Autumn

Autumn weather has arrived here on Long Island. It has turned cooler and the trees are starting to turn colors. It is about time. I am enjoying wearing long pants, long sleeves and the occasional sweater. Of course we are supposed to be getting a very wet and windy Nor'Easter here for the next few days also. I would prefer the sunshine, but we badly need the rain. 

This past week started with me getting an epidural cortisone shot in the hope of easing the aches and pains due to 4 herniated discs. I underwent anethesia for the procedure. No sleep on Monday night due to the cortisone, but big nap on Tuesday. I took it easy both days and spent most of my time crafting. 

One of the perks of the enforced relaxing was that I finished quilting 3 more blocks on Having A Ball. There are 14 blocks out of 36 that still need to be quilted. The background will need quilting also. I am loving the way this is quilt is looking. 

My granddaughter's stocking has a wall and the beginnings of the Christmas tree completed. 

I also added most of the backstitching on the bear and the nightgown. 

There are 6 inches knit on the donation hat. I need to get to 8 inches before decreasing. I should finish that in the next few days. 

I assembled one more row of the baby blanket. No photo. 

I tried another new recipe. Ugly Bread. This recipe made 2 flat thin loaves and they were delicious. 

It was an easy recipe. I will save it and make it again.

Hubby will be traveling for work for the next few days, so I will have the house to myself. I will have to keep checking the basement for leaks with the storm, but I wonder how much crafting progress will happen. You will get an update next weekend. I had originally hoped to wash windows while he was gone, but it will be too wet to do so. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy Dance

 Finally! I finished the 8th page that I have been working on seemingly forever. This is where Three Boats was three weeks ago.

8 out of 24 pages have now been completed. 

Yes, 1/3 of it is done. Yay!!!!

I have even started working on the next page at the top of the third column.

There are three colors stitched there: black, slate grey and forest green.

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. Christina is taking a break from the Stitch Along for now. Hopefully she will return in the future.

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, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

A new pillow and progress

I am determined to actually start working on some of the organizing projects that I have faced since retiring 3 years ago. I certainly have the time, just not the motivation. On Monday, Hubby and I made a trip to the local Salvation Army donation area to clear out some clothes and items that we had set aside in the basement. Since then I have been spending some more time this week in the basement. It is where we have a multitude of storage boxes and where all my craft supplies reside as well as my sewing machine. There is a sectional, an older TV as well as an Xbox that sometimes gets used when our kids visit. 

I started the organizing by to working on one of the languishing projects. Many years ago I wanted to update all of my many photo albums with scrapbooking. I bought all the supplies and got to work. Guess what? I really don't enjoy scrapbooking. There are just too many decisions. I also don't like to cut up photos. Eight photos that used to fit on the front and back of one album page, now take up two pages. What color paper should I use? Should I make a frame around a photo? What should I write on a little sign? Should I add stickers? I was in the middle of an album from 1990-1991. When I was pregnant with my daughter! I had wanted to at least scrapbook through her birth. I took out that album. There was a half-finished page from the summer before she was born. I finished it, closed the album and said enough. My scrapbooking days are over. I will use the supplies for crafts with my grandkids. This is no longer a project that is hanging over my head and it feels like such a weight has been lifted. Whew!

Once that was done, I went looking through some odds and ends in a basket by my sewing table and found two small printed Autumn panels. I had just unearthed two small Autumn pillows that I made last year and decided that these panels could be made into pillows also. I looked through my fabrics and used one to make the small pillow with the scarecrow below. It was a quick and easy finish.

I now have it displayed with the Pumpkin House and Old Crow pillows. There is a slightly larger panel that says Happy Thanksgiving that will become another pillow this week. 

My granddaughter's stocking is growing by leaps and bounds. Stitching up the individual packages is a nice way to pass an afternoon.

Next is to start stitching the Christmas tree above the gifts.

I have started to assemble the granny square baby blanket.

Three of the 17 rows are completed. Ignore the perspective that the right hand side is wider than the left. It is not.

The purple block block is quilted and the hoop had been moved. Next to be quilted is the yellow block.

I have added rows to the donation hat. I need to keep knitting the pattern until it is 8 inches long. I work on this while waiting for my balky computer to load pages and while reading the posts of fellow bloggers.

In my quest to actually makes some of the recipes that I have clipped and printed over the years, I had two successes and one fail this week. The first was a cole slaw recipe that was too thick and creamy for my taste. That recipe was tossed. Next I made this Double Dutch Dark Chocolate ice cream. 

So delicious. This will be made again for sure. Last night I made Baked Split Chicken Breasts. Now Hubby is not a fan of white meat chicken and he loved this recipe. It is tasty and easy to make. I may try it with bone-in thighs sometime. 

I finished reading The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy. I loved it! I am now about to start The First Ladies.

I think I have written enough for today. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

    

Ryder Cup and Crafting

 In past posts I’ve shared photos of the biking/walking trail through the Massapequa Preserve that hubby and I like to walk on. We haven't been there in a while due to my knee issues.

There is an entrance about a mile east of our home that we use. We usually walk south through the woods to a pond near one of the local high schools. If we were to walk north 2.5 miles, the path leads to Bethpage State Park where the Ryder Cup is being played this weekend. No, we are not attending. In past years, Hubby has played golf with our son on the green and blue courses at Bethpage though in recent years he has found it near impossible to get a tee time. What used to be a simple process has fallen victim to computer bots since COVID. Hubby has a nearly unusable gift card due to this problem.

Regardless, we will be staying close to home this weekend listening to the security and VIP helicopters flying overhead and watching on TV. 

That makes for more crafting time! As if I don’t have enough already. I said I would show you my granny squares when they were done and here they are. 

I laid them out in 17 rows of 13 squares and then gathered each row on a knitting needle to keep them in order. I have 17 granny square kebabs. 

Two of the rows have already been assembled. 

There’s not much progress on the hat. I work on it while on the computer so it should grow as I read other blogs this weekend. 

Except for some, backstitching, the bear is done on my granddaughter’s Christmas stocking. I’m working my way up the stocking now, adding the backstitching as I go. 

The purple block has some of its quilting now.

Last Saturday, we finally had a new washer and dryer delivered. The heating element in the dryer only worked intermittently. The washer had only worked on a few of its cycles for several years. Since we had to move a bunch of storage containers in the basement to make room for the delivery, I decided to start cutting out the fabric for another I-Spy quilt. One of the boxes contained all of my novelty fabrics so of course it made sense to start yet another project. I made up the design based on something I had seen on the internet.

Each of the squares are 3.5". I cut out all of the novelty fabric for the large solid squares you see in the photo. 

I still have to cut the white and black fabrics. Each black and white nine-patch will have a solid colored fabric in the center. I have plenty of scraps for that.

I finished reading Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini and I highly recommend it. I’ve moved on from WWI to WWII and am now reading The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy. So far I am enjoying this book. 

From the photo above, you can see that I have slowly started to decorate for Autumn. I have a couple of little displays done. 

There is still more to unpack.

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Crafting and baking therapy

Hello everyone! I’ve needed some different types of therapy lately. My go-to is always crafty therapy. It allows my mind to settle in this crazy world. The events happening here in the USA are disturbing and more than a little unsettling. I try not to discuss politics here, but my heart is hurting as I watch the unraveling of our democracy.

 That being said, I been trying to spend less time doomscrolling on the internet and more time being busy with other things. It has definitely resulted in a whole lot of progress on my granddaughter's Christmas stocking. 

You can see that I am now working on the bear and have started some of the backstitching also. The ruffle on the nightgown shows up now.

The orange block on Having a Ball has been quilted. The purple block is marked and waiting for me to quilt it. Some of the quilting lines on the purple block are very close together so it will be challenging.

There are only 50 more granny squares to outline in white yarn. I will share a photo when they are finished and laid out for assembly. I have been itching to start a knitting project. I decided to use up more of my random skeins of yarn and make a donation hat. 

The pattern is from an old 1960s knitting magazine that one of my aunts gave me many years ago. It is quite easy to work on. It is a straight knit with a seam up the back and a pompom added on. I have made the matching scarf many times for donations.

When I am stressed I also tend eat and/or bake. This Blueberry Lemon Tea bread is from an old recipe clipping that has been languishing in a folder. 

It is very tasty. This portion was sent to my mother in law as she enjoys my baking. Of course I had to taste it first and keep a little bit for myself. I am trying to slowly make my way through the thousands of recipes that I have clipped over the years. I have more recipes than I can ever try.This one is a keeper.

  Most of you remember that I fractured the tibia on my right leg and found myself in a brace seven weeks ago. I’ve been going to physical therapy for most of that time. My orthopedist said I could wean myself off of the brace, which I have been doing slowly. It is amazing how quickly you lose muscle mass. I have yet to be able to return to my long walks. Of course that is compounded by the fact that I have 4 herniated discs and an impingement on my spinal cord that requires an epidural injection at the beginning of next month. I am sure there will be more PT after that also. Sigh...

What is your go-to when you are stressed? You can see that I have many options. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

September Stitch Along Update

 I just don’t know where the three weeks in between updates goes. I feel like I was just writing the previous post. Here is where I was on Three Boats for the last update. 

Yes, there was another travel weekend in the past three weeks. Despite that, I did make decent progress on this project. This is where I am now. 

There are two floss colors that still have a lot of stitches to complete, but the rest is all confetti. On each update lately, I look forward to finishing this page. Maybe in three weeks. It is so close.

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!

Crafting

Last weekend Hubby and I drove to Boston to celebrate our older granddaughter’s 3rd birthday. How is it possible that she is 3? We had a very nice visit. I brought home 3 raspberry plants. My SIL has a lot of raspberry and blackberry plants that my granddaughter loves to harvest. 

I hope I can get these to flourish in this large pot. 

This week was a good crafting week. I added a bunch of stitches to the stocking. 

I also spent the time to research the correct color flosses to use for Asian skin tone. I want this little girl to represent my youngest granddaughter better. If you recall, I had to change the skin tone flosses for her brother also because they were just wrong in general. He has a lighter skin tone than his sister so I didn't do any research then, just figured out what felt best. I am happy with the way the feet look. 

There are fewer than 90 granny squares to finish encircling with white yarn. No photo.

17 "blocks of Having A Ball are now quilted and I have already marked and started quilting #18.

 You can see that I marked part of the quilting incorrectly on one side of this block, but I fixed the marking and quilted that part first. 

I just finished reading The Ebony Swan.

 

It’s a mystery from the 1990s by Phyliss A. Whitney. It was easy to read and I didn’t guess the ending. This is a book that I picked up for free at Travelers Food and Books on a previous trip to our daughter. I picked up three more on this trip. Each person eating can take up to 3 books.  

I am moving on to The Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini. This is a library book.

I love her books. This one is set during WWI. I have only just started it.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch today. I hope you take some time to sit back with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

September

 I would like to know how it got to be September already. You can feel Autumn in the air. Yes, it is still shorts weather here in New York, but there is a definite chill in the air when I get up in the early morning. It’s dark before 7:30 pm now. Sigh…

The cooler weather seems to have energized me though. I’m back to quilting Having a Ball. You can see that I’m working on the bright green at the moment. 

The toe of the Christmas Morning stocking by Janlynn is finished. I even did the backstitch on the red stripe. Now I am working my way up the stocking. 

All the granny square centers are complete and I’ve started on the outer row of white. As you can see from this bag there are plenty of centers to be outlined.

Current reading is The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. So far it is as wonderful as her previous books.

It is about a Rockette  and an incident from the 1950s. This author picks a famous building and composes a story around it. Obviously this one is at Radio City Music Hall. Being from Long Island I have had the privilege of seeing the Rockettes there a few times. It is always a wonderful show. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch today. I hope you take some time to sit back with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Crafting

 Last weekend Hubby and I traveled to California for a visit with our son and his family. We got to play with our grandson and snuggle our granddaughter. 

The latter photo was when we babysat so our son and daughter in law could enjoy a dinner date. 

I got a chance to work on Cinnamon House on the plane. 

All of my other projects are too large to travel with, so this was best to bring. 

There has been a whole lot of stitching completed on the Christmas stocking.

 I am almost done with the toe and will then work my way up the stocking backstitching as I go. 

Almost all of the Granny square centers are complete. They just need the surrounding white row. 

This has become my nightly TV watching craft. I want to finish it soon and start another yarn craft. 

I recently read The Lost Dresses of Italy. 

This was an enjoyable book. There is a little bit of intrigue/mystery set in post WWII Italy. It also is a fictional account of the life of the poet Christina Rossetti. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I hope you take some time to sit back with some tea or coffeen and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Second Stitch Along Update of August

Yes, amazingly three weeks have passed and it is time for another Stitch Along update. How is it possible that 2025 is going by so quickly? This is where I was at the last update.

Three weeks ago I was hoping that I would be done with the page that I am currently working on. Sadly, that is not the case, though I am a lot closer to that goal. I am busy filling in a whole lot of sand.

I thought I would also remind you what this project will look like when it is completed. Yes, there is still an awful lot to stitch. 

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!

Progress

I finished my grandson’s Christmas ornament. It is a star shaped iced gingerbread cookie made from felt. 

It is personalized like the others. 

I’m so glad that all three ornaments for my grandchildren are ready to be given to them in December. 

A lot of progress has been made on my youngest granddaughter’s Christmas stocking. The little girl’s nightgown is done except for French knots and backstitching which will get done later. 

Now I’m working my way down to the toe of the stocking. The lavender is the end of the left side of the stocking.

Another block has been quilted on Having a Ball (the pale green one on top). There are now 16 of the 36 blocks quilted. 

Of course, all this progress is due to the fact that I am not able to do much else at the moment. The MRI that I had on Tuesday showed both meniscus are torn and there is a slight fracture of the tibia. I got the report from the radiology center. The ACL is fine. I’m wearing my brace and will see how the orthopedist wants to move forward on Monday. I’ve gone to PT twice and I have no pain. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching and Frederique at the Quilting Patch today. I hope you take some time to sit back with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!