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. :-)