An Old Irish Blessing

I just finished this sampler. Now I need to get it in an 11 x 14 frame and on my wall.

This is one of the many kits I picked up at the thrift store many years ago before I retired over 8 years ago. You can still see the price tag of 65 cents. It was definitely worth the price!

I have a lot of Irish related bric-a-brac and knick-knacks. Some are souvenirs from a trip to Ireland in the '90s. Some are gifts. Some I inherited. 

All of my paternal ancestors were Irish. Remembering Joynts, McDermotts, Larkins, McNallys, Brennans, Walshs, Griffins who had a part in making me who I am today. 

Blessings to you this day.

 

The Cross Stitch Ornies

A few weeks ago I showed a little box of cross stitch ornament kits I picked up from the thrift store many years ago that I was going to work on this month. I haven't finished all of the little kits yet but I am tired of working on the ornaments and have now moved on to work on the embroidery on a pillow - another kit picked up from the thrift store many years ago. More on that later.

I have been displaying the finished ornies in my great grandmother's goofus glass red and green bowl. And that is the extent of my Christmas decorating. 

And sew on...

 

Big Stitching and Cross Stitching

 

I have been big stitching on my Waffle Cone Roses quilt. I am almost finished with the quilting and hope to have it finished by month end. 

I have a whole lot of different craft supplies I accumulated before I retired several years ago. I decided to look through the boxes to remind myself of all the things I am supposed to be doing in my retirement. I used to make Christmas ornaments every year with my kids and then with my grandkids but it has been at least seven years since I have had anyone to make ornaments with. Well, anyway...I have collected all sorts of cross stitch ornament kits from thrift stores and on clearance. I decided to work on finishing some of the ornies. 

I decided to start out working with these from the thrift store. The Holly Days was almost complete and I just had to finish a few stitches and mount it in the ornament. The Christmas tree green was half stitched but in the wrong color green. I went ahead and finished the ornament using the wrong green. The stocking ornie was not even opened so I opened it and finished it. Santa had the flesh of his face stitched but that was it. I am working on that one now.

I don't do any decorating for the holidays anymore so decided to use the ornaments as I finish them as bowl fillers. I am using a Goofus Glass bowl that was my great grandmother's to display them. Maybe it will be full by month end and maybe one craft supply box will be emptied. And anyone that stops by and wants to grab an ornament or two may do so. 

If I decide I like the bowl filler idea I might use the floss and aida cloth in my supplies to make bowl fillers for all occasions. I have this book of little cross stitch designs I can use. 

I used to use waste canvas to cross stitch little things on bibs, kid's clothes, gift jar lid covers, etc. There's a lot of cute, quick and easy little things in there to stitch. 

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

It's A Finish!

Suzy Ducken

On The Courthouse Steps

34 x 36

It's a finish!

The center is a cross stitched piece featuring a character named Suzy Ducken. Someone sent me the kit last year and I stitched it.   I had never heard of Suzy Ducken previously.  She is a character from Suzy's Zoo. 

While I was working on cross stitching Suzy Ducken I remembered that I had a whole bunch of cross stitched pieces somewhere around here and wondered if anyone had ever used cross stitched pieces to make a quilt. I asked the question on the Stashbuster list. A Stashbuster member, Dawn, mentioned that she happened to have a Youtube video about it!  Now, I don't normally watch videos because they take too long to load on my old computer and then they cut out or the audio doesn't work; however, I really wanted to know about using cross stitch in quilts so I managed to watch on hubby's computer.  Dawn made a Courthouse Steps with one of her embroidered pieces so I thought that was the way I would go.  And so here we are. I used orange and lime green scraps to match Suzy's dress and legs and a flower. 

I quilted it with three petaled flowers in a variegated thread in orange, red, yellow - sunset colors. 

I think my pictures look a little blurry (sorry about that) but there are ducks in hats on the back and the binding is a purplish color to match Suzy's shoes and it has lime green and orange dots on it. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

I do have more very old cross stitch and embroidered pieces I want to use in quilts but not sure where they are right now. I've looked in a couple of places but I'm thinking they might be packed away up in the attic. I haven't been up there in years so if that is where they are I hope mice have not found them and taken a nibble.   

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

August 10 - Finished a book! -   The Lost Bookshop by Evie Wood.  Magical realism. "Books help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of."  A book about finding life's purpose. 

 

Suzy Ducken On The Courthouse Steps

It's a top!

I forget the measurements but it's baby quilt sized. 

It started with a cross stitch kit someone sent me of Suzy Ducken.  After I completed the cross stitch I asked on the Stashbusters list if anyone used cross stitch in quilts and received many replies from folks who have.   One idea was to use cross stitch as the center to a Courthouse Steps quilt. 

Well, orange and lime green figure predominately in the cross stitch and I sure do have a lot of scraps in those colors (Anvils, Bramble Blooms series) so I put those scraps to use and made Courthouse Steps. 

I'm not sure when I will finish the quilt but after I finished the cross stitch I found this cute duck fabric on clearance and bought a couple yards of it. I guess it was meant to be. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

June 15 - a new phone! My old phone was really old. It was the next step up from a flip phone. I remembered we replaced our flip phones with waterproof covers when we went on a trip with some siblings to Belize. I have not been able to update aps for quite awhile and then the battery started to bulge and phone started falling apart. I had to look up when we went to Belize and was surprised to find that was in June 2007. My phone old phone was that old!! I rarely use my phone and basically just carry it with me for emergencies.  So anyway...I finally have a new phone. It only took six hours and several Verizon support people to get the esim card activated so I could call and text. Thankfully hubby took over with the support people after I became totally frustrated with them. I wish people knew what they were doing and didn't just follow a script for support. Hopefully this phone will last 17 years like my old one. Or maybe a little longer...I'll only be 89 in 17 years. 

Currently Cross Stitching

I didn't have anything prepped for my many applique projects and I did not feel like working on my crochet socks so I started another one of the cross stitch kits I picked up from the thrift store a long time ago. 

It cost me 95 cents, was never opened and the best part about it is that the cross stitch chart is giant so I can actually see what I am supposed to stitch! 

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Feb 17 - Celebrating blackberries from my summer garden.   I had a bountiful blackberry harvest last year and ended up freezing a lot of them so we could enjoy them all winter long on ice cream, in smoothies and in cobblers. (We used to make wine with them mixed with wild black raspberries and mulberries).  Now that hubby can't swallow and gets his nutrition via formula and a gtube I have not been using many of my gallon bags of blackberries. I decided to make a small blackberry cobbler for myself.  I think I will probably make some blackberry jam with the rest of them and share it with family and friends at our next family reunion. 

 

A Biscornu Finished

I finished a cross stitched biscornu. 

I found the free pattern for the cross stitch and many others at a blog called Cross Stitch Happy. 

I looked at a lot of different websites on how to assemble a biscornu. 

I stuffed mine with small pieces of batting I cut up even smaller. 

I wanted to use a bead in the center but could not find my beading needles (I didn't look very hard) so used little buttons for the centers on top and bottom. 

Now I think I will start work on another biscornu.

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

Applique, X-Stitch, Crochet

A new project - Fan Flowers

I need to applique a bunch of "flowers" to their backgrounds. 

Fan Flowers is one of many free patterns at Tilda's World. My color scheme is nothing like the pattern. I'm using bits and pieces left over from making a couple of other quilt (tops) - Easy Sunday and Crooked Mile. 

I thought rather than make a template from what was in the pattern I would use my Easy Dresden ruler to cut pieces.  But when I went to pin the "flower" to the background there was too much fabric around the circle area so I put in a few basting stitches and gathered that area up a bit. I think all should be okay when I add my circles to the flowers. 

Then there's my cross stitch  for a biscornu. 

I have found I really don't like working with the Jewel Effects embroidery floss. I have only a couple of colors in my floss stash that I must have picked up on sale or something because I have never used them. It just so happened that one of the colors of jewel effects I have is what is listed for use in this pattern. Oh, (un)lucky me! I started with two strands on the dragonfly body and a needle with a larger eye in order to get through the holes in the fabric without fraying. But the thread kept fraying. When I finally got the dragonfly bodies finished I used one strand for the wings and I found that stitching went a little easier.  But then the 2 thread bodies started to have stitches come undone because evidently I had not anchored the beginning and ending threads enough.   I know I have some Thread Heaven around here from when I used to do a lot of crazy quilting but so far I have not been able to find it in my stitching tins of supplies I use for crazy quilting.   Frustrated, I set the cross stitch aside for a few days. When I picked it back up I decided to work on something other than dragonflies. Then I noticed one of my light purple "flowers" is not in the right place - it is one row off. So...I put it aside again. I need to pick it up again when I don't have so many distractions and can concentrate more on it. 

This is my goal for the top piece of the biscornu. 

In other news...I started crocheting another pair of socks since I was so excited about the last pair I made.  So far it is smooth sailing.  crocheting. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

Slow Sunday (and Monday and Tuesday...) Stitching

Suzy Ducken

This little 5 x 7 cross stitch is finished. I had to fudge a little bit in a couple of places because I could not see the darned chart very well and it never occurred to me to enlarge it on my printer until I was finished. Well, anyway, this will be the center of a Courthouse Steps baby quilt someday.  I just happen to have some oranges and lime greens I will use for the sides. 

According to the Suzy's Zoo website: "Suzy Ducken is a cheerful and friendly girl ducken who loves to make everybody happy. Suzy is loved throughout The Beak Isles and is a bright spark of sunshine in Duckport."

Now that I have kind of gotten interested in cross stitch again I decided on another project - making a few biscornus.   The first one is a freebie chart from Cross Stitch Happy. 

I found my little magnetic board so I can mark my place and maybe see where the stitches should be from now on. 

I also found several packages of aida cloth picked up from the thrift stores ages ago.  So I think I will be making several biscornus. 

I also have most of the colors of floss needed but will make a few substitutes for the colors I don't have. My floss also needs quite a bit of organizing. Long ago I started winding a lot of it on cards each time I started a project and filled up a couple of floss boxes but I also have bought a lot on sale or picked up bunches from thrift stores or just plain have not put back leftovers after a project back into the floss box. Pretty messy. But right now I don't want to stop and organize everything I just want to stitch.

A biscornu is a small, octagonal, stuffed ornamental pincushion.     I made this one a long time ago and although it looks like it is gathering dust I use it often. 

I usually have several handwork project boxes (old Christmas tins) filled with items needed for the project and I like to put my little biscornu and magic needle book in the box. This is the one I took to the hospital so I could work on big stitching my Roses in the Cabin quilt.  When I start my next big stitching project I will put away all those threads and put in the ones needed for big stitching that quilt. 

So, anyway, I would like a few more biscornus for a few more project boxes. And since I have the supplies laying around I might as well get to it. 

Last week I was excited to have actually finished a crocheted sock. Gayle (Mangofeet) commented that knitters sometimes suffer from Second Sock Syndrome.   I thought she made that up but I Googled Second Sock Syndrome and found out it is a real thing. Well, I'm not a knitter but I suppose crocheters can also suffer from Second Sock Syndrome. Gosh, I definitely do not want the Second Sock Syndrome so I have started on my second (very wild) sock.  Won't they be fun to wear? (If I ever went any place).

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts 

 

Coneflowers, A Duck in a Dress, and a Sock

I have finished the second prompt to the Bramble Blooms QAL - "Add simple floral applique to your centerpiece background." 

I chose Coneflowers as my simple floral. I did needleturn applique - freezer paper templates on top. I played around with adding some leaves to my Coneflowers  but they just did not look right to me no matter where I placed them.  So now I guess I am ready for the next step of this QAL.   

I think she is a duck but she might be a chick. This is where I am with this cross stitch. When finished it will be the center of a baby quilt. 

And guess what!!! I actually finished crocheting a sock! 

And I think it fits although maybe the heel could use a little adjustment. Maybe... Not bad for my first crocheted sock. Pretty wild, though! I guess now I need to complete the second one or make a sock monkey.

So that's the progress on my slow stitching projects. Until next time...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

 

Handwork Hodgepodge

I've gathered together a variety of handwork projects so I can be nearer to my husband until he gains some strength and gets back on his own two feet. Just like my quiltmaking - I like to multitask and don't usually work on any one thing from start to finish.

One of my projects is the applique of coneflowers to my background for the Bramble Blooms QAL. 

I'm doing needle turn applique with freezer paper. I actually had a roll of freezer paper on hand from a few projects in the distant past. I was not looking forward to hunting for my applique pins and applique sharps in my unorganized mess of all things crafty but I must be more organized than I thought because it did not take long to find them.  Gosh, those applique pins are sure a lot smaller than I remember...I can hardly pick them up. There might be a few scattered here and there now where I work.  

So I've finished all the stems and the two big coneflowers. Now I need to cut out and applique a few small ones and then I will be ready for the next step of the QAL (whatever that might be). 

I've also been working on this little cross stitch. I have a little stack of old cross stitcheries I made in the distant past and never framed (somewhere around here) as well as some cross stitch kits I've been given or picked up from thrift stores. I've decided to use some to make baby/toddler quilts. When this one is finished I will use it as the center of a Courthouse Steps baby quilt. I had been working on the green dress and was almost finished with that area but needed to thread my needle one more time. That's when I noticed the last bits of green thread disappeared. I searched high and low, low and high and could not find two strands of green thread. So I went to my floss box of greens and although I did not have the exact same color (by number) I did find one that matched so I could finish the green area. That night when I took off my sweater I found my two strands of green thread on the back of my sweater. 

Then a long long time ago when knitting socks was all the rage I bought some sock yarn and a couple of books on how to crochet socks. (I do crochet a bit now and then but have not knit anything since I knit my one and only sweater way back when I was a sophomore in high school which was a very long time ago.) Well, I knew crocheting socks would take a bit of concentration so I've never gotten around to concentrating enough to try to crochet some socks. When hubby is asleep I have a bit of quiet time so decided to try to concentrate and crochet some socks. I found the correct size crochet hook, my books and my yarn as well as some stitch markers  and made my swatch which looked pretty good.  I could tell right away that the first pattern I wanted to make had an error so decided on "Painted Desert" which I thought might be fun. The patterns in this book are made "toe up". So I set about crocheting my sock. I did not get very far when I thought it seemed like it might fit Big Foot. How frustrating. And after all that concentration!

So I looked at a different pair of socks in the same book that started out with the same number of stitches in the beginning rows and the same sized crochet hook. I found different yarn and made my test swatch to measure gauge. All good. Then I set about crocheting Rose Quartz socks. 

When I got to the point in the pattern where the stitches changed to double crochet clusters I compared the size to the Painted Desert socks and sure enough Painted Desert sock I started is for Big Foot. So for now I will proceed with Rose Quarts and Painted Desert is a UFO. I will probably see how the Rose Quartz socks turn out and if I am satisfied they look and wear like socks I will probably pull out all the stiches from Painted Desert and try again or use the yarn to try a different pattern.

I'm working on clearing all the medical supplies as well as end of season gardening stuff from my dining room table so I can bring my sewing machine upstairs to the table temporarily. I'm not sure I can only do Slow Stiching. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts