"Hey, if I had somewhere to go, I certainly wouldn't be in Cleve-Land." -Howard the Duck

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Busy Week

It's Sunday again & football is about to start.  No Browns game today...it's a bye week for them.  But football is football...so I'll be stitching more later.  Our weather is gorgeous...but slightly overcast today...perfect for stitching. 
 
 
 
 
 
The flowers I'm sharing today bring my count up to 64...yea!  Since I've gotta stop at around 77 then get back to assembling all the flowers...to make sure I have enough green for the entire pathway...I pulled out centers & matched them up with prints I want to be sure to get into this quilt...and spent time cutting those hexies.  My heart rate was too fast this week...so hand stitching is one of the only things I could do...thank heavens for that.  I did see my doc...so meds have been adjusted & seem to be helping.  Between the heart rate & asthma...it was a challenging week.
 
That's my old plastic template from the 1970s...cut from a plastic lid.  It serves me well with it's matching larger one for the cutting lines of those hexies.  It will still be used to cut all those green hexies...and possibly more flowers if I end up with enough green yardage.  I can't buy more of that green...it's also from the 1970s & originally I was planning a double bed quilt.  If I don't have enough green, I can border the garden with multi colored hexies...or add half flowers to make it a rectangle...then add solid or print borders to get to a queen size.  I'll make it work somehow. 
 
So now I have my cigar box with possibly the last of the flowers all cut out & ready to stitch.  Fluff approves as you can see. 
 
Here's my box...all ready for the week ahead.  Oh...and I also started to cut out tumblers from the leftovers of these 30s prints...and white cotton.  My next slow stitching project will be a tumbler quilt...the tumblers are 2.5" high when cut...so just 2" high when sewn together.  While I have lots of machine pieced projects in the works...I know I have to always have some hand stitching ready to go.  I'll need the tumblers to break up the monotony of all the green in my future. 
 
Once again...I'm linking up at Kathy's blog with other slow stitching enthusiasts...it's worth your time to go visit their blogs & leave a comment, too.  LOTS of wonderful eye candy!
 
 
 

Monday, September 22, 2014

Still Slow Stitching

I'm really loving football season this year.  The Cleveland Browns lost yesterday...in the last 4 seconds of the game.  They are actually playing football this year...that hasn't happened in a long time!  We may finally have a team here.  I'm still a San Diego Chargers fan...but the Browns get my attention & cheers this year, too.
 
I can't just sit & watch anything...it used to drive my Mom crazy when I'd visit. 
 
I got these 3 flowers finished during the games yesterday...and made a couple centers, too. 
 
I'm happy with my progress here...and there's Monday Night Football, of course.  I have some flowers ready to piece during that game...I don't even know who's playing...it doesn't really matter. 
 
Last week was rather traumatic...my old sewing machine died.  It's a White portable that I bought right out of college in the 1970s.  The motor froze up...and I fear repairing it would be more expensive than investing in a new machine.  So...I went online & ordered a new sewing machine from Target.  It arrived on Friday...FAST shipping...and I'm playing with it to see how it works.  It's a very basic machine, which is all I need.  I'll share pix of her soon. 
 
I'm linking up with Kathy & other slow stitching enthusiasts here...be sure to visit to see some amazing works of fiber art.
 
 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Flowers on Sunday

It was a miracle here in Cleveland, OH yesterday...the Cleveland Browns actually won a game!  AND it was the home opener...they haven't won a home opener since 2004.  Let's hope they keep in the winning column...I get a lot of slow stitching done while football is on the TV. 

 
 
 
 
Two of these were actually done during the week...but these 5 flowers bring my count to 55 if my math is right & if I wrote down all of them along the way.  Each flower brings me a little closer to my goal of finally finishing this quilt started back in the 1970s. 
 
I also worked on a couple more things for gifts...but I can't share those yet.  I did share this pretty little pincushion which is already getting good use.  In a couple weeks I'll have more pix to show.
 
I finally figured out what to make with some faux starfish I picked up in the dollar bins at Michael's...probably 2-3 years ago.  I painted them with some pearl paint, then wrapped some rose gold colored wire around to make a hanger...then got our the Glossy Accents & a jar of small pearls & started gluing them on to hide the wire.
 
I think it turned out really well...even though a lot of the wire is still visible.  Once it's hanging on the tree, it really won't matter.  That is IF we get to put up a tree this year...the furry kids are still climbing the curtains...so we may have to wait another year before it's safe to get out the tree again. 
 
I'm sharing this at Kathy's Sunday Slow Stitching...there are lots of links there for you to visit to see what others have been up to.  I need to get busy on some quick machine stitched quilts, too...it's only the middle of September & I woke up at 3am trying to breathe...it was only 60 degrees inside the house...40s outside...so I turned on the furnace to warm up the air a bit.  Asthma and cold air don't mix...I hope this isn't a sign of what the winter will be like.  I can't stand cold weather.  Have I told you lately just how much I hate living in Ohio???
 
 

Friday, September 12, 2014

Pretty Little Pincushion

I can share this now because my cyber friend Joy received it yesterday.  I've been buying lots of 1930s prints for my quilt from Joy's eBay shop.  Joy & I have been emailing back & forth and she mentioned how much she likes lavender prints.  All of the prints above...except for the little daisy print on the left are ones I've purchased from her.  I always have scraps left from cutting out my hexies...and I think these all came together in a lovely way.

I've been making these pincushions since the 1970s.  Back then I went on vacation to New England...and in a little shop on Cape Cod I bought another pincushion that was filled with sand from the beach in Cape Cod.  I loved that idea...but since I'm not sure the sands of the beach at Lake Erie have as much charm as the sand from Cape Cod...I just bought sand to fill my pincushions.  I have a bunch of these that I've been using since the 70s...I like how the point of the fan fits into the corner of a box when I've got some small projects in process. 
 
I have some of these little beauties for sale in my Etsy shop...and I've been adding other items to my shop, too.  I even have a couple quilt kits that were my Mom's that I'll never complete...one may just appeal to you!
 
This one is a queen/king applique quilt...still sealed in the original package.  This makes the quilt top only...you'll still need the backing & batting.
 
*****SOLD...THANKS!*****
This one is for a double bed...cross stitch is just not my favorite but this is a pretty quilt if that's your style.  The kit has the quilt top only...you'll need floss & the batting & backing to finish it.  It has a certain 1950s appeal.  Both quilt kits are priced to sell.
 
I'd love to have you visit...and you can use the discount code BLOG10 to save 10% on your order before shipping.  You need to enter the code at checkout...I can't go back & apply it later. 
 
Fall is definitely in the air here...these would be good projects for the cold nights to come.
 
Happy Friday!!!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Not much slow stitching this week...

Well...honestly I have done some more stitching this week...but it's all for gifts that have not been mailed yet...so I can't share pix yet.  I did manage to get this pretty green & pink flower done...I love that pink bunny fabric.
 
Alice in Wonderland surrounds these funky shapes on the turquoise fabric...gotta love anything Alice in Wonderland. 
 
I had lots of help from Fluff here...he loves "helping" by draping his body over my hands as I try to type...but there's no resisting that face.
 
Today is the first Sunday of FOOTBALL season...so I'll be in my studio...with the games on...and piecing some more hexies.  I can rarely just sit & watch TV...so hopefully I'll have lots of pretty flowers to share here next week.
 
I'm linking up at Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday again...be sure to check out what all the others are sharing when you visit. 
 

Friday, September 5, 2014

A Swap for All Seasons...wrapping it up

This was the end of A Swap for All Seasons...it's hard to believe we've been swapping for a year already.  I received these cool cards from my partner, Wendy of The Frog Palace.  I love spiders & cats...so the cards are perfect. 

These are the tags she made for me.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays...although it was better in Southern CA where it was warm at the end of October.  Living in OH ruins all the autumn/winter holidays for me.  Escape from here is a high priority!
 
Luckily I have kitty friends to cheer me up.  This is Peanut...he was fascinated by the goodies Wendy sent my way.  I was eventually able to get him to leave the table so I could actually show you the fun goodies.
 
As you can see...there are fascinating kitty toys in here!!!  Those little figurines are the temptation.
 
I haven't seen this toy since I took that photo...it will surface one of these days...this swap was definitely kitty approved.  Gracie ran off with the burlap rose and hid it...she's rather possessive.
 
All of these sparkly goodies were just too tempting...and this is the best photo I could get.  Since sparkles aren't on the kitty diet...these were quickly put away for safe keeping.  Thanks, Wendy for all the swap goodies...and Peanut thanks you, too!
 
The partner I sent to was Sally...of Sally Annie Magundy Homemade.  The wrapped goodies above are what I sent her way...and quite honestly, her pix of what I sent to her are so much better than mine...so visit her blog here to see what I created for her.
 
Swapping is always so much fun...I don't do it very much anymore as I'm preoccupied with my quilting these days...but it's a good idea to play a bit every now & then.
 
Have a very creative week ahead...and take time to play!