Nothing to See Here

 I promised myself I would post regularly, as a way to measure progress and also as a way to motivate myself to create.

The recent trip to Mississippi really played a number on my back. I haven’t felt like doing much of anything. Thankfully, I can tell it’s getting better now. 

I had painted my small kitchen table a few months ago and had plans of making a table skirt. Like most ideas that come to mind these days, I forget them almost as quickly as I think them.

While browsing my favorite thrift store last week, I found a stack of these unused curtain panels. The lightbulb turned on and I bought enough to make my table skirt. They were so easy to do... I cut off the tabs and made one simple hem. I threaded a tension rod through the pre-sewn hem and that was it! I only found one tension rod at the thrift store, so I’ll be on the hunt for three more this week.

Notice I’m set up to sew in my dining room. I have so much clutter in my sewing room, I now feel overwhelmed trying to work in there. Soon I will need to declutter and rethink that area!

I pulled out a few washcloths and started some trim for dish cloths. That’s it!!! 

I’m hoping to share a better report next time!

I’m leaving this recipe here for future reference. But if you are from eastern NC, you know what Red Potatoes are. My friend shared this recipe with me. I made them last night for today’s lunch. I only used half the potatoes and didn’t adjust my spices down enough, and mine were too hot. However, the broth is delicious when made correctly, so I will keep this recipe ! 

Mississippi

 We just returned home from a 9 day trip to visit the children and their families. We spent 3 days with our son and his family who lives 3 hours away. Then we traveled on to Mississippi to see our daughter and her family’s new home and life there. I loved being with all my grandchildren and miss them already!

The only thing stitchy to share is this little pillow I made for my daughter before we took our trip. This is a free pattern from Melisa at Pinker and Punkin  blog spot. She shares lots of adorable free x stitch patterns there. 

I found this beautiful quilt at a local thrift store before we made our trip.

My daughter ‘needed’ it, so we took it to Mississippi to gift to her. An Instagram friend, who specializes in old quilt restoration, estimated it to be from the 1920’s. 

Here’s a photo in its new home. We actually restaged it to the rail on the right, so as not to block Annabelle’s view from her bedroom. I didn’t get that photo, but it looks great there.

Very few photos were taken while we were away, but here’s one of Annabelle with the cupcakes she helped her Mama make. 

This week will be a rest and recovery week. It took us 13 hours to drive home from Mississippi,  with our sweet 14 year old dachshund riding in our laps. 😳 we all need our rest!! 

Two little finishes

 Two little finishes to record. Both of these were easy to make.

I’ll be stitching a little pumpkin today. 

Little cross stitch is fun.

(Comments off)

Sunday progress report

 I put these blocks together, but totally left the original pattern behind. (Pattern has a cute whale appliqués on) I was ready to make a finish. 

And the strawberry x stitch is coming along.

I should have it finished, as I’ve been on self isolation this week for Covid exposure. Instead, I fell down the Gabby Petito rabbit hole. I pray they find her soon.

Sept 12, 2021

 I finished a little cross stitch piece this week.

This is a free pattern available online by La D Da . 

I started a new little strawberry piece.

The great thing about having the internet, is being able to color match threads without having to go to the store. I have lots of colors, but seldom do I have the exact colors called for in a pattern. A quick internet search helps with the guesswork!

I hope to stitch the afternoon away on the strawberry.

Goals: (not my photos)

These small patterns work up rather quickly, so i don’t get bored with them so soon, as I tend to do with a lot of projects. Aren’t these little pillow collections adorable?

I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday evening with my Daddy. My nephew, (daddy’s grandson) married his beautiful bride, Michelle. They should be in Hawaii for their honeymoon week by now.  We wish them all the best!

Photo from my iPhone: my daddy on the right, Matt’s other grandparents on the left.

I’m off to stitch the afternoon away, while listening to a podcast about The Murdaugh Murders. Is anyone else following that story?

Quick Hello to Blogger

 This morning I was in the process of finding a new dog groomer and was looking through my records for Sweet Pea’s most current Rabies vaccine. When I looked at her paperwork, the vet has my dog listed as 12 years old; probably my mistake from the first visit, as we changed vets when we moved back home. 

So I looked to my blog to correct my mistake. And lo and behold, I found a blog post where she was a puppy in 2007, which makes her age at 14 years old. 

I was glad I had the blog to sort through my memories. And in turn, decided to make a better effort to blog.

I don’t have a lot of news, as we are continuing to mostly stay home  to Covid. We all know people who are sick or have died from Covid. It is still very real. 😢

I did complete another cross stitch piece. It is called Amazing Grace (Sunday Stitches) by Heartstring Samplery. 

I didn’t even load the image correctly, but here it is for my records. 😆

I’m turning comments off...not because I don’t want to hear from you, but just don’t want anyone to feel obligated to comment. I’m just adding to my memories. Enjoy your week!

Quick Getaway!

 Our family took a quick trip to Bryson City last weekend. Our family lived there for several years while our kids were still home. Our son graduated from High School there. 

We recalled fun memories and were able to share the area with the grandchildren. 

It took Will’s family a little over three hours to drive there.

April and Annabelle drove over 7 hours from Mississippi.

Even 14 year old Sweet Pea made the trip with us. Hubby and I drove a little over 6 hours to get there.

We reunited with a few friends.

I visited this dear friend. He was a very important part of my years in Bryson City. ❤️ I previously posted  here about Mike .

It was wonderful to have all our babies under one roof for a few days. Our kids are already making plans to visit again during the summer. Thank you Bryson City, for all the sweet memories.

A Little Hand Stitching

 I spent most of the week trying to clean and reorganize my sewing room. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get motivated to sew again.

This is another vintage potholder I bought on eBay some time back. I had already stitched the orange one.

I must admit that I have quite a few of these eBay projects waiting for me. Sometimes I go wild when I get on eBay. I want it all. 🤭

I have an apple left to do in this little series.

This is an old embroidery I stitched several years ago. I found it again when I was cleaning, so I made it into a little pillow.

My problem with making cute things, is I that I usually don’t know what to do with them once they are done. I had wanted a little rag doll to sit on this little stack of quilts. This little pillow will do for now. ☺️

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and Happy Anniversary to hubby and me today. 37 years!

Linking to Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Click on the link to see what others are working on today.

Progress in June

 I’m having fun working on small projects and getting things done. 

First, I made myself this patriotic mini quilt entirely from the scrap basket. 

The fun thing about scrappy quilts is remembering the projects  where you used those particular fabrics before. There is a scrap from my first grandson’s baby quilt, a piece from the last quilt I made for my Mama, and scraps from other quilts I’ve made. 

I just realized that everything in the above photo came from thrift stores, except for the cross on the wall. I love it all.

A better photo of the shelves with my favorite Amish girl, purchased over 25 years ago from a local crafter. I have cookbooks on the bottom two shelves.

A close up view before the little quilt was finished.

Remember the scrap gingham rag ball I made? 🤣 Here it is again! I also cross stitched this little patriotic piece and made a little pillow. 

I only did the top part of this free pattern from Plum Street Samplers. The fabric I used was horrible to work with and I used the wrong color for the shirt. So I went back and stitched over instead of removing the wrong thread. I did not enjoy it, so I got to a stopping point and called it a day. I do want to attempt this pattern again—it’s called Happy Birthday, Mr.President — in honor of George Washington’s Birthday.

I promised not to show this again until it was framed.

I studied up on how to frame it.

And I did it!! Is it perfect? No! But I love it and saved a lot of $ by framing it myself. I ordered a custom sized frame from USArt online. The 1978 stamped kit was a vintage find on EBay and I enjoyed every minute of stitching this piece. My grandson, Chandler, stitched the “h” in “The Lord...”

Ok this part is cheesy, but thought I’d share in case you have something like this in your closet. I like the skirt part of this dress, but the top was too big and

So I cut off the top above the drawstring waist. Knit doesn’t fray, so no sewing needed.

I think I created my favorite summer skirt. Have you ever cut an outfit in half before? Maybe you have something in your closet you can reinvent. 🙃🙃🙃

Linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. Jump over here if you want to see some wonderful hand stitching projects.

Goodbye to May

 Even though I’ve been busy, I don’t have much sewing to show this week.

I used an online tutorial to make a pillowcase dress for Annabelle. Her mom bought her one recently that has become one of her favorite dresses. I hemmed it last night and will wait for a photo to see if it’s anywhere close to fitting her. The good thing about these dresses is that they are totally adjustable. 

We hung curtains in the dining room! We’ve been in our house for five years and it was about time. I love the way they look in here. I saw these particular curtains on an Instagram friend’s post and she told me they were from Target. I quickly found them online and they were here within 3-4 days. I love online shopping!

Hubby and I have really enjoyed the birds, squirrels, and neighborhood cats this year. There’s a lot that goes on outside, even when we aren’t looking! We are making an effort to watch them more. Notice the butterfly reflector decals on my glass door. The hummingbirds kept flying and bumping into the door, so these were added for their safety. I hope they work!

I started picking through my fabric scraps last night to make something red white and blue. I’ve seen so many cute Americana displays online that include mini patriotic quilts. I’m hoping to try out one of my “new to me” sewing machines this week with that project. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 

Have a safe Memorial Day and always remember those who died so that we can live free!!

May 2021

 I started blogging again as a way to keep a record of my sewing projects. I didn’t want to bore everyone with my ongoing cross stitch sampler, so I dropped out for a few weeks. ☺️

Here it is... one more time... finished! I won’t make you look at it again until it’s framed. I’m a tightwad and want to frame it myself to save money, but also for the experience. If that doesn’t work out, I guess I’ll splurge on professional framing. Stay tuned.

I played around with a quilted pillow sham and made these little bowl fillers. Now that I have them, I don’t quite know what to do with them. I enjoy making little things, but then the clutter gets on my nerves. 😂

Speaking of hoarding....I mean, clutter.... I bought this old quilt from a thrift store last week. I think it’s gorgeous. I have it folded on the back of a rocking chair, where it brings me a lot of joy.

I’ve been trimming more dishcloths. The crochet edge makes them just a bit cute, I think. 

Our daily entertainment these days, is this guy. It is a stray cat that we’ve been feeding out by our barn. We haven’t petted it yet, but we are getting closer and closer to it. In this picture, it had climbed the fence into our backyard, and was drinking from the bird bath. It’s just another simple joy in my life.

This is just one of our many beautiful sunsets that we have enjoyed lately. With all the craziness in this world, these sunsets remind me that God is still good and He is still in control. May you feel His peace in your life, too.