New charts and a bit of stitching on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... how was your week?  I don't know where I got the idea that being retired would give me all the time in the world to do what I want to do... because it doesn't!  Last week was a blur and some productive activities did occur... but I didn't do them.   I've been putting off the inevitable replacement of the central AC for my house... it is pushing 18 years and I've had it looked on a couple of occasions and knew it was running on borrowed time. And we've already had some very hot days and it is only May...  I don't want to think what July and August will bring ... so I bit the bullet and had a new AC installed... and perhaps it is just wishful thinking but the house seems noticeably cooler... and after weeks of waiting for Dan my handyman, he had  some time to give me and he got several projects taken care of... along with those things happening, throw in watching Elliott and an afternoon with friends and I was pooped with little to show for the time... oh well. 

The weather has been a pendulum... hot one day, rainy the next... it has cut back on my watering a bit but I find the weatherman predictions about rain to be as spotty as the showers we got... days that I thought were going to be a wash out, turned out not bad at all... and other days I thought would be lovely turned out waaay too hot... 

Now I started last Sunday off with a bang... went shopping for plants... I DON'T NEED ANYMORE PLANTS... but that's never stopped me....really gardening is just a continuation of decorating for me... I decorate inside, I decorate outside... I love making displays of stitching and quilts and knickknacks inside ... and outside it is all kinds of plants.   Anyway I hit 3 of my favorite plant places on Sunday and somehow came home with 24 2.5 qt plants... and yes these plants use to be in gallon pots, but to keep the prices down a bit they are smaller plants... for basically the same price... but I got some lovely stuff... lavender and blanket flowers and tickseed and other stuff I can't remember. Shopping is FUN!!  Planting on the other hand when it is 86 degrees with 95% humidity is quite exhausting... but I got everything in the ground ... yeah me!!  That day of activity was followed up with a round or two of ibuprofen and sitting on my butt. I had a nice conversation with my dear friend in Florida and said I wasn't going to buy anymore plants... she quipped "I don't believe you"... and you know what?  I don't believe me either... LOL

I got very little sewing done this week as Elliott had no interest in going to the basement to play... I gifted him a new transformer robot that was waaaay too complicated but it kept him entertained for a long time trying to figure out how to totally transform it from a robot to a plane...

I did get a bit of stitching done... I finished up the flag strawberry from Prairie Schooler American Strawberries...

and I started this one... more flags!

Then I decided I needed to do another house from Melisa at Pinker 'n Punkin so I started Sarah Jane's 1776 Saltbox.... you can find the chart here...

as with the other 2 I've done this year I made this one a yellow house too... this one closely resembles the color  of the brick on my house... this is on 16 ct Aida I painted with Rit Evening Blue dye...  these are such fun to stitch... comfort stitching like Prairie Schoolers.

It was a very good week for new charts sneaking in the house... now I think we all can agree that stitching cross stitch charts and collecting cross stitch charts are two separate and equally enjoyable hobbies... and I LOVE both of them!!  I ordered a bunch of stuff from The Shakespeare's Peddler...aka Kittenstitcher and was not disappointed... first I got 3 new charts from With Thy Needle & Thread...

Grand Old Flag II - great little smalls ....

Summer's Swan... I think I'm going to leave off the flag and use it in my Spring and bird displays...

The Coleus and the Pear...I love the format of this one... was going to order all the flosses but in looking more closely I have concerns about how much contrast there is between Crescent Colors Poblano Pear and Weeks Dove... in the pic they look turquoise but the Weeks Dove in my stash is kinda gray... may have to do my own conversion on these. 

and then I went down a rabbit hole of older charts, specifically stockings from Carriage House Samplings and Kathy Barrick, and these beauties appeared...

The Embroideress Stocking

The Quaker Stocking

The Sampler Stocking

Truth & Virtue Stocking

Pennsylvania German Stocking

Now I'm not going to stitch any of these as a stocking ... I'm going to re-arrange the design, move the stuff in the toe over underneath the rest of the chart and make them a looooong narrow sampler ... or I'm going to ignore the toe part of the chart... and I'm itching to start one ... or two ... or more of these... which I have no business doing as that would make the third or fourth or fifth BIG project I've started this year... you can see my feeble starts on Teresa Kogut's Faith Hope Love and Peace  here... and WTNT Summer Schoolhouse  here...  I'm a very good starter... finishing is another skill set I need to work on... 

So which to start first?? I'm really leaning toward the Pennsylvania  German Stocking... lots of funky birds and Lemoyne stars and I fell in love with the color of the linen... in the chart pic it is a beautiful soft dusty turquoise and it only uses 4 flosses... and rather than dye my own fabric I thought I'd splurge and buy this linen... so I googled it and what a surprise... the called for linen is Green Slate from Lakeside Linen and in real life it isn't turquoise at all... it is a very deep olive green... comparable to DMC 934... here's screen shot I took...

well that's going to give this an entirely different look... and I'm undecided which way to go... I know I can duplicate the dark olive green ... the turquoise would be a bit more experimenting... but I think that no matter what I am going to paint or dye the linen myself. 

I'm trying to get up the energy to put my Spring stuff away and get out my patriotic stuff... a couple of weeks ago I thought I'd do this before Memorial Day but it hasn't happened... maybe later this week... I don't like to have my bins of stuff out when Elliott is here... too much temptation  to "help"... LOL

Do you have any plans for Memorial Day?  We've got a forecast for rain on an off so I'll be happy to stay inside....looks like some cooler temps next week... I'm good with that... only appointment so far on my calendar is for a hair cut and get my roots touched up... I'm sure the week will fill up but I'd be very happy to have a couple of quiet days at home. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... gonna read a bunch of blogs and then watch a bunch of YouTube videos and stitch or maybe go to the basement and sew a bit...and reflect on how lucky I am to live in the US ...the land of the free because of the sacrifice of the brave...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

A bit of this and a bit of that on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello -- well I knew last week was going to be busy and it certainly was... lunch and a trip to see Delinda to pick up quilts and drop off tops filled up Monday... Tuesdays are dedicated to Elliott... Wednesday my quilty friends got together for lunch and the back to my house to eat pie  (Marie Callendar Key Lime Pie...very yummy) and chitchat and then Nick & I met with some friends for dinner after that... it was Thursday before I felt I had any time to be crafty... and happily the last couple of days have been crafty.

Let's see where to start... okay let's revisit the bow tie blocks... I was looking at other bow tie quilts and realized I like this layout much more than the one I had on the wall...

this one will have to be a even number of blocks in both directions... my plan right now is 8 x 8 so 64 different blocks... and I have 32 done....however this layout doesn't lend itself to incorporating the little bow ties... so I'm gonna make a separate small quilt of little bow ties... have no idea how many  at the moment.

Here they are set straight... and yes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is my fav!

And here is the circle layout... I'm liking it here too...

Some of these little ones are the same as the larger bow ties ... and some have came from my scrap bin...

I got this at Hobby Lobby years ago and I love it! 

As for the Tilda spool blocks... I got background fabric and spool ends fabric cut but didn't get any more sewn... should be a good project for Tuesday when Elliott is playing with the Legos.

I did get the binding put on  these 2 quilts which was satisfying... this is the Kaffe Spools... I'm really into the greens right now...

and here is the Carrie Bloomston panel that I bought back in 2015... it's finally seeing the light of day as it graces my back hallway...

I'm really liking this format of doing a panel for the back hallway... there is no work on my part other than a binding and a sleeve... I like that...LOL... I've been on a hunt for other panels... I'd like one for Fall and Halloween... most are printed 40-ish inches wide... I have to be able to cut them down to 32" as that is all the space between the light switch and the back door jam... I've seen a couple of Halloween one but so far they are all too spooky for my taste... I'll keep looking. 

As for cross stitch... well I didn't get far on my Mother's Day start... I was treated to a lovely brunch along with my daughter-in-law and her mother and her grandmother... quite a spread... French toast,cinnamon rolls, bagels, quiche, an egg bake with sausage, bacon, fruit, yogurt and a cheese pocket... my favorite coffee cake... think a  BIG cheese danish, heavy on the cheese filling... turns out it is Elliott's favorite too! Oh where was I ... anyway I sat around for a couple of hours talking with everyone and when I came home I took a nap... didn't pick up my needle to late in the evening and this is all I have to show...

oh well... any stitch is one more than I had before... and I'm really liking this palette of colors... I have another sampler in my stash that I'm looking for a different group of colors than what it is charted for and this may be it... gotta go look at it again...

Now I did get the Double Eagle Sampler from Prairie Schooler American Primitives done... this is much brighter yellow in real life but the lighting was awful when I took this pic... not sure how I'm gonna FFO it...

happy with this... and that lead me down the path of wanting to do some more patriotic stuff as I'd like to change to that decor around the end of the month ...which will be hear very soon... I'm thinking  I should stick with some smalls and with that in mind I started this ... 

it is from Prairie Schooler No. 100 American Strawberries... I've never done a strawberry before but it shouldn't be too hard to finish... and on another tangent... if you are looking for older Prairie Schooler charts you will find prices are all over the place... when I googled this one to find a link I found this chart listed for as much as $49.95 on an ebay listing to $7 for a cardstock copy... which is the link I used. And I saw the other day where some other older ones are being re-released for about $12 a chart... I'm okay with that. 

On the gardening front I didn't do much... spread some seeds which seem to be sprouting and got a few more annuals in the ground... think I'll pot up a what I've got left but between being busy and the rain... it rained T/W/F/S  my motivation to plant did not align with the weather... but I did get my first open dahlia bloom... It think this is the earliest I've ever had a dahlia bloom!  This one is planted right by the foundation of the house under a window box... pretty protected from the elements... and I have several other dahlias that are just going gangbusters... tall and full and getting buds... can't wait for the blooms!

However I did get some new flowers for Mother's Day... glass flowers to display in my garden... here they are out of the box...  they are glass plates and bowls that have been glued together to form flowers...

they were gifts from Chris, Nick and Elliott... I wasn't expecting 3 but I do love them. And here's where I displayed them...this one matches the flowers I had already planted int his pot... the petunia is a PW called Coraline... 

and I'm going to  add some purple flowers to this pot... I have to remember what garden place I saw the purple Angelonia... I have some cannas planted toward the back of the pot ...fingers crossed they grow as this pot needs something tall in the back. 

and this one is keeping company with one I bought for myself earlier this year...

fancy schmancy aren't they? I love knickknacks ... both indoors and outdoors!

As for indoor decor, I did freshen up a bit...not a totally re-do but I changed out the yellow quilts for green ones...

and changed the table runner on my dining room table and went with some different silk flowers... it isn't a lot but it makes me happy to see other stuff I've stitched.

Here's a look at my large display...

on top is the  Sunnyside  Sampler by The Drawn Thread...

below is Garden Friends from the BBD book Sewing Club and Funky Bird from Barbara Ana Designs... got the plates this year from Hobby Lobby... I like the shape and the floral designs.

below that is a couple of snippets from  the border of Shakespeare's Peddler  A Saviour's Praise...  the Spring  chart from the book Seasons of the Heart by With Thy Needle & Thread and another BBD piece that I can't remember the name of...

and on the bottom I couldn't put away the bunny from Not Forgotten Farm... I just love an animal that's all dressed up ... and keeping the quilts company my favorite bird cookie jar...

Oh and here is a small vignette with Spring From Prairie Schooler  No. 50 Prairie Seasons... 

This is the last one of the set that I've completed... I do love stitching Prairie Schoolers!

I'm going to concentrate on patriotic stitching this week... I always feel like I'm chasing the holidays where stitching is concerned....I have a bag full of patriotic charts and there are a couple of things in it that are partially done... maybe I can get them finished... but there are also a couple of new charts I downloaded the other day I'd like to do... they are small which is good... and I'd like to do one of Melisa's (Pinker'nPunkinQuilting)  patriotic houses... there is just sooooo much good stuff out there!

Well looking at the calendar I see there is Elliott and 2 appointments... hmmm... one of those I might re-schedule... lately I just want to stay home as much as I can... I've got so much here that keeps me entertained... and it makes me happy!

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and with Quilting is More Fun than Housework... they motivate me to waste less time on the internet and to have something to show for my time... hope you have  time this week to do what you want to do!!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Happy Mother's Day on this Slow Sunday...

 Hello - Happy Mother's Day to all of you lovely ladies!  I hope that you get to spend the day exactly as you wish. I'll be going to my older son's home... he coordinates the event with a brunch spread from a local restaurant so that his wife and mother of their child, and her mother and her grandmother and me can enjoy the day... it will be lovely...

And afterwards I intend to come home and plop myself in my comfy chair out on the sunroom porch and stitch on my selection for my guilt free Mother's Day start...which until about 10 pm last night I thought was going to be this piece... Live Simply by With Thy Needle & Thread...

And I will get to it... but I was watching Flosstube videos as I was sewing last night and this chart popped onto the TV and I HAD TO HAVE IT! Well my first Google search for it had it at 123 Stitch, my fav online store, but then I found it as a PDF from the designer, which you can see here...

 it is stitched  all in DMC which I have... and I found this piece of bluey-greeny linen in my stash... now I'll only have an 1" margin on 2 sides but I can make that work... this one just struck a chord in my heart. Lately I've had lots of cardinals at my bird feeders which I watch while I sit in my chair on the sunroom porch... and when I see them I think of my departed family members and say a prayer for them... for the male cardinals I think of my Dad and my brother, James... for the females I think of my Mom and my Grandma... I saw a video on IG yesterday and the lady was asked what she wanted for Mother's Day and she replied, "I'd like one more hour with my Mom"... oh my, oh my goodness... wouldn't that be WONDERFUL??  So I'm gonna stitch on the fancy schmancy redbird and think of my loved ones.... 

Okay ... a change of mood...Didn't get as much cross stitching done this week as I had hoped... made some progress on the Double Eagle Sampler from Prairie Schooler No. 8 American Primitive...

I have every intention to finish this up before the week is over. 

Did get a bit of sewing done... finished this top which I'm taking to Delinda for quilting tomorrow...

I am very happy with how this turned out...although I might  re-do those side borders and make them a bit shorter... they went on really easy but  I didn't expect that much waviness. Anyway I'm  proud of myself for fulfilling my objective of doing something with all the Tilda fabrics I have... The spool block is from the Sew Emma Book Simply Jelly Rolls. This is a charm quilt in that every piece in the spools is a different fabric. I think I did a pretty good job in getting  a gradation in each spool... here's some close ups of the blocks...

And since I had my Tilda stash strewn all over my sewing room  I got an idea for another quilt project using this same spool blocks... but this time I'm going to use the layout for the Biscuit quilt which used this block. here's how that looks...

But instead of doing strips in the center I'm just going to use one piece of fabric... it is a great opportunity to show off some of the larger prints... I'm going to do this one with a Grunge background in the Chiffon colorway as I have about 5 yds in my stash (I really like this color... LOL) ... the plan is to make it big enough for my full size bed.  Here are some of the fabrics I cut and I'm going to pay attention and have the fabrics for the  vertical and the horizontal spools be orientated in the  right direction... there's a bit of an optical illusion in the pic below ... it looks like the spool is yellow and the background is the taupe... but in fact it will be just the opposite... hopefully by next week I'll have more blocks made and you'll see what it more clearly... it will definitely read as a yellow quilt... my fav!!

And I played around with the bow tie blocks and did a unit made up of 4 smaller sized bow ties... I picked these fabrics from bits in my scrap bin ...

I like the one with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... both of my boys were fans of that show and now Elliott likes it too. Who would have thought it would be a classic?  I can still sing the theme song as I've heard it a million times...LOL

I'm going to add more units like this to the quilt... making the little ones is fun but I don't want to commit to an entire quilt of 4" bow tie blocks... at least not at the moment... but it could happen... some day... 

More gardening was done... more pain was inflicted...thanks goodness for ibuprofen...  Things are shaping up and I'm feeling good about how much has been accomplished.... last Sunday Nick helped me plant over 100 little zinnias... and we did about 25 cleome and I want to get more of them... we did  about 8 one gallon perennials and an assortment of dahlias and other bulbs and tubers I picked up at Costco and bought online... now I will say that I was disappointed in some of the tubers I bought online and at Costco... I ordered stuff early in January because of FOMO... and I got delivery like in the beginning of April which was waaay too early to plant dahlias... and  when I went to plant them several had no discernible eyes, so I doubt they will grow... and lately I've been getting tons of emails that all the companies I ordered from still had stock and the prices are reduced and you get delivery in a couple of days... so I succumbed and ordered some more tubers.... and now I'm thinking next year I should just wait to order... I'm not real picky about specific varieties as there are so many I like... at the beginning I was big into the dinner plate ones but now I'm a bit fonder of the pompom varieties... oh well live and learn. 

Speaking of dahlias... the ones I left in the ground seem to overwinter very well... lots of them are over a foot and half tall and this one has several buds and will be my first bloom of the season... probably by mid week. I don't think I've ever had dahlias bloom this early. 

I'm still battling with the squirrels... resorted to putting cayenne pepper in my window boxes which will hopefully deter the little varmints from digging up the geraniums... the boxes are just starting to fill out...

and then I spotted this guy in my neighbors back yard... watched him hop over their chain link fence effortlessly...

so I proceeded to spray the nasty smelling deer repellent on anything I thought they might feast on... 

Nick helped me attack a big issue in my garden... I've had this grass plant for years... it has gotten HUGE... I referred to it as Cousin It and thought it was cute... but this year about 2/3 of it decided to die... so from the driveway side it looks okay, but from the yard it looks bad... I came up with the idea of placing a tall pot there to divert your attention... and it is working well as you can see below... however before I could stage it there the dead parts needed to be dug up and it was one hell of a job... I could not have done it without  Nick... luckily the day we attacked it the ground was super soft from all the rain we had and the temperature was a breezy 60 degrees...  we added some top soil to fill up the resulting hole and here is the pot...

and a close up of what I planted... I think the purples contrast nicely with the green grass plant ... and isn't the little guy adorable? I got him last year when the garden center marked him down 20%...

I got the  pot locally at Natorp's Outlet... it was the only one they had like this, it's resin and I was told they weren't getting in any more like it ...however it was gray... not my color, but no problem... I have spray paint... and I'm happy that it  now coordinates with my other brown pots. 

.

Next week is busy... going to see Delinda on Monday,  spend the day with Elliott on Tuesday and my quilty lady friends are coming on Wednesday... we are hoping to sit out on my covered patio and have lunch there if the weather cooperates... forecast at the moment  varies depending on what website you look at... one has 72 degrees and an 8% chance of rain... I like that one... but another has 68 degrees with a 50% chance of rain... guess will have to wait till that morning to make a decision.  Last Tuesday there were tornadoes not too far north of me... scary stuff... and I've become a weather junkie... I watch a lot of guys on Youtube who do forecasts for the US going out a week or so... they are predicting an active weather pattern for the Spring and Summer... and then I found guys who do storm chasing... I find it very interesting and it since they live stream you feel like you are in the car with them... kinda like someone taking you for a drive... LOL... I like that as in real life, I'm almost always the driver, and its nice to have someone else do the driving ,now and then....I can watch/listen and stitch... which I couldn't do if I was actually in the car... and yes this is crazy old lady territory... but I'm fine with that.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and with Quilting is more fun than housework,  to share my quilting projects... I hope that today and every day is a good one for all of you!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Death by gardening on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello...  lots of gardening talk today... well I haven't actually killed myself but I've inflicted some pain in my pursuit of getting my gardens shaped up... It has been HOT... over 80 degrees... and that has curtailed when I should go out and work ... and for the most part I've heeded that warning... I did plant up 2 of my 3 raised beds on Wednesday as I was able to retreat to the shade under my patio awning and sit at the table and have a cold drink... and I was quite happy with myself... I planted about 60 dahlia tubers and edged the beds with marigolds... then on Thursday I went out to admire my accomplishment and found this... direct your eyes to the upper left corner by the solar light... that tuber shouldn't be on top of the soil...argghhh

the damn squirrels or maybe the chipmunks had dug up a bunch of tubers... I didn't think to take a pic until I had most of them replanted... so how to deter the furry little varmints??   I remembered I had a roll of netting you can put on plants to keep the birds away... so I cut some and stretched it out and anchored it with the stakes I use when I put inflatables in the yard... now I'm not sure if I'll have to cut this away as the dahlias get larger but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

And this morning I looked out on my window boxes and found several places where some varmint had dug holes and relocated several of the geraniums and petunias.... arggghhh!!!   I replanted them and sprayed some repellent... it's too late to put this kind of screening in the boxes as the plants are getting pretty established ... need to look online for other ways to deter them... sigh...

I did go to the garden center with the fancy petunias... lots and lots of Proven Winner varieties ... and they did not disappoint.... here is my etagere of petunias...sounds classy doesn't it?  LOL... I used to have a pyramid  style plant stand, but there are more varieties I want than will fit on that stand, so I moved on to this last year... got the shelf unit, oops excuse me, etagere at Hobby Lobby... the shelves fold up so it is easy to store over the winter. I do LOVE petunias ... I have fond memories of planting them with my Grandma and my two great aunts, Lucy and Kate ... and  in my crazy mind, petunias are the fat quarters of the gardening world... you can't just get one, they have to travel in pairs or groups... so that's how I got to this  current display...

on that top shelf I have PW Latte...  I'm not a big fan of brown ...nor do I drink coffee/latte... but I love the brown veining in this petunia...

and I have a new to me PW Silverberry, it is the palest pink... so pretty.

then there is this purple speckly one... I see tiny yellow polka dots!   The tag says it is called Cherry Sky Burgundy  and it  is from a company called Selecta..  I liked this one so much I sprang for a bigger plant...

and then there is this mutant beauty...it is from Danziger and is in their Amazonas line... the name is Plum Cockatoo... there was only 1 left when I was shopping last Monday so I know I'm not the only person smitten with this one!

and I always pick up a Queen of Hearts... I got it at Walmart... and the petunia in the back is PW Pink Lemonade... some of the blooms are pink, some are yellow and some are both... 

now I included links so you can see the flowers more clearly but I got all of my locally.  And you can see that I've arranged the plants by color ... so I get to decorate outside with flowers!!  I'm having an issue again this year with some animal knocking the little plants off the etagere at night... don't know if it a deer or a squirrel... last couple of nights I pushed them further back on the shelves and sprayed some varmint repellent... that stuff stinks!! But I don't like going out in the morning and finding broken pots... 

I only got 2 small sections cleared of daffodils ... and I've reconsidered my plan of attack... it was backbreaking work and I really should let them die back more... sooooooo for the rest of them I'm just going to chop off a bit of the leaves... just enough to make room to plant stuff around them... and then I'll deal with the  dead parts later. Because  I'm not seeing as much growth as I would like to see,  I purchased 4 new Pretoria cannas... you can see them here...  I tucked the pots in among the alliums... and I'll give it a bit more time to see  where I need to plant these.  

And Thursday evening after it cooled down a bit from 87 degrees I went out and planted up 4 large pots and got carried away and planted 60 marigolds... omg... dug 60 holes, sprinkled fertilizer in 60 holes, put marigold in 60 holes... and paid the price for it on Friday... my hands hurt, my back hurt , my knees hurt... trying to learn from this experience and I'm getting Nick to help me plant the little zinnias... there are way more than 60 of those. As for my FOMO, I'm glad I got stuff when I got it... the garden centers still seem to be lagging in getting in more inventory. I've found fancy stuff, but the run of the mill things like pompom marigolds and salvia and coleus are still in short supply.  I haven't even thought about perennials ... my plan for now it to put I more dahlias. Of all the stuff that I left in the ground they've done the best... most are already a foot and a half high and one plant has buds on it!! Right now I consider them the "perfect" plant... the deer don't bother them, they overwinter nicely and give me lots of showy flowers.  I ordered some more tubers last week and I'm just going to plant them randomly through the beds... 

As for stitching, there hasn't been a lot this week. Several nights I was just too pooped to pick up a needle. I did stitch a tiny bit more on the Teresa Kogut Faith, Hope, Piece and Love, that I got off of Patreon,... (side tangent... I think when Teresa releases this to the public it will have a slightly different title as she already has a chart called Faith, Hope, Peace, Love  you can see it here.)   However,  I wasn't feeling it so I picked up Prairie Schooler  American Primitive... this was my unicorn chart...  it is book No. 8 published in 1985 (that's 39 years ago!)... there are 5 patterns and I LOVE ALL OF THEM!! 

 I started with Double Eagle Sampler... 

32 ct linen dyed with Lemon Yellow Rit dye... I'm doing the BIG letters in smyrna crosses... gives it a bit of dimension...and stitching Prairie Schooler is always comfort stitching. 

And it just occurred to me that next Sunday is Mother's Day... and I have a tradition that on Mother's Day I start a new sampler guilt free as my gift to myself... but I want to have it all kitted up and ready to go. Soooo I started perusing my stash... and that lead me to trying to sort some charts and file them... and then I fell into the drawer of long ago started  and still unfinished projects and after a couple of hours, I decided several of them are never going to get finished. I salvaged some of the linen and pulled out the flosses and tossed the rest... made space for new charts that are started but  not finished...lather, rinse, repeat. At the moment I've narrowed my Mother's Day start down to 2 charts that are already kitted up and ready to go ... and 2 that aren't... and I still have time to change my mind... again and again and again... I have an embarrassment of riches... so many cool charts I want to stitch!

I didn't get much quilting/sewing done... I did hem 4 pairs of pants for my older son... however, the bow ties are increasing...I'm cutting 4 at a time and stitching them up...

these two are cute... the chickens are from American Jane and the mice are from Heather Ross. 

and I had a thought about making some smaller bow ties too.. maybe making a block of 4 small ones here and there... need to work out the math... 

As for decorating, this is my display out on the porch... I'm spending as much time as possible out there... 

on the wall is the Spring ABC's by Little House Needleworks... I stitched every season of this series and love all of them.... this one is stitched on my go to 32 ct and I dyed it with a concoction of Lemon Yellow and Coral... the resulting color is kinda cantaloupe... that little screen behind it was from Darice Crafts... don't know if they make it anymore... it was unfinished wood and  I "stained" it with Aquamarine Rit dye... I've been able to paint/stain a lot of wooden items with Rit Dyes... 

on the top of the little apple Green shelf unit is Sampler Hill  by With Thy Needle & Thread... as I recall there are like 99 tulips in the border... 

next is The Magic Garden by Shakespeare's Peddler and the little pillow is Birdhouse Alphabet by Little House Needlework...

now I  I think The Magic Garden is the first piece I dyed linen for... and then I changed almost all the colors in the pattern... and I'm very happy with my interpretation of this chart... as for the little pillow, I stitched this on 28ct over 1 thread... I like the look but don't enjoy the process. 

At the bottom I have a piece from  Spring Smalls by Lizzie Kate... I mounted that on a little box I got at Target years ago. 

 All in all it is a nice display for me to enjoy when I spending time on my sunroom porch... which is the BEST room in my house!! I'm so glad I enclosed the porch... best home improvement project I have done!  I'm sitting out here as I type this ... I can watch the birds and enjoy the breeze ... very peaceful... and it  is going to rain any minute ...I'm writing this on Saturday... looks like rain on an off all  day ... I think I'll postpone gardening  today, the humidity is horrible....  but the  ground will be soft for planting on Sunday... 

So far it looks like a quiet week ahead... Elliott on Tuesday and dinner with friends once or twice... no other engagements... should have time to work in the garden and maybe stitch a bit more. That would be very nice.

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today...Hope your week ahead is one filled with time to do the stuff you want to do! Now to keep myself from wasting time on the internet and pacing myself on the garden work ... lately ibuprofen is my best friend...LOL

happy stitching -

carol fun