A bit past half-way on Design Wall Monday

I had another lovely weekend where sewing and stitching and knitting were all activities in which I participated. My Fallout Stars are a little bit past half-way done.

The bottom five rows are sewn together and the top four rows are waiting their turn. Now this is a danger point for me. At this stage I know how it is going to look, no surprises remain, and my mind starts to wander to what will be my next project. And we all know how incredibly enticing a new project can be, how it can seduce you into leaving the quilt you are working on. NO.... don't go!!! Okay, I was weak, but I did recover... I only made 4 blocks for the next quilt I want to sew.

Now this looks big, but looks are deceiving. There are four 6" blocks sewn together here so that is only 12" of quilt. The blocks are the Picnic pattern from Kim Brackett's book Scrap-Basket Sensations. I've been feeling the urge to make another scrap quilt from my rather large Debbie Mumm stash. You can make two 6" blocks from a 2 1/2" strip that is WOF. I want my quilt to be 11 X 11 blocks -- 121 in total -- soooo I will need 61 different fabrics. I have more than enough to chose from. In fact, the problem will be limiting myself to 61 different fabrics. I want to have a nice mix of colors - blue, red, brown, green, gold, orange and maybe a smattering of purple and black. Oh this is going to be lots of fun.

But first I need to go back and finish the Fallout Stars, if for no other reason than to clear my design wall for new Picnic blocks. And if you are interested in seeing some quilts I finished, check back later this week. I got the binding on 2 quilts and I have 2 more that are ready to be bound. I'm taking the two I have finished for Show N Tell at tonight's guild meeting. Hope you have a productive week!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Slow Stitching Sunday

So I'm taking a different approach to talking about my cross stitch. Instead of showing a sampler every week, I'm going to update what I've been stitching along with showing samplers I get finished. As I mentioned last week, I only have a few cross stitch pieces in my home that I haven't shown. When I started 2 years ago my collection of over 75 samplers seemed quite extensive but a new sampler every Sunday for more than 100 Sundays has been a long run.

Also I've been re-evaluating my stitching goals and I see that I have a couple few several oh heck a WHOLE lot of large samplers I've started and I'd like to finish them. I hope that showing what I'm working on will keep me motivated to finish up some from this list that is woefully incomplete -- (you can click on title to see what the completed piece would look like.... someday)

And They Sinned by Exampler Dames
The Houses of Hawk Run Hallow by Carriage House Samplings
Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs
Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor
The Four Seasons by Marjolein Bastion

So with that said here is Autumn Alphabet by Lizzie Kate.

I'm past the halfway mark and I'm hoping to pick up steam this week.

I do like that little turkey - ain't he cute?

And along with this updated attitude on cross stitch I'm linking up to Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching. I really like her take on working on projects that make you happy. I want to follow that path and slow down a bit. I often find myself racing to finish a project to post on this blog. In the future you are going to see more "in progress" work, I hope you'll be okay with this slower pace, I think I'm going to like it a lot.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

A little more decor

Okay the Spiced Pumpkin candle motivated me to get the rest of my Fall decor out. This little arrangement sits on the bookcase right next to my stitching chair.

Did you notice that it is all sitting on my finished Speck quilt? This is in the perfect spot for me to admire for the whole Fall season. The large white container is a warmer that holds the Pumpkin Spice candle and the pumpkin house has a little battery tea light inside that flickers in the dark. (yes that is a tiny chicken in the doorway -LOL)

Here's picture of Speck in all its glory.

I just did a wavy line grid for the quilting and used a variegated thread. Quick and simple!

And my motivation held for me to decorate the top of the tv cabinet with my collection of mercury glass pumpkins - I LOVE mercury glass.

And this is the fireplace mantle. I've never done this asymmetrical arrangement before. I'm still not sure of it but I'll leave it like this for a day or two. The pumpkin quilt is a Sandy Gervais panel that I quilted. I love the polka dots on the pumpkin.

Now all that is left is to get some taller help (my sons) to hang my Fall quilts. I should be able to guilt them into it tomorrow or Sunday.

Have a great weekend!
carol fun

A little Fall in the foyer

I finally got some Fall decor put out in my house and I started in the foyer. This year I was able to use 4 different cross stitch samplers that include those Fall colors I love. (you can click on this pictures to make them bigger)

Have you used those Command hooks to hang pictures? I love them because you don't have to put any holes in the wall, so I can use a different arrangement whenever I want. I anchored this display with a table runner I stitched up a couple of years ago.

The "Give Thanks" pumpkin is a end of season bargain I got a while ago and those adorable little white pumpkins came from the flea market last weekend. The lady I bought them from said that white one with the orange stripes is called "Hooligan".... what a fun name!

And on the other end of the table I have some of my many ceramic acorns and the squirrel is half of a salt-n-pepper set from Target. The amber hurricane glass is filled with candy corn.... a yummy variety that is caramel-y. The candle is one of those battery operated kind that flickers in the dark. It has a timer where it is on for 5 hours and off for 19 hours, so I don't have to disassemble this arrangement each evening to turn it on. It is very pretty in the dark and give the foyer a nice glow.

Now to get the downstairs family room decorated. I do have a lovely Spiced Pumpkin Yankee Candle burning there that smells heavenly which will hopefully motivate me to action.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

A Speck and Some Stars for Design Wall Monday

I had a very productive weekend and it was wonderful! I enjoyed every minute I spent with my sewing machine and I was able to get a Speck top together.

Now these aren't the Speck blocks I showed about 2 weeks ago. Those blocks just weren't making me happy so I started again with a charm pack of Sandy Gervais Phenomenal Fall. Now these colors are beautiful. I decided to make my version square and went with 16 blocks.

I found a cute little polka dot fabric for the background and I LOVE that border fabric. I bought a yard so I have plenty left for another project. I'm planning on binding this with the multi-color houndstooth plaid I used on the inner border. Hopefully I'll get this done before the week is out. I'm chomping at the bit to put out Fall decorations.

And I was able to make some more progress on my Fallout Stars. In fact I got all of the blocks done - yippee!

I tried to not over think arranging them and I think they are fine just the way they are. Now onto sewing the rows together. I'm not planning on any borders at this moment, so it should measure about 72" X 54" - a nice lap size.

And some more stash diving retrieved another vintage Hoffman chicken print! I'll bet this has been on my shelves for at least 15 years, so it has been appropriately aged and it ready for its close up - LOL!

Well there is lots for me to work on this week. I hope I can get this top all sewn together along with quilting Speck. I'm thinking of quilting Fallout Stars myself since it isn't ginormous and I have a plan that would let me use my walking foot and not drop my feed dogs. I'm not good at free motion and I'd prefer to leave the fancy stuff to Cass, my long arm quilter. Wish me luck!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

A Meaningful Sampler for Sunday

It has been awhile since I've had a new sampler to show for Sampler Sunday and I must say that this one make me very happy! I love all the motifs and the colors!

This is Willow House by Blackbird Designs. I stitched this on a yummy pumpkiny colored linen and I changed the house color to a lovely buttery yellow! That certainly makes it the house of my dreams. I loved how this sampler includes the symbolism of the different motifs too.

According to Barb and Alma, the red tulips are a symbol of love, sweet memories and charity. The basket symbolizes bounty.

The house is a symbol of family and community. The willow tree is found in many mourning samplers but willow bark is used medicinally to relieve pain and suffering. I love the two birds (they make me think of my sons) and the stars remind me of quilt blocks. I tucked my initials in under the tree.

I was happy to be able to highlight the "C" and the "N" in the alphabet as these are my sons' initials.

I hope to get some more pieces finished and framed soon. I've found a couple more partially stitched pieces in my stash and I'm in the mood to get them done. Hope your weekend has been fun. We've had a blast of Fall weather and I am loving it! I've worn some handknit socks the last 2 days and they make me happy!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

On and off the needles

So along with all the fiber that came into the house this week there was a little knitting too. The number 1 project is still the BIG BLACK socks for my son.

I need to borrow his size 13 feet for a minute to determine if I can start the toe. Hopefully they will be around some time tomorrow.

So even though that sock didn't get finished I did finish a sock for me. These are my EasyGoing Alice socks. The color in the second pic is truer - the yarn is a creamy white with bits of black, blue, pink and yellow.

The pattern is EasyGoing - you can see it here on Ravelry. It is a free pattern. I love the cable down the side and the way she wrote the pattern. Instead of this cable being at the ends of your needles as you knit down the leg, she positions the cable in the center of the needles and then you shift the pattern when you start the heel turn. Very clever and no problems with dropped stitches at the beginning or end of a round.

The yarn is from Three Irish Girls. It is the Cashmerino Fingering and has 10% cashmere and it feel soooooooo good!! I think I got this from Loopy Ewe but I don't see this color there now. However there are a couple other colors that are calling my name like Strawberry Fields Forever and Mairin.

I LOVE sock yarn and last night I came across this new online magazine - The Sock Report - check it out here. You can buy the patterns individually for $6.50 or all of the patterns for $16. Since there are at least 3 patterns I love I'll be buying the whole package.

Well here's hoping that you have a lovely weekend. I'm planning to stay home and sew and knit and cross stitch. There wasn't enough of those activities in my week so far.

Happy stitching-
carol fun