Hope You Had a Hoppy, Happy Easter!

 “Hoppy Ewe” from designer Annie Tuner of The Proper Stitcher is my latest cross stitch finish. The sheep display piece is from Paisley and Polka Dots . As I have mentioned previously, their displays come in pieces, and you must then paint and assemble them which is a fun process. This piece also includes a three layered star which I will paint and add if/when I display a patriotic piece.

I glue magnets to the display piece and put washers on the back of the cross stitch piece, so I will be able to easily switch out pieces. 

The daffodils are blooming, and once again I recreated a favorite Emma puppy shot.

My adorable Emma . . . March 2012

Thursday, April 17, 2025,  after a trip to the groomer . . .  If you look closely, you can see a tiny, puffy bunny on her collar courtesy of her groomer. 

I had written up to this point on Saturday. This morning we learned the news of the passing of Pope Francis. I attended parochial school, and many, many years ago I remember attending a Mass for our pastor’s mother who had gone home to God on Easter. Though only a child, I remember the pastor saying that his mom had lived a long life and that she had died on Easter, and how very special that was. Pope Francis blessed and greeted the crowd gathered at the Vatican on Easter morning, and later he, too, went home to God on this special day. Bless him. 

Last note … Saturday, April 19th, marked the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. While I have visited Lexington and Concord countless times, I have never attended the 5:00am reenactment on the Lexington Green. It’s one of those things I have always meant to do but have not. Maybe next year I’ll attend the rehearsal on the day before which is held at a much more civilized hour. :-)

Have a good week.

Happy Fall Y’all!

This little scarecrow was a previous finish, but I hadn’t been happy with how I had originally finished it. I took it apart, added a washer to the back, and added it to this mug display. (There’s a magnet on the wooden piece. ) You may remember seeing some of my other pieces displayed on the mug. 

The display piece came from Paisleys and Polka Dots, and these three designs are all from Stitching with the Housewives on Etsy. Eventually I hope to be able to stitch a small piece for each month.

I’m still rolling along, but the doctor thinks I may be able to ditch my big, grey boot in a month. Fingers crossed . . . Anyway, I wasn’t able to attend the Herring Run Quilt Guild show over the weekend, but imagine my surprise to learn that my wool applique Americana tablerunner had received a Viewers Choice second place ribbon. Please click the guild link to see all the winners from this fabulous show.

This has been a good week. Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild. This guild meets twice a month, and these meetings are always fun. Today I went to lunch with friends and as always that was fun, too! Tomorrow is going to be another rainy day, but that’s okay as I have a few projects to work on including fully finishing two cross stitch pieces and stitching on a wool applique piece. I’m doing a small presentation on cross stitch and wool applique at the next Crosstown Guild meeting, and I’m hoping to get some others to fall down those rabbit holes along with me :-). So, I’d really like to get this latest piece done. 

Keep stitching, quilting, and creating!

“You Are My Sunshine” - Cross Stitch Finish

 

As summer is drawing to a close, I finally finished stitching “You Are My Sunshine” by It’s So Emma from the Fat Quarter Shop. I stitched it according to the chart but left off the words, “You Are My Sunshine.” The wooden display piece, flip flops, sunshine, and palm tree are from Paisley and Polka Dots. The kit has many, many unfinished, individual wood pieces. You paint them and then carefully assemble them with glue. If you want, you can glue magnets to the display and glue washers to the back of the piece as I did making the display something you may use with other pieces. Overall, I love how it turned out. 

I am currently working on another display for a twelve month stitching project. How did that happen? I’ve always avoided projects such as this, but this one drew me in. It’s “Blooming Roots” by Stitching with the Housewives. Each month you will receive a pattern and floss to stitch two pieces. I’m working on the stitching and have already finished preparing the display piece. Fingers crossed that I will be able to keep up. :-) To add to this, I also signed up for a ten month stitching journal project. Lord help me! I blame it all on my ruptured Achilles tendon! Sitting around with way too much time on my hands has been dangerous, but both projects should be fun.

Have a wonderful, creative week. 

Happy Fourth of July 2024!!!

Happy Fourth of July! I’m watching the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular as I write this post. Darlene Love is belting out a couple of her hits, and I’m looking forward to The Mavericks. [If you ever get a chance to see The Mavericks in concert, don’t pass up the opportunity; they are a guaranteed good time.]

Uncle Sam in a patriotic mug is a recent finish. Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives designed this cross stitch chart which I believe is called Stars and Stripes. I hot glued a magnet on the wooden display mug which I purchased as a kit from Paisley and Polka Dots. The pieces that will be interchangeable have a washer glued to each back. You may remember seeing this piece recently.

My plan is to stitch a small piece for each holiday or season or sometimes something just for fun! There is a small pocket between the layers where you may tuck in flowers or other items. 

The bees are loving the magenta bee balm which has taken over a large area of my garden. 

These visitors don’t seem even slightly concerned about the wild, unkempt, unweeded state of my gardens. 

 

Another turkey mom with her babies was strolling in another area of my yard. I wouldn’t mind but beyond  the fence there is a wide swath of lovely woods for them. Oh, well. . . 

[Oops! On rereading this post I noticed that I had originally written “swarth” instead of  “swath.” Honestly, I am definitely going to have to fire my proofreader. Wait a minute, I am the proofreader. . . in that case I’m blaming all of my mistakes on the heat.]

Finally, this morning the Today show had a July 4th trivia quiz. They asked how many hot dogs would be eaten on the Fourth. Answer: 150 million!!!!! Please pass the mustard and relish. . . ;-).

Flower Market FFO, Bunnies, and a Change in the Weather

We have had the most glorious spring weather for the last two weeks. The temperatures even reached ninety on both Thursday and Friday, but by late afternoon Friday, a cold front moved in along with lots of rain. By Saturday morning, the temperature had dropped forty degrees! Yes, we have traded May weather for March weather! Between the cold and the rain, there has been no gardening getting done. You won’t hear me complain as we had such a wonderful stretch of weather. I’m hoping that the rain heads north to Nova  Scotia to help put out their raging wildfires.

Wednesday was a beautiful day. I went to lunch with a group of friends and then back to a friend’s home for dessert. Fourteen lovely ladies, all former teachers, were present. In the evening, I went to another friend’s home for dinner. Yes, indeed, it was a fun doubleheader kind of day.

Last year, we had chipmunks everywhere; I haven’t seen any this year. There are, however, rabbits all over the place. Tuesday night I looked around before letting Emma out. As she dashed out to begin her backyard perimeter check, I spotted bunny ears sticking up from my small garden. Oh, no!!! I dashed out and succeeded in getting Emma back inside. I grabbed my phone and took this photo. The rabbits will freeze in place if not being actively pursued. I watered a few hanging pots and then spotted him/her in the front of my large garden. Obviously, he/she wanted to check out my pretty, new hydrangea.

 

I also took a moment to capture this lovely, blue iris. When I sold my aunts’ home many years ago, I made sure to bring home a clump of these pretty irises.

Now, continuing the flower theme, at the top of this post is Flower Market, a design by Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives. It was finished on a house display piece from Paisley and Polka Dots. I don’t love painting all the tiny pieces, but I sure do love how it turned out. I was working on another finishing piece today that I will show in my next post; it’s too cute for words.

That’s it for now. Dodge the raindrops and keep warm. (It’s June 5th, and I turned the heat on twice today!!!) 

Have a happy, creative week.