Working on moving in a positive direction on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... well I've spent the last couple of weeks recuperating from the September I don't want to remember... some days better than others but ... fingers crossed here... seem to be on a positive trajectory the last week or so.  I spent one day doing a bit of fabric cutting and sewing but that mojo left the building since then... have been doing some knitting... picked up a shawl I started last year... not done yet but closer to a finish... primarily I've been cross stitching... it is what is making me happy at the moment.

Let's start off with a finish... Autumn Sampler from Prairie Schooler... 

I am soooooo HAPPY with this piece... sorry the picture isn't great but trust me  IRL this is so pretty!! It is at the framers as we speak... hopefully get it back next week.

I stuck with my decision to skip putting out Halloween decor this year... going to move onto Thanksgiving stuff later this week... and to add a few small pieces to my display, I stitched a trio of turkeys!

From left to right ... Thanksgiving Holiday Hoopla by With Thy Needle & Thread... a tiny turkey taken from the Autumn Alphabet by Lizzie Kate... and the turkey from the chart November by Emily Call ... and yes I do plan on FFOing the 2 bigger turkeys in hoops and I want to make the little guy into a small pillow...

here's a close up of each of these cuties!

Thanksgiving Holiday Hoopla..

Autumn Alphabet tiny turkey...

November turkey...

I used left over scraps of 32 count linen I'd dyed or painted ...along with fully finishing these pieces I found a couple more  autumn-y pieces I stitched last year and didn't make into anything... maybe I'll get a couple of those completed too... maybe...

I am enjoying my Autumn displays... as I sit here in my chair I can see the centerpiece on my table... 

and the bargain roses I got at the grocery store yesterday in a vintage McCoy pottery vase...

and the top part of my big display shelf...

and it makes me happy...it brings to mind the quote by William Morris... '

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

And while lots of things in my house may not be exactly useful they are beautiful to me!!   and that concludes the deep thinking portion of this post...LOL

So with the Fall stitching concluded I moved onto Christmas... can hardly believe I'm starting this early... and even with the extra time I'm sure I won't get everything stitched that I want... to start I pulled out a piece that was a freebie from WTNT in 2020.. which is when I started it... and I pulled it out in 2021 and 2022 ... but now it is finished... or as finished as it's going to be as I left off the top border and some trees...hey it is my interpretation... LOL...

This is a 32 count opalescent linen I dyed with Rit dye... Evening Blue as I recall... I love the sparkly bits in this linen but I'm not fond of actually stitching on it... and somehow I forget that every time I dye a piece of it... as for the string of lights Santa is holding... well it gave me fits... you are suppose to do colonial knots and I forget how they differ from French knots but either way mine looked bad... really wonky and BAD... so I decided to go in a different direction ... here's a close up...

These are little gem lights I got at Hobby Lobby... they were on a display with card making supplies... they looked like this before I peeled them off...

Yes,  I might have to reapply them after I make this into a little pillow but as you can see I have replacements.

And feeling buoyed by this finish I pulled out more Christmas stitching stuff focusing on Prairie Schooler ...because as we all know Prairie Schooler makes me HAPPY!!

Here are some of my Christmas PS charts... and there are more I didn't pull out of my stash...

I honed in on the Santas  for now and snowmen for January... see even more thinking ahead... unbelievable!!

I found this guy I stitched last year... he's tiny... about 2.25" tall...

still needs something at the end of his hat... I'm thinking maybe a little bell and instead of stitching snowflakes I may go back to Hobby Lobby and get some little snowflake buttons...

He's from this chart...

and my current plan is to stitch at least 5 of these guys to put into a little tray as the centerpiece for my table this year... and I'm going to make a new table runner too... I got big  well maybe medium sized plans!!

And I'm really smitten with these angels...

I want to stitch them on a deep turquoise background instead of the black... I'd like to do the one with the dove and the one with the flower... 

Oh I just remembered I purchased some French Christmas charts .... Brodeuses Parisiennes...  you can see my selection here...  last year I bought another packet of these charts but had to pay a huge amount in postage... this time I found this shop and on lots of the charts  the postage is free... and free is for me!! Just checked the tracking and this shipped from France... I should have it the end of the week... woo hoo!

So I have plenty to keep me busy...now to keep me from mindlessly scrolling through IG... I need someone to come and take my phone from me some days...

Next week will definitely have some changes in weather for us here in SW Ohio... rainy for the next few days and when the sun returns highs only in the 50's... last week my son helped me clean out most of the flower bed in the front yard... we still have to work on the side yard and I haven't touched the raised bed with the dahlias which look pitiful... I've neglected them and we've had a couple of windy windy days that blew a bunch of them over... and I have some more alliums and daffodils I need to get into the ground... the trees right now are gorgeous... I LOVE Fall!... and I'm so lucky to live in a neighborhood that still has some old trees... trees that are 70 to 80 years old... since I've lived in this house... 10 years now... I've planted 4 trees and if there was more space in my yard I'd do more...but I've run out of space...sigh... 

I hope that everyone is doing well... trying to block out as much as possible the turmoil that is covering this world... I'm only listening to the news selectively and doing a lot of praying... so many people to pray for... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and I'll spend some time seeing what everyone else is up to... and I'm going to do some stitching... happy little Santas!!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Turning over a new leaf on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello ... and to all of you who read my tale of woe I appreciate your concern... I am feeling better... taking a lot of probiotics and my gut seems to be responding... a reminder to all ... if you have to take antibiotics makes sure to add probiotics to your diet... I've been cautioned about this before but it slipped my mind during the September I don't want to remember until after that 1st hospital stay... and the advice didn't come from a doctor but from my dear friend who is a nurse. 

Anyway I'm working on turning over a new leaf this month...  I did stitch some cute smalls for Halloween... these are from the Teresa Kogut book Hello Halloween...

three cute little witches...

and a happy pumpkin...

I'm going to finish these as small pillows.. I'm think a dough bowl of cute little pillows would be fun. However I'm not sure I'm going to put out Halloween this year. I thought I'd be feeling up to it by now, but I'm not... so I might just move onto Thanksgiving... I'm really enjoying all my Fall decor... it is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!   I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors of Fall... avocado green, harvest gold, coppertone brown, mustard yellow... I'm a child of the 70's and my Mom LOVED these colors too. She repainted a good portion of our home with these colors which went well with the enormous brown couch we had... that was only sat upon during holiday celebrations... remember?  sure you do!

I love these colors so much that I have a bunch of Fall quilts and a bunch of Fall socks...

this is the same two skeins of Opal yarn knitted alternating every round...and I just remembered there is a 4th pair but it has grey contrasting heels... never can have too many hand knit socks in Fall colors!!

I'm happy that the weather took a turn for the Fall yesterday and I'm cozy out on the sunroom porch...

I've had enough of the 80's and 90's for this year.  Now to tackle cleaning out the flower beds... sigh... 

As for stitching, well, I decided I needed a new start to improve my mental outlook... something in Fall colors naturally and something that is comfort stitching... and that leads me to Prairie Schooler. 

I started this October 1 and it has given me so much peace and enjoyment... this is one of the Autumn Samplers in Book No. 66, copyright 1997. Here's the chart...

  Here's how it started...

when I got to this point I thought just this section would make a lovely little pillow...(ignore the linen color in this pic, the one below is a truer color)  but I want to do the whole thing and here's where I am now...

the linen in 32 ct and I'm not sure what I dyed this for but it was in my stash. I think it was some mixture of Rit Golden Yellow and  Marigold ... but I could be wrong... anyway it is a lovely warm gold and I think it shows off these flosses quite well.  Now this is a paper reprint and I wish I could have seen an original cardstock chart.  

I changed the DMC 3011 to 3012 in several places as the current floss has minimal contrast to DMC 936... I wonder if the 3011 color family has changed a bit since 1997. I know I have some old skeins of floss in my stash and there is a noticeable difference in some from the current merchandise. Oh well, I'm happy with this and I'd love to finish it and get it framed and displayed by Thanksgiving... I think it is doable.

I have 2 Fall quilts cut out and waiting for me but I just don't have any sewing mojo at the moment... and there are 2 Halloween quilts that just need binding... we'll see, we'll see... LOL ... I remember telling my boys many times "we'll see, we'll see" when they asked for something in a store... my oldest was about 5 when he told me he knew that meant "no"... smart kid. 

I hope that things are going well in your little corner of the world... I pray for all those in turmoil ... and there is certainly plenty of turmoil, isn't there?

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... just going to continue to take things easy... getting old and getting sick isn't for sissies...

happy stitching,

carol fun