Memorial Day Weekend

I know I haven't posted a recent update picture of Creation Sampler in a while so here it is! I was hoping to be further along by this time but with everything that has been going on, I am happy.

I am still checking out Ancestry on a regular basis hoping for another name to be discovered for my Mother's Tree. So far, nothing. When I finish  up Creation Sampler I plan to stitch a short but sweet piece by Notforgotten Farm called "I Stitch". Lori designed it as a bookmark but I think I will have it framed even though it is very small.

Speaking of Mother's Tree. I have every intention of finishing it off in time for the October framing sale at my LNS. My dilemma is whether to pick it back up where I left off (on the tree) or start fresh and make it my own. Decisions, decisions...

We went up to the foothills one day to meet my cousin and her husband for lunch. It is always good to get together with family and catch up. We had some very pretty scenery on the way.

I filled all the birdfeeders one last time for the season. I stop feeding them June 1 through Oct 31 because there are plenty of insects, bugs and berries for them to feast on.I start feeding them again November 1 though the end of May.

And our chipmunk is happy too!

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. I would also like to send thanks to the soldiers who keep us safe!

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

It Happened Again!

Once again we had a beautiful week with warm Spring temperatures. My chickadees and blue birds loved the weather! The very next day we woke up to SNOW!! What the.... My blue bird couple was ever vigulant and kept working on their nest. My chickadees have left again. I keep watching and hoping they come back.Yes, the weather was back to Spring the very next day! I hope that is over.

Unfortunately I was not able to work on Mother's Tree again. It was just a busy busy week. My LNS started their framing sale so I took in six pieces. I can't wait to get them back. She knows what type of frames I like and she always does a wonderful job!They also had their charts on sale so I picked up a few. Like I really need more! 

I got Together by Heart in Hand. A very sweet and simple piece.

I  also picked up Quakers and Quilts by Rosewood Manor. It is an alphabet sampler with quilt blocks! Need I say more!

And last but not least, I got Heart & Hand by Brenda Gervais. This chart included multiple favorites of mine. I have always like the saying "Hands to work. Hearts to God"  It included 2 of my favorite trees. Dogwood blossoms around the top border and a Weeping Willow by the house. And the Heart to Hands symbol is always a classic!

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Snow Days are for Stitching

Is it Monday again already? Time certainly does fly!  We have had some extra cold weather lately considering the mild temperatures we were having.  We even had a little bit of snow around the mid part of last week. Nothing to get panicky about. There was no accumulation but it was pretty coming down. Then we got hit hard by a bigger storm several days later! A lot of ice and snow! Very pretty if you could stay indoors and watch it but a real mess to get out in! In anticipation of the storm, I filled up my bird feeders the day before.  

While we were stuck in the house because of the storm (did I mention that I was not going to try to go out in that mess?) I got a little bit done on AAFG. I am almost finished with the last part of the top section then I will move on to the bottom half. Half way finished on this monster! I can honestly say that I will think MORE than twice before taking on another BAP again! lol.

 

Speaking of AAFG. This was one of the charts that had mysteriously disappeared and I had searched for it everywhere I could think of. I finally reordered it. The day before the new chart arrived, I found the original one in my closet!!!! If I had not re-ordered it though I would probably still be looking for the original! 

 I joined the Joyful World SAL at The Snowflower Diaries blog (link in my sidebar). I had seen this little fox and blackbird floating around the internet on various blogs  that I follow. I thought he was adorable but I kept telling myself that I had enough to work on. And I do. But I finally caved. I have the fabric, some of the threads and I still need to print out the chart. If and when I decide to pick it up, I can. It might be nice to have a smaller project to work on so I can see a finish more often while working on these larger ones.

 This will probably be the last picture of the Our Father by My Big Toe that I post until after I have it framed this Spring! I finished it up this past week! It is not finished in this picture but close enough. I really did not want to work on other projects until I got this one finished up and set aside! Now I can start working on some of these others!

I am working on gathering some of my charts that I am either finished with or know I will never get around to stitching. I will be putting them on my Sale and Trade blog soon. I will let you know when they are up and ready!

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

My Favorite Things

Even though it is still Winter, the Bluebirds are already shopping for a suitable place to raise a family! I always keep my fingers crossed that at least one couple will choose one of the birdhouses in our yard!  

I decided that it was time to pull some of those WIPs  out and work on them some even if each one only gets several hours a month. I do this every year then I get tired of working on them but this year I am going to do my very best to stay strong! I really don't like to use the term WIP. I prefer to refer to them as "in my hoop". Some of these have sat around so long because the charts mysteriously disappeared! I got tired of looking for them and just reordered the ones that were still available!  Among the ones I pulled out was And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor. This is my oldest WIP. There a few others that I will share as I work on them.

I was able to get some more stitched on the Our Father by My Big Toe. I am pleased with my progress on it and how it is turning out. The Our Father and the Apostle's Creed are basically the same design so I wanted to make them look alike by using similar colors but I also wanted each to be different in it's way so I used different fabrics. Who knows, I may finish this one up before my next round of infusions!  

I noticed that I have some new followers! Fun! I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy posting on it. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

It's Stitching Time!

I finally have some stitching news to report!  

I was able to finish up The Apostle's Creed by My Big Toe which was an infusion project that I did during my Vasculitis treatments.  

I started on The Our Father by My Big Toe as my current infusion project. I am working on Our Father more often because I don't want it to take 1.5 years to finish like the first infusion project. I am so sorry for all the wrinkles. I did not lay them out very well.

On both of these I changed the colors around. The colors the designs called for were beautiful but I just needed some ZING! Also, I have not used all of the bottom borders because of fabric space and because of the excitement to finish them!

 

I have already picked out my next infusion project and have it kitted and ready to go!

 

I am trying to continue stitching from my stash as much as possible. I bought these because I fell in love with them and letting them sit in boxes unstitched just doesn't do them justice! I buy a few here and there but not as often.

 

My doctor and I decided to re-adjust the time frame on my treatments and since then I am finally feeling more like myself again after battling all of my health issues over the past several years.  I am looking forward to Spring and catching up on some gardening, tending to my roses, growing some tomatoes and herbs, watching my nesting birds, stitching and just "gently" enjoying life again.

 

Thank you all for not giving up on me and patiently waiting for my return. I love my blog and I love my followers! You guys are the best. Until next time, may you have simple days and uncluttered heart.

Happy October!

Fall has arrived this weekend in the South. The weather has said that the warmer temps will return next week so far now I will enjoy the crisp cooler days and flannel pajamas at night. DH has been working those odd hours again that totally throw my internal calendar out of whack. I don't get a lot of stitching accomplished when he works these hours so I don't have any new progress photos to show off.

Every now and then when I become over envious of everyone's beautiful stitching on linen, I will pull out my 28ct. Monaco fabric to practice on. I keep hoping that one day my eyes will miraculously develop perfect vision again on their own whim and I will be able to turn out the same stunning work on this beautiful fabric. Oh, I'm not complaining because for so many years I unable to stitch at all but it can't hurt to try every so often. Right?


OMG! What was I thinking! I got it all set up and ready to put a few xxxxx's in. I went cross eyed in no time flat and had blurry vision for over 10 minutes. DH kept looking at me funny and finally asked why I was blinking so much! Maybe after I eventually have eye surgery I can try again but not now! So, I will visit blogs and drool over everyone's masterpieces on linen. As for me, Aida has been with me since the beginning and I can still count (literally) on it.

What WIPs do I have in my basket now? Marianne and The Mother's Tree are my current ones. The ones I saw alone and forgotten are A Weary World Rejoices by Shakespeare Peddler (which was nearing it's end when I set it down & pictured below) and AAFG by Rosewood Manor (which I have been working on for about 5 years now. OMG!) It might even be a good center piece to put into an A&E wall. I am about half way finished with that one. It's a fun stitch but it does get tedious.


My neighbor and I love to watch the hummingbirds during our daily chats out in the yard. She has several feeders and her yard is always full of the little friendly ones but I don't have a feeder this year and I miss them terribly. The other day, she came knocking at my door with a present for me! A hummingbird feeder. How sweet of her! Now I can drink my morning coffee on the deck and enjoy their flights! Below is a picture of my first visitor!


I played around with my pincushion collection, wanting to show them off as showcase worthy as possible. I found an old glass cookie jar, empty in the cupboard and decided to use it for now. My favorite one is an old red velvet like material. It was my first pincushion as a new wife and has been used over and over until it is now soft, faded, worn and stuffed with memories of quilting, last minute repairs on an item before someone left for school or work, homemade Halloween costumes, crafts for school projects and much more. Even though the others are also loaded with pins, I always reach for this one first. Some things just feel right.


Thanks for stopping by! Your visits and comments make my day brighter!

Longer than Usual

What is wrong with Blogger? Is anyone else having trouble signing in and leaving comments? I can post but I am having serious trouble leaving a comment on other blogs! It's getting pretty frustrating! I have also noticed that pictures (on my blog and others) often don't show up!

DH is finally finished with those awful hours he was working.Yea for him and yea for me! When he works like that it really throws us both off our mental calendars! I think a giveaway is order to celebrate the return of some (not complete but I'll take what I can get) normalcy in life around here! I will post more about it very soon!

I haven't written much lately about my other love. Birdwatching. I need to catch up on getting my backyard island area (where most birding activity happens) back in shape but these extra hot days just leave me with the "I'll do it later" feeling. I have really ignored it over the past year and it looks terrible! Shame on me. Of course the birds really like the grown over look but I don't. It's not totally out of control. Just enough to urk me. The honeysuckle and Virginia Creeper vines take over in the warmer seasons. I know the birds feed on the VC and both make excellent ground cover for them to hide in while looking for insects or worms. I'll probably just yank up enough to please us both because weeding (along with frogging) is one of my least favorite things to do. I have enough bird baths and feeders for the time but I have plans to put out several more birdhouses this coming Fall.

Good News! I finally found the names and birth years of my GGG Grandmother and my GGGG grandmother so that I can add it to my Mother's Tree when I begin stitching it! Now that I finally found them, I want to find more names for the piece! Call me greedy. lol. So for now, I have 7 names for this piece but would love to have at least 8 (or more)! I guess I'll be spending some time on Ancestry.com for awhile!!

For the longest time, I was the only coffee lover in our house. I had full control of the coffee maker, the brand of coffee that was bought and drinking it. My husband usually just bought a cup of joe at work and that was it for him each day. Recently, our son has developed a taste for the wake up juice and a second coffee maker may be in our future! I don't care for the brand he buys but most of all, he makes way to strong for my taste! I like my coffee to gently wake me up over the course of several cups but one sip of his brew is like being slapped in the face! lol. Now it's a race each morning to see who can set up the coffee maker first!

Not much stitching to brag about this post. I was all ready to pick it back up when I got hit by the ever not so popular stomach bug! Ugh. At this point, I feel like any stitching I may do would be brag worthy since it has been so long since I held that slender needle with my fingers and gently caressed the fabric as I worked my x's.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your visits and comments always make my day!