Who's The Pretty Girl

Who's the pretty girl? asks Hubby every day.

No Hubby is not talking to me.  He is talking to Murphy, our Black Lab. Yes, the dog.  We have had a laugh about this.  We do pour a lot of sweet talk into our pets, don't we?  So Murphy is our Pretty Girl and big Rex, the German Shepherd, Rex is our Handsome Fellow.

The belief that we should live with other species is a good one, I think. I like it.

Several years ago, we hosted Hubby's cousin from England which was a lot of fun and interesting to see everything here through his eyes.  Since it was late September, he wanted to see leaves of fall and luckily we found some. But what surprised us most was how fascinated he was with looking up at the night sky and looking at the stars.  The part of England he lived in, the bright lights made it hard to star gaze.

 So every night we would bundle up, step outside our door and stand with him staring upward and thankful for a few clear  nights during his visit so he could spot all the major constellations in our part of the world.  Something we take completely for granted and shouldn't...a peaceful night sky.  Benign and beautiful.

Our night sky last week

I like hearts and I like them as a motif in quilting and cross stitch and especially in embroidery. Below is a great beginner's pattern to learn a number of embroidery stitches. It is also a great piece for the Stitch a Day sew along.

Follow this link to find the tutorial for this lovely Heart Sampler

                                    


I am a bit of a nature nerd.  I've been following the Dale Hallow Eagle cam and watched two eaglets grow up.  I am now a bit addicted to a Barred Owl live cam feed on Youtube.  The sitting mama has now hatched three little owlets. The male has been bringing this female food and she is one well fed mama. I didn't realize how much variety there is in their diet.  She has had a smorgasbord of forest offerings....a worm, several fish, a vole, a mouse, a rabbit, various birds, and a crayfish. She has eaten it all including the fur!

 I check in several times a day just to see how they are doing. To say I like this is to put it mildly.

I like this saying. I don't mind admitting that I am a complicated person though I am mellowing and shrugging off some of the stresses and anxieties that made me more complicated way back when.
And without any shred of bragging... no I am equally aware of the good qualities I possess and have easily shared in this world too.


                                       

Life is certainly quite a ride, isn't it.  We just don't know where it will take us.

I'll be sharing this post with lovely hosts, LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color and  Michelle at It's a Small Town Life.  Lots of wonderful likes and thankful things all over the place.

Free Cross Stitch Patterns

I love looking at various sites on the net and noting anything free that I would like to stitch myself. I usually have a list of downloaded patterns waiting in the queue so I thought today I'd share some of them with you.  Today's list is cross stitch patterns. While I support and purchase patterns from the wonderful designers out there, it is also wonderful when they share free patterns from time to time. 

I belong to a Facebook group that shares free cross stitch patterns.Free Printable Cross Stitch Patterns is the one I belong to if you'd like to check it out.

                                      The wonderful Not Forgotten Farm is an interesting site that generously offers a bank of free patterns to cross stitch.  This is a great site to explore as they also have free tutorials and links to their Farm Shop, Youtube channel and Ebay Store all featuring the folk art and needlework of Peter and Lori Bechlin.  These are primitive type designs and I love them. And oh yes, there are also rug hooking designs.  This is just one example of the many freebies they offer for personal use.

                               
A free owl cross stitch...owls are my favourites.  This one I tracked down at the Cross Stitching Mania blog site 2014, but you can still copy the pattern.  I must remember to share the owl cam I am following in another post.

I came across another site that offers cross stitch kits to purchase and also generously includes a couple of pages of lovely free designs.
The site is Brooke's Books Publishing and most of the designs are the personal work of Brooke Nolan.

I have downloaded Brooke's Stitcher's Alphabet...it is adorable and free. The little squares would take no time to work up.
Y is for Yarn.  So cute.

                                                          


Brooke hosts a very busy interactive Yahoo group where she also shares free designs with her members.  In particular, I love the House For All Seasons series.
 Here you can be taken to Craftsy where these patterns are a free download.
 My favourite is the Winter house with the little cardinal on the roof top.

.  

I'm always impressed and grateful when designers share their talent for free.
 Have you found any you would care to share?

Weight (Yuck) and Stitching Goals

Does this happen to you too?
Throughout our long winter, I notice some pounds creep onto my body.  I am ending winter heavier than I began it.  I maybe should not be blaming winter; I did some wonderful eating throughout those months, a lot of it comfort type meals made by myself so I can't blame anyone else.  Hubby is exactly the same weight as he always was and he seemed to be eating right along with me. And in fact ate far more of the dessert foods I made.

 But I think a woman's body is different somehow; those fat cells just lie in wait to be plumped again.
I don't weigh myself  so I haven't any idea in poundage what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I've redoubled my efforts for food vigilance.  I don't make weight goals but I will make this one... to try to be more mindful of the amounts of food I'm eating.  Portion control Vigilance, in other words. (Sounds like poison control!)

And speaking of food...I did make that 3 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse. As predicted, Hubby loved it.  I made it with the dark, dark chocolate so it wasn't really sweet as such.  The recipe also didn't make that much so Hubby just got three smallish bowls (camera angle enlarging the size here) from it, which was his only complaint.

Goal setting has been on my mind lately.  I just read that we have one quarter of the new year gone already and it made me think of what have I accomplished.  Some of you are posting beautiful finishes and I seem to be working away but nothing near finished yet.

Am I organized enough to set a stitching goal?  I had to think about that.  I tend to plod along working on whatever projects I have at the time without too much thought to when to finish.
( Remember my 9 month long crocheted hexagon afghan!)

But I did have a sort of goal in mind with my Tuesday Flowers project.  I wanted to get at least 10 of the 20 blocks finished before allowing myself to start another quilting project.   I have 9 completed with two more in pieces right now.  So for April I will try to get those two finished with two more added to it.  This is mostly EPP with hand applique and it can't be hurried...that much.
The process of tracing and cutting the freezer paper templates takes time.

Then choosing  the fabrics and shaping each piece around the template.

Block 5 is one where I departed from the freezer paper method and used fusible applique.  It's not my favorite thing to do but it worked well for this particular block.  Then I blanket stitched around each piece which gave me a chance to use those pretty Valdani threads.

That part I do enjoy. Anyway, I'm moving along.

So I'm letting myself start thinking about (maybe) tackling a large project down the road a bit.  To that end I did order a fabric bundle that caught my eye on a Craftsy sale.  I like the idea of red, white and blue, a nod to our Union Jack roots and for a long time have had the plan to make a quilt in those colours. This fabric is called Colonial Manor (Americana).  Can't wait to get it and see if it will go with anything I already have on hand.

                                 


 But here is where I fall down the rabbit's hole...which reds, which blues.  In each of those colour groups there is such a range and they don't all mix well.  This is the toughest part of the quilting process and it comes right at the start!

How about you...any particular goals in mind for the next quarter of the new year?

I am happy to link this post to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts blog.  So much wonderful stitching happening there!

Can You Spot The Bunny?

I like bunnies!
My nickname till I was 7 years old was Bunny so maybe that is why I especially love bunnies.
I know Bugs Bunny cartoons were a Saturday favourite of mine growing up.  Did anybody else watch Bugs, the Wascally Wabbit and the gang?

                                      

I took this photo in Daughter's backyard.  Can you spot the bunny?

Another day he was easier to spy under the bird feeder.

And I was able to take this photo through the window.  So happy to see up close he looked healthy.

Sometimes I think I should have one as a pet.  (But then there is Rex.) But tell me this is just about the cutest thing you've ever seen!




Inspired and inspiring. I think we all love bunnies in our tales and stitcheries and chocolates!

 A Japanese quiltmaker made this beautiful hanging below.  It was featured on Michele's William Morris and Michele blog.
The absolute height of applique perfection, as far as I can tell.  It makes my little Tuesday flower attempts look utterly puny. Which doesn't discourage me at all...I am where I am and I know it is a process, one I enjoy no matter my skill level.



Are there chocolate bunnies in your immediate future or perhaps for some little ones you love.
                                         

Or maybe my favourite, the marshmallow ones...




Hop over to LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Color  where you can read about lovely likes from lots of other bloggers.

Pictures of Around the House, Eating and Stitching...

Testing my new Christmas camera has been a lot of fun.
 So far I've found it takes wonderful shots outdoors but inside it is a little harder to judge the lighting.  I'm still learning how to sort that out.
Here is a little collection of random shots I've taken while trying out different settings and lighting.

Murphy relaxing close to the fire...just about her favourite spot excepting up on the bed.

A good little snack. Do you like these?

Through the kitchen window...this little guy is loving the bird feeder spills.

Early morning moon In the Back Yard

This is the close up I tried to get of the same moon. I didn't realize the camera was so awkward with the telephoto lens extended...I just couldn't hold it up and keep it steady enough to get the photo I wanted.  Well I tried.

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese- yes who knew?

Who knew what a versatile vegetable cauliflower is! And a sneaky kind of vegetable too! Hubby didn't believe there was cauliflower in this but it was half and half. It was a very tasty casserole.
Recipe is here at the Food Network including a video showing how to make it.

Yesterday was a day for cross stitching.  After dull weekend weather we had brilliant sunshine so the lighting from the big window by my Pet Chair was perfect and my Cornwall Cottage Sampler benefited greatly.  I've rounded the corner and started down the right side otherwise known as
Section 4.

This one is a joy to stitch and so easy with such distinct motifs and so few colour changes.

Tuesday's Appliqued Flowers, The Hastings Panels, The Chemist

This weekend my stitching time was devoted to my Tuesday Flowers blocks.  Here are a few together on the wall.

Overall I am happy enough with them.  I like the look of them together. They still have their papers and are unironed so a little touch up here and there will be in order later on.

Block 20

Block 19

Block 17

Block 14

Block 8

All the hand stitching with applique is slow going at times but enjoyable. I am not lagging in my interest in this project though I do feel a little short on fabric choices which is my only real complaint so far.
As so often happens with me, I could do a much better job of each block if I were to redo each one. My inexact eye is a real culprit with the measuring...I wonder is it the left or the right.

I listened to and enjoyed the audiobook of The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer as I worked. Because there is absolutely no paranormal in it and it features a very smart woman, the chemist, on the run,  I only realized partway through that the author was one and the same who wrote the Twilight series. I love when a protagonist is so clever and outwits her enemies by dint of brains rather than muscle. Have you read it?

In between research on the net, I happened upon the panels of The Hastings Embroidery...an example of what real applique should look like. This is one of the twenty seven panels that depicts a total of 81 major events in British history. Twenty-two embroiderers worked for almost a year to create them and used just about every stitch and technique in an embroiderer's arsenal.

 These people figures are so well done.  The completed work of 27 panels is, of course, a masterpiece.

If the Youtube video is accurate this is the scene celebrating John Cabot's discovery of the east coast of North America in 1497 which was called appropriately New Found Land.



And here is John's monument in Bonavista, Newfoundland, Canada to commemorate that great event.

In the distance is to be found a wonderful light house and puffins galore wheeling about the cliffs. Photographers from all the world visit to capture their antics.

I am linking this post with the sweet Busy Hands Quilts, the lovely Patchwork Times, the wonderful Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and the awesome My Quilting Infatuation sites!!

 Check out all the great projects people have 'on the go'.

Last Thursday of March Likes

It is so easy to write this post...turns out I have very many likes in this world!  How about you? Perhaps you'd like to share a post of likes too.  I'd love to read them.

I Like Allie's Tulips

When I saw this pattern the first time dear Allie posted it, I loved it.  What could be better for making us hopeful for spring than seeing lively tulips.  It makes me smile when I look at it.
I couldn't resist; I had to order the pattern for this pretty little hanging from the Allie- Oops Designs Shop on Craftsy.  Check out her Lemon Tree pattern while you're there; it's gorgeous.

 What's stopping me from making it already?  I don't have any kind of greens like this. I have the pinks/reds but all my greens are dark moody ones.  Springy greens are now on my fabric wish list.


                          

Yet Another Pretty Feather

While I searched for the origins of this embroidered feather, I was thinking what a great project it would make for the Stitch A Day SAL happening this year. It is so pretty and the colour choices are masterful.  I couldn't find any information on it but it looks to me to be worked on Aida cloth.  If you find out more about it please let me know so I can credit the wonderful artist.

This is the only link I was able to track down- Fortags.


                                        

Pretty sure I will like this  3 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse !

Yes, this is a three ingredient chocolate mousse.  I haven't tried it yet but I did buy one of those huge chocolate bars and a container of whipping cream to give it a try this weekend. Sadly I always have marshmallows on hand. Can't go wrong, I figure.

                                  

Raised Garden Beds

It's time for raised garden beds.  I'm contemplating these for this summer.  I've even picked out where I'd position them in the garden to get full day sun.  Made of cedar and available in different sizes, they are shipped free from Wayfair.  I like that.

I Like Cake, well who doesn't like cake!

I wanted to end this post with this...what could be better than an absolutely beautiful cake.  Only way this could be better is if I could have a piece, maybe a big corner piece!

This was the annual birthday cake made by the William Morris Society of Canada to celebrate his birthday on March 24th.  Three ladies from the society always make the cake from scratch and to date have made thirteen.   Go here to view all the wonderful cakes made over the years but be forewarned, it will make you want to eat cake.

Don't forget to drop by LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Colour site to see all the wonderful end of March Likes that are being posted.