September SAL Update

 This is the only SAL update for September. It is so hard to believe that the summer months have passed by so quickly. I haven't had a whole lot of time to stitch so far this month. I have been grading Precalculus assignments and writing the first exam for that University class.  I did put my mind to stitching a few times so far this month. Here is where Three Boats was three weeks ago.

I have been filling in some of the tree trunk and the area on the left. It is a lot of working 20 stitches of a color and then switching colors and maybe stitching 5, then switching color again and stitching 15 stitches. You know how it is. It is hard to make any significant progress in one sitting. I really don't mind though, because that is what makes the final picture so amazing.

Here is where I am today. 

I made some scones the other day when visiting mom. We've been going through her collection of clipped or handwritten recipes lately and decided to try some of them. This recipe was hand-written by my mom with no clue as to where she got it. It is quite tasty, though mom wasn't thrilled.

I will be keeping this recipe because I really like them. They are much, much better than one of the recipes we tried several weeks ago that went straight into the trash. The scones themselves were pretty inedible.

This little bunny paid an early morning visit to our front walk last week.

It was only interested in showing me its profiles.

Thank you so much to Avis from Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch-along. Please take the time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy,

 Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah,

Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, 

Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

School has started

School has started which means I will have a lot less time to craft. At least I think that is what will happen. I am working from home for both of my positions, so I may have time to craft during my day job as I wait for students to come to me via Googlemeets. You never know. I have definitely had a lot less crafting time this past week. It was the second week of lectures for my university class, so I had assignments to grade. My high school just had Zoom and Google meetings about the logistics of reopening. As I said I have been allowed to work from home and I am very grateful for that. 

It is starting to get a little cooler here. Hubby and I went in our pool Friday afternoon for probably the last time this season. 

So, what have I been working on? 

The church in October Morning now has almost all of its roof and steeple. That was a nice easy stitch of two different colors. I also finished the last two windows and the tree trunk that crosses the church. 

I spent some time yesterday working on Three Boats. It is hard to see much difference from the last time I posted. I added a bunch of confetti stitches of various colors here and there.

I have gotten a few more goodies in the mail. First, my cousin's daughter....who is closer to my age than my cousin is....asked if I would like a cross-stitch kit that she had that was too advanced for her. You know I didn't turn that down.

Isn't it gorgeous. I am so looking forward to working with all of those beautiful colors of floss. I haven't seen fabric painted like this before other than in needlepoint, but it comes with a counted cross-stitch chart also, that I am sure I will be using. 

I also got more fat quarters to use in my daughter's quilt. 

Unfortunately I won't be able to use all of them as they aren't the right tone for what I am planning (the top 4 - 6 are good, but the bottom two are too bright). I got two of the same fabric for one of them, which will be fine. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site and see what other bloggers are stitching. I think I will get some more stitches added to Three Boats today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

After stitching away on Three Boats exclusively for a few weeks, I needed a break. So I turned to October Morning. I started teaching my university class this week online and I guess that I am in the Autumn mode despite it still being Summer for a few more weeks. This is where I was the last time I showed this piece.

This is where I am now.

I have finished the grass below the church and have started stitching the church's roof. There isn't as much confetti stitching and that is what I needed for a few days. 

My daughter has been visiting since Wednesday night. She will be leaving sometime today. It has been so nice to see her again. 

My high school job is supposed to start this Thursday with faculty training. I have requested that I work from home as my math tutoring is going to be online anyway. I don't know yet if my request will be honored. We shall see. It is scary times for teachers, students and parents.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will probably go back to working on Three Boats later this afternoon after my daughter leaves for home. 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Reading

I have been reading like crazy this summer. I recently finished "The Geometry of Sisters" by Luanne Rice.

I almost didn't finish reading this novel, but I am glad I did. I have to admit that it is a little depressing, but it is the story of a broken family with some of its highs and lows. I would recommend it.

Following that book, I decided to read "Stars of Fortune" by Nora Roberts. This is the first book of one of her classic magical romance trilogies. 

Oh I just couldn't put this book down. It was fun, full of mythological creatures and introduced the 6 main characters in wonderful ways. There was just enough suspenseful action and romance. Of course, once I finished book one I had to move on to book 2.

This second book was just as good as the first and I finished it in no time. This book followed the second couple of the six characters. There was no let down from the first book. I was worried that I would miss some of the unique attributes of the main characters of the first book, but they were represented well in this book as well. Of course when I was finished I had to move on to book 3 "Island of Glass".

I finished that this morning. Following the interactions of all six main characters and specifically the third couple was so very interesting. It is a Nora Roberts trilogy, so you can be pretty sure of a mostly happy ending and I wasn't disappointed. I hardly put down any of these three books. Needless to say, I didn't get much stitching done these past two weeks.

I just had to share what I have been reading. 

Thanks for stopping by!

SAL Update

 I have been working hard on Three Boats. Here is where I was for the last update. I had almost finished Page 1.

It took a day or two to finish all the confetti stitches in the bottom right-hand corner to get that page finished. I added some pretty salmon colors.

Since then though, I have just been stitching my little heart out. I am well into the next page now. 

I am so pleased with how this is looking!

Thank you so much to Avis from Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch-along. Please take the time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy,

 Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah,

Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, 

Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

Goodies.

Chocolate chip cookies and fabric. I baked again this past weekend. Sunday was a rainy, cool day. Perfect for baking more Chocolate Chip cookies which are my favorite.

Thank you so much to those of you who gave me recommendations for purchasing fat quarter bundles. The first of my bundles arrived from LolliPop'sFabrics on Saturday. 

The second of my bundles arrived from TheRedHenShop on Monday.

I still have one more order on the way. I think I will then have all the fabric I need to make my daughter's quilt. Oh I love getting goodies in the mail!

Thanks for stopping by!

Page 1 completed!

I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and I just had to go for it. This is where I was the last time that I showed a Three Boats update.

Well, I just couldn't leave that little bit of white around the edges of that page. Mind you, those few stitches involved over 10 different floss colors. I finished them on Tuesday to get to here:

Page 1 is done! Woohoo!

I have since added several more stitches. I am on a roll.

I am working a swath of black again, but I don't mind at all after all the confetti stitches needed to finish page 1. 

Hubby and I enjoyed a short visit from our son. 

It was hot enough to enjoy a dip in the pool. They were also able to get in 9 holes of golf while he was here.

I have picked up my Breezy Infinity Scarf again. I've been adding a couple of rows each day. 

It is lace-weight crochet and hard on my hands, but I would really like to finish it. The color is much more a greenish teal than this picture shows. 

I have added a few light green grass stitches to October Morning.

I made a mistake with the light green just below the church and used two different colors on some of the stitches. I was going to frog it, but it would require much more effort than I was willing to put in. I made a design decision and decided it really didn't bother me and I would rather just move forward. This has been such a long term WIP, I just didn't want to go backwards. I don't think anyone but me would notice it.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I will probably be adding more stitches to Three Boats. I'm on a roll with it now. 

Thanks for stopping by!