Here Comes the Sun

 Yes, indeed, this afternoon while walking with Emma, I saw the sun shyly peeking out of the clouds. Awesome!!! We have had a miserable stretch of cool, rainy, drizzly weather, but the meteorologists promise at least a few days of sunny weather this week. :-)

So, what have I been working on? I made this project bag for a friend’s birthday. I had bought this fabric at a quilt shop that was closing on the Cape. This photo doesn’t do justice to the vibrancy of the fabric. I love it, and fortunately, I have enough fabric to maybe make a few more project bags including one for me! Note the cute old fashioned sewing machine zipper pull that I purchased in the notions section at Hobby Lobby. (My original plan had been to make a summer pocketbook out of this fabric, and I still might put it away in my stash to do that next spring.)

I’m making steady progress on my large wool applique piece. If I consider this table runner as twelve separate little scenes, I have seven more sections to stitch. I’ll post two more completed sections in my next post. 

I have been very disciplined trying to work on this project for one hour a day. While stitching, I watch episodes of my new favorite flosstube on Youtube, “Running with Scissors with Jane and Julie.” These two cross stitching friends are just plain funny. I actually laugh out loud while watching them. Even if you are not a cross stitcher, you would definitely enjoy these ladies. Their projects including hardanger are not the type of stitching that I enjoy, but I absolutely do enjoy watching Jane and Julie. (Hardanger is a lace-like form of embroidery not for the faint of heart.)

They have various sections on each episode including “Delightful Deliveries” where they show their cross stitch purchases which leads me to share a “Delightful Delivery” that arrived at my door the other day.

This is a set of size 8 perle cotton. Aren’t these colors luscious! I already have a similar set in bright colors. I now have enough perle cotton to last me with my wool applique projects until I’m at least ninety-three. If I run out then, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. :-()

The third item under my needle is a lovely cross stitch piece which I have also been stitching on each day. When the stitching is completed, I will be adding beads. This is something new for me, but I am excited with this project so far. I have been working on it for over a month and hope to maybe get it finished this week.

At today’s meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild we had an excellent speaker, Barb Vedder. You can see her work on Instagram, and you can check out her blog, Fun with Barb. If your guild is looking for a dynamic speaker with a trunk show or someone to offer a workshop, consider her.

Fungus Among Us . . . Just how rainy has it been? There are mushrooms sprouting everywhere.

Stay creative and stay safe.

TB 12 Comes Home, Garden Notes, and a Possible Santa Sighting

Patriots Nation is abuzz!!! Tom Brady has come home. At today’s first game of the season, the greatest quarterback of all time will be honored at half time at Gillette Stadium, and I cannot wait to watch it. For twenty years he brought joy to the hearts of Patriot fans far and near along with six Super Bowl titles. He went on to bring a Super Bowl title to the Buccaneers in 2020. One of the statistics that I find most remarkable is that he is the only quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl in three separate decades.

School started here this past week and though I truly loved teaching, I’m also truly enjoying this endless summer known as retirement. Students and teachers must have been sweltering in classrooms with the 90 degree temperatures and high humidity we have been having. . . definitely not a fun way to start the new school year.

Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Herring Run Quilt Guild, and it was as if we were sitting in a sauna. There were, however, some pretty cool quilts shown!

Garden Notes:

There is so much to do before ending this gardening season, but with the rain and the heat I haven’t accomplished much. (This summer is now in the record books as being one of the wettest summers in this area ever.) I am looking ahead to next year.

I have never really liked red salvia. A neighbor gave me an extra flat of salvia and thinking that it might attract hummingbirds, I planted it in the wine barrel in the center of my hostas. I’m a convert. They have grown about two feet tall and have made quite an impressive display.

Orange is one of my least favorite colors, but I have to admit this hibiscus is gorgeous.

Final garden note . . . never toss old galvanized gardening cans that begin to leak or that have holes on the bottom as they make lovely planters. (On second thought, do toss old rusty, leaky watering cans . . . toss them my way, and I will give them a good home. :-)

For Emma fans . . . here she is after a trip to the groomers on Wednesday.

Finally, let me tell you about a possible Santa sighting and you be the judge. I was picking up a few craft items that I needed on Friday at our local Hobby Lobby. Then I decided to take a look at the autumn/ Thanksgiving seasonal decorations. The whole time I was browsing the aisles I kept repeating my mantra. . . “you don’t need any more decorations,” and it worked, I didn’t pick up any. Next came the forest of Christmas trees on display. Okay . . . here is where it gets interesting. I was in one of the main aisles and happened to glance down one of the side aisles displaying Christmas decorations . . . when whom should I spot but Santa or at least it might have been Santa . . . you be the judge. At the end of the aisle in the decoration section was an older gentleman wearing a bright red scally cap and a matching red polo shirt and, yes, he had a full white beard!!!!!! Truth to say, he was fairly trim, but that might not mean anything as Mrs. Clause probably doesn’t start her holiday baking until November. So, could it really have been Santa? I don’t know, but if he is around this early, I’m not taking any chances. I’m going to be a very, very, very good girl from now until Christmas! 

Have a fun week and be good just in case. . .