Slow to start... apropos for a Slow Sunday...right?

 Hello ... as  titled  "slow to start" describes the past  week ... I have the desire to do lots and lots of things... and I plot and I ponder and I plan them out in my head... but getting my body to cooperate and get started and get the project completed, well, that another story. It has been one of those weeks where my mind says I'm 40 and my body says "you are nuts"... my knees are hurting... sometimes the left, sometimes the right and sometimes both of them in concert.  I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with the orthopedic doctor. When I made the appointment I was complaining about my right knee which up to this point has not had a shot of anything... but as of today my left knee is my problem child.. and according to my calendar I can get another gel shot till  the end of this month... and having my knees hurt has curtailed the decorating I've wanted to do.  I can NOT carry my bins of decorative goodies up and down the stairs the way I packed them... meaning they are stuffed to the gills and heavy heavy heavy ... thank goodness Nick totes things up and down and back and forth... I could not do it without him. 

I wanted to have my patriotic stuff out by Memorial Day... didn't happen... but as of writing this, the Spring stuff has been returned to the basement and the patriotic bins are upstairs and some things have been unpacked. It is fun to open the bins ... there is always a surprise as I've forgotten something I stitched or purchased... and no matter how much seasonal stuff I have for a holiday I always wish I had a bit more... another cross stitch piece, another knickknack... a little something new. Now I do have 3 new crossstitch pieces I can FFO and add to my displays and I'm working on a fourth piece... and perhaps one more piece might get stitched... gotta look to see what is in my stash of patterns. 

Last week I showed the one Americana strawberry I had stitched... and I had started another... however it is in timeout because even though it was an incredibly simple repeat pattern I messed it up... frogging will occur... later... so instead I started another little saltbox house from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin.. this one is Freedom House and you can find it here...

again I changed it to a yellow house because it makes me happy... I want this FFO'd along with the other one I did, this week. They are going to be the stars of my tier tray... and while I do have a nice collection of patriotic pieces, deep breath... I want more!!  I've watched 4 videos this week that are compilations of wonderful patriotic patterns... the gal that does them is Briana Lentz... here's a link to her youtube...I'm blown away by her research and was surprised how many charts she showed that I hadn't seen before... several are going to end up in my stash... and I saw where Teresa Kogut is going to have a new booklet out the end of June with patriotic patterns... there is a BIG one that blew me away...I think it would be a good project for next year... always thinking ahead...LOL

And last week I also showed all the Carriage House Sampling  stocking charts I purchased... and I said I wanted to start one but I had no business starting one... but there are lots of things in life I had no business doing... but I did... and so I started the Pennsylvania German Sampler... and I LOVE it!

Here's a pic of the linen I started with... 

I used a new to me color from Rit Dye called Sage...now I think of sage as a more greeny gray color but this one is more turquoisey... and while I didn't start out thinking this would be an ombre kinda piece, that's how it turned out... the gradation is more visible in real life... anyway, I started with the sage and then wanted it a bit darker and added a dollop of teal... and then painted some more an added more teal... I like it... the linen is about 28" long... I may have cut it a bit short but when I get to the bottom I'll figure out how many funky birds will fit. 

As for sewing not much happened again this week... I did get a new quilt cut out... a flag quilt... the pattern is a free one you can see here from Amy Smart... now I'm just doing squares and cut mine 6".... all of the fabrics are Debbie Mumm and all of my patriotic quilts are Debbie Mumm prints... nice and scrappy... Debbie did great patriotic... 

and while pulling out fabrics for this I discovered a project I started 10 years ago... it was for the last sewing retreat I attended... here it is all nice and neatly stacked in its plastic prison, I mean bin...

the pattern is called Picnic and it is on the cover of  the Kim Brackett book called ScrapBasket Sensations...  here's link.. whoa... I didn't realize it is out of print...  anyway, there was a cryptic note in the box ... I think I planned on making this big enough for my bed and I have written down 121 blocks... and every one of them is a different  Debbie Mumm fabric... I want to play with this ... it just involves some connector corners so it would be good sewing for when Elliott is here. 

And speaking of my bed, nice segue... lol.. I changed the quilts in my bedroom again... years and years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I just started quilting my goal was to have a different quilt for my bed for each month of the year... I've gone waaaay past that and anymore I like to change things up more often so I can enjoy some of the oldie but goodies... and this one is an oldie...started in 2010, finished in 2011... it was a QAL with Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts... there are 362 different yellow prints in my quilt... and here's a pic of my design wall back in 2010 when I had 242 squares cut out...and yes Amanda wasn't the only crazy mom...LOL

And here is the finished quilt on my bed...

and at the end of the bed is another yellow charm quilt... that one is a 2 x 4 quilt from Film in the Fridge which you can find here.  And here is a larger pic of this quilt...

This one has 80 different yellows paired with 80 different low volumes... but the same little red polka dotted chicken found it's way into both quilt...  glad it hung around 10 years ... LOL.

Polka Dot Chicken in center of quilt on bed...

Polka Dot Chicken in quilt on end of bed...

And looking at these two quilts has me wanting to make another yellow charm quilt... perhaps not bed size... but I have a couple of yards of a great background fabric I could use... it has yellow push pins on it... I think with was from Benartex... gotta dig it out...

The gardens are doing pretty good... we've had rain several days so I haven't had to water a ton which is good... my electric bill was high enough, don't need a huge water bill too ... and the mail also brought the property tax bill yesterday... oh joy... here's a pic of my favorite planter right now...

the peachy verbena is  a Proven Winner appropriately  called Peachy Keen... I planted some reddish coleus behind them and at the back some Proven Winner Amazel Basil ... my hope was the the smell of the basil would keep the deer and the squirrels away... so far so good. 

So my plans for the upcoming week involve a couple of doctor's appointments... how do they all end up in the same week??  Ortho on Monday,  primary on Wednesday and eye clinic on Thursday... right now the forecast for Thursday is cloudy and rainy which would be great as I have to have my eyes dilated...  I'd like to get the flag quilt sewn together and the little Saltbox houses from Pinker n Punkin FFO'd... and I want to finish up my patriotic displays... it all sound doable as I type this but we shall have to see if the mind and the body coordinate for completion.

I 'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is More Fun than Housework   .... with several appointments on my agenda I should get some knitting done... always lots of waiting at the eye clinic.... and hopefully I'll come home and get some other things done. Hope you week is a good one ...and not filled with doctor appointments!!

happy stitching-

carol fun