Butterfly Time

 Hello friends, glad to be back after a long time. Much has happened- I have retired, gotten a few years older, a new puppy and lots of of other changes. But the garden is still there , puppy willing. Here are some of the creatures in my paradise. This is one  of 5 black swallow tail butterfly chrysalis on a dill plant.  Here is “Anna” on top and “Bella” below at day 4.  

A new finish! Early for Christmas 2020,late for 2019!  From the 2010 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue by the Cross Eyed Cricket.  I had this great piece of dyed 28 count fabric that reminded me of a winter sky, so even though the finished product is large, I thought it was perfect for a snow globe!  the photo does an injustice to the pretty linen.

Also used tiny silver stars and clear beads for the "fallen snow" along with a maximum blend for the first layer.  Then used random icy blue beads on the snowman, individual flakes?  Also used a substitute red, WDW weathered barn for the base.

I plan to make it into a hanging flat ornament mimicking the shapes of the snow globe with a fuzzy chenille trim around the globe portion.

And another start I have admired from Theresa Kogut, My Red Hen.  She will fit nicely with the roosters i love to collect.  Since I don't have enough room for a hen house, She will have to do.  Her name is Delilah!

Planning for Stitch Maynia, who me??

So many are listing their plans for Stitch Maynia - like they are really going to stick with them?  That is 3 months away and there is so much to be done.  Such as gardening, cleaning, pulling weeds, finish building the pond, replace the grass with sod, get the inside painting done....  You get it, when is there time for stitching?  Well I think any time is good for stitching, but the plumber does not always agree!

If I were to make a list it would include the items in my to do drawer, many of which are kitted up, and some are simply charts.  And they are...

1.  All of what I got from clubs last year and did not do: Woodland Berry, Tudor Rose Berry (Erica Michaels), Merry Christmas, Christmastime Sewing Roll, Merry and Bright (Pineberry Lane)

2. Others bought at Sassy Jacks: Bee Queen of the Needles, Prim Needles, Witches Shadows (Primitive Hare)

3.  Others I just like from a while ago (no one needs to know how long): Merry One, Pomegranite Santa (Plum Street Samplers), My Black Hen (Teresa Kogut), Octopus's Garden (Blackbird Designs), Paul Revere's Ride, Crossing the Delaware, Betsy Ross (Willow Hill), Prairie Schooler Santas, Embroideress Stocking (Kathy Barrick), Antique Animal Sampler (Elizabeth's Needlework Designs),  Lucy Redd Sampler (Homespun Elegance),

4. Christmas ornaments for grandbabies that I did not do last year

and the list goes on, with all the Halloween things I love (pumpkins, black cats, etc)

When the list is so long, how do you choose where to start?  With the smallest, the oldest, the least complicated, the prettiest?  Throw them up and see what sticks to the ceiling like spagetti?  I have till May to decide!

Happy New Year to all, near and far. May you be blessed beyond measure with peace, love, and flowers!

Happy Thanksgiving to loved ones far way! Blessings to each of you, my heart and light!

Santa is getting closer to town after all. He has a gold border beginning to develop.  After considering how to have a two handed approach without a floor stand, the plumber suggested using a plate easel! It worked sort of, but I settled on a similar method with success.  Decided against the beads as it did not give the gleam I was looking for. Now, using DMC metallic and my great grandmother’s laying tool. Nice effect with a shine not well seen here.  I think it will be quicker and in time for December.

Santa is coming town!  Another project started long ago and steadily put aside till this year.  I started back with the toys in the bag and soldiered on til summer when I gave him a rest. Now I am nearly done- but need to decide on the beading that will create the gold border. I decided to use beads instead of using a gold metallic thread. It will take more time, but I hope the effect is worth it.  Will it be done for Christmas?

I love Santa’s and have several in a variety of techniques. Would you like to see??

What is blooming on Halloween?    

 Lantana and poppies

 


Spooky pumpkins and skeletons

 Marigolds and sunflowers at the urban farm

Catching Up

After some consideration I have decided to keep up the blog, since I need some accountability with my affliction:serial starting off projects!  My name is Kathy and I am addicted to fabric, floss, quilting, stitching and buying plants.  Today I woke up thinking about fabric that I have had for a few years that would make a wonderful teddy bear.  Have I ever made a bear, No.

Then it evolved to a fall theme quilt. Then I moved on to the project  I am currently working on: Boston Tea Party by Willow Hill.  My mind just shield with ideas most of which never come out of my hands.  I did work on the Tea Party, and even ran out of 2 colors which I promptly purchased at my LNS.  Then started back on another old project.  See, serial problems!  #cross stitch addict

Time for true disclosure!

Cross stitch
Boston Tea Party (very close)
Santa (years in the making)
Prairie Schooler Santa
Kit from Dyeing to stitch

Surface embroidery
Patchwork pumpkin
Beehive box

Quilts
Christmas wall hanging

Not framed but completed
Liberty and union
Long and winding road

And 2 quilts pieced but need backing. That does not even cover the stack of projects lifted up. Sigh!  But I did finish a quilt that I started over 20 years ago! Onward and upward....

February Gold

It Feels Like Spring...

Daffodils are the absolute harbinger of Spring, and I adore them.  All sizes, shapes and colors.  The large cupped deep yellow King Alfred was the first daffodils ever planted by yours truly, well over 30 years ago.  I was just a beginner then, with no idea of following guidelines or rules, or even - directions.  They came up any way, and filled me with wonder at the deep gold.  I was smitten!  Then I craved the whites, the pinks, the tiny ones, and every one in  between.  What a thrill to have them blooming in February!

I must remember to plant more around the mailbox, which currently has two clumps of an unknown white with single deep yellow cups, that remind me of a petticoat (does anyone even know what that is anymore?).  And remember to divide the paperwhites in the back.  Maybe also get more to plant in the front, where I imagine a white garden.  And plant more daffodils, always more.

Remember, plant more flowers in more places.

At the mailbox

Hello from sunny South Carolina:)  hoping all are well and not down with the flu, as I have been.  It has been a tough week, home but not much energy leftover for anything but vegetating on the couch, dreaming of spring and wishing i was stitching.  As evening rolled around I was able to pick up my current project, The Long and Winding Road, and make decent progress.  Instead of a blue house I changed to a pebble gray house, now I think I will take that out and do it in blue after all.  Something about blue...

Why are we drawn to blue flowers in the garden?  The brilliance of a hydrangea or the softness of the pincushion flower, scabiosa, show the range of blue.  Sunlight alters the appearance of blue, and "true blue" is hard to find.  Blue provides a cooling effect in the garden, that can be most welcome after a long hot day. A place for your eye to rest, and for some, the body.

My only blue plant currently is plumbago, hardy here and supposed to be a larval food for the cassius blue butterfly.  So, I cannot yank its unruly self out of the bed since I am striving for a pollinator friendly piece of paradise.  The blue is soft, light, almost the baby blue that reminds me of many years ago (I cannot divulge the source, it had to do with elementary school uniforms).

Always search for more Blue.

My mantra: plant more flowers in more places

Welcome!

So glad to have you join me as I share my enjoyment with gardening and stitching. Both are a delight, a challenge and present the promise of a new creation, endeavor or experiment.  I will share ideas, successes, mistakes and discoveries!