This Caught My Eye

                                  

From wonderful Purl Soho comes the complete and free pattern to make this Ticking Stripe Wrap/Scarf .  I love the stripe of bright colour and I love how they write out their instructions.  Great detail in requirements, etc. so the guess work is nil.  And the best bit of all is that this is mostly stockinette stitch!

If you are thinking at all of a hand worked Christmas...

Making Hexies is all over the quilting world.  Those little hexagons that most people fashion with the EPP method are being sewn into all sorts of lovely projects and this one caught my eye.  This is a photo of Pamela's work from her blog Hokkaido Kudasai. Pamela is an American teaching English in Japan and is embracing all things Japanese particularly in her stitcheries.  Her blog is very interesting combining local photos and hand work.



I just love her little hexie Christmas ornaments, especially the fussy cut little motifs.  A lot of Christmas fabric lends itself to fussy cutting come to think of it.


Bee-utiful Quilt Along

 Each block features a bee or two and little inspirational sayings.

 

These blocks have been popping up around the web.  This is Pamela Morgan's Quilt-Along on the Moda BakeShop site and that link is Here for the free patterns to make these sweet blocks.
Pam's blog is Sweet Little Stitches and I love how she writes, not only about her quilting projects, but other topics as well.  Pam also generously shares tutorials and even videos of these to help us replicate her lovely work.  Check it out.

The Upside of a Little Deafness

Not long after we moved in I was awakened at 5:45 am with the sound of loud hammering.  I got out of bed and peered out the window a little cautiously because it sounded like someone was hammering right on the side of the house which made absolutely no sense, but..

  I realized the sound was coming from the Treehouse (yes, the property came with a real Treehouse); was someone in it hammering?? I pulled on a robe and ventured outside.  Here is what I saw.

Can you spy him?  Mr. Pileated Woodpecker, I mean.

What a racket he was making and very unmindful of me beneath the tree.  I ran back in the house and came back with the camera and he was still hammering like crazy, pausing from time to time to dip his beak and that incredibly long tongue of his far inside the recesses he was making.  

No returning to sleep for me. And by the way, the dogs gave no heed to the hammering at all which was probably an indication that they knew there was no danger.

 Meanwhile Hubby slept right through it.

Sometimes being a bit deaf is a blessing!

Itching to Stitch Quilty 365, Tulip Basket Wallhanging

The 'itch to stitch' is back and I am so glad it is.
I have been working on my cross stitch project and wanted to continue the appliqued hangings started ages ago before the move.

 I thought I would start off with a little slow stitching to get myself back into my routine.  I still haven't taken my sewing machine out of its box. But soon.

I worked a few embroidered stitches on more of the Quilty 365 blocks.  At my rate, this will not be a 365 block project for me; more like a 100 block project.

So much fun to pick and choose even small bits of fabric to work into these blocks.

And made some decisions about the Tulip appliqued hanging.  So long since I showed you...

I decided to hand stitch around the flowers and stems.  Time consuming but enjoyable.

And quickly realized that with the fusible applique there is fraying of the fabric edges that occurs.  To that end I bought an item called Fray Check to hopefully control the tiny little threads peeking out here and there.  Still learning, as I've stated about myself time and time again.

I also worked out what I'd like to do for the next part, the first border pieces.  A wave of ivy with a few flowers and leaves is what I settled on.  I chose the background fabric, drew out the designs on freezer paper and began the process of EPP them.  No fusing for these.

This has been a nice quiet activity for me.  Just right to get me settled down, relaxed and enjoying the contentment stitching can bring me.

Hope there is something bringing you contentment this weekend.

Mom's Crochet and My New Drapes

My Mother's Handiwork

The granny square afghan on the right was her way of using up her wool scraps from the previous afghans.  The granny on the left is Lucy from Attic 24's Cupcake selection of Stylecraft Special DK wool.  My wish would be that I could still be making lovely warm gifts for family when I am her age.

 Choosing Drapes

Before I continue I should tell you that I've always had rather bland drapes.  I tend to err on the side of safe so gray, beige, off white are often the colours I've used for curtains.  And for many years, I used only lace curtains in cream or white on all my windows.
 But this house, with no painted walls, presented a different kind of issue for curtains.
There are two very large windows in the main area where the kitchen, dining and living room are.  Because of all the wood, I knew the space could use real colour in the drape material for contrast. This was my chance to stray from the safe and do something a little more exciting with a window treatment.

 Since I love Jacobean design, I immediately liked these panels from Wayfair but they were very pricey.



I do love all the colours used to work up the various floral motifs.
  I kept looking and found another fabric at Ikea that I also liked.  The patterns are not quite as intricate but the colours are bright and interesting.  And the price was wonderful.

These are Rodarv curtains.  I had to hem the four panels and I confess I did it the easy, no sew way by using fusible strips.

I love the colour palette and there are definitely great quilting/embroidering motifs all over it.

How lazy was this?  I put the panels on the rods and set up the ironing board.  I measured, cut and ironed on the Heat n Bond right there.  It took me about twenty minutes per panel.  I measured to have them reach almost to the floor with a one inch hem.  And when I had the measurements worked out for the first panel, the other three were a breeze to fix.

I'm going to make a valance for the kitchen window from the material I cut off.  One of these days I'll get a better photo of the curtains against the wood so you can see how they work in the room.  I worried they would look too 'busy' but no fears, the large area swallows them up.

They really are cheerful.  Hubby called them 'cheap and cheerful', an expression from his mother.  I think they were about $40 a pair, cheap enough I could have another set for the winter months...something less airy and a little wintry perhaps.

What do you think?

Tidying This Head of Mine

What is it about the heat that makes me want to get my head tidied up. Humidity plays havoc with this hair of mine, I guess is why.   With that in mind I decided to get a professional cut.  First Choice is a bargain hairdresser chain here so I figured why not give them a try.  Whoever cut my hair couldn't do any worse than the job I do on it myself.  I don't remember if I had a professional trim last year or not; I'm thinking it's been two years now.

Of course, those of you with nice straight  hair won't understand what it is like to have a curly mop that as soon as a bit of humidity appears, every hair flies off in a different direction and decides to frizz up at the same time.  Then hair spray with extra humidity control is my best friend.

 So off I went and what a cut!  The very young woman had my head practically shorn in five minutes.  I think it is the shortest cut I've ever gotten but I like it.  It is an excellent cut and she left just enough on the top for me to fool around with a little bit.

 Here is a picture of me about three weeks after the shearing.  Kind of hard to tell but my wings are gone...those especially frizzy ear flaps I was sporting on each side of my head.

I'm liking this enough that I might keep my hair clipped super short from now on.  The daughters aka my fashion police, are getting used to it; thought it was too brief in the beginning but like the way it is growing out.  And I am getting a little spoiled with how easy this is to take care of.
  More time for stitching, right?

Choosing The Right Book For a Holiday and Just CrossStitch News

Somebody asked why I chose The Luckiest Girl Alive to read on a trip.  And there is a special reason for it which I think I wrote about before.  The thought is giving me a deja vu moment, blog-wise.  Anyway, the reason is this.
  I once saved a 'good' book for my second (and last) trip to Florida.  Hefty in size and serious in nature, I thought Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky with its fantastic reviews would be wonderful to take me through my holiday.

I began reading it the first morning after settling down on a bright blue cabana on the beach, happy to have left the snow and cold so far behind me, if only for a few days.

 This book begins with the story of the Parisian family having to evacuate their home ahead of the Nazi German invasion during World War II. It was well written and I immediately felt drawn into the direst of circumstances a family could face.

 From time to time I would glance up from the page to look at the pelicans rising up and down from the ocean or to look at a child happily shouting or to smile back at the smiling people strolling the beach.

 It wasn't long before I couldn't continue Suite Francaise.  It is somber, very somber.  I began to feel badly that here was I sitting on a beach on a lovely little holiday while there were people who had actually lived through these horrific events. It was definitely not the book for me to read on holiday.

 There was no way I could get another book so I was a bit lost without one.  At one point I thought of canvassing the fellow vacationers to see if anyone had a book I could read.  LOL
Anyway, since then, I do not take a 'heavy' book on vacation.
Has anything like that happened to you?

Meanwhile, in other happier news, Christmas in July was happening all over the stitching internet.  Almost passed me by completely this year but I did get to follow a couple of lovely projects and ogle the results.  I love Christmas so would love the idea of working something Christmasy in the summer time.

The annual Just CrossStitch special Christmas Ornaments issues have become collectors' items.  They always offer the most beautiful little Christmas/holiday designs.  There is something for everyone of all skill levels amongst the 70 projects.  You can preorder your copy from Annie's Craft store for $9.99 US.  That link is HERE.  It will be on the stands the end of August.

I notice Prim like designs are sneaking in there.  I love all these you can see on the cover.  Amazing how there can still be fresh variations on the same themes yet there always are.

Stitchers' creativity is a wonderful, inspiring thing...always.

Hard Way to Lose Weight, Father of the Bride House, Floral Bouquet Cross Stitch

Apologies to new readers just tuning in and thinking so where is the stitching, the quilting, the crocheting??  She has lost her therapy!

Well it's all here, and gradually emerging from that awful dream of boxes and packing tape and $10 Canadian Tire plastic totes.  One of the longest conversations Hubby and I had during the packing frenzy was about said totes...should we 'invest' in totes rather than boxes; yes was the answer.  That opened a can of worms about which kind of totes and we quickly found out the world is awash in totes galore it seems.  Heavy duty, snap on lids, carrying handles, small, medium, large, jumbo...oh it seemed we almost came apart at the decision making about the darn totes. 

 But in our defense we'd just come off the decision making about the kind of packing tape to use, equally as confusing.  Note: if you buy cheap tape it will just stick to itself and nothing else and will peel off in tiny, albeit long, but very frustrating narrow strips.
Okay, I promise that is the end of the packing chatter.

This is where I stopped with the Floral Bouquet; pardon the awful photo.  By the time I found the camera and thought of taking a picture, it was dark outside.

As I've shared, Hubby and I had been house hunting and been successful in finding a house we both like.
What a great time I had during the looking as it is a love of mine to view houses. I have little interest in big but I have great interest in features.  I like houses that are a little unique and as several of you have commented, I think I have found one.
But my old fashioned sentimental favourites are older homes with center hall plan, long windows, a wide staircase, eat in kitchens.  There is something about any of the older styles that appeal to me.
Remember the Father of the Bride house?  It was very popular.

How do you feel about formal dining rooms?  I've read they are used an average of just 4 times a year.  A  dining room was not on our list especially since I didn't want one to sub for a sewing room anymore.

I have actually lost a few pounds since the packing began.  I probably would have lost more except for having to feed Hubby.  I have no worries; I have lots of body weight in reserve (lol) but he doesn't so I had to be sure meals were still ready on time no matter how busy.  

 At one point we wondered if moving household is more a young person's game.
 But on the up side, our brains and bodies have gotten a real workout because of the experience. Photos of the new place next time!