Only one more week of Summer

Alas, Summer vacation is almost over here on Long Island. This will be my last week off, then I will be getting more than a little busy. Although I have to go to Superintendent meetings on Tuesday, September 5th, both my full-time Math Center teaching job and my adjunct university position start on Wednesday. Mondays and Wednesdays will be long 13 hour days this semester. I have almost finished all of my lecture notes, assignments and tests for my university Precalculus class. 

I have finally started on the final page of Baker Beach. Whew! 

The color that I am currently working on finishes the 9th page and starts the 10th page. As you can see on the left that I just started this dark brown color. I am trying to get as much of this stitched as I can before school starts. 

I did some more stitching on my PS Santa at my last stitching Meetup. His face and his hat are started. Santa's arms are finished.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to get to the meetings more than once a month, but I want to keep in touch with these ladies. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I will be stitching in the car as we make a second trip to Saratoga Springs, NY.  I hope to join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape on Monday, but that will depend on when we get home. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Great Gadget

I finally got around to ordering a Hang it Dang it quilt hanger. I love it! For many years I have wanted to hang this quilt on the wall of my second floor landing that has a cathedral ceiling.

Another blogger (I forget who) recommended this gadget. It is a lightweight rod that I hung with a Command Sticky Nail Sawtooth hanger. Look how wonderfully my quilt hangs on my wall.

Yes, it hangs next to my kid's former bathroom. There is room next to it for another quilt.

Look how flat it is against the wall. I will be buying another Hang it Dang it for me and one for my mother. I bought it direct from the manufacturer where it was the cheapest. It came within a couple of days. It is so very easy to hang. I strongly recommend it.

I have been working on my Prairie Schooler Santa at my stitching group. 

His coat is done and he has boots! I will be working on this again Monday night at our next meeting.

I finally finished stitching that orange color on Baker Beach.

Now I have a bunch of different shades of brown to stitch. Can you see the lowest brown stitch? One row below it is the end of the 9th page. It is so close. I wanted it done by the end of July, but I hope now to at least start the last page by the end of this month.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. I want to get at least an hour of stitching done on Baker Beach. Tomorrow I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Look at this pretty lily. This is a plant that we received this Easter and planted.

 We were really surprised when it bloomed again this summer.

I love when the garden surprises you. I made sure to spray it with the bunny repellent that I bought so that they wouldn't eat the flower and all the leaves. As you can see, they have been leaving it alone. I love watching the bunnies in my yard, but I don't like them eating my flowers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Slow Weekly Stitching

A friend of mine asked if I would like to join a crafty Meetup group with her. It meets once a week at a local Panera Bread restaurant. I have attended the first 3 meetings and hope to be able to attend somewhat regularly once work starts up again. Going to these meetings helped me finish Peace, Love, Coexist which you can see here. 

This week I asked the other women who are attending whether I could take photos of what they are working on and share them on my blog. I did not include photos of the stitchers themselves as we are just getting to know each other. I hope you enjoy looking at a variety of Slow Stitching.

My friend Randi is making this pretty shawl. She recently used this same yarn to make a tank top for herself without using any pattern.

The woman who has organized this Meetup group is also named Randi. This is the needlepoint that she is currently working on. 

This vase of flowers is being stitched by Susan. Click on the photo and you can see the incredible beading that she is doing.

 Wendy is stitching these cats. Look at the variety of stitching in the frame. 

This piece by Harriet is almost finished. It is so pretty.

This is being made by Helene for a little boy. I love the checkerboard border.

This beautifully shaded Stargazer Lily is going to become a two-sided pillow. Dianne has already finished the other side.

As you can tell, many of the members of this group are needlepoint stitchers, but there are some more knitters also.

Deb is making this pretty striped baby blanket.

Judy is making this absolutely gorgeous shawl with "yarn" that looks like film. She says that it is no longer made. What a shame.

 Those of you who have followed my blog for a while, know that this pretty purple Two Harbors Poncho is being made in my favorite color. This is being knitted by Karen.

There are a few cross-stitchers also. This pretty table runner was made by Kat. She was working on a matching napkin during our meetup. 

 So what was I working on you ask? Well, Baker Beach is too big to bring with me, so I am trying to finish my 2015 Prairie Schooler Santa. 

It would be nice to have an ornament for each of my children this Christmas.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. On Monday, I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are up to. My son is visiting this weekend, but I will try to find some time to work on Baker Beach. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Finished

I have finished the stitching of my Summer of Love Challenge piece. I have called it Peace, Love, Coexist. Gee, I wonder why?

Here are some close-ups.

 I tried several new stitches.

 I am pretty pleased with the result.

I submitted these pictures only as I do not have the time to finish this into a pillow (or something else) before the submission deadline of August 15th.

I was originally going to finish this as a tote bag, but I am afraid that the embroidery would be ruined. I am debating making this into a pillow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Bits

I have only stitched a little bit since my Midweek Post, mainly because Hubby and I made a two day trip to Saratoga, NY. As I have stated before, Hubby is a big horse-racing fan. I thought I would get some stitching done in the car, but I got engrossed in Nora Roberts' Key of Knowledge and couldn't put it down. 

Besides that I found the road to be too bumpy for accurate stitching. While we were in Saratoga, I did find the Gloversville Sewing Center nearby. This is a small quilt shop, but I did manage to find some items to purchase.

The beige fabric is for a future quilt. I just fell in love with the swirls on it. The Journey Bag pattern looks easy...I hope so. The fat quarters are to complement my Summer of Love piece in a tote.

I am almost done with my Summer of Love Challenge. I just need to fill in the yin yang symbol and add a few French knots. Maybe a flower between Peace and Love and near the heart.

 I hope to finish it today.

Baker Beach is giving me fits. Something about the way I am currently stitching is making my right shoulder ache. I had worked on it for about an hour last Wednesday and it was aching slightly all day Thursday at Saratoga. I woke up in the hotel Friday morning with my shoulder absolutely screaming. Thankfully, an dose of Aleve calmed it down enough to be bearable and as the day wore on it felt much better. Yesterday, I sat down with Baker Beach again for only a little while and this morning that shoulder is twinging. I really want to finish this soon. This is where it is as of Saturday.

I am still working on that orange color. There is a whole lot of it.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Summer of Love is on the top of my to-do list today. Tomorrow I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Midweek Post

Just because I am in the mood, I thought I would post a midweek update on some projects. First, I finally got around to blocking the shawl that I made several months ago. 

That isn't sun fade on the picture. That part of the shawl is white.

You should take note that I still haven't woven in the ends. I should have done that before blocking, but I didn't have a tapestry needle near me and was too lazy to find one. 

I didn't finish the 9th page of Baker Beach in July as I planned. I have been trying to finish my Summer of Love piece by the submission date so Baker Beach has been neglected. The orange color that I am working on has a whole lot of stitches.

Summer of Love is almost done. I worked on it over the weekend on my front porch.

I got some more stitched last night at a new stitching group that I am going to.

I am debating whether to just send a photo or to actually finish this as a tote bag as planned and send the whole thing to the exhibit. 

Can you see that we had three bunnies at once in our back yard this week? There are two near the fence and one right in the middle of the grass.

This one was relaxed enough to get some grooming done.

I had to buy some bunny repellent for a new rose bush that I planted as they were eating the leaves. I hope it works.

That's all for now. 

Thanks for stopping by!