Cross stitch

 I started a cross stitch. See, it came home and is getting worked on! I guess wearing glasses for this is not too bad.

Ignore the mess, taken from my back yard last night from the pool deck. Such pretty sunsets we have. I did not have my phone for the rainbow this morning.

I laid out the flying snowball quilt. 4 blocks to stitch. Sigh, it wants to be bigger. So, I'll cut another 13 blocks this weekend. That willbe 49 and a 7x7 setting or 84x84. I think it will be happy then. 

As you can see, I had a helper. That is where his bed is, but I picked it up to lay things out. 

We headed to Lady Lake yesterday. Returned the cable box from my fils house. Then got more clothes for him. We also went through a few things. Grabbed some photos and albums for his room. He does not want anything, so I took the hope chest and greg grabbed a half phone table for his den. He said it feels weird taking things while he is alive.  We still need to get it painted, cleaned and cleared. I really don't want to take point on that, but if I do, so be it. It needs to get done. We will hire all those jobs out after we go through things.

Sigh, what did I do?

 I went to a girl scout swap. I brought girl scout books and some crafts and badges that did not get given out in 2020 after things shut down. So, a few boxes and a couple of cubies in my office are empty now.

I was so good, I stayed on the side and chatted with people. I walked around and encouraged other leaders to take things - oh this would be great for this badge work, do you do parties and need a bag of crete paper? I got there early to help unload the trailer of a volunteer that has tons of girl scout crafty things and people leave things at her door! She was unloading all that. Other leaders brought things and exchanged things. I did pick up some Ambassador books (Emily's level now as a Junior in high school). 

There was a table across the room with cross stitcheries. A few boxes full of them. After most had been sifted through and there were only 10 or so people left - tucking things in their respective corners of 'stuff to take'.... I wandered over to look. BIG MISTAKE!

Sigh. These kinda jumped intp my hands. I picked up the cross stitch frame from a different box. Then.... there was a bankers box filled with pattern leaflets and small books, organized into sections. Good lord, that landed in my car! There was a section on lighthouses, ocean scapes, alphabets, borders, birds, flowers, holidays, animals, etc. Very organized. That is still in the car. 

Loons - come on, loons are one of my screen shots of one from the lake up in Vermont. My Mom loves loons.

Isn't this pretty a flower garden path?

This looks like my cats - both Ollie and Peanut. Raey might have thrown this one at me.

This one I loved, a small one but so cute. I might do this before the snowman ornament.

A daffodil for march is a little baggie I believe. I also got dmc rounds in whites and cream - about 5 of them. All the kits have the floss and cloth. I even grabbed a stack of the little cards to put the thread on. The was a quart ziplock baggie filled with them. I took one stack.

Edited to add photos. Another two packages of kits, the floss and cardboard cards and the bankers box.

Before I headed out to the meeting, I finished stitching this guy together. I've only got 4 more of these blocks to stitch up to get 36. 3 flowering snowballs and one more shoo fly.

A little hand work

 After the binding it was back to hand stitching blocks. I did the flowering snowball and parts for the shoo fly. I'll finish that one later tonight.

Since I got a finish, I was looking at my list of UFO projects. I have 2 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts that have been solved but I am still 'in process'. Ok, they are sitting in their respective boxes waiting to see the light of day again. I did buy the digital PDF's for them last year since I could not find all the directions. I have Grassy Creek and On Ringo Lake. I believe Grassy Creek is farther along. 

I also have all the Birds in the Air blocks waiting to be stitched together. I think that one will happen first, and then I'll see how Grassy Creek is looking. There is something about working on projects with fall colors.... when it is almost fall. 

I've got a quick planning meeting tonight for girl scout events and a get rid of stuff shop. I'll be bringing a box or two of things to get out of the house.... and helping to unload another car or two of things for new troops or various troops. Nothing is coming home with me.  See, I am trying to get rid of things in the house. I also listed the futon/daybed on Facebook marketplace. I'd like that out of the front room, so I can clear everything out and paint the walls. Then have stanley steamer come in and deal with the carpets in a few of the rooms. At this point..... who know's when the county will ever make an offer, so I'm going to make that into a nice usable room again (and kick the boy's racing things out and into his room that he keeps saying he will do and doesn't). I'm going to move my hand quilting frame out there and mount a tv onto the wall. Guess I should mention that to hubby. We have plenty of tv's hanging around this house. That will get it out of the bedroom and the cats eating the ties and messing with batting. I think the purple 1857 quilt will go on that and I'll just do smaller quilts in the hoop - like Harmony, Ella, Erin's butterfly's, etc. That is the plan in my head anyway.

Arkansas Traveller Finished!

 

Woo Hoo! It is officially finished. It feels so good to have this quilt finished and off the list. 

The girls approve. We have been keeping an eye on the rhode island red as her comb got light and she was not acting like herself Sunday night. She is looking and acting more like her likable self today, thank goodness. 

They enjoyed running around the yard. Yes, that weed mess is the garden area and I will start weeding it out and getting it ready for planting in a few weeks.

The beautyberry bush is turning it's pretty shade of purple. I love seeing these pretty berries come out in August.

Time to go cut up the pork loin I got at Sams yesterday into roasts, chops and parts for schnitzel. I'll seal a meal them for the freezer and have fun pounding out some of the chops for dinner tonight. Emily is home normal time tonight, so I'll have her do the prepping and dredging in the flour, egg and bread crumb mixture. I get to do the frying on the stove. A little lemon and salt sprinkled after they are fried sets them off beautifully. 

Squishy goodness in the mail.

 I got the order from Missouri Star Quilt Company yesterday. 

Two sets of two charm packs. A layer cake of rainbow colored prints. Some 3 yard cuts of white, black and snow and then a couple yards of eggshell to make sure I have enough for the flying snowball quilt to be a little bigger.

I got a side and a half stitched on the AT quilt until the dog decided to be a lap dog. I was watching 'The Princess Bride' on Disney + and then I switched to Hulu and found a 'Mad About You' show - original cast just 18 years later as Mabel goes to college! It is pretty good. 

Emily is late today with Marching Band (driving herself!). Aidan is home normal I think. We will see if he gets a parking pass... it has been signed for a week and I just paid his sisters. I'm guessing he has not turned it in yet. They are running low and it is first come first get. He may learn a good lesson on this one... I hope not. I really don't want to have to go pick him up from school.

Slow Sunday

 It has been a busy last 2 days, but time spent with my girl and some winter guard Moms! Friday was the band trip to a pre season game in Citrus county. It was the first time the football team has won a game in over 3 years... it was called for lightning in the area after a 30 minute delay where we all had to go to the busses to wait. After they called it, the band had to go load their instruments into the trailer in their cases, and finish getting everything tucked away. I think they played the touchdown fight song 4 times...which is more than they have played it the last 2 years Em has been in band. Who knows, maybe we will win a game this season?

Saturday, I drove us to Orlando (almost 90 minutes away) for a guard class. It was a higher level than Em is, but she learned a few things in the 6 hours. She was exhaused after the first week of school and a late Friday so we headed out about 45 minutes early to head home. I think she picked up a cold over the week as well.  The first part I was playing on my phone, but then I did pull out some fabric and thread and got the purple shoo fly and the teal floweirng snowball blocks stitched while watching.

This was her before they opened the doors at noon. She signed out a practice flag and riffle from the Winter Guard coach to have for practice. She is in the marching band for football season but will try out for the Winter guard in November. The coach said she will make the team already.

After sleeping in until close to 10AM, (girl is still sleeping with the dog at 11:15) I am having a relaxing morning. At some point today, I'll add hand stitches to this Arkansas Traveller quilt that I did on the machine this week and get my first quilt finish for the year! I should have this completed in a few days. I think the quilt is around 70 inches square, but don't hold me to that. 

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

As for starting something new..... I did open the little snowman stitchery ornament this week and seperate the single floss strands into like piles. Then figured out what color is what and laid them out on a sheet of peper and taped the whole lot down. How do others sort/keep track of threads in projects like this? I'm going to give this a whirl after I finish the binding above. A finish deserves a start =)

Binding time

 I spent a slew of hours tugging this quilt through the machine throat yesterday. I made and applied the binding to the top. I just need to hand stitch it down to the back at some point. Nearly to the finish line with this one.

tugging, and tugging. I got lots of 'steps' on my fitbit yesterday tugging this.

I might have spaced and cut this a wee bit short, but made it work. Oops.

Loops and lines.

Ready for hand stitching the binding down. That won't happen today or probably tomorrow. Looks like a Sunday job.

Mid Week Check in....

 I have the whole day today... to finish quilting the AT quilt. I'll get started on that in a bit.

The dog got a long walk on a new route. The 3 big barking dogs, were not in their back yard when we walked past their house. It appears they are prepping to move out, so maybe the dogs have moved out with their adult kids? The dog whined a bit, but walked past good. They are the reason we only walk a set route each day, him pulling past the barking dogs was horrible. He enjoyed all the new smells and was a happy camper after a longer walk this morning. We will try that route again on the weekend and see how it goes.

I started a 'bundle' shipping over at Missouri Star Quilts last week and added a bit to it over the week with their daily deals. It started with the Life of the Ridge Charm pack (2 at the lower price!). The colors remind me of Kim Diehl quilts. I also added a couple yards of Kona Eggshell, so I have enough to make more of the flowering snowball and shoo fly blocks. I grabbed the Colorworks Solid Medley of tiles - (42 - 10 inch squares). The Vintage Valor charm packs caught my eye, so I got 2 of those with the lower price. Normally they only allow one charm pack at the low price, but this time they allowed 2. Yesterday was my final day and I got in before the 9AM cut off... and picked up the 9 yard bundle of Kona - 3 yards each of white, black and snow. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a little bit. No plans for them, but I'm sure something will call their name.

Meals this week - which people have turned up their noses at! We had a pork loin, that I separated into 2 and roasted with different herbs. I did one as rosemary and garlic and one as herbs de province, and cut some carrots and onion to go in the bottom of the pan with them. Mashed potato went with it. Tuesday was stuffed peppers - I use Rice a Roni Spanish rice and add a pound of cooked burger meat to it, then stuff the peppers and bake it with some tomato sauce on top. Wednesday was leftovers. Tonight is baked code with veggies and roasted potato I think. Friday, I'm going with the band to a pre-season game in Inverness, so the boys are on their own. Saturday, I'm taking Emily to Orlando for a flag and riffle training session for winter guard. She really has not been taught, so is hoping this will give her some pointers. We will see how it goes. 

A little hand stitching. I've got an aqua shoo fly in process. 

Off to weed a bit of the front beds before it gets atrocious out, then making an appointment to see the new doctor who just got my bloodwork from last week. We will see what she recommends to even things out. I will say the brain fog is gone, which is very nice. The itchy skin has also eased and general mood is better. Wish my normal dr would have asked more questions or mentioned any of this over the last 10 years. 

Slow Sunday

 Well, it is more of a 'nothing scheduled so I can play and do what I want' day! I do so love those.

I did a bit of machine quilting on the Arkansas Traveller quilt yesterday. Just the outline stitching of the blocks to tack things down. I think today I'll take time and do this little curved piecing on each block with all the pull and push through my little throat on the Viking. I am debating if I machine outline the white space next to it or do a hand quilting about 1/4 inch or so from the colored parts which make a star type shape? I'll think on it while tugging this through the machine. Either way, I do see hand stitching binding down on this later this week. Sitting in my recliner with the AC blowing down on me from the air vent =). 

When I cut out the Accuquilt bits for the Flowering Snowball and Shoo Fly blocks, I had cut offs. I finally went through them yesterday and cut out these bigger parts. What to do with them? I must have another pile somewhere from the first batch I cut out with more blues in the mix. I'll have to search for them.

I took some time on Friday and with my close up glasses, I figured out where I messed up on this cross stitch years ago (I'm guessing 20 or so!) The lower part of the hoop is off and some of the quilt above the hoop is off on 2-3 rows. Sigh. That is a lot of unstitching. I'm thinking I might just 'go with the flow and adjust a bit and continue on. After all.... it is a draped quilt and those are forgiving! I have noticed that my eyes have changed in 20 years and reading that pattern is TINY!. Must have great lighting when I work on this one.

 

I pulled these out to count them thinking I had all the grey surrounds attached. Alas, I found 3 more dark blues that need that grey added. At least I do have a count of them and know I have more of each color yarn if needed. Dark blue - 22, Medium blue - 26, Light blue - 21. I was thinking sets of 9, but maybe sets of 4 similar? We will see.

I'll work on getting those 3 dark blues finished off today for some slow stitching crochet. I'll also hand stitch a flowering snowball block as well. I do love hand stitching that gentle curve. 

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

I just need to do a quick grocery shop to make sure kids have things to grab for lunches at school this week. Tomorrow starts a new school year - for my Junior and Senior! Both are driving themselves to school, as they have very different before and after school schedules. 

RSC Saturday

 Well, I have not played much with teal/aqua yet but that will happen this weekend. I have nothing scheduled at all for the weekend.... well, I told Emily I'd help with a complete change out of the chicken coop. We picked up the bedding yesterday afternoon. That should just take an hour or less tonight when it gets cooler out.

I did make progress on an RSC top Arkansas Traveller, which is now pinned for machine quilting. That should begin today =)

Progress this week was marking all the parts for the 13 blocks of shoo fly and flowering snowball. I was testing a phone app at work and the load time let me mark one or two parts. There were lots of files to load and test. I did get a few stitched up the in evenings as well.

Linking up with the RSC on Saturday.

Aidan's rose is blooming out back. Such a pretty peachy pink color.

The girls got a little roaming time earlier this week. I've kept them in the last day or two as there has been a chicken hawk spotted nearby. They do have a good size run and coop in the shade to hang out in. Ignore the overgrown weedy garden. I need to start tackling that so I can plant it next month for the fall.

I am feeling more 'myself' the last couple of days. I made an appointment with a hormone therapy APRN, since I asked my current provider (another APRN covered by insurance) about hormone therapy. She said a referral to an obgyn or no referral needed for a hormone specialist. I had this persons name as a hormone specialist and contacted her for an appointment Thursday. No insurance taken there. We had a 45 minute no rush visit and chat. She prescribed a set of bloodwork and sent in a script for Progesterone. I took it Thursday night and slept through the night! No waking up to pee. Just a great nights sleep. My Fitbit gave me a 93 for sleep score... which was normally in the mid 80 range. Friday I had a positive attitude when I woke up (which I used to have!) and lots of 'pep'. No brain fog.  It is oh so nice to feel more like myself!  I did the bloodwork Thursday afternoon, so we will see when my next appointment is and what she sees and recommends for balancing things out for me. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. I met her back in November but am so glad I made the phone call for an appointment. 

August Monthly Goal

 My goal this month is to actually get a quilt finish. I'd love to get my Arkansas Traveller quilt pinned, quilted and bound this month. Will I succeed? Time will tell.

I do have the top and the backing rolled onto the boards. I also have the batting for it cut. 

Linking up with the August One Monthly Goal.

Slow Stitching Sunday

 There was no horses yesterday, so no outside time needed in the high temp/humidity thank goodness. Emily will ride Tuesday morning early, before her trainer heads north for a couple of weeks.

I decided to prep more blocks through the Accuquilt cutter for the Flowering Snowball and Shoo Fly blocks. It took about 2 hours to get things selected, pressed and cut to be run thorough the Accuquilt cutter for the shapes needed.  So far, I have no duplicates other than the background! I did 7 more of one block and 6 more of another so I should have 36 blocks when they are done. 6x6 setting = 72x72. I had a lot of blue in the first batch so I added more purple and green this time.

 I might want it bigger, but I'll decide that later. I'm running out of the Kona Eggshell bolt so I might need to order another one if I decide to go bigger. I have not marked the stitching line on them yet, so I might do a little of that today.

I did get almost 2 more blocks stitched up yesterday. I just have one long stitching line to go on the flowering snowball. I have one more block marked for stitching, which will make 23 blocks completed. 

I did get a couple granny squares with their grey surround added. I find I can only do one or two of these at a time now or my hand hurts. Strange, the different muscles used for crochet vs. hand stitching. I have a few more of these to go.

I'll finish up the green flowering snowball and then do a granny square as I finish watching the F1 race this morning. 

Linking up with Kathy and the other slow Sunday stitchers.

Teal/Aqua in the RSC

Welcome to August! I got a little hand stitching in yesterday and got this purple and aqua flowering snowball completed. I have a couple of shoo fly bocks left and then I need to lay them all out and see how many more I need/want to cut out. I do love stitching these, especially the flowering snowball. I think I cut out 23 of the 25 the throw pattern calls for. I can easily just make more to make it bigger. The tricky part is finding scraps I have not used yet in the blocks!

 

I've had my 2 teal/aqua string of beads blocks ready to go for a couple of months. I guess this is the month to finish the last 2 of the 16 blocks. I see this needs a press after all the travel it did this summer.

Aidan mowed the lawn late last night (close to 8 when it got cooler to feels like 100 and the sun was going down) and put his hat on the dog when he came in. He tried this last week, and Bear knocked it off right away. Last night, he kept it on for a bit. He is not a dress up dog. We tried a kerchief once and he went nuts trying to get it off.

I think the girl has horses today, so I might go with her and see the horses. I'll probably be too wiped out from the heat and humidity to do much else after that! It is very draining.

Linking up with the RSC.