Three Cross Stitch FFOs and Wool Applique, Too!

 There is a great deal to be said for having to stay off your foot for a week. I accomplished quite a bit including finishing this pillow for my bee display. “A Bee C” is a design by Lindsey Weight of Primrose Cottage on Etsy.

I do not think that I posted photos of these pieces in previous posts. The first is “Bee Sweet”  by Annie Beez Folk Art on Etsy.

Below is “Citrus Summer” from the Fat Quarter Shop. The Fat Quarter Shop is an online quilting and cross stitch shop. Kimberly Jolly, the owner,  hosts a quilting program and on Wednesdays a cross stitch program on Youtube. If you enjoy quilting or cross stitching, be sure to check out the Fat Quarter Shop website. 

This past week also afforded me the time to work on a wool applique table runner from Shabby Fabrics. I had purchased the kit during the pandemic, but when I saw how many pieces (269)  I would have to trace, cut out, place, and stitch, I put it away for another time. Wool applique kits are expensive, so a month or so ago, I decided to get on with it. I traced, fused, and cut out all the pieces. To keep things straight, I put the pieces in forty-one separate baggies. Yes, the kit came with forty-one various shades of wool.

The runner will finish at about eighteen by thirty-eight inches. It took a few days this week to assemble this ‘jigsaw.’ I had fused various segments together and then began pinning them to the background. Truth to say, I had been muttering and sputtering about the whole thing and even considered tossing the project. I am, however, not one to give up easily and as it began to take shape, I was hooked! “Americana,” the wool applique kit, depicts a colorful village scene with a barn, a church, animals, etc. Because of its size this will not be a lap project. In fact, it’s a good thing that I have no formal banquets planned here at the castle for the next month or two as this piece will remain on my dining room table until it is completely stitched. 

Though I had purchased the accompanying 12wt Sulky thread pack, I plan to use No. 8 perle cotton on the larger pieces. If I am going to do all this stitching, I sure want it to show!!!

My plan is to spend a minimum of thirty minutes daily on this piece and will post a photo of each section as it is completed. Wish me luck!

Today the news came of the passing of two TV legends. Bob Barker, the host of “The Price is Right,” passed at the age of ninety-nine. Carol Duvall while perhaps not as famous as Bob Barker was the queen of crafting in the early days of HGTV. She was delightful and her shows were always filled with fun, creative craft ideas.  Carol Duvall was ninety-seven.

Have a creative, fun week.

A Busy Week and a Scary Morning

This lovely curcuma graces my sunporch. I love the sculptural elements of this plant. To learn more about curcuma plants you may visit Costa Farms. 

So, what has been keeping me busy lately? The Company Theater in Norwell had a world premiere of a contemporary rock opera.

Since  my cousin Miss L. chose ‘Joan of Arc’ as her confirmation name and since her sister Miss T. is involved in theater, I invited them along with their parents to see this production. The music was wonderful and each person in the cast had a wonderful voice. The staging of the play was masterful and the story was well told. If I had any criticism, it would be that the first act needed to be shorter; a few judicious cuts would help move things along.

I met retired teacher friends for lunch on Tuesday, and friends came to dinner on Wednesday and other friends on Thursday. . . a busy fun week. I’ll keep that in mind this week as an issue will keep me off my foot for at least a week. Yes, I am grounded once again. Gosh darn it! I was supposed to join family at a WooSox game at Polar Park in Worcester this afternoon and I had plans on Monday and Tuesday. Oh, well, it is what it is . . . If I follow my doctor’s orders, I hope to be back out galavanting the following week. :-() Meanwhile I should be able to make some progress on the 269 piece wool applique project spread out on my dining room table. 

So, about that scary morning . . . on Thursday evening meteorologists were predicting some heavy rain storms moving in around 5:00 am Friday. When I got up before 8:00, there was still no rain. Things changed after 9:00 as the meteorologists began breaking into the morning shows to report a tornado watch in Connecticut. Things went downhill at that point. The tornado alerts kept coming and to my shock where I live was in the target zone. At 9:45, my cell phone began blasting an alarm saying to take shelter in the basement which Emma and I immediately did. My cousin Kristin kept texting me updates. At one point, she asked if I was near two particular streets as the tornado was on that path. I live on a long street and the streets she mentioned are at either ends of my street. YIKES!!! Fortunately, there was absolutely no damage in my area. The tornado did, however, touch down and do some damage in another section of Weymouth. We have not had a tornado in this area in seventy years. It was scary.  I’d just as soon just deal with our Nor’easters and blizzards.

The weather this summer across our country has been beyond crazy. Have a stress free, calm week and wherever you live I hope your weather is calm and pleasant.

Sunday Smorgasbord

Grab a cold drink as this catch up post could be a long one. These photos are from one of my dinner plate size blooming hibiscus plants. I have three such plants of various shades in my large garden.

Yes, I simply love all types of hibiscus!!! They make such an impact. Here’s a regular size flower from my deck. Note the ruffled petals. I usually don’t bring in plants to overwinter them, but this one is so pretty that I may have to in this case.

 On Wednesday evening, I went with friends to see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band at Plymouth Memorial Hall. What a show!!! 

They came onstage at 8:10 and left the stage at 11:15, three solid hours, no intermission. The Large Band consists of twelve truly impressive musicians and three singers. Two members of the horn section are professors, one from Georgia Tech and the other from a University in Texas. They spend each summer vacation traveling with the Large Band. Lyle features each musician at least once or twice and tells a bit about each one, whom they have played with, and where they met. It seems that most of these musicians have played with Lyle on his tours for years and years. From June 1 to August 31, they play fifty-six shows across the country. 

If they are ever in your neck of the woods, make it a point to see them.

I stitched this piece “Beach Please” by Kathy Habermann of Hands on Design last month. I modified the size of the piece and left off the words. I mounted it on this small blackboard easel with a narrow shelf on which I placed small shells and beach glass.

Wool Applique Alert!!! If you enjoy wool applique, do check out the Pumpkin Village Mystery Stitch - A-Long. You can get information at The Woolen Needle. Each Monday from July 31 - October 29, you may download a free block pattern. Each shop will offer kits and corresponding threads for sale. I should be able to complete this project from my own healthy wool stash. Warning! Wool applique may become highly addictive . . . great fun but highly addictive!!!  

My friends Cathy, Marilyn, and I recently went to lunch to celebrate our birthdays; Cathy and I are July babies and Marilyn’s birthday is this month. We have been friends since we were little girls and no, I’m not saying how many years that has been. :-()

Finally, I thought you might get a kick out of this photo.

These turkeys had thought it would be pleasant to take a stroll in my backyard. Emma took exception to this and set off barking and charging. With a whole lot of squawking and flapping of wings, the turkeys flew up into the tree instead. :-)

Okay, that’s all for now, have a wonderful week.

But wait! There’s more!!! When I write a post, I usually let it sit for at least an hour or so in hopes that when I come back to proofread it again, I will magically spot any silly errors. (Proofreading is tough. I can read and reread something and then much later spot a misplaced modifier, a wrong verb tense, or heaven forbid a punctuation error.  Worst of all, I sometimes leave out a word. 🥴) Anyway, all the time my post has been sitting here, I could not get the word “squawk”  off my mind. What kind of word is it? Where did it come from? Now, in the one in ten million chance that you, too, might also be wondering about this word, let me show you what I found on Etymonline - Online Etymology Dictionary.

Why did it become slang in the US around 1945? Another site referenced the “squawking” of the radios in the planes flown during the second World War. There you have it. I don’t know about you, but I feel better knowing how this word came about. :-)

 Bye! (For real, this time . . . )