Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Easter!

I hope you are celebrating with family and friends. We will be staying home just the two of us. 

There certainly hasn't been much stitching going on around here this past week. Last Sunday, Hubby and I were on a plane returning from CA. We had spent 3 days with our son and his family and enjoyed lots of snuggles and play with our grandson. I brought my Pumpkin House cross-stitch with me. I made some progress on the two flights and when our grandson was napping. 

 I added most of the red stitching at home this week.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, but I realized on the flight home that I was getting sick. I had a slight cough and a post nasal drip. I figured I was getting a cold.  Well, I have been sick all this week. That cold turned into an ear and sinus infection. I started antibiotics Thursday after I paid the doctor a visit. Later that day I came down with pinkeye also. (Our 9 month old grandson was being treated for this while we were there). Hubby came down sick Sunday night and went to the doctor on Wednesday as he gets ear infections lately with every cold.  I spent most of this week just lazing around reading or in bed. Didn't feel like doing much crafting at all.  As of Saturday afternoon, I had finally started feeling better, though a late afternoon coughing fit had me taking another dose of the OTC cough med. This is the main reason that Easter will be very low key this year. I am not even sure what I will be making for dinner. I haven't been to the grocery store since before our trip. Hubby picked up milk, potatoes, a rotisserie chicken and a couple of other small items one day. We've been having lots of take-out.

Speaking of groceries, have you ever tried storing berries in glass containers. I don't know what I was thinking, but I bought a bunch of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries a little less than a week before our trip to CA. I didn't want to pack them for the trip so I placed the strawberries in a mason jar and the blackberries and raspberries together in a glass storage container. I have read that the berries last a long time when stored like this.

This is how they looked when we got home. As fresh as the day I bought them. I am still using them on my cereal today. I will be storing my berries this way from now on. 

Since I wasn't feeling well and my eye was bothering me, I didn't want to work on anything that required thought so I finally made the Tweety latch hook into a pillow. I took some Tweety fabric that I had purchased and made two rectangles with one long end hemmed on each and hand sewed them to the back of the latchhook as I didn't want to ruin any machine needles trying to sew over the thick latch hook canvas. The two rectangles overlap on the back making it easy to swap out the pillow if needed.

It will sit on the daybed in my daughter's old room.

I think it looks adorable. That's another item off of the UFO list.

Does anyone know what these tools are used for?

 I was going through a storage box that I had and found them at the bottom. I think the small pointed oval is a tatting shuttle, but the others have me stumped....especially the scissors with the screw detail (it is hard to see in this photo, but it is by the bottom finger hole).

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Buttermilk, Spring and Slow Sunday Stitching

Although my header photo was up to date last Sunday for the St. Patrick's Day holiday, I forgot to make holiday post. So the buttermilk in the title is my reminder to show you the Irish Soda breads that I made last week. You can find the recipe under the baking tab at top.

 I used up what was left of the buttermilk to make Fluffy and Crisp Buttermilk Waffles from Brown Eyed Baker last Saturday. It was a new recipe for me and they were delicious. The leftovers went in the freezer for future breakfasts. 

We had the obligatory corned beef on Sunday without the cabbage. We are not fans of cooked cabbage. Mashed potatoes and a cucumber salad rounded out the meal.

You can see from my header photo that the embroidered/cross-stitched apron survived a washing without any bleeding. Yay! It is ironed now and put away. 

I am happy to say that my alternative method of joining the pieces of the final two logs of the Log Cabin Star quilt (Judy Martin's Timberline quilt) is working much better than what I was doing previously. 

Don't ask me why it too me so long to try something different. I now have 126 of the 196 of these particular blocks completed and the next 10 started. 

I have added a few stitches to the Pumpkin House. 

The roof is almost done now.

Spring has sprung and my daffodils are in bloom. I'm hoping the rainy days are light so I can enjoy them for a while. I would like some warmer weather also. We've had a few windy days in the 40s this past week. Not warm at all.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

March Stitch Along Post

 The last time I posted, I was almost finished with the third of 24 pages. This is what it looked like 3 weeks ago.

I had hoped that I would have the 4th page done by this post, but my daughter and toddler granddaughter came for a visit and this project was put away for a few days. I have made a good deal of progress on it though. The third page is completly filled in and I am well into the 4th page. It was helpful that there was a whole lot of one particular color that could be completed before changing floss colors again. I am working with a lot of flosses that are similar in color right now. It makes counting carefully imperative.

This is where I am after three weeks of stitching.

 I don't think I will finish this page this month as we have a trip planned and this is not at all portable.

Thank you to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch Along every three weeks and sending 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, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Thanks for stopping by! 

Another UFO is done!

Yay! I finished stitching the apron. This UFO is off the list.

Please excuse the wrinkles. I still have to wash and iron it. I'm a little worried about the maroon floss running, but I will use a Color Catcher or two.

I decided that I needed another small piece to work on as Three Boats and the Log Cabin Star quilt are big. This cross-stitch is for me. It is the first of the Pumpkin House series. What you can see are the two windows on the right of the house.

I also finished the puzzle that I was working on. 

It has all of its pieces and I won't want to make it again so I have boxed it up, sealed the boxed and wrote on the bottom the date that it was last completed and that all the pieces are accounted for.

We had one, only one, nice day this week...warm and sunny. Hubby and I took advantage of the nice day and went for a walk in the local preserve. There were a whole lot of geese, a few ducks and a swan on the lake.

Hopefully there will be some more sunny warm days soon. 

I have started reading the book my daughter gave me for Christmas.

This is a new author for me. So far I am enjoying her writing.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I need to give Three Boats some attention today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

My slow stitching has been....well...slow lately. I have added more stitches to the cross-stitched/embroidered apron. I am almost done with the words. I don't dread working on the letters any more as I seem to have finally mastered the stem stitch. 

I hope to have this finished by my next post. 

I tried a few different approaches when joining the pieces of the final two logs of the Log Cabin Star blocks. First, I am no longer trimming both ends of the red diamonds as the pattern calls for. I am hoping to give myself some extra wiggle room in the end. I have also decided that instead of joining the white and red diamonds together first, I am joining the white diamond to the green trapezoid and then adding the red diamond last. It seems to be a better approach and the next to last log was attached with much less angst. 

I am now working on adding the last log of each block using the same method. 

I finished yet another puzzle. 

I think I may keep this puzzle for the grandkids to try in the future. It is cute. I have already disassembled it and started another one. This next one is frustrating as it is a whole lot of green pieces. 

 You can see from the box photo that there are also scattered white and purple flowers in that green.

I have been working on it steadily. Yesterday's rainy day made it near impossible to decipher where the pieces should go. I won't be keeping this puzzle once I complete it.

I am glad I am working on this on the white desk in my daughter's room. I want to finish it by Wednesday as my daughter and granddaughter are coming to visit later next week and will stay in that room. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee and pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!