A Short Nearly Wordless Wednesday Post

An ongoing foot issue is still keeping me from working in my gardens, but I am loving the plants on my deck. Could this hibiscus be any more beautiful? 

I have no idea what kind of moth this is, but this little guy did pose nicely for this shot.

Quilt designer Jacqueline de Jonge posted this image on her instagram account, and I feel exactly the same about my awesome, outstanding, creative, nearly perfect blog readers. :-)

It’s Wednesday so I am now going to go do some Wool Applique Wednesday stitching. :-) 

Repairing a Vintage Quilt and a New Cross Stitch Finish

Whew! I finally finished repairing this vintage quilt that was made by my dentist’s grandmother. I’m no expert, but judging from the fabric, I think it was made in the 30s or 40s. My dentist treasures these quilts, and so I was happy to repair this one. This is the third quilt that I have worked on for him in the last few years. This one needed a new binding and patching and mending in places. With age, some of the fabrics are simply wearing out, but I was able to stabilize those areas. The top is machine pieced, but it was hand quilted with big stitches. The threads are breaking down and the batting has shifted so that in some areas the quilt is at least an inch thick while in other areas there doesn’t seem to be any batting. The backing was still in fine condition, so I didn’t deal with the uneven batting. Besides, I would not want to cover up the original hand stitching.

This cross stitch piece is “Simply Strawberries” by designer Simona Bussiglierin of Mani di Donna. This chart appeared in the spring 2024 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. The textured red fabric is a piece of upholstery fabric. Someone in one of my quilt guilds once brought upholstery sample books to a meeting. The samples were small, but they are perfect for cross stitch finishing and other stitching projects.

 Now, let me tell you about this sweet little rocker. A friend of my aunt entrusted it to me about thirty years ago. The chair had belonged to her mother as a child, and she had always treasured it. This doll chair has to be well over a hundred years old. I remember my aunt’s friend telling me that her mother had had the seat rewoven at some point. My aunt’s friend had seen many of my various creative projects through the years, and since she didn’t want it to be thrown away when she passed, she had given it to me. I think she would be pleased that I often use it to display my cross stitch.

Finally, this was a very special weekend for our family as we had four graduates from high school: my cousin's triplets and Miss L., the older of the two ‘Ladies Lunch’ girls. The years have passed far too quickly.

Take care and have a good day. :-)

Sunday Stitch Back from the Framers

Last week I picked up “This Is the Day” which had been my Sunday cross stitch piece for the last two years. I seldom take my pieces to be professionally framed, but I wanted this piece by designer Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers to be protected with conservation glass. It’s always difficult to select a frame, but I think that it turned out great. 

You might be wondering how I’m doing on my current Sunday stitch, “324” by designer Arlene Cohen of Works by ABC. Well, I have stitched fifty-two motifs and squares so far with only 270 more to go!!!  While I do stitch on it on Sundays, I also work on it sometimes during the week. I was getting a bit tired just working in purples, reds, and pinks so I’ve worked my way over toward the blues and greens. It’s an enjoyable stitch. 

In case you are new to my blog, 324 refers to the number of colors in the piece: half are designs and the other half are blocks. Joanns had a sale on DMC on Thursday and Friday, so I purchased a number of skeins that I needed. By the time this piece is completed, I will have a very large stash of floss. :-) Fortunately, floss is fairly inexpensive.

In my previous post, I showed the poppies which grow under my deck. These blooms are super fragile, and they didn’t even last twenty-four hours. I turned around yesterday morning just in time to capture Miss Emma framed by the remaining blooms. The rain and wind had reduced them to orange confetti decorating the grass.

The irises are, however, putting on quite a display. 

One last photo of Miss Em in position beside me as we admire how pretty everything looks in my yard this spring. Though I have put together hanging pots and planters, I cannot wait to tackle my gardens!!! 

Happy gardening and have a fun, creative week.

After the Rain . . .

After the storms rolled by on Thursday, I grabbed my iPhone to capture these images of not raindrops on roses but raindrops on fuchsia and irises.

Phlox is rampant in my large garden right now.

A word on poppies . . . Paper thin poppy petals don’t stay intact long, but they are fun to photograph if you are quick about it.  

That’s all; just a short post with some pretty photos.

Decorating My Mantel for Spring

 This recently finished cross stitch piece is “Seasonal Courier: Robin’s Spring” by designer Robin Pickens. I love seeing robins in the spring, and I couldn’t wait to finish stitching this piece. What were the chances that I would find perfectly coordinated tulips at Michaels? 

Also added to my mantel is this sweet Victorian house which was a thrift shop find last Friday. My friend Kathy had invited a group of friends down to Eastham for a few days, and I was looking forward to our annual Cape getaway, but my doctor ‘recommended’ that I go for just one day which I did. (My foot issue is better, but he didn’t want any setbacks, and he knew that I could not be trusted to go easy. :-).That was okay as one day of fun, friends, laughing, and shopping is better than no days. ;-) I drove down earlier on Friday, and we headed out to visit some favorite thrift shops. 

This house was a five dollar find which looks great on my mantel. I also picked up a small old fashion pansy-themed shoe vase and a frame for a future cross stitch project. We went to three shops and had an absolutely non-nutritious but totally delicious lunch, and then I reluctantly headed home having had an awesome day. 

I had my annual air conditioner tune up this afternoon, just in time for what is predicted to be three or four days of hot weather. After our cold, rainy spring, I think I will just embrace the heat and save the air conditioner for next month. 

Now I’m going to go put a binding on a vintage quilt that I am repairing. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this project will be completed by tomorrow. :-)

This Week in My Garden 5/12/24

 These violets are in my lawn not my garden, but they are too sweet not to share. Speaking of lawns, on Thursday I headed to Seone’s Garden Center in Abington to purchase mulch and organic lawn fertilizer. Seone’s carries the Espoma products that I like to use. At the entrance they had an incredible display of  hanging baskets; it was a Mother’s Day Sale: Buy two, get one free. 

Honestly, how could I resist? I came home with two purple and one red. I love them!

 Did I get the mulch and fertilizer? Nope, there wouldn’t have been room, so I’ll have to go back. (I can spread the lawn fertilizer, but I’m not allowed to do any gardening quite yet . . soon but not yet. When I am able, I’ll have the mulch ready to go. :-)

On Friday, I headed to Lowe’s to pick up some paint to try to freshen my pink, plastic, badly worn, Adirondack chairs. Did I also check out the garden center? Honestly, how could I resist?? They had smaller hanging pots on sale. I say this each year, but bypass the front and head straight for the clearance racks in the back. This beautiful fuchsia hanging plant was half priced.) Half priced,  how could I resist??? I also picked up two large, half priced pots of snapdragons which I then replanted in my whiskey barrels. I’ll show a photo of those in a future post.

I cannot wait to tackle my gardens, but it is still early. 

One last flower photo. . . I saw this wreath at Joanne’s last month but didn’t get it. When I went back next time, they were sold out. I kicked myself for not buying it when I had the chance. Well, Joanne’s online had a big sale, and I ordered one. Isn’t it pretty? 

Before I end this, let me tell you what happened this morning. After church, I was in my backyard with Emma when she suddenly started barking like crazy at something in the woods. To my horror, I saw a coyote!!!!! Emma was in a complete frenzy racing back and forth along the fence. It was extremely difficult to grab her and bring her inside. I have been accustomed to often just opening the porch door and letting her out especially when it is stormy. That will definitely have to change. 

That’s all for now. Have a wonderful week. 

A New Sunday Stitch and Two Awesome Quilts

 I was finally able to bring my recently finished “This Is the Day” cross stitch piece to the framers the other day. While I normally do my own framing, I wanted this piece professionally done. So, here’s the start of my new Sunday stitch. It’s 324 by designer Arlene Cohen of Works by ABC. Yes, you stitch 162 five by five blocks and 162 motifs which are more involved for a total of 324! With fourteen already stitched, I have only 310 more to go!!!!!! For this piece you use 324 different shades of floss. The chart also includes an option to stitch the piece with just thirty-six colors, but heck, what would be the fun in that? :-)

On Wednesday night, I hosted friends for dinner, and Maribeth brought her show-and-tell.

Maribeth has never met a quilt with a zillion pieces that she has not wanted to stitch. Are you ready to see her second quilt? It’s a massive masterpiece from the pattern “Stitch a licious.” Ta dah!!!!!!!!!!!

Please do click on the photos to see the details.

In my last post I asked what people were reading, and Terry @ On Going Projects recommended 

Now, truth to say, I was hesitant to pick up this book since all I ever knew about diving I learned watching Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt with my brother. Back in the day, families only had one TV, so we took turns picking out what we would watch; Sea Hunt was not my choice. Shadow Divers deals with deep wreck divers. Robert Kurson is an excellent author, and I was quickly drawn into this adventure. I was eager to start Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book, but truthfully, I could not put Shadow Divers down. 

What else have I been working on? I have a spring-themed wool applique piece all prepped and ready to stitch, but first I am repairing a vintage quilt which I will talk more about in a future post.

Have a wonderful week. :-)