Saying it with Flowers

 

Today is my day to 'Say it with Flowers'!!! Thanks need to go out to Madam Samm from Sew We Quilt for coming up with these wonderful ideas for blog hops and to Carol from Just Let Me Quilt for getting us bloggers all set up and ready to go!!!

 

 

I decided to go with the craft I love the best and that is cross stitching. I found this freebie quite a long time ago and thought she was really sweet. The chart didn't have a color key so I needed to go through my (large:) stash of floss and pick some colors for her. I wanted her to be bright and bold and I think I got my colors just right:)

 

 I did make a few minor changes from the chart though. I wanted the focus to be on the flowers, not on the butterflies, so I used less black for the butterflies bodies and omitted a butterfly net that should be in her hands. I also didn't put the French knot for her eye as it was too dark for her face.

I had intended to make this be the front 'page' of a needle book, but ran out of time. The fabric in the corner above will be the lining fabric when I do get the chance to finish this pretty little piece into a needle book.

 

Of course I had lots of ideas in my mind, but this blog hop really had me going back and forth on what to actually do. I ended up stumped for quite a while, but am really happy with the project I ended up with:0)

 

Don't forget to visit each of the bloggers on today's 'SAY IT WITH FLOWERS" blog hop!!!

 

May 30^th

A Quilt Lady

The House On The Side Of The Hill

Ella & Nesta’s Little Room

CLF by Nailaa

Atelier De Handwerktuin

Life, Quilts, and A Cat Too

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Celtic Thistle

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Dreaming In Patchwork

Around The Homestead

52 in 52 Revamped

This 52 in 52 was a great idea, I'm just really not good at sticking with my goals:) And it was starting to stress me out. I've decided that instead of stressing about it, because this was to be a fun way of getting more done this year, not a bunch of chores that HAD to get done, I'm going to revamp my list and break it down to what I really want to get done.

The original blogger who came up with this idea is Lady Kell at Kencavel Korner.

In the Kitchen (or to do with food)
1. Figure out an all purpose and a baking blend of gf flours that I can make myself (0/2)
2. Find a good gf bread recipe that I can handle eating:)
3. Can or freeze 4 new food items that I've never done before (0/4)
4. Can the equivalent of 30 quarts of food (0/30)
5. Make 3 new recipes a month (11/36)
6. Try 6 new kinds of chocolate (2/6)
7. Grow and eat from our garden

I decided to get rid of all the 'Kitchen' goals. The garden didn't get put in, and won't at this point, maybe next year, and I REALLY don't need more chocolate:)


Charity/Community Service
8. Volunteer to help out at County Fair- Will do in July
9. Community service project with 4-H group - Done
10. 6 stitched blocks for Love Quilts USA (2/6) Might be able to get one more done
11. 8 crochet items to give away (0/8) Maybe 2 as I have 2 toddler size blankets in the works.
12. 4 quilted items to give away (0/4)
13. 2 dolls/stuffed animals to give away (0/2) I'd still like to do this for Operation Christmas Child

Some of this one is done and I can see a few more things being able to get finished, so I'll keep some of this.

Sewing/Crafting/Stitching
14. Finish stitching 10 current x-stitch projects (3/10) At this point I'd be happy with 5
15. Participate in 2 x-stitch exchanges (2/2) - Done
16. Participate in 2 round robins (1/2) We will see.
17. Participate in 10 IHSW (4/10)  On target for this
18. Learn to sew a doll or stuffed animal. Still want to keep.
19. Learn 6 new crochet stitches (0/6) HAHAHAHA - Okay, maybe 2 new stitches:)
20. Learn to knit - beginner
21. Sew curtains for living room - Really need to do this one
22. Choose and create 6 Pinterest projects (5/6) Almost done
23. Finish a quilt for us  - Getting closer

Most of these will stay the same with a little modification. I thought about keeping the knitting one as I would like to take a local class, but I think I'll wait until next year.

Health and Wellness
24. Lose 30 lbs (0/30) Well, I've gained, not lost, but I will still be working at this.
25. Exercise 4 days per week (10/208)
26. Walk a total of at least 300 miles (4/300)
27. Bike a total of at least 200 miles (0/200)
28. Buy good tennis shoes - Ended up with lace-up boots that will protect my ankles better.
29. Buy a good bike seat

No excuses for this, but it just won't get done like I wrote it. I will think of a new goal for this as I need to not drop it all together.

Art and Photography
30. Spend time drawing each week (1/52)
31. Fill up 1 sketch book with drawings and practice pages
32. Take photos every other week (2/26)
33. Take a photo to the county fair

As good as this sounds, it's just not that important to me right now.

Reading/Education
34. Read 18 books for fun (1/18)
35. Read 12 books to learn from (0/12)
36. Read through the Bible 
          -Started using YouVersion app for a chronilogical 1 year plan

Same here, just not a priority for me.

Blogging
37. Double my monthly readership (1000/1000)
38. Triple my blog followers (89/42)
39. Blog on every WIPocalypse (3/12)
40. Blog on every TUSAL (3/12)

I've pretty much done this, except I think I missed blogging the two SALs in April due to family medical issues.

Family Fun
41. Go camping 2 times (0/2)
42. Go on 3 day trips (0/3)
43. Take dd to a pool (public) 4 times (0/4)
44. Take dd to the movies 3 times (0/3)
45. Take dd to a play or ballet
46. Take dd skating
47. Take at least 4 photos of dd each month (9/48)

I still plan to do as much of this as possible. I've been saving back all our change and have around $100 to go towards our "Summer Fun' fund. I don't think my dd will let me get away with not doing at least some of these:)

Christmas Time
48. Hand craft at least 6 Christmas gifts (0/6) Maybe 2?
49. Send out Christmas cards
50. Come up with one new Christmas tradition
51. Make 2 scrapbooks of dd's pictures from the year to give to Grandparents
and 1 for ourselves (0/3) Hmm, not sure on this one either
52. Stitch and finish 6 Christmas ornaments (0/6) I think I can still do this one, I've stitched a couple, but haven't finished them yet.

Looks like most of this will stay the same as well.

I'll put up a new list in the next day or so without all the extra goals that won't get done and see how that looks to me:)

IHSW

I went through all my WIPs on Saturday and figured out what I wanted to stitch on for the IHSW weekend:) Since I didn't get much stitching done on Saturday, I figured I could count what I did on Monday. I just shifted my 'weekend' a bit!!

This will become all 3 parts in the 'Summer/Autumn/Winter' Loose Feathers charts from Blackbird Designs. I am doing this on 40 ct Legacy over 2 and I love working on this small count fabric. You can see that I finished this vine all except one flower which will be a lighter red color, which I don't have right now, so I couldn't stitch it yet. Hmm, I think that means I need to take a bit of my birthday money and go shopping!! :)

It was fun to take a break from blog hop projects and other projects that NEED to get done and stitch on something just for me. I have one more blog hop to participate in this month (these have been so much fun!!!), and I haven't even decided what I want to do for it!! That is on the plan for today. Summer break has finally started, and I am hoping to be able to finish up a ton of projects this summer:)

FNSI - May 2013

http://handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com/



I am super happy with my progress this month!! I finally got all the squares cut out and all the rows sewn. The rows aren't all sewn together, but that will be my goal for next month.

 

 Here it all is and you can have a good look at the different fabrics I choose for this quilt. Patriotic colors, but not necessarily patriotic fabrics, except maybe that red star one:) I'm really looking forward to having this one finished up!!

 

Okay, now that my Friday (into Saturday) Night Sew In is all finished up and blogged about, I am going to enjoy some stitching time. The family all went to visit the in-laws so I have a bit of time left to myself, so I think I'll also watch a movie on Netflix as well:) 

Lots of sewing and stitching this weekend!!!

This weekend welcomes not one, but two different SALs!!! The first is for tonight (or today if you cheat a bit and get a head start:).

 

 

http://handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com/

Heidi over at www.handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com hosts this SAL. You just sew on any project on the 3rd Friday of the month and post about it the next day. My progress post for this will be tomorrow.

And the next is for the whole weekend.

 

This one is hosted by Joyce over at Random Ramblings. This is a fun one where we stitch as much as is humanly possible for the whole weekend and post our progress on Monday:) It's been so long since I've stitched just for me that I'm not sure what I want to work on this weekend!! I need to go through my pile of WIPs and see what calls out to me:)

 

Anyone is welcome to join in on either (or both) of these, so click on a button to visit the blogs and then get started sewing and/or stitching!!!

 

Monday will be our last day of school here, it should have been today but we took off yesterday for my birthday, so we will need to finish up on Monday. Then the summer break begins!!! Looking forward to focusing on stitching and sewing and even housework as that has really gotten away from me!! Dd has lots of things planned as well, so I guess we will be doing lots of running around too:)

Very late TUSAL

I kept meaning to post my TUSAL report, but kept forgetting to:) So I will do one better, I'll post the TUSAL and introduce you to one of our cats!!

 

This is 'Muffin' She is one of our mama cats and is super sweet and cuddly with us, but kind of cranky with the other cats!! She is really fine boned and delicate, and she thinks she is a princess:)

 

I thought I would take the strings and bits outside and the cats would all want to play with it, but it took me some time to get Muffin interested in the strings. She just wanted me to pet her instead:)

 

There were other cats out as well, but none of them wanted their picture taken.

 

I did stitch quite a bit this past month, but it doesn't really look like it according to my TUSAL report here. Most of what I did stitch on was small things, so I guess I just didn't have many leftover strings;0)

 



It's For the Birds - My day:)

 

Well, it's my day to post my 'Bird' project for this blog hop. First I want to give a big Thanks!!! to Madam Samm over at Sew We Quilt for her fun and inspiring blog hop ideas and also to Mary over at I Piece 2 - Mary for organizing and supporting those of us who wanted to join in on this fun theme!!!

 

As always, my mind got away with me. I always seem to come up with lots of ideas, and not enough time to get them done!!! So I have one project to show off that did get done, and another that I can only show the materials I (still) plan to use.

 

 

These two photos (top and bottom) are the same project. I was trying to get a good pic in the tree, but I live in Kansas, and if you don't already know, it is windy here:) Almost all the time!! So the bird kept swinging around and the top photo was the best I could get. What is really funny is that one of the (many) cats we have climbed up right after this to try and get the bird:) 

 

Anyway, this cross stitch and sewing pattern is designed by 'With Thy Needle and Thread' and is named 'ABC Pinkeep.' I've done this one once before, but really love it and wanted another birdy to 'hang' around the house:) Plus, this time I had some bird material to us for the backing. 

 

I bought this bird material a few years ago from a discount shop. I love the little birds riding in the wagons:)

 

And this is the project that I didn't get to. It would have been my first embroidery (if you don't count cross stitch as embroidery). I found the free pattern at 'Bad Birds' (and look around her website, because she has lots of really cute patterns on there). I still intend on doing this, in fact, I've already started it. My stitches aren't straight or even, by it'll give me some practice. I want to incorporate it into a bag using some of the fabric that you see behind it.

 

That's all from me, but please visit all the bloggers in today's hop...

 

 

Quilt Smiles

Sew Darn Quilt

Cindy's Crafty Creations

Made By Me in Red

Feathered Nest Studio

Cherry's Prairie Primitives

UK City Crafts

Gracie Oliver Arts

Quilter in the Closet

Quilt to the Edge

Around the Homestead - This is ME:)

Sew Peace to Peace

Cali Quilter

Boston Bits



 

Been a while!!!

Well, I'm just not doing so good with keeping up with the blog, am I? I'll try to get back to it, but until then here's a little of what's been going on around here.

First off we are getting real close to the end of another (home) school year!! It's always exciting to know you only have a week or two left for the year and then to start planning for the next year:) This year is a bit more exciting than most as our dd is finishing up her 8th grade year and we will be planning for High School now!! Our local support group held a Senior High/Jr High graduation a couple weeks ago, so our dd attended that. We will sign the diploma as soon as she finishes up with her work;) it's also just about time to switch from the school-year activities to the summer ones. Dd is thinking she might join swim team this year, but wants to make sure she'll be able to stay in gymnastics as well.

I've been fighting allergies/asthma something terrible this spring!! But we've gotten some much needed moisture and the wildlife that we enjoyed the first couple years we were out here (this is only the 6th year we've lived out in the country since we've been married), is starting to come back. We've had ducks in our front pasture and this morning I saw a box turtle in our driveway:) The birds are out and singing too.

I've also been stitching and getting ready for some blog hops that I signed up for. The first on was the 'Shake Your Pom Poms' and next will be 'It's for the Birds'. These are organized by Madam Samm over atSew We Quilt and are so much fun!!! My next day will be on May 13th and so I am frantically trying to get my project done for that:)

I also finished the next section on a round robin that I am part of. This one belongs to a lady named Sue and I love the soft colors that she picked. She also decided to use only one strand of floss which make it look even softer. It is amazing how different each of our projects are turning out even though we all used the same chart. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of Sue's project before I mailed it off:( Oops!! So no pictures to show on that one.

That is all for now. I think I will post kitty pics in a day or two. I love the cute spring animal babies each year!!