Nobody here but us chickens on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... well I normally write this post on Friday or Saturday but it is now 10am on Sunday and I'm just getting my butt in gear. This one should be a short one as I don't have to a lot to share. I've been plugging away on the Teresa Kogut Remember Me sampler and I finished up the Pickety Sticks quilt and took it to Delinda but forgot to take a pic of the finished top... not a big deal... it is still as wonky as what I showed 2 weeks ago and as I referenced then, it will only be displayed as a folded quilt...showing off that lovely border and trying to turn a blind eye to the OCD madness that is this strippy quilt. 

As for the weather it has been HOT... not as hot as those of you in the southwest but HOT for southwest OH. Keeping my fingers crossed that my at least 16 year old AC unit can keep up till the end of this summer. September is a mere 4 days away and for me September marks the beginning of Fall... the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!   Pumpkins and falling leaves and pumpkins and cooler temperatures and pumpkins and pumpkins... yeah that sums it up nicely. I'll...well to be honest, my son... will be hauling up the Fall decor bins soon... right now I'm thinking about the Wednesday after Labor Day as a starting date... and it will probably still be upper 80's maybe even in the 90's and my AC will be going full blast but I'll blithely go on with my decorating.

And speaking of decorating... here's where I am at the moment... nobody here but us chickens!

The wall quilt...

The tier tray...

The big display..

Some closer pictures...

The little piecrust edge side table...

The small display unit...

Sorry I didn't move the side chairs out of the way to take the pictures... my left knee is acting up and I'm trying to stay off of it... got a cortisone shot about a week ago... hoping it kicks in ... if not, moving onto the gel shot... getting old sucks.

I didn't stitch or purchase anything new for these displays... I've been monogamous to the Teresa Kogut Remember Me Sampler.

Here's where I was 2 weeks ago...

And here's where I am now...

Progress has been made... got all the brick work on the house filled in, still need to do the windows... got the band of birds completed... and the alphabets and working my way down the borders on the sides.  Now I'd like to have this done by September 1.... but I think that's a pipe dream... I wanted to have this finished before I plunged into the SEVEN new samplers I'm starting for my 70th Birthday Extravaganza.... last night I decided that my best strategy would be to get the outline of as many flowers as I can on the border done... then when I come back to this all I will have is fill in... and I think that may be doable..  I LOVE this sampler... but then I LOVE the samplers I've picked for my 70th Birthday Extravaganza... 

Did I mention my 70th birthday is approaching?  LOL  What is it about a birthday that ends in zero that makes one  ponder one's life?  I reflect on mine and know that I am in a great place ... hasn't always been that way but it is now. I'm kinda shocked that I'm this old... my parents both passed before they were fifty,  I was only in my twenties. My only sibling was only 62 when he passed.  As a young child I didn't think I'd live to see the year 2000 ... and that passed pretty quickly, didn't it?   I know realistically the years I have left aren't as many as I've lived, so what DO I WANT TO DO?  I have the resources to do just about anything  I can think of, but my thoughts go to things I want in my home to make life as comfy and cozy as possible. Dorothy was so right "there's no place like home, there's no place like home"... and with that thought I purchased a new box spring and mattress for me and my lower back is very grateful. I want a new couch for my living room... an olive green couch or perhaps a turquoise blue couch... what about both??  Yeah... so I've found an IKEA couch which I can get slipcovers for from a shop on Etsy and I can get both an olive green and a turquoise blue slipcover for a good price.  Now to get the existing couch out of the living room. Have found it a home but it's new owner needs to arrange pick up.  

My next thought for the house involves all those flower beds... looking into a drip irrigation system or sprinklers. They couldn't be installed till next Spring but I'd appreciate not having to hand water everything.  I'm having the AC looked at next month... I know it will need to be replaced in the next year or so. From what I can tell it is at least 16 years old.  I thought about having some rooms repainted (its been 10 years) but they still look good and I don't think I'd change any of the colors, so that can wait. I do want Dan the handyman to pull up the carpet on the back steps to the basement and just paint them... I hate the carpet, it makes the stair treads narrow and a bit slippery... don't want to take a fall.  Mulling over having a cleaning service twice a month... bathroom and kitchen ... Nick and I can handle the rest. 

So with the house taken care of what activities do I want to engage in... well more of the same...more cross stitching, more knitting, more quilting. A rational evaluation of what I have says I don't need to buy another craft item EVER ... but that ain't gonna happen...LOL..and rationally I don't need anymore samplers or socks or quilts ... BUT I WANT THEM!!!  And I SHALL HAVE THEM!!  Occasionally I look around and think what's gonna happen to all this stuff when I'm not here?  I've advised my sons that they should feel no guilt or  obligation to keep any of it. I'm sure they'll keep an item or two but hopefully my habit of stashing stuff in sterlite bins will make it easier to transport them to Goodwill. I have a lot of stuff and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my stuff... but I don't expect my sons to clutter up their homes with my stuff. I am realistic... and totally at peace in that belief. 

On that note, I'll wrap this up today... hope things are going well in your corner of the world... I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and plan to spend the rest of the day cross stitching on the sunroom porch... a great way to spend a slow Sunday!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Lies and LOTS of other stuff I tell myself on a Slow Sunday...

Hello there...well another couple of weeks have blown by me...and I have a few things to show for my time... and of course there is a lot more I wish I had gotten done... but that's how every week goes around here.  Weather wise we had heat and storms and a nice day or two ... lather rinse repeat.  The gardens are looking quite lush... a friend commented that it looks like the flowers are eating the house... and he might have something there...LOL... and here's the proof..

 I was happy to find out that I won a special award from my little town... every summer Deer Park honors different residents with a Beautification Award. I've been blessed to win this about 7 times in the last 10 years, but this year the cherry on top was getting a Mayor's Choice Award...only 3 properties were chosen ... they were ranked on a 30 point scale... and my yard got a perfect score!  The city put this cool sign in my yard...

and they gave me a $100 gift certificate to a local garden center. I will be happy to spend that next Spring on some interesting perennials.  And while I've been telling myself I don't need any more dahlias...umm...that's a lie...  okay I don't NEED them but I WANT them ...badly... so I pre-ordered 4 new to me varieties... they will arrive in April... and I'm sure another pre-order or two or three will probably be made before this year is over. 

I did get to spend some time down in my sewing studio and while I said I was going to put that Scratch quilt back in it's plastic bin, well... that was another lie. I kept looking at it and I knew it wouldn't take a lot more time to be a finished top. Then the stars aligned and Elliott has wanted to play in down in my sewing studio the last 2 weeks... it is definitely cooler down there and he has a bunch of toys and the TV... so I buckled down and ta-dah... the Lemon Yellow Scratch quilt!!

Now it could lay flatter... all those seams made for different lengths of strips... I made some adjustments here and there... and looking at it I should go back and take off the bottom border  and re- do it...  and while I thought about passing this issue along to Delinda... I have faith she can "quilt  it out"  ...but I could give it a little help... and I really don't need this one till next Spring... I think I'll wait to take it to Delinda... I have other quilts I want before this one...

Here's some close ups of sections I really like... I fussy cut lots of words to sprinkle in with the prints...

 and not only did I get the top finished I made the back... which is the fabric I fussy cut all the words came from...

I LOVE this print and I had purchased about 5 yards and with a bit of piecing it is big enough... I even went ahead and made the binding.... OMG... I don't have a clue what has gotten into me... maybe it was that article I read about procrastination....now I don't know why I read the article as I am a WORLD CLASS procrastinator... I don't need any lessons... but then it wasn't about getting better at procrastination...LOL... one of the points it made was if a task will take 5 minutes or less go ahead and do it right then and there...now finishing this quilt and making the back and binding took quite a bit longer than 5 minutes but it fit the general guidelines... it was quicker to deal with this and not leave it unfinished,  than to start something new which would also be unfinished. 

And to continue the theme of finishing up long languishing projects  this happened on Friday... I unexpectedly had Elliott at my house for  a couple of house... his Mama wasn't feeling well, strep throat, and his Daddy had to go downtown to the office ... and it was hot so we headed for the basement. I have several fabric collections scattered about and thought about starting something new... and then I went looking for some Fall fabrics and my eye spotted a plastic bin with this project in it... the pattern is called Pickety Sticks ... it is from the Anka's Treasure book called On a Roll Again... you can see it here...now this book is copyright 2007 and this quilt using this exact fabric is in the book...which means this collection is probably from 2006 ... well aged... I don't often use the exact fabric for a pattern but I LOVE this collection ... it is called Blossom by Urban Chiks... at a minimum this project is 15 years old!!!  Now I should hang my head in shame... but I have no shame...LOL!! I remember starting it at a mini-quilt retreat I did with a couple of my quilty lady friends back when another friend of ours had a condo she didn't use all winter and we'd get away for a weekend of sewing there.  I know I've played with it since then as most of the components were in the bin. Here's look at what I got together so far...

Yes this is an OCD nightmare and we'll get to that in a minute... I had all 4 of the strippy panels done... they are sewn to a muslin backing... the sashing strips were fussy cut and 2 of the borders are ready to be trimmed. Now as for the wonkiness of those strippy panels... they are suppose to be that way...except you can see that I started off a bit subdued (and I wish I had stayed that way) and then I threw caution to the wind and started sewing the jelly roll strips willy-nilly ... and boy did that go south quickly... if I had enough fabric to do it again I'd keep the strips more orderly...but at this juncture, its full speed ahead to a finish... now that border fabric makes my heart beat faster... here's a close up... that background is dark brown not black... and those flowers are HUGE!!

Now this quilt will definitely benefit from being displayed as a folded quilt so you don't get the full onslaught of wonkiness... and in looking at the book I just realized that no where does is show the quilt in it's entirety... just a pic of it folded over a chair...which will be it's fate!!  I do love all the colors in this and it does have a bit of a Fall feel... need to get this one to Delinda soon. 

Completing the one project  and having the second one almost done (I think I can finish it when Elliott is back here on Tuesday) has made me feel quite virtuous  and exciteed about starting another project... a Christmas quilt? I have a layer cake of Cathe Holden Christmas Faire calling to me and I even know what pattern I'm going to use... Piece of Cake 3 by Thimbleblossoms.... an aside... I have made this quilt before also in Christmas fabrics and I don't think I gave the pattern away but I can't find it... and I've spent a decent amount of time looking for it... so do I keep looking or just break down and purchase the pattern again?   I told myself I'll keep looking, but for a $9 expenditure that may be another lie I told myself... are you seeing a pattern here?  

Another Christmas quilt I want to do involves this panel from Teresa Kogut's new collection called Kringle.

I bought this as a kit from  Connecting Threads which you can see here... I didn't really need the backing but but I thought the binding they include would  be a good match...  except the dark border around this ins't dark green like I thought, it is black ...and the back is a black with a cream speckle... which I don't think I'm gonna want for the binding... so I probably would have been better off just buying the panel... oh well... this is going to be super simple as I'm just going to pass the panel and the back onto Delinda to long arm... all I'll have to do is pick a panto and some thread... and yes I also told  myself that I don't need any more Christmas quilts... I know I already have somewhere in the range of 35 Christmas quilts of all sizes but I LOVE Christmas!!

I also have a FQ bundle of Fancy That Design House's collection called Slow Stroll calling my name... you can see it here... and the FQ bundle included the panel ( you can see it at that link and I bought the pattern to make the quilt with the panel... which lead me to  discovering her new line called Dawn on the Prairie ... which is here. I love the panel in this collection too although I'm not sure what I going to do with it but I NEED it... so I ordered the FQ bundle Friday from Green Fairy Quilts. When I ordered they were having a anniversary sale with an extra 15% off their already discounted prices so it was a bargain...right??  This is where you shake your head up and down, up and down and make me feel virtuous...LOL... Anyway I think both of these collections will go together well and I want to make a bed size quilt from them along with the panel quilt of Slow Stroll... Now I've told myself for several months that I DO NOT NEED anymore bed size quilts (I probably don't need any more quilts period but need has nothing to do with it)... however, I've made 2 quilts in the last month, Halloween 2 x 4 and Lemon Yellow Scratch and they are both bed sized...

Sooooo lies lies and more lies... I really wouldn't trust me if I knew me... LOL

As for crossstitching I've made some good progress on Remember Me by Teresa Kogut...

Here's where it stood about 2 weeks ago...

And here is it currently...

I'd really like to have this finished before I start on my SEVEN Birthday Celebration samplers... but... cue the shark music... I may change my plans and start the samplers before September 1... here's my thoughts on this BIG project... so I started kitting things up and it takes a considerable amount of time to prep 7 samplers. I have collected all the flosses and prepared the little floss bags that I like to use... I like to put the name or number of the floss on the bag and draw the symbol that corresponds to that floss on the chart... and I've cut all the linen for the 7 samplers and labeled them on the bottom edge... like this...

I know it is hard to see the plastic bag... but it is there... I haven't put the floss in the bags yet as I want to be able to see them all as I'm painting/dyeing the linen...oh and I just realized I want to make a working copy of all of these charts and some of them (the ones from With Thy Needle & Thread in particular) will get huge and need to be taped together... sigh... it will take time but it is worth it. 

Any how I still need to paint and or dye all the fabrics. I had made notes on what I was going to do but then as I put the flosses together I changed my mind a couple of times. I am itching to start and I'm thinking maybe I will make my birthday month run from August 20 to September 20, allotting 4 days to each sampler. That way I'd still have some time left at the end of September to squeeze in some Halloween stitching... so telling myself I'd wait till September 1 may not be a true statement... time will tell. 

The next two weeks don't seem busy right now... of course there is Elliott on Tuesdays and a appointment to get my hair cut and colored and a  semi- annual meeting with my investment guy... I'd like to keep it as un-busy as possible so I have lots of time to stitch and sew and sit on the porch mindless scrolling on the phone... yeah that last activity is a major time suck but I always end up seeing something I hadn't seen before so I tell myself it is educational... is that a lie? or being delusional? 

Well if you've hung in here I congratulate you on your stamina ... didn't expect to get so chatty but once I started I couldn't stop...LOL

I hope things are well in your corner of this big wide world... the weather outlook is still decidedly SUMMER... I can't wait for cooler Fall days... it is my favorite season and that is NO lie.   

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and check out what everyone else is up to... a nice activity for porch sitting on a Slow Sunday... 

happy stitching-

carol fun