Two January finishes

 How can it be February already?! Didn’t 2025 just start? When I realized how fast this year seems to be passing by already I decided to get my butt in gear and complete a couple of projects this past week. 

First I set to finish knitting Hubby’s hat. The weather is supposed to be frigid again this coming week, so he will have a hat that completely covers his ears. This is the Wasatch Back Country Hat on Ravelry. I've made it a few times now.

Next, I decided to complete the whole cloth pillow that I had quilted. I didn’t think I had enough of any white on white print for the back as fat quarters were just a bit too small. Then, I found two fat quarters that looked to be the same fabric….. at first glance. To tell the truth, few people would realize that they are oh so slightly different. 

I probably could have had more that a 3" overlap of the fabrics on the back, but I thought it would be plenty. It will do.

I’ve been slowly cutting out the colored fabrics for the EPP quilt “Windows into my World “. So far I cut out the pieces for blocks 1 and 2 and have sewn these blocks together.

 I may just continue this way as each block is a different colored fabric except for a few repeats. I’m finding the stitching somewhat easy. I have to be more mindful to pick up only a few strands of the fabric. The pieces of bock 1 were very thin. I’m not sure they are together perfectly, but hopefully I can make the final assembly work. That is a long way off though. 

I finished the fox on the Woodland Babies birth announcement and I’m currently stitching the chipmunk. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I am also joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Grab yourself a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Second Stitch Along post for January

Three weeks ago I didn’t have much stitching to show due to the holidays and our trip to visit our daughter. This is how Three Boats looked then. 

We had another trip during the past three weeks. We went to California to see our son, daughter in law and grandson. Our 5 day trip turned into 6 due to the snow in NY. I’ve been working on Three Boats intermittently since we returned and have gotten up to stitching the top edge of a boat. 

It is not much, but it is progress. 

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,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

CA and cold weather pursuits

I mentioned last Sunday that Hubby and I would be home by the time the post was live. I lied. Our 5 day trip turned into 6 due to the weather in NY. We left on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in CA around 8 pm local time. We were supposed to return home on Sunday, but Hubby got a notice on Saturday, that our flight home might be canceled so we rebooked for Monday night's red-eye flight and arrived home Tuesday at 6:30 am. It was nice to have an extra day and a half to visit with our grandson and his parents. 

We went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park one day.

Our grandson enjoyed walking along with Mom and Dad and seeing all the animals.

 He was most intrigued by the water features and a big "hot air balloon" that was a ride there that he saw in the sky. We saw kangaroos that were relaxing. 

The lion was quite impressive.

There were a bunch of other animals to see on the tram ride. 

Hubby and I really enjoyed the adventure.

On Saturday we walked by the ocean. 

It was our son's birthday, so we also went out to dinner. Our grandson enjoyed trying all the food and was extremely well behaved. 

After enjoying weather in the 50s and 60s in California, we came home to a frigid 14 degrees. Brr! It is a good time to stay inside and craft. I had brought Hubby's hat with me to work on the plane, but I never did. I took it out one day in CA and realized I had made a mistake many rows back. I spent some time "unknitting" while there and finished that when we got home. This is where I am after fixing the mistake and starting to knit again. 

I want to finish this soon as we are supposed to continue having frigid weather. Hubby will need a hat covering his ears when walking to and from his car at the university. Classes start this week. 

Although I stated last week that I had started a bear on the Woodland Babies birth announcement it is actually a baby fox. The fox is almost all stitched now.

I have spent some time this past week cutting all the EPP paper pieces out and now they are all ready to place on fabric and cut out the fabric.

 I started with the fabric for the center "diamond" of each wonky square. I will work on the colored fabrics and the "trapezoid" sides this coming week.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I am also joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Grab yourself a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

A small update and some past projects

 By the time you are reading this, Hubby and I will have just arrived home from a trip to CA to see our son, daughter-in-law and grandson. They live in southern CA, but closer to San Diego than Los Angeles where all the fires have been.

I have added two butterflies to the Woodland Babies birth announcement and started the little bear on the bottom right. 

Do you see this chart? 

Do you see how many different symbols there are for the butterfly in that chart? Those little butterflies had many floss color changes and took a little while to stitch. 

I have also added a few rows to Hubby's hat. 

This was my airplane craft, so it probably has more rows than it did when this photo was taken before our trip.

I thought I would share with you two items that I packed to bring with us for our future granddaughter. The first is a newborn sweater set that was made by my mother. I think she may have made it for my daughter, but I really don't remember.

 I know my son will appreciate having something from his Granny for his daughter.

The second item is the baby blanket that I made for my son when he was born. It is fairly large. It was made with the Tunisian crochet technique and then the bunnies were cross-stitched on.

 

Aren't those bunnies adorable. Here is a close-up.

 I decided not to make a new blanket for this granddaughter as I wanted to pass this one on. I have many more handmade baby blankets that I either made or received as gifts for my own two children. It is a shame for them to go to waste just sitting stored in my closet. I know that I will make other handmade items specifically for this granddaughter in the future.

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

Thanks for stopping by! 

Intimidated

Have you ever felt intimidated before starting a new project? That is what has been happening to me all this week. 

First, I wanted to cast on the yarn for my husband's new hat. I am always intimidated by casting on. It is always a crap shoot for me. Either I don't leave enough yarn for the necessary stitches (my first try) or I leave way too much yarn and have a small ball of yarn hanging from my project (my second try). I decided not to try the cast on yet again and just keep going after the second try. 

This hat is easy to make. It is just k1p1 all the way until you start the decreases. This my 4th time making this pattern. Hubby just asked that this one be a little bit longer to cover his ears. I am working on it while watching TV at night. 

The second intimidating project is the new quilt. I ironed all of the fabric and decided on the placement of the different colors.

Next I had to cut apart the pattern that I spent so much time meticulously taping together. Oh the nervousness! I don't know why as once I got started with the cutting, I immediately realized that this was no big deal. I do know how to use a pair of scissors.

Once I finish cutting apart the pieces of each individual square, then I will pin them to the appropriate fabrics and cut out the fabric pieces. I know how to do that, so I am a little more calm about that process. I had hoped that this could be a travel project, but I'm thinking that I had better get my bearings with it before I think about bringing it on a trip.

The third project that is intimidating me is the UFO I showed a couple of weeks ago that I want to return to and finish. 

I have yet to even attempt to try it. I brought it with me when we traveled to see our daughter. I looked at the directions in the car and just put it aside. Now I have already finished 2/3 or more of it, and the stitches that need to be worked on next I have already started, but it sure feels intimidating to go back to it after many, many years. I'm also not confident when stitching different embroidery stitches. 

I never get intimidated by cross-stitch or crochet, but the projects above seem a little daunting to me. Speaking of cross-stitch, I have finished the tree on the Woodland Babies birth announcement and added the lady bug and the frog.

They are looking so cute.

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

Please pray for the people of California who are dealing with those devastating fires. 

Thanks for stopping by!

First 2025 Stitch Along Update

Happy New Year! I can not believe that 2025 has already begun. The last three weeks have been busy with Christmas, a 4 day trip to Boston to celebrate with our daughter and her family and then the New Year was here. I did manage to stitch on Three Boats in the past three weeks though. 

This is where it was in December. I hadn't added hardly any stitches at all in the three weeks prior.

I have finally finished the horizontal tree trunk and its shadow and am now stitching some sand. 

I will soon be starting work on the top boat again. It has a whole lot of confetti stitching. It may be slow going for the next few weeks. 

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. Trust me when I say I was quite shocked her reminder came and I realized three weeks had passed already.  

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,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

2025 is here! I don't know whether to be happy or sad. I am not looking forward to turning another year older next month. Nor am I looking forward to the divisive climate that will most likely prevail here in the US. Sigh.... I am looking forward to going to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson in CA a few times this year as well as meeting my new granddaughter. I am also looking forward to visiting with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter here and in Boston a few times this year. Hubby and I have an awesome trip planned for this summer that I will tell you about when we return. This is a milestone year for me and for our marriage. I will turn 65 and Hubby and I will be married 40 years. I will tell you when those events are happening when they get closer. 

I have been slow to get started with my crafting this year. I don't exactly know why, but so be it. I spent some time the last couple of days cleaning my sewing machine and the area around it. I still have to sort and put away all of the fabrics from the quilting projects. Speaking of quilting, I am slowly starting to prepare for the next project. Remember that I am going to work on the EPP quilt "Windows Into My World". 

The initial prep for this has started. I had to print out 15 pages of templates and precisely tape them all together. I will have to cut them all apart again to have the pieces I need for the quilt, but right now I have a big template sitting around. 

Next I took out all of the fabrics that I had purchased along the way as well as some from my stash. I think I may need a few lighter colors or at least use a few of the lighter colors more than once. 

Looking at the photo above, I definitely have to delete some colors and use multiples of some of the medium and light fabrics. I have washed all of these fabrics, but I still have to iron them. 

I have added a lot of stitches to the Woodland Babies Birth Announcement.....some of them more than once. 

I was happily stitching down the left side of the tree trunk, across the bottom and up the right side when I realized that the stitches on the right were too close to the heart and weren't going to correctly match up. Sadly, my mistake was at the bottom of the left hand side so I spent a good deal of time taking out my stitching. You can see the remnants of the past stitching. As I went along though I would take out an area and then stitch the part of the trunk that makes a "V" under the heart. At least I felt like I was being productive and it was easier to check the placement of the bottom stitching. I have almost completed the replacement stitching.

Before Thanksgiving, I was trying to rush a mitten project for my grandson to use when he visited. I made one mitten, but didn't have time to finish the 2nd before they arrived so I went to a local children's resale store and was able to purchase a 2 pack of brand new mittens for him to wear. 

I have decided to crochet the second mitten now, just because the first one is so cute. I don't have enought yarn for the hat and he doesn't need it in California.

Hubby has requested another hat. He seems to have misplaced one of the two that I made for him a few years ago. He likes this pattern, but has asked to make it a bit longer than his current hat so that it covers his ears more.

 I happen to have some DK yarn that should work just fine. The hat will be black with a blue rim. I will be casting on sometime soon.

Here are two more crafty Christmas gifts. These are from my daughter and her family.

The reason I am showing you these is that I want to make a crocheted stuffed animal for my granddaughter who is due in March. I am thinking that the kitten will be a good choice. I have the yarn to complete it in my stash. 

I am looking forward to stitching Cinnamon House at some point this year. It is a companion to Pumpkin House that I completed last year. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our 4 day visit to Boston to celebrate Christmas with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. Grammy and Grandpa enjoyed some quiet reading time.

We also went Candlestick bowling, which I am truly horrible at. It is surprising as I was on my high school bowling team years ago and I have always enjoyed a competitive game. Candlestitck is different though and I am older with a shoulder that doesn't move the same as it used to. We had a fun game though. Just enough to entertain a 2 year old on a rainy, cold day.

I am joining Kathy for the first Slow Sunday Stitching of 2025. I am also joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Grab yourself a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!