I can't think.....

of an interesting title for this. Actually I'm not thinking well at all. Okay I'm gonna whine here a little... I feel achy and my throat is scratchy and my eyes are watery. I'm hoping that resting up will make me feel better tomorrow - that and some vitamin C. I do have a sampler to show for Sunday, it is my newly framed BBD Home is Where My Heart Blooms.



I love how it stitched up. Thanks Myra for swapping me for this graph. I have wanted to do this sampler for so long and I am so happy on how it turned out. I've very pleased with this frame too.. the very outside edge is black, then there is the wide rusty burl center and the tiny inside edge has a gold finish.



When I got this home I noticed several things about this that totally escaped me when I was stitching. First, there is no alphabet on this piece - huh? is it still sampler if it doesn't have an alphabet? And when I looked closely I saw that the flower on the lower left isn't identical to the flower on the lower right. I would have checked the graph to see if it is charted this way or if this is my error, but I don't have it anymore. I was contacted by Nancy W (no blog) and she purchased it from me for the amount I swapped Myra for. I am very happy with this arrangement. I'm glad to see that someone else who loved this piece will also get a chance to stitch. The moral of this story is that you have nothing to lose by approaching a stitcher who has finished a piece and asking nicely if they are willing to swap or sell the graph. I think you'll find that you won't have to pay those outrageous prieces that are being asked for on ebay. Excuse the rant, I understand supply and demand but it still bothers me when I see an OOP graph selling for 4 or 5 or even 6 times more than it was originally priced at. I am happy to let a graph move on once I'm done with it.

Hope your week is happy and productive. I hope to feel more energetic tomorrow. I want to take some pics of my Fall quilts that I put out. It is nice to have a change of deocr and I love fall colors.

And thank you to everyone who left such lovely commments last week. I really appreciate them and I meant to send you all a little email but while the spirit was willing the achy body was weak. Hope you understand.

Happy stitching...

carol fun

A Sampler for Sunday

Ok - I know that Sunday is just about over but I want to see if I can get this posted and then I'll feel like I accomplished something today. I find satisfaction in little accomplishments - and some days they are very little - LOL! This Sampler is The Red Reindeer by Birds of a Feather.



I have no idea when I finished this but I do love all the little motifs. The little girl and the tulip are 2 of my favorites. And I love this frame too - definitely one of my best selections -if I say so myself and I do!



I tried to do a little more fall decorating.



This little quilt hangs over my cutting table. Can you tell it is a window? Since I sew in the basement and there is only one window which is no where near my cutting table I let myself gaze through this one.(Yes I know this is delusional but it makes me happy.) This quilt is all Debbie Mumm fabrics and it is one of her patterns too. Debbie Mumm was my first designer crush - I loved her style and still do. I have quite a stash of DM fabrics. I haven't sewed with them for a while but I don't want to part with them yet. I think I have a few more DM quilts in me. I have a stack of quilts I've made just using her fabrics. Several of them are of the "charm" variety in that I used a different piece of DM fabric for each block. There is an "Eye Spy" quilt, and a calendar girl quilt (one girl for each month), and one with a big eagle. I need to take some pictures and share them with you. I'll make a note to myself and I'll surely get around to it - someday. So many plans so little time - you know what I mean?

It was noticeably cooler today and we are suppose to get some rain tomorrow - oh do we need rain. I hope it rains all day. I want to plant some more tulip/daffodil bulbs but the ground is like concrete. A nice soaking rain would make this a lot easier.

Hope your week is productive - heck I hope my week is productive-

Happy stitching -

carol fun

Can I get a do over on the weekend?

I'd like to rewind the weekend and do it over again - and get something accomplished! Drama on Friday evening, spilled over to Saturday and left me tired and unmotivated. I spent a lot of time sitting in my barcalounger "watching" college football - that is my son was watching and I listened. I did get some stitching done on my BBD Anniversaries of the Heart piece. I'll show some pictures this week. I am enjoying stitching this. My mood lately is better suited to cross stitch where I don't have to make any decisions, than to quilting where there are more choices. I don't want to deal with choices at the moment since so many other things in life are uncertain. Basically, I don't want to think too hard and cross stitch doesn't make me think - put this stitch in this space with this floss. I like that - A LOT!!

I'm a day late and at least a dollar short on my Sampler for Sunday.



This piece is a Ewe & Eye & Friend and as I remember it is called An Angel for us All. It was done as rememberance piece for Polly Klaas. A young girl who was abducted, molested and killed by a pedophile in California. Such a sad sad story.



I love the verse on this piece and the angel button, and it has those spiderweb roses I love to make.

I did get a little retail therapy in on Friday in Columbus. I went to a yarn shop with my niece and picked up two more skeins of yarn.



The Ty-Dy skein is totally not my usual colors but I thought it would be a good choice for a change of pace. The Opal yarn is light pink and blue - also not my normal selection but I LOVE Opal yarn, particularly the ones with thick and thin stripes and little checky patterns. Opal yarn knits up nicely and washes and wears with no special attention. I have knit several pairs of Opal socks and want to do lots more. I'm still in my one sock mode so I dont' have any finished pairs to show. At last count I'm up to about 10 single socks - sad state of affairs. I need to find the motivation to finish up a couple of these mateless soles.

On the cross stitch front I wanted to show you this great kit I got from my sons for my birthday last week.



I had seen it online at 123stitch.com and loved it but thought it was too expensive. My son, bless his heart, ordered it and I can't wait to start it. Again it is a BIG project - 20 X 16 inches. It is a Eva Rosentand design. I will enjoy stitching this since it is primarily one color. The linen and the floss are all included in the kit and the graphs are nice and big. Easy on the eyes.

And here is a parting shot of Big Boy in his natural state.



He is comfy on my son's bed. He seems to spend the majority of his day in this state. Oh to be a pampered house cat! Maybe in my next life!

Happy stitching -
carol fun

A Sampler for Sunday and update on Big Boy

Well this weekend certainly has flown by. First, I want to thank all of you for your sweet comments about my new Big Boy. He is settling in nicely and has freshened up too. The shelter smell seems to have dissipated.



He's spent most of the day laying in the sun in the family room and he actually broke into a trot when he heard me opening a packet of wet food. I'm pretty sure that burst is the most activity he gets in a day - LOL! He is very sweet and I think we are going to get along fine since I share his love of naps in the sun.

Here is my Sunday Sampler offering -



Now I have absolutely no idea who was the designer of this piece so there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of me figuring out what it was called. I know I selected it for the great combination of sampler and quilting motifs and the inclusion of a house. I vaguely remember that I added the house and that there was some other quilt block in its place, but I may just be imagining it. The mind isn't what it use to be!

This week is shaping up to be busy - lots of places I need to go and things I need to do. Hopefully I can squeeze in some stitching. I've gotten a decent amount done on the BBD Anniversaries of the Heat. I'll show a pic later in the week. I'm trying to get the whole graph done (without the personalization) before I show it off.

Hope your week has plenty of stitching time in it!

carol fun