RSC in yellow

I have missed a bunch of the RSC this summer with too much travel. I did manage to get a couple of yellow houses added to the collection this week and added another teal house that was under construction delay and got approval for finishing this week. I think I was doing 6 of each color, so need to add four more of each to the pile before the end of the month. 

Lots of progress has been made on the cross stitch. Do you notice when you are getting close to the end of something, it becomes the only thing you want to work on until it is done? No? Just me?

I took this one using the 3x lens on my phone. Google suggested indirect light and a 3x or 5x to limit the distortion of the fabric. 

Emily had senior sunrise breakfast at school today and a marching practice after school. The football game is away and far away so they are working their routine instead. Dinner will be egg roll in a bowl. Different from the southwest egg rolls earlier this week. This one is just hot Italian sausage, cabbage and some garlic and soy sauce. Quick and easy. I got a huge head of cabbage a couple weeks ago at the farmers market I need to finish up. This will be a great usage for it as all 3 of us like this one. 

Linking up Saturday with the RSC. Who knows, I might add a few houses tonight.

 

Two steps forwards, one step back.

 Well, there was more stitching yesterday that I planned but that is a good thing! I did notice a boo boo and got to take out that top left portion as it was one row off! 

I swapped to two other colors to play with and made progress within the wheel. I think I'll finish off the wheel the next few nights. It might be pumpkins after that as I need to think while doing those... and that will leave the other wheel and wagon base to play with on flights and in Vermont next week. 

I think I'll wander into the sewing room this afternoon and see where I left Aidan's quilt. I managed to get through the 535 emails (I figured I'd be able to delete a bunch, but turns out I left a clean up rule on while away ... or there would have been much more in there!). Since I got a new phone while off, I had to have help getting my verifications working again with the new phone. Now to review a few meetings I missed and a catch up with a coworker. I've just got this week of work before being off another 6 days.... =).

Slow Sunday at home

 First time back on my computer and I see I need to play with the camera feature when snapping photos of the cross stitch! I was able to sleep in my own bed for the 7th time since June 3rd. Lots of travel this summer between Vermont to help with my parents, Alaska trip with my family, a local college tour with Emily then back to Vermont. Flew home then a quick turnaround the next day for a quick jaunt with Emily to Nashville to tour a college. I'm home for a wonderful 8 days and then a week back up in Vermont we previously scheduled with the kids to visit my family up there. We scheduled Dad's funeral during that time, so hubby will set foot in Vermont again and our pet/house sitter is all lined up again since it went so well last time. 

This was the progress from the first plane ride.

.I had a little more time and added some stitches in the hotel yesterday morning then airport time and plane time. This is the beginning of the wagon wheel and the wagon the quilt is draped over. This cross stitch is from the book 'Quilts for all Seasons' by Paula Vaughn. This is November. I have finished and framed August and September back in the early 2000's. I have January half done, but have a bit of a boo boo I have not figured out how to fix.... so I started this one instead just after Christmas! 

Today will be laundry, grocery shopping, figuring out meals (it's been 6 weeks since I've done that!) and some cleaning around the house. The dog was oh so happy to get his sniff walk in this morning, as no one gets up early enough to do that with him other than me. I might even try and sew some more of the graduation quilt together into a top! Maybe a dip in the pool this afternoon. This evening I'll be adding more stitches into this project before a week of work. Wow, been 6 weeks since I've done that too!

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Sunday funday

 At some point today, I'll add a few lengths of thread into the binding on this BITA quilt. It is a big one and will take a while to get hand stitched down. The quilt is at least 90x90, and our temps are now in the 90's during the day. Thank goodness for the AC house unit!

I realized I had not worked on the cross stitch at all this week, so added some threads to it yesterday. I started with the light parts of the last 'quilt block' and will add the maple leaf colors to it next. 

Today will be spent in the sewing room for a while, cutting and making more bear paw blocks for the Graduation boy's requested quilt. Bear Paw pattern. Civil war type prints in green and blue. I have 8 of each color so far and hope to add another 4 today. 

While cutting out more of the Bear Paw blocks this morning, it was time to figure out how many I needed for a double size bed. I'm thinking 80x80? I looked in a few quilting books, then remembered that Bonnie Hunter had some math graphs on her blog under tips and techniques. I looked at a few on-point links and found this one. Very helpful. My blocks are 14 inches finished. That means just under 20 inches on the diagonal. So, a 4x4 setting looks like I need 25 blocks. I have 16 made and just did the initial rough strip cuts for another 4. I'm making two blocks with each of the strip of blue and green. I'll go back and make 5 more blocks from already used fabrics. I think after the setting triangle, I'll add a border on the outside to make it a wee bit bigger to allow for the quilting on it.  The graduate will get a box of the blocks (most of them anyway) on Saturday after his graduation from High School. I've got until the end of August to get it completed! The next few months will be very busy, so we will see. A trip to Alaska, one to Vermont, a visit to Tennessee for a college visit with Emily, and I'm busy at work. Life is never dull!

Good news, my Dad is being released from the hospital today. They think it was not a heart attack but rather a buildup of fluid in the body got into the heart. They have it under control for now and are upping his water pill dosage. Big shout out to my 4 siblings who are all handling that with my parents.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Easter Sunday

 I've been plugging away at the November Cross Stitch from the book A quilt for all Seasons by Paula Vaughn. I filled in more of the blue sky and one partial block in red and started the orange one in the top left corner. This is just the second page of the pattern... I still have the left side to do for page one. I do love how it is turning out. I am using 14 count Aida.

This is where I was last Sunday, so a good bit of progress.

The dog is waiting for a walk. The Easter Bunny came this morning and could not find the real easter baskets, so they have Tupperware with the fake grass in it for the kids. The parents just have a little pile and the Sams package of Peeps (yuck!) are for the other 3 to divide and conquer. I was considering putting things in eggs and hiding them like when they were little.... but I went to bed instead!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter to those that celebrate it. A Happy Sunday to everyone!

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Slow Sunday

 I've been making good progress on the cross stitch. I forgot how much I enjoyed doing it after a 20 year hiatus. This was my last post last Sunday

I've been stitching this week! This is where it stands this week. This is the second page of the pattern. I still need to do the first page but I wanted to start towards the middle on this which was the quilt part. I think I'll alternate between working on the 'quilt blocks' and the grassy area below the wagon. The pumpkin was fun to stitch. This is the October Quilts For All Seasons book by Paula Vaughn. I did the months of August, September and started January back in the 1990's.

When I went to the front room to photograph progress, I saw these guys out the front window! One of the flocks of turkeys in the area. This one has 2 toms and 4 ladies. 

He is missing some feathers, so I know which flock he is with.

A question for you all. How do you juggle multiple projects? Knitting, cross stitch, sewing, hand quilting, hand piecing? As the mood strikes? Finish one before moving onto another or work a little on each throughout the week? 

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers. 

Sunday - a day of rest and stitching?

 I'm still recovering from a Winter guard competition chaperoning (I really don't do anything - just another adult there and I get in free!). We got to school for 8AM and got home after 10PM. The competition was a couple of hours away and we had the added bonus of a handful of the kids were preforming that morning for Pre-MPA for show choir across town. We picked them up after the performance and the school bus booked it to the event. We arrived 20 minutes before the JV was to preform - so no warmups, but they did great and placed 3rd in their division of 9 at the event. Not bad considering 3 people have dropped out - the most recent 2 after winter break so the show was rewritten a few weeks ago. Em is a co-captain this year.

the start of the show.

Em is on the right.

Progress has been made on the Cross Stitch this week.

last Sunday Feb 1

This morning Feb 8.

I just have a small stack of tall houses to glue baste for the current cut parts of Brimfield Awakening. I was able to get a good stack done while the kids were getting ready before we left for the competition. I also stitched closed a hole in one of the snowballs for the performance.

This week the boy turned 18 on Friday, and we will see if he wants to do his 'birthday dinner' today or another time. Friday he was full from a baking contest the Academic club had after school - lots of sweets were eaten! Yesterday Em and I were gone all day and he did his annual birthday lunch and shopping with Grandma. He wants to do Indian at the local restaurant to check it out. We will see if he opts out since it is Superbowl Sunday here in the USA. I'll watch the game and do some stitching while listening. I'm not into football but will watch today. We do streaming services and not cable.... so I ordered Peacock (NBC) here in the USA so I can watch the Superbowl and the Olympics for the next couple of weeks. 

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers. 

Must go walk the dog, who did not get walked or go out much yesterday while I was gone. 

Happy 18th to my boy today!

 This kid is officially an adult today! Yikes, seems like just yesterday we were taking him home from the hospital... and then back to the hospital twice with high jaundice levels. It was a fun first couple of weeks with him. We are not too big on birthday's in my house, but I did get a few balloons and made a banner that hung outside his bedroom door this morning. Then I blew up orange and blue (Florida UF Gater colors) balloons to have in the hallway as he walked to the kitchen. Emily might have tossed a couple at him as well. 

His Dad made the requested cheesecake with raspberries as his birthday 'cake' yesterday. We will enjoy that later today.... although after school his academic team is doing a party with surprise baking entries and a few blind testers. He made something to bring in, and it will be interesting to see the results. I hear 9 are baking something for the challenge.

I seem to be enjoying the cross stitch and just working on that lately. I finally have a leaf of the 'quilt' nearly completed. Progress! No stitching happened while watching the Tampa Lightning game last night. Way too exciting. That reminds me... need to see if there are any tickets available later this month while we are over that way for the Indy Car races.

Cross Stitch

 Cross stitch is a good cold weather project! I've been adding stitches on the inside of the quilt area but since they are white and light creams, they don't show a lot of progress. 

Someone thinks it's cold, and lets his girl cover him up. Anyone else, and he immediately gets up and lays on the quilt. Emily, and he snuggles down and sleeps!

Slow Sunday

 Someone turned 60 today in my household (it's not me - hubby is 6 years older than me)! His Mom is coming up for a lunch out at a local restaurant. 

I'll be adding some stitches to the new cross stitch I started this year. It is the November design from Paula Vaughn's Quilts for all Seasons.

I'll also be glue basting a bunch of units for my Brimfield Awakening EPP I cut out earlier in the week. 

I'll take both with me tomorrow as I'll have waiting time at the hospital with my FIL as he has a procedure. Hubby's back is hurting, so I'll go with and handle the waiting inside so he can go to the car comfy seats if needed. He has to be there for 8AM... so we need to go pick him up for 7AM and bring him there. A very early start for a Monday. 

Another option- the QAYG hexagons I prepped last week as well. Plenty of options to keep my hands busy as I wait. I need to find our masks to wear while there. I know flu is running rampant and I did get my flu shot back in September. I managed flights over the holidays fine, but figure hospitals are even more of a germ area and don't want to be down for a week with the bad variant that is prevalent now.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Take time cross stitch finished

 Well, the stitching is completed. I'll need to find a nice frame for it now.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 It has been a productive week. Progress was made on the cross stitch, although I realized I had used the wrong color for the ocean area, so that had to get taken out and restitched with the light blue. Oops! 

The project was at this stage last Sunday.

It is now at this stage today. Yesterday was the fix day of pulling out the blue and replacing it with the correct light blue.

This is the difference in the blues. I had fixed and redone the top grouping here so you can see the difference.

Today I'm heading to the new barn with Emily to watch her ride. It is about 50 minutes away now but has more challenging horses for her. No cover on this one, so back to sweating in the full sun. Let's hope the rain holds off until after her ride. When we are home, Grandma is coming up for her delayed birthday lunch with us a restaurant of her choice. Then, I hope to have the family finish the screen fixing on the back porch. Yesterday, we got it a little cleaned (that bottom part gets so moldy and dirty and yucky in Florida and I don't sit out there in the heat!). The screen on the door got fixed and one of the windows in my bedroom that the dog ripped up years ago. After watching Aidan learn, I did the other 2 inside in my sewing area. It was dripping sweat hot out. Hopefully we can get the 2 big screens finished off later today. He has one cut out, so we will see how that goes. Maybe one today and one tomorrow? The kids and I are off school and work for Labor Day tomorrow. We will see.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

A few photo's from this mornings routine. My morning walk with bear - right as the sun was coming up. The clouds make a pretty picture with the pinks and orange on them.

After sniffing up our normal route, he added an extra bit this morning and I let him. 

After we get home, we walk out back and check on the girls and give them a scoop of treats. They are laying between 3-5 eggs a day for us. All are happy and they got some run around outside and get bugs yesterday afternoon after a rain. Perfect time for them to go explore.

Seems the girls alarm did not go off, so good thing I woke her up 20 minutes before she wanted to leave!

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 =)

Sunday before the storm (school storm that is!)

 The kids spent the night at Grandma's after a late night at the car races. Tomorrow, I start getting them up at 'school time' so they are not too surprised on Wednesday when they have to go to school! Monday Aidan has Freshman orientation at 2 and then the rest of the school and parents arrive at 4 for the 4-5:30 orientation. We got a robo call informing us that Tuesday they have to pick up a crome book for school between 9-3. I guess they don't think parents work? Thank goodness I have a flexible schedule and so does Greg with his schooling. I think Greg will do the 2PM drop off (well 1:45 drop off) and I'll go at 4. Tuesday... we will see who brings him to sign out the computer. I think my morning meetings got moved to the early afternoon so it might be me. 

Wednesday should be a mad house dropping off and picking up so I'll make sure to have my 'busy bag' with me in the car. It will have a skein of yarn and crochet hook for the below project of the granny squares. I am not sure if the grey and/or cream will be in the afghan. We will see. I have lots more of the medium country blue than the light and dark. We will see what happens. I have been looking at different ways to join them and might go with this one - Join as you go by the crochet swirl. 

I have been waiting patiently for school to start to begin my Brimfield Awakening EPP project. I have it all prepped and tucked into a container with the necessary supplies. I really hope I like EPP - as I might have purchased a few Accuquilt single dies for it - the hexagon and the paper and fabric cutting for the diamond. I have always wanted to make a tumbling block quilt! 

Then the third option is hand piecing on the third Hand Pieced Sew Along - Harmony.  I have one block completed and planned to make 3 more. 2 are prepped and in process. 

I might also have a 4th project as I plan to stitch along with Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching. She is doing a Mystery Autumn Stamp Stitch Along. It starts tomorrow.... so I might need to go shopping to make sure I have the floss.

Linking up with the Sunday Slow Stitchers. 

I saw this pretty shot out my window this week and had to go snap a photo as the sun was going down. 

Slow Sunday

 I have been trying to prep things for hand work for travel this week. This cross stitch always get tucked in when I travel yet rarely gets worked on. Might this be the year? This is Januarys pattern from Paula Vaughan's Quilts for All Seasons - cross stitch designs.

I made the September one back in the late 1990's.

A Harmony block is prepped. I might prep another one, just in case. I plan to make 4 blocks. The first one is completed.

I did make a guess and prepped 16 Hexagon QAYG blocks for July. I finished 30 purple ones for June this week.

If there is room in the checked bag I'll tuck in this knitting project. Maybe I can unstitch those sheep and learn how to do them properly. It is intarsia knitting - lots of youtube videos should help me! I have never knitted with more than one color before so I guess this will be what I learn in July?

I really wanted to have a hand quilting item as well, but if that doesn't happen then the above should keep me busy and out of trouble for the next few weeks! I can't wait for some slow stitching on the screened in porch or in a chair down by the lake.

I'll also tuck in the crochet hook - I'm sure Mom needs new tops to the kitchen towels stitched up.

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Stitchers.