Running around on Design Wall Monday

I switched gears from working on quilts to working on some smaller projects and found myself running around with table runners.

This first one which is still on my design wall is going to top an IKEA Expedit bookcase. It is about 14" wide and 55" long. I used a lovely light minty green Grunge fabric for the background and the squares are from the Mimi collection by Chez Moi. I hope to get this quilted this week.

Now this runner is one of those Disappearing Nine Patches. I used Debbie Mumm fabrics from my stash.

It looks wonderful on the table in my dining area. I love the rich colors against the creamy white and that candle holder makes me happy with the sparkly red candles. They were just inexpensive candles that I used spray glitter on. I am in love with that stuff.

I put all the Christmas decorations away and brought out my snowmen and a couple of Debbie Mumm wintry quilts. I'll show some pictures tomorrow. I impressed myself with how much of my snowman collection I found space to display.

Happy stitching-
carol fun

A new start for a new year on Slow Stitching Sunday

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that your year is off to a wonderful start and that 2014 has many blessings in store for you. Somewhere I read that you should spend New Years Day doing things you want to do all through the year. So I knit a little, I sewed a little, I read a little and I cross stitched a little. Here's my first start for 2014...

This is a Blackbird Design - I know you are floored by my obvious choice. But this is a special sampler, it is in the booklet Maria Selby Humphrey- 1831 and is called...wait for it... My Home. Could there be a more appropriate choice for me as I start a new year in my new home? I didn't think so.

It is a small piece, about 5 3/4" X 6". I'm stitching it on a lovely light yellow 28 ct. linen. Now I decided that the house should be yellower than the color BBD called for, so I'm yellowing it up. I ordered a couple of different flosses and they should be here on Monday. I'm hoping that the Crescent Color Queen Bee works. I've used it before and the skeins I had before are  quite similar to the color of the brick on my house.

I spent some time the other day looking through my stash of UFO and I think I'm going to spend some time with my Rosewood Manor Quaker Diamonds sampler. I'm maybe a third of the way done and I've got the Winter Quakers and the Summer Quakers charts that I'd like to do too. So many beautiful samplers... so little time.

Now the weather here in southwest Ohio is frightful, like much of the rest of the country. We got about 4 inches of snow last week. The forecast for today is for anywhere from 4 to 8 inches more, and then the temperature is going to plummet... like down below zero... for several days. Now I know that is nothing compared to Minnesota or out on the Plains but for here it is a big deal. We have had some pretty mild winters in the last couple of years. I heard  that is has been about 16 years since we've had this kind of arctic cold. And while I can probably stay inside a lot this week I am dealing with the discovery that my little house lacks a very important element.... adequate insulation. I spent the last 2 weeks getting estimates and picked a company on Friday. I'm waiting on the contract so we can get this show on the road. As far as we can tell the insulation hasn't been touched since 1953. One guy I talked to said that there is probably more dust than insulation in the attic. Ugh.... I figure any money I spend on insulation will be a good investment, saving me money on energy costs and making the house cozier.  Not a glamourous home improvement but definitely a necessary one.

Stay warm everyone and happy stitching-
carol fun

Mission accomplished

Sometime in 2013 I sort of, kind of, thought about, semi-promised myself that I would finish my Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart before the end of year... and I did.

I just picked this up from Bev the framer at Joanns and I have to saw it blew me away when she took off the brown paper wrapping. I knew I loved it before I took it to her, but oh my goodness, what a wonderful finish a good frame makes. I LOVE IT!!


I picked a very simple frame in, about 2 inches in width with a mottled gold/bronze finish. I've tried to include a close of the frame in these two pictures.

This is the top left corner which happens to be my oldest son's birth month.

And this is the right top corner which happens to be my youngest son's birth month.

I think this section is a great one to usher in 2014...

a wish for good health, good luck and happiness... for all of us.

Happy New Year!

carol fun

Finishing up 2013 with a Finish on Design Wall Monday

Now this is the way I wanted to close out the year... another top finished and ready to go to the long arm quilter. This is my Kaffe Pineapple Blossom quilt. You can find the pattern here on Bonnie Hunter's website. I made the 12" block. You can find the cutting instructions about halfway down the page.

OH CARP... I just saw that the block in the top row, second from the right is a mutant... the last triangles are on the wrong side... how did I miss that???  Okay, I'll be taking that out today... at least there is still have one more day in 2013.

I think you can tell this isn't on the wall, it is on the floor of my sewing room. I have another quilt on the wall I didn't want to disturb. I had a hard time photographing this quilt. The color is really hard to capture, but suffice to say it is really BRIGHT!!! An overload of cheddar... a melted mass of color!

Here are some close-ups of the fabrics..

It came out bigger than I thought it would. That happens to me a lot. I was going for a throw size and this ended up 76" square. Well, that will be a generous throw.

Here's hoping the 2014 is a productive year for all of us!
Happy stitching-
carol fun

Staying small on Slow Stitching Sunday

Since finishing my Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart last week, I decided that I should do some small stitching for a change so I'll be able to experience a finish in less than 3 years. To that end I started another BBD piece, just much smaller...

This is A Stitcher's Companion from the book Honeysuckle Manor. It will finish about 5" square. The pictures washed out the color of the fabric. It is a soft pink-y peach and is an unidentified linen from my stash. Likewise the floss is also nameless. I found it tossed in the bottom of a basket. It changes from a light rose to a dark rose and occasionally some copper spots.

And I stitched up this little piece which is the start of a new collection for me -- Christmas ornaments that have deer on them.

This is about 3" X 3.5" and is from the Prairie Schooler. I loved the deer and it seems appropriate for my new house as the neighborhood I live in is called Deer Park. A very accurate name, as we have a ton of deer. Every evening there are at several groups that wander through - sometimes as many as five in a group. Now I assume they come from the next neighborhood -Amberly Village- which has a lot more wooded area. My neighborhood was built in the 1950's. Small yards with the houses close together. I've already been warned that the deer are ravenous, so instead of planting tulips, which they consider a delicacy, I planted daffodils - about 120 of them. I can't wait to see how they bloom in the spring.

I dated this one 2013 and plan to do another deer themed ornament next year and the year after that and the year after that and the year after that.... you get the picture - LOL!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

On the Needles for the end of the 2013

Hello -- I hope everyone had a nice Christmas - lots of good food and good company. It was lovely here. I fixed a well received prime rib dinner which we ate noon and by 2 pm I was snoozing in my chair in a food coma. We are having the left overs tonight with the prime rib returning as sliders on those yummy Kings Hawaiian rolls. Can't wait!

I did get a little knitting done in between the food prep and finishing up presents. One solitary sock...

Now this is old old yarn - Opal Rendezvous. I wish they would make more like this - thick stripes, thin stripes, several colors. I just LOVE it! Actually this is the 2nd pair of socks I've made with this yarn. It was one of the first pairs of socks I ever knit and I have been wearing them very regularly for several years. I noticed the other day that they were getting a bit thin on the sole and I was sad that I would have to retire them. But a quick scan of the internet yielded a ball of this yarn on ebay. I quickly grabbed it. Yesterday I got to thinking that having another ball would be lovely, but alas, it is no where to be found. Glad I got it when I did.

However, it isn't all gloomy here because a Christmas present to me, from me (I am such a good gift giver - LOL!) arrived. Five skeins of Blue Moon Fibers Socks that Rock... and oh do they rock my world.

From left to right we have Free Range Chicken, Honey Cocka, Sunshine Superman, Chickabiddy, and Crabby McHappypants. Someone at Blue Moon is on a chicken kick and there are several new colorways with chicken names... so it was destined that some should come and live at my house, right? (Shake your head up and down, up and down. Good.)

The hard part is deciding which one to knit first... and what to knit.  I love socks from this yarn even though they don't do well with machine wash and dry. But they are worth the extra effort.  I have been perusing Ravelry and found a couple of ideas - this hat called Sockhead, and this cowl called Willow, and this cowl called A Grey Loop.   All of these are free patterns.

I read with interest Judy L of  Patchwork Times resolution of "knitting the stash" in 2014. I'd like to do this, but I figured a little stash enhancement before Jan 1. wouldn't hurt. And perhaps a trip to my local yarn store before the New Years Day may be on my calendar.  Now just as Judy isn't sure she can stick to this, I too have my doubts about my behavior. I do pat myself on the back that I don't buy nearly the amount of fabric and yarn and paper goodies as I use to ... kinda like a drunk that has cut back from a couple of 6 packs to less than one... I'm better, but not there yet.  I don't make New Years resolutions, I prefer to call them New Years suggestions... which have a teeny tiny sliver of possibility of  coming to fruition. I promise that I will do it but I promise to try to try... and that is the best I can do - LOL!

Happy knitting-
carol fun

I hope you have a Merry Little Christmas! I'm looking forward to cooking dinner for my boys and sharing a relaxed day. Mother Nature cooperated and has given us a dusting of snow, so we'll have a White Christmas.. which coincidentally, is the movie I will be watching as I snooze off my Christmas feast.

Thank you to everyone who stops by and reads my rambling. I truly appreciate your interest and wish to express my gratitude for all the support you've given me this last year.

Merry Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

carol fun