Sunday Stitching, Sunshine and a Savings of Sorts.

Sunday stitching and sunshine a great way to start the week.  Spring is in the air though for many not in the weather.
The dreaded Daylight Savings time has us springing forward one hour, I know longer set  my clocks before I go to bed it really doesn't make a difference I don't set an alarm, I am usually awake before daylight peeks through the curtains and really what's going to happen are the timekeeper police going to ticket me for failing to set my clocks ahead at 2:00 a.m.   Though Maxine says it all

I don't mind the change at all, in fact I welcome the later daylight hours in the evenings, I'm already drink my coffee in the darkness of early morning.

Spring is in the air so I thought a little pastel stitching would be a nice change from the greens of the greenman piece. The sampler pattern was traced onto my fabric yesterday afternoon it was a free Bronwyn Hayes pattern from several years back offered on the Red Brolly web-site due to her illness is no longer available.

I began stitching it this morning while sipping coffee and watching the sun come up, though right now the colors are so pastel just white and brown.

I have several of the Bronwyn Hayes patterns from years back when I was a member of her newsletter via her web-site.  I have a few of her patterns and a book or two. While clearing out some clutter a few days ago I came across a CD of old patterns that I copied to disk when I upgraded my computer after I moved here in 2011. Side note: I have replaced my computer two or three times since, out of necessity to read as computer crashed and once when an unwitting friend set an email with a rather nasty virus. 

I was surprised at all the patterns I came across and also surprised that many of those websites and blogs are gone or haven't been updated in years a few of the bloggers did go on to create Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages.

I also traced a Crab Apple Hill Studio design to begin stitching this week The Queen of the Needle

I just love the sweetness of Meg Hawkey's designs and to my pleasant surprise I have a set of tea cup patterns from 2004 which I believe I purchased at a quilt show about 5 years ago.

I have quite a few Crab Apple Hill patterns, it's about time I get some of them traced onto fabric so I can start stitching them.   I have quite of few garden related patterns by several designers including Barb Smith aka Theodora Cleaves, Gail Pan, Kathy Schmitz, Bird Brain Designs.  It may be time to weed out a few of these patterns so sit down and trace every one of them onto fabric and just stitch a way. 
Well time will tell in the meantime I'm linking to Kathy's Quilts today for some Slow Sunday Stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/03/slow-sunday-stitching-finished-middling.html

Slow Stitching and a Few New Toys

Here we are in March with the AQS quilt show at Daytona Beach ending yesterday it was a lovely day unfortunately I left my camera and phone at home so not a single photo, and the first Slow Stitching Sunday for the month, I have made slow progress on my Spirit Bear piece these feathers seem to take forever and my choice of cotton duck fabric not so great the thickness of the fabric while sturdy is a challenge once you stitch for a bit and the needle seems harder to push through the fabric and it has the stitch and wash product on it too.  The feathers on the opposite side are done. I will link my post to Kathy's Quilts today have a look at what other bloggers are slow stitching today.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/03/slow-sunday-stitching.html

This small stag head piece I finished stitching should be finished this week and on its way to a friend.

I have a few pieces that need to be ironed to remove the sketch lines than on to finishing them. In the meantime I am crocheting away on the shell stitch afghan and getting some reading time in.

The new issue of Needle Arts came this week's mail allowing me to rest my fingers while I read over a few articles.

Two weeks ago this lovely book Crewel Creatures by Hazel Blomkamp arrived on my door step from one of my friends. 

I just love the patterns in this book and want to eventually stitch Maureen the owl and then maybe Norman the turtle.

A few other nifty treats arrived in the mail this week with Spring on the horizon I wanted to make a few felted items so I ordered this lovely pastel palette of felt and floss from a favorite Etsy shop.

If you are curious here is the link https://www.etsy.com/shop/BenzieDesign  you can order just the felt without the floss but I like saving time and order both that way I know I have all the colors on hand. The felt comes in 2 sizes 9x12" and 12x18" I bought the 9x12 set.

This little packet of watercolor paint sheets is from a sweet site a friend sent me a link to, all you do is wet your paint brush with water and dab on the paint sheet and start painting.  

There are sixteen paint sheets in the booklet here are a few of the colors, each page of sheets is separated by a velum sheet, I thought these would be great to slip in my pack when I take day hikes and such. I ordered here:https://mymodernmet.store/

This came in last weeks mail a new Joan Elliott's Goddess pattern, this is the Frost Goddess

I need to pick up some Mill Hill beads at the local Needlework shop I didn't have the 3 colors I need in my stash of beads but I did order  fabric and the Kreinik threads I needed when I purchased the pattern from 123 Stitch. The fabric is hand dyed in a very pale blue.

Here is the link for the pattern if you are interested.  

https://www.123stitch.com/item/Joan-Elliott-Frost-Goddess-Cross-Stitch-Pattern/JE259

I can't forget the Tacky Bob to aid me when I am working with beads. I haven't used one before my 

friend tells me they work great especially when stitching with beads so I thought I would give it a try, you know the older I get those bead holes tend to get smaller. A note on the links I am not affiliated with any of the shops or products I just like to share a link for those that are curious.

Happy Stitching.

Crochet update, a challenge and the new sofa

A new crochet project has started another Shell stitch afghan using Mandala yarn this time Wool Ease in the Athena colorway. The piece is folded in half for the photo.

I may have mentioned that I love the shell stitch and I'm quite pleased with the Beachy look of the one I made using the Lion Brand Wishing Well colorway.

I have a few other crochet projects in mind but haven't decided yet which one to start though my great niece Tessa would like a new afghan in green which is her favorite color.

Next month is National Crochet Month with a few ways to celebrate popping up on the internet here is one of them with the link for more information below.

https://stitchesnscraps.com/hookedonyarn2019/

Tessa celebrated her 6th birthday earlier this month at Chucky Cheese, she didn't want a party this year and we all had a great time.  I gifted her with an American Girl doll and several outfits and a backpack to carry the doll and several outfits for Tessa to wear.  Those 6 years have gone by so fast.

I am drafting a few new embroidery pieces to get started on and need to removed the stitch and wash product from the drum and dance piece which for some reason I stuck away with a few things and I'm too lazy to drag the box down off the shelf.

My new sofa arrived last week, nearly two weeks early, the photo doesn't show the blue very well 

 I ordered some dark blue pillow covers and new drapes I'll put those up this weekend if I have time. The room looks much lighter without the brown sofa the light blue makes it feel airy, now to find the right chair. It's a little blurry but the shell stitch afghan on the sofa.

February Birthday's Sofa Shopping and Slow Sunday Stitching

February is usually a busy month for me with several birthdays my son on the 6th, great niece on the 13th and other events going on including drum circle and Renaissance Faire, to add to the hustle and bustle of the month yesterday I began the day with some crocheting, I am starting a new project a new afghan title Virus blanket, this is what the pattern looks like in different colorways none of which are mine

I love the browns above, I will be using fairly neutral colorway for mine, this purple yellow and blue is kind of pretty. I love the lacy look of the pattern and turns out lovely using those mandala yarns. I bought the pattern for on hand instructions rather than watch one of the you tube videos available which will come in handy if I get stuck.  These completed blankets are not mine and the maker's name wasn't available, However, the pattern is by Joanna Martinez and can be purchased at her Etsy shop or via Ravelry links at the end of my post.

Here is the start of my Virus blanket using Lion Brand Wool Ease in the Athena colorway and I hook.

The top photo was taken with my cell phone and the bottom photo was taken with my digital camera of the same ball of yarn and same starting crochet, the color of the actual yarn isn't that yellow.

More hustle yesterday afternoon I went shopping for a new sofa and came across some very lovely and comfortable leather power sofas like this blue one though I didn't like the pillows, this sofa does it all: reclines, head rest adjust, it has lumbar support and massage function as well as heats the seat.

This one also has all those functions and can be ordered in blue if I didn't like the gray.  I was very

very close to purchasing one of them when practical me showed up and debated those controls and the life of them, the thought of replacing a computerized sensor or plugging in my sofa which wouldn't be a problem now but I am house hunting and perhaps the space where the sofa would go didn't have an outlet.

 So as much as the adjustable headrest and massage function was nice I went with the practical sofa above, just about identical to my current chocolate brown one, but in a nice shade of sky blue which you can see in the swatch on the table slightly curled. (I almost bought it in red). My current love seat has swirls of blue in the paisley print so it will work for now but eventually I want to ditch the love seat  buy a chair or two but that will wait for now. (or at least this week). This year it's all about blue.

Slow stitching is continuing on the drum and dance piece which is almost completely stitched, I finished the stitching on the last figure.

I will be linking at Kathy's Quilts today here: https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/02/slow-sunday-stitching.html

For the Virus Blanket pattern
https://www.etsy.com/listing/579633130/crochet-virus-blanket-pattern-blanket?
ref=shop_home_active_2

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/virus-blanket