A Busy Social Week and Some Creative Finishes

 

The folks at Primrose Cottage Stitches have come out with a series of beach themed cross stitch charts. This one is Salty Kisses by Lindsay Weight. I have two more to stitch, but I intend to switch and stitch some patriotic pieces during June and July. 

Just look at these two wonderful teddy bears created by my friend Kathy L. Another friend lost her husband last year, and Kathy has made a number of items from his clothing for members of his family. These two memory bears were so adorable that I asked if I might share them here. 

She even made unbearably cute jackets with zippers so they won’t have to hibernate this winter.

On Saturday, I attended the last meeting of the Herring Run Quilt Guild before our summer break. The Show and Tell section of the meeting was truly impressive, but the quilt that made the biggest impact was this Wizard of Oz quilt made by Claudia H.  She had picked up a panel off the free table at one of our meetings and then turned the panel in to this!!! Look how she framed it with small images from the panel. She also sprinkled small images on the backing.

The quilt was made for her daughter who is a Wizard of Oz fan. 

As the title suggested, last week was exceptionally busy. On Wednesday morning, I met friends for breakfast. That night I went with my quilt friends to a friend’s house for dinner. On Thursday, our friend came to pick up the bears, and I joined her and Kathy at the Tavern for lunch. Friday I had to make my own meals, but Saturday was our guild luncheon. Yesterday was the Crosstown Quilters luncheon and later my friend Kathy called asking if I would like to join her and her husband for dinner at the Tavern. (The Tavern is the restaurant at the 55+ community where I moved a year ago this month. It’s on a golf course, and buying this home was the best quick decision that I ever made :-).

Now I know what you are thinking. Yes, I did mention in my last entry that I am having trouble losing a pesky ten pounds or so, and perhaps the paragraph above explains why that is so, but truthfully, I know how lucky I am. I would much rather spend time with my friends than worry about those pesky pounds. :-)

Just for fun. . . The theme for Saturday’s luncheon was A Garden Party and it was suggested that we all wear hats. 👒 Only one or two ladies wore hats. Barbara, our incoming Crosstown president, did, and I told her that I would wear a hat to yesterday’s luncheon if she did. 

Everyone enjoyed our hats and agreed that next year we will all wear hats to our spring luncheon.

Enjoy the rest of the week ;-).

Living a Life of Good Intentions

 Let's start with a smile. . . 

I was behind this truck at the lights on my way to breakfast with friends this morning.

So, I'm sure you may be wondering where I have been for the last month. I live a life of good intentions and intend to post at least once or twice a week. . . It has been a month, but I'm giving my self grace as  over two weeks ago, I had a nasty flare up of my old nemesis asthma. There is a fairly new drug, Dupixent,  which has controlled my asthma brilliantly for the last couple of years. I'm on meds year round and with this new drug, I haven't had any asthma issues until this spring when our pollen counts have been through the roof. The first round of extra meds, the big guns as I like to call them, did nothing. A subsequent chest X-ray showed that my asthma had a pneumonia component. Who knew??? Anyway, I am now back to my perky self and feeling fine.

Yes, I live a life of good intentions. I intended to loose ten pounds before my upcoming birthday. I truly appreciate you not inquiring how that has been going.  I intend to be more productive. To that end, I had a ceiling light installed Monday in my quilt studio. . . Okay, it’s my crafting room, but it sounds more impressive calling it a quilt studio. The craft lamp and other lamps didn't allow work in that room at night.

So, what has been keeping me busy in the cross stitching, wool appliqué, and quilting world? I cross stitch every morning for a half hour after breakfast and at night stretched out on the sunporch couch. I may this afternoon turn my most recent finish into a pillow. There is a large wool appliqué piece which I began after Christmas still sitting on the corner of my dining room table. My 'intention' is to work on it one hour a day until it is finished. Finally, I am super excited to have the background layer on my denim piece ready for the next phase. My parents gave me Elizabeth as a middle name. When I taught, the "E"stood for enthusiasm. (Trust me: it wasn't easy selling grammar and punctuation rules to eighth graders.) Now in my fiber arts and quilting, the "E" stands for embellishment. I have collected all kinds of things to add to this denim project and am eager to get started. 

Before I go . . . 

I finished "Tulips" last week. The chart is by Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives."

Last thing, do you feel like time is rushing by way too fast? A quick trip to Hobby Lobby last week shows that while they haven't as yet marked down Fourth of July, they are  prepping for both Autumn and Christmas. Double Yikes!!!

Have a good week. :-)

Mishmash Monday

Today’s post will indeed be a hodgepodge of things.

This colorful alphabet quilt will be turned in at the next meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild in Weymouth. Our guild members donate quilts to a number of organizations. This quilt is destined for a child of a National Guard member who will be deployed. At deployment ceremonies, children may select a quilt or older children may choose a pillowcase.

The weather will be in the chilly forties for the next few days, but my front entrance sure looks like spring.

I do have a number of completed stitch pieces, but they are not fully finished yet. Hopefully, I’ll be able to feature them some time this week.

For Emma fans . . . here she is relaxing after a trip to her groomer. It’s hard to believe and downright scary that my sweet Emma turned fourteen at the end of December.

Are you someone who enjoys doing wool appliqué? If so, the "Woolie Friends Stitch A Longs" group on Facebook will be hosting "Wool Freedom Projects Celebrating America's 250th from April 27th - June 25th. There will be 12 different projects by 13 designers in the Woolie Friends group. Each pattern will be free to download for five days. Usually kits for purchase are offered if you don't have your own wool stash.

That’s my mishmash for today. Stay happy, creative, and positive this week. 

Hoppy, Hoppy Easter!!!

 

I know that I’ll sound like Elmer P. Dowd*, but the other day I saw a really, really big rabbit. He was friendly and happily posed for this photo so I could prove that I had indeed seen him.

Wishing you all a Happy, Blessed Easter.

*The name of Jimmy Stewart’s eccentric character in the delightful film classic, Harvey. 

Happy Spring !!!

 

The other morning I visited CVS Pharmacy and spotted my first real sign of spring. Two industrious little builders were hard at work. They had wisely each selected the “a’s” for their construction sites. It is amazing to me that they knew to select the letters which would offer the most protection from the elements. 

Later, still looking up, I grabbed a shot of this weathervane steer at Fratellis Bakery. The steer might be for Previties which is a meat market in the other half of the building. 

Sunday morning after church, I spotted another sure sign of spring! A local garden center had a sign indicating that they were open and that pansies had arrived. Of course, I pulled right in and made a purchase. Returning home, I planted them in my grandmother’s vintage wrought iron ice cream parlor chair. Is it too soon for pansies? No, if we get a surprise storm or another cold snap, I can easily put it in the garage until it warms back up. 

I don't have any finished work to show today, but I am excited about a project that I have started. A couple of Saturdays ago, I went to a quilt show out in the Ashland area.  One quilt in particular stopped me in my tracks. It featured all kinds of things that I like: buttons, ribbons and trims, lace, charms, denim, etc.. Returning home, I immediately purchased and downloaded the pattern for the quilt from its designer in Australia. It should be great fun to stitch. Wish me luck.

Happy spring everyone!!!

Ric Rac to the Rescue!!!

 I’m turning in another donation quilt at tomorrow’s guild meeting. It’s a cooking utensil themed quilt for some young cook. The colors are actually much brighter in person.

I was really happy with the selection of the pink binding and things were fine until I took a closer look at it a couple of days later. On quilts for children, I sew the binding on by machine. Yikes! There were small sections here and there where you could see slivers of the  batting. I knew that I should remove the binding and restitch it, but I also knew that I was not about to do all that.work.  After some thought, I decide to add wide, white ric rac to cover the problem. Truthfully, I love my creative solution. :-) 

Finally, a friend sent this out, and it is too good not to share. Lucy and Ethel must have been heading out  on a shop hop!!!

Have a fun, full, creative week. Go take a ride with a friend. 

Books in Bloom 2026 - Tufts Library - Weymouth, MA

 

On this sunny, Sunday afternoon, yes, I said ‘sunny’ afternoon, I wanted to post images from the Weymouth Garden Club’s annual “Books in Bloom” exhibition. After having had so much snow, it was a delight to see these sweet, creative pieces. A member of the gardening group told us that there were fifty-five pieces displayed throughout the library. Here are eight of my favorites. 

And finally, a biography of Weymouth’s own Abigail Adams.

Have a lovely, creative week.  ;-)