Stitching along this Memorial Day

I'm getting restless once again and need a change from the black threads of the Hocuspocusville quilt embroidery something with a bit more color so while I work along on the seventh block later today I am going to trace out the patterns for a few summer stitchery patterns, more about that later in my post. First here is the progress I made yesterday on the seventh block, not too much was done but its progress

block seven 

I will link up at Supermom No Cape for the Monday link up party.  If you are curious click the link and take a look what other bloggers are working on.
http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/05/30/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-60/

The arrival of Memorial Day for many signifies the start of summer even though we have a few weeks of spring remaining. Every where I look lately I see an abundance of color popping up not just in gardens, there is our clothing, fabrics and home decor.

Since I need a project or two to divert my eyes from all the black threads I have chosen these three patterns to put on the light box today.  All Crab-apple Hill Studio, I may be just a little obsessesed with the patterns.http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/

My fingers have been aching terribly from the numbness and tingling so a change from needle to pen should give some relief.

I have all the required embroidery threads for each pattern, the fabrics too, so all I need to do is press the fabrics, trace the embroidery patterns and then decide which one I will begin first.  Having three projects ready will make taking short breaks from the black embroidery easier.  I plan to work on the rest of the area shown in the photo of block seven done later today.

I wish all of you a safe  Memorial Day

Slow Sunday Stitching and Lemon Seeds

Another Sunday is upon us and once again I have something to post over at Kathy's Quilt for Slow Sunday Stitching.  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching-muscle-memory.html
I've made more progress on block seven though not as much as I had hoped to. The tree is done and the spider I still need to do the web once I move the Q frame.

Stitching away

My fingers began to tingle and go numb so I had to keep putting the work aside and then before I could start to stitch again I had to remove the few last stitches that went off before starting each time I picked up the work again. I finally put it aside for a few days to give my hands a rest.

Yesterday morning before the heat of the day set in I transplanted a few more plants I bought to larger pots and gave everything a good watering. The new knockout roses I bought on Wednesday was full

of closed buds which are now beginning to open, this photo does not do them justice.  A few weeks ago I took a few lemon seeds and stuck them on a damp paper towel, place them in a zip close bag and waited and waited until I saw the green pushing against the bag.

So yesterday I opened the paper towel and decided to put them is starter pots I have done this before with good results.

So out came the peat pots and starter mix I actually had on hand from earlier this year and never got around to using so that saved time.

I always forget how light the seed starting mix is but I managed to get the pots filled and the seedlings planted and now I wait.

I actually placed the whole window box in a plastic bag to give it a greenhouse effect until the seedlings are a little stronger, usually only one or two will survive.  If they take they grow very slowly or at least that had been my experience. I can't say the same about my sweet potato plant I started.

I haven't done one of these in a while and started mine with the pointed end up, I think many start with the pointed end down.  This all came about when I was rinsing out a jelly jar I bought thinking I would use it to root a few pieces of the Pothos plant when a few hours later I was making dinner, one of the sweet potatos looked to be a perfect fit.

The Mandevilla is blooming nicely I love the two different shades of pink this plant has, I will need to add a trellis this week because the tendrils are finally growing.

The Sunday before Memorial Day at one point was known as Decoration Day….the day when veterans would lay flowers on the graves of vets.

Monday's Link Up and A Vintage Stitchery

Today I had a rather pleasant surprise when I stopped over at Supermom No Cape to see the newest vintage embroidery pattern posted. If you aren't familiar with this wonderful blog click the link and have a look. On Monday mornings there is a vintage embroidery pattern posted and you can link up to share what you are currently working on there are also wonderful tutorials and lovely quilts made and all kinds of ideas and tips for home and garden.

Today I am linking up to show the progress on my Hocuspocusville Quilt block number 7, as you can see the tree is complete I just have to do the spider and web.

large tree

Here is the link to Supermom No Cape http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/05/23/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-59/  today she has posted a pattern of the great seal of the United States which is a free downloaded the link will take you to the pattern which reminds me very much of a piece I made in 1980.

I plan to start tracing it today so I can get stitching on it soon so I can have it to complement this piece I made years and years ago.

my vintage eagle

Slow Sundays are all about stitching

It's been a crazy week and its nice to finally settle in for some slow hand stitching. This past week and a half my car has been in the shop twice for major repair work so much for purchasing a newer car thinking it wouldn't need major repair work for some time to come, boy was I ever wrong.  My thinking was any repairs would really be regualr upkeep and less costly, again was I ever wrong. My mechanic told me what happens is luxury automobiles are made to last at least to the 100,000 mile mark and most owners trade in the car right before and you guess it I bought the car at a great price back in August and it has been in the shop every other month since October and only once was it for upkeep the oil change.

So today after all the aggravation and dollars spent I need some time in my garden and my slow stitching to bring me back to balance and calm.

This is a Canna Lily in the most stunning orange color I have seen in a long time, trust me my photo does not do her justice.  The heavy rains we had this week were quite beneficial for all those plants newly transplanted into the larger pots.
Here is one of the many Mexican Petunias with her lovely lavender color flowers opening for the day.

and here is the progress I have made on block seven of the Hocuspocusville Quilt, its been a busy week so not much has been done but I plan to remedy that today.

first tree block 7

I will be linking my post to Kathy's Quilts for Slow SUnday Stitching come on over ans see what other bloggers are hand stitching today.
 https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching_22.html

Stitching a tree and blooming Hibiscus

This morning started of lovely after my morning walk I decided to enjoy my coffee outside while the blooms on some of my plants were waking.

This is one of three Hibiscus buds starting to open, the flowers on this plant are so big for such a small plant, I will transplant it later in the week to the bigger pot but for now I just love seeing those beautiful red flowers open.
Update here is a photo six hours later when the sun was shining bright in the late morning sky

I made slow progress on the seventh Hocucpocusville block yesterday, my hands were being stubborn with that annoying tingling and numbness so I put aside the needle to give the hands a rest, I imagine with all the garden work over the weekend my hands needed a break.

I did make some progress stitching the tree and I will be joining the linky party over at Supermom No Cape http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/05/16/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-58/

I love trees whether I am stitching them or taking a photo of two of them and bare trees especially get my attention there is something about the naked branches that intrigue me.

Sunday Stitches and Garden Update

Another Sunday and that means it's time for a little Slow Stitching reveal and a link up over at Kathy's Quilts.https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching_15.html  where you can view what Kathy is working on and many other talented bloggers who like to slow down with a little hand stitching, but before I reveal what I am slow stitching I want to post about a few things that have kept me from making more progress on my stitching.

First there was last Sunday and I had nothing stitched to share mostly because I was away for the Mother's Day weekend.  My son and I drove to the Georgia Renaissance Faire held in Fairburn Georgia, just a short 7 hour drive, with a stop or two to browse an antique shop. The weather was perfect for the Fair, sunny, breezy and low to mid 70's and the evening dropped to 46 and I was chilly.

Jousting

Copper dragon fountain

some vendor shops

The grounds where the fair is held is a dedicated area with permanent buildings, stages and arenas, I was so impressed with the area many of the vendor shops had little gardens or fountains. This was the 30th year of the fair and my first visit.

A week or so before Mothers Day my son cut back all the over grown shrubs in the front of my house that I had wanted to do before I became ill, then we went on a little shopping spree for plants to put in the space.  I wanted flowering plants and leafy easy to care for plants and came away with some lovely choices. I blogged about the new plants here:
http://deborahsbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2016/04/spending-some-time-in-my-garden.html

Yesterday I spent most of the day transplanting the plants into large pots since I don't want to put them in the ground. I just have them placed in the sun until I decide exactly where to place them. You can see in the photo below the shrubs are gone, there is a bit of debris to bag up then I can lay down the mulch and place my pots.

Yesterday while transplanting I ran out of soil and I was short a pot or two so it was off to the store, an hour later I return home with soil, pots and 4 more Persian Shield plants you can see them in the front I left a tag on one of the pots. I had to buy the two concrete planters from Wal-Mart they were priced too good to pass up at $11.00 dollars each, in this area you can't get that size at wholesale prices.

one of two concrete plantes

I have a potted Hibiscus in there right now though later this week I want to buy a larger Jamine plant for the planter.

I snapped the photos early this morning before the Mexican Petunias had a chance to open those lovely purple flowers. Here is a photo before the shrubs were cut down to the ground.

It really was a massive mess with several species of shrubs growing nearly on top of one another. I am happy to have them gone and I think the flowering plants will be a nice change.  I plan to add a few rose bushes too.

As for my Slow Stitching Sunday progress, the hand embroidery for block 7 of the Hocuspocusville Quilt is started, I don't know if I mentioned this before but I love stitching the trees on these blocks.

block 7

I plan to get more stitching done today, after nearly 8 hours in the garden yesterday my body aches so slow stitching is just what I need.

One thing I can say is the month of May has been good to me I am finally recovered from that nasty lingering bug or I wouldn't have been able to spend as much time in the garden as I did or walk all those hours at the Renaissance fair last weekend.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day whether you are stitching, gardening, reading or just sitting back sipping tea. Now I am off to see what other bloggers are stitching today and once again here is the link to Kathy's Quilts stop on over and have a peek.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching_15.html

In My Hoop

The hand embroidery for the Hocuspocusville Quilt blocks is coming along nicely and once again I am so happy I traced all the patterns onto the blocks before I started stitching it makes things much easier to just pick up the next block adhere the backing fabric and begin the stitching.

I also like using just the black floss though I know one day if time permits and I run out of projects I will do these blocks using a variety of colorful threads.

A few days ago I ordered another pattern from Crab-Apple Hill Studios, its the third hand embroidery panel for the Mystery of the Salem Quilt Guild, I love the patterns and the use of crayon tint really brings out the embroidery.

Panel 3 http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/

Panel 2 http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/

Panel 1 http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/

I didn't begin any prep work for the patterns yet, I wanted to wait for all three patterns so I could trace them all at the same time, begin the crayon tinting before I started the hand embroidery. I added the link under each photo from the website where there are many wonderful patterns to chose from if a witch isn't your cup of tea.

Another Hocuspocusville Block Completed

The start of May has me feeling much better though still tire quickly each day my energy level is increasing.

I have completed the hand embroidery for block number six for the Hocuspocusville Quilt, despite

block 6 Le Witche Boutique

being ill for several weeks I am thankful many of those days I was able to stitch which is probably why this block didn't take as long as the others to embroider, or maybe I am just getting better at stitching and I'm not pulling out stitches as often as I used to.  I will be joining the Monday linky party at Supermom No Cape
http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/05/02/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-56/

Happy May Day