No sooner were the words out of my mouth....

then BAM!!! I was sick! I was just saying last week how I had gotten through the winter without a cold or the flu... and then Thursday night rolled around and I was hit like a ton of bricks. Chills, achy-ness and a cough that would not stop. I've coughed so long and so hard that my abs hurt... and I don't have abs. I dragged myself through some obligations on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and as the afternoon is upon on Monday I'm beginning to feel better. I don't know what this was... it didn't seem like a cold as I didn't have any respiratory symptoms  and it didn't seem like the flu as I wasn't nauseous...but it has lasted waaayy too long.

The sunshine and my daffodils have definitely perked me up. I worked in my yard a bit today. I pruned or maybe butchered my rose bushes. I have read that you are suppose to cut them back to 18" but I find it very hard to cut back stuff that has some new growth. Perhaps I should have gotten to this sooner but I'm keeping the faith that I'll have lovely roses later. If nothing else I've postponed the luncheon buffet for the deer and that will be okay too, and it made my day when a neighbor stopped their car and told me how pretty my flowers looked. I LOVE my neighborhood!


So before I got sick I was distracted by a squirrel in my sewing room and sewed up these 18 blocks.

The pattern is called Hi Again and I found in in the March/April edition of Fons & Porter's Quilting Quickly. You can see the cover here. The quilts are made with pre-cuts and there are several I'd like to make. This one is super easy. Now my layer cake is from 2013, it is the Boho Chic collection by Urban Chics... you can see the whole line here. I've done other quilts with their fabrics and I like how this pattern really shows off the big prints.

This is my favorite print...yellow tulips!!

I plan on making 36 blocks and adding little taupe cornerstones... simple...and kinda modern looking. I think it will look great draped over the couch in my living room. Hopefully my energy will return and I will attend to this quilt and several others that require my attention. I do know I won't be making any further statements about the status of my health... I think I just jinxed myself.

Hope you are feeling well and that you and I have a productive week!

happy stitching-
carol fun

My day with Bonnie Hunter...

Yesterday I took a workshop with the Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame... we have been waiting for her visit to our guild for the last 2 years... yes you have to book her that far in advance... she's popular! Very popular!!  The workshop was Sister's Choice and I showed the two blocks I had done prior to the workshop and here's what I got accomplished yesterday.... 4 more blocks for a grand total of 6... I plan to make 25... I have a ways to go yet.

The prints are Tucker Prairie by One Canoe Two and the black and white prints are from my stash with a heavy emphasis on novelty prints.

Those star points are reading orange, but in real life they are a lovely coral color.

I have all the pieces cut for these blocks... but other projects beckon at the moment.

Here is a picture of what was accomplished by about 45 quilters in a couple of hours....

So many different fabrics and design choices.  Bonnie mentioned that  one might think that my black and white prints would be too busy for this block... a thought I had when I made the first one... but my choice of the more solid reading fabrics for the star points made it work...ooooohhh... such a nice thing to say.

You can see more of the workshop in Bonnie's blog post today. I'm one of the quilters in the first picture... the redhead in the upper right corner in the orange sweater.  I'm also in one of the pictures on her Facebook posts... this one....  short plump one in the dotty orange sweater. Honestly I wasn't trying to photobomb every picture... in fact I spent more time chit chatting and goofing off than I spent sewing. It was a good workshop but I'm not a good workshop taker... I'm that problem student... the one who's focus wanders...who talks too much... who goofs off... been that way ALL my life. I still say a prayer  every night for the nuns that put up with me.

In the evening Bonnie gave a lecture to the guild and if you look at the album of pictures either on FB or her website you can see we had a great turnout...and I even saw the back of my head in one of those pictures...boy I was everywhere. Bonnie talked about her system of organizing your scraps and Leaders & Enders. I applaud her system for its structure and cost savings but.... it is not for me... I'm too crazy and scatterbrained... I blame it on my Italian heritage and getting hit in the head too many times with a softball... I was a terrible player.

Anyway her quilts were wonderful...so many many many many pieces... pretty much the antithesis of how I sew these days. Give me a pre-cut and let me do as little further cutting as possible and I'm happy. I have about one really scrappy quilt a year in me right now. Last year it was that Go 4 It quilt... this year... I don't know yet.  I did order a String Fling 2 book from Bonnie ...there is a quilt in it I like.... not sure I'll make it as big as she did but I do have some scraps I could use. Right now I have them sorted in my newest purchase from Hobby Lobby...

It isn't real deep or tall but it sure holds a lot of bits and bobs. I have it sitting right behind my sewing chair so I can just reach around an grab some scraps. Stay tuned for how this turns out. Oh I found another cool link up site... She Can Quilt... you can see it here ... I'm linking up with them today and spending some time seeing what everyone else is working on. I'm always open to new ideas...but sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I'll ogle other people's scrappy projects and see what trouble I can get into.

happy stitching-

carol fun

A little of this and a little of that on Slow Stitching Sunday...

The sun is shining... and that is a good thing... it puts me in a more energetic mood and right now I need all the energy I can get. Lots of stuff that needs to be done. But first I'll show something that is finished...

this is, as it states in the middle of the piece...SPRING... it is from the Lizzie Kate chart entitled Seasons #171 which you can see here. So far I've stitched Summer and Spring and I've got an idea for how to display these little gems where I can change them out seasonally. Check back with me on that... in a week or so... and now that I look at the picture I see I'm missing a border at the bottom...oh well, it shouldn't take long to fix.

I can do it while I'm watching Downton Abbey tonight. Yes I did already watch the last episode on DVD...twice...but I'm going to watch it again and probably cry again.  In my humble opinion, it comes to very nice ending... not everything is wrapped up. I read somewhere, I think Julian Fellowes might have said it... the lives of the characters go on, the camera just moves away.  I've also read that there is a plan for a movie...oh I hope so!

And as I'm writing this post, I'm baking some cookies for dessert tonight,,,don't be impressed, they are the break n' bake kind from the grocery... and I put the meatballs in for dinner. And I've been prepping my stuff for the Bonnie Hunter workshop I'm taking tomorrow.

Here's what my blocks will look like...

the class is Sister's Choice and while Bonnie probably has some tricks or ideas for putting it together, I'm walking my own path. I 'm using the Corner Clipper Ruler for the star points and I'm using a jelly roll... Tucker Prairie by One Canoe Two... instead of all scraps.  I have gone with a variety of black on white prints for the background pieces. My plan is is sash these blocks with white on black fabrics (I have a stash of those too and they need to be used) and the cornerstones will be whatever is left over from 9 patch blocks.

According to my calculations... and we all know my math skills are minimal, right?? You could conceivably get something like 37 blocks from one jelly roll. I'm not up to making that many blocks. I'm planning on 25 blocks and maybe a border... a nice throw sized quilt.

Most of the time I don't come up with a name for my quilts until I'm standing in line at the guild meeting to share at Show N Tell, but this time the name already came to me. "I don't have a sister, and these choices are ALL mine!"  That sums it up nicely, dontcha think?

Well I'll link up today with Kathy's Quilts and tomorrow with Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. I hope to post something tomorrow from the workshop on Instagram... you can check me out here.  My name on Instagram is carolfun53.

Hope you are having a nice Sunday afternoon!
happy stitching-
carol fun

A day late...

and probably more than a dollar short! Oh well... I had every intention of posting yesterday but somehow it just zipped by me. This week I've been knitting a bit and I've finished one pair of socks that has been hanging around for a while.

This is another of my version of the ragrug socks. I alternated every round...one turquoise...one orange. I don't know why this is so satisfying but it is. Not knowing what is going to appear keeps me mesmerized...LOL... if I was at one of those hypnotist shows I'd probably be the person clucking like a chicken at the mere suggestion!  Anyway, the turquoise is Drops Fable 340 and the orange is Regia Color 120. As these were both in my stash I consider these FREE socks.

And speaking of FREE socks... I started this pair...

These are bits and bobs of leftover Opal sock yarn. I think I've used 5 different skeins here. The heels and toes are an Austermann ombre yellow/orange. Again all of this yarn was in my stash so they are FREE socks!. With these socks I'm not alternating every round, instead I'm knitting lots of rows before I break the yarn and start a new one. Sometimes I'm knitting 5 or 6 rounds, sometimes as many as 20. I'm just keeping and eye out that I'm not repeating a pattern. Again these are flying off the needles as I'm entranced by what is happening.  I started the first sock a week ago and I think it only took about 5 days. Fast for me, but I did have a bit of car sitting time to work on it. I can't wait to finish this pair and start another scrappy sock!

Well I've got a lot of stuff to do in the next week. Monday I'm taking a class with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville and no, I don't have all my stuff ready yet.  And I have family for dinner tomorrow evening... making meatballs... a favorite!The usual running around in the week and tickets for a comedy show to attend on the weekend.

Oh... and before I forget Nordic Mart is having a sale on the Drops Fabel yarn that I love so much... you can see it here.  Great prices...and even though I have a healthy stash of this yarn I may have to add a few more skeins... can't pass up a bargain!

Today is gray and cold and yucky... they are promising a change for the better starting tomorrow and even tease of temps in the 70's by mid week... oh I hope they are right... come on SPRING!!!

happy stitching-
carol fun

Sewing again...on Design Wall Monday...

My favorite machine for piecing...my Juki... has been in the shop for the past 10 days and I have been lost without her.  She was having a spa day as she hasn't been cleaned in eons.  The only New Year's resolution I made, that I knew I had a snowball's chance in hell of keeping, was to have both of my machines cleaned and serviced this year... yeah... I kept a New Year's resolution. Glad that's over with.

I picked her up on Friday afternoon and was able to sew almost all day on Saturday. Now there are a few... a couple...a bunch...oh a whole hell of a lot of tops I should be working on, but instead I started something new. Telling myself  "this isn't what you should be doing" has little effect on me... and staring a a brand new layer cake just begging to be opened was more pressure than I could bear.

Presenting my Design Wall for the first Monday in a long while....

The pattern is called Picket Fence by Busy Hands Quilts...you can see it here... and the fabric is Moda's Regent Street Lawn 2015... which you can see  here.  I used a yellow Moda Grunge for the background... I think it was called Banana. Here's a close up of the prints...

Now this fabric does feel a bit thinner, like Liberty of London lawns, and it has a nice hand. I think yardage would make nice clothing. This was the perfect quick fix project for me... I got to play with new fabric and I quickly got all the blocks sewn for a 66" square top. What drew me to this pattern was that I could leave most of the fabric in 10" squares and there was no border. Lately borders have been a stumbling block for me. I can do them... I've done hundreds of them... but I know that doing them correctly requires measuring and paying attention... skills I just don't feel like using some days...big sigh!

Weather forecast is for a little bit of everything this week...rain, wind, some snow and some sunshine...right now we have sunshine and I'm enjoying that. My daffodils are up about 5" and I have some crocuses that have bloomed. I'm already planning what I want to plant in my yard and my new window boxes... and then I realized that around here the gardening wisdom says don't put anything in the ground until after Mother's Day...which is 68 days away...arrghhhhh.... that is sooooo long to wait!!! I want to buy petunias and marigolds and zinnias and geraniums and I am sooooo rushing the season.

Hope you have a good week ... I just realized that this is the 3rd day in a row I've posted... hope I can keep it up. Lately I haven't been motivated to post and I've been hanging around on Instagram a lot. Instagram is easier to do but I enjoy reading blogs too, and I figure if I enjoy reading them so do others and if I don't post and other people don't post there won't be anything to read... not good.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Enjoying a Slow Stitching Sunday...

Another glorious day here in Oho and I'm enjoying the sun streaming through the windows. I have my front door open and through my storm door I see a steady stream of people walking in my neighborhood. I live in a mid-century built neighborhood with sidewalks and front porches and I LOVE it!  My house sits on a corner that does get a bit of traffic but I don't mind it as so many interesting things pass by. I think I may be turning into Gladys Kravitz (and you have to be of a certain age to remember her)... but instead of thinking of myself as nosy, I prefer the terms "interested" or "concerned"... sounds less judgemental, doesn't it?

Anyway a bit more cross stitching got done last week. Here's where I am on  my Fragments in Time...

Excuse the wrinkles...I finished this block except for some flowers in the border...

And not much more for this block...

I had several nice stay at home evenings and was quite productive. However, I think I'm going to start a small new Spring project. I came across a little Lizzie Kate piece I think I can whip up pretty quickly. Just need to pull the threads.

And I decided that my bunny candy dish looked forlorn and empty so I bought some jelly beans today...

well, I do LOVE the black jelly beans, but that doesn't look very festive...

I suppose that is better... I'll eat my black jelly beans out of the bag! Do you like the black jelly beans? I find that licorice and coconut are either LOVE or HATE flavors... I LOVE them both!

No Downton Abbey tonight because of the Oscars. I may watch a bit to see the dresses but other than that I don't have any interest. After last week's Downton episode I was at loose ends. I hated to see Edith unhappy again and I was totally ticked off at Mary. I've never been a fan of Mary, I like Cora, Edith, Isobel and Violet and of course Sybil when she was alive, but Mary has always rubbed me the wrong way. I told myself that I wasn't going to watch the last episode before it aired but I couldn't wait after last week. I opened the DVD and I will say that they did a very good job of wrapping up story lines. I won't give anything away and while I'm sad that it is over, it ended on a upbeat note.

So I may have time for a little nap this afternoon before my son and daughter-in-law come for dinner. Big Dude is happy to show me how it is done!

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape tomorrow.

happy stitching-
carol fun

Spring has srpoooong...in my house...

The sun is shining and as far as I'm concerned Spring has sprooong at my house!  I put all the snowmen to bed in their cozy plastic storage containers and I brought out all of my spring-y stuff... bunnies and carrots and eggs and daffodils and chicks...it all makes me smile. And because I have decorated for another season I am doing a gratuitous post so I'll remember where I put what next year. Not that I put the exact same thing in the exact same place (although I did do a bit of that this time) but it gives me an idea where to start when I've got all my goodies strewn all over the floor.

To begin...

a giant new wreath for my front door. I think those flowers are peonies... I'm calling them peonies because I LOVE LOVE LOVE peonies. Wish I could grow them in this color...sigh. I picked this up at Homegoods and it kicked off all of my decorating this season. Turns out I have several nice piece from Homegoods that are in this room... you'll see.

The big accent wall in the living room...

the quilt on the wall is one I hung last year, but the storage bench, 3 tier tray and the laundry cart in the corner with quilts are new.

A close up of the 3 tier tray...

bunnies and daffodils and carrots and eggs.

Can you see that the eggs are lacy? They were crocheted by my friend Lois in Nebraska and I love them. I think they look great  tucked among the greenery.

And here is a close up of the laundry cart I put in the corner...

I've had this cart for a couple of years... I got it at Homegoods. I was using it as a place to corral  my scraps in my sewing room, but I recently found something better for that purpose ... I need to show you that too...soon. The turquoise color is a nice accent and I like showing off some quilts this way.

Next to the cart, my TV stand....

more quilts and a bunch of yellow accents... birds and chicks and a little Rookwood vase ...and a bit of cross stitch too.

My bookcase that took the place of my mantle and foyer table from my other house...lots of space...lots of goodies...

This looks a lot like last year except I changed out the cake stand... that pretty coral one came from Homegoods too. I'm having quite a love affair with Homegoods lately...my wallet needs me to stay out of there...so much temptation! (If you enlarge these pictures you can see more details... like my collection of egg cups...with feet...weird but I like them!)

My little yellow chest...the bottom is filed with quilts and the top has cute Easter-y stuff...

Even with the blinds closed the sun is streaming through the window and I had a hard time getting a picture of my newest cross stitch piece... this is a little better...

That wonderful cross stitch egg/bunny was stitched by Barb from the Wicked Stitcher. It goes PERFECTLY with my decor! Thank you again Barb...I LOVE it!

And I will finish this tour with a picture of my dining room table...

the lemons are fake and there are about 3 more lemons in that bowl than there should be...every time I move it the roll on the floor. I figure I can count it as exercise as I have to scramble to pick them up.

So I'm very happy with my home. I do most of the decorating in this room but I have branched out and added a quilt to the back hallway and I put a spring-y quilt on my bed. I really enjoy making seasonal changes to my home...wait I take that back... I like how the seasonal changes look but my back was killing me the day after I did all this decorating...lot of boxes to move and the old gray mare ain't what she use to be...LOL!

Now that I've brought Spring indoors I hope Mother Nature will do her part outdoors. While today is beautiful and tomorrow is suppose to be even better, yesterday and the day before we had snow. I checked back on the weather this time last year and we are in much better shape, so I shouldn't complain, but I will because it is what I do soooo well!

Hope things are looking Spring-y where you are!
happy stitching-
carol fun