New Direction

For weeks now i have been dreading working on my table runner. The dark green machine quilting just wasn't doing it for me. In fact, I absolutely hated it. I dreaded going back to my machine and continuing with the quilting. I have to admit that when I started the quilting I was actually surprised that I had bought dark green quilting thread, I expected to have a beige thread. What was i thinking?

After hemming and hawing and dreading, I finally made a big decision. I started removing the machine quilting.

 You can see the markings of the inner diamond near the pin where I removed the first row of dark green thread. I am going to keep removing the machine quilting row by row and then hand quilt with a beige thread as I go. Here the inner diamond is now hand-quilted and the green thread has been removed from the second diamond. Much better.

 Here is a close up of the hand-quilting.

This will take longer to finish, but I will be much more satisfied with the final result. The machine quilting wasn't giving me the look I wanted. I don't know whether it was just the dark thread or the fact that the needle was struggling with all of the intersections. I hope I like the beige thread on the dark green fabric, but I can always buy a spool of dark green hand-quilting thread if necessary.

While I was quilting on my front porch this morning this beautiful cardinal was serenading me.

I was trying to zoom in to get a better shot when he flew away.

This week, I have also made some progress on my Prairie Schooler Santa.

Baker Beach has gotten some attention also.

Last week I was here:

This week I have moved on to a darker gray. I think you can see the progress.

I am joining Kathy on today for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Tomorrow I will be a part of the Stitchery Link Party over at Super Mom - No Cape. I hope you will pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stitching and gardening

I have finally been cleaning some windows and getting my flower pots filled. Yesterday was spent cleaning all of the windows in my living room, washing the sheer curtains and putting them back up as well as ironing my summer drapes and hanging them. Finally my living room has emerged from its winter look and is ready for the warm weather. 

I also spent some time after work this week potting my vegetables.

I potted 2 cherry tomato plants (the only tomatoes that will grow for me), a sweet yellow pepper and a perennial strawberry plant.

Today I finished filling the pots with flowers for my back yard deck.

 I love the way all the little plants perk up once you put them in the pots. They will fill out in a few weeks and I will have lush pots to enjoy. I will probably start feeding them sometime next week.

Since I have had these other chores lined up after work, I haven't gotten much stitching done. I did a tiny bit on my Prairie Schooler Santa.

You really can't tell it is a Santa yet.

I am also still stitching with the same gray color as last week on Baker Beach.

Last week:

This week:

I hope to finish this color later today. I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today.  On Monday I will be joining the Stitchery Link Party on Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are up to.

Lastly, my absolute favorite azalea bloomed in all its glory this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring blooms

My azaleas are all in bloom!

This one is hidden behind our pool.

These are under my Kousa dogwood near the birdbath and feeder.

 There is also a rhododendron that is just starting to bloom.

These hanging baskets were a Mother's Day gift from my husband.

I hope to get some time today to sit on my back deck, enjoy my flowers and complete some stitching. I have been working on Baker Beach a little bit this week. Here it is last week.

This is where I am as of yesterday.

I hope to finish that brown-grey color that I am currently working on today. I might even be able to stitch those wires today also. 

I am joining Kathy today for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I am also joining the Stitchery Link Party. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day Stitching

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the mothers out there get a chance to relax and stitch today!

I have sorely neglected my stitching recently. If you read my most recent posts you will understand why. 

Yesterday I sat down for a little while and made more progress on Baker Beach. Here is what it looked like two weeks ago.

This is where I am as of today.

 I am just about halfway done with my third page. I hope to stitch some today also.
I am joining Kathy for my Slow Sunday Stitching today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

We have a baby bunny visiting our back yard. A few years back we had regular visits from a rabbit family, but last year we only saw a bunny once in a while. We see this little one almost daily.

It is really quite small. That black edging is only a couple of inches high. It is always a treat to see "bunny" in the yard. Unfortunately, I scared him/her the other day when I was tossing bread ends out for the birds. I didn't know that "bunny" was in the flower bed behind our deck. "Bunny" took off like a shot. Thankfully I have seen "bunny" in the yard since then. I really like watching them grow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sad News

Sadly PO Brian Moore passed away on Monday. 

 Friends, neighbors and strangers have rallied to honor him.

His family needs our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.

Slow Sunday Prayers

Prayers can work miracles.
 I am asking my followers and fellow bloggers to pray for the young police officer mentioned in this article and his family.
He grew up as my neighbor. He graduated high school with my son.
I can add nothing more.
Thanks for your prayers.