A finish!

I have finished "Over the river and through the woods". I knew that all I had to do was put my mind to it and it would be done in no time and now it is. 

Of course it will need to be framed but December is still a ways away so I have time. 

I haven't done any other cross-stitching this week. I am looking forward to getting back to the other two WIPs.

I spent some time on my front porch yesterday hand-quilting my daughter's Peanuts's Christmas quilt. Since I gave her the quilt top for Christmas 2012 it would be nice to have the quilt totally finished for this holiday season. 

This is my next WIP that I am planning on finishing. I keep putting off starting another quilt project because this one isn't finished. 
I am joining Kathy today for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site see what other bloggers are stitching.

My astilbe, clematis and lilles are in bloom! 

I just love no fuss flowers.

Hubby and I went back to the beach again last night. It is only about 15 minutes from home so it is nice to walk the boardwalk at night.

We found a walkway down to the water last night and got some ocean pictures.

The sky was just beautiful.

This was about 8 pm. Still light out on the first night of summer.

Thanks for stopping by!

New yarn start

First I am sharing with you a beautiful sunset I saw from my back deck a few days ago.

Now, I just don't like the infinity scarf I have been crocheting. I ran out of yarn so I can't get the correct length. I am not in love with the yarn either. So I decided to start to crochet On The Tracks with the same yarn. You guessed it, I didn't like the way the yarn works in this pattern either.

I do really like this pattern though, so I decided to use the Fiddle Knits yarn that I purchased at the Fiber Festival for this cowl. 

I am a little less than halfway finished.

I have had to adjust the pattern slightly, but I love it. It will not be as wide as my original pattern choice for this yarn which turned out be a somewhat challenging knit for me. I may use the yarn that is giving me fits to try knitting To Infinity and Beyond which was the original choice for the yarn above.

I am now reading Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman. Despite the possibly dreary title this is quite an entertaining book exploring the interactions of six widows. I am glad I made note of it on the recommendations of other bloggers. 

I am joining Ginny at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

Finally, Hubby and I went to the beach last night to walk on the boardwalk. 

It was hazy so the ocean didn't look real blue and there is more sand to see than ocean but, the sunset was gorgeous. I had just enough time to capture these pictures.

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June WIPocalypse

 I was quite productive with my cross-stitching this past month.

I have made great progress on "Over the river and through the woods".

I have decided that I really want to get this finished so all my stitching is currently concentrated on doing that.

Prior to making that decision though, I got a lot of stitching done on Large Cross-stitch #1. Here is my last posting....

and this is where I am now.

I also worked on my stamped cross-stitch. I am working on stitching up the left hand side first. I needed to see some color variety and some definite features of the picture. Once again, here is my last posting.....

and this is where I am now.

Measi's question this month is about stitching retreats and festivals. I have never attended any of these. I am sort of a lone stitcher. Pop on over to her site to check out what others are stitching.
One last picture of the coral bells currently blooming in my garden.

Thanks for stopping by!



A Ribbon in the 2014 Peconic Quilt Show!

This weekend Hubby and I went to the Peconic Quilt Show from the Eastern Long Island Quilter's Guild. This year's theme was "Around the World in 80 Quilts". The cross-stitch in my header would fit right in.

Upon entering Hubby and I each chose a program and his had a sticker for a door prize! This what he won....and promptly gave to me. Maybe all these goodies will spur me to try applique.

You can also see the yard of fabric that I bought in this picture. 

 I entered my Fly Away Blues quilt in the Duet Large category (for quilts pieced by one person and quilted by another). I was awarded second place! This is the first judged show that I have entered. I was so excited. Hubby took these pictures.

This is the quilt that won first prize in my category. It was pieced by Ann Bove and is called My Spring Garden. 

Here are some other notable quilts. Butterfly Garden by Patricia Bandura.

This is a great interpretation of a Log Cabin quilt. It was pieced and appliqued by Beverly A. Delaney and is called My Paducah Splurge.

Tiny Cabins by Barbara A Fein. I love the graphic nature of Log Cabin Quilts.

Another variation is Frost Valley Log Cabin by Dorothy A. Braunstein.

Wander Through My Mystical Garden by Audrey Collins.

Asian Garden by Sandra Curry.

Follow the Leader by Barbara Arnold.

More Than Just Flowers by Cathy Barta. So much great applique.

New York, What a Beauty! by Marcia Schulman. Look at all those wonderfully stitched points.

Hawaiian Quilt by Ellen Weider. I want to try one of these someday also.

The Great Pumpkin Quilt by Patricia Hallock.

Another impressive appliqued quilt: Floral Rhapsody by Judith Craddock.

A Night in Sedona by Rae Wilson.

Angel Wisdom by Judith Roush Knorr.

Lisa's Wedding Memory by JoAnn Maddalena. All the white strips of fabric have hand-written messages from the guests at the quilter's daughter's wedding. What a great keepsake.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of the quilt show!

Thanks for stopping by!

Floral Yarn Along

Sharing some photos of the flowers I planted in pots on my front porch. I have found that geraniums grow best on this south facing porch. I always put a cascading vine in my pots. Below you can see sweet potato vine, variegated vinca and creeping jenny.

I love the little chair above. I also fill my back deck with pots. I used a lot of petunias and salvia.

The pots below have begonias, alyssum and that beautiful pink flower is called "dead nettle". I never used this flower before. It is quite pretty and growing like crazy.

 These two pretty hanging baskets were Mother's day gifts from Hubby. There are two more that are new guinea impatiens.

 These two pots are my yearly attempt at growing tomatoes. The front pot is a beefsteak tomato plant and the one in back is a golden cherry tomato plant. I rarely get a good crop, but I persevere. I am going to try feeding the plants more consistently.  I move them periodically so that they get enough sunlight.  I also have a pot with an orange bell pepper plant.

 I love sitting in either place and look at my pretty pots. So relaxing.

I am also sharing my Granny Square Roses again today. I have added the background color - soft white - to several of them. I love the way they look. They were looking quite dark to me, but now that the background has been added they have definitely brightened up. I haven't made any decisions on buying more green for the leaves yet. I think I will add the background to all the roses that currently have leaves and then decide what to do next. My interest in these pretty squares is definitely renewed. 

My infinity scarf is another matter. I am going to run out of yarn long before the stated length. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought a skein that is 20 yards shy of what is needed. I just may have to resolve to have a scarf that can't wrap around twice or not connect the ends and just have a regular scarf. Another decision to make.

I'm joining Ginny's Yarn Along again this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

Wuthering Heights is almost finished! Now I can't wait to discover the ending, but as I told my daughter, I will never read this book again. I find it interesting, but my taste in reading definitely leans to the lighter side. I like to lose myself in a book and not deal with constant angst. I don't mind the random tear-jerker, but even those books allow you to actually like some of the characters. I can't say I like or care about any of the characters in Wuthering Heights.

Thanks for stopping by!

Strawberry time!

On Sunday, Hubby and I visited a local Strawberry Festival. Although the festival itself was not what I expected, we did buy a few things. First, of course, were strawberries.

 There is only one pint here because I used the other two that we bought to make Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. It is currently solidifying in my freezer. This is a new recipe for me. 

We also stopped at The Virgin Olive. They sold flavored olive oils, flavored balsamic vinegar and a few different spice tins that you can use in your olive oil for bread dipping. Yum. I bought  the Sicilian Blend Bread Dipping Seasoning and this Strawberry Balsamic vinegar.

What else would I buy at a Strawberry Festival? They had Pomegranate and Mango as well as other flavors too. They offer gift baskets and tasting parties also. Check out their web site for all the rest.

I have been craving homemade cookies so......I made Nestle's Tollhouse Cookies.

Most of them went into the freezer or I will finish them in no time. Not very good for the waistline.

I managed to make a lot of progress on my cross-stitch this weekend. 

I am on the fourth different blue tone on Large Cross-stitch #1. Ugh! It is stitching up quickly but I need a different color to work on.

So, I also worked on my stamped cross-stitch. Of course, the only color I am stitching with on this right now is green. I am so looking forward to finishing this dark green and moving on. 

My lavender colored azalea bloomed this past week.

 It really had a whole bunch of flowers! 

Unfortunately, a good rain has since washed all the flowers away. Well, it was pretty while it lasted.

Thanks for stopping by!