A finish!

The first polar bear ornament is finished despite the missing directions for the arm on the left. This one will be for my grandson.

The next polar bear has been started. This will be for my younger granddaughter. 

In keeping with Christmas in July, I am continuing to stitch the log cabin of the snow globe piece.

 I haven’t been concentrating on this so it is growing slowly. 

Another block of my mom’s churn dash quilt has been quilted. I still have to erase the blue markings.

 

There are 4 cross blocks left to quilt and the borders. 

All the beige fabrics for the log cabin quilt have been cut. I’ve moved on to the blues. I’m about 2/3 done with cutting them. I am using mostly scraps from past projects and fat quarters

Some of these fabrics bring back fond memories of those past projects. 

I made raspberry lemonade yogurt popsicles.

These are delicious! You can find the recipe here. 

Some of these new flowers in our backyard are putting on a show.

I am not sure what these flowers are called.

My coneflower is not blooming as well as usual, but it was transplanted this year and unfortunately put into a shady area.

 I think I will try to transplant it to somewhere with more sun next Spring. 

This lacy hydrangea got a good haircut in early Spring and is in full bloom now.

I was sitting on my front porch reading when this little gecko decided to visit.

We have a lot of them lately. I don't mind them as long as they stay outside.

I stopped reading Cold Sassy Tree when I realized I was wanting to go to the library to get a good book to read. I have yet to start another book. 

I will be joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch on Saturday and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Take some time to relax with a glass of something cold or a cup of tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

RAIN! and a new start

Oh my did it rain here on Monday. My neighborhood got well over 4 inches of rain. Our pool threatened to overflow! 

We had a little bit of a leak in the basement, but nothing that several towels thrown on the floor couldn't handle. It was a good day to stay in and start a new project. I have decided to make the top log cabin quilt. Of course that could change, but that is the current plan.

I am cutting two inch strips and plan on making 64 blocks. I will decide on borders when all the blocks are assembled. I started cutting the scraps of beige fabrics.

I am organizing the various lengths of strips in the plastic bags that I used for my daughter's quilt.

 I almost have all of the beige fabrics cut. Then I am making the center squares all the same red fabric. I just washed a variety of blue fabrics for the dark half of the blocks. I am using scraps there also but I wasn't sure if some of the larger fat quarters had been washed.

I haven't added many stitches to the snow globe stitchery. It now has some trees to the right now. 

I ran into a little glitch with the polar bear ornament. Can you spot the problem?

There are two pieces each numbered 35 and 36. Two of the stripes on the scarf and the front and back of the arm on the left. The step to stitch the arm is missing in the directions. Thankfully I have made enough of these ornaments that I will just add the missing step at the end. I just finished the candy cane. It was not fun to stuff.

This bear should be finished when I work on it again.

I've been quilting the churn dash quilt at night. The center and three of the cross blocks are now completed. 

I need to mark the stencil onto the last cross block before quilting.

My son and daughter in law sent me this recipe for Baked Oats. I made the strawberry coconut version this week. I have previously made the blueberry version and my son and his family like the chocolate also. The recipe makes two BIG servings, but it keeps you satisfied at least until lunchtime.

I finished reading Between Friends by Debbie Macomber. In the end, I really enjoyed this book, but I can't say it is one of my favorites of this author. Now I am reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.

 I just started it, so I don't yet have an opinion of it.  

I will be joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch on Saturday and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Take some time to relax with a glass of something cold or a cup of tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

First July Stitch Along

I have learned something about myself. I need set goals. Since I decided to aim for completing 100 stitches each day on Three Boats, I have been fairly diligent about doing so. This is where I was three weeks ago. 

Except for when we are traveling or hosting our grandkids, I have stitched 100+ stitches each day. This is where I am now. 

I’m so pleased with this progress. You can see that the top boat is almost finished. The second boat will be almost done when this page is completed.

I’ve got other crafts that I am working on also. You can see my Christmas in July plans here. Having a self imposed deadline or process plan for most of them means I am not spending time doom scrolling and wasting my day in other ways. 

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders.

Sadly, Sharon is taking a break from this Stitch Along while she is dealing with some life changes. You can read about that here.

Grab yourself a glass of something cold or a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. 

Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by! 

Christmas in July

For the past few years, I have done my own version of Christmas in July by working on the yearly Christmas ornaments that I make for my grandchildren. This year is no different. I have decided to make each the polar bears from this felt kit this year.

 I have started the bear with the candy cane. 

This will be for my grandson. Usually I embroider each grandchild's name and the year when I am about to attach the back to the ornament at the end. These ornaments attach the front and back in the middle of the assembly so I already embroidered my grandson's name on the back of this polar bear. 

I also want to make this Charmed Santa Face for me. 

I have made one for each grandchild so now it is my turn to have one. 

I have been slowly working on the snow globe stitchery. Another Christmas in July project that will probably last for another few months.

 

 I made a couple of counting mistakes along the way that required some frogging. It is 28 count linen and you stitch each cross over two threads. I am being more careful now. 

I have quilted 3 of the nine blocks of my mom's churn dash quilt. I really like the way the stencil looks on the blocks with the cross. 

This has been my go to craft while watching the World Cup games each evening.

Speaking of World Cup games, my son-in-law bought tickets to the France/Norway game in Boston and invited my husband and his dad to join him and my daughter for the game last Friday. This is why there was no post last week.

I watched my 3 year old granddaughter who was an angel. We played Old Maid and Go Fish as well as many other games. She liked using the card holder I made her from two old CDs.

This is such an easy craft. Cut two pieces of fabric about 1 1/2 inches larger than the CD. Two pieces of batting the same size as the CD. Place the batting on each CD. Put the fabric on top and do a running stitch about 1/2" from the edge of the fabric. Pull it tight so that the fabric wraps to the back and secure. Do this for both CDs. Then place the CDs so that the fabric edges are on the inside and sew a couple of stitches through the middle to hold them tight. Add a button in the middle on each side. Done! 

I did a bunch of reading in the car and finished this Agatha Christie book over just a few days. It is the first novel that she ever wrote. I enjoyed it. She used to be my favorite author when I was a teen.

Now I am reading this book by Debbie Macomber.

I really like her books, but this is different. It is written all in letters. I am not really sure that I like this style of writing, but so far it is easy reading.

I made a cherry tomato foccacia this week.

 It is tasty, but a little to doughy for me. Nothing special, but I tried a new recipe and used up grape tomatos that had been refrigerated while we were away. 

Most of my daylilies bloomed while we were in Boston. These are all that are left.

I am trying to decide what quilt I want to make next where I can use the multitude of fabric that I have. One of these is my first choice.

 

You know that I love log cabin quilts. I am leaning toward the top one. I will probably use blue/black/red for the dark and cream/beige for the light. Sort of like this example that I found on the internet.

This would be a queen size quilt.

I also like this log cabin variation that gives a 3D look.

I have a lot of turquoise strips. This is a variation with the light colors in the center.

This would be a wall hanging.

We will be celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States on Saturday. I'm sad that it is not as exciting as the Bicentennial was 50 years ago. Hubby and I will be staying home and watching the multitude of illegal fireworks that the people in our neighborhood shoot off each year. It is not legal to have fireworks in New York yet they will start tonight and probably continue through Sunday night. I am talking about big, beautiful up in the sky displays. Rarely do the police come unless the fireworks or parties get out of hand. We can sit in our driveway or on our back deck and enjoy the show although the excessive heat we are experiencing may mean we stay indoors. 

Happy 4th of July!!!

I will be joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch on Saturday and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Take some time to relax with a glass of something cold or  a cup of tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

A finish, something new and flowers

Cinnamon House is all stitched. Of course it still needs to be made into a pillow. I love it! It will be a nice complement to Pumpkin House. 

Next up will be this snow globe that has been kitted up for a while now. 

I started the quilting on my mom’s Churn Dash quilt. I stuck with outlining the blocks like my mom would have on the churn dash block, though she would have used contrasting floss. I preferred to go with matching floss. It is hard to see in this photo. I made up my own little swirl for the floral corner.

 On the cross block, I am using the stencil that I am sure was bought for this quilt. 

You can see the quilting design better from the back. I think it is looking great.

I finally started feeling well on Wednesday. I was amazed at just how exhausted I felt for several days. Thank you for your well wishes.

I finished reading The Darkling Bride by Laura Andersen. I loved this book and was sad that there wasn’t more to read. On the other hand, I also finally finished reading The Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini. I did not like this book at all. I usually enjoy this author’s books, but this one was so very dark and ominous in its entirety that it was a chore to read. Normally I would not finish a book like this, but it was one of my rare purchases, so I stuck with it. Yes, it is an historical novel based on actual people in Germany during WWII, but I have read other novels of this time period that were easier to read and conveyed at least some instances of joy. Sadly, I cannot recommend it. 

I am now reading The Daughter’s Tale by Armando Lucas Correa. It is yet another WWII novel, but so far it is quite interesting. It also takes place in 2015, so I don’t think it will be continuously oppressive. 

My tiger lilies are in full bloom. 

As are the Astilbe. I need to replace the sad coral bells in front of the astilbe.

The Hosta is big and beautiful.

 

The new hydrangeas are just starting to bloom.

I don't know what these new plants are but the bees love them and they are quite pretty.

I will be joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch on Saturday and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Take some time to relax with a cup of tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

June Stitch Along update

 I had been hoping to have another page finish on this update, but life got in the way. This is where Three Boats was three weeks ago. 

Since then my daughter and granddaughter came to visit for 4 days and Hubby and I traveled to California for 5 days. I would have finished the current page if I had stitched on those nine days. Family is much more fun though. I’m so close to finishing, though there is a lot of confetti stitching going on too. On top of that, I have been sick with a nasty scratchy throat and dry cough for a week that has now turned into a slight cold and thick cough. Ugh! I’m tired because I have not been sleeping well. But enough of that, here is how Three Boats looks now. 

The bottom stitches are the end of the current page. So very close. I should be well into the next page for the next update. Much better than taking 6 months to finish one page. 

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. 

Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!