trifecta . . .

My blogging reliability has been incredibly negligible this year, and I really debated at some point whether or not to just give it up.  But I really enjoy writing, and I *love* having this pictorial/word summary to look back on; whether it's for remembering a trip or a particular project.  Or just to reminisce. ♥

This morning I debated on whether to add a third post to July, or save this for tomorrow and start off August well.  Eh.  We'll be traveling to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville tomorrow (about a 2 hour drive), so why put it off?  Here I be.

We'd hoped to go out on the boat this weekend, but after chemo last Tuesday, Todd was still struggling with fatigue, so we stayed home.  I got some things done . . . like taking down on the patriotic red, white and blue decor, and switching it out with summery sunflowers!

Lots of my decor is made up from "projects" of the past!  :)

With the temps in the upper 90s/100s, it was a good time to stay in!

I even revamped my tree!

And here's my latest sunflower finish all sweet and pretty with the perfect teacup and saucer.  

My daughter asked what I was going to do with it. I said, "Keep it!" She said, "Mom, you've got so much.  Start selling that stuff!"  And I thought about that for a while.  But what I realized was that I'd love each of my children and grandchildren to be able to have a little something from every season, that reminds them of me.  I'll keep it, thanks very much, until it's ready to be passed along. And things that they see in my home now, will definitely make for memories later.

Or, they can just sell them all.  LOL!  ;)

Finished up my two hearts for July.  These were my July UFO project for my Stitcher's Etc. group. Whew, just in the nick of time!

I cut and assembled the two for August, but I'll stitch on those on chemo days. I like having little stitching projects to keep my hands busy.

Yesterday, after church, we headed over to the Merkel casa for lunch and a laid back afternoon with family. I'd meant to get a photo of Todd with all four grands, but little man was falling asleep in his highchair, after lunch, so it was Pawpaw and the girls . . .

I did capture Ezra in his post-lunch glory!  He's such a doll baby!  

I can't believe he turns two in less than two months! It was a lovely afternoon, with everyone kicked back and just chatting.  

At one point in the afternoon, Edith suggested that everyone find a room to themselves and take a nap. She's my kinda girl!

I started this cute little mason jar sunflower piece last night.  It's a freebie from Pinker 'n Punkin.

Even my August calendar has sunflowers on it!  :)

Really darling, right?  I'm thinking I'll frame it with the fabric that backs my wool sunflowers, and use it as a mug rug.  Melisa's designs are all so darling.  And she is so generous with her gifts!

So I'm entering August all caught up.  Don't forget to say "Rabbit, rabbit!!" first thing tomorrow when you wake up! 

À bientôt!

:)

lo and behold . . .

It's almost August! How did that happen??? July started with a bang ... pun intended ... with our July 4th holiday and a lovely day with the family on the boat!

This crew loves being in the water ... it's hard to get them back out of it when it's time!  Little man thought he was big stuff, hanging out in the Captain's lap. LOL!

Todd's surgery was scheduled for the 5th, so we came in early . . . unfortunately, the surgery ended almost as soon as it had started.  We knew the surgeon was going to use cameras to look around; what he found was additional cancer mets in new locations, so he closed Todd back up and sent him home. 

Then my sweet Scarlet up and died on us.  We've since found out that certain Ford models, including our Escape, have major issues and Ford has a class action lawsuit filed against them.  Well great.  

She's a goner and now we're kind of in limbo, car wise.  She sure was pretty, though!

I've been working with a lot of wool and cross stitch projects.  Here are some finishes . . . 

This Glory, Glory cross stitch from Shakespeare's Peddler was in the Summer 2021 issue of PNPS Magazine, and I just fell in love with it!  I like getting the digital editions of this magazine because I can save them for forever, print the pages I want, and don't have to worry about where I'll stash it in my limited space!

I've had this sunflower piece hanging around for forever.  I cut and fused all the pieces on vacay in June, and finally got down to the stitching process this month.  Very happy with this finish!!

Just in time to switch out my patriotic decor for sunflowers all over the place!  I adore the sunflower print I used to back it.  It makes me regret just getting a fat quarter.  LOL!  By the way, this pattern is Caitlyn's Sunshine, by Karen Yaffe.  

I'd started with the patriotic bowl fillers in my last post, but just got them finished in time for Bastille Day.  LOL!  They'll be ready next year, for sure!  This pattern is also by Karen Yaffe and was found in the Summer 2023 issue of Primitive Quilts & Projects. Again, I do the digital issue; so handy!!  I was really pleased with how these turned out!

Speaking of July 14th, that's the day I took an unexpected trip to the emergency room, and didn't come home for five days.  The diagnosis was ischemic colitis — which was a first for me.  I'll go back in September for a scope to see if they can determine what's going on.  My son made me laugh when he said, "[Mom,] if you are going to get sick.... let's try to be more original.  I feel like colon issues are a bit overplayed in this family atm."  He ain't wrong!  I did get some lovely art work out of it . . .

Gotta love grands!!

I didn't get to fly to California to see my dear Olivia in her ballet performances in Alice in Wonderland, but thanks to technology, we did get to stream it after the fact and enjoy it.

She danced as a teacup, a playing card, and a lobster!  She's not just a great little ballerina, she's so animated—it was such fun to watch!

Todd started chemo back up this week.  Five rounds between now and the end of September.  

They've dropped to one that was taking so much out of him, so hopefully he won't get as sick and fatigued as he was.

We decided to step back in serving as church missionaries, and will return to our home church for the time being.  We said goodbye and thank you to Lakewood Baptist, where we were currently serving, this past Sunday.  

It was pretty emotional for both of us.  Todd will continue to do ministry, but more on a consulting basis.  We're looking forward to some down time in our home church.

Two last things . . . I got a little surprise this past Sunday when I took the cover off the grill to cook some steaks . . .

I screamed.  Good gracious, did I scream.  Mostly because he caught me off guard.  Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Todd pushed him off the ledge into the leaves below.  I hope he doesn't decided to come back!

And here's what I'm working on now . . .

I've got a set of 12 wool hearts that I want to gift next Valentine's Day!  I'm committed to finishing two per month. One is done and this one makes two.  I need to get moving!

Enjoy the last weekend of July . . . school starts here next month!  Egads!  Before you know it, it'll be Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas!!  TTFN!

:)

sweet, sweet, sweet . . .

Lots of lovely little tidbits from the past week.  First up, my daughter-in-love, has created a *sweet* home business called "Madelyn Mae's Bake Shop".  She makes the loveliest, tastiest cookies! How do I know they're tasty, you may ask?  Because she sent me some!

Tea cups, tea pots, and quilt squares! And in purples, no less!  It was a fun snail mail package to receive! She's so talented!

And I know autumn is on its way, because I've started to feel the pull of all things pumpkin . . .

Picked up this sweet Benartex metallic pumpkin panel.  I have some thoughts; we'll see where (and when—haha) it goes.

But I'm not totally living in the future.  I found the cutest little sunflower cross stitch on Pinker n Punkin, Summer Ewe.  So I wasted exactly zero time and got busy.  Here's what I ended up with:

Isn't that fun? I finished my off with a little wool and a grosgrain ribbon.

She looks right at home with the rest of my sunflower decor! By the way, that series of patterns (Betsy Ewe, Erin Ewe, Haze Ewe, Priscilla Ewe and Summer Ewe) are all sweet freebies on Melisa's blog.  Very cute!

Todd found a not-so-cute black snack curled up at the bottom of his ladder.

Todd went to pick it up to use, and did a double take. Who thinks the base of a ladder is a good place to take a nap?!  LOL! 

As our guild year wraps up this month, the incoming president has been soliciting folks to fill positions. I can't believe I did this, but . . . I signed on to chair our 2022-23 HQH Challenge.  <gasp>  I've already put together a fabulous team, and theme.  All the ideas!  It'll be fun (I'll keep telling myself that)! I'll share more on that when I'm able!

And I leave on this very happy little note . . .

I adore it when the local crew comes to visit me at work!  Sweetness!

:)

in with the new . . .

Do you know what happens when you make up your mind to back-post before you current post again?

Nothing.  LOL!

And the longer I put it off, the more daunting the task became.  So, here's what happened this past weekend:

I switched out my patriotic decor that went up in time for Memorial Day (and stays up through Bastille Day—July 14) . . .

For summery, sun-shiney sunflowers!

I love changing out my accent pieces for the seasons.  More and more, it's become mostly pieces I've made or been gifted.  I love that!!  Once I got everything out, I decided I needed a sunflower mug rug to finish it off, so I whipped up one in wool.

Makes me happy.

Makes my tea mug happy, too.

It was an easy stitch.  And my own pattern, to boot!  If you'd like to make your own happy sunflower mug rug, shoot me an email and I'll send you the templates and simple instructions.  Linking up with Kathy's Quilts Sunday slow stitching post.

:)

because it wasn't enough . . .

You know how creating begets creating? That's often how retreat is for me. I spend four or five days immersed in the craft, and when I come home, I just want to do MORE. So I got home, August was knocking on the door (and it's here now!) and I decide it's time to take out the patriotic decor of the RV and move to a more summery theme.  For me, that's sunflowers.  And I'd seen this really darling sunflower pillow done in wools.

So I did it.  And decorated around it.  Haha!  

Really, sunflowers are a thing for me . . . I didn't realize how much so until I took stock of how many sunflower themed pieces I'd created!  :)

Then on Saturday, I took a Boho Bag class.  It was a ton of fun ... and the class was filled with a lot of the gals I'd been on retreat with ... just seven days ago!

This was the second time I've taken a class at Sweet Home Quilting.  They've got great space. The instructor was teaching her own pattern, so that's always a plus!  It's a very out of the box project, so I struggled with it a little . . .

Front.

Back.

I have a better idea of the general idea of it now.  Free motion quilting is hard for me, so that didn't help! But it's a cute bag, and fun to make!

I also got the baby quilt quilted, so you know what that means . . .

Say what you want ... but that is the easiest way to keep control of that roll of binding!

The end is in sight!

And just because you need a little splash of Edith in your life . . . 

Of the four group pictures Joc took of me and the girls, one garnered a decent smile.  The rest? What can I say?  She's the youngest.  For now.  

:)