Happy Things This Week

 While I may not have taken any days off, or gone anywhere that would be considered fun this week (I do not consider the grocery store fun), and I was incredibly busy all week, that doesn't mean it was a bad, draining, unhappy week.

Am I exhausted, sitting here typing this on Friday evening?  Oh heck yes, I'm ready for a twelve hour snooze (as if that ever happens, even on the rare vacation).  The heat and humidity are ramping back up, and I certainly feel that pressure on my body.  But, as tired as I am, I can still see things that made me happy.

For one,--and don't judge me for the first picture, which is partly a before and partly an in-progress photo--I got the master bath shower scrubbed.  It hadn't had a good scouring in about a year (and, honestly, not even a half-assed one in six months or more) and was looking pretty skanky. Gotta love well water, especially iron-rich well water (and yes, we do have a water softener but it can only accomplish so much. . . )  

Part of the lapse was because I was out of my go-to wonderful shower cleaner, and found out several months later that it had been taken off the market (it was pretty potent stuff, so probably not the greatest environmental- or health-wise, but dang it did a good job with hard water stains.)  A different brand was finally recommended to me by someone else who has very hard water, and I was able to get ahold of some of that to try.

Before/During

The after picture looks much more appetizing.  'New' brand did the trick, although it says no scrubbing needed, just spray on and wipe away and I most definitely had to scrub, even with a scrub brush in some areas. Now to keep it this way. Perhaps a monthly cleaning will only require a spray on and wipe away. . . 

After

 I didn't, technically, enjoy scrubbing out that nasty shower, but I am loving how bright, clean, shiny and generally more pleasant it is now!  (Do you think I can give myself a cash bonus equal to what it would have cost to pay someone to do this unpleasant task?)

Much more fun than taking a mineral deposited shower back to pristine brightness (or as close as it gets after almost 22 years of use), was cutting a bunch of black eyed Susans from the front flower bed and bringing them inside to beautify the dining room table.  

The 'vase' is actually an antique blue glass Ball canning jar that previously belonged to DH's paternal grandmother. When she died about 20 years ago her daughters divided up her canning jars and, since they knew I was the only one of this generation (the grandchildren) who cans and preserves food like they do, they shared some with me.  The blue ones I don't use for canning, but use them for display instead.

I have been trying to get DH (and myself) to eat salad of some type--not counting pasta salads-- at least three times a week all summer.  We had an especially colorful one with our dinner the other night (along with marinated and grilled chicken breast from one of our freshly butchered broilers).

After not being home enough the last three weeks to work on anything in the Finish The Tack Room category, DH installed the light fixture I'd bought for it.  It's LED and SO BRIGHT!  But I wanted bright, like full sun daylight bright, because 1) it's a 12' ceiling and 2) there's going to be a 18" or 24" wide shelf around three of the four walls at approximately 6-7' from the floor for storing totes of out of season or otherwise not used daily/weekly horse-related stuff and that shelf is going to kinda block light coming from above.

This is the light I got, with two moveable panels so that I can kind of aim the light 'under' the future shelf, which is where the saddles and bridles will be stored.

Last Sunday evening, DH and I had a small campfire (really to burn some brush and paper garbage we'd accumulated), and while sitting out there watching the fire, I was able to do some knitting.  

Back in March, when we'd taken K3 and Toad to Sedona on Spring Break for a hiking trip, I had started working on a new pair of socks.  It pretty much got a few inches knit on that trip, and then I didn't touch it on a regular basis after Easter.  However, it was to a point that two hours of knitting on Sunday brought me to the needed foot length for beginning the toe decreases. And once you start the toe decreases, well, you get kind of obsessed about just finishing the dang sock already!

I finished the toe and grafted it closed last night while DH was watching TV.  So now I have one sock knit this entire year! Woo Hoo! I'm hoping to at least find a half hour someday soon to cast on and get the cuff knit for it's mate; maybe by Christmas I'll have a pair I can wear.  The yarn is some Trekking XXL that I've had in my stash for probably 10 years.  So if I make it into socks, does that count as decluttering my house?

What 'simple' joys did you find in your week this week?

I Did a Whole Counted Cross Stitch and Never Mentioned it Once!

 Over the weekend, I put the finishing back stitches onto a sorta large counted cross stitch project that I'd started back in January.  At which point I took a picture, so I could share here my finished product.  And then, scanning back though this entire year's blog posts, couldn't find a single mention that I was even doing any counted cross stitch once Christmas presents had been made for 2024.

Huh.  

Well, for a good part of the winter and a bit of early spring, I was working on a new cross stitch, by the same designer as the fox and the squirrel I'd done in previous years.  This one is a rabbit, and you can find the pattern here.  I actually got everything but about three colors of the back stitching done by Easter time.  And then my cross stitch got put away in the 'clean the house for Easter company' frenzy, and until ten days ago, I hadn't touched it once.

Typically summer is not a time of much stitching for me, as there is so much to be done outside and other than cooking/eating meals most days I'm not in the house until after dark.  As I get older, my eyes don't so much like cross stitching under artificial light.  So cross stitching has become more of a cold-weather day time thing for me.

However, we had some really hot and extremely humid weather lately, and in the name of not dropping dead from heat stroke, I spent a bit more time indoors than I usually would in July.  And, to be productive without actually doing housework  I pulled out my rabbit cross stitch and decided to put some back stitches into it.  By the third day of working a little here and there on it, I was surprised to find that I was done!

So, here it is!

You know what this means, right?  Now I need to pick a new cross stitch project to start so I have something to stitch on if we continue to have suffocatingly humid days this summer.  🤣  Realistically, it's time to pick a new Santa ornament to stitch as my Mom's Christmas gift this year.  I have several kits in my stash as options.

Octavia's Quilt

 I decided on a blog name for Grandbaby #8, who has joined us this past weekend.  Going with the numeric theme I unintendedly started with Grandbaby #6, Sixlet, and continued with Grandbaby #7, Lucky, I like Octavia (meaning, eighth) for this next one.  And I have to confess that yes, I do tentatively have a name in mind for Grandbaby #9, if there ever is one, and if it's female.  Time will tell, we'll all have to wait and see on that.

But now is about Octavia, her name official, and the baby quilt I made for her.

Her quilt was completed at the beginning of June, and has been gifted to her and her parents, so therefore I can now publicly show pictures of it!

true to color photo of backing (and a little of the front border)

while I was working on the binding.

Like K3, Toad, and Rascal, her quilt is a simple design of 6" squares of fabric.  That is the design I picked for all my grandkids sired by DS1 back when K3 was born. Like I talked about in this post, it also contains fabrics that are in her older siblings' quilts as well as a fabric that is in her cousin Faline's quilt.

a very untrue-to-actual-colors photo of the quilt top

Right now our weather is way too hot to wrap her up in her quilt.  And she's so tiny (being induced early because her mom was showing signs of going into pre-eclampsia, she weighed in at 5# 11oz) she would get lost in it anyway.  But this quilt is big enough for her to cuddle under for about a decade to come.

For now, here's a picture of her meeting her Papa.

The Shipshe Trip

 Shipshe being the dialectual shortening of Shipshewana, the town in Indiana not far from the Michigan/Indiana border known for it's Amish community.  In the past 10 or so years, I and one or both of my daughters plus a granddaughter or two, have done an overnight trip to there annually or biennially for some time away from home, men, and general life responsibilities.  

We always stay at the same hotel, the Farmstead Inn, which is typically peaceful and quiet, clean and well run, and provides a hot breakfast along with many choices of cold breakfast if that is your preference.  

Over the years, we've found which places we like to shop at or otherwise just revisit, which places we like to dine at, and have developed a routine for our trip.  It's always a summer trip, being that it's hard for DD1, a teacher, to get away during the school year.  Also, the flea market in Shipshewana is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Initially, the flea market was our main destination.  However, in recent years, we spend less and less time at the flea market (which seems to have become less of a handmade/Amish made market and more of the types of goods you'd find at pretty much any flea market anywhere in the US).  Our main targets are 

• the Davis Mercantile with Lolly's Fabrics, Simple Sounds (a music store with instruments and sheet music and all things instrumental), a candy store, a puzzle/toy store, and random other stores (typically we skip most of the random others); 
• Yoder's Hardware and Yoder's Department Store; 
• The Redbud Coffee and Tea Cafe in the Red Barn (very delicious tea blends including my favorite--those with no leaves!  since I don't like traditional tea, only floral/fruit ones); 
• Yoder's Meat and Cheese Co, 
• and of course the grocery store E&S Sales.

There are lots and lots of other shops and attractions in Shipshewana, but the ones I listed are on our 'Must See' list and are places we go to every time.  After this most recent trip, however, I'm wondering if in the future we need to extend our trip by a day in order to have more time to explore more of what's there (most shops are open only until 5:00 p.m.), or if perhaps I need to maybe do a separate trip without the group. . . I'd love to take a 'just me and DH' trip to Shipshe, but I don't think he'd enjoy it quite as much as I do.  For one thing, I'm fairly sure the hotel doesn't allow alcohol, which is fine with me (and one reason I love staying there), but is a hard thing for him to find enjoyable on a 'vacation'.

Anyway, we got to Shipshewana around 1:00, which gave us time to hit the Davis Mercantile first, and not have to rush through Lolly's.  Lolly's always takes time, partly because the sheer size of the store and their offerings, and partly because they have a boat which is always overflowing with fat quarters.  Looking through the boat can easily take more than an hour.  

As soon as we walked through the door, Faline went right to the boat and quite literally dove in.

Once we convinced her that being in the boat wasn't allowed, she found a shopping basket and proceeded to put all the fat quarters with fabrics she liked into the basket.  According to her, her Barbies were in need of pillows and blankets made with fabrics that featured bananas, hot dogs, flowers, stripes, fish, and more.  DD1 talked her down to just two or three of the fat quarters she had chosen.

My personal mission at Lolly's was to get fabric for two flannel nightgowns: one for Faline (she'd called me two weeks before to ask me to sew her a new nightgown because the one I had sewed her previously had 'suddenly' gotten too small) and one for K3 (if she should want one; she did.)  I let each girl pick the fabric for their own nightgown and had it cut to the length needed before I allowed myself to figuratively dive into the boat and look at fat quarters. Of which, I very responsibly limited myself to two.

A thunderstorm blew up unexpectedly, and we got drenched going from the Mercantile to where we'd parked.  Our original plan for this trip had included a swim in the hotel pool after Davis Mercantile and before going out to dinner.  With our wet clothes and hair, we all were chilled and decided to just hang out in our room for a bit after checking in, and move the swim to after dinner.  There was some bored shenanigans from Faline (it's tough being 4 years old and having to wait for the grown ups), but overall she was pretty good with waiting and hung out on one of the beds with K3 watching a video on K3's phone.

After a good dinner from the buffet at the Blue Gate Restaurant, the girls did finally get to go swimming.  We all went to the hotel's indoor pool and swam, played in the water, and relaxed in the hot tub for well over an hour.  The only picture I took was at the end, when Faline and K3 were putting their wet towels into the bin for housekeeping to launder.  The whole trip, Faline was totally hero worshipping her older cousin, and thankfully K3 was willing to go along with being the cool chosen one.

A new tradition we started on our last trip, in 2023, is to hit the breakfast area beside the pool area after we finish swimming.  There is ice water and hot water available there 24/7 (as far as we can tell, we've never checked after 9 p.m. or before 6 a.m.), as well as tea bags, instant coffee, and hot chocolate packets.  I didn't believe it until I tried it for myself, but a cup of hot chocolate after swimming on a summer evening is actually really good.  Rather than making you feel too hot, it's just kind of cozy.  Maybe if you don't have long, wet hair your experience might be different.  But for all us chicks with long tresses, a good cup of hot chocolate post swimming pool is enjoyable.

The next morning, while sitting in the breakfast area savoring our hot breakfast (egg burritos, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage. . .), Faline commented that there was a playground outside and that she'd never gotten to play on it before.  Indeed, out the large windows of the breakfast area, you could see a nice playground belonging to the hotel.  And, indeed, on previous trips, Faline (or K3) had not had the opportunity to play there.  So I asked, since both she and I were done with our breakfasts, if she wanted to go back to the room with me so I could finish packing up my stuff, and then I would take her to the playground to wait for the rest of our group to be done eating and packing.  Of course she said yes!

Once out there, she had to try out every slide and swing and the teeter-totter (yes, this grandma attempted to teeter-totter with someone about 1/2 my height and roughly 1/4 my weight; it was hard on the knees, LOL).  I was amazed, after the first big push I gave her on the first swing, to see her keep the momentum going by pumping her legs.  Apparently pumping is a newly acquired skill for her.

Once we checked out of the hotel, we began our shopping excursion at E&S Sales.  In addition to great fresh baked goods (Whoopie Pies, anyone?), they have lots of scratch and dent, close dated, and bulk food items.  I typically stock up on some bulk spices I can't find around home in bulk (such as bay leaves for soups, marinades and canning dill pickles), as well as random candy (typically chocolate, plus a bag of Bit-o-Honey for DH).

The food purchases, mostly from E&S, but meat and cheese from Yoder's

Next stop on our planned route (which, after E&S, had us making all right turns onto and off of the main road through town until, at the last, we had to turn left to get into the Yoder's Shopping Center for the hardware and department stores ), was the flea market.  Splitting into three groups for most of that part of the morning, I think we made it through the 40ish acres of flea market in record time: about 1 1/2 hours!  Like I mentioned before, a lot of the flea market has become things you can find at just about any flea market, so we cruised right on past many, many booths without stopping to look individually at their items.  I did pick up a few things, as shown in the photo below.

Rubberized gardening gloves for weeding in dewy/wet conditions,

teal blue duct tape for using in the barn (because it doesn't have to be gray or black),

a leaping deer cast iron bottle opener for DH (only $2!!)

After the flea market, we went to the Auction House restaurant for a yummy lunch.  I think they've changed hands again since we were there in 2023, or at least, their menu has changed.  The food was still good, but with the exception of their traditional included side dish of applesauce, coleslaw or cottage cheese with every meal, and the selection of pies for dessert, not much of the menu of stereotypical Amish foods (like the awesome chicken and noodles) from the previous ownership (2020 and prior) remains.  I was a little bummed out that it had a lot of typical burger/sandwich fare with french fries these days.  The BBQ pulled pork sandwich I had was good, but it wasn't those chicken noodles I'd been dreaming of when planning the trip.

More shopping ensued after lunch. Due to where at the flea market we'd parked, Yoder's Red Barn Shoppes and Yoder's Meat and Cheese Co were on our way from the restaurant to our truck, so we walked and stopped at each.  The meat and cheese store has delicious offerings; their smoked gouda is a family favorite. In fact, Honorary Son had asked DD1 to bring home 5 pounds of it!  

Once finished up there, we packed our meat and cheeses into our cooler, tucked everything else into the bed of the truck, and drove to our last stop: Yoder's Shopping Center.  I love looking at fabric in the Department store, but I also love going to the Hardware.  Before I left home, DH asked what I could possibly want from that hardware store that I couldn't get from any of the hardwares near home.  I then had explained that they have way more than nuts and bolts and tools and hoses.  They have beekeeping and syrup making and wine making and canning and baking supplies, as well as tons of off-grid living type stuff, livestock supplies and even puzzles and toys for kids.

I treated myself to, from the Hardware, 

• a new large frosting spreader (my other one having gotten loaned out a handful of years ago and never returned), 
• a French style rolling pin (something I've been considering for a number of years), 
• a new clothespin bag to replace one I'd sewn many years ago that is on it's last legs and I doubt I'll have time this summer to whip up a new one, 
• two nice dish cloths (Rada, I believe; they sell Rada there) with pale green stripes.  Because, while I have, and love, my other Rada dishcloths, none of them have green! (Green being my all time absolute favorite color.)
• a pie crust decorative cutter, which is something I'd never heard of before but was instantly enamored with.  I don't typically make two-crust pies, now I guess I'm going to have to make them more often so I can use my fancy cutter.  I mean, look at that super cool crust on the label!

At the Department store, I reined myself in.  Before leaving home, I'd sternly told myself that other than flannel for granddaughters' nightgowns, I don't need more fabric.  *Sigh*  But there's so much lovely fabric in Shipshewana. . .  So I only allowed myself a few remnants (1/3yd each), two fat quarters, and a 2 1/2 yard piece of bubble gum pink cotton that I intend to sew Faline a surprise summer weight nightgown with.  I did good.  It hurt to leave so much loveliness behind, but I controlled myself.

Flannels and flannel fat quarters and a hot pad pattern from Lolly's,

pink cotton, remnants, thread and fat quarters from Yoder's Department Store.

It was a good trip.  Both in fellowship with my daughters and granddaughters, and in the items on my lists that I managed to bring home with me.  I really would like to go back and check out some of the places I've never been that we just didn't have time for.  Although I think I need to do a whole lot of sewing first, and use up at least a double digit percentage of my fabric stash.  Because I'm not sure I can be so good a second time at not buying all the pretty fabric.  =0)

Gotta Love Free Books!

 Two years ago, a friend of mine organized a community book swap.  It was held in the resource room at her local library.  The premise was that people brought books to swap--minimum of one book required for admission, attendees could take home as many books as they wanted, and at the end of the swap all 'homeless' books were donated to the library for their annual used book sale.

I ended up being unable to make it to the swap, because K2's funeral ended up being scheduled for the same day.  My dear, dear friend, when she heard of this conflict, told me that she'd had numerous people give her boxes of books they no longer wanted and wished to donate to the swap without attending, and invited me to her house to check out the donations.  I found about a dozen books in those pre-swap boxes and being able to take them home even though I wouldn't be able to be at the swap itself helped brighten up a really dark time.

Her book swap was such an overwhelming success, and she had so many requests for another book swap in the not too distant future, that she did!  It needed a larger venue, so that had to be obtained before setting a firm event date.  Ended up being in the Fall of that year.

That one I did attend.  It was another, even larger, impressive turnout of people and books.  Such a big turnout that there wasn't enough table space for all the books brought to be swapped.  And thus was born a semi annual event: the community book swap.

Last year, there was a Spring swap (which I attended and stood in line for almost an hour to get into as there was so many people wanting to swap that the room was at maximum human capacity and people had to be let in only as other people left) and a Fall swap.  The Fall swap had some changes made, such as you could buy an early admittance for $5 and get in an hour early for 'private shopping' before the masses were let in.  That helped a bit with shortening the line, but the turnout was still bigger than the event venue.

This year, the Spring swap was at another new, even larger, location.  The 'early bird special $5 admission' was again offered.  Frugal me, I went for the (free) general admission time and had no trouble getting right in.  I went with only six books to donate (apparently I didn't read much at all between October and March), but came home with sixteen.

Some are for the grandkids to read, some are in brand new condition that I will probably give as gifts, but mostly they are for me!  I was especially excited to spot this book:

Back in 2013 & 2014, when I was learning to knit, I learn to how to knit socks on double pointed needles, and also the Magic Loop method using a circular needle.  At that time, I found that I prefer double points.  2015 or so,  I first heard about the Two at a Time (TAAT) method, and it intrigued me but not enough to seek out more information and give it a try.  I even heard of this exact book, but there was so much stuff going on in my life at that point that I was far from trying anything new that I suspected might require my complete attention to learn.

But now, it's 2025 and I'd actually recently been thinking about maybe adding this book to my list of things I wanted to request from the library. To see it sitting there, in front of me, on the "Crafting" table at the book swap surely was a sign from above!  So I grabbed it and stuffed it into my bag.

Imagine my complete and utter delight when I got it home, was showing off my prizes (new books) to DH, opened the book and there, tucked inside by the previous (now unknown) owner were two sizes of needles needed for some of the patterns in the book!  Woo hoo!  A book teaching the method, 17 patterns and two sets of needles for knitting with!  WINNER WINNER!!

Gotta love free books!

December Sewing and Stitching Update

 I sewed zero things.  I do, however, have the pattern pieces for a corduroy jumper (a Christmas gift for Faline) pinned to the fabric and ready to cut out.  That is a project I thought would be mostly sewn together by now, but, alas, other things have taken up my time.

Two cross-stitched beaded Santas are finished, though!  One is about to be hung on my own tree, the other will be gifted to my Mom who collects Santa stuff.

Weekend Girl Time

 This week, I found out that the local quilt guild was having a show at the country fairgrounds.  It was going to be held indoors, and, since the weather forecast was for rain, rain, and more rain, I knew DH and I wouldn't be working on any outdoor projects. Which left my weekend looking like a bunch of catching up on housework. So, I invited DD1 and DD2 to go to the quilt show with me.  I'd never been to one, but had seen pictures other people posted of quilt shows they'd visited and thought it sounded like an interesting way to spend a few hours. Definitely more fun than housework.

DD2 was busy all weekend, so she was unable to tag along. However, DD1 and Faline were both interested and available.  

I have to say, a quilt show and a nearly three year old aren't the most compatible things.  With some creative thinking, we were able to (mostly) keep Faline both engaged and contained.  Sometimes we did have to duck off to the side and let her do some running/hopping/skipping to expend excess energy. But, other times we told her to look at the quilts and tell us which ones she liked and we would take her picture standing by the quilt.  And, when she got hangry and wasn't too interested in getting her picture taken I told her that I had some lemon crackers in my purse, but she had to ride in the stroller if she wanted to eat them.  Once she was seated in the stroller I doled out the crackers one at a time, one per aisle of quilts, until we'd been able to see them all.  We did skip the shopping area, as I didn't need to buy more stuff (*ahem* I just got an order of fabric last week and might have ordered a few templates earlier this weekend).

Some of Faline's favorites: 

The first one she liked for a picture.

Feeling cheesy

Getting hangry and committing the mortal sin of touching the quilt.

She went into the stroller right after this and was given the first cracker.

I loved looking at the different patterns and construction techniques. Some I appreciated the time and skill that went into the quilt, but either the color combos or the busy-ness didn't appeal to me.  Others I liked a lot and voted for on the ballot that all guests were given at the entrance.

Some, I took pictures of so I could remember that I might want to make a similar quilt myself sometime in the future:

Done in batiks, makes me think of stained glass.

Very calming, yet stars.

I think I like star quilts.

A neat use of drunkards path blocks, 

I like how this one is done.

Ohio Stars

Again, stars.❤

Sampler set on point. 

I love the black sashing and setting triangles with the white in the blocks.

Also love the batik border diamonds.

My mother in law is a quilter, and she frequently does quilts that are partially embroidered with cross stitches.  She has made one for each of her grandchildren. Unfortunately, while the quilts are made with love and her grandkids see that, they often don't use the quilts because of the colors she chooses or the odd fabric choices she went with.  There were several quilts at the show that had cross stitches on them, and DD1 commented that she would love it if her grandma made one like that.  I quote: "This is Grandma's potential, but she never quite reaches it."

An embroidered quilt that DD1 wishes her grandma would make.

(As she said, she would actually use a quilt that looked like that.  She has one that is a different design as well as colored in what she calls "ketchup and mustard" and has squares of fabrics in those colors, including a fabric of mushrooms.)

Close up of the cross stitches

All in all, we only spent about an hour and a half at the quilt show, although I'm sure Faline felt like it was at least twice that long.  I was happy we went, DD1 enjoyed looking at the quilts (and was amazed at the prices on some of the ones that were for sale--she has a new appreciation for the ones I've made her/her kids).  I'm pretty sure Faline's favorite part was walking back to where we'd parked; she splashed in every puddle on the way, absolutely soaking her shoes.

Sewing and Stitching, October Update

The sewing and stitching report for October has lots of things to talk about.

I made some more bear clothes:

• a skirt and shirt for K3's bear, 
• sweatpants for Toad's, and 
• pants for Rascal's bear. 

None of which I have pictures to share.  

Also in the no-picture category was some special request sewing for Faline; she had been playing in her intended Halloween costume and accidentally torn it.  I was really surprised to get a phone call from very worried sounding two-year-old asking me if I could "please fix my Mirabel dress, Ahma."  It was a really simple fix, as the fabric had just pulled apart at the bodice/skirt seam.  While I was at it, I reinforced the entire seam, not just the torn part, as well as the side seams.  When I returned it to her, I got a big hug and many thanks.  Apparently I have saved Halloween, LOL.

I spent some time sewing a few quilt blocks for an internet forum quilt I am participating in. Those, I did take pictures of.

9-patch

churn dash

9 patch variation

tick tack toe

(quilterscache.com pattern)

There has also been a bit of counted cross stitching going on.  (It's nice that it's dark by 8 p.m. this time of year; I have more time for relaxing and crafting rather than working outside until nearly bed time).

The Candy Cane Santa that I finished stitching earlier this year, I pulled out and have been working off and on at getting the beading sewn on.  While waiting for my grape juice to process in the canner this past weekend I was able to get the last of the beading done.  Now it just needs to be trimmed, and have a felt backing and a hanging string glued on. Maybe in November, maybe not until December.  That can wait until I have my other Santa stitched and ready for the same final steps.

My Cardinal Santa, the other cross stitch one I've been working on occasionally, is suddenly very much closer to completion.  I spent a 9+ hour day babysitting Buck last week, and over the course of two long naps that he took, I stitched up a storm!  Once the cross stitching and back-stitching are done, I'll go right to the beading on this one.  Depending on when that is, I'll decided if I have enough time to do any more cross-stitch Santas to give as Christmas presents this year or not.  

Summer Stitching & Sewing Update

 There hasn't been much sewing.  I cut out the rest of the pieces for the dress I intended to make Faline back in early April (that I totally got waylaid by the death of K2 and didn't touch for months).  It's a summer weight dress and more than likely won't fit her next summer, so I really need to get it sewn up before the weather turns too cool for her to wear it. 

 Unfortunately I got through the sewing of the bodice (and bodice lining), sewed the side seams on the skirt and had intended to sew the two pieces together yesterday (including installing the side zipper) when I discovered that the second page of the instructions is missing!  ARGH!  It's been so long since I started this (like late March) and so much has happened since then, and my sewing area is such a complete mess at the moment, that I don't know where the heck that needed second page is.  (Bash head here).  

It's been a long time since I made a dress with a zipper, so long that doing the side zipper thing isn't clear in my memory.  I'm pretty sure I sew the skirt and bodice together at the waist, starting and ending either side of the zipper opening, and then put in the zipper, but I could be wrong.  I'm sure I can find that info online these days even though the pattern itself is 10 years old or more.

While my sewing area has suffered from lack of regular attention (and tidying!!), I have done quite a bit of cross-stitching in the past month.  A little here and a little there in the middle of a hot afternoon (when I'm hiding inside from the sun) or to relax after dark at night once the outdoor work has been halted and before I get into bed, has really added up quickly.

The more I stitch on it, the more I like this piece.  It's very folk art-ish and reminds me of the decor of my early childhood (1970's).  It's also going to go very well in my chicken kitchen.

See my little fox needle minder in the above picture?  Well, the other day I thought to myself how much I like it, and wouldn't it be nice to have more than one, so I didn't have to steal it off one project (the Santa that is done except for the beadwork) in order to use it on another (this chicken thing).  Which resulted in me taking a quick peek at the needle minders currently offered by the Fat Quarter Shop, where I bought the fox one.  And lo and behold, they had some really cute ones. So I just may have treated myself to not just one additional needle minder, but three.  Although I might give one to K3; she's been showing an interest lately in maybe learning to do counted cross stitch.

A Little Sewing; July Update

 There's been a tiny bit of sewing going on in the past few weeks.  I made one last quilt block, a scrappy/strippy 9-patch using the same purple paisley fabric as the blocks I showed in May and June.

Then, I started working on a project that had been requested by DS1's kids. . . When their mother died in April, they had each been given a small teddy bear by the Gift of Life organization (K2 had been a registered organ donor).  In late May, Toad asked me if I could make his bear some clothes.  K3 quickly chimed in that she'd like some for her bear, and Rascal also said his bear wanted something other to wear than the green Gift of Life t-shirt it had come in.  

So I asked for a bear to volunteer to come stay with me for a little bit.  I needed to measure it and make some prototype patterns.  Then, here and there, as I had a bit of extra time, I began to sew new bear clothes.  K3 even picked out some fabric for the clothes for hers when DD1, DD2 and I took her and Faline with us on our annual overnight pilgrimage to Shipshewana.

striped pajamas 

(made from an old tank top)

color-block style pants

I have lots more bear clothes that need to be made yet; K3 wants a couple two-fabric shirts and Rascal wants a red t-shirt, plus Toad has a whole summer wardrobe in mind. It's just hard to find the time for sewing right now, as when the weather isn't favorable for working outside then I need to be inside catching up on housework!

Here and there I've put a few stitches into the cross stitch Santa that's been in progress since March.  All the stitching and back stitching are finally completed, and I just need to do the beadwork.  That can wait until Fall, especially because I need good natural lighting and the only crafting time I have right now is at the end of the day after dark (10 pm-ish).

Meanwhile, I do need something to stitch that can be easily picked up and put down (so not a sewing machine project). I chose to start another counted cross-stitch, this one of folk art roosters that I bought the pattern off Etsy several years ago.

Sewing in June

I actually did a little sewing in the last week! I took my Thursday, now that I'm not babysitting Faline and Buck for the summer, and I spent probably two hours messing around with fabric!  

I finished, (maybe, because I don't like how bunchy it is and I'm thinking of taking it apart,) a Crows Foot quilt block.  I'd started it in early May, and it's been languishing since. The instructions were basically cutting instructions and a few diagrams of the pieces fit together. With Y seams.  I thought I could do it, as I've done some Y seams successfully in the past.  But this time? I don't know.  I think I should have looked for a tutorial.  Because my quilt block sure isn't pretty. Or flat.

I had much better results with a Spring Tulips block

and a Churn Dash block.

I am mostly done with the cross stitching on the Santa ornament I've been slowly working on this Spring.  Maybe I'll have it all complete (including back-stitching and beading) in July.

My garden is fully planted, so now there's just weeding to do (and watering as needed) until the crops start to come in.  Hopefully that means soon I'll be able to squeeze in more time for crafting.

Or not, as we are about to go full steam on a big project outdoors.  Lots and lots of fence posts to install, and then the fencing to stretch and attach.  And hay is ready for cutting too; as soon as the weather gives us a clear 3-4 day stretch we're next on my custom hay guy's list.