BACK TO EPP

 

Oh dear! I have too many pics stored on my tablet and have had to delete some so I can take pics to put on my blog. I got rid of a lot of pdfs but need to work out how I can transfer pics to my laptop. Any ideas? 

Anyhoo, in an attempt to get my mojo rebooted I found my ongoing little EPP project I started many many years ago to do on interstate flights every time I went away ( which wasn't very frequent).  The hexies are half inch on each side and I am adding the white ones around the blue and white rosettes ( or flowers as we tend to call them).  I already had 3 done and I stitched another 3.

I have been seriously thinking of giving up patchwork and quilting as well as embroidery as I have limited place to display things and noone is really interested in having anything made for them. I have considered just stitching for charity but I am more a hand stitcher than machinist. Have you ever pondered this? I have plenty of UFOs to keep me going for a while. 

I only have a few pages left to read of this wonderful book. I loooooove Steven Tyler's voice and music. You may not know that I love music especially hard rock and metal. However, I also love the classics like Pachabel's Cannon, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata etc.  as well as Barbra Streisand and Andre Bocelli. Quite a mix really, anything but pop music ( not really fond of that). One begins to feel old when one of their fav musos  is now 74 ! At least he's still performing.

Thanks for popping in. I shall visit you soon.

LACKING PRODUCTIVITY

 

What have I stitched, crocheted or knitted since my last post nearly 3 weeks ago? Zilch, nil, nothing. I did complete the crocheted blanket almost straight after that post but that is all.

I simply had no energy left after being out most days each week, something I am not accustomed to. I found myself sitting binge watching programmes while doing jigsaw puzzles on my tablet and eating things that do not actually nourish my body.  Speaking of which.....

I won a prize in my grandson's kinder's Easter raffle! My daughter delivered it to me yesterday and both my grandsons eagerly unpacked the bag one thing at a time showing me what I had won. You can guess why they were so eager lol. They were disappointed when their pleading eyes didn't do their magic on grandma or mummy , and they were only given a small egg each. ( They still have heaps left over from last year and the Easter Bunny will be visiting soon). With a big family they receive an abundance of choccie during Easter, and yes, I have some for them too. My girls were only allowed carob and a book when they were little. 

Books....I finished reading this book that was a Christmas gift from my youngest daughter. So, I have finished both the books she gave me and I have loaned her the other one I finished. I also borrowed one of hers which I am currently reading. It is wonderful having our very own family library.

My mum has been housebound since her surgery late January and is waiting to have her booster after Easter. Constantly requesting magazines and books to keep herself occupied since gardening and Table Tennis were out of the question, I have been lending her a few of my books and am finding it hard to keep up the supply lol. It is good that we share similar tastes, but not the ones my daughter and I do. It is good being a family of readers.

Easter is upon us now and although I am not a religious person the message of rebirth and renewal is extremely relevent during these times of world upheavel. May your Easter be a time to focus on happier times ahead and share with loved ones . 

Happy stitching.

A BUSY WEEK

 

It has been a busy week for me. I usually need to pace myself  by having a day or 2 at home after being out for a day doing some grocery shopping or attending an appointment. However, this past week has been rather hectic with committments, appointments and the regular grocery shopping for my parents and ourselves. I still need to book my car in for a service and it looks like this coming week is very busy too. The brief arrival of cool weather was not kind to me again and having no time to rest meant that my FMS acted up. Hubby is in bed again, same as 3 weeks ago but this time his pain is under control. At least the weather has warmed up again and I took advantage of the sunshine yesterday by replanting my pots on the verandah and cleaning more windows.

My plant stand needs to be sanded and repainted again as the sea air tends to rust things quickly.  The pot stand was my grandmother's so I try to preserve it and the tub was my dad's childhood bath. 

Last night I completed the final wavey row of my blanket and started the 1st crocheted border. I selected the cream colour from my stash to do the 1st border as I thought it would define the borders from the rest of the blanket when I add the blanket colours for the other rows of borders.

 

Unfortunately the colours look rather washed out in the pic. They are a lot darker in reality.

My daughter has been enjoying crocheting more cute things. These 2 chickies are now in the hands of my grandsons.

If you are an avid reader of Fiona McIntosh you will love her latest novel that I have now finished reading. 

Well, hubby seems content at the moment and I have managed to do this post so I think I will try to do a bit more crocheting now. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay safe.

TA DA... SORT OF

 

The final row of  my little Civil War quilt has been sewn on...sort of. I decided not to add the 8th row because it looked a bit too long. This is due to the quilt not being as wide because I unpicked all the rows of half square triangles that were supposed to be on the side of each block. So, this is it without a border.

Hmm, the border. Here lies another problem. As I bought all my Civil War fabric in 30cm or fat 1/8ths, ( because I cut small pieces),  I don't have any big enough to cut borders from. I do have a couple of larger ones but they do not look suitable for the border.  Most quilt shops down here closed down during the pandemic apart from my local quilter who has her own little shop at home. I know she stocks some Civil War fabric so I may venture out and visit her. Otherwise I shall shop online. So, it looks like this is now a UFO. Bummer ! 

Moving on.....progress with my crocheted blanket. Only a few more rows to do and then I shall crochet the border.

It is a a beautiful warm sunny day here today, a welcome relief from the cooler weather we have had. I was out of action on Friday with a migraine which was probably due to the previous stressful week . Today I actually cleaned some windows!! Note, I said 'some' lol. The rest can wait for another burst of energy. I must find that recharger.

Happy stitching.

6 ROWS, 2 TO GO

 

Yey! I have finished hand stitching 6 rows of my little Civil War quilt with only 2 more rows to do. 

      Now to raid my stash seeking fabric for the borders.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book , one of the books given to me for Christmas from my youngest daughter. I think I have previously mentioned I share an interest of cults with my daughter . The psychology of it fascinates me. Sadly, too many people get caught up in many cults around the world.

Looks like this post is doing strange things. It disappeared on me , I got it back, and now the text is different sizes. I have no idea why. It has been a stressful week with hubby trying to manage pain unsuccessfully and this is a minor hiccup in comparison so I won't try to redo the post.

Take care and keep safe.

 

SEARCHING FOR MY STITCHING EAGERNESS AGAIN

  Have you ever had those days, weeks or months where everything needs repairing, replacement or the simplest task turns into a massive effort to complete and trying to rectify problems requires hours waiting on the phone to talk to an actual human being? I am sure everyone endures such times now and then but it is all rather exhausting. My stitching has been neglected and when I convince myself that doing some stitching will be theraputic , as it has always been for me, I find myself picking it up only to make mistakes and further add to my loss of enthusiasm to finish my projects. However, I persevered the last couple of nights trying to stitch my little quilt and have hand pieced 4 rows. Alas, one block in the 2nd row has not lined up properly and the same thing has happened with the 4th row, same block. I shall unpick the last row's misalignment otherwise the quilt will be a bit wonky if neglected.

 

I have added a few more rows to my crocheted blanket and it shouldn't take long before I crochet the border. So, I won't take a pic until I am ready to do that.

I have nearly finished this novel.

I hope you are keeping safe and well.

BEEN BUSY

 

My apologies for not catching up with your blog posts. My mum had emergency surgery and is now home but I had little time to do anything while she was in hospital for a week as I was ensuring dad was ok at home by himself each day and getting his groceries etc. I was also contacting the hospital each day for updates and ensuring mum had everything she needed as no visitors were allowed due to Covid restrictions still in place. Ofcourse, everything happens at once and we have had other stressful things to deal with as well. So, I have not done much stitching or crochet as I have been completely overwhelmed and just find myself chilling out watching streamed programs. 

However, I did finish reading a book that was a Christmas present. If you love Miriam you will find her bio really interesting . I am not easily shocked but I found myself a bit shocked with some info lol.

Today I traced a lovely little stitchery to make a bookmark, one of a series of free designs that Jennifer ( www.elefantz.com) is kindly putting on her blog. 

Although  I have little to show you of my craft I thought I would show you what my daughter ( mother of my two grandsons) has been crocheting.  The cat is for my eldest munchkin and the other was a Christmas pressie for someone.

I promise to catch up with your blogs soon. I hope you are all well and keeping safe.