A lot of this and a little of that

While Spring has not yet decided to stay for more than a day I am basking in the springy-ness of my mantle and I lit a Yankee Candle that smells of fresh grass and a hint of honeysuckle. It makes it easier to handle the snow flurries. And being inside gave me the time to work on this.....



making binding for 3 quilts. I figure there is about 1000 inches of binding here. Now only one quilt is ready to be bound, the other two are either at the long arm quilter's or on its way there. But I'm ahead of the curve for a little while. I even got the borders on a quilt that has been waiting for a loooooooonnnggg time. So I can count it as a UFO finished in March. That's a satisfying feeling. And my friend Vicki finally got this in the mail....



yep, another giant pincushion! I selected fabrics that I knew she'd like. She winters in Florida and has a huge love of all things flamingo. I found all of these prints in my stash. The piece at the very top is sunglasses with flamingo's on the outer points and I knew she understand my love of the polka dotted swim ring. I have had such fun making these pincushions. The only drawback is that I have crushed walnut shells scattering all over my crafting area. A good vacuuming is definitely in order but that smacks of housework so I'll avoid it as long as possible.

I have weekend plans for a little knitting, a little sewing and a little shopping and somehow all those little plans will make for very full days. I hope that you have a relaxing and productive weekend.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

If Mother Nature won't cooperate...

then I'll bring Spring inside myself. Another gray, cold day with snow showers - this is not my idea of Spring. So I decided to decorate the family room mantle in spring finery - a pretty little quilt and some flowery china!



This is may be the only quilt in my house that I didn't make. I purchased it several years ago at an auction that raised funds for breast cancer treatments for women without insurance. It was the only quilt in the auction that was yellow, so it had to be mine.


And among my many collections is flowery china plates. I never spend more than a couple of dollars on a piece and I've gotten more selective as time goes on. Last year I culled the collection and I'm happy with this smaller display.


Do you see Chicken Little? I've been including him in all my mantle displays. Kinda like a poultry "where's Waldo?" I love the pansy plates and there is a little blue edged saucer that came from a tea set my mother had as a child. That one is super special.



I haven't done any cross stitching in the last couple of days because I got sidetracked by this pretty aqua yarn.



This sock pattern is called Spring Forward - very appropriate, don't you think?



The color of the yarn is Ocean. It is Michaels' brand Loops & Threads and this is Sophie, a superfine 50/50 mix of superwash merino and nylon and it was marked down to $2.99 a skein. I don't know why since it just came out but I snapped up several skeins in the Ocean and Flamingo colorways.

Well tomorrow is Opening Day for baseball. The boys of summer - I think they'll be wearing earmuffs when they throw out the first pitch. I've been a Cincinnati Reds fan all my life, so I'll be watching the game, and I'll be happy that I'm not shivering in the stands.

Here's hoping Spring will come and stay - happy stitching!
carol fun

Sunday, already?

Well I don't know where that week went but here it is, Sunday again. I did get a good amount of cross stitch finished and I took the BBD Summer Basket piece off to the framer. When I got there I was pleasantly surprised to find that this chart was ready to be picked up. This is "Be Kind and True" by Chessie & Me.



It isn't a big piece, the stitching only measures 4" X 6", and I love the coziness of this sampler. It has a nice smattering of decorative stitches and my beloved alphabet and house. But its crowning or crowing glory is the chicken.



I've done several other Chessie & Me pieces and usually they feature a cat so this was a nice surprise. I did change the color of the chicken to shades of yellow and orange which look better in real life than in the photo. I'm also very happy with that rustic bark frame. I auditioned about 20 different frames but kept coming back to this one. I like it so much I may use it on another Chessie & Me that I have in my stash, the Mighty Oak Sampler. I think the "bark" frame would nicely highlight a sampler featuring a log cabin.

My needle has been flying lately, the "Be kind and true" piece was finished in only 11 days. I think the key is lots of hours with my butt in the chair watching basketball. Butler is my favorite right now and the only one left in my bracket - LOL, and that game against Florida was so exciting.

Well I need to catch up on some laundry tonight and I'm hoping to do some sewing and some card making this week. My son starts a new quarter of school and that means a change of schedule which sometimes can be hard for him but we'll do our best. I have a couple of good waiting in the car projects lined up. I found some yummy aqua sock yarn marked down at Micheal's and I started a pair of lacy socks and I'm still stitching on the BBD Gathering Basket piece so I have lots of fun projects to look forward to, now life just has to give me the time.

Wishing you happy stitching and some Springy weather in the week to come!

A mid week finish and of course another start!

Oh the weather is changing in my little corner of the world. Yesterday sunny and 70's, today still warmish, 60's but storms with tornado watches and tomorrow snow flurries and highs in the 40's. Excuse me Mother Nature but the weather is moving in the wrong direction, lets move back into those sunny 60's. Just a small request.

I did get a lot of stitching done in the last week and I have finish to show and of course I immediately started a new project. All thoughts about WIPs have been bumped to the rear of my mind as I pounce on another springy project.

Here is my finish, Summer Basket by Blackbird Designs. I LOVE THIS PIECE!



Oh those pretty golden stars, the basket with the giant tulips, the 3 little birds. It was such fun to move from one motif to another and I think it really quicken my stitching pace.



I put the first stitches in this piece on Friday March 11 and I finished it last evening, Tuesday March 22. Now watching March Madness gave me extra time in my stitching chair but other events kept me from putting in even one stitch on several days. Either way this had to be the quickest I have ever finished a sampler of this size. I can't wait to take and get it framed. I envision something in a warm golden tone, maybe even a gilded frame. I'll have to go and try out some possibilities.

And since I finished that piece I jumped right into one of the newest BBD Reward of Merit Pincushions, Gathering Basket.




This piece of linen is 32 count and I don't know the name but it is a lovely pale shade greeny blue. I won't have much left around the edges when I'm done stitching but it will be enough to sew it into a little pillow. I can't wait to stitch on this tonight with the CC Clay Pot and Jakey Brown colors. I love those pinks and dusty rose shades.

March Madness starts back up again tomorrow and with those chilly temperatures they are expecting outside I think I will have ample stitching time this week. Hope you are having some crafty time. Take care -

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Sampler for Sunday

Well I've spent a ton of time watching March Madness and I am enjoying it.I'm getting lots of cross stitching done. Most of my underdog picks have fallen, except for Butler. Hope they can get even further in the tourney.

Today is another sampler I did years ago - 1995 to be exact. It is by Eileen Bennett and called Antiqued Sampler. Lake Stitcher showed this chart on her blog the other day.



I liked the specialty stitches in this piece. I did needlepoint before I did cross stitch and I always enjoyed the dimensional specialty stitches.




My favorite part of this piece is the verse. "Love me, Love my Samplers". That perfectly sums up my feelings about my many samplers. Certain members of my family have commented that it looks like we don't know our ABC's in this house but those snarky comment don't deter me from stitching more samplers. And on that note I'm off to watch some more basketball and put some more stitches in my BBD piece.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

Some Springy stitching...

It is a beautiful day here - sunny and upper sixties - and I am loving it! These sweet little crocus popped the other day. That purple is electric, it just glows!



And to go along with the Spring flowers I've been doing a little springy stitching. Actually the name of this BBD piece is Summer Basket, but that big flower looks like a giant tulip to me (tulips are my favorite flower) and tulips just say Spring to me.



I'm using the overdyed threads it calls for - the pinks are GA Clover and I love all those stars which are GA Brandy. I had just enough to do the stars.



It calls for 2 skeins of Brandy but my LNS only had one and I couldn't wait to start this piece. I have another skein here but as is so often the case with hand dyed floss it isn't exactly the same. My older skein is a bit brighter but I think it will be fine for the zig zag border at the bottom that I haven't started yet. This piece is just flying. I started this last Friday and this has been a good week to get a lot of stitching done. I'll be spending the rest of the week watching college basketball and seeing how long my brackets hold. So far so good - I picked Butler and Morehead State. I root for the little guys. Soooo I'm going to go and gloat for the moment to my son (who's bracket already took a hit) because I'm sure my luck will be fleeting and tomorrow my bracket will be broke. Oh well- I enjoy watching the games and I think I'll be able to get a lot more done on this piece.

Happy stitching
carol fun

A design wall on Monday

Well I got some new light bulbs at Wally world and got my son to replace the burned out ones and then I could take a picture! Here's the blocks I have done so far.



This is pattern Jelly and Jam by Fig Tree quilts and the fabric is the Verna line last year from Kate Spain. I LOVE that Verna line. I've already made a table runner and a small Schnibbles quilt from it and I think this full size quilt will be pretty too. I'm going to make it 8 blocks square and then add a generous border. Here's a close up of one block.



It is made with a jelly roll and I'm using Kona Snow for the background. I thought I had a bunch of this fabric but last night revealed that I had less than a yard so I went off today to purchase some. It seemed like it should be an easy task but I ended up going to 2 Joann's and then finally Hobby Lobby before I could get some. By the time I got home there wasn't any time to sew before dinner. Oh well I may get a block or 2 done tonight. Every little bit helps.

Happy stitching-
carol fun