Studio Thoughts

 I had an hour to work in the studio today 

so I cut out some pieces to make another Flowering Snowball with 9 patches quilt.

When I finished cutting all the pieces I needed, 

I placed them up on the design wall.

I was very disappointed with the colors.

They seem flat.A 

A few hours later when I could return,

I changed out several of the arrangements

and now I like the interaction.

It's tricky working with all solids-they don't play as nicely as the prints!

Smooth Sailing with Silk

The openwork scarf if going to be a good portable knitting project!

It is only a four row repeat and now that I know

how to tell if I am coming or going with the front row, 

I will enjoy it! lol

It moves right along and since I have done a lot of  'sit n the car and knit' time,

I should be able to finish this pretty quickly!

I ended up using this old pair of needles that have just the right 

balance of slick and stick for working with the silk.

I call them teflon needles-they were popular decades ago

but still sold by the Susan Bates company.

FUR FAMILY, TOO

This is Mindy, the lady of the house.  Almost 13 years old.

This is Felix, a Manx, who is 9 years old.

My oldest son, Jared, sends me a Noah pic each day

 and included this one with the big sister's, too!

At the end of a day, we are pretty worn out but having a wonderful time together getting ready for the graduation and party!

Crazy

Going Crazy.

The problem is going....

My schedule happened to be overloaded on a week where I am depleted.

I've nothing.

It's a beautiful sunrise...I will start with that.

Silky Plans

The latest arrival of the yarn club is in and it is a very soft yarn.

The directions is for a scarf.

I'm not usually a scarf knitter but I think this one will be a good change for me.

The pattern says the yarn will make a scarf 48" long which is a bit shorter

than my usual plans.  I will make it narrower to give me some more length.

I will begin as soon as that other sleeve is finished.........!

Upright and Moving Again!

 There wasn't too much knitting going on the last few days

 but I felt better this morning

so I finished binding off the bottom of the matching boy's cardigan.

On to the sleeves-I will knit these as the yarn comes off the skein

 and not sweat the matching thing this time!

 I am still enjoying this view from my bedroom window each morning!

 Another beauty to savor (this is as close as we get to lilacs!)

 each day is the blooming season of the sweet Viburnum !  

We have two trees of these-the whole side yard is delicious smelling!

And the sweet smelling jasmine is wafting its sweet aroma

in the front yard!

Pretend this is a scratch and sniff and you will be smiling!

And right near the jasmine we set the new foundation

for the birdbath when I finish tiling it!

Bill had to help me with this job since each of the pavers weighs 50lbs!

The wrought iron is a yard sale find he saved.

Most of the time he buys it because it is a deal and he has no idea what he will be doing with it.

Occasionally, I see just what I could do with it and so he shares!

A good arrangement!

Anything But This

The rain has filled the little lake behind our property.

It is usually little more than a mud hole or at best a mud puddle.

It is now a real swamp again!

How picturesque, right?!

The end of last week youngest grandboy had the throwing up bug.

He has recovered and successfully passed it on to both Bill and I.

I would prefer the flu.

A sick grandma still has to do everything a well one has to...

Stepping Stone

 The latest stepping stone with some brightly colored plate pieces!

This one was a bit less effective using the contact paper placement

because each piece was bigger and heavier 

but it worked well enough that it was easy to place the missing ones.

The grout really shows off the brighter colors!

On to find more single plates at the thrift store!

Re-upholstery Done

 The new faux suede went on like a charm-

and was immediately claimed!

 This tool that I purchased at JoAnn's made such a difference

when I took out all the staples from the last fabric layer!

And I made another sunflower dishcloth-this one using all garter stitch.

Yes, I like it a lot better!

The texture is uniform and so is the structure.

Picot Finishes and a Pile

 First, I finished the doily and blocked it overnight.

It is 24" in diameter-a nice table-center size.

This one will be gifted to youngest son's household.

Here's what I bought at the fabric store-

starting at the top of the pile-

backing for Winding Ways,

backing for the Flowering Snowball,

and the bottom three will be binding, backing and border for the LeMoyne Star.

The dark brown is faux suede to recover this footstool.

But more on that project soon!

Tranquil

 Since I needed some fabric purchases to finish up the quilts,

we did a run to Daytona Beach to JoAnn's

and Bill to Sam's-our two 'friends' there! lol

The ocean was magnificent!

 We were arrived as the tide was going out so

the boys played in the tidal pool for a long time;

the water is so warm and calm...

 until a little brother has to go and stir things up a bit!

 And then someone needed a snuggle since he missed nap time with all the activities.

 We called BoyWonder in from the surf,

to say goodbye for another week.

 There was a fire down the beach at one of the condos.

The fire engines could be heard and within 12 minutes the smoke was gone.

When we went back to our car,

the boys played by the retention wall for another

half hour-making the sand 'squeak'

and warming up and drying off.

A nice place to spend the afternoon!

Settled #1

 We found a big cement slab for the pedestal to rest upon

so we could place the birdbath in the yard!

 I should've waited to paint the base first

but I couldn't!

I will paint around the pedestal and be done!

Here, birdies, we have some water!

(In Florida, there is plenty of food for the birds, 

but there is a shortage of 'puddles' for the birds to water in.

This will be an essential stop for them when it heats up around here!)

I was measuring the quilt tops so I could buy the right amount of fabric today

 and I discovered two things about this quilt-

first it isn't square like I thought!

When I measured it,  

it is actually 40" x 48" so I turned it on the design wall and sure enough, 

it was the right size for a lap quilt!

But then I saw this corner in a new light-

I sewed in a wrong color here!

 Ahhh, much better!  

Now to head out to purchase some backing, borders and bindings!

And a quick beach visit to reward us all for the trip!

Topped Off!

 The Flowering Snowball block with nine-patches is completed!

It measures out to 40" x 52"-another top that needs a  backing fabric.

That trip to the fabric store is getting close, I hope!

And here is something I pulled from the lanquishing pile;

a doily!

I only need to finish this row and work one more and it will be done!

A Pile of Intermission Knitting

Eleven dishcloths have come off the needles in the last few months....

I was only going to knit one or two until I felt like tackling

a big project again like the cardigan

or shawl

or socks

or summer top....

but

I'm still making dishcloths.

Conversely...

 So I finished filling in the broken tiles for the stepping stone, 

and then laid the Contact paper over it.

After a good rub, I was able to pick up the tiles in their order so that I can

apply adhesive to the stone and replace the tiles!

I am enjoying this process of picking up the pieces!

It Takes Time

Working in a few minute increments,

the Winding Ways quilt top is completed!

I need fabric for the backing so this will be added to the

quilting queue behind the LeMoyne star quilt which needs border fabric...

a trip to the fabric store needs to be squeezed into next weeks' schedule! 

 The second coat was added to the birdbath

and I spiffed up a few Terra Cotta pots, too.

 The rim needed a steady (sort of) hand to paint the rim of the basin-

two coats also!

I had to take a deep breath and realize this project needed time

to complete it;  

I had steps that needed 24 hours between them and there

was no hurrying it if I wanted it to be done right.

Now I have to apply sealer to the grout and tiles 

so that this birdbath will last 20 years!

 I will apply it, rub it out in 30 minutes and let it be for another 24 hours.

I will get to use this birdbath before another week passes!

(son #3 who is in the business of caulk and grout restoration

says it is an easy step that people skip and they shouldn't if they don't want to

repeat a tile and grout project in another 5 years!)

 

 Another pot was painted and it sure makes them look beautiful again!

(the paint is inexpensive as paint goes-$15 a quart at Home Depot!)

The old birdbath is all painted and waiting for me to work on the mosaic for its basin!

(It was exciting to see that the work I did to level

the inside of the basin fit beautifully;

secure and level is a wonderful thing!)

 Which I have started....

and will take my time to work on it

without being impatient!

Mint and Berries

 The riverside skein was reeled off today

yielding 258 yards of the fingering weight yarn.

I was afraid I was over-spinning it while plying

 but it turned out beautifully balanced;  a nice surprise!

I wrote the label and then thought to look up the details on the fiber-

it is not wool/rayon (even though that is what it feels like!

Ramie is what I meant to write....)

but here is a link if you are interested in what it is for real.

(a biodegradable cellulose fiber that is supposed to be mint infused-there is zero mint aroma,

 I will add!  But it is a very inexpensive spin!)

 I don't know what I will make with this skein....

but I finished it!

The first fiber I have spun and skeined this year!

 This is the pretty lane next to our driveway that leads to the homes of two widows behind our property.  Bill maintains the right-of-way as it is on our property.  

The 2-day rainstorm washed out the road farther down from here,

and he had some late night repairs to do so that they could leave their homes!

I like the snake rail fencing down the southern side of the lane!

 This fencing is made using railroad ties instead of split logs,

 but the zig zag construction is the same.

This view is looking back up towards the main road.

Why do we ride the golf cart down the lane?

To go to pick Mulberries!!!!