A Lovely Year of Finishes

I either need to get more motivated or find a better way of keep track of my goals and deadlines. This one is coming in under the wire - it's 5:25 p.m. here :)

I am so very excited to have this one completely finished.

I'm hoping everyone had a very successful month of finishes.

I'm linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes for this one :)

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So what else have I been up to?

 

The Wonky Houses are all stitched :) Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I want to finish them, so they have been safely tucked away until some inspiration strikes.

I'm also working on a new stitchery that I'm revamping. Not that I didn't like the original idea, I just have a different one. I'm getting this one ready for a business trip with Honey Do. He's working and I'll have some down time and time to myself, so I'm getting ready for a marathon stitch :)

And this - some new inspiration by something I found in my yard. Wonder what it will be?

:)

Took the plunge today and the pony tail is gone :)

I feel 50 lbs. lighter and 10 years younger. It's amazing how much your hair defines you and drags you down. I've been wanting to do this for a while now and just couldn't take the step. Today I was out playing at the library and ran across some styles I'd pinned on Pinterest and decided today was as good a day as any.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Time flies

Time is just flying and it's been almost a week since I've posted last. 

I'm amazed at how much I've had to be away from home recently.

Let me just say . . . I DON'T LIKE IT !!!!

However, I am home today :)

First things first . . .  carpet cleaning.

I absolutely, without argument, hate carpet cleaning. We had a old husky who unfortunately had accidents everytime she moved and I was pretty sure the carpet was ruined. The carpets look pretty darn good. I was warned that some of the stains would show back up after drying completely, but at least they are cleaner. I have promised myself to get them professionally cleaned more often.

A clean home - clean carpets - change your entire demeanor. I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

On the crafting front, I've been squeezing it in wherever I can.

 

Block 2 of my wool BOM is complete. So far the only embellishments I have are the beads included in the kit. I'm still playing with ideas, but the main body is complete.

I added some embellishments to Block 1.

Button and crystals are in the center of the flower.

I didn't have it in my original posting.

I've also managed to get two of four Wonky houses stitched :)

 

On to #3 :)

The weather in my part of the country/world can be very unpredictable and erratic at times . . .

Last week temperatures were in the 70s and near 80.

This week . . . not so much :(

 

Yes, that's snow you see on my chair and rhubarb :(

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

FNSI

Lately, things have been crazy busy in my world !!! Spring has sprung, so now there's yard work on top of the house work, laundry, cooking, Bible study, Sunday School and keeping up with friends and family.

We had a gorgeous weekend and to celebrate Honey Do purchased a new grill. Dinner was on him and then we had dessert around the fire pit - s'mores :)

I managed to get some gardening done too.

It doesn't look like much, but the first three rows are in - sugar snap peas, leeks and carrots.

I did a little stitching over the weekend.

 

 

Block 2 of the wool block-of-the-month that I'm doing with BF. I'm having a hard time focusing on any stitching, sewing or craft. Must be spring fever :)

I hope you had a successful Friday night and are enjoying your weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

A.W.O.L.

I have been A.W.O.L., haven't I? Was I missed?  

You have been missed :) I miss sharing my little bits of things going on here.

It's hard to grasp that a week has gone by. I've been busy working on projects, but more catching up on things that got behind while Newton was on spring break.

And speaking of spring . . . 

Spring is FINALLY !!! in full swing. Winter mulch and leaves have been removed from flower beds. 

My plants are able to breath and I'm shocked by how quickly they are breaking grown and taking off. 

The 80+ temperature on Monday didn't hurt either :)

I picked up cabbage, a tomato and eggplant at the garden center. They all went in the ground today. The old bird cages are coming in handy to discourage the deer from munching on my tender young plants. I would really like us to reap the rewards of my labors.

As for crafting, I continue to do the hand quilting on the house quilt. It's a slow process, but it's moving along. 

The Tilda Lovers swap project has been completed. You'll have to wait to see that one until after my partner receives it. I don't want to spoil it for her :)

It's headed to the post office on Wednesday.

The Quilted Snail mystery quilt is now a quilt top.

This one really took me out of my comfort zone. I always use a pattern and have pictures to look at so I can see what it's supposed to look like. The mystery was that you got step by step instructions and in between each step there was a reveal of the quilt in process. You were encouraged and challenged to think "outside the box". I've learned a lot with this one. For now, it's the size of a twin size bed. I don't know if I'll add any more borders to make it bigger. I've put it away for now since I have a quilt on the rack and one more ready to go and a third ready to sandwich. So it will have to wait to be completed.

 

My small Mountmellick are caught up. 

I'm getting ready to work on the large pattern next.

Another Jenny of Elefantz design . . .

Wonky Houses.

This is the first of four I started about a year ago. Yes, another UFO. There is no shortage of them in corner of space and time. Newton had a doctor appointment on Monday and I had a lot of sitting and waiting, so I managed to catch up the Mountmellick and this one. Block two has also been started.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

It's Finished !!!!!

Meet Shabby Rose "Beauty".

This project was begun in the spring of 2013.

And finished just today !!!!

The pattern was published originally in Jenny's monthly digital magazine. I don't know if it's still available. It was the first of Jenny's designs that I fell in love with and stitched.

And now I can happily report its completion.

Getting better at labeling my projects too :)

This is also my ALYOFs goal for April, so it will be uploaded again as a finish with another link.

My next project is a needlebook for for the Tilda Lovers Club on Facebook. It's secret so I can't show too much, but here's a sneaky peak :)

Need to find a state-side source. I love the stockists that I work with in Australia purchasing Tilda fabrics, but postage and time are the biggest negatives to purchasing internationally. But until that changes, I'm purchasing from them - they have been very good to me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

1 . . . 2 . . .3 . . .

Spring break is over and school began again today.

That meant I should have gone back to my normal routine . . .

but I didn't :)

I took the day off and ran some errands . . . 

Got a breakfast sandwich and coffee and delivered it to Honey Do at work . . . 

I did some shopping . . . fabric remnants and the thrift store.

 

Seven pieces - less than $3.00 :)

I had a 50% off coupon :) 

Very, Very happy !!

The weekend was very productive too, given that it was a Holy weekend in the Christian calendar.

We celebrated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Mom came over for dinner and we had a very relaxing afternoon.

I caught up my Vintage Kitchen stitchery. Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen?

It's not too late to jump on this band wagon if you haven't made the decision yet. The patterns are free and you can find them on Jenny's blog.

This is another pattern from Jenny, but it came from her magazine that she's unfortunately had to discontinue publishing. It was a monthly block. I took liberty with the finishing and made it my own. This isn't completely finished yet - still pins in the binding, but it will be finished Monday or Tuesday. This is my UFO goal for the month. I worked on it all weekend, beginning Friday evening. I'm absolutely in love with it and can't wait to show it to you completed. 

I found this stencil with my fabric remnants at our local fabric shop - not to be confused with a quilt shop - but fell in love with them. Aren't they adorable? I'm thinking about using them in the sashing and corner stones of the House quilt. They just fit !!

I joined a Tilda needlebook swap. Got my partner's name last weekend and couldn't be happier. The fabric and pins arrived today from Australia. I haven't found a source in the U.S. for Tilda fabrics yet - if anyone knows of one, I'd love for you to share the information. My partner doesn't particularly care for blue, so I chose a cream floral and a bluish sage to coordinate. Hope it works :)

 

My final block for the Quilter's Garden Mystery swap arrived today. I love it. I was thrilled to see how many participants use a "tree" appropriate fabric for their trees. Next up - the finishing.

So it's been a good weekend and I'm ready to get back into my routine. Temperatures are in the upper 50s this week, but rain. So may be time to begin the spring cleaning. Next week will be soon enough to get outside and start that clean up.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Good Friday

So it's been a week since I've had anything to share :(
Newton has been on spring break, so we've been spending a lot of time together doing things other than my normal routine.

I've also been busy working on my House quilt that didn't get finished for my March ALYOFs goal. I'm ok with that because as much as I didn't think I was going to like hand quilting it, I'm really enjoying the process. It's not a quick process, but it is very satisfying. I have almost an entire row finished. I don't have the borders quilted because I have to decide what I want to do there, but I'm very happy with my progress !!

Next up, I've been working on  my new wool block of the month. This is a project that BF talked to me about joining her. She was going to do it with her mom, but Mom passed away in January. She asked me if I would be interested and I said "sure". I have really been enjoying trying something new. Not new embroidery, but a new medium. 

First month is done :)

My first Mountmellick embroidery is complete. I still have a couple more small ones to catch up and begin on the large floral.

Friday evening will be spent with Netflix and stitching Vintage Kitchen.

Saturday will be spent doing as much prep work for Sunday's meal as I can ahead of time. Other than that I will stay busy stitching - as usual, I don't have a shortage of projects. Isn't that grand?

But just in case . . . 

I've got a new one this month is Wendy's new Friends Stitch-a-long B.O.F.

This is a free project - make sure you get your's. The pattern was published today.

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Wishing you a blessed weekend.