NEEDING TOUCH-UPS

This is first pbn that I am not happy with the outcome.  I don't know what the gold globs are supposed to be on each side of the ship and I don't like the 'monster' holding a gun rising up on the right!   So I am going to do a major touch-up on the background and foreground of this picture.  I hope to show it to you in its improved condition next week!

 

JUST ROLL WITH IT

I made my second Clam Up bag and it went much more smoothly!

Until I zipped it up and realized a huge mistake!  See it?!

There was nothing for it but to make another one 

with the right side out!!!!

 

TIME TO FOCUS

 Too many works in progress!  This is very unlike me. 

 I usually start a project, finish it and begin another! 

 Now having a sock on the needles and one other project happens because a sock is much more portable than a sweater in its final stages or an afghan nearing its last rows but this is just chaos to me.  I am going to pick one and get it done over the next few weeks!  Here's hoping!

CLAM UP!

Another clam bag--this one with a pattern from  ByAnnie.com in the XL size.  I bought this fabric because of the joy of the flamingo and palm trees in a pastel!  I also bought a print in darker colors which I will be making today!

Love the lining!  

 

STUDIO UPGRADE

I wanted to greatly enlarge my ironing area on the sewing table in my studio so I asked Bill for an appropriate piece of board to use.  The tape is highlighting my inability to measure and then transfer the measurements to the board in my wood shop--Yes, I had to glue the boards back together and the tape was holding it in place for the overnight drying period!!!  Bill was a good sport and helped me trim it again on the table saw

 but this time it was spot on accurate! lol

I spent a good chunk of the morning covering it with two layers of cotton batting and then making a cover for it.  I put it on like a pillowcase and then had stitch the opening closed.  It was worth the effort because it is  so much easier to iron fabric on the larger area!!  (See Lena on her designated spot?!  I give her a good brushing and then she naps!)

Another view of my stitching station--36" of cutting space

 and  36" of ironing space now.

Here is a fuller view of my studio.  No, I didn't clean it up first--there is a variety of piles on the quilting frame because it is not loaded with a quilt right now and I was pulling out the piles

 I want to take to QOV Sew Day tomorrow!

Here is the center with the borders ready to stitch to the panel.

  I will be bordering this with some red fabric. 

 I think this is going to be a wall hanging for the summer!

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I enjoyed a different kind of wood building project!  I purchased the round 'tray' from Hobby Lobby and the added the piece of pallet wood to the underside so that it could anchor the tray next to me without it tipping each time I get up or down!

Then I stained and sealed the wood. 

 I have several more 'building' projects in mind

 for the coming weeks!

 

PLEASANT STITCHING

Turning a panel into a quilt!  

Two rows on the top and then borders will be added.

I also started on my string block stars!  I had so much fun playing with the strips I have been collecting for months now!  The blocks are 6 1/2" so the completed stars will be 24" in both red and blue.

I'm always glad to see the heliopsis shoot up and bloom!

I think it is a bit ahead of my Dad's, though! But in a few months, his will be a lot taller than mine!

 

MARCHING STARS

The Winter QAl from Alycia is absolutely finished and ready to hand into my QOV sew day on Thursday.

I love the way it turned out!  

 

A SOCK FOR SUNDAY

It's a rainy morning, which is wonderful, and the colors in this sock remind me of the coquina shells we watched on the beach Friday!  Such a beautiful colorway to watch slip through my hands while a sock emerges! 

  

50 YEARS

May 1, 1976 Phoenix, NY

May 1, 2026 St. Augustine, FL

After shedding our wedding day duds,

 we enjoyed several hours at the beach!

I enjoyed finishing the first coral beach sock. (Yarnalia Stormy in the Cherry Blossom colorway but I like my name better)

The ocean was turbulent--

wonderful to relax to the rhythm of the surf.

The colors of my latest blanket in Mandala yarn perfectly matched the colors of the sea and sky

especially as the day drew to a close. 

 You can see that the crowds were not a problem for us!

What a beautiful day we enjoyed together!  

 

MAY DAY 1976-2026

50 years ago today....

pictures of our day will be posted tomorrow!

Yesterday, I finished the frame quilting on this QAL from Alycia and only have the binding to do.

And I layered the April FQC table runner and just did stitch-in-the-ditch on my regular machine.  I did get the binding on this one.  

 

SHOP HOP 2026 ENDING

Mary and I shopped for our last hurrah and enjoyed the day together!  I will use the charm pack on the right for another charity quilt and the one on the left is r/w/b to supplement the QOV in the works.  The fat quarters are a delightful new Moda selection that will also be used for a QOV idea!  We did a good job of pacing our shopping this year and will use the same plan for next year!

We also stopped at Hobby Lobby where I bought the wooden tray for a project idea and some pin backs for our name tags.  I also bought some additional floral things for Ethan's grave side bouquets.  I find comfort in arranging it each month for him.  

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I used a small branch to make a little pot with a lid.  As is my style, I like to leave some of the bark on for interest!

A very cute little piece---6" tall and 3' at its widest.  

Sycamore wood.

 

ANOTHER ENDEAVOR

I wanted to make name tags for Mary and I for our QOV sew days.  I much admit, the machine embroidery unit for my sewing machine had a lot of dust on it--it has been years since I have used it.  I did take way too long to figure out how to make these but I persevered!  I just need to purchase some pin-backs 

so we can wear them!

I need more Mandala yarn for the granny blanket I am making so I dug this skein out of the stash to start a new one 

but the color changes are too close 

and didn't look as good as those long color changes!

I decided to make a C2C and it is so very nice in this DK yarn!  

 

THE WAY BACK VIEWS

This tree is a favorited of mine-a nice shape now but in the Fall it turns red!  I've never taken the time to see what kind it is, though.

But when Bill and I took a walk the other day, the honey bees were very active around this tree--it was humming! 

 We looked closely and found these 'lily-of-the-valley' shaped flowers and the even smelled lovely!  

I had to google it and I learned it is a wild persimmon tree!!!

My Muscadine grapevine is off to a brilliant start!

And even has some very newly formed bunches!

(look closely!)

The pond, unfortunately, is shrinking! 

 We just had our first measurable rain in 6 weeks! 

 I am hoping for a normal rainy season this summer

 to bring all our water levels up.

The Elderberry trees have all bloomed 

but their little berries dried and fell off without the rain. 

 I'm hoping that the recent rainfall will help the late berries!

The aloe are happy and so are the hummers who visit it!

This rose bush is from Bill's Mom who planted it at her winter home here in FL many years ago.  When the house was sold,

 Bill took the root ball and has nursed it back to health!  

It is stunning! (6' TALL)    

Bill has also cultivated several large plots like this for vegetables and it was very happy for the rain,  also! 

 We are eating radishes from it already!

 

A DAY AT THE ISLAND BEACH

Caleb and family brought us to another island-

this one they call Shark Tooth Island! 

It was much smaller than the other island we explored 

but there were cedar trees in the center of the island 

and a lot of trees have become beach wood where trees have fallen as the beach has eroded.

Eli chipped away at some of the branches and the cedar smell was released--such a good smell!

There was a good variety of shells and shark's teeth!

Bill found his very first shark's tooth!!! 

Cassandra found a prehistoric horse tooth fossil and that was very exciting!  (a museum quality tooth btw at 2 1/2" x 1 1/2") 

But Eli found the fossil of the lifetime--an Allosaurus claw!!!  It was amazing to think of the journey this piece of history has taken!  There is a local museum where Cassandra and Eli will take their finds for authentication!

And another family first happened---Ella has officially passed me by in height and in the four months since I last saw her!!!!  (She is hoping to be as tall as her Aunt Marsel who is 6' !)