... they made me so excited to get out and work in the yard. I've had to content myself with reading seed catalogs and picking up packets of seeds here and there when I've been out and about. I think I'm going back to Meijers and pick up one of those seed starting kits I saw there.... hmmm... this could get me into trouble...LOL
I did manage to get all the snowmen put away and brought out the bunnies. The house is decked out in yellow and pink... very Spring-y... and the perfect antidote for the gray skies. Here's a look at the niche in the hallway...this is my new favorite spot to decorate!
This pink bunny is a new one from Salt & Pepper Stitching called Egg Hunt. It was charted brown but I loved the pink bunny she did last year (and that piece is in the tier tray) so I just substituted those colors. Now the frame was a saga... it was a gray color but the size was right, so I knew I could paint it...and I did... 3 times... on the WRONG side... good grief... it probably could use another coat on this side (I only did 2 ) but I had had it with myself by then...
The egg piece was a gift from a friend a couple of years ago... love it! And the long skinny pillow on the telephone book ledge is Lizzie Kate Spring String... a good fit for that spot! I was happy to pick up a couple of new Johanna Parker pieces... I do love her whimsical vintage-y style. I can feel a new collection coming on... just what I need, right? LOL
I have had the chance to sit out on the sunroom porch a day or two... as long as I crank up the space heater out there. It does put me in a good mood to sit out there and stitch and watch the birds...and those pesky squirrels... at my feeders.
My collection of bunny heads... which when I type it that way seems a bit ghoulish... is decorating the little shelf unit out here. The big one on the top is a sort of sparkly paper mache I bought years ago... I think at Hobby Lobby. The little bunny piece was a freebie, but I forget from where... and the pillow was from Jellybean Jubilee by WTN&T.
I'm particularly fond of the sampler on the wall...
this is from The Drawn Thread and is called My Favorite Things... a lovely soft palette and the initials of my sons ... my personal favorite things... are at the bottom....
looking at the date on this ...1995...my thought is where does the time go???
I went with the yellow and pink Fig Tree Jam & Jelly quilt in the Kate Spain Verna fabric... looking back this quilt is almost 10 years old... where does the time go??? I'd love to have a new Spring quilt for that wall. been thinking about doing tulip blocks in some of the Tilda fabrics I've been collecting...
The tier tray has another piece from Salt & Pepper Stitching, this one is called Be Hoppy.... and the Easter pillow and the little bunny are from Jellybean Jubilee.
The quilt on the back of the couch is a 4 patch Stack N Whack done in Phillip Jacobs Brassica fabric. Now Brassica are cabbages and since I chopped up the fabric/cabbages I call this my Coleslaw quilt...LOL... and it is also at least 10 years old... and I still love it!! And looking at this one makes me want to do another Stack N Whack 4 patch... sigh... so many things I want to do... just need time...and motivation....
and this angle makes my living room enormous...which is isn't.... but here's a close up of some of the blocks and the border fabric which is what all the blocks are cut from....
I had hoped to get more sewing done. I did put one more of the big blocks for Nick's quilt together, but that was the extent of my sewing. I need to get Nick's quilt done... right now it is a guilt project, even though Nick has told me not to feel guilty about it, but I know he's like a new quilt for his room and I did say I do this one months ago... and again where does the time go?? Perhaps today I'll spend some quality time with my sewing machine.
As for cross stitch well I got something finished... something big... O Joyous Day! by Blackbird Designs...
I started this back in 2019...oh my goodness I didn't realize it has been hanging around that long... another one of those where did the time go moments... darn I'm having a lot of them lately.
I left the satin stitch bands and the over one till the end... not sure that was a smart move as I had a hard time motivating myself to get them done... but I'm glad I did! Those satin stitch bands really add a lovely touch to this piece. I decided to stitch Home Sweet Home instead of O Joyous Day as I didn't have any particular joyous day date I wanted to include...
I even got this off to the framer. I took it out to the Hobby Lobby in Eastgate as I've heard their framer is great with cross stitch. I will say their prices were great. About half of what I would have probably spent at the framer I have been using. I do miss getting things framed at my local Joanns but they haven't gone back to doing any framing since covid. I may try Michaels too.
Getting a sampler done motivated me to pick back up the Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Christmas.
I'm halfway done and these go pretty quick. I'd like to have this finished to take out to Hobby Lobby when I pick up my framing. They said 2 weeks and I think that is doable for me. And I'm anxious to get this one complete as my goodies from the Nashville Needlework Market are coming in and of course I want to start something new. The Remember Me sampler from Teresa Kogut is really calling to me... picked up the called for DMC yesterday... just need to paint some linen for it.
I've got no appointments on my calendar for the next 2 weeks...and I hope it stays that way... I've been a bit of a homebody lately... content to stay home and stitch or knit ... Got some dahlia tubers in the mail the other day... waaaaay too early to plant them... and I'm still not sure how the tubers in my raised bed fared from the bitter cold spell we had back in December. Fingers crossed. I do know that my landscaping took a hit. Dan who does my yard ... different from Dan the Handyman... came by and looked at the shrubs... 6 of the 9 boxwoods are dead... they are planted in groups of 3 and of course there are 1 or 2 dead in each group so all 9 will need to be dug up and replaced. The cherry laurel is toast... literally the color of toast... it should be green... and I lost a holly bush too... Dan who does my yard is going with me to pick out new bushes when the Natorp's Garden outlet opens the end of the month. I'm also making a list of things I want Dan the Handyman to attend to which are also outdoor projects... repaint the shutters and the front steps and maybe the foundation. I had the foundation painted gray several years ago and now I wish it was tan to blend with the yellow brick. And my older son wants him to paint the shutters on his house as he's getting new siding... gonna keep the Dans busy busy busy...
Hope things are well in your part of the world.. I think we are all looking forward to real Spring. I'm happy my daffodils are looking good...
and I'm seeing where the alliums are poking up too. Lots of flowering trees in the neighborhood bloomed... like the gorgeous magnolia at my next door neighbor's house... but then it got zapped the other night and went from pink to brown... so sad... Mother Nature can be quite the b*tch... oh well... beauty is fleeting, right?
I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... always lots of eye candy there...
happy stitching-
carol fun
