New Stuff around the House

It is a glorious day here in southwestern Ohio. The "Polar Vortex" is paying us a visit and it is sunny and low 70's. Oh it could stay like this for a long long time, but the forecast says just a couple of days. I'm airing out my house and enjoying a lovely breeze.

Well there are a couple of new things here. First, have you noticed that there are new blogs listed on my Blog List? Several of my friends told me that they visit the blogs that are posted on the list but they are always looking for new ones. Now in my Bloglovin'/Feedly/Blogger accounts I follow about 500 blogs on lots of different subjects. I try to keep the ones on the blog to the crafty ones. I've been thinking about updating the list for a while but over the weekend the decision was made for me when I tried to delete on duplicate listing and instead I deleted the entire Blog List - whoosh! poof! GONE GONE GONE!!! arrrrrggggghhhhh!!!! It took me a couple of hours to recreate the list and while I was at it I added some new ones. There are over 200 listed and the latest updates appear at the top of the list. If there is a blog I don't have listed and you'd like to see it on this list let me know and I will add it. I have gotten very adept at adding, deleting is still a problem - LOL!

And then these sandals appeared on my front porch. Aren't they cute? A kinda hippie chick vibe!

I'd been have a bit of heel pain - plantar fasciitis - and knew some Birkenstocks would help. I went shopping online and was considering a navy suede pair when these appeared and I was powerless to resist. You can find them here at Zappos! Oh, they also come in a purple-y paisley. Not trying to enable,just sharing!


I've done a little gardening around the house too. These pots sit on my front porch steps.

I was totally smitten with this purple leaf plant. I think it is called Persian Shield. My future DIL bought one at a local garden center and I popped over and snagged a couple. The marigolds are even more orange in real life than in the picture and the pots have a bit of a Halloween vibe. Fingers crossed that they last that long!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!
happy stitching-
carol fun

Postcards from Kaffe, Brandon, Philip and Mary

Again, another quilt has appeared on my design wall that was no where on my list of things I need to do... I really don't know how this happens..oh yeah, I do know... I saw something shiny and I HAD to make it RIGHT NOW! Look a squirrel! But such a colorful squirrel, don'tcha think?

This is my start on the Postcard QAL I found on the blog A Quilter's Table. You can find the directions here... and the Flickr group is here. Most people are making smaller versions but you know how hard that is for me to do. It took no time at all to put together the postcard blocks. I think I have about a dozen different text prints along with the black/white polka dot divider. In looking at the picture I can see where I need to rearrange a couple of the postcards. All of the prints are from Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs - love their stuff!

As I was admiring this on my wall last night it occurred to me that it would be even better if I made it a little bit bigger - add two rows across and two more down. It would be almost square then and I really like square quilts. Hmmm... lets see I would need 22 more of each block. I still have all the Kaffe, Brandon, Philip fabric out on my cutting table...I think it is gonna happen -LOL!


Oh you may be wondering who is the Mary I referred to in the title of this post. Well, it is Mary Engelbreit. I think this is my favorite postcard!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

My philosophy of UFO's

I adhere to my own philosophy that it is vitally important that we all have UFOs- unfinished objects, WIPs - works in progress, Phds - projects half done. I practice what I preach and have many many many UFOs and I no longer feel any guilt about them. Why? Because when I rediscover a UFO and pick up that project again, I am already partially or sometime almost completely finished with it at that moment of rediscovery. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I charge headlong into that bright spot and crash into the oncoming train -ooops - maybe not the metaphor I was going for - LOL! What I mean is I am energized to finish and that energy has been strong the last three weeks where sock knitting was concerned. (Don't ask about the quilt tops or cross stitch - they are in their dormant phase of being UFO's... very important for their development.)

To begin, this pair is done! Yarn is Opal Rendezvous, an old discontinued collection. I love that the stripes are lots of different widths. I wish Opal would make a new collection like this.

Next, you may want to don your sunglasses. This is Regia Fluoromania. You can purchase it here if you have a wish to sear your eyeballs - LOL! I'm planning on getting another colorway of this yarn.

I love this spot where you get the bits of orange all broken up.

And three weeks ago I showed this sock in its unfinished state, another Regia yarn, Kaffe Fassett line using the Carolina pattern which is free here on Ravelry.

So what to knit next? Should I cast on the second sock for that Kaffe one I just finished? Or I could cast on the mate for this one I completed a while ago, Blue Moon Socks that Rock in that same Carolina pattern.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I know I'll start a new totally different pair of socks like this one!

Isn't this wonderful yarn? It is a new to me yarn Sausalito by Crystal Palace. You can see it here, lots of colorways. This is colorway 8101. It is 80% wool/20% nylon and I like a bit of nylon in my socks. I LOVE how the colors shade in this sock with no abrupt changes. Now it isn't the easiest of yarns to knit with. It has 2 plys, each a different color, which gives it a tweedy look, but they aren't tightly plied together and it gets splitty easily. It annoyed me when I first started knitting it, but after seeing the colors develop I am willing to put up with that bit of nuisance for these results. In fact, I'm so willing to put up with it that I already cast on the 2nd sock and ordered yarn for two more pairs.

So go forth, knit, sew, crochet, quilt - don't feel guilty over the UFOs - their time will come!  LOL - now I'm a preacher. Oh makes me think of a favorite line from a local radio guy Gary Burbank. He did a character called the  Right Reverend Deuteronomy Skaggs who would preach, "Don't make me holler, don't make me shout, turn those pockets inside out!!" and "reach in those jeans, and pull out those greens."  Hey, at least I'm not asking for your money !

Happy knitting-
carol fun

Batik Paint Chips on WIP Wednesday

I finally got some time in behind my sewing machine and I put together the blocks for my 2nd Paint Chips quilt. I'm loving these batiks!

Again I started with the pattern on the cover of  the Karla Alexander book, Stack, Shuffle and Slide - here it is on Amazon. And again I added lots more piecing, and inserts, and bits and bobs.

This time I even added little pieces to the sashing strips.

Next it needs a narrow plain background border and then I'm going to piece the accent border before finishing it off with a wide background border. My plan is to machine quilt this one myself in a grid pattern that looks like an uneven plaid. I can do it all with my walking foot and that's the kind of machine quilting I do best.

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Hope your week is going fine - mine seems to be moving quickly - again!

Happy stitching-

carol fun

I Forgot about Slow Stitching on Sunday

Holidays are enjoyable but I get totally off track as to what day it is. It feels like I've had three Saturdays in a row which is why it surprised by the fact that today is actually Sunday not Saturday. Sheesh - I am getting old - LOL!

Anyway I did get a bit more stitching done on my BBD Forget Me Not - the alphabet is finished.

However it isn't stitched exactly as the chart call for. See that P - it is down one stitch further than it should be. So just take it out and re-stitch it, right?

Ummm, it was too late for that as I had counted off  and stitched the two rows underneath based on the placement of the P and that was waaaaay more than I was willing to frog. Okay, I thought no problem I can live with it... and I'm going to, but in order to give the birds in the last row a little head room I needed to make the whole sampler one stitch longer. I extended the inner zig zag border by one stitch and then added a row to the bottom of the urn so everything ends up on the same line.

I'm hoping to finish this one up before next Sunday and I'm ruminating about what to do next. I thought about starting some patriotic smalls but the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense to start on Fall/Halloween smalls. I need to go through my stash and see what is there. I'd love to have a little display of smalls and I love Fall decorating so that would be a great match.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

On becoming a crabby old lady...

I hope that everyone had a lovely 4th of July. The weather here in southwest Ohio was perfect-- really perfect - and you know it has to be true if I'm saying so since I complain about the weather all the time - LOL! I had a quiet day with my younger son. He didn't want to see any fireworks and I was okay with that so we were home by 8pm. I could hear sporadic fireworks going off in my neighborhood on the 4th, and on and off on July 3 too and they were still going off on July 5.

At 10 pm I could hear the firework programs from several municipalities in my area. I could even seen one pretty well from my front porch if I leaned a bit to the right and looked between the neighbors trees.
After the big shows were over I continued to hear fireworks in the neighborhood. I'd have preferred a bit of peace and quiet but I understand that others want to celebrate. I was looking forward to the end of the neighborhood pyrotechnics as all the booms and bangs had Big Dude hiding under the couch. He doesn't like thunderstorms or fireworks. Now I'm not blaming God for thunderstorms but people do have the ability to curtail the noise at say 1:30 am! Really, it had been peaceful for a bit and then BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!! As far as I could tell it was from the house 2 doors down - a rental - with way too many people living in it. I know I shouldn't be judgemental but every time I go past that house there is a crowd sitting on the porch drinking beer or skateboarding in the middle of the street - a busy thru street - it just doesn't strike me as the brightest of behaviors.

I contemplated calling the local constabulary but decided that I would sound like a crabby old lady. And, the weekend had already had me engaging in old lady behavior - I drove to the grocery store to pick up a few items and as I exited the car I looked down and this is what I saw -

I was still wearing my house slippers. From the picture you can tell they are my slippers because they have thread and cat hair sticking to them. Sheesh - I thought about going home and then decided the hell with it. At least I had on real clothes - not pajamas - and I didn't think I'd run into any one I know (and I didn't!)

I was lamenting to my son that I was turning into a crabby old lady - sweet thing that he is, he told me I wasn't a crabby old lady, I was a crabby young lady!

That may be one of the nicest things he's every told me!

happy stitching-
carol fun

A little bit of red, white and blue for the 4th of July

I got an email from a friend yesterday morning talking about decorating for 4th of July. I replied that I didn't have much in the way of patriotic decor but I wish that I had more. Lately I've been drooling over baskets of little cross stitched pillows celebrating the red, white and blue. Now I didn't whip any out yet, and they are definitely on my long list of stuff I want to do, but I did find a little bit of red, white and blue to add to the house.

This is the bookcase display that functions as the mantle and foyer table I had in my last house. This season it is a mix of birds and Americana.

The red, white and blue banner is new - I just made it last night! I had time for a trip to Hobby Lobby yesterday where I found scrapbook papers in red stripes, blue stars and yellow. I've had the die for that banner shape for a while, but this the first time I've used it. I want to play with this again - maybe a banner with birds for after the 4th. This shelf has a nice helping of Debbie Mumm dishes and teapots - all stuff I've had for years. Glad I've found a spot for them.

Love that white bird house! Again an item I've had for a long time. This is the only patriotic cross stitch piece I have - a BBD chart. I definitely have to add to this holiday. I have several patriotic graphs, just need to stitch them. Oh chicken little still shows up in every display I do, he is just soooooo cute!

More bird house and greenery, a bit of Debbie Mumm and Marjolein Bastion.  Oh the bird house that is a bee skep with a roof is my favorite on this shelf.

And to properly welcome the 4th a glizty red, white and blue wreath to hang on the door! I do like the shiny stuff! LOL!

So this is a start - I have a pretty open 4th of July planned - only one place I have to be and that is on the 5th. I think I'll rummage through my stash and find a little patriotic project to start - stitching is a great way to celebrate, isn't it?

Happy stitching!

carol fun