pilgrims, paws, and packing . . .

With VBS in full swing this week, I didn’t have much time to stitch . . . but I did finish all my boat pilgrims!

Whoop, whoop! Next stop: sails. But that’ll have to wait because—Aloha!—I’m headed to Hawaii on Tuesday!  And this boat trip doesn't require sails.  <wink>

Back to this past week—I got some fun, happy snail mail . . .

Don't know how I'd missed this Simply Sweet offering from Kathy Schmitz!

Etsy's Pixie Fibers (aka One of the Flock) is clearing out all of her inventory.  Among other things, I got this darling PRE-cut wool acorn kit!!  It's so cute!

And this cute little sashiko kit from Brooklyn Haberdashery!

A little retail stitching therapy is always good for the soul, right?

And speaking of stitching, I also received my quarterly issue of Needle Arts from EGA.

I joined the national Embroiderers’ Guild of America (along with our local chapter) back in March, and I’ve really enjoyed diving into all the wonderful inspiration and techniques they share. So much great information between the covers!

Now here’s a little before-and-after story that made my stitchy heart happy:

Last week I picked up this lovely hand-stitched table runner. It had been poorly stored—there were food or grease spots, and those pesky little speckles that looked like spider waste. I soaked it in Dawn for a couple of days, but no luck. Then a friend recommended Retro Clean. After soaking the runner in it for 48 hours—voilà!

The stains vanished, and the piece was restored to its former glory. I’m so tickled with how it turned out!

Today would have been my 29th wedding anniversary. I had signed up for a barn quilt workshop to help fill the day, but I woke up nauseous and dizzy, so I ended up back in bed instead. Thankfully, my girls took excellent care of me.

Starry kept checking in like the little nurse she is.

And Celeste was basically a purring hot water bottle for the entire afternoon. They’re such good girls. I’m so thankful for their sweet companionship.

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching post. I’ll be back at the end of the month—hopefully with sails stitched (at least partially) and stories/photos from the islands!

:)

sloooooowly stitching . . .

It was a relatively slow week, stitch-wise.  Our church's VBS started today, and I spent a lot of the preparing for that!  I did get some stitching in, though.  Almost finished up the standing pilgrim on my Coming to America piece . . . 

I have about 90 minutes of free time from my last VBS music rotation to the closing rally, so I'll take this project with me and work on it each night.  Maybe I'll have all *three* pilgrims on the boat finished by week's (or VBS's) end.  

I am still unpacking and organizing things from the move . . . especially Nook things.  In doing some of that, I came across this little snowflake embroidery that was ninety percent finished . . . 

What in the world?  I started this in December, 2019.  I know this because I blogged about it, sharing this photo . . .

I was flummoxed!  It was SO close to being done. I'd pulled up the blog photo to see exactly which metalic flossed I'd used.  Once I'd found that, I began to stitch up the remaining gold spires.  That's when I remembered.  I had used a new product—Sulky's Stick & Stitch Stablizer. The project got too close to a hot iron, and it shrunk the stabilizer, so the pattern wasn't right.  I pulled out my new stitches and soaked the embroidery to get rid of the stabilizer. I left it out overnight to dry . . .

Not terrible!  I'd lost the pattern, so I "winged" it. (Not to fear.  I contacted Mary Corbet of Needle 'n Thread, from whom I'd purchased it, and she emailed me the pattern file today.  Thanks, Mary!!) I hosted a stitcher's group for my Sassy girls on Saturday, and finished up the stitching on it then.

It's not great, because my winging it wasn't great, but I'm glad it's finished.  I don't remember what my original plans were, but I've got some great metalic Christmas fabrics that I think I'll frame it with!

Another thing I found was a bag of HST pieces from my Christmas quilt.  Those weren't quite as old as the embroidery, but still date back a couple of years or so.  I laid them out a couple of different ways to decide how I wanted to stitch them together.  I came up with Harlequin Christmas, Jack-in-the-Box Christmas, and Pinwheel Christmas:

I'm leaning toward the Pinwheels, but all three have eye interest. It's a mini piece ... about big enough for a center table mat.  

In other news . . . more important news . . . family news:  granddaughter Olivia graduated from elementary to middle school *and* was awarded Student of the Year!  Pictured here with my James:

So very proud of her!!  Isn't she just beautiful?!

And finally, because we all know what a sucker I am for a sunset, here was the view from my balcony on Friday evening . . . 

It was pretty brilliant there, but to the south it was soft pink and blue . . . cotton candy skies! The whole western horizon was glorious!

I'll spend the rest of the week singing and dancing all our Magnified VBS tunes. Crooning!

:)

evidence of absence . . .

I would say that I was horrified or blown away by how much time had passed since I last blogged . . . but saying such seems rather dramatic, considering I've known precisely well that I *wasn't* blogging and that June, July, AND August had all passed by with my knowledge and without a word from me.  A word on here, at least.  

Unfortunately I have to admit that I've enjoyed the bit of bloggy break. Over the past three months I've spent time with family and grands, both here and in California, lots of time in VBS, Fridays with Todd out on the lake, getting our first cabin at the camp (!!!!!!!!), and time helping my folks get settled in their new home, right here in good ol' Alabama! Toss a 40+ hour work week into the bag and it's been a pretty busy, albeit very enjoyable, summer.

So very pleased to have my folks nearby!  It was a HUGE move for them. Mom and I have enjoyed going through boxes . . . especially the ones that net this kind of reward:

Aren't they beautiful??  Both of my grandmothers collected teacups. One box netted several pieces of china that belonged to my great-grandmother -- how special!

I've done some stitchy things, though quite honestly, not a whole lot.  I did finally finish the bloomers that I started for Everley in May. 

I finished up the sixteen sets of Civil War print swap blocks (including a set for myself) and got them dropped off.  I *still* have not picked up the blocks that come to me!  But I have a picture of them . . . 

Which is better than I can say for the ones I stitched myself!

I stitched up some huge pillows (26" pillow forms) for a dear friend of mine. Don't they look great in their new home?! The upholstery fabric was interesting to work with.

I finished up an Irish Chain wall hanging for my mom (housewarming). I'd done one for a swap a couple of years ago and knew it was perfect for my mom.

Note to self.  Be super careful when trying to get 'artsy' by hanging finished pieces from the top of the pontoon's cover.

Glad we keep a net handy.  (I did wash it before gifting it!)

I got started on a new wool project.  With a little help from a dear friend!

Isn't it cute?  It screams summer!  Now that it's fall.

I've not purchased the first bit of fabric since I was on here last. Not. One. Inch. I find that to be either most impressive or incredibly depressing.  I haven't decided which.

I'd like to say I'm current with my two-ornaments-per-month-challenge. But I can't. C'est l'été? Actually, I'm probably most disappointed in that -- I need to get on the ball! And when I do, this will be my next project . . . 

Isn't it darling? Simple but very pretty.

With summer days waning, I'll try to be a bit more consistent on the blog.  For my sake as much as anything else! Though I MUCH appreciate those that have checked in over the course of the summer!

I've got a three more days of a long, four-day weekend stretching out before me; wonder how I'll fill it?!  Happy Labor Day . . . bring on Autumn!

:)

tsk, tsk, tsk . . .

Shame on me, right? Letting seven weeks pass since my last real post! A body shouldn't get that busy, should they?  Or should they?!

What kept me so busy? Well, I spent some one-on-two time with Evey and Ellie.

One-on-three if you count Leia.  Which I don't. I love these silly, happy girls dearly, but they will wear a 'Neesey' out! 

We celebrated Todd's birthday.  Even the California crew got in on the celebratory singing . . .

I can't believe how much they've grown in the last six months. Especially Liv.  I can't wait to get out there to see them!

Most of the crafting I've done in the past two months was in preparation for VBS training. I was privileged to be on our Association's VBS team, leading crafts!

That training was two weeks ago -- whew!  That was one busy week! I love the 'Submerged' theme this year. All the fish are such fun!

The following week we (Todd and I) headed out for a much needed escape to the lake.  Todd did a lot of fishing and I did a lot of reading (I'd had my fill of fishes with VBS)!

We both were successful! ;)

One thing I haven't done a lot of is use fabric . . .

This stash report is the same as the last one I posted which was #11.  Gah.

But I have been keeping up with my ornament goal of two per month . . .

I finished up the second yo-yo tree and whipped up another wool gingerbread man. I'll be working on a ninth ornament tomorrow . . . for some slow Sunday stitching.

I also finished up a UFO and turned it into a pretty.  But it's a gift, so all you get to see is this:

Cuz I like to tease!

And I finished up the first quadrant of Evey's quilt, too.

This is going to be a lot bigger than I imagined it would be. LOL! Which is probably good, seeing as how she'll be TWO in September. 

Things have been busy, busy, busy at the camp. We've had a LOT of visitors already this spring, And right now we've got a BIG group arriving . . . Campers on Mission.

They are going to be arriving over the next two days . . .

And will spend the next two weeks working on the pavilion and other camp projects. There are already six RVs up in the main campground -- more than we've ever seen at one time! We're really excited about them being here!

Okay, so that's about it. I'll be linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts. Have a great rest of the weekend!

:)

happy bastille day . . .

How does one make excuses when one has faltered at the blogging wheel, so to speak?  One doesn't (at least this one doesn't) . . . one just marches blithely on and picks up where she left off.  Haha!

Why I feel compelled to post *today* . . . with the first night of VBS just hours away . . . I have NO idea! Haha!  It's how I roll.  I'm so excited about our VBS (Vacation Bible School), though.  We've got a great week of fun and songs and food and good teaching ahead! We spent yesterday evening decorating up the church for this year's theme:

AgencyD3:  Discover! Decide! Defend!

We'll be picking up Sawyer each night to go with us -- and even Ellie will stop by on Thursday night -- which will all make for an even funner week!

I've had a little time to get my quilting on, too.  Got this festive little banner finished just in time for the 4th:

And whipped this cheery little mug rug up for a dear one:

Sawyer's been over to go creekin'.  We had a marvelous day and made some fabulous memories.  Let me share one:

We had brought the minnow net and a bucket, but Sawyer was having no luck "fishing", so he passed the net to me and asked if I'd catch some fish for him. It just so happened that I had spied some tiny minnows, so I swooped the net down, brought it back up, and lo, there were about three 1-1/2" long 'fish' in the net. I exclaimed to Sawyer that I'd caught some, and he was so excited! "I love fish!" he kept saying. So I brought the net over to him and pushed it up from the bottom so he could get a good look. He again exclaimed how much he 'loved' fish and reached down into the net. I was really pleased to see he wasn't squeamish about touching them or handling them as he picked one up. Then, before I could say a word, he popped the little minnow into his mouth! AAaaaAAhh!! No Sawyer, we only eat *cooked* fish!!!!! I think he spit it out then, but I'm not quite positive. Oh well.  Boys will be boys and Sawyer will be Sawyer!

Just so you know, in the top left pic he's eating blackberries we picked . . . NOT fish.

I spent several days with Ellie, as well, while her mommy and daddy celebrated their fifth anniversary in Mexico! We had a fun time, as always!

She's such a dear little dolly!

And we've been tooling around the camp, working on the sanctuary and playing with turtles (I call Todd the 'turtle whisperer' now -- see the turtle coming up to inspect the cricket cage?!).

The bottom left are pumpkin plants -- volunteers from last year's pumpkins! 

And of course the Panter family makes frequent trips up here to visit and play!

Bringing with them the newest Panter ... Olivia Mae!

Isn't she precious?! Already going on six weeks old! 

Better get off here and get busy making "wanted" posters. For VBS, of course!

:)

nothing but the f*a*c*t* . . .

What a BUSY week we just wrapped up!!  Our church had VBS last week, but we had it out in a residential community . . . with a humongous tent and canopies and WOW!  It was work, but it was SO incredibly worth it!  We had 24 children ... out of whom 6 accepted Christ!  What a joyous celebration!  I taught 4-5 grade (which actually became 4-7 grade) and fell in love with some really terrific kids ... kids we wouldn't have met or ministered to if we'd had VBS in the church building. 

In addition to VBS, we also had World Changers going on.  We had a team of eleven (nine youths and two crew chiefs) from two different churches -- one in Columbia, TN and one in Franklin, NC.  They were a huge help to us since a lot of our regular members work during the morning hours and weren't able to help with VBS.  After VBS finished up each day, we'd head back to the church where lunch was served and then we had different projects for the World Changer crew to work on.  They left each day at 4 p.m. and then we'd head back to the community and do a movie night or hold service or a family night in the big tent. Lots of early mornings and late nights.  Plus Sawyer was with me each day -- he thoroughly enjoyed his week of VBS!

In other words . . . WHEW!!

And do you know, I don't have a single picture?  One of our youth was our designated photographer -- and she did take some phenomenal pictures -- but I have not the first one.  LOL!  I guess I was busy, huh??!

In addition to all that, we had lots of family stuff going on . . . the kind of stuff the devil throws out at you when you're bringing God glory and making a difference for the Kingdom.  But God is faithful and He certainly provided for all our needs this week!

On a quilty note (and with pictures!), on Thursday night I took off my VBS hat and put on my guild hat!  Our program that night was an applique round robin . . .

And yes, that's *me* down there demoing a form of faux applique, aka crayon tinting (f*a*c*t*)!

I didn't get any pics at the meeting that night, but luckily our 1st VP did and shared some with me.  This is me at my station about halfway through the night.

Do I look frazzled, much?

My friend and head of our Stitcher's Group, Kari:

She demoed raw edge machine applique (she doesn't look frazzled the least little bit!).

And Barbara--of My Joyful Journey--was our program coordinator:

She demoed turned edge machine applique (and also shows no signs of frazzling!).

Here are a couple of my sample pieces . . . 

I really enjoyed the evening, though I wish I could have visited the other stations, too.  There's a reason I did 'faux' applique.  LOL!!

I shared some useful info, too.  Like, you can buy white crayons in bulk:

Amazon.com, of course!

You can print designs on fabric using card stock and removable tape:

Which is good, because otherwise I'd have set this pretty little design aside, since my tracing stinks!

And putting your traced design in an embroidery hoop upside-down keeps your fabric taut while you color 

*and* provides a ridge for your hand to rest on, so you don't smudge you work!

This week holds a lot of catching up . . . laundry, housework, groceries, more laundry . . . you get the picture!  

:)