Cleaning and organize-ize-izing...

I used to think that if I only had the time, I'd be able to clean up and get organized...now after lockdown, I realize that wasn't the problem!

This was the sad state of affairs before last weekend when I decided to take the time between Stitches of the Sea and Cottage of the Month to restore order. Keep in mind my studio has three rooms... I did make a big dent in things, but we're still not photography ready.

(This is an "after" picture, in case you couldn't tell-- LOL-- as good as it gets here.) I still don't want to open those drawers. 

Of course, the fun is finding more of your old friends-- this is another cross stitch project from the early 90s and the next one I will try to finish now that my stocking is done. Wondering where I was in life when I last stuck that needle into that fabric is enough to send me into a serious wave of nostalgia... such a nice place to be right now. :-)

Here is a little wallhanging from about 1999...

I bought this pattern for the Cardinal Feathered Star, but it also included the Country Threads Christmas pattern which is super cute, too! These two for one patterns from That Patchwork Place were popular at the time.

Of course, I had to make it my own, and decided I would rather have a summer theme than Christmas, so I drew up these bluebirds in a peach tree. I can tell I did this in Adobe Illustrator so I did have a computer at that point. I would just LOVE to finish this now, and the best part is I now have the applique skills to do it, and the longarm to quilt it. I'd love to make that cardinal feathered star too, and the good news is I could now make a knock-your-socks off cardinal embroidery design for the center!

Makes me so glad these projects waited for me!

This one is not hanging around-- if you had told me in May I would be this far along in July I would have called you a liar! NY Beauty blocks are now done-- and are flawless! If you are interested in a tutorial on how to make perfect curved piecing with a glue stick just comment below.  I took pictures as I went along.

Will it take twenty years to finish that last block? I sure hope not!! 

In all of this, kitty helpers were particularly good with emptying boxes.

They are now back to their Dad who was away for Army training for two weeks.

Everyone is safe and well.

xox

Carol

Cross Stitch Cottage Quilt... over the hump!

We have completed seven months of cottages, and I've started to think about the finishing kit on this.

(Five of the months here are photoshopped repeats, so don't panic if you think you missed something! Just trying to get the overall look.)

Did you notice that we started out with a snug one bedroom in January, but we've kind of moved upwards and onwards to the luxury five bedroom lakeside cottage in July!!! LOL But there's still plenty of room to grow... if you ever make it to Newport, Rhode Island, be sure to visit the Vanderbilt's summer cottage... there are 30 bedrooms, (adnittedly, most of them were for the servants.)

You may have also noticed each design had a pretty little motif in it-- well, I know at least one of you noticed in one of the designs, because she asked me what it was!! The plan is to make 20 different squares in all, for each of the twenty cornerstones. Then the sashing design will just be one generic floral-- we'll be stitching 31 of those! After all that, the outermost border may be a fabric-- I am keeping my eye out for that special something.

So far, I have twelve "cornerstones." I think I am going to use this Quilter's Linen in maybe-- "mint"-- for the sashings, but I really need to try it first so don't rush out to buy. It is a gorgeous pale green and has a little texture to it to compliment the fairy frost I'm using for the blocks. The cornerstones may be a little bit deeper shade-- very subtle, though.

I'm more excited about this than I have been about anything lately... I have grand delusions-- like this is the first time the world has ever seen what a large, fully cross and back stitched quilt looks like! As I often say, it ain't braggin' if it's true! heehee. But it's nice to be delusional again-- if I had a therapist, they would note that I am making progress.

In other news, you may have seen on Facebook, we are catsitting. We don't currently have a pet-- this is kind of like having grandkids over-- they will be going home in another week-- let the spoiling begin!

Meet Donna and Jackie-- they are two of the sweetest creatures I have ever met and MADE. THEMSELVES. RIGHT. AT. HOME. if you know what I mean!!

Of course, they are going home with their very own personalized kitty mug rugs... don't they look so pleased! They picked the colors themselves.

With all the kitty help, I was able to finish another four Sew In Love Blocks last week, and the hand stitched tulips are almost done, too. 

Only 13 blocks to go, and eight of them are cut.

Finally, I have been wanting to read one of those Anne Hazelwood quilty stories for a long time-- so I bought the newest one. I'll let you know how it is. And in other happy mail, I treated myself to the 2020 AQS Paducah book of show quilts-- the show that never happened.

I think that will be all we get for a long while!

Just keep on stitching and have a great week. It all comes down to what you make it.

xox

Carol

Greetings from my deserted island...

I'm proud to say that I powered through and finished a couple of things that were about to end up back in the closet!

First up, my Halloween quilt (that I am desperately trying not to think of as "The Covid Quilt") but I am naming it "The Gold Tooth." Can you see why? I always love adding a little humor to my work. This will be my first BIG quilt on the longarm and I can't wait. Black batting is on the way!

 Next up, my Fourth of July table runner! It was not ready, but no one came over, so it was not missed. :-(  I used a Schnibble pattern called Lincoln for the blocks, but I rearranged therm to look more like a flag. I am absolutely obsessed with this fabric right now-- it is Minick and Simpson's "Mackinac Island."

Doesn't this just remind you of summering in the Upper Peninsula at your grandmother's lake house? (No, I don't have that memory either, but it's lovely, isn't it?)

I ordered a yard of it for my backing fabric, and it took so long to come, that I forgot and then ordered two yards from the same place.

My obsession comes late-- the fabric line sold out weeks ago. But I did snag this wickedly expensive cheater cloth to practice on the longarm. It also is a real Block-of-the-Month-- I so wish I had signed up for it, but it's too late! Sometime you can pick things up on Ebay months later and I intend to keep an eye out.

This is just a crummy picture I pulled off the web to show you the Derby Street Quilt. Did you sign up? <3

So then, if you thought that navy roses fabric was gorgeous, here it is on cream. I definitely needed six yards of that for the backing of my cheater cloth. It's been a bit of an expensive month-- but we're still saving based on what we used to spend on eating out-- plus the savings on a therapist haven't even been calculated in... it definitely made me happy.

You'll see that I bought that fabric from an Etsy shop-- highly recommend switching to some of these smaller retailers right now-- I had it in three days-- no chance of forgetting what I ordered or what it was for this time.

And here it is! I finished my hand cross stitch stocking!

It is BEAUTIFUL! 23 years in the making.

Some of you asked if I will be digitizing a Christmas machine cross stitch stocking and, yes, I do have one in mind but it would take 3 or 4 hoopings to do it. It's a scene of Russian-looking town with horse and carriage and of course, snowflakes everywhere! Let's see what happens.

And finally, "Sew In Love." I skipped ahead to Month 7 to avoid making 8 more of Month 5 in different colors. It't a large folksy tulip, and my apologies to the designer, but it's a bit rough... all concocted with  weirdly shaped pattern pieces, Y seams, and curved piecing. I signed up for the applique version, so why would I prefer this method to hand sewing?

On the plus side, I really compliment Editya (we're on a first name basis now) with providing enough fabric and then some--- there is almost enough to make two quilts-- so I was able to just rework it to simple applique on 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" background fabric.

The large petals of the flowers also lend themselves perfectly to English Paper Piecing, so I have those all assembled. Even if you think you won't like a technique, it's worth learning something to have it in your toolbox if needed.

So those are coming along albeit slowly-- since I don't have a piecing project right now, I might simultaneously work on Month 9-- checkerboards-- which I love. There is no going back to working in order now--LOL.

So that is what I have been beavering along on in isolation--

I have really never had progress like this on craft projects before in my life.

Remember when asked what you would bring if you had to live on a deserted island? I am blessed to have everything I need.

If sewing ever fails me,
I will turn back to scrapbooking, or forward to book writing.

Zoom meetings with friends have just fallen by the wayside-- there is just nothing left to say and it will be months before I see them again. 

:-(

Fourth of July Weekend

This is a nice long weekend for us all. I'm asking myself, how is it different from any other weekend or day right now? But we have a lot of birthdays around this time, our state is opening up without a "second wave," and the mood is finally improving in this neighborhood.

One of the things that has helped my peace of mind lately is body numbing workouts in my garden. 

Last week, I edged--you know, stomping on the edge of a shovel again and again. After a couple of hours, I was so tired my brain totally shut off, not to mention I slept like the dead that night. Nevermind that the next day I could hardly walk!

Like a good fairy tale witch, my house is at the end of a long road in the woods. This does not lend itself to fabulous gardens, but here and there I have worked a little magic and coaxed a thing or two out of the ground.

Here's a little tour... For those of you who are San Fran Stitch fans, this might seem like a trip down memory lane for you-- much inspiration is drawn from this little acre!

Recognize these?

Or these?

I have caladium bulbs I plant and dig up each year--

they are the DH's favorite. This year, I may have put them in a bit too early-- they are completely pathetic. So I bought some in pots. I'm not sure the type of bulbs that you have to pull up every year are really for me anymore.

I tend to just do little areas at a time-- it's all I have in me. But the effort adds up. This is the lampost out front.

Since the kids left the house, the DH has turned lawn care into a religion-- I've tried to up my game with the flowers. You know-- when you fix one thing up, it always makes something else look bad-- a principle I learned well in our first home, a fixer-upper. Weeds don't go with a manicured lawn!

Note the hydrangeas to the left.

Three or four years ago, the DH came to me and said,

"I did you a big favor."

He had trimmed those five foot beauties down to the ground.

In that moment, I fully understood that Southern saying,

"Well, bless your heart!" for the first time. 

They still haven't fully recovered, but I note with delight I have accomplished the perfect acid/alkaline soil balance to get both blue and pink flowers on the same plant this year. (without even trying.)

We had a super rainy spring and everything is blooming like crazy.

You could really be out there every day tending it, but it's starting to get very hot now! 

Today was cloudy and I put about three hours in--

so tonight, all I have left in me is a sitting job!

I did get my Month Five "Sew in Love" blocks done this week--

if I can get each month's work done in a week, I'll be done in twelve weeks instead of a year.

I thought I had to make eight of these blocks, but it was only four. A good thing-- the fabrics were as pretty as always, but, boy, were they fussy to put together... look at all those pins to get the rows together... and all those matching points!

Month Six is eight more blocks that are very similar, so I'm going to allow myself to go out of order and work on the next hand applique blocks, Month Seven, instead. 

That's my sitting job tonight-- prepping pieces.

So I had a lovely little day today, and I hope you did, too. Tomorrow's a hot one-- so I'll spend the afternoon inside, sketching out the next cottage--

the LIBERTY cottage, of course!

xox 

Carol