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.

FFOs Patriotic Cross Stitch Pieces

I’ve been stitching patriotic pieces since May, and I haven’t even made a dent in my collection of patriotic patterns. ;-). Two of the small pillows are part of Lori Holt’s “Stitchy Stars” pattern. The pattern calls for stitching seven of the designs into a long narrow piece. I chose to only stitch two so far and put them on my tiered tray. Maybe I will add a few more next year. “Old Glory” was a freebie pattern from Pinker ‘n Punkin. “Land of the Free” is a pattern by Priscilla Blain of the Stitching Housewives on Etsy. Their patterns are positively irresistible! 

“Land of the Free” was stitched on 14 count blackboard aida. I used sparkly etoile floss for the fireworks which do not sparkle here, but they do in person.

“Liberty and Love” from Primrose Cottages was added to my trench bowl. Behind it on the right is a teenie quilt which should be draped over a mini wooden quilt rack. I had tucked the rack away in a “safe place” to make room for my trench bowl, and you guessed it . . . I had been looking for it for a week. It hadn’t been tucked away after all; I spotted it this morning in plain sight on the bottom shelf of my bookcase! Good Grief!

 I have another stitched piece that I haven’t framed yet, but it. will be done by my next post.

Handy Dandy Hummingbird Feeder Ant Trap . . .  Though my hummingbird feeder has a good size ant cup, I was still getting ants. So, I checked online to find a solution and came across many different ant traps. From all those ideas, I put together this simple gizmo which cost absolutely nothing but works great! I think the photo makes it clear, but if not, here is what I did.  Start with a plastic tonic, pop, or soda bottle. :-) Use an awl and poke a hole in the cap. Use an exact-o knife to cut a three to four inch section on the cap end. Once you have made the initial cut you may use scissors to cut the soft plastic. Cut a piece of wire about eight inches from a wire coat hanger. Thread the wire through the cap and bend one end into a small hook and the other end into a larger hook. Before screwing on the cap, fill the cap with E6000 glue. (E6000 glue is my go-to fix-it helper.) Let the glue dry/cure over night and then just fill it with water. . . no more ants.

Following by email . . . If you read other blogs, I am sure that you know that Feedburner is going away this month. Feedburner is the ‘service’ that sends some of you an email when I have a new post. I’ve been looking into Follow.it and Bloglovin, but frankly I do not know which one to chose. So, I am going to suggest that if you enjoy my ramblings, please just bookmark my blog and check in once or twice a week too see if I have put up any new posts. (I am seeing ads on some of the blogs I read, and these blogs never had ads before.)

Okay, that’s it. Stay safe and stay cool.