Midnight Munchers and Other Happenings

Yesterday morning I sat down on the front steps to tie up my walking shoes and suddenly stopped... where there had been abundant Geranium blooms only the afternoon before, now there were only chewed-off bare stems!  Groan. The midnight munchers (deer) have been at it again. I use a product that works well in the perennial garden but hadn't even considered our front steps! I've never known them to eat Geraniums before either. I mixed up a batch of "I Must Garden" after our early morning walk was concluded and discovered the Hosta blossoms and the entire Clematis vine climbing up the lampost just behind it had been torn apart as well. Time to be proactive and spray around everything. The product is linked above; I've been using it for a few years now and find it to be highly effective. I just need to remember to be diligent in its use.  

So, while I am trying to repel some living creatures from our yard...

...I'm also determined to bring others back! The Goldfinch had been conspicuously absent this year; until a neighbor told me about feeding Sunflower Hearts & Chips. Well, what do you know? Slowly, a few more each day, they have returned. They absolutely love this seed... maybe a little too much! $$$!! My plan is to switch them back to Thistle seed, which I already have on hand but now I'm worried that they may leave again if I do that. I just don't know.

The Bluebirds have returned to raise a second family already.

And this, from the orchard. Our first ever apple. But, on the entire apple tree, only the one! Why? Maybe it's the same old story as I started with... perhaps it's the midnight munchers; they're particularly fond of our peaches out there too. It's hard to keep up.

Meanwhile, back inside the house... is there a quilter in this country who's not working on a R,W & B quilt in celebration of America 250 this year? Count me in with all the rest. 

Even the trimmings are patriotic!

Work on my version of the Sarah Barker sampler continues in the evenings; seemingly with no end in sight. When I embarked upon this project I had no idea it would take forever; however, it is actually larger than I had envisioned as well as a labor of love; I must say that I am truly enjoying the slow pace and the results. It's a pleasure to return to night after night. Undoubtedly, I will be sad when it's completed, she and I have become a good friends. 

I've got a surprise (WITH ATTITUDE!) loaded onto the longarm right now (speaking of projects that have dragged on for an eternity) and am eager to reveal it soon (I hope)! Someone is keeping an eye on me while I work, it's good to be held accountable. 

SEW... what's new with you?

Life is Good!

Land of Cotton?

Nope, look again, they're not cotton bolls; it's snow. Winter has arrived with a vengeance in the south. The weekend before last it was all ice, this past weekend it was all snow. Eight inches plus at Chez Goodneedle. That will teach me to make statements like "it's been so long since we've seen snow"! This snow was light and fluffy, due to the temperature being brutally cold, it is very pretty. (The tracks in this photo leading up from the lower right corner and traversing back and forth are from deer.)  We dodged the bullet again, power-wise; sadly, so many other southerners weren't as lucky. 

In anticipation of the storm, Augie got a coat. He was more than happy to stay cozy and warm! I'm content to stay in and work on projects, and as long as there's power I can do that for weeks on end!

Sarah Barker is coming right along...

...and I was able to get all the remaining blocks cut and kitted to complete the Cream and Sugar quilt. 

This magnificent Amaryllis continues to be a bright spot in the kitchen...

...and with plenty of time (and sourdough discard) on my hands I've even been baking crackers! I'm attaching the link here. I added a pinch of rosemary, these really are yummy. 

Most likely there will be more DIY clean up happening today. Our nighborhood is very low on the priority list, so far no state vehicles with a plow attached have ventured into our neighborhood at all. It's difficult for some to get in and out as we do have some significant hills in here which are heard to traverse with the remaining hard-packed ice underneath.  The public schools have been out for six days straight now and tomorrow isn't looking much better. I received and email this morning that our LQS is closed until further notice. The mail hasn't been delivered to our mailbox since a week ago last Friday, there's been no trash pick up and, for the second week in a row, church services have been canceled. Yesterday it was especially sad to miss worship as it was to be the celebration of the 500th service for our little mission congregation. Sigh. 

Snow... in the land of cotton, 

 days like these won't be forgotten!

Life is Good!

February~ Come and Gone!!

Out with the snowmen, it's February; love and hearts have replaced them on the tabletops and kitchen windowsill! 

And yet, while all of that is true, here is the greater question:

Thank you so much, blogger friends and those in real life who've reached out to inquire about my whereabouts and well-being. I'm fine, just as busy as I've ever been. I had taken on quite a few outside longarm commitments over the past few weeks; those, along with regular day-to-day activities have pretty much taken every free minute and run out the clock on February. Whew! Of course, that didn't stop me from starting a few projects of my own...

... as well as a new set of Lenten paraments for church. If anyone reading this has experience with sewing paraments or vestments let me know. I have questions for you!

I got a this bitty cross stitch piece bordered with all the best intentions to make a seasonal pillow but the backing/stuffing part still hasn't happened and this cutie remains one dimensional, I need to finish it for next year now. 

This little hanging is now 25 years old; made by a dear friend who's since passed away. She made one of these for every month of the year, they hang in the kitchen window as a reminder of our friendship over all these many the years. 💗

And just like that this month has all but passed and spring is knocking LOUDLY at the door! Augie is now sixteen months old and the absolute perfect companion. I'm going to TRY to be better about posting here, I seem to have gotten out of the habit, time to get back in the swing of things!

SEW, what's new with you?

Life is Good!

AWOL

I know, I know; I've been AWOL with no clue as to when I'd return or why I had disappeared. The last you knew I had my cast taken off and I was footloose and fancy-free again. Well, let's just say that was a very short lived state! Sigh. After a few days of catching up with all the tasks that required two free hands I contracted some sort of virus that presented with almost every symptom you could name: sore throat, headache, body aches, cough, congestion, nausea, fever... all of the above. However, the over-riding and longest lasting symptom was that of fatigue. I was wiped out. Some have suggested this may have been COVID, maybe it was, I had no test and was too sick to worry about that, I wouldn't have done anything differently anyway. I never left the house for ten days and really didn't even begin to feel anywhere even remotely like myself again for two full weeks! It was awful. This past Friday was the day that I turned the corner, there's life among the living again and I plan to participate fully! Whew. Moving on and catching up...

This bridge represents the road back to recovery; this is where I spent last weekend, on retreat! What a wonderful chance to just sit and stitch and visit with friends, it was the best of all therapy. I completed the table topper pictured above on Friday, I had already stitched up the pumpkins that formed the borders so they were ready to go. This is one of the Riley Blake Designs from last year's monthly table topper of the month program, this pattern, Pumpkinz Squared was a Lori Holt original. I can't wait to get it quilted up and on the table.

Take a look at this grand retreat space we had in which to work; isn't it the absolute BEST? My set up is in the lower right corner, on Saturday I pulled out the Snowflake blocks from a pattern by Wendy Sheppard, linked here. I got all twenty blocks pieced before the day's end, I felt like I had really accomplished a LOT. After I brought the blocks home, I arranged them on the design wall, moving and shuffling, until I arrived at the layout pictured below.

They will have sashing strips with stars in the intersections, a great winter quilt!

Here's a pinned-up version of how the intersections will appear. I plan to quilt this one with a panto that I've had for awhile, Swirly Snowflakes, I may even quilt it with a silver thread. 

With one more morning left on retreat I started the first block of Strawberry Jam; I guess you could say that I covered three seasons while I was away for the weekend! This was a limited edition kit that I purchased through A Crafty Fox last summer. You know I just had to have this; even though I rarely buy kits she had me at "strawberry"- throw in "limited number available" and I was on it! 😉 This quilt has twelve blocks with the cutest pieced lattice-style sashing. Stay tuned. 

One more thing happened during my blog hiatus, this precious boy celebrated his first birthday! He's pictured here with a chew stick that he got from his favorite canine friend. 💗 I celebrated a milestone birthday too, near the end of last month, but with the wrist and the crud it sort of all got lost in the shuffle; when I broke a molar after biting into a pretzel and spent the morning in the dentist's chair last Thursday I realized that I might just simply be falling apart! My Dad always said that aging isn't for the weak; I believe that he's right, these last few months have been taking all my strength! Ha! 

Life is Good!

It's All Good!

I've been catching up on the two block-of-the-month programs that I signed up for at the LQS. Being gone for just a little over two weeks seems more like two months when it comes to catching up on what I missed while we were away! The Cream and Sugar class (left) required two more identical blocks for November and the Aspiring Stars class offered another block this month which I was able to explore making up in varying sizes.

I'm still not sure what I'll do with the extra blocks when I actually settle on a size for the quilt! Oh, well, I'm having fun experimenting in the meantime. My "orphan blocks" box is currently full-to-overflowing. I'm going to have to get creative with its contents before I feed it any more! 

We needed to catch up with this birthday boy who turned 12 while we were traveling; yes, twelve!! 😲 We asked him to choose where he's like to go for his birthday dinner. That was easy! 

My sister in law belongs to a farm cooperative sharing program; we went with her to the barn while we were visiting her home, she shared with us some of the root vegetables that were part of her take this month. Carrots, potatoes, onions and beets that were all perfect. I cooked the beets in the Instant Pot when I returned home and made the most delicious salad. I'm linking here to the recipe that I used if you love beets the way I do and you'd like to try it. Mr. G doesn't share my affection for this vegetable, I didn't even need to share even a bite! 😉

I've been spending the evenings in front of the TV working on this Vintage Christmas Sampler. It's so cute. A few more weeks and it will be ready for a finish, just in time!

Sew, that's what's been going on around here; and, at long last, the weather has taken a decided turn toward winter.

What's going on where you are?

It's all good!

Life is Good!

Chasing Squirrels

I returned to counted cross stitch within the last two years; something I never anticipated happening, something that I certainly didn't think that I had the time for, but nonetheless  it occurred! It came about as the result of a Christmas gift from Quiltkeemosabe. I blogged about this unexpected return to handwork here, a year ago. I continue to enjoy the slow pace and the rhythm of the stitching. But, isn't it funny how we endeavor to make time for the things we desire to do, those very things that we never imagined being able to squeeze into our already packed-full days?  I want to quilt, read, study the Bible, cook gourmet meals, decorate beautiful cookies, keep up with this blog, visit with my friends and family, entertain, make Chrismons, keep an immaculate house and garden, exercise regularly and create beautiful cross stitch samplers in my free time. I want to do it all! I know that this isn't realistic, I don't choose to set myself up for failure by rushing around aimlessly; doing a little of this, a little of that, and not completing anything well.  I needed to come out and admit that I'm a squirrel chaser. I can easily be distracted by that next great thing that I want to do and rush off in pursuit of it, leaving myself lost and drifting without direction. Knowing that, and admitting it, is the first (and maybe the most important) step in taking control back and focusing on what needs to be done and what's the most important task at hand. Prioritizing is one of my greatest challenges; there's always going to be a "squirrel" dashing across my path! Being cognizant of that fact has freed me up to be kinder to myself. I'm granting grace; realizing that if I to stick with one thing at a time, and see that through, those other projects will still be there awaiting their turn, when that time is right. And so, I have returned to stitching in the evenings, when there's time. Slowly, I am finishing projects and am proud of the result, taking one's time has its own rewards; I'm not ever going to be the fastest or the most prolific and that's perfectly okay. 

Quiltkeemosabe made this beautiful project bag for me. Yes, those pesky, ridiculous rodents (the bane of my existence) are peeking out through the clear front to mock me~ I love it!

This zipper pull is an added embellishment. My friend knows me well! As the next weeks and months go by, you know where I'll be. Right here, doing my level best to ignore the scampering squirrels that surround me, both the actual and the metaphorical ones. 

Life is Good!

* Colonial Blooms by The Scarlett House. Stitched on 32 count Belfast linen, called-for WDW colors.  

Retreating and More

I haven't retreated from blogging~ although it probably seems that way. I don't know how I get so busy with things that time slips away, but I do. The weekend before last I was lucky enough to spend some of that ever-elusive time retreating with a few friends, we commandeered the craft room at a local camp, set up our sewing machines and got to work. The first flimsy finish is this three block pineapple pillow cover for our oldest granddaughter for Christmas. I secretly squirreled away enough of her scraps from the quilt that she recently completed to get this done. I know that she'll be surprised! I was able to get it quilted up this past week. 

From there I moved onto this "Pumpkin Seeds" wall quilt, getting the top together and adding the borders after I returned back home. It will hang out on the porch next fall; I'm working a year ahead (doesn't that sound so much more efficient than being behind?). Yes, it does! 😉 

I pieced Tom Turkey (another pillow cover) on retreat as well. Since returning home I've quilted him up, hopefully I can get the pillows made this weekend. If you've never wrangled a turkey beneath a needle before you've really missed out on an experience! 🤣 This pattern is Gobble, Gobble by Center Street Quilts. 

You probably all followed Moda's "Stitch Pink" daily block sew-along in the month of October. I collected the daily patterns and am in the process of creating my own "Stitch Christmas" project. Again, I'm working a year ahead 😉; indulge me in that belief, please. Instead of thirty blocks I am making mine with twenty five blocks and it will finish at approximately 64" square, if I decide to add a small border, we'll see. 

Last weekend we had a couple of overnight guests (this one and her brother)  and, since stitching a turkey didn't do me in, we sewed up a couple of chickens! One to keep and one to give away. 

This is a tease for my next post. What, exactly, is this in Gregory's hands? Stay tuned, you'll be amazed!

Life is Good!