Gardening and Painting a Barn

 It’s gardening time. I have been spending lots of time visiting various garden centers to see what they have this year, and of course, picking up plants everywhere. :-) It’s only fitting to share the wealth with as many garden centers as possible! I did get a lovely surprise when I stopped by the Artery Garden Center in Quincy. It was late on Tuesday afternoon and after picking up more supertunias, the cashier told me to take one of the bouquets of roses that were left over from Mother’s Day. She explained that the owner knew they wouldn’t last indefinitely, so he wanted them to be enjoyed. Everyone in line was surprised and delighted. 

So, in the past few days I have made fourteen hanging baskets, planted two whiskey barrels, etc.; there is still much to do, but I have planted all that I have purchased. Whew! I also think that might be the end of my plant buying as I feared that I might have needed an intervention! But seriously, we need all the bright, happy flowers we can get. Who could resist this gorgeous hibiscus?

So, what’s up with painting a barn? Is there a barn behind my castle on my estate? No, no, and no. It was an unfinished piece from 141Design Company on Etsy. This company features many pieces on which to present cross stitch pieces. The barn is made of thin plywood and comes in separate pieces to be painted. The pieces can be stained or painted. On a flosstube video, Chantelle of 141 Design Company showed how to paint and assemble the piece. She used chalk paint, but I used acrylic paint that I had on hand. She said not to worry if it didn’t turn out well as you could always repaint it.

Fortunately, I love how mine turned out. I will glue a magnet in the center, and then I will be able to attach various cross stitch pieces. In case you are interested, I used a basic red with a bit of black mixed in on the barn boards. The silo is silver and the silo topper is silver mixed with a bit of black. Fun! I also painted a beehive which I will show in a future post. Now I just have to finish the cross stitch pieces.

Finally, here’s a meme sent along by friend Laurel. :-)

Stay safe. Stay creative. Buy flowers. Enjoy this glorious weather.

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A somber, horrifying statistic . . . the death toll from Covid in the United States has reached 1,000,000.

Happy Mother’s Day and a Sunday Smorgasbord

 Happy Mother’s Day! Happy March! Wait . . . it’s May 8th, but with the steady wind and cold temperatures we have been having it sure feels like March. I have half of a picnic table full of newly purchased plants, but it is too cold to be working outside.

Anyway, here are some pretty photos for Mother’s Day. Yes, these are the same tulips from Easter:-) They are on their way out now, but when it warms up, I’ll plant the bulbs in my garden.

These photos were all taken with my iPhone. Don’t be afraid to get in really, really close as you will be able to take amazing images such as this.

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday? If not, the winner, Rich Strike, was a horse who was entered on Thursday after another horse was scratched. It was perhaps the most amazing upset in Kentucky Derby history. Following this theme . . . the other evening while looking for a movie to watch I came across on Netflix, Dreamer starring Kurt Russell, Kris Kristofferson, and a very young Dakota Fanning. It’s about a down on his luck trainer, a horse in need of a second chance, and a little girl with a dream. While not Oscar worth, it was a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. 

Before I forget, on the news the other evening they explained the current high cost of lobster ($64 per pound!!!) The lobsters we are seeing at this point are Canadian lobsters as there are restrictions in place for local lobsterman. The restrictions are to prevent endangered right whales from becoming entangled in lines which connect buoys to lobster and crab traps.  There are only an estimated 360 right whales left, so these efforts are crucial. Clams and scallops, anyone?

God Bless all the mothers and all who play that role in the lives of children. Here’s a favorite photo of my mom, and, yes, that’s me with her. My mom was always stylish; just check out that suit and those classy shoes. 

Have a great week. Fingers crossed . . . it is supposed to get warmer.

Covid numbers are climbing in our area so please be cautious and stay safe. 

Chicks Garden and Another Vintage Photo

 Yesterday, I fully finished Chicks Garden which is a fun chart by Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives. Though it appears simple, it took me two full weeks of evening stitching! I used an inexpensive plaque from the unfinished wood section at Hobby Lobby and a piece of plaid homespun that I had picked up on the back table at a recent guild meeting to finish the piece.

In my last post, I showed a crazy quilt wallhanging featuring photos from my grandmother’s album. The tulips hid this wonderful photo. 

There are twenty-six people in this image; my grandmother is in the very top row on the left.

There are many excellent books which show you how to make a crazy quilt, but if you would like to incorporate vintage photos, a good reference is Brian Haggard’s Crazy-Quilted Memories.

That’s all . . . short and sweet except to note that prices are SOARING! I had a challenging morning, and to treat myself on the way home from Boston, I stopped at Tony’s on Wollaston Beach to pick up a lobster roll. They are by far the very best around. The price this time $39.95. Yikes! Today I didn’t care; I deserved it, but I won’t be making a habit of it. Later, I stopped to get gas. I had a quarter tank and to fill my suv cost 57.75! Yikes!!! And, just wait until you see the prices at the garden centers!!!

With the horrific war in Ukraine, the furor over the potential Supreme Court ruling on Roe vs.Wade, and the bitter politics dividing our country, I say buy the flowers. I agree with the Persian poet who wrote 

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,

And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,

Sell one, and with the dole,

Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

I wish you peace and flowers.

May the 4th Be with You!!!

 Happy Star Wars Day! It doesn’t seem possible that the first film in this mighty galactic franchise came out way back in May of 1977!!!  I, myself, have always been more of a Star Trek fan though I have seen most of the Star Wars films.

Last week was busy. On Tuesday, I attended a meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild. Our speaker was   the very talented Marge Tucker. If you are unfamiliar with her work, please do click on the link to see  samples of her work and learn about upcoming classes. 

Confirmation for my cousin Miss Lucy was late Wednesday afternoon, and I was blessed and honored to be her sponsor. I had also been blessed to be her mom’s Confirmation sponsor. After the Mass, we went out to eat, and it was only my second time in a restaurant since March of 2020. 

On Saturday, there was a family party to celebrate Lucy’s special day. The weather was absolutely perfect for sitting outside, and it was great to see everyone.

I have been enjoying the pink tulips that I received from my godchild’s family for Easter. The bulbs took a while to produce flowers and at first the tulips were white. After a few days they gradually began turning pink!

If you have been following me for a number of years, you will recall this crazy quilt piece that I made with photos from my maternal grandmother’s album. I never knew any of my grandparents, but as a child I was fascinated by the tiny photos in one album. If I live to be 100, I will never create a piece that I am prouder of. Here are a few photos for readers who have not seen this before.

What amused me as I grew older were the photo situations. Here the young ladies posed in a cornfield. My grandmother is second from the right. 

My favorite shows six young ladies on a ladder leaning against a tree. If you look closely, you can spot a gentleman perhaps anchoring the ladder at the top on the right. The date on these photos was 1906.

All of the decorative stitching and embellishing was done by hand.

Cuteness Alert!!! While shopping in The Paper Store, I spotted this salt and pepper set which, of course, had to come home with me.

Cuteness Alert for Emma Fans !!! Here she is after a Thursday appointment at the groomer.

So, what is up for this week? The sky is the limit. On Monday and Tuesday, I spent an exciting few hours spreading bags of lime and fertilizer on the estate. I had misjudged how much I would need so I had to purchase more. Today was rainy, so I was able to do some stitching: some cross stitching and some with machine on a number of small projects. I also fully finished a piece that I will show in the next post.

Stay cautious and safe and have a good week.

Tulip Time and Sew, What’s New?

 It has been two weeks since my last blog post, so much for good intentions. I had planned to post a number of times, but sometimes my follow through is a bit lacking. This will be a smorgasbord of some of the things I had intended to post. 

First, don’t you love tulip time! There is no place prettier than the Public Garden in Boston when the tulips are blooming and the swanboats are circling the lagoon. On Saturday which was an absolutely beautiful day, I kept telling myself that I should head in to town to do some photography. Did I do so?  No, lack of follow through . . . I did, however, take these tulip photos in my neighborhood after church on Sunday. 

Besides the daffodils, the only things blooming in my yard are wild violets, grape hyacinths, silver dollar plants and maybe a dandy dandelion or two. 

All the Easter decorations are packed away, and I realized that I had not shown you this cute little cross stitch piece designed by Lindsey Weight of Primrose Cottages on Etsy.

Sew, What’s New??? I’m starting to get my sewing mojo back, nothing major, but it’s a start. I had purchased this fabric while on a trip to Maine with friends a few years back. My intention had been to make a tablerunner like the one on display at Cotton Weeds fabric store in Freeport. Well, you guessed it, lack of follow through or maybe blame it on the pandemic, but the fabric had just been sitting in my stash until the other day when I made these perky placemats. I love them!!! Best part, there is enough fabric left to make a project bag; a definite win-win!!!

Here’s a better look at this fun fabric.

Speaking of project bags, here is one to hold wool applique work she said sheepishly. 

The second project bag is for my friend Laurel, and she will find the 60 degree ruler that I borrowed from her to make the tablerunner tucked inside. :-() (I’ve also since added a hive button, so the bee will have somewhere to go.)

You may recall that I had firmly resolved not to buy any more fabric until I used up what I have, and you must admit that since it is nearing the end of April, I have been doing pretty well. . . until last week that is. I received an email showing a piece of fabric that I couldn’t resist. I’ll show it to you in an upcoming post. That would not have been bad had I not also seen an email featuring a new line of fabric “Tulip Tango” by Robin Pickens for Moda Fabric. Heaven help me, but I couldn’t resist and before I knew it I had ordered the fat quarter bundle of this gorgeous fabric line. I have an idea that it will become a wall quilt based on Alex Anderson’s “Sequoia Sampler” pattern or Robin Pickens also put out a pattern using this fabric. . . two possibilities.

Truthfully, I have whittled my fabric stash down quite a bit with my zucchini runs. Huh? Zucchini runs??? Growing up everyone in my neighborhood seemed to have a vegetable garden. Everyone grew tomatoes, but some also grew zucchinis. By the time August came, there was an over abundance of zucchinis. Neighbors would leave bags of extra zucchinis and cucumbers on neighbors’ front steps. Sometimes they would ring the bell; sometime they would just leave them. :-) Well, before I started going back to in-person guild meetings, I would make zucchini runs to my friend Maribeth’s home. Instead of zucchinis, I dropped off fabric that I knew I would not use, and Maribeth would bring it to guild meetings for the “free” table. It was all okay fabric; I just knew that I wouldn’t be using it. So, even with the new yardage and fat quarter bundle, I’m still ahead of the game.

Covid numbers are creeping up; please stay safe everyone and have a wonderful week!

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

This afternoon I fully finished “Gertrude’s Garden” for my spring/Easter themed tiered tray. Don’t you love Gertrude’s bonnet? Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives always design charts that make me smile. 

Did you know that today is National Pet Day? (As far as Emma is concerned, every day is National Pet Day.) Anyway, let me share something that happened Saturday morning. You know the Bounty commercials where folks are sitting around a table and a glass filled with liquid spills and runs across the table; everyone in the scene then lets out a long collective,”No -o-o-o-o-o! Well, the other day just as I was letting Emma out I spotted a large turkey in the yard. My “Emma, no-o-o-o-o-o-o” did nothing to slow her as she flew down the stairs and across the yard. There is nothing like a charging, barking schnauzer to motivate flight, and with a mighty flapping of wings the turkey soared to a branch near the top of a very tall tree.

From his perch way, way up in the woods, I’d have to say the turkey did not appear to be perturbed in the slightest.

Continuing the pet theme, here is my Sunday stitch piece “Temperature - Walk with Me” from Stitchin’ Mommy on Etsy. On Sundays, I stitch the temperatures for the past week, and I’m thrilled to say I am still on track and totally up to date.

There will be a number of motifs; please don’t tell Emma that I stitched the squirrel. ;-)

On Friday, I brought an old clock to be repaired to a shop in Whitman not far from Peaceful Meadows. The sky was amazing, so I pulled in there to take this photo. Faithful readers of my blog have seen similar images posted here. Though I prefer the real cows that they used to have in the meadow, these two do make me smile. 

Did I then stroll over to the window to get something sweet, cold, and delicious? H’mm, what do you think. . . 

Well, I could ramble on longer, but I have a bit of quilting to do before our next guild meeting.

Stay safe. Covid numbers are beginning to tick back up. Follow this timely advice.

You wouldn’t think they would need to print signs such as this, but common sense is not nearly as common as it used to be. :-)

Have a good week and don’t forget to give your pet an extra treat and hug today.

Hopping by with a Spring Hare FFO

 

I started this cross stitch piece last April but put it aside to work on other pieces. When I pulled it back out recently,  I was delighted to see that all the letters had been stitched along with the ears! :-) It took me two weeks of steady, nightly stitching to finish. 

As you can see from this chart, it was designed to be a monotone piece which you probably realize by now is not quite my style. I used a pastel colored piece of 14 count aida and twenty different shades of floss, and I love how it turned out. He is quite the dapper fellow.

Adding the single cross stitch “dots” sprinkled around the piece took two or three nights.

So, what did I accomplish in March? 

- a Star Wars quilt made and donated

- Five pillowcases donated

- Four fleece blankets (three to be donated)

- Brenda Gervais - March Word Play cross stitch

- Spring Hare cross stitch

April Goal(s) . . . I have a number of quilts in various stages of completion; two only needs borders. (Sadly, they have both been borderless for over a year. I blame it on the pandemic.  :-)   Also, I would like to work on some wool applique pieces. 

Stay safe, creative, and happy.