AN EARLY MORNING JAUNT

Early morning colors for Solstice--I cannot see the first (nor the last for that matter) of the sun because of the trees that surround my piece of land but I do enjoy the colors of both sunrise and sunset!

There has been enough rain to fully mature these stems--instead  of the 10" (like the little one on the right), this year the stalks are 24" and the blooms the size of your open hand!  Beautiful!  They are another type of lily, (locally known as pink rain lily or a Zephranthes)

A few sunflowers are coming up from the bird seed droppings!

Yellow elder which is a favorite stop for hummers!

This one is a creeping ox eye (Sphagneticola) and 

is a very pretty ground cover.

 

SOCKS ON SUNDAY

Why do I usually post socks on Sundays? 

 Because that is what I knit on the way to church each week during our 35-40 minute drive!  I finished this pair for my daughter and I will be mailing them out on Monday. 

 SockEase yarn and 2.5mm needles over 64 stitches, 

toe-up with a gusset heel and a 2 x 2 rib.

Enjoy the longest day of the year today!!!

 

GENTLE STITCHING

A bit of fun sewing happened yesterday; a 9 x 10" zippered pouch resulted!  I added a little Seminole piecing to the front and back and a even a tassel for a zipper pull. 

 It is quilted which gives it good body.

It is lined with a pretty lilac fabric.  

I did forget to check one thing when I stitched the sides....

I didn't match the two bands of piecing!  

Humility is good for all of us, isn't it?!

 

RENEWAL

The violet is blooming again! 

 I brought it home in April 2025 and it  has stayed healthy 

and rigorous but this is the first time it has bloomed again. 

 It makes me so happy!

I'm a bit under the weather--a migraine kind of puts me out of commission for a bit but I do have some yarn to keep me company while I rest and recover.  It's important to know how to rest contentedly.

 

TAKING TURNS

The table runner is done, I even made the binding but it will have to wait for completion until

I get this off the frame!  It looks like a lot of standing time is in store for me!

 

PUTTERING FOR THE FUN OF IT!

A new block called out to me--

I made two and have the third one cut out and will piece it later today for a new summertime table runner!

I blocked out the second half of the shawl.

Left-before       Right--after

Bill and I did some front yard weeding as part of the 'Front Porch Spiffing Up' and I even spray-painted the chairs--our sunshine does a brutal job on plastic!  

 

MY DAY

My daughter gifted me with 2 Calibrachoa hanging plants 

while in Georgia and I was able to find 5 more here at home--

I have 7 arches that need hanging plants 

which I change out every few years.

She also recommended these hanging plant 'saucers' to hold your plant;  this keeps them from losing their water out the bottom of the pot and keeps them from drying out so quickly. 

Looking south, these are three of arches 

with a bird house with a family of wrens, btw.

Looking north, the other 4 arches and their new plants! 

 This birdhouse is empty, unfortunately.

After we got home from the shopping trip, I soaked and blocked half of my magnificent round shawl I made many years ago! 

 I only blocked half because it is too big for my blocking board---

I will re-wet the other half and block it later today.  

I wore this to church Sunday and noticed that there were some pulled threads and even one chain broken on the crocheted edge which I repaired before blocking.  

I also ran out of pins trying to get everyone of those chains

 pulled into points!  

 

THE FABRIC CALLS

These blocks are completed but I need to stitch them into a top.  I am trying to decide if I want narrow white sashing

 between each block yet.

And I did load the new QOV on the frame.  

I'm hoping to get a lot of quilting done on this today!

 

A SPLURGE ON SALE!

I signed up for the pre-order of the new Liberty QOV box

 and it finally came!  (The price is reduced and worth it!)

Always exciting to open up one of their boxes

 because they are filled with beauty!

Time to dig in---

Fat quarters, hst ruler, metal book ends, stickers, quilt ruler holder, pattern and other quilt ideas! 

 Guess what I will be doing next week?!

 

AND SOME FINISHES!

I loaded up and went to work on free hand quilting which I rarely do because I have to think, and finished the quilt in no time.  

The backing I chose.

And another one went right on the frame 

and this time I did a meander for the quilting.

I love the backing fabric for this one! 

 Today, I tackle loading a big quilt for QOV!

 

STUDIO ATTRACTIONS

One of the charms on point tops were loaded on the frame for quilting.  I will tackle that today with a meander pattern.

I cut up several more fat quarters into layer cakes;

then cut two long strips from one side of the 10" piece,

and then two shorter pieces from the remaining piece.

These cuts yield this pile of pieces to sew up 

which happens very quickly when I chair sew!

And it was fun to throw them up on the design wall.  

I think it will be fun to cut them up with other fabrics and rearrange the pieces so there is less order--that is one of the things that is so interesting about quilting--just a little change can produce a block that hardly looks related!

 

*REWARD TIME IN THE STUDIO

It was nice to add the blocks we made at my daughter, Marsel's, house.  I added a few blocks to complete the row. 

 Now it is time to make another red star block!

I also started a new project--a way to use layer cakes.  I 'made' these layer cakes from two fat quarters and I will be using the rest of the fat quarters to make a bunch more! 

 9" blocks, unfinished.

*the reward is for getting all of my luggage taken care of and new homes found for all of the extras! lol

 

A SAFE ARRIVAL

Despite a lot of this....

I did get a lot of knitting time in and finished one sock and started its mate.  It is a very long drive (8-9 hours) but we did it. 

 While I will NOT say Lena loved the trip, she did remarkably well.  

 

GOODBYES

Goodbye to all of the woodland friends...

who have brightened our mornings

and afternoons

and evenings.

We will remember you until we come again...

 

THIS IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE

Here is a family pic after church yesterday!  

My first grandchild, David, Bill, me, my daughter, Marsel, her husband, Bruce and first grand daughter, Abigail! 

And after eating popcorn last night, I finally finished this C2C blanket in LionBrand Mandala yarn. It is 40" x 48" 

 It gets a A+ for squish factor!

 

SEWING TOGETHER!

We enjoyed some sewing time yesterday--

we worked on adding to my string blocks for a QOV.  

They sure add up faster with sewing buddies!

Marsel went through some yarn supplies and decided that sock knitting is not for her so I have some new yarns! 

And I get to finish this pair for her!