Green green green on a Slow Sunday...

 Warning... this post starts out heavy on garden stuff but there is a bit of creativity if you scroll down... I'm a bit enamored with  my gardening at the moment... well more than a bit... LOL.. 

Hello - well it was pretty nice week... had a lovely lunch with my quilty gal friends, dinner with another friend and  the weather was semi- cooperative and I've only had to water a couple of times... and  more rain is  in the forecast which I will  appreciate... and speaking of things I appreciate, there is this...

again this year I was given the Mayor's Choice award for my garden/yard... I've lived here 10 years now and I've gotten a form of this award about 6 or 7 times (I forget the exact number) but the last 2 years I've gotten the top award... and it makes my little heart happy!!  But what makes me even more happy is when I'm out watering and people stop me and tell me how much they love walking past my house... that they purposely walk or drive by ... and how much they enjoy the flowers... and that is the reason I do it... I enjoy the flowers and I'm happy that other enjoy them too... my neighbor across the street Joan has mobility issues and can't get out much anymore... she called me to thank me for the flowers that she loves to sit by her front window and look at them... she told her son "it's like being at the Masters in Augusta".... wow!  Not sure I can rival that landscaping but it sure is a wonderful compliment. 

I do LOVE my little house... one of the things that kept me dragging my feet from moving 10 years ago was I didn't want to leave my garden... but I ended up with a much bigger garden!  It is this time of year that I look at the flowers and think " Carol, you jumped the shark"... everything is kinda wild... I put down paver stones in several places in the Spring to make getting into the beds and watering easier... and at the moment, I can't find them!..... the flowers are definitely unruly (kinda like the gal that planted them) and just grow where ever they want to... here are some pics  of what my little house in the middle of Deer Park looks like...

Starting from the driveway there is this wall of cannas & marigolds &  the giant grass plant I call Cousin It...

Walk around that living wall and you see this....cosmos, cleome, dahlias...

Keep walking to your left...more dahlias and zinnias...

A bit more....more zinnias and dahlias...

Now turn the corner to the other front  yard... cleome and zinnias...

Don't stop yet... keep moving to your left... zinnia, dalhias, cleome... you see the trend dontcha?

A little more...

I took this pictures early so I could catch the those yellow and hot pink morning glories in bloom...

And there was one more pic but I don't know where it went to... I am fond of that limey green coleus I the middle... it has recovered nicely from being chomped on by the deer ...

People often ask how much time do I devote to taking care of this, and by this time of year my work is just watering and deadheading...  in the Spring I do plant a lot of annuals but this year I opted for just throwing seeds down for the marigolds and boy did they take off... look back at that first pic with the orange cannas... now they aren't the low tidy profile of the ones you buy in cells at the  garden store ... they are about 18" high and very blowsy... not sure which look I like better but this was waaaay easier ... and the older I get the more I like easy... I am happy that  the dahlias I've planned in the yard seem to come back every years and are making quite the show... and the deer leave them alone... I did have some trouble with Japanese beetles for about a month but after that it has been okay... and I've discovered that those descriptions of how high a plant will get  on the seed packages have about as much truth as weathermen... all of the zinnia seeds I bought said they were  Thumbelina or some short variety but they are much taller than the package said...oh well... I'm hoping we aren't going to get another one of those really hot spells in August... I think one a year is plenty and we already had that ...

As for more green... I got my green bow tie quilt back from Delinda and I got it bound and washed and boy it is pretty... if I say so myself ...and  I do... I took a glamour shot of it using my neighbor's new fence as a quilt rack... it works great... just need to take the pictures when my neighbor is at work and his truck isn't parked in his driveway... 

I love this panto... it is called Elizabeth and I chose it to use on the American Jane runner I took to Delinda a week or so ago.... 

As for sewing I got 6 more blocks done on the FQ 4 Patch quilt with the Basic Grey Jolly Good fabric... 10 more to go...

every block so far is a different fabric....and the last 2 I've cut out are also different from what's on the wall.. I'll need 8 more block so those be duplicates... I'm gonna pick and choose as I put the rows on my design wall... 

I was good last week and not a single new chart snuck into  by house...LOL... now I have plenty of BIG projects to work on but instead I decided that what I need in my life is more chickens... this is Hattie... she's from Lori Holt's Chicken Club... and I don't believe I've ever seen a pink chicken, except for back into the 50's when they use to sell dyed chicks for Easter... but no chick was harmed here...  I'm stitching these on 16 ct Aida I dyed with Golden Yellow Rit dye... 

and after I finished her I worked on  Myrtle... she's quite hefty gal... LOL... 

I have to fill in her pattern and do her little chick and I'll be half way to the flock I want to stitch. 

My plan is that these are the only seasonal pieces I'm adding to this display... I want to concentrate on a couple of those BIG samplers....and  I've made plans like this  before only to have a squirrel race through my world and have me working on something entirely different... so take this with a grain of salt... I know I do... 

As for displays here's a  bit of what I've put out... 

My chicken wall quilt... it started out as some left over Lori Holt blocks done in American Jane fabrics... 

love the chicken!

and here you can see that new bow tie quilt on the back of the couch... I'm liking the cool greens for the hot weather...

This tier tray is a bit minimal... 

The cross stitch is from Nikyscreations  Summer Scissors....you can see it here. 

Now the small shelf unit has a bit more... 

 I do love the chicken mini quilt... and the Welcome Summer  from The Drawn Thread... 

Middle shelf has  Tansy Yarrow Rue from Pineberry Lane... a little chicken stack from Pinker n Punkin called Summer Chicks you can find it here and  Rise and Shine by ScissorTail Designs. 

Bottom shelf has a truck  which is a snippet from Fresh Eggs Farm and another adorable piece from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting called Bees, Blooms and Chicken which she so generously offers as a freebie and you can find it  here ... I so enjoy stitching her stuff... she's got a new house in the works I'm dying to see... 

In looking at these pictures I'm not happy with the color or sharpness of most of them... could be the lighting, could be the camera, could be operator error... sorry... 

So I have no definite plans for next week except to watch Elliott and take Nick to meet up with his friend Brad one afternoon.... hopefully I can  get that FQ 4 Patch quilt done and maybe the Hattie and Myrtle FFO'd... but I'm sure that plenty of stuff will happen that I hadn't planned on and will fill up my week ... seems to be the way every week goes anymore... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... hoping for some time to sit on the sunroom porch and stitch and maybe there will be rain to watch they forecast for this afternoon ... I'd like that... I'd like that a lot... 

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Well that didn't go like I thought on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... well I thought I was going to have a ton of time to be crafty and productive last week and that isn't at all how it went... it started in Sunday when it rained twice... totally NOT forecasted ... but it was lovely for my garden... and it started my week off on a great note... Monday was quiet and Tuesday Elliott was here... we had a very nice day... and then the wheels fell off ... I was suppose to have financial meeting Wednesday but it got rescheduled...and then my cleaning lady ,who I haven't seen in months as she's been sick, called me out of the blue and said she could come and  clean... so she did... and then Delinda called and said my latest  quilt was ready for pick up but the only time we both could meet was that afternoon, so a trip to Springboro ensued... Thursday had errands and a spur of the moment dinner invitation from friends ... and Friday finally got a little less hectic...  but Saturday turned into one of those days where you get up, do a few errands, some one stops by and  the next thing you know it's 6pm... where did the day go??? and yes having even one engagement a day seems busy to this retired slug... I like staying home, as long as it is my choice... don't tell me what to do, as I'm immediately oppositional ... I'm stubborn ... and I've always been that way... probably not going to have any major change at this stage of my life... 

So all of that was to say I got hardly anything crafty done and feel like I was very unproductive... that Christmas quilt I've been working on has gotten no attention... I did sew up a couple more American Jane spool blocks ... I like them but still need another 8 of them...

As for cross stitch... I didn't even pick up the Noel Sampler... instead I did put a couple of stitches in one of the Prairie Schooler A Prairie Year  pieces...

I told you it was just a couple of stitches... not lying... this is going to be the clock for January... I changed it from red to brown. 

And then I got distracted with this chart... Vibrant Flowers by Kathy Barrick...  I like the house with the giant flowers and I may get around to stitching it, but I bought the chart for the little pillow piece.... I love the saying and with  a slight change of hair color the garden gal will be adorable... I'm gonna make her a red head... LOL... but I still have a ways to go...oh I'm doing this in the called for DMC conversion. 

I was able to get my patriotic stuff put away and Nick helped me to get out my chicken decor... and it putting out my displays I realize I have a nice amount of chicken knickknacks but I really could use a bit more cross stitch... soooooooooo I went on 123 Stitch and these gals just arrived in my mail box ....

they are too stinking cute and all of them have names that speak to me... Beatrice was my SIL's mother name, a very sweet lady... Florence was my aunt's name... Hattie to me is puppet on the Uncle Al show from my childhood... Batty Hatty from Cincinnati... gosh I'm old old old... and Myrtle is the name of the street that my daughter in law's Dad grew up on and it is just blocks from my house... I pass it every day... anyway I think these gals would be great additions to my displays... and hopefully a quick stitch that I can add before the end of August when I change decor again... 

Also I got this chart... Bringing Good Cheer from Blackbird Designs... oh this is sooooo pretty!!  I went ahead and ordered the overdyed flosses too... need to dye some linen for this...

This is the 3rd one in the Christmas Sampler series and I've already stitched 2 of them...

 Merry Christmas

Feliz Navidad 

I'd love to add this to my Christmas display... Blackbird does the BEST Christmas samplers IMHO...

I picked up my Prairie Schooler  Garden Sampler from chart No. 45... I've got it hanging in my sunroom porch... which is great because I'm out here every chance I get and I can enjoy it from my chair.

I got this one framed at Hobby Lobby... the did a nice job... it could be a little bit tighter but the price was right... only $52... gives me memories of Joanns framing... I got so many bargains there and they had a wonderful framer...she had owned her own shop for years before working at Joanns and she did great work with stitching... I didn't realize how good she was and how great the prices were until Joanns got rid of the framing at  all the Cincinnati locations... some pieces I'm okay with paying a higher price for, but seasonal pieces I want to be easier on my  pocketbook... 

And here is my sunroom porch display... I tweaked a few things from a couple of months ago... I like the mix of garden and bird stuff...

At the top is Good Deeds from WTN&T... and a bird from a Blackbird book but I don't remember which one...

Middle has the Magic Garden Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler... I change this one A LOT... Teresa says her version was  inspired by the Tim Burton production of Alice in Wonderland... which may explain why the flower border on the left was charted in black... mine are definitely more daylily looking...  

the little pin pillow was my foray into stitching over one on 28 ct... this is Birdhouse Alphabet by Little House Needleworks... and in the little watering can is a tiny  gal from Pineberry Lane... she was a freebie called Wee Crowned Maiden... you can find her here....I have no clue why I didn't stitch her crown.

Bottom has The Queen's Garden by The Scarlett House and a companion bird to the one up top...

The weather has gotten a tiny bit cooler and less humid... I turned off the AC and opened the windows to air the house out... rain is forecast for Mon/Tues/Wed... fingers crossed... have lunch plans on Wednesday with my quilty lady friends and nothing else on the calendar but I know that could change... I hope to get some time in down in my sewing studio ... and maybe get a chicken stitched up this week... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is more fun than Housework... after I get the flowers watered I should be free to  spend some time on the sunroom porch... my favorite place to be these days...

happy stitching -

carol fun 

Where wondering, leads to wandering, leads to wondering "what was I thinking?" on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - and how are things in your little corner of the world?  It was a a pretty good one last week...I'm writing  this on Saturday afternoon and I haven't had to water since Monday... but I'll be doing it later today. Got surprised by a couple of pop up storms that doused the gardens fairly well on W/Th/F... however, like all weather, things are changing and the forecast is for upper 90's and no rain... sigh... what I really want is Camelot where it rains overnight several times a week... and I shall dream on.  If you'd like a little  tour of my gardens click here... it is a link to my post on IG...I can't get it to load here...

Had 2 doctor appointments last week where the conclusion was  my ailments are "age related" ... which means you are old... and not much we can do about it... nothing really earth shattering...."age related" macular degeneration but not at the point for any interventions... come back in 9 months...  and  nighttime cramps in my feet and toes for which they don't know why that happens and suggested a magnesium supplement... I'll give it a try.

As for more upbeat chatter I was semi-productive this week. Spent some quality time in my sewing studio and added 8 more blocks to the Jolly Good FQ 4 Patch  Quilt...

I have 8 more cut out and will need 8  more after that to make the quilt 36 blocks... would love to find a cute Christmas- y wide back for this... 

And I got the binding on the Tilda spools... 

I know this isn't a great pic...I was thinking of doing a glamour shot of the quilt draped over my neighbors' new fence with my dahlia beds as a back drop... but it is too hot right now for that.

And this is when the wondering, lead to wandering, lead to "what was I thinking"?... 

So I really deeply truly LOVE LOVE LOVE this spool blocks... you may remember I have another Tilda spool quilt started... this version will have a solid spool center...

The blocks will go both vertically and horizontally... the spool part is taupe and the background is a golden yellow Grunge... right now this one is napping on a tray...  

Back to the binding... as I was sewing it on I was looking around my studio and contemplating a bit of an update to the room... I have considered changing  the direction  of my sewing tables but I'm not sure it would be any better than what I have now... I looked at the quilts I have in the room... on the back of a comfy chair... an American Jane quilt... 

over this little cabinet... another American Jane ... this one a amalgamation of different blocks left over from other projects.... and yes I do have some little cross stitch pieces I want to add to that tier tray... they are stitched but not FFO'd... sigh...

and this quilt over my cutting table... 

Now I made this quilt about 10 years ago when almost everything I made was BRIGHT... and this is no exception. If you enlarge the pic you can see it has a very cute border and all the spools are bright stripe-y fabrics.  And my mind wondered  if another spool quilt... with American Jane fabrics... might be just the project to freshen up the studio...

So I went and checked out my AJ fabric stash... and you aren't seeing things, that is a rubber chicken on the middle shelf... it is a purse... I actually carried it for a while...LOL 

and found a bag of charm squares in those bottom baskets which are the perfect starting point for these spool blocks... 

oh I forgot to mention the spool blocks is the Biscuit Quilt from the Sew Emma book Simply Jelly Rolls ... and before you know it I'd made 2 blocks, just to check it out my idea... oh I really really like these!!

In short order, I  cut all the centers I will need for a 15  block quilt which would fit nicely over my cutting table...each piece is a different fabric and while some are the same design they are different color ways... nice and scrappy...

 I didn't have any brown AJ fabric for the spool ends but found that crackly print in my stash that works nicely... it will be a FREE quilt!  and we are not going to think deeply about the way I'm justifying this... LOL

So while I was standing there cutting out the fabrics I got to wondering about other AJ quilts I've started and left stranded in plastic bins... I am a cruel quilter... so I wandered into my root cellar closet that has many many many bins of fabrics and partially finished projects and found not one but two more AJ  quilts...

This first one was a sew along back in 2020 for the pattern Fresh as Daisy by Pen & Paper Patterns and you can see it here...

as you can see I did not complete the sew along and have 9 blocks... I have 2 more cut out, but I think I was planning to make  this a bed sized quilt ... one of those  "what was I thinking" moments ... but now I'm thinking a small lap quilt of 12 would be adequate...

And then there was this AJ project... which I don't even know the name of ... but from the contents of its plastic bin I KNOW was I planning on making this a bed sized quilt... What in the heck was I thinking???

 There a a bajillion little triangles in this ... and what  you probably can't see in the pic with the photo of the design and my "plan" but the date on this is 2008... which pre-dates this blog by 2 years... that was a looong time ago...and I know that I am never going to get back to this...

sooooo my current plan is to trim up the edges and quilt this and turn it into a runner that I can use on the bench in the living room for when I get out my AJ quilts and chickens...and my plan is to do that in the next 2 weeks... fingers crossed. 

Don't know what this says about my wondering and how it leads to wandering... but I do wonder about myself sometimes and I'm glad my vices are crafty... otherwise I think I'd get into a lot of serious trouble...LOL

I did get my craft room tidied up slightly... I made notes for the 3 patriotic pieces I started stitching and didn't finish so hopefully I'll be able to figure out what I planned to do with them next year.

And I put some quality time in on the Noel Sampler from WT&T...

now I don't usually do the entire border first, but after getting the top and right side done I wanted to see what the left side would look like and before you know it I was stitching the bottom too.   I have an error somewhere... I can not find it but when I got to the bottom I'm one stitch off... just gonna leave  it... there is some wiggle room in the bottom area where I can have one less  unstitched row... and I'm making a note on the pattern so if I put this away without finishing it I will know what happened, because one of the biggest lies I tell myself is "I'll remember what I did"...LOL

I did get some nice 16 ct Aida in Wren for the Prairie Schooler  No.13 A Prairie Year  that I want to do ... and I picked up all the needed flosses at Hobby Lobby... and somehow I've managed to keep myself from starting this BIG project... but I have a feeling temptation will overcome me soon and I'll have to start one of them.

Next week seems pretty easy... Elliott on Tuesday and an financial appointment on Wednesday... I'd love to spend the other days at home...  like I said, I want to get the patriotic stuff put away and get my chicken/garden stuff out... and I'm getting better in practicing that this is going to take longer than it used to ... I'm not as young as I use to be, but hopefully not as old as I'll get... I saw a little video on IG where a guy  was talking about his philosophy of life... he pulled out a paper tape that had the numbers 1 to 100 on it... he said that the average age for men is 75 and for women is 81... he tore the tape at 75... then he tore the tape again at his age (57) and tossed it aside and held up the small  piece that was left and spoke to the fact that this is the probable amount of time he has left in life and that he needs to make the most of it... he was grateful for all the time he has had but reflected on how he needs to be mindful of how he spends his days... and I'm trying to do that too. I'm lucky that most days I do get to do just what I want to do... the only issue is, there seems to be more I want to do in a day than there are hours... gotta make the most of what I have left, correct ?

Well, I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and with Quilting is more fun than Housework... hoping to get in some sewing and some stitching... will need to water the garden... Nick has already prepped what he want to make for our dinner... life is good...

happy stitching-

carol fun