Happy Earth Day

April TUSAL Orts Report

Wow another New Moon which means its time for me to post my Orts for the April TUSAL, what is a TUSAL=Totally Useless Stitch A Long what more information follow the like to Daffycat's site and you can find out what its all about and join too if you would like.
http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-totally-useless-stitch-long-2015.html

Orts Jar

orts

The Orts for this  month come mainly from the Greenman #2 hand embroidery piece.  Yesterday I was able to put in some quality stitching time.

The top half of the Greenman's leaves are completely stitched and today I plan to start on the bottom half.  The photo doesn't do justice to the piece it is quite stunning up close.

More ort threads to be sorted for longer pieces I will still use the others will be tossed in my Orts jar

which I need to tamp down which I will do when this piece is completed. The lone blue yarn piece

is from the shawl I am crocheting which I work on when my fingers are too sore to hold onto the needle.

The shawl has reached thirty four inches in width and still growing, I am pleased with the results and I like the simple pattern stitch.

Well that's all for this month's TUSAL. I am off to an Arts and Crafts festival.
Happy Stitching

Some new threads, a little floss and Aunt Martha's

Today I decided to take advantage of the Joann's sale on thread which is 50% off. I am building my sewing thread supply, I have spools of thread over 30 years old and some of them have faded and some tend to break while sewing with them so here and there I have been picking up several spools when its on sale.

The top 4 spools are Coats hand quilting and piecing thread and the bottom 6 spools are Gutterman's silk thread, I love hand sewing with silk thread.

I also picked up these cute little Wutton buttons to use to embellish one of the embroidery pieces I

have plans to make using one of the pages from the Day of the Dead coloring book I picked up a few months ago.

I also picked up some Perle cotton for an upcoming Greenman hand embroidery piece I have in the planning stages, these were not on sale.

I also picked up a package of DMC Amazon Collection color variations had a 50% off coupon to use.

I love the colors in this set and have a few ideas tossing around my skull for using them.  To my surprise while browsing the embroidery aisle I was looking at the Aunt Martha's embroidery transfers and came across this beauty.

close up

I just love trees and leaves, there were several other new Aunt Martha's transfers including a few Prim style motifs, I have used the Aunt Martha's transfers for over 40 years in fact I have several old packets still unused in my craft bins. I love seeing how this brand has evolved over the decades.

Progress on Greenman #2 is going slowly but I am progressing, I had a pesky headache for a few days so I need to see the eye doctor I believe its time for new spectacles.

No he isn't wearing glasses I was just following the stitch line and decided to stop before I completed all the leafy veins. I was having trouble seeing my stitches and had to undo one area three times, really just 4 stitches.

Giving up Sugar and other good reads

https://iquitsugar.com/blog/ 

The first book on this weeks reading list is Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar,  which incidently has a blog and a Facebook page of the same name, I put a link for the blog above.
      I think I'm going to give this 8 week detox a shot, while I don't eat sweets often, nor do I use added sugar I know many of the foods I eat have hidden sugars and with all the digestive troubles I have endured I figured I have nothing to lose and perhaps much to gain.  A few weeks ago I was shopping and comparing labels and was surprised to find many low fat foods had more sugars than the full fat variety, I began eating the full fat yogurt for about 3 weeks now and to my surprise I didn't have heartburn after eating it.
     Anyway I just started reading the book today so I'll try to post my own progress if I decide to quit sugar.  My one draw back is the eat more fats which I know I need to do, its something I have tried and something my doctors have encouraged over the years.

I read a few reviews recently for Wolf Winter and it caught my interest so I requested it from the library along with the late Maeve Binchy book.

I read several of her books and enjoyed them all and there are still many of her books I have yet to read so why not start with one of her latest.
   

The last book I checked out of the library this week is the first book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I have wanted to read for years and now is the time.

Happy April Days

Happy Passover

Happy Easter

Blessed Ostara

Happy Everything!

Wow is it really April?

While watering my bamboo plants last week I notice lots of bee activity around the holly bushes, I don't think I have seen that many bees in one place since I moved to Florida 20 years ago. What I do find odd is that I don't have much in the garden except weeds this year with the exception of the surviving herbs, lemon and lime trees and the new bamboo. The holly bushes are bursting with berries and lots of new growth to the point I may need to hire a landscaper to cut it back because my arms are too short to reach the top.

I still haven't added any potted plants yet, and with each stroll through the  plant nursies I weaken and want to get my hands in the soil but at this time I have to tell myself its too late to add new plants, you have plans to move around the beds and you didn't have much luck last spring so wait like you planned and put in a container garder for now, especially since you have been ill and need to recover.  

Which brings me to what I have been doing lately, some stitching on the Greenman #2 though not as much as I would have liked.

I have been sorting through craft bins, fabric and yarn stash often wondering when I pull out a particular fabric or yarn, What was I thinking? Does this happen to you? Other times I pulled out a fabric thinking I thought I had used it on a project, and all too often I find something and remember just what I planned to make with it.  And then there is the I just loved the print, color, feel of the fabric or yarn.  

Speaking of yarn, here is the progress on the shawl I am crocheting using a bamboo/silk blend yarn

I usually only work on this at the Thread Therapy stitchery group I go to, the group meets on Thursday and Saturday, I have a better chance making it to Saturdays group though I'm going to try for today's meeting.

April, how did that happen so fast?  Spring is popping up all over here in Florida.

While walking the track yesterday morning I noticed the birds are gathering bits and pieces for nesting so I need put out some yarn and fabric scraps in the back yard, usually the bits are gone in a week.  

Recovering from an illness can be such a tediuos task, wanting to jump in and pick up right where you left off only to find your body is not having any of that, I have never been a take it slow kind of person so it can be frustrating, this time I'm going to do things differently, be patient and take things slow at least I can catch up on my reading.

After doing some research on other quilters who have made a Dear Jane quilt I have decided to follow what many have done which is to begin with the easier blocks first and then move onto the more challenging blocks.  

The block above is K-2 aka Grandpa's Chickens to me its a simply checkerboard design and will most likely be the first block I do. Now I have to decide whether or not to dismantle the book so copying or tracing the patterns will be easier.  I may have it spiral bound or use sheet protectors for each page or maybe just buy the quilt software program and print the pattern so I don't have to disassemble the book.  Decisions, decisions.

Happy April!