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! 

March Stitch Along Update 2

Why do the three weeks between Stitch Along updates seem to pass by so very quickly? I just don’t feel like I’m making any progress lately. I know that I’m spending time stitching, but there doesn’t seem to be much to show for it. Here is where Three Boats was at the beginning of March. 

To be fair to myself, there was a weeklong trip to California at the beginning of March. I wasn’t able to read or comment on the posts last time as I was watching my toddler grandson by myself with limited time to use my tablet. My daughter and her family visited this past week so most needlework was stored out of reach of my toddler granddaughter. Also there has been a whole lot of confetti stitching. I have lined up the next few flosses to be used.

 For a some of them there is exactly one stitch needed in a color. Arghhhh…. Other colors have one stitch here and then another 2 stitches an inch away followed by another single a half inch away then 2 stitches on the far side of the page. I feel like I’m spending a whole lot of time starting, stopping and threading the needle. All that being said, here is where I am now. 

I have finally finished the interior of the top boat and will start working on its side. Since most of the stitching that is to come below is working on the other two boats, I think I am going to be in confetti purgatory for several more weeks. 

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!

Family visit

My daughter and her family visited for 4 days this past week. On Monday, we went to the flower show at a local nursery. There were many different displays.

 My granddaughter had a ball! 

There were koi fish in the pond below that she enjoyed watching.

There was Scavenger Hunt to look for items in each display. I think the grownups had more fun searching, but she enjoyed seeing different garden animal statues. 

While she was here she played in the yard with her mom, and her pup, Ruby. 

I made Chocolate Crinkles to have for a treat. My son-in-law likes these a lot and missed them at Christmas.

 My granddaughter thanked me for making special cookies for her. She is so sweet.

Since toddlers and needles don't mix, my crafts were put away for those 4 days. They left on Tuesday night and Wednesday was spent stripping beds, doing laundry and putting away toys and such. I resumed working on the Woodland Babies birth announcement on Thursday and have made some progress on the raccoon.

I was able to sew some EPP blocks when my granddaughter was napping. I have 29 of the 36 blocks completed now. 

My daffodils are beginning to bloom. 

I made sure to get a photo this morning as rain is expected over the next few days. 

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! 

Spring is here!

 Well, the calendar may say Spring, but the weather here on Long Island is still mostly cold. It seems like we are always dealing with a wind chill. You could have easily been blown away on Friday. I hope this weekend is somewhat better as my daughter and her family will be here for a 4 day visit. 

I’m still working on the Woodland Babies birth announcement. The squirrel is finished as is the blue flower on the left. I’ve started working on the raccoon. 

I sewed together most of the rows of the Royal Squares quilt. There are still two halves to put together. Then I have to decide whether to add a border or leave it as is and just buy batting, backing and binding fabric. There are very few scraps left from the fabric that I used.

I also sewed a few more EPP “blocks”. I have 25 of the 36 blocks completed.

I can't wait to start putting these blocks together.

Most crafting will be suspended for the next 4 days as needles and toddlers don’t mix well. We will spend time playing. Hubby got up on the storage shelf in our garage and brought down this box of puzzles and toys that I saved. 

I was happy to see that I did, in fact, keep the Hooked on Phonics that I used to teach both of my children to read. 

These items were also in the box. My daughter says that I saved too much, but now there are fun toys for the grandkids at Grammy and Grandpa's house and I don't have to buy more. They also don't have to bring a lot of toys with them. 

We are going to have fun playing with the “new” toys with our granddaughter. 

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! 

She’s Here!

 I spent a week in California taking care of my grandson for my son and his wife. He loves to be silly when waking up from a nap.

 My newest granddaughter, Eleanor Sophie was born March 9th. She was 5 lbs, 14 oz. I got to meet her on Monday.

I returned home on Wednesday. While I was in CA, I was able to work on some of my EPP “blocks” when my grandson napped or was in daycare. I also worked on them on the plane each way. I’ve definitely made some progress with them. 

Since I’ve been home, I am concentrating on finishing the birth announcement. I’ve been working on the squirrel. 

When this is completed I will bring it with me on my next CA trip and stop at the same framer in San Diego that did my grandson’s birth announcement.

I finished reading The Women by Kristin Hannah while I was away. 

This is a powerful story about the US women who served in the Vietnam War. I didn't want to put this book down. I always find Kristin Hannah's books easy and interesting to read.

It is starting to feel a little like Spring here in NY. My crocuses are in bloom.

There seems to be more this year than usual....or the bunnies haven't eaten them yet. There are a whole lot of daffodils growing also.

That’s all for now. I was away from home for a week and now I am trying to get back to a normal routine again. My daughter and her family will be visiting next weekend so that routine will be short lived. 

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!