Many many things I want to do... and this is all IG's fault... on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - time flies... now sure what season it is... temperatures and humidity say it is still  Summer but I broke out my Fall decor anyway... I'll share a bit of what I've done today, that is if the internet cooperates and coughs up my pictures... small rant... some weeks the pictures I send from my phone show up immediately on my computer so I can put them on the blog... other days, like today, they disappear somewhere ...grrrr!!! So I'm going to start typing here and hope that eventually you can see what I'm talking about.  PS - I know you don't care but it took over 4 hours for my pictures to appear... it drives me nuts... and I know that's a short  distance...LOL

There is so many many things I want to do right now... I'm blaming it all on Instagram because no one takes any responsibility for their actions anymore, so why should I? (and yes that was a rant on the behavior of modern day society)... cross stitch, decorating, knitting, quilting... I've been sucked into many many projects because of IG... and I will be honest... what I need is more self control and less screen time...gosh being honest with myself is awful sometimes... 

Okay, let's leave that thought behind and start with the decorating... this is the small shelf display on my sunroom porch... I am still so happy that I painted it that shade of green... it seems to be perfect no matter what the season... and for now it displays pumpkins, trucks and cross stitch.

This is an old old piece from Ewe & Eye & Friend called Simply 855... I think that was the DMC or Anchor number the model was stitched in... I used some variegated floss. As I look at this piece I do think I did very good job on the this one... one over one stitching on the alphabet, an Algerian eye on the flower and the satin stitch border... there is a lot packed into a small space here.

The larger piece is Autumn Tree from Barbara Ana Designs I stitched on some linen I dyed with  Rit apple green... I think it pairs nicely will all those little green pumpkins... 

In the living room nook I have a newly finished quilt keeping company with another display... 

The quilt top is old old old ... so old that it has never appeared on this blog which means I made it over 10 years ago. The fabrics are the  Basic Grey collection  called  Urban Couture... and I think the pattern came from an Anka's Treasure booklet... somehow that thought just popped into my head... I could go downstairs and look to see if I can find the pattern, but I'm lazy. Anyway I just got this back from my long armer Delinda... she did a great job on this... and the colors are perfect for this room... taupe and yellow with touches of brick and lavender... and I made this top years before I had this house and this room color and those taupe and yellow chairs which were the starting point for decorating the whole room.  It was meant to be!!

As for the display I have my Welcome Autumn piece from The Drawn Thread, again stitched on linen I dyed... I do love all the decorative stitches on this piece... and I have another mini-quilt on that stand I re-discovered a month or so ago... I like this arrangement... I think that pumpkin is from  Pattern Basket...scrappy white pumpkin...

A small Lizzie Kate piece with that wagon full of pumpkins...that's one of my favorite Fall knickknacks...

Below more Lizzie Kate on a wood caddy from Target (probably 2 years ago and again painted with Rit dye...that stuff is great... you can use it on way more than fabric)...  and the little sampler is by Wendy Peatross of From the Heart Needleart... check out her Etsy shop here... it is called the Flower Pot Sampler and I remember stitching it when I broke my wrist ... I had to stitch in a frame on a stand versus my preferred in hand style but I still got to stitch... isn't it amazing how hand work brings back memories of years past... but I'm not sure what I had for lunch yesterday... and I still love that Longaberger pumpkin basket...another blast from the past that makes me happy!!

Downstairs I have my acorn quilt bound and hung... another great quilting job from Delinda...

I like how the leaf panto looks like the leaves are floating over the acorns...

And I have lots of acorns to display... next Fall I'd like to have a cross stitch piece to add to this vignette...something with squirrels or MORE acorns...LOL

And speaking of cross stitch...nice segue... I'm working on this piece from Threadwork Primitives called Ever so Grateful...

I think it qualifies for the IG hashtag #samplerseptember2021... and I really really really want to start this piece from Blackbird Designs Feliz Navidad...

This is my take on an arty shot with the flosses all fanned out...LOL... I dyed some linen with the Rit Apple Green again... it really is more of an olive green... maybe I'll get a couple of stitches in it today... I didn't realize till I got the chart that it is actually a reproduction of a vintage sampler, but Alma Adams added her initials so I'm going put mine in also... and I think I'll tag it in IG's #septembersamplersoiree2021 which is for reproduction samplers. 

And I've done quite a bit of knitting lately... I've completed a couple of pairs of socks which I can't show yet because they are going to be presents, but I did start a pair for me last Wednesday... scrappy monster socks...

I haven't made pair like this for a while but I was  pulled in by another  IG hashtag  #monstersockkal2021...

These are all Opal scraps... I did try a bit of helical knitting for those individual striped parts...had trouble ending those sections with out a bumpy part...need to work on that...

And I had to have this skein of yarn... Madelinetosh Fire Opal ... just doing a simple shawl... Easy goes it...you can see it here ... it is a free pattern.

And yesterday was Sew a Jelly Roll Day... and I got out the one I started last year for this event and made a few more blocks...

The pattern is Jelly Roll Whirl and you can find it here...another freebie... and I found several more Jelly Roll patterns I'd like to play with... again, temptation I'm going to blame on IG... hey they have broad shoulders...

So today I hope to do a little more cross stitching and knitting... I'm taking my son to the Ohio Renaissance Festival... I'll be waiting in the car while he strolls around with some friends... it is a lovely day so I don't mind sitting in the sun and doing handwork...and probably napping too... 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts and depending on my wifi connection maybe I can look at some blogs on my phone... not a bad way to spend the day... and if I have wifi I can find more stuff in IG to get me into trouble... good trouble...LOL

Hope you have a good week ahead... at the moment I can only think of 2 things I have to do... dinner on Monday and babysitting on Tuesday....oh wait ...on Friday we are going to see the LUME exhibit in Indianapolis... I've been looking forward to that since I saw on IG...see more IG temptation...take care...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Wrapping up Summer on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - it is Labor Day weekend... the end of Summer... the weather has gotten much nicer... cooler temps and low humidity ... I've spent several days sitting out on the sunroom porch with the windows open, stitching, reading, watching the squirrels eat out of my "squirrel resistant" bird feeder, napping... it has been wonderful... and as I close out the Summer I'm so happy that I've completed ALL the items on my "you gotta take care of this stuff, Carol" list... let me enumerate, cause it makes me feel so good...LOL

- Cleaned out and re-organized storage room, which allowed me to have Duke Energy come & inspect my meters ... I needed to give them a path to the back of the space... soooo much stuff... and not that there is less stuff now, but it has been better categorized and organized... more plastic bins!!  and you know I LOVE plastic bins...

- Go get new driver's license for me and an new ID for my son... I dragged my feet on this because I hate going to the BMV, but I was pleasantly surprised this time as Ohio has a new website where you can get in line online for an appointment... we went on a Friday afternoon and after making the appointment on my phone we drove over to the BMV office and got  right in... and the new cards came in the mail yesterday.

- Make appointments for eye exams for me and my son and go get new glasses... appointments have happened and I'm waiting to hear from Costco that the glasses are in...hmmm... seems like I should have gotten a text about them already...need to look into that after the weekend ...not doing Costco on the weekend... as my friend Darlene says "too people-y"...

- Make baby quilt for my handyman Dan's first grandbaby... sewn, quilted by Delinda, and delivered... quilt was a bit hit...yeah!

- Finish stitching the needlepoint Christmas stocking for my daughter-in-law... DONE!! Finished it up yesterday morning...and here is the proof...

I'll be taking this to the finisher next week... deadline for Christmas stuff is October 1 so I'm ahead of the game.

So what to do now??? So many things I want to do that I've been putting off. Well I thought about it for a little while and decided that one of the first things I wanted to do was start a new sampler and Bucklebury by Rosewood Manor had been calling my name... and an added bonus is it is #samplerseptember2021  on IG... I already had purchased all the DMC flosses and I had a piece of unknown linen in my stash that was on the yellow side, but not yellow enough for me... so I overpainted it with Rit Dye Golden Yellow and added some Apple Green splotches... I like it a lot!  

Here's how far I've gotten while sitting out on the sunroom porch...

There are a ton of color changes in this band... so far I've used 15 of the 18 colors called for... to me this sampler has an English garden feel to it... and you know how I love gardens!!  And I think I'd describe it as delicate and dainty... not a lot of what I do fits that description... Also I'm going to admit something kinda controversial here... although I like looking at reproduction samplers and I respect all of the work that goes into stitching a reproduction sampler, when I'm done stitching a sampler I want to be able to put my name or initials on it.  I've always loved samplers... the 2nd piece of cross stitch I ever stitched was a sampler, but I gravitate to those that may have vintage look and feel but are original. On my walls I have a lot of Ewe & Eye & Friend and Blackbird Designs... and while these designers make have taken inspiration from a vintage piece they created something new that I can stitch and put a bit of me into it. So while I love watching Flosstube videos of stitchers doing reproduction samplers I'm gonna stick with what I enjoy and everyone should stitch what makes them HAPPY!!

And being a bit mesmerized by the different samplers I saw on IG, I may start another one...oooohh I feel quite giddy about this... there is a couple of other BIG samplers I've kitted up but didn't let myself start until I had the deadline projects done... I may put a few stitches in them too!  The weather has been so nice for sitting on the porch ... don't want to waste it...

As for quilting, I got the last of these blocks sewn and this is my final layout ... I moved things around a 100 times and I suspect that this is the layout I started with... LOL  ... the pattern is High Tide Remix by Woodberry Way... you can see it here...

This is a great pattern... I swear it takes longer to cut the block out than to sew it together... I timed myself and I could sew a block up in about 6 minutes...no pins required... but now that I think of it, it probably didn't take any more than that to cut out a block (and I cut 2 at a time)... it just seemed longer cause I dithered over what fabrics to put together... This pattern uses FQ... my fabrics are Tiny Treaters by Jill Howarth ... you can see all the fabrics here... I added a hot pink tone on tone ... I want to do this pattern again... I'm thinking large scale prints... maybe Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner ... I have FQ packs of both of their latest collections...and some Moda Grunge... I got the idea from this post on IG...

However, before I get to that I think I'll try and finish up a project or two that is already started... I dragged out a bunch of plastic bins the other day and found at least 10 UFOs that I still like... maybe I'll try to get one old project done before I start a new one... LOL... I know me and that will only last a hot minute... 

So the upcoming week looks pretty open...no appointments or plans so far... I do need to work in my yard... my window boxes are desperately need attention... time to pull out the dead vinca and petunias and move on to pumpkins... I am still considering resin pumpkins... need to go to the hardware store and find something I could use to stake them so they wouldn't blow away... the upfront outlay will be more than real pumpkins but they would pay for themselves in 3 years...and as my son reminded me there would be no rotten goop to scoop out of the boxes come November... he has a point... 

Hope you are having a lovely weekend and that your week ahead will be productive... I have high hopes for mine!   I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and spend some time there seeing what everyone else is up to...

happy stitching..

carol fun 

Bad blogger rambles on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - yes I have been a bad blogger... no real excuse, just unmotivated... lots of little things getting me down... aches and pains (it sucks to get old) ... the world in general (and isn't there a lot to be annoyed with there?)... but today I shall try to remedy the lack of posting with a little bit of this and that... and I will ramble a bit too...  oh if you do wonder where I am some days you can always check out my IG... carolfun53... I have put some stuff up there in the last couple of weeks... it is easy since I can do it all from my phone... the blog requires uploading and downloading and it doesn't happen as quickly as on my phone and the older I get the shorter my attention span... and it wasn't that long to begin with...

So it is August... too late for patriotic, too early for Fall... but I am longing for Fall... we've had over a week of 90 degree plus temperatures...ugh...  so many flowers to keep from dying...my water bill will be ENORMOUS!!!   But I put my red white and blue back in their plastic bins and got out some chicken stuff..  Here is the big shelfie...

lots of Pineberry Lane stuff... and until I started putting this together I hadn't noticed how much of it is stitched on very similar linen... 32 ct painted with Lemon Yellow and Apple Green Rit dye... at the top is my Prairie Schooler Garden ABC... I'm going to find a permanent location for it eventually... but right now I like it as part of a seasonal display.

And here is the other shelf unit...

Now that chicken block (from one of Lori Holt's books... as I remember Farm Girl Vintage... is new ... it makes use of the stand I re-discovered when I did the patriotic display... I want to use this more... it is nice to tuck some quilting in with the cross stitch and the knickknacks...  And the Welcome Summer piece from The Drawn Thread fits nicely at the bottom... I LOVE long narrow pieces so this gives me an idea for more display arrangement...  and on the bottom shelves at bit of Stitchin' with the Housewives... and  freebie from Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching... and more Pineberry Lane... can you tell I like that primitive style... but done up in lighter colors... hey, you can not go wrong with yellow... don't let anyone tell you it is a difficult color... it isn't ... it is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!   And the good Lord knows we need more HAPPY in life...

On the quilting front I got the baby quilt back from the long armer... Delinda at  TheTShirtQuiltCompany did this one ... love the panto with the hearts and it shows up so nice on the minky back... it has been gifted and now my deadline projects are down to 1 item... the Christmas stocking which I will finish ASAP... I stating this publicly to remind myself that the deadline to get this finished for Christmas is Oct 1... 

And I got borders on the Acorn Quilt I started last year... it is at Delinda's waiting to be quilted...

And I put together this quick top... 

the panel from Kitty Corn... a charm pack of 5" squares and a bit of yardage... this is a small quilt and it can't be any bigger than this to fit where I want to hang it... I had to cut the panel down quite a bit... otherwise half of the cute Kitty would be hidden behind the yellow chest where I want to hang it... I'm thinking a spider web panto in beige... need to get it off to be quilted. 

As for crossstitch... I picked up A Needleworker's Sampler from the framer and I'm very happy with this one...

And I got the urge to do some Fall/Thanksgiving stitching and found this piece, Give Thanks from Threadworks Primitives... 

I dyed this piece a while ago... love the gold color... if you want a color that isn't straight out of the bottle go to the Rit Dye website... here... they have color formulas that you can use to make just about any color you want... look at the drop down menu... it give you an idea of how much you will need...now I never use as much water as they recommend but it does give me an idea of the proportions I need and I wing it from there. I have another Threadwork Primitives piece I want to do that also has a Thanksgiving vibe... you can see it here... and I think I have enough of that gold fabric left to stitch this one too... fingers crossed.

As for stuff around the house I've been watering like crazy and I'm so ready for Fall... my window boxes are quite pathetic looking... I want to rip out the fading vinca and petunias and geraniums and put in some pumpkins... maybe another week or so... thinking about fake pumpkins... think if I put some sort of stake in the bottom I could secure them so they wouldn't blow away... a bigger $ outlay right now but I could use them for years to come... and hopefully I could pick up a bargain at Hobby Lobby or Micheals... ideas ideas... 

So I think the hot weather is breaking... should get some rain today...yeah... I'm mulling over what things I want to get to once I have the stocking finished... several projects that are already started, both stitching and quilting , are interesting and of course several new projects....I can't wait for Fall weather... and Fall decorating... it is my favorite time of year... I always think things will be cooler by the first of September, but  the reality is it won't get Fall- ish till probably the end of September, but I know I won't be able to wait that long to pull out my pumpkins...

Hope things are well with you... I have my up days and my down days... been praying a lot for our country and the world... glad I have my hobbies to distract me for  a while... I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts ... I think I might have some time today, to spend on the sunroom porch watching the birds and the squirrels and reading some blogs... that would be a nice  way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

happy stitching -

carol fun 

A Combo Slow Sunday/Design Wall Monday rambling, because...

I'm late late late... Hello all!  Where do the the hours go??? I've been semi- busy and partially productive in the last 2 weeks... along with spending waaaaaay too much time scrolling through IG and surfing the net... the mindless activity of someone too tired to get their butt out of their chair... that would be me... 

I usually try to get my Slow Sunday post together on Saturday so it can show up early, but obviously that didn't happen... and it is late in the day so I'm just going to post my Design Wall Monday here too. 

So what have I been up to?? Well, I've spent a lot of time outside in my yard watering, and it has been rewarding as the flowers look great... the dahlias are really coming into their own ... here's are some I picked the other day...

This one is my new favorite... I LOVE the orange-y glow

And this appeared in my yard last week... the Deer Park Beautification Award... 

This is the 4th time I've gotten this award in the 7 years I've lived here... and I am unashamedly smug about it...LOL... I get lots of compliments on my yard... people walking by while I'm watering and people who stop in their cars and roll down the window to tell me how pretty it looks... and I'm more than a bit competitive and every year when August rolls around, I may say it doesn't matter... but it DOES!!  I really really really really  want that sign in my yard!! So I'm busting my buttons that graces my yard...  

On the crafty front, I finished stitching A Needleworker's Sampler from WTN&T...

The charts has 3 dogs on it... and I like dogs but it didn't seem to fit with the needlework theme... so I replaced two of them with my initials ... and the 3rd one I replaced with a spool of thread...

I took this piece to the framer last Monday... hoping for a quick turn around... they've been having trouble getting in certain moldings and I've had a piece there going on 8 weeks or more... decided to try another frame and hope it comes in soon too... 

And today (Sunday) I turned my attention to a deadline project I needed to get to...  my handyman Dan who you know is like family to me is expecting his first grandchild... a little girl... and I've met his daughter who is expecting this little bundle of joy numerous times... a very sweet young lady... anyway her due date is early November... so I thought I still had time to put together a baby quilt... but I didn't think about there being a baby shower before that date... and the baby shower is scheduled for the end of August ... yikes... gotta get my butt in gear... which I did today...

It turns out that the mom-to-be's favorite color is also YELLOW!!!   So I thought a yellow and pink quilt would be appropriate... all of these fabrics came out of my stash... and look at this square... I did not fussy cut it... in fact I had a very small scrap of this left in my stash and this is how it came out... it was meant to be!!

 I got the idea for this design from Aunt Em's Quilts... you can check her out here... she has some wonderful ideas for scrap quilts... and here is the IG post that inspired me... she calls this Jumbo Scrappy Star... and you could make it any size you want... I went with a 3.5" finished square so with a small border it turned out 45" square... now to get some minkee for the back and then see if I can get someone to long arm quilt it for me quickly... otherwise I'll be the one quilting it and I really don't want to be that person... years ago when I lived in Modesto (over 30 years ago) I belonged to the nicest little guild... it had 2 meetings a month...one was a business meeting and the other was a program... and after each meeting lots of us would go to Marie Callendar's restaurant for pie... oh it was so much fun...anyway, where was I going with this story...oh yeah, back then most of us were quilting our own tops ... either by hand (OMG I can't believe I did actually do hand quilting ... never again)... or on a machine or maybe take it to a long arm quilter who had about 5 panto designs... anyway one of the ladies in the guild was always turning out the most beautiful tops but she never got around to quilting them and she declared that she wasn't a quilter... she was a topper... and I'm a topper too!!! It is great that there are so many long arm quilters now with so many beautiful pantos to choose from... and I'd much rather piece a top than quilt a top...

And I finally got around to a guilt project that has been hanging over my head... I got my furnace/storage room re-arranged and re-organized... now it ain't pretty but it is certainly easier to access all my stuff...and I have a LOT OF STUFF!!!  I think I have entered the realm of "organized hoarder"... but I prefer the "curator of good stuff"...LOL

On the right, a wall of bins with seasonal decor ...and in front of them baskets filled with my seasonal crossstitch pieces... to the back lots and lots of yarn, sorted and in bins on top of a huge heavy dresser that belonged to my sainted Grandma... trust me it is there even if you can't see it...

And on the other side of the room another piece of furniture I have no space upstairs for, but I don't want to get rid of it.. on top lots and lots of cute tier trays... below... lots and lots of picture frames... I'm a sucker for a cute picture frame that is 50% off!!

It amazes even me how much crap great stuff  I've hauled into this house in the last 8 years... but I LOVE LOVE LOVE all my stuff... I tell myself that when I shuffle off this mortal coil it will be easier for my kids to get rid of all this stuff because it is organized and largely in plastic bins... oh how I adore a good plastic bin...LOL!!!  Now I can set up the appointment for the Duke guy to come inspect the inside meter... he can actually walk up to it!!!   There is a nice size area in the middle of the room that is completely empty... and while it is compelling to fill it up, I'm going to try to restrain myself... for a while... 

Soooo... next week has filled up... haircut for my son, babysitting, dental appointment for my son, appointment to get the oil changed in my car, lunch with a friend... and the things I want to do here at the house.  I finally got my patriotic stuff put away and I've hauled up (ok actually my son Nick hauled up) my chicken stuff... but I haven't gotten anything arranged yet... and I need to get back to the stocking... I found a great font for the lettering and it is only 5 letters long... wanted get that finished by the end of the month...and I want to stitch some smalls from the new release by WTN&T  Jack o Lantern Jublilee...you can see it here... and there are two more quilt tops I want to get to... oh maybe 3... one is Fall and the other 2 are Halloween... need more hours in a day... and then I shouldn't waste them mindlessly scrolling through IG...oh well...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and tomorrow I'll link up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making... Hope you have a great week ahead... typical August weather forecast here, hot and a chance of rain most days... fingers crossed for the rain so I don't have to water every day...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Just putzing along on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well another kinda quiet week here... a bit of babysitting, at medical appointment, dinner with friends... the weather has gotten lots warmer and the rain has disappeared... I've had to water every day and it looks like that will be the pattern for another week... oh well... my yard looks great... at least I think so... it is wild and crazy... the way I like it... I had a conversation with my neighbor across the street and he likes all his plantings nice and tidy... I bet I drive him crazy...LOL

Here's a couple of pictures of the yard... okay more than a couple... starting with the front of the house...daisies, dahlias, cleome, petunias...

A bit to the right...coneflowers and short zinnas.