Whale Hello There and Youtube Recommendations

Whale Hello There  . . . Yes, that’s the clever, punny name of this cross stitch piece by designer Cathy Habermann of Hands on Design. It’s from her Polar Plunge series as was the Polar Bear Peek featured in my previous post. Each piece is finished on a board from Chantelle’s 141 Design Company   On the Hands on Design site you will find finishing tutorials, and you will also find tutorials on the 141 Design Company flosstube.

A Note to Quilters: I came across a channel on Youtube yesterday morning that caught my attention. Who wouldn’t be interested as it read, “The Easiest Scrap Quilt Ever!! - the Duckworth Quilt.” It’s something I will put on my list as I hope to ramp up the amount of quilting that I do this year. In my next post,  I intend to do a summary of what I actually managed to accomplish this year in quilting, wool applique, and cross stitch. Where I really slipped was in the number of blog posts that I penned this past year as compared to

previous years. I’ll try to do better in ‘24! (That reminds me I better go predate the year on about ten checks in my checkbook . . . 2024 . . . It will take some getting used to.)

 Youtube Recommendation: As I have mentioned previously, I do watch quite a bit of Youtube, and so I thought I would add a new feature where I recommend things on Youtube worth sharing with you. First up is Garden Answer. Today’s short video featured “Potting Up Houseplants and A Fresh Flower Arrangement.” The first segment set to music shows a selection of English Roses being fashioned into a lovely arrangement which is just the ticket on these rainy, gloomy days we have been having. Her videos are always fun and interesting. I particularly like when the hostess and often her mom and sister go visiting antique shops. Give it a try; you’ll enjoy this channel.

Did you watch the Kennedy Center Honors program the other night? This is one program that I look forward to each year. You may watch previous years simply by googling The Kennedy Center Honors (plus)  a year. For example, search for Kennedy Center Honors 2006 and you may watch the program honoring: Steven Spielberg, Zubin Mehta, Smokey Robinson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and everyone’s favorite, Dolly Parton. Another way is to search Kennedy Center Honors (plus) say, Paul McCartney, and you will see his segment.

The first Kennedy Center Honorees in 1978 were: Fred Astaire, Marian Anderson,  Richard Rodgers, Arthur Rubinstein, and George Balanchine. Youtube provides a time capsule for viewing these ceremonies honoring the best in the world of entertainment. 

Let me leave this here with the wish that 2024 is a hopeful, peaceful, blessed one for us all.

Two More Cross Stitch Ornaments

On this the eve of Christmas Eve, I thought that I would show you two more ornaments fully finished today and added to my cross stitch tree.  This sweetie is “Skate with Mrs. Claus” from Stitching with the Housewives - Round About Series. Priscilla Blain’s designs are always fun to stitch. (Priscilla and her daughter Chelsea have a shop on Etsy where you may see all of their designs, and they are, of course, available at your local needlework shop if you are lucky enough to have one.) 

Another favorite designer is Cathy Habermann of Hands on Design. This chart is part of her Polar Plunge series and is called Polar Bear Peek. I’m currently stitching another design in the series. This piece is finished on an ornament backing board from 141Design Company. Both “Hands on Design” and “Stitching with the Housewives” have very fun, entertaining flosstubes on Youtube.

At this point, I would have liked to show you a third ornament which was stitched about this same time last year. The finishing of that piece would have been a bit more challenging, so I put it away in a safe place until I had more time. Okay . . . I know . . .  you are a step ahead of me . . .  Yup, I have absolutely no idea where that safe place is with my unfinished piece. ;-(  When and if it turns up, I’ll finish it and tuck it in my ornament box.  That’s the trouble with safe places; they always seem perfectly reasonable and safe when you first tuck items away. :-)

Moving on . . .

 If you enjoy online projects, you may want to check out SAHRR 2024. You will find all the information “Announcing the SAHRR2024” at Quilting Gail. SAHRR stands for Stay at Home Round Robin. I participated last year and plan to do so again this year. This was my 2023 project which I made into a wheelchair quilt for a veteran.

You may make a project of any type or size and how you interpret the steps and what you do is all up to you . . . definitely my type of project. 

Earlier this month, I dropped off a box of items at a local thrift shop. Entering I kept repeating, don’t look, don’t buy anything, don’t bring anything home.  It didn’t work as this charming Pfalsgraff little house is now sitting on my dining room table. So, from our house to your house, Emma and I wish you all the happiest of holidays.

Holidaze and Christmas Stitching

Where has December gone? It’s flying by in a holidaze! My intention had been to post at least once or twice a week throughout the month, but you know what they say about good intentions. It has been a busy, fun month so far: two guild holiday parties, a lovely luncheon hosted by my friend Kathy, a wonderful Christmas concert where my cousin’s school choral group performed, and last Saturday her sister was in a play. So, all of that may explain my dearth of posting, but I do promise to try to do better going forward. 

Let me show you a bit of what I have been stitching. I’ve added these two little pillows to my small red tiered tray.

To fully finish them I started by first applying a piece of FS101 to the back of the stitched piece. Next I took the  stitched piece and a piece of backing fabric and sewed them right sides together around all four sides. I make a slit in the backing, turn the piece right side out, stuff, and cover the slit with a piece of wool to which I add a button and a year charm. (The patterns for the tiny pillows are from the  “Festive Countdown” in the Xmas 2020 issue of Christmas Cross Stitch Favourites, a British publication. )

Each year the Just Cross Stitching magazine publishes a Christmas ornament issue. This ornament had caught my eye back in 2020, and I finally stitched it this year. It’s Holly Jolly Buffalo by designer Melody Gilmore of Open Road Abode Needleworks.

A buffalo??? Why??? Well, it reminds me of past trips to the Tetons and Yellowstone, and besides that I just liked it. :-) One more thing, do you know what baby bison are called? I do and in case you are ever asked during a trivia contest, the answer is “red dogs.” Now I know you are wondering, how the heck does  she know that??? Well, I think that I have mentioned that I have rather eclectic tastes when it comes to Youtube. I really enjoy watching cross stitch flosstubes, gardening programs like “Garden Answers,” lots of all types of music, etc. Then I also watch “Inside the NBA” with Ernie Johnson, Shaq, Charles Barkley, and Kenny, the ‘Jet’ Smith. They are one funny, funny crew of basketball analysts. I discovered “Follow the Herd” about Fresian horses during the pandemic and still watch each new episode. That brings me back to how I know about “red dogs.” Well, I also follow Dusty and Marissa at Cross Timbers Bison, a young couple who explore the challenges of raising bison. ;-) That’s how I know the babies are a cinnamon color for their first few months. Indeed, youtube can be super educational ;-)

I’ll have a few more ornaments to show in my next post. But . . . just in case I don’t post before Christmas, wherever you travel on the big day, have fun and be safe. :-) [This mural is at the Derby Street stores in Hingham.]

Finally Featuring Fall Finishes

 

But first . . . Look at what we woke up to on Tuesday. It was the very nicest kind of snowstorm. The trees were gowned in white and because of the freezing temperatures, the trees stay coated all day long  . . . simply magical. The lawns were also white, but by 10:00 am the streets were down to black pavement. It offered all the joys of a small snowstorm without any shoveling. :-)

Along my fence I have four pairs of shepherd hooks from which I hang plants in summer and ornaments at Christmas. These ornaments originally decorated a fir tree in the back of my yard. The tree was a DPW eight inch sapling given away on one Arbor Day twenty plus years ago. I was able to hang ornaments on it until it reached about ten feet tall; it has since double in size.

Now on to two fall cross stitch finishes. A third piece is eighty-five percent done, but it stashed away until next year. 

I love how Fall Harvest by It’s So Emma of the Fat Quarter Shop is displayed in this frame which had previously housed a clock. The piece was stitched on an Aida fabric upon which harvest themed words were lightly printed.

Now here is where I fully intended to insert a photo of the second cross stitch piece. It has been stitched for a few weeks, but I decided that I was not completely pleased with how I had finished it so I’m redoing it and will post it next time.

Did you see the announcement of the Kona 2024 color of the year? It is going to be a soft minty green, julep. And speaking of color, isn’t this amaryllis gorgeous!

Finally for Emma fans . . . She was groomed on Wednesday, and the groomer later sent along this photo. They always take a photo in December against a festive background. I love this one!!! It is hard to believe that Miss Emma will turn twelve at the end of this month. Thankfully, she is still full of energy. Obviously, our daily walks are keeping at least one of us in great shape.

That’s all for now. Have a wonderful weekend.

Wool Applique Americana Tablerunner Finish

Place a gold star on my forehead; my wool applique “Americana” table runner is done!!! (I had purchased the kit from Shabby Fabrics.) There are 260+ pieces, and I love how it turned out. (You may click on the photo to see a larger image.) I also appreciate the fact that I was disciplined about stitching it. I stitched a minimum of thirty minutes each day from August until Monday afternoon when I finished the edges. Whew! After taking this photo, I rolled it up and tucked it away as friends were coming for dinner on Wednesday evening, and I wanted to put out a Christmas centerpiece. 

I had purchased this little boy and girl in the sled for my mom at a craft show many, many years ago. The vintage angel candlesticks originally belonged to my aunts. 

 My godchild and her family came on Sunday afternoon and lugged up from the cellar my boxes of Christmas decorations and trees. I then spent Monday and Tuesday decking my halls, no small task as I love to decorate ;-). I have a large tree with ornaments and a small tree with my cross stitch pieces. I am beyond happy that my decorating is done, and that I may now enjoy it for the coming month.

It was 55 degrees today, so I took advantage of the warm weather to get my outside decorating mostly done. I’ll finish it after all the leaves are taken care of. My mighty oak tree is slow to relinquish its leaves. (I’ve already had the leaves raked once, and the men who do it will come again early next week. I have a large backyard, and raking leaves is one job that I have gladly given up.)

On Tuesday, I attended  a Crosstown Quilters Guild meeting. Our guest speaker was Christine Myers of  the Quilt Corner Studio in Sandwich, and her talk was on “The Trials and Joys of Owning a Quilt Shop.”  She was an absolute delight. 

On Wednesday, I met six friends (all former Weymouth teachers) for lunch at Mia Ragazza in Abington and then came home to bustle about finishing a few things before my quilting buddies arrived for dinner. ‘Quilting’ buddies is a bit of a misnomer. Though quite a few years ago, we actually did bring machines and sew, now we might bring a binding to stitch on or some knitting or cross stitch but mostly it is conversation, food, and show and tells. Here’s Maribeth with her recently completed chandelier quilt.

So, lunch with one group of friends and dinner with another . . . yes, indeed, life is good!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day 2023

 The Tom Turkey float just rolled down the street signaling the start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Soon I’ll be heading over the river and through the woods to my cousin Brian’s home for dinner, but before I go, I wanted to wish you all a very happy day.

And remember . . . 

A Visit to the New England Quilt Museum

This has not been one of our best foliage years, but yesterday morning after church I happened to drive by Legion Field and did a double take. The entire parking lot is ringed with these gorgeous red maples. I’m afraid they have been planted a bit too close together, but it creates quite an impact. 

Today, my friend Edith and I attended a “Meet the Teachers” event at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. We collected brochures and cards from each teacher and learned about lectures and programs that each offered to guilds. 

I asked the museum director if I might share a few photos of quilts that caught my eye. She readily agreed and also asked me to encourage my readers to do come visit the museum in person. :-)

Aren’t they wonderful!!!

My wool applique piece is nearly done as I only have to sew on the backing layer. I will share the completed piece in my next post.
 

My Oldest Quilt Project FINISHED!!!

 Well, it is finally done!!! I had received a gift of fat quarters used in this quilt from friends way back in 2007!!! They had gone on a quilt shop hop, but I was not able to accompany them as at that time I was undergoing chemo treatments during my first adventure with breast cancer. Perhaps I had associated the fabric with that challenging period, but in any event, I never did anything with the fat quarter bundle. Maybe seven or eight years ago, I start making these blocks. There was no pattern. I simply had fun slashing and inserting strips. When the blocks were completed, they again sat there for a few more years. Finally, I decided to put them together, and I am glad that I did. Sixteen years . . . it makes me wonder, dear readers . . . what is your oldest work in progress???

The sad thing is I have a number of  quilts that need to be completed. I’d like to say that I will finish one every month, but even I don’t believe that will happen. I do know that no fabric, cross stitch, or wool will enter this house until I make a significant dent in what I already have. True confession: I recently ordered two wool applique patterns and more than a few cross stitch patterns, but honestly, that’s it!!! Really and  truly. . . 

You are looking at the last two sections of my wool applique table runner project. I’m not sure why, but the chicken wagon and barn each seemed to take a long time to stitch. This weekend I will work on adding the backing. 

Since my last post, I did attend an Amy Grant concert at Plymouth Memorial Hall, and she was absolute lovely. The only down spot came near the end of the concert when the woman in front of me decided to stand up. Mind you, she had had a perfectly clear view of the stage, but once she popped up, my view was completely blocked. Now, if you know me, you know I am a pretty mild person, but I found myself getting more and more aggravated. I wanted to ask her politely to please sit down, but I could not bring myself to do so as she appeared to be in seventh heaven, having the time of her life. Concert etiquette seems to be getting worse and worse. With the price of tickets these days, you would at least like to be able to see the performer. How would you have handled this situation?

Well, that’s all for now as I will be heading out shortly to attend a play at my youngest cousin’s school. It is his first time acting. Gee, I sure hope nobody blocks my view tonight!

An FFO - Raven by Nora Corbett

 Here she is . . .  my first completed Nora Corbett design. . . Raven. Try as I might, I wasn’t able to take a photo which truly captures her beauty. Because of the beading, I chose to have it framed under glass which is causing reflections and streaks in this photo. In person, you are able to see the three colors of beads: red, purple, and bronze in the flowing necklace. The skirt is embellished with swirls of bright red beads. The various shades of deep, rich purples are truly lovely.

This was a somewhat more challenging piece for me to stitch, but I have already picked out another Nora Corbett design. Some of her designs are quite large, but for now I’ll stick with the smaller ones. This one measures 10”x12.” It took about two months to stitch, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. :-)

It’s hard to believe that we have not had a killing frost yet; indeed, this week we will have temperatures in the seventies! Remarkable! This tree form hibiscus may spend the winter in my sewing room. 

Another surprise this morning was this blossom on the tiny rose of sharon which sprouted at the base of my sunporch. There is only about an inch or two of dirt between the porch and a row of bricks. Pretty cool!

Enjoy these awesome autumn days. :-)

Moovin’ Right Along!!!

 Yes, I’m moovin’ right along on my large wool applique piece. There are only three more sections to go!

As you can see in the corner of the watering can segment, I have the barn pinned in place waiting to be stitched. Some people glue all the pieces in place, but I prefer to just use pins though with such a large piece there has been a whole lot of stabbing going on. :-) Pinning wouldn’t be an issue with a more manageable size, but I needed to pin all 250+ pieces in place before stitching to space all the elements out.

This has not been a good foliage season. The colors are muted and frankly disappointing. These three brightly colored leaves are the exceptions; most of my yard is covered with brown, dry leaves. There are, however, still spots of color in my yard; I’ll wait for frost warning before dumping out my hanging plants and pots.

We are anticipating quite a bit of rain this afternoon though right now it is calm and dry. I intend to spend this afternoon in my sewing room in hopes of getting a few things accomplished. . . Fingers crossed. . .

Finally, for Emma fans. . . She went to the groomer on Wednesday and when I picked her up, she was sporting this festive bow tie.

Have a wonderful, creative, fun week and stay safe.

Lunch with Abigail and Happy October

On Saturday, I attended a luncheon program put on by the First Church of Weymouth. This church was established in 1623 and to celebrate its 400th year they have been having a number of events. Saturday’s Lunch with Abigail was a one woman historical play written and performed by Laura Rocklyn. Abigail Adam’s father, the Rev. William Smith had been minister at the First Church for forty-nine years and Abigail Adam’s birthplace is within walking distance of the church. I think everyone in attendance was pleasantly surprised when we were served a delicious meal before the performance. 

Wool applique progress . . . two more sections stitched . . . seven to go . . .

If you think this little sheep and butterfly are cute, wait until you see the cow and chickens. :-)

A hint of the color to come . . . This photo snapped in the back of the CVS parking lot while I was waiting for a tow truck shows some of the leaves are beginning to change. Tow truck? Yes, I had spent Monday running errands and noticed my car didn’t quite seem to have its usual zip. My last stop was CVS where the engine light suddenly came on. Horrors!!!  One day and three hundred and forty dollars later the air flow problem was solved. I had been thinking of heading up to Vermont to do some photography. Just what would I have done if the engine light had come on while I was on some lonely, scenic backroad? Cell phone use may be spotty at best in some areas. I may have to give this some more thought.

On my daily walks with Emma . . . I took this shot of a pretty pokeberry weed the other day. It’s pretty but never touch any part of this plant as it can be as bad as poison ivy. And as tempting as the fruit looks, never ever put any in your mouth unless you are a bird.

Just look at this gorgeous hydrangea display in a neighbor’s front yard down the street. Emma loves everyone she sees on her daily walks and in particular the couple who live in this house. :-)

In other stitching news, I have completed the cross stitching on the piece on which I have been solely working for well over a month. I’m presently adding some beads to complete the piece, and I have decided that I will have it professionally framed. 

In case you don’t know about this beading aid, I thought that I would share it with you. Tacky Bill looks like a cd case. Inside there is a tacky surface where you can sprinkle some of the beads you are using. Can you imagine what it would be like to have all these micro beads rolling all over your table or onto your carpet? Tacky Bill thankfully prevents that.  This product used to be called Tacky Bob; I guess Bob must have retired. :-)

One last important item . . . it is now October and time for me to climb up on my soapbox once again to remind the ladies reading this to have their yearly mammograms. I know things get busy and sometimes things slip by us, but this is too important to let slide. As a two time breast cancer surviver (2007, 2018), I can attest that early detection does indeed save lives. For the people you love and for yourself, please get checked.

Covid numbers in our area are on the rise, so be creative and be safe.