Crafting and flowers

First an update on my usual crafts. I am still steadily adding motifs....pumpkins, leaves and squirrels....to Pumpkin House. 

I have sewn together all of the pieces of the last log of the 24 Log Cabin Star blocks that I am working on. I have added that log to eight of the blocks. 

I quilted around the next Overall Sam, but I have yet to quilt around the block's edge.

 It was too warm to work on this the last few nights. It hadn't been hot enough to put on the central air conditioning, but it is on now.

The following craft is not mine, but a good friend made this baby quilt for a hoped for future grandchild. 

Isn't it adorable. Our sons were school classmates and were at the right reading age when the Harry Potter novels first came out.

I have finally gotten around to planting some flower pots. I am filling fewer this year as we hope to be traveling to CA, Boston and on vacation during the summer and it is a pain to set up a watering system for too many pots. Last year one of the systems didn't work well when we were away for several days and I had to nurse the pots back to health. So here are the pots on our front porch entrance....geraniums do well in this very sunny spot.

The bottom pot is one of two perennial carnations that my mother in law gave me for Mother's Day. They are gorgeous. 

Here are the pots on the back yard deck. These two are all impatiens.

I always look for a plant that will drape prettily out of this tilted pot.

I planted petunias in the raised pots. They will eventually spill over the sides along with the Creeping Jenny when they grow.

 I am not planting any veggies this year. 

Speaking of Mother's Day, I just have to show you the sweatshirt my children and grandchildren gifted me. It arrived a little late, but I love it! It says "Grammy est. 2022". My arm is at a weird angle as I am showing off my grandkid names on the sleeve. 

Last Sunday Hubby and I took a peaceful walk around Belmont Lake. I was pleased that I got a really pretty photo.

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

Enjoy the holiday weekend in the USA! 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

May Stitch Along Update

There is only one Stitch Along Update this month. This is where Three Boats was three weeks ago. I had just finished the first column out of 6.

 I have made a good deal of progress on starting the next column. I am working on the fifth page.

  It is nice to be stitching with a variety of blue flosses for a while. 

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, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

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

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Thanks for stopping by! 

Seeing progress with all of my crafts.

 I found this meme the other day and it certainly explains what May had been like so far here on Long Island.

I am so tired of rainy, cold and windy days. We finally had a 70 degree day yesterday, but it was cloudy most of the day. I did manage to clean the bay window in my dining room. I really haven't been in a window cleaning mood at all this Spring. Longtime readers of this blog will know that this is unusual for me as I used to find cleaning windows so satisfying. Lately they are just a chore that I don't want to do. I would much rather be crafting. 

Speaking of crafting, I am really making progress on the Log Cabin Star blocks. I have added the 11th log to each of the 24 blocks I am currently working on and have chosen the pieces for the final log of each block.

These last two logs are pieced and take a little extra time to sew together and then match the seams. You can see the pieces of the final log above.

I have finished quilting the second Overall Sam block and have moved the hoop to start working on the next one. 

I am steadily adding motifs to the Pumpkin House. 

There are a lot of floss color changes. I am trying to complete as many motifs of one color that I can as I move outward from the house. 

I want to share with you the dessert I made last week for Mother's Day. It is The Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Icebox Cake. Oh my, it was delicious. I only remembered to take a photo as we were about to leave for my MIL's house which is why it is covered in plastic wrap.

I will be making this again for sure.

My bluebells have been in bloom along the side of my house. 

Our indoor prayer plant surprised me this week with two white blooms on it. I don't think it has bloomed since we got it 6 years ago.

My rhododendron are just starting to bloom. I will show them to you next week.

On another decent weather day this week hubby and I took a walk through the local preserve. We were trying to identify the strong floral scent as we walked. Looking up we saw these pretty lavendar flowers.

 I thought they might be a wild lilac, but my research says they are an invasive plant called Chinese wisteria. There were a lot of trees covered in this plant. It was pretty though. 

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!

Happy Mother's Day!

It is Mother's Day today in the US. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. Yesterday Hubby and I went to a local nursery and he bought me three pretty hanging baskets for my gift. Some petunias,

and verbenia.

The baskets are hanging under my Kousa dogwood tree that will bloom in June. There are two pretty azaleas under the tree also that are all in bloom now.

Since that I had the encroaching evergreens removed from around those two azaleas they bloom much more profusely. I love the two different color flowers of the one on the right.

There is another azalea behind our pool that is blooming nicely also.

This little plant...I forget the name... is also in bloom. It will get bigger and bloom again this summer.

Today will be a quiet day that I will fill with stitching. Later, Hubby and I will bring takeout from a local Italian restaurant to his mom's house for dinner. 

I have been getting a lot of stitching completed this past week. The house of Pumpkin House is done. I am now working on the surrounding motifs.

Friday was a rainy day so I spent all day at my sewing machine. I have 10 logs completed on the next 24 Log Cabin Blocks.

 I should be able to add the last two pieced logs and sew the y-seam on each block this coming week and then I just have 21 more of these blocks to complete.

I have started the quilting on the Overall Sam quilt. I work on it at night while watching PBS or Smithsonian channel shows. 

 I really like how it is looking. I am just using 2 strands of floss 1/4 inch away from each Sam and from the outer edge of each block. There are nine blocks and the first one is almost done.

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!

Some crafting

Last weekend Hubby and I were away for 4 days babysitting our adorable granddaughter in Boston. I brought my Pumpkin House cross stitch with me, but only picked it up a couple of times. When it was nap time I sat outside and read "The Thread Collectors". 

This is a historical novel set during the Civil War. It follows the lives of a Jewish New York war bride and her Union Army husband as well as a New Orleans female slave and her beau who is an escaped slave who joins the same Union Army regiment. It is comprised of many short chapters that are such an easy read. The characters are mostly amiable and as you read you hope for the best for all of them. I was somewhat disappointed that the ending seemed to resolve fairly quickly with not as much hardship as I anticipated. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book.

Before we left for Boston, I had almost finished the y-seams of the latest 10 Log Cabin Star blocks. There were a couple of wonky blocks that I had to rectify first. I did that on Friday and now all ten are completed. 151 of 196 are done now. 

Since there are only 45 blocks left to complete, I have decided to do so in only two batches. The thought of having 4 more sets to complete was daunting. I know it is the same number of blocks, but it seems less daunting this way. I will start on the next 23 blocks today. I have already chosen the first two pieces for the next 11. 

I have been working on Pumpkin House on and off over the last two weeks. I have finished the peach colored background of the house and have added the golden color in the windows. 

There are a few more stitches to fill in on the house and then I will move on to the other motifs that surround it. 

I have some flowers in bloom along my front walk. 

The azaleas should be ready to show you next week. 

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!