A Mermaid Tale

My middle initial is E. for Elizabeth. When I taught English/Language Arts it stood for Enthusiasm! Most of the curriculum that I was charged with covering was fairly easy to present to my eighth graders, but can you imagine what it took to keep them even remotely engaged when I had to present grammar and punctuation rules? It took humor, energy, standing on my head, and a ton of enthusiasm to keep students focused. :-) Later the E. came to represent Embellish when it came to quilting. 

Way back in 2013, a wave of Row by Row quilts washed over the quilting world. A theme was selected such as Sports and Hobbies, Sew Musical, Water, Seasons, etc. Quilt shops would create a pattern which would be available free to those who visited their shops. Shops also had kits for sale. Contests were held to see who could collect a certain number of patterns and combine them into a quilt first. I found an article that said by 2016 there were over 3100 stores across the US, Canada, and Europe participating. By 2017, New Zealand and Australia joined the fun. 

There were wonderful stories of folks planning vacations to visit as many stores as possible. My friends Edith and Laurel and I drove all over New England collecting kits and patterns. Edith brought back patterns when she visited Montana and Laurel made an Alaskan quilt with patterns purchased while on vacation there. It was great fun year after year. 

You didn’t even have to physically visit the shops. There was a website where you could see all the shops and all the rows which brings me to this mermaid which shows up in my kitchen each summer. The year was 2015 and that year’s theme was water. I fell in love with this mermaid row from Quilter’s Fancy in Cortland, Ohio. I purchased the pattern and fabric kit and started it right away. The mermaid needed  jewels so I made a tiny necklace and bracelet and added crystals to her crown.

I found small white fish beads and added iridescent sequin bubbles which do not show up well here.

I dipped bits of cheesecloth in watered down acrylic paint and added small rock-like beads.

The seaweed was fun to make and there are various types in this piece: stitching, angel hair yarn, and pieces of multicolored threads and yarn.

I purchased this large clump of colorful twisted threads? yarns? fibers? maybe ten years ago. Why did I purchase it? Beats me! I thought that I would find uses for it and so I have through the years. The funny thing is it never seems to get any smaller :-).

I used Texture Magic to create areas of interest along the bottom. You can see it here in the lower right corner.

When I come across potential items to add to this piece, I tuck them away where I can find them come summer. This year in addition to more seaweed, I added turtle and starfish beads. 

It has been great fun adding to this piece through the years. I wonder what I’ll find to add next year. :-)

Have a fun, creative week and try to keep cool.

A Summer Stitch

 

Between the rain showers yesterday, I rolled out onto the deck to take photos of this ruby throated hibiscus. My friend Cathy had moved many of my pots up on to my deck, so I can roll out there with a plastic jug of water to keep them going. I had intended to use them in a project, but that project will have to wait until next summer.

When I sold my aunts’ home years ago, I had taken home my Aunt Alice’s vintage orange gardening cart. It has been sitting in the back of my garage holding miscellaneous pots and gardening implements. I had originally used it for my gardening, but when my sunporch was added, it created a large storage area under the porch and the cart was not needed. I enjoy watching gardening programs on Youtube, and a couple of weeks ago I was inspired to work on a new project. My neighbor had recently purchased a special drill bit with which he created a few drainage holes for me in the heavy metal cart. Off I went to Lowe’s to purchase some Rustoleum paint: royal blue for the body and white for the handles and wheel trim. Next I picked up a large plastic pot to fit inside the cart. I could already see the profusion of beautiful blooms that would cascade over the sides of the cart. And then . . . the ruptured Achilles tendon happened. :-(. Next year it will be my top priority spring project.

I am blessed to have wonderful neighbors; my next door neighbors are going to water my other flowers. My Cousin Kristin and her girls came to visit on Saturday and among other things, they watered and fertilized all of my hanging pots. (I had actually gone around the yard with my rollator earlier in the week dragging along a hose to do the watering, but even I realized that was a one time thing and beyond downright stupid.) 

Erin Wasilieff of Erin Elizabeth Designer is a Canadian cross stitcher who creates fun, whimsical charts. I love everything about this one and have already ordered another of her charts. :-)

In other stitching news: I’m back quilting!!! I had ‘sorta’ lost my quilting mojo. The Herring Run Quilt Guild has an upcoming quilt show, so I’ve been buckling down to finish a half completed quilt. I’ll show a few blocks from it next time.

For Emma Fans: How is she dealing with things? Well, she hates the rollator, but thinks my boot is absolutely swell, a perfect place to rest her head. :-)

Are you watching the Olympics? It’s interesting to hear how many athletes are recovering from Achilles injuries, so if anyone asks, that’s it,  I’m telling folks I injured mine training for the Olympics!!!!!

Rolling Along

 Let’s start with this sweet picture. The quality of iPhone photos never fails to amaze me. This was taken last week. 

Now a cautionary tale . . . 

I hesitated to write about this, but I thought it could be a good cautionary tale. If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you know I have had some ongoing foot issues. Well, things were finally healed and I was back out galavanting without restrictions. It didn’t last long. :-(

Three weeks ago, on a really warm morning,  I was simply climbing my back stairs after a short walk with Emma when I felt a sharp pain in my calf. I thought it was a cramp and blamed it on perhaps not being hydrated enough. The “cramp” simply would not go away even with ice packs. Much later that evening, my lower leg was swollen, red, and warm to the touch. By the next morning, my leg looked fairly back to normal. That night it happened again, and so the next day, I headed to the urgent care associated with our local hospital. The doctor put me on an antibiotic as she diagnosed it as cellulitis. When I was still having the same issue five days later after I had finished that course of antibiotic, I went to the urgent care at Harbor Medical. This doctor sent me for a vascular ultrasound to rule out a blood clot. The test was thankfully negative, so she prescribed a different course of antibiotics. Seven days later, things were not any better, so back I went. The third doctor said he didn’t think it could be cellulitis as two courses of antibiotics would have taken care of it, so he urged me to see an orthopedist some day this week which I did. 

My orthopedist listened to what I had been dealing with for the past three weeks, and in, I kid you not, in less than a minute he diagnosed a ruptured Achilles tendon. Normally, this would mean surgery, but because I am diabetic, he did not want to operate. He said with my other foot issues, the chance of infection would be too serious.

So, I will be sporting this very fashionable boot twenty-four hours a day for months.  Yes, I have to sleep wearing it, and I am to use this sleek rollator since the wedges in the boot would throw off my balance. 

I had been so eager to get back to working in my gardens, but that’s out until next year. :-(  There a few good things. I’m a very fortunate two-time breast cancer survivor, and this isn’t cancer. It will take time, but it will heal. I am not grounded. The doctor said I could be out galavanting as long as I use the rollator and let someone else do the driving which I did yesterday when I went out to lunch with friends. It’s awkward and unwieldy but there is no discomfort, so I’ll just keep rolling right along.

So, why did I share this with you? Just as a warning. . . be careful and be persistent when seeking medical help. (I did have a wonderful, caring primary physician who sadly for her patients retired in June.) One other thing, my orthopedist asked if I had seen doctors when I visited the urgent care sites as he said this condition should have been simple to diagnose and I would have been by this time three weeks into the healing process. As I said, it took him less than a minute to diagnosis it correctly.

Heck, who wanted to take a vacation this summer anyway???

Miss Liberty by Teresa Kogut FFO and Scenes from My Garden

 You know it has been two weeks of high heat and humidity when today’s mid- 80s feels like welcome relief. I sure haven’t accomplished much during this heat wave.

I had finished stitching Miss Liberty by designer Teresa Kogut before the 4th but didn’t have the ambition to fully finish it until the other day. The backing board was a small blackboard that I picked up on clearance probably at Hobby Lobby knowing it could some time be used to finish one of my cross stitch pieces. I used a light coat of burgundy acrylic paint on the blackboard which gives a cool appearance of barn board when seen in person. 

This pattern was in the Summer 2024 Issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher, and I couldn’t wait to stitch it!

It’s far too hot for gardening, but things do still look fairly good.

I have not seen any fireflies for the past few years, but I have seen them a number of times lately when I take Emma out before bedtime. Also, I am amazed at the number of dragonflies this summer. Are you seeing them in your area as well?

I just came back from Lowe’s where I purchased some Rustoleum for a project that I hope to start tomorrow. Wish me luck!!! Fingers crossed . . . I may have something to show in my next post.

Keep cool.

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. . . ;-).

“Sweet Land of Liberty” FFO and Some Vintage Patterns

 

A few days ago I finished “Sweet Land of Liberty” by designer Lindsey Weight of Primrose Cottage Stitches and added it to my patriotic display which I put up for June and July.

Last night my friend Kathy stopped by with a large box filled with neatly filed vintage sewing, crochet, crafting booklets and patterns which belong to her mom. Kathy knew that I would enjoy going through the contents with her and I did! Just look at this awesome booklet which she gave me for my patriotic display. Isn’t the cover design great!!! It was a booklet published in 1940 by the White Sewing Machine Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

The cover apron was “Old Glory.” Here’s another of the pages with sewing directions and pattern layout. 

In my last post, I acknowledged that my blog readers are awesome, outstanding, and creative, but I forgot to mention that they are also sophisticated and very stylish. With that it mind, let me share this lovely design with you. It was in a booklet from 1950 published by the Boston Traveler.  This piece which was labeled “Sparkling Crochet Hat” called for knitting yarn and either silver or gold metallic thread. 

If you can see yourself strolling down the boulevard in this lovely chapeau, just email me and I will be more than happy to send you the pattern. :-) 

Also in the same booklet were instructions for making slip covers, crocheted rose slippers, and a Hug-Me-Tight or crocheted vest. The patterns in the back of the booklet could be ordered for 15 cents. ;-)

It sure was fun and interesting going through that box, and  Kathy also found patterns that she could use in her sewing and crafting projects.

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics for winning the NBA championship. Banner number eighteen will be raised to the rafters sometime in the fall. No other basketball team has won as many championships; the Los Angeles Lakers have but seventeen. 

Today was day one of a potential four day heat wave.  It hit 90+ but the next two days are expected to be worse. Wherever you are, try to keep cool. :-)

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. :-)