Summer Bouquet - Purple makes an appearance!

What another beautiful week it has been! And the appearance of purple in this sampler just made me so happy. The color is gorgeous. It's DMC 791 and it's an ultraviolet purple. So so gorgeous and nice to work with too! 

It's been a wonderful weekend too. We had some downpours yesterday but nothing like the apocalypse they had been predicting. The perennial garden is taking some shape with a few plants put in and the moonflowers are beginning to come out of the ground from seeds we planted a couple weeks ago. Ah, Spring!

My kids and I saw John Wick 4 this weekend. I absolutely love Keanu Reeves and these movies. I know, super violent, but I can't help it. Just love them. LOL. 

The sweetie Grand Dog, Franklin, had his ONE YEAR birthday last week!!!! He's a ball of energy and just super happy and sweet. He got lots of toys and love on his birthday--all in all, not too different from any other day, but he had a banner and some things that made it special. We had fun watching him open his presents.

And my little girl, Jenny, has been good. Her birthday is in a couple months and we will have a nice one for her! She loves to sleep in, as evidenced here on Saturday morning.

This baby has such a routine. She knows in her bones what time breakfast and dinner is and she sticks to it, regardless of what the daylight savings time says. She also knows what time bed time is (8pm at the VERY latest), and she will do laps around the house and then look up at the staircase leading to the bedroom to let me know that "hey mom, have you lost your mind? It's time for BED!"

Well, that's it for me now, but I hope you all have a lovely upcoming week! Temps back down in the 60's with some rainy days this week, but the plants need it, so it's all good. Take care of one another and get some stitchy or crafty time in if you can!

See you soon with more Summer Bouquet!

Summer Bouquet Update and Unofficial Summer!

This was a beautiful week in VA! Temps have been awesome, no rain to mess up the days, lots of eating outside and listening to music. I should have worked this weekend, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

On to the stitching update! I had initially cross stitched the areas on the red flower that were supposed to be filled with french knots. I looked at it and mulled it over for about 20 minutes and decided I really wanted to do those french knots. So I brushed up on them in a little corner of the fabric and then went to town! There are 4 smyrna stitches right in the middle. The black-eyed susans also are filled with french knots. So pretty!

Been enjoying this one so much! I have a bunch of Cedar Hill charts and am always on the lookout for a few of the seasonal "bouquets" that I don't have. Just so pretty.

I know it's still early Spring, but my mind is in Summer.

We've had some hummingbirds already, bought petunias and ferns, and started the digging for a perennial garden! I can't wait to fill it with coneflowers, black eyed susans, daisies, and other beautiful things. We also put in the moonflowers and got some trellises for out front. We had tons of bees in them when we had them out back, so we'll change it up this year.

I really hope everyone has a fantastic upcoming week! I plan to stitch some more and see how far I can get this week. Be back then for more updates!

Chocolate Mousse Pie and Cedar Hill Summer Bouquet!

Well how was everyone's Easter? We had family over, and had a great time. I made a couple new recipes and they seemed to go over very well! One of them was a chocolate mousse pie from HERE. It earned rave reviews and I wish I had taken a pic like she had on her blog, but here is the full pie before I put it in the fridge for a day.

It was so so easy and fun to make! Hard to tell here, but if you use an 8 inch pie crust or pan (if you make your own crust), this thing is really an impressive height and gorgeous on a place with whipped cream.

Got a bit more progress on my Summer Bouquet last week. It was kind of a slow work week, so I was able to sneak in some stitches after work. 

She's shaping up nicely! This one has also inspired me to do more of those "old" or vintage designs that I've held on to for years in favor of newer, shinier, ones. Don't get me wrong-I LOVE seeing and buying new designs! But I stitch so slow, I think I need to go back and pick out some of my favorites from over the many years I've been stitching and get to work!

How do you feel about older and vintage designs? I have so many that I really love and tons of old magazines too that have great designs in them that I have forgotten about over the years. 

I hope your Easter was fabulous and everyone is enjoying lots of stitching and crafting time! See you soon with hopefully a lot more progress on my Summer Bouquet!

Cedar Hill Summer Bouquet Progress Update

Happy April! It's been a busy couple weeks but I did manage to work on my Summer Bouquet.

Spring is good here so far. We've had some really nice and enjoyable weather. Last night, we had the most beautiful and interesting lightning clouds I've seen in a long time. 

We celebrated my lovely daughter in law's upcoming birthday at a nice restaurant downtown this weekend. We had a nice time, and I'm so thankful she is a part of our family. Such a wonderful young woman and I'm happy to call her my friend as well! She and my son are the icing on the cake of my life. 

They take such good care of each other, and I'm so glad they have one another.

I hope everyone is getting some nice stitching time in! The longer days are such a joy now. I love it! We are all on a wellness journey around here, so it makes it nice for doing things outside, like walking. My little girl doesn't like to walk around the neighborhood anymore, but my grand dog sure does! So he's giving his pawrents a nice workout in the evenings when they get home from work.

I'll be back soon with another update on Summer Bouquet. I'm a row off here, a stich off there, but I'm going with it, lol. We'll see how it works up!

Until next time!

Cedar Hill and Tiny Mouse

Been a rough, busy week here! In spite of it all, I managed to work on my Cedar Hill Summer Bouquet. 

I think she's turning out lovely. I am trying to let go of my perfectionist nature a bit. Perfection is the enemy of good. And perfection is the enemy of DONE. I still waver between my idea of perfection and good enough for me. In between is OK!

For instance, the directions on the piece said that doing one stitch at a time is the ONLY way to achieve the desired effect on the black eyed susans. Well I really loathe doing "xxxx", and much prefer "////", then making the full cross stitch on the way back to the left. And as you can see, they turned out lovely with really nice variegation! Good enough for me!

I started crocheting a little tiny mouse and have the head done. And seriously, her face just melts me! I won't be able to work on the rest of her for a bit, but she's going to be precious!

Let's see...my little granddog, Franklin, got neutered last week and boy oh boy, was he pitiful. Then at about 4am Friday morning, my father in law had to go to the hospital by ambulance with some breathing and heart issues. He soldiered on through, but needs some medication changed up and he should be good to go with maintenance of course! He will be 88 in June, and I think he's done quite well, especially after losing his wife last year. 

I hope everyone reading this is doing well! I'll be back soon with more updates!

Take care and get lots of stitching in!

Cedar Hill Update, Woodlawn, VMFA

Making good progress on my Summer Bouquet. It's been enjoyable so far, but I can tell you this: I have stitched with DMC 610 enough times to say it's my least favorite color to work with. It doesn't like to lay right. It's like it's twisted too much or shreds too much or something. I hate it! LOL

I'm working from right to left on this one because it's so long horizontally, and I don't want to risk dragging my hands and needle over the front and back while working on the far side. Going good so far!

My mom and I made it to Woodlawn last week and the exhibit was really nice! The weather was really pretty and we had a great time. We hit up In Stitches, where I did not buy even one new pattern. Unbelievable, right? Especially right after market when all the new stuff was in! I did however, get two pieces of new fabric. I got some PTP aida in Ancient and Ale. I got the ale because I wasn't sure I was going to keep stitching Summer Bouquet on linen but I am going to after all.

I've always wanted to do something on Ancient! Also picked up the Whisky I needed and mom was able to get a floss she needed too for something she has in mind.

Just a few things that struck my fancy while we were there. So much talent to view. I loved all the needlework quotes on the walls they had some years back, but they took all of it away. It really added to the space I thought!

Then my son and I went to the VA Museum of Fine Arts and wandered around before having a really nice lunch. A couple of things I could hardly stop looking at...

Just so beautiful! We had such a nice time. Then I got to spend a nice afternoon with my daughter in law having lunch and chatting. I took a couple days off from work to do these things and it was wonderful. I needed it and I loved connecting with all the people I love so much.

I will leave you here so I can go and stitch some more! I hope you are doing the same or at least enjoying yourselves in some way. 

See you soon with more updates!

Black Bunny is Done and New Start!

Black Bunny is done! Such a fun stitch and really pretty gothic type design and colors. Work was busy last week so it took me a bit longer than I anticipated. Quick stitch! 

Did this on 14 ct. Fiddler's Aida with all called for DMC flosses. I signed it with a light color floss from the design so it didn't take away anything.

OK, now I am so excited to start my next project. I've wanted to do this one for years. I have collected a few other of the Cedar Hill "bouquet" or floral projects. They are so pretty. That is one of the designers I really miss so much. This one is Summer Bouquet. I'm stitching it on 28 ct. Picture This Plus "Ale" linen. I think it'll look fabulous on that. 

This one uses all DMC save for one, which is for the Black Eyed Susans on the right of the design. That one uses WDW "Whiskey" which I hope I can find in a couple days when I go to the Woodlawn Exhibit. Mom and I always pop in to In Stitches, so I really hope they have it. I have plenty of time to order if they don't though.

The last two days have been beautiful here. I relish seeing the sun and blue sky after so much gloominess and drizzly rain. I hope wherever you are the weather is good and all is well. 

Take care of yourselves and make some time to stitch or do whatever soothes your soul. See you soon with an update on Summer Bouquet!

 

Black Bunny Progress - yes, Progress!

Happy to say I've gotten some real progress in during just the last few days! The colors are so yummy. I'm saving the bunny for last. Using two strands of floss over 14 ct Fiddler's Aida. 

Really enjoying working on this one. Showing a bit more yellow-y than it actually is, but you get the jist!

I also forgot to share a couple of snow ladies I gave to my mom and my daughter in law for "Galentine's Day"! We celebrated our first official one a couple weeks ago and had a great time. We exchanged candy and little gifts, and I had such fun making two of these!

I have a little collection now of some primitive patterns, and I could really spend all day, every day, doing them. It is so fun. I'm going to concentrate on cross stitching for a while though because there are so many things I want to accomplish that I'd like to get at least a few of them done this year. But I also want to make a few more primitive dolls, so I'll do that in between stitching I think. Now, to find time to crochet....

Black Bunny is working up pretty quick, so if I keep at it, I'll see you back here soon!

Until next time,

Terrible Pics and 30 Year Old Floss!

Like I said, who is ready for some terrible photos and old floss??!   <raises hand> Me! Me! Me!

Been a while for an update so here it goes.

I need a quickie, lol. So I'm going to start with this sweet pattern by TuskandCardinal on Etsy. If you've not been in her shop, go NOW. I'll wait.

Terrible pic 1 - yep, it's straight off my computer. How sweet is that little black bunny with his red eye?? I was missing ONE floss for this sweetie and went to Michael's today and they had it. I bought a bunch of other floss too and guess which one didn't make it home? It must have fallen out of my cart on the way to the register. Drats.

Terrible pic 2, above. Doing this sweet little design on good old 14 ct. Fiddler's by DMC. Believe me the fabric is not ombre. I took it outside and the sun must have distorted the colors. As promised, those flosses are about 25-30 years old. I have normally been replacing my flosses when I start a new design and putting them on all matching plastic bobbins, but I just wanted to hurry and get started with this one, so I put it off.

I am following up this little quickie design with this one, which I have so long admired by Cedar Hill. Gosh I absolutely loved their designs. They make me feel so nostalgic for what was going on in my life when they released all their floral beauties. I still need to collect a few I am missing. When I find them in my stash unloading groups, I try to snap them up as I can.

Terrible pic 3, here we come!

It's unseasonable warm this week and Feb has been so fickle here in VA. Forty some degrees one day, then we're expecting a high of 80 in just a few days! I hope it all evens out soon.

I've not done any Project Life this year, and need to catch up on the last half of the year for last year's book. When my kiddos moved out, the steam went out of it for me for a while. I'll get it back hopefully.

Hopefully, everyone reading this is having a lovely Fool's Spring with it's warmer than usual weather and enjoying lots of stitching. 

Be back soon with more stitching and babble! Until then,

 

Tansy Yarrow Rue is DONE!

YES! First finish of 2023! I don't even think I had any stitching finishes last year. But after looking back and seeing all I was dealing with, it's OK. 

So here is Pineberry Lane's Tansy Yarrow Rue. It is on 16 ct Aida, which I hand dyed myself and using one strand of floss. The left side looks weirdly dark, but it's not. Must have been a shadow.

I'm very happy with this one, as I am with all the Pineberry Lane designs. She just makes the cutest things.

So now to figure out what I want to work on next!

Well, I'm going to leave with a pic of my sweet Jenny, 16.5 years old and spunky and sweet as ever. She amazes us! And she loves to keep me company while I stitch, so she's been pretty happy this week while I finished up this one.

Good luck with all your 2023 stitching and try not to put too much pressure on yourselves to compete with everyone else! We all have to go at our own pace to keep the stitching fun!

Until next time!