Two new starts

Yes there are two new starts. I will get to them, but first I want to show you my progress on my WIPs. First is Charming Santa. His face and beard have all the cross stitching completed. Now I am working on the beading.

Windows into my World....which I am thinking of calling Having a Ball, because I am when working on this, has 6 blocks quilted now. Number 7 is partially done.

Now for the two new projects Cinnamon House is mostly kitted up. Some of the floss colors need to be retrieved from Three Boats.

 Hubby and I will be traveling some over the next month or so and I wanted a small craft to bring with me. 

Close sewing at night has become difficult as I have gotten old, so I have also been looking for a nighttime, TV watching craft. I've been itching to feel some yarn in my hands too, but I don't want a big project. As I was sorting through some knit and crochet pamphlets to decide whether to keep or donate them, I came across this one. 

The granny square baby blanket is perfect for using scraps of yarn and I even have a large skein of white yarn to use. As you can see I have many little balls of orphan yarns to use up. This will eventually be gifted or donated. There is no intended recipient at this time. A few of those pamphets were put aside for donation too. When there aren't any patterns that you feel the urge to make someday, it is time to part with the excess. 

Hubby and I enjoyed a night out this week. We had an excellent dinner at the Harbor House American Kitchen in Northport. Afterwards we saw a production of South Pacific at a local theater. 

I remember my mother having the original Broadway cast album so I knew all of the songs. The production was good, but the show itself is somewhat dated now.

We had an unexpected big purchase this week. Since the warm weather seemed to finally be here on Monday (it has disappeared the last 3 days), we decided to uncover our outdoor furniture and Hubby washed it. As he is washing our bar cart, one of the wheels just disintegrated. At 25 years old, finding a part....or even being able to remove the rest of the wheel, was not happening so the cart was trashed. Then, Hubby was taking a break and we were enjoying a cup of coffee around the now clean table. As I went to get up from the chair, the mesh seat split. Now we started with 6 chairs several years ago and were down to two. We also knew that we needed a new umbrella for the table. It was time for a new purchase. Maybe on of the new polymer table and chair sets. On our trip to a local backyard store we made the discovery that those sets are quite heavy to move around, even just the individual chairs. Lo and behold, the store had a new version of our old metal and glass table with mesh chairs. That is what we bought. It was delivered on Thursday and it has been cold and rainy since. Sigh.... I still have to find a new bar cart as there wasn't a matching one. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching, Frederique at the Quilting Patch and Alycia at Quilty Girl. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Family and stitching

 Last weekend our daughter and granddaughter visited. We went to teaching garden at a local college that must have been beautiful at one time, but has now been neglected. 

There were a few pretty flowers.

Online photos showed wedding photography and beautiful flower beds that are no longer there. It was fine for entertaining a two year old. 

Most of the other entertainment came at home and at a local neighborhood park that we can walk to a few blocks from our home. Our granddaughter enjoys working on puzzles. She is doing a 100 piece puzzle with her mom. Yes, she can put the pieces together by herself.

The park has been newly updated and is a lot of fun. Grandpa encouraged her and she mastered the rope bridge to the big twirly slide.

They spun this fun wheel together also.

Sadly all the photos that include me also have my granddaughter's full face on display which I don't publish.

Before our visitors arrived, I was able to finish appliqueing and pin basting Windows into my World.

 I decided to use some variegated tatting thread that I inherited years ago to quilt the colors fabric. I’m using white thread to quilt four petals in the center of each block. 

I think I will quilt a cross hatch on the background. So far, I’ve quilted the four center blocks.

 Excuse the hoop marks. 

I haven’t gotten as far as I would like with the Mill Hill Charming Santa. My crafting mojo seems to be having a lull right now. 

For Mother’s Day, Hubby bought me two pretty hanging baskets. 

Sadly, they are too heavy for my dual plant hook. They have made it fall over twice. 

My rhododendron is in full bloom. I love its color.

 Rain has made all the flowers fall off of this azalea since I took this photo. 

It was pretty while it lasted. 

These dianthus are from a gift planter last year. 

I’m so pleased that they are thriving in the garden. There are 5 plants.  I may move two of them to another location. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching, Frederique at the Quilting Patch and Alycia at Quilty Girl. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Mother’s Day Stitch Along Update

 It’s Mother’s Day here in the US and my daughter and granddaughter have been visiting since Friday. Today’s update will be quick. This is where Three Boats was three weeks ago. 

I’ve had more time to work on it since finishing the birth announcement so you can now see the start of the third boat. 

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, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

A ball and a lamb

So I sat down and really looked at how to make the Windows’ intersections come together better. I decided that I needed to make sure that all four wonky corners met in the center first. What I did was basically sew the four corners together at the points clockwise. I checked the intersection and then moved on to sewing one inch on either side of it. This worked perfectly for most of the intersections where the second and third rows met. The ball for Windows into my World is complete. Now I must appliqué it to the background fabric.

 I must say that I am pretty proud of myself with this quilt. 

The lamb is done. It is so much cuter than the kitty. 

I went to my local Joann fabrics on Tuesday. I was hoping to find a fabric to use a backing for the Royal Squares quilt. I came away with this fabric at 50% off. 

 I bought a few other neutrals to use in the future. I also picked up a twin size batting. All were 50% off. 

There wasn’t any thread left to speak of and no other fabrics that caught my eye. I won’t be going back.

Charming Santa has a few more stitches. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching, Frederique at the Quilting Patch and Alycia at Quilty Girl. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

This and that

It is raining today, so I will spend the rest of the day crafting after I write this post. I finished assembling the crocheted kitty. I do not like it at all.

The head is waaaay to big for the body and the head looks like it belongs on a mouse.

 I will not be giving this to my new granddaughter.

 Instead, I have started making a lamb. 

There are 3 more legs to finish and the tail before assembly. You may recall that I made this same lamb for a friend's grandchild. I am much happier with this animal. 

I have also started work on the Charming Santa ornament for my new granddaughter. Her brother got one for his first Christmas so I decided that she should have one also. 

 I like working on these Mill Hill perforated paper kits. Her brother and my other granddaughter will be getting felt ornaments again this Christmas. I haven't started on them yet. 

 Sewing the first two rows together for Windows Into My World was quite the ordeal. A good deal of time was spent taking them apart and resewing. 

Getting the intersections to line up correctly is challenging with all the little fabric "ears". You can see how it looks on the back.

 I have removed some of the papers.

I am going to 3 or 4 fitness classes each week at 9 am at a local gym. I thought I would be more sore from the classes, but it appears that I am in okay shape for these workouts. There are some moves that I find difficult and some that are near impossible for me, but I am mostly keeping up. I have never been able to accomplish a sit up and that is still true. I am working on strengthening those muscles though.

 I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Progress

Happy Easter! 

Tulips from past Easter flower baskets are blooming.

I have actually made a decent amount of progress on Three Boats in the last three weeks. This is where it was at the end of March. 

Since I finished working on the Woodland Babies birth announcement that you can see here, I have spent my cross stitching time working on Three Boats. I have finally started working on the second boat. You can see that I have some of the interior of this boat finished now. 

There is still a lot of confetti stitching, but soon there will be a big swath of one color. I can't wait to get to it.

 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, Christina, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

Sewing, crocheting, baking and a new project

Let's start with the sewing. I have assembled all 6 of the "rows" for Windows into my World.

 Next is connecting the rows together. The directions say to stitch an inch on either side of all of the intersections of one seam and then go back and stitch in between. This may take some time, but I am really enjoying working on this.

I have been crocheting a little cat for my new granddaughter. I don't like it. It looks more like a mouse's head on a tiny body. 

 I haven't yet attached the head and tail to the body. I will finish it, but I think I will make something else to give to her. I recently made a little lamb that was cute. I think that is what I will be making.

I made some Hot Cross Buns yesterday. 

It was a new recipe that didn't seem to come together as I expected. Then again, I had never made them previously. Hubby asked for some without raisins. The buns are tasty, but a little dense. Making yeast doughs are not my forte. That is for sure.

Since the Woodland Babies birth announcement is finished, I have decided to start on the Christmas ornament for my new granddaughter. It is this Mill Hill Charming Santa.

I have made two of these already. One for her brother and one for my other granddaughter. My son and his wife haven't decided on a Christmas stocking yet so I figured I should start on this instead. 

The only update on the Royal Squares quilt is that I have decided to remove the yellow border and just finish the quilt as it was originally meant to be. Even adding borders will not make this quilt into what I wanted now. I have been avoiding working on it as I realised I was just not happy with the yellow border...or any border for that matter. Looking back, I only started to make this quilt to use the jelly roll that I had purchased. It was not meant to be a bed quilt and it won't be. I will finish it and save it to either use, gift or donate. 

I have some hyacinth in bloom as well as some tulips. 

I love Spring flowers.

 I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

A finish and a question

 The Woodland Babies birth announcement is finished. 

Isn’t it adorable?! I just love all the cute little animals. 

Now for the question. I have added the yellow border to Royal Squares. I had seen a version of this quilt on the internet where the following border layout was done. 

The yellow is extended in the corners and a four patch of the original quilt fabrics is placed in the corners. I have enough of the quilt fabrics to make the four corners. Does the quilt become too busy then? Should I just use the floral fabric all around without the four patches. I thought using the four patches in the corners might unify the quilt and not make the borders look like the afterthought that they are. 

I have started to connect the blocks for “Windows into my World”. I have 2 of the 6 rows done. 

The daffodils in the front of my house are now in bloom. There aren't as many as in the back yard. 

All of these have been saved from Easter plants that I have received in years past.

 I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Closer to finishes

 I have a few items that are getting closer and closer to being finished. I am working on the last part of the Woodland Babies birth announcement. The raccoon is all done and I am currently stitching the owl. Once the owl is done I will add my granddaughter’s name, birth date, etc. 

33 out of 36 blocks are completed for “Windows into my World “. 

I purchased the batting and backing fabric. 

I also purchased some fabric for Royal Squares. The yellow will be a thin framing border. The Liberty floral will be the outer border. Once these are added I will decide on backing and binding fabrics. I don’t have enough of any of the original fabrics to use as binding. I will have to think on it. I know how I want to quilt the main part of this quilt. I'm still deciding on whether to machine or hand quilt it. I will have to decide on how to quilt the borders. 

I baked again. This time I made Nestle Tollhouse Milk Chocolate Oatmeal cookies though I used semisweet chips as I prefer them. 

I shouldn’t be baking as I recently joined a local independent gym to try to lose weight and improve my fitness. The gym has a senior citizen plan that is reasonably priced and allows you to take unlimited classes each month. I’ve been to 4 so far. The fitness part is going better than I expected. I’m not at all as sore as I anticipated. I’m also able to complete most of the exercises without any accommodations. I’m actually enjoying the classes and the encouraging trainers and other participants.

 I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch. Make yourself some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!