Yesterday was a middling day with no appointments and drizzling outside making it gloomy inside. My mind was all over the place and I felt like I accomplished only odd bits and pieces here and there all day. Like I played with things rather than getting down to working. Sometimes a blank day is a good thing to have and other times it becomes meandering, missing some drive, so that I get little done. But all that matters less as a retiree as no one is depending on my "work".
However I did have a little sort of work recently. That was sewing his name on both Robbie's hockey jerseys. He's playing hockey in a league again this year and has moved up a level. Hockey is huge here! But this is just for fun with absolutely no pressure which is a good thing. As long as he enjoys it, his parents will support him.
The Ladybird books were a part of my childhood and I was happy to also share them with my girls. Are they familiar to you? I came across this one in a thrift store and almost bought it and now regret I didn't. I love this cover.
Do you like whimsy? I really do. And it taps into my sentimentality about things from childhood too.
This also reminded me that the mushrooms did not fare well here this year. Maybe July's heat and humidity affected them; no idea. Other things were outstanding. Like the Hydrangea that is still sending out blooms and getting tinged with pink by the cooler overnight temperatures. Side view.
LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week has to do with fortune telling like having our palms read.
I've had mine read three times in my life.
The first time what stood out was she said I would have two children and a long marriage both of which I did. 34 years with first hubby which I guess is long.
The second one talked about emotions and health more than anything else. Nothing concrete though more general like I was kind and emotional and creative and might live a long life...I tried to pin her down on what she meant by long but no deal.
The third one in San Francisco told me I had many children. I told her that was untrue. She insisted my hand was showing many children...she got a little curt with me in fact. Finally I said I had just two children but I was around kids as a teacher. She said, ahh then you treat your students like they are your children. She also told me I showed my emotions but was secretive about true feelings like, she went on, you are hiding a deep sadness. I welled up as I thought she had struck a chord. Later, when I thought about it, I figured she said that to everyone because perhaps we all have a deep sadness within us. What do you think? I do think she was probably the best of the lot at "reading" people maybe not necessarily palms.
Anyway, all in good fun. What about you? Have you had your tea leaves read or your palm?? I'd love to hear about it!
My Plus quilt binding is done! I'm going to put it through the wash and have it all ready for a little squishy Christmas gift.
Pumpkins are neat gifts too!
That reminds me of one of my daughters when she was little not liking Christmas presents that were squishy, assuming they were clothes, :D
Hope you have had a good week and now something fun to look forward to on the weekend!
Autumn Marigolds with a little dew, very early morning. Flirting with frost warnings this week.
Through the camera lens, this one looked like it was made of porcelain.
Something I saw I wanted...with heating with wood during our winters, there are cold nooks and crannies about the house. I think I need one of these...I was given a short one last winter which I loved so a full length might be even better. I think I'm going to put it on my Christmas gift list for the girls too. Definitely not chic! At Amazon (not affiliated).
Speaking of cold and blankets, I picked up my crochet blanket project again. It got held up as I ran out of several of the colours and I didn't want to make it any scrappier than it already was. At that time too, the weather turned to spring and I lost that work with wool feeling.
I ordered four balls of wool, enough to finish, from the Wool Warehouse UK which offers excellent service and has the largest array of my favourite yarn, the Stylecraft Special DK. There is also a wide selection of fabrics, patterns, notions and haberdashery items to be found there. (also not affiliated)
I spent an enjoyable time last night crocheting while we watched this. Excellent characters/acting.
I'm going to check out the current QAL's that are on the go. Joining that Rainbow House QAL last spring did make me stay focused in the sewing room and on task, so perhaps joining another just now would be a good thing. I'll be checking out this list to see if anything jumps out at me ...
Thank you Frederique for this wonderful roundup of present QAL's ....Quilting Patchwork Applique
Any tweaking your interest?
Of course, finishing the bindings on both the Aqua and the Plus quilt will be my focus this week. Almost there!
Before I leave you today, I would invite you to read THIS POST by Gay at Sentimental Stitches. I had no idea of her family's background and affiliation with quilting through many decades. SO much interesting information about this wonderful past time of ours and the amazing collection she has now inherited.
This week, even with a wet weather forecast, I have to start clearing out the garden. I usually pull out the dead Hosta leaves and tidy up a bit around the beds. I like to leave some leafy debris for the critters and doing that has never affected the next spring's growth. There are two kinds of Hydrangea here, one is the kind that tolerates being cut back now. As well, I'll be spreading some of my composted soil which is working so well. Very happy with the composting.
I photographed this fellow from my usual lookout spot... the kitchen window. He was checking out the bird feeder area and on high alert all the while. He looked well fed and had a beautifully coloured coat that shone in the autumn sun.
I noticed all the little critters immediately disappeared. The only birds that hung around were the Blue Jays and they kept squawking at him. Then I saw this...a Chipmunk taking cover inside this fir bush.
It was cute how he kept poking his head in and out (reminded me of that Whack a Mole game) checking if Mr. Fox was gone or not. He stayed safe!
I was complaining to my friend about not sleeping well and she asked if I was reading at night these days as that always made her sleepy. I confessed I've been using audiobooks recently. So I borrowed this ebook from the library, The Last Gentleman, by Walker Percy. It was a National Book Award finalist back in the sixties. I'm enjoying the writing very much and am reading a few "pages" each night before turning in. I'm also back on the Chamomile tea for after supper sipping. I never tire of reading your suggestions for improving sleep so do keep them coming.
It's the time of year when the 2023 Christmas Ornaments issue is published by the Just Cross Stitch folks. I have a couple older versions and I think the designs have gotten more elaborate and interesting over the years.
Here CZ does a flip through of the latest issue. Really beautiful designs being chosen these days.
Speaking of great designs, our good friend, Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching, has again generously offered a lovely free design to cross stitch- the Halloween one is part of her wonderful Mason Jar series. Halloween Mason Jar Freebie What amazing talent and generous spirit!
The Aqua table runner is getting it's binding chosen today. And my stitching just now is getting the binding sewn onto the Plus Quilt. Going well and I like this green polka dot fabric; I hadn't noticed just how many greens were in the flowery fabrics but there are a lot. And the Sulky variegated green thread is matching it well.
I mentioned tidying in the sewing room during which I seem to have misplaced my little autumn runner I'd started as a QAYG piece. It's around here somewhere.
Just had a UPS fellow drop off our new pool tarp and knocked on the door to let me know a pick up truck had come down our long driveway and left just before him...it struck him as odd. That was nice of him, I thought. A few minutes later, he's back at the door to tell me there were a bunch of people looking for a lost dog out on our main road so that's probably why a strange truck was here. That was really nice of him. I did a run around of our trail but didn't see any dog. Do hope they have found it. Just hate lost pets. Update...the dog didn't get mentioned on the local neighbourhood Facebook page so I'm thinking it was found.
Hope you are hanging onto all your things and especially your wits. :D
Welcome to another post where I share more of the tiny bits that make up my days.
I was delighted to capture these two juvenile robins taking a bath...perhaps their very first, in our little pond. First week in October
It was our Canadian Thanksgiving on October 9 and we had the family here for the large meal. All my pots got used at some point in the process. I cooked a turkey, of course, and made mashed potatoes, oven baked sweet potato slices. buttered cabbage, mashed turnip with a little butter and brown sugar, and carrots. Standard Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner fare.
That's a lot of cabbage but it was a good one. And the all important gravy, made the way Mom made hers, was good too.
I also baked dropped biscuits with cheddar cheese, parsley and chives. They were good but I had omitted any sugar which I think they could have benefitted from. Hopefully, a fact I'll keep in mind next time I make them. The last of them...
Serious Eats has a recipe for Quick and Easy Drop Biscuits similar to the very old recipe I used.
It was a fun time with some well needed laughs. Ever since I can remember, after a big meal with company, I enjoy doing the cleanup by myself. I put on music or these days, an audiobook, take my time and get everything in the kitchen cleaned and back to normal.
On the stitching front...
I am being so good...despite badly wanting to stitch other things, I am beavering away at quilting my Aqua hexagon table runner. Choosing a clam template was easy but then what colour of thread? I auditioned a few and chose the turquoise colour in the end. I figured why not. The piece is already flamboyantly turquoise, teal and aqua. When will I get to use such a bright colour again...not with what I've lined up for autumn stitching, that's for sure.
Gathered has the free clamshell template for a cute project called Panda Pop that I downloaded and am using.
Several of you have asked about the kind of stitch I use for EPP. I enjoy Ladder Stitch, sometimes called Blind Stitch, which, if done correctly, won't show on either side of the material. I try to keep my stitches small and as I've mentioned, I have to take care with my tension as I have a tendency to keep it too tight. Here is a brief video demonstrating how this stitch works. This stitch works especially well for EPP pieces that have material wrapped around templates.
Below is a close up of my quilting stitches. The challenge with this is to keep those stitches the same size and the same space apart. Here one side is larger than the other. Sigh
I found this pretty fabric below for the backing. It was left over from a pair of pillow cases I took apart about 13 years ago to use in just such as this. I had to sew a white strip onto it to make it fit but it is quite a good quality fabric.
I've sat around long enough writing this and need to get more fresh air. Drizzling a little but I'm going for a little jog. This week I'm hoping to visit a farmer's market and a thrift store. Hopefully more about that later.
I'm so thankful for you who read my blog. And the comments and emails are icing on the cake!!
I spent Monday afternoon tidying in the sewing room. That seems to need doing every time I turn around and I thought of some of my quilting blogging friends as I was doing it. Bet they don't get into such a mess in their sewing rooms as I do in mine, I thought, and if one of them should drop in, what would they think! And that made me think of my Javex loving grandmother who was an especially clean freak. We were talking about this issue once and she said her house had to be clean and tidy because she just never knew when the minister might drop in. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Ahh, our reasons for keeping our houses clean! What about you?
Anyway, for my troubles I found this healthy sized stack of scrappy strings. Many are neutrals so would work well in any number of patterns.
Good thing I belong to the Conquering Mount Scrapmore with Brenda group on Facebook. Tons of ideas there as to how to use them. Only problem is there are not enough hours in my days to accomplish all I would like to do on the stitching front.
One of my most responded to notions I've floated here on the blog...I heard from so many of you about the issue of not being too thin in older age. Thank you all! Many of you have doctors in the family who specifically said it is better to have a little reserve weight should illness happen. I myself carry my reserves on my hips and thighs which I'm looking at with a slightly kinder eye now. Where do you carry yours? :D
A new to me bird...I think it is a Yellow Rumped Warbler, a first to be photographed here at the wooden house. Perhaps someone could confirm or identify it. Thanks in advance.
I think I've mentioned I have a lot of table/desk/furniture tops here in the main open area of this house. I've counted 17 including the kitchen area island. So I will always have an excuse to stitch a table topper. And imagine if I decided to change them up with the seasons!
Anyway, that leads me to sharing one of the prettiest free patterns I've come across. From the kind folks and talented Dawn Heese, at Linen Closet Designs, is this piece called The Naturalist. I downloaded the pattern already.
LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week has to do with herbs. Other than a little oregano, curry powder and parsley, I really don't use many in my cooking. I do buy a different one now and then or have some in those sets but they always dry up before I get to use much of them. Oh now that I think about it, I also like lemon pepper and always use that one up. Any you like that you use all the time?
I've not been sleeping well this week doing my usual thing of waking midway through the night with just about every thought in the world whirling about in this crazy head of mine. Most of them sad or worrisome. Why can't I wake up and not be able to sleep because of happy, positive ones!
I took this photo of Tony and Ned walking one of the 4 marvelous public walking trails within a few minutes of the house. This is the one where Beth walks Petey and Abbey. We wondered if Ned could smell them. Don't know about his legs, but his nose certainly got a workout!
Speaking of Abbey and Petey, here is a cute brief video Beth took of them. They are definitely lovable Labs.
This strange orange glowing dessert below is my Plum Crisp in the oven light. I'd bought a basket of small plums and they were bitter- so disappointing. Has that happened to you? They looked so good in their cute little basket. But anyway, perfect to use in a welcome October crisp. Tasty with a little ice cream. I used The Seasoned Mom's recipe to work out proportions of flour and oats but of course, I always add extra oats and this is something I will use real butter in too.
I'm ready to set a monthly goal again and join the party at Stories From the Sewing Room. I desperately need borders and bindings on the latest two hand pieced and quilted projects. So a two for one monthly goal is what it will be. And that will require me to get back to machine stitching, but oh well. Needs must!
A little veranda stitching...yes, afternoon temperatures are quite warm and enjoyable. The latest in the season I've ever been able to do this.
This Plus Quilt is 40in x 42in which is a bit odd as I thought it was square. 😕 I'm now adding lines in the opposite direction.
And of course I hope to get the layering done and begin quilting the aqua quilt table runner this week.
I came across this small quilt below, expertly sewn a long time ago by unknown hands...a happy thrift store purchase. The very deep greens are batik. Time to display it on one of my surfaces. It photographed well outside on the deck.
It was a deja vu moment; the pattern rang a bell because I've actually shared it before here on the blog.
And Donna also made a video called Fall Leaves Table Runner showing how she stitched it. My unknown stitcher stopped at one leaf to make a table topper.
" As I get older, I just prefer to knit." - Tracey Ullman
Unlike Tracey, the knitter, I am not monogamous. But I can certainly identify with the desire to stitch above all else as I age. HERE is an amusing article about Tracey and knitting. It includes a superstition about knitting I'd never heard before. Have you?
I love reading about your stitchy preferences, btw, and I'm always learning from you. And thanks so much for the kind words you take the time to share with me about my own stitchy endeavors.
My ring fingertip, right hand, that pushes my needle when hand stitching, is feeling a little sore this morning. I punctured it while stitching and the needle seemed to keep finding that one little hole but I didn't have the sense to stop, of course. Will give it a rest for a day.
Yes, it is starting. I'm wearing gloves on my early morning walks these days. Staying cool but sunny which makes it wonderful fall weather. Here is a little roundup of tiny but wonderful things I enjoyed this week.
Baker Beth gave us these wonderful blueberry muffins and extra chocolatey cookies. A great treat!
I didn't share Robbie's back to school photo before but here he is now soon to be 10! He's tall for his age.
And he gave me this...worms he caught for my compost bin. I told him they will live a very good life there, LOL. He is very caring of wildlife, birds, etc., a quality I hope stays with him.
Something I spied...Leslie, The Seasoned Homemaker, has this free pattern for a very cute mug rug. Anything with leaves catches my eye. Leslie offers many patterns and tutorials plus free patterns at her wonderful site. I love how she emphasizes simple patterns too.
The latest of Mom's Redwork patterns is the Bonavista Lighthouse in Newfoundland. This is special to our family as it is the area where Dad and his people before him lived.
Below is a shot of the back of that lighthouse showing how stark and rocky the edge of the Bonavista peninsula is; the lighthouse is much needed! This was taken by me in 2017 from a tour boat. When we no sooner rounded the peninsula and hit the open Atlantic here, I felt seasick.
Stitching these pieces is like a stroll down memory lane for me. A happy (mostly 😉) stroll.
My Hand Stitched Aqua Table Runner is 40in x 20in without borders. I'm halting the hexies at this point with 63 whole hexies sewn together. Now for figuring out how to deal with those borders. I still have the outer rows of templates left in. I liked how it pressed out nicely with just one obvious pucker. I tend to keep my tension tight with hand stitching and need reminders to relax it. Loved stitching this very much.
Hope there are happy things in your days now too whether quickly heading towards summer or winter in your neck of the woods.
