Stitchin and Stitchin

Inspired by Kali at Enjoying the Journey I appliqued (well, sort of...I really just stitched them on there) these hearts onto my gingham cushions (from the church yard sale a while back). I had wondered how I would keep my old stuff while I brightened up the room and then I saw Kali's cushion. I'm still not sure about all this color! Those are the curtains under the cushions. The tops (same fabric as hearts) are the rod sleeves. I thought I would make some cushions out of the blue but as it turns out, there was not one scrap of the material left over (unless you count selvage). I won't know if I'm happy with them until I've hung them. I did hang them in the bedroom just to see if the two panels are even and they are, so I was very happy about that. :)

Weird color combo, isn't it? hmmmm I may have to live with this a while.

Fabric

Curtains, pillows, etc.

BOB

Or better known as Blog of Beauty nominations are open.

*This is how I understand "Baptism for the remission of sins." So....feel free to nominate me. teehee


*But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom[d] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge[e] of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Testing and Tomatoes

I'm trying out the resizing photos thing with Photobucket. This could work out nicely. These are my tomatoes and squash. I'm using my roadside find as a cage. On the corner I've hung a little black rodiron dragonfly hangy thing that says "welcome." I hope the deer know I don' t mean them!

This is my baby tomato, but the way I've photographed it, it looks gargantuan. LOL It's itty-bitty.

Here goes...I may start blogging from Photobucket. :)

After the Rain

This is what happens when you let the weeding go and then it rains for days. Oh my aching back. This was a big pile that I made but wasn't the half of it. It looks so much nicer now. :)

I am frustrated with my picture problem. I see other blogspot bloggers are able to post pictures. I can only do it if I hit 'blog" on a pic in photobucket...and it comes out full size. ( I guess I could resize them..hmmm). Everytime I try to do a normal photo upload the whole thing freezes and I have to go offline. Is anyone else having trouble?

A Sermon...an inspiration

I've been missing church lately for a number of reasons. The first couple of Sundays were me being me and needing a break from responsibility and people. I just wanted to stay home. I didn't want to sing...blah, blah, blah. Then right after those two weeks, the schedule changed and it is quite difficult to get breakfast for my motherinlaw, take her to the bathroom, give her her meds, etc, etc two hours earlier than normal to get to church earlier. I will have to this week as I am singing a duet with someone this Sunday, but well....it probably won't happen every Sunday. Anyway, I am quite blessed in that the sermons are posted on the internet..on our church website. I could read our Pastor's words all day long every day. He rarely fails to remind me of the awesomeness yet everydayness of the Christ. Sometimes I lose the fire and I'm sure reading or praying could bring it back, but part of the loss of the fire is the loss of the desire to read or pray. Tupper (our Pastor) has a way of getting to the kernel..the gut of faith. Once again I have been overwhelmed with the presence of Christ this morning, reading this sermon and I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy and I hope you are as blessed by it as I was. I may just go read it again. :)

Quilt Link

In trying to figure out a fabric for new curtains, I happened across this great quilting website (or blog, maybe). Very inspirational. Enjoy.

Rainy Day Project

This is the only way I could post a photo. I'll make it smaller tomorrow.

Edited to make photo smaller.

Where I'm From

I am from gasoline, from Texaco and Havolin oil.
I am from a beautiful ranch house on the side of the road, rambling, tidy, smelling of home-cooked food.
I am from the Rhodedendron, Mountain Laurel, and Pines. I am from Fiddle ferns, clover and mountain ridges.
I am from Grandpa’s quiet prayers and bluegrass and gospel, from Nove and Dormal and Great-grandpa Naylor.
I am from the stubborn and musical.
From "If you’re going to be late, don’t go at all" and "If you’re going to do it, do it right."
I am from Baptist revivals, church sings and homecomings in the parking lot with tables of fried chicken and jello salad.
I'm from Almost Heaven West Virginia, Mississippi Mud Pie and Catfish on Christmas Eve.
From the fish Grandpa kept in his pond, who came when he called them, the walks to the pond to let his granddaughter feed them bread, and the snack cakes meant for Grandpa’s workbucket from a metal bread box if I were careful not to "ask" for one in just the right way.
I am from big city cousins who handed down their clothes and their love, black and white photos of homecomings where most of the men were holding guitars, from honey bees who loved my great grandpa and led him home when he got lost, from preacher uncles to not-so-preacherly uncles all lined up in the back row of a photo smiling together, Fayetteville, Lizemores, Bentree and Clay. Places from which I could hardly wait to get away. Places to which I can hardly wait to return.

A Beautiful Website

This is a beautiful blog...a true gardening journal...that I discovered last year. "Moosey",as her family likes to call her, has a large spread of flower heaven in New Zealand. She posts tons of pictures of flowers, cats and dogs...and tells all about the every day-ness of gardening. When she cannot be outside working in it, she is inside reading and planning it.

When you get a minute for a cup of tea or some coffee and just feel like being swept away, go to Moosey's Garden.

Happy Birthday Nick!

I can't believe my baby is turning 17. I love you Nick. Thank you for being a wonderful son.

and these are the ones blogger left off...

The hat rack. lol
(Oops, a bad place to sit my cup while I took the pic)

Some random weekend things

I moved some things around, got a new haircut, framed my stitchery and found it a home on the phone table. The mirror is one I got years ago and I have no idea where it came from...it may have been a hand-me-down or it could have been a yard sale thing. I painted it with green crackle paint about 4 years ago. (There is also a pic of Tim's idea of a hat rack. I think it gives the dining room a Ralph Lauren feel) LOL :)Now, here are the pics in no particular order.

Free Cross-stitch Charts

Acadian Corner has some sweet cross stitch charts available free. Lizzie * Kate, The Gentle Art, Sweetheart Tree. Enjoy.

It was a dark stormy night....

...perfect for stitching and sewing.

This is another Primitive Blessings free pattern. I'm going to make a large pillow. The larger fabric is pink. It doesn't look like it in the picture. I couldn't decide on a trim, so I decided to just attach the stitching with a blanket stitch. I think it looks old-fashioned. :)

Yay!

I was walking out to check the mail and found this box on my front porch. I brought it in and as soon as I opened the flaps, the smell of lavender drifted to my nose. mmmmm. The bag was all wrapped up in tissue and a pretty ribbon. Accompanying it were a lovely sachet and a pretty little handkerchief. The bag! The bag is amazing. It's so well made. I barely got to look at it because hubby was oohing and aahing and examining it. He says it was a steal! lol (Raise your prices Debbie!) I am so happy with it. It's beautiful just to look at, it smells of lavender and it is so roomy. I have already filled it with a dozen different sets of things in my mind..for all sorts of different outings.

Thank you Debbie. I love it!

I should be mowing or weeding or maybe doing laundry, but.....

It isn't quite finished. I didn't have enough stuffing. I enjoyed stitching this. I got the pattern from Primitive Blessings. Look under Free Patterns.

I want to do more of these now. I have a better idea of how to trace them and of what I need to do to hide the stitches underneath. lol I'm hoping the line at the bottom that I decided not to stitch will wash out. Otherwise, I'm tickled with it.

Fabrics and colors are so interesting. I put the check beside the stitching last night trying to decide how I would finish it today. It didn't look right beside the bright red stripes of the flag. I found the blue (boy, I bought that material years ago and it sure has gone a long way)and put that on it today. Then I picked up the check again and with the blue separating them, it looked fine. I love that!

Ok, I'm off to look for something else to do to get out of working. hehe

Need. Curtains. Fast.

In the afternoons, the sun comes streaming through this window just before it goes behind the mountain. It's target? The television. It is as if the tv is not even on and this does not go over well with those trying to watch something. Last night, this was DH's answer.




Can you see the urgency here? There are no curtains in this window because I love the light offered the room without them and I like the look of the window itself. I could never figure out a way of making a window treatment that worked without detracting from either the light or the window.

Maybe you have some ideas? Help. Quick!

Table Runner

I picked this up today for around 4 bucks.

Here's a close-up.

I think it's really pretty.

And I promise to get some new batteries for my camera.

Interesting Discovery

Tonight I was tidying up and going through magazines to discard and books to put away. I came across one I bought a few months ago. Books I buy often have writing in them because I buy used books. Usually it's an inscription from the buyer to someone else, which is kind of sweet to read. I had not been able to make this one out; until tonight, that is. I finally figured out what it said and then realized it was the signature or signatures of both authors. I told you guys about the book when I got it. It isYour Secret Servant-Fix and Freeze Hors d'Oeurves For Easy Entertaining by Ann Reed and Marilyn Pfaltz. I won't pretend to have been familiar with these ladies. When I saw the signatures, I decided to look up the authors. Well, even *I* had heard of Ladies Who Lunch. Life is funny, isn't it?

I look at these lovely ladies (on the book jacket) who wrote about entertaining back in the 70s and I feel priviledged to have this book with their signatures gracing it.

Have any of you read these authors?

A Corner

Mrs. B shared one of the things she sees as she wakes up. Hulda did this a while back, too. I decided to get in on the fun this afternoon. The sun is shining nice and bright in our room and I also finally thought to put another bulb in the overhead light (duh, I know) so I could finally get some pics.
This is the table beside my bed. It holds baskets of yarn so is useful and decorative. I have a little vase of daisies sitting there. The pics overhead are of all our children and grands. It's nice to see his and mine together and I think it's good for them to see them. Oh, and the lighthouse picture is one my younger son drew when he was in 5th grade.

This is my dresser. It houses our t.v. and some trinkets..and the alarm clock so I have to get up to hit the snooze. :) Over the tv is a Kokopelli that Caleb made in welding class and some more photos.

..so this is what I see first thing in the morning. What do you see?

I'm sorry. I see the pictures are rather blurry. As you can see by the shadows, the light was pretty bright so it must be my batteries. LOL It's always something. :)

This is Nick, my older son, working on his Father's Day present. His daddy's hammock was falling apart, so we sneaked to his house when he wasn't there and took it. Then we went to Lowe's and bought rope and Nick worked on it all day Saturday. He just looked at the old one and figured out how to do it.

This was a present from both the boys, seeing as their benefactor spent more on rope than she anticipated. lol Dad was blown away. He said "Some day we're going to find something you CAN'T do, Nick."

Tim got a phone call and a nice card from his daughter. Caleb has been working so much that he didn't get a chance to get a gift. I ordered him some books that he wanted but they weren't going to come in in time for Father's Day so I bought him a couple of flashlights (different sizes). He really needs one for work, plus he just likes them. :)

That's Father's Day in a kind of quirky, messed-up but fully functional family. :)

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

This is another way I store craft items. This is an oatmeal container that I painted last night. They're great for holding little odds and ends. Pringles cans work well, too.

Before and After

Yard Sale Finds

These wouldn't have been my cup of tea a year ago, but now I see the charm in them. I think with new frames these prints could be really nice.

The total was $5.00. I also got a little white vase that didn't make it into the picture.

A Gift for Moi

I am so excited. I've just ordered this bag from Debbie at Homespun Living. I am not a big "purse" person but once I saw this one, I could NOT stop thinking about it. It's more like a beach bag, which is perfect for me because I like to be able to throw in a book or stitching or something. The fabric just makes me happy!!! Look at it! I can't believe that it will soon be on its way to me. :)

I've been looking at it for a while but was waiting to make sure that an article got accepted with a magazine I write for. It did. I'll also be getting paid for the new copy editing job I started last month and got re-hired for the next issue, so hooray me!

Debbie makes so many beautiful things. I am so pleased that I will hold one of them in my hands (and take it every where I go. lol) Her blog is so pleasing to the eye with every single post. I just love it.

Ok...gushing over now. :)

Tiny

I finally finished one of these little pincushions without the cat making off with it. Isn't it a cutie?

Random

I don't exactly have this crocheting-in-a-circle thing down yet but I've been seeing these covers both online and in books I browsed at Barnes&Noble, so I made one last night. I think they're so neat and even though mine is a little crooked..ok..a lot crooked, I still like it. It's like me...kinda poorly shaped but it keeps the bugs out of things. hmmmm. I'll have to work on that.

I was dropping the boys off at their Dad's house for the day yesterday and down the street sat this cute little table. I scooped it right up. Now...any suggestions as to how I should use it? My first thought was garden because I've been on the lookout for things that flowers could grow up and through.
And finally, a moment of silence please. (60, 59, 58....) Last year this Rhodedendron bloomed so beautifully but I think I let the honeysuckle choke it out. It smells so good when you sit on the front porch that I left it this year. I wasn't thinking. :( Goodbye Rhodedendron...you served us well.

New to me

I ran across this great blog and thought many of you would enjoy it.

Editing to add: This is another cool one I just saw. I need to visit Crystal's blog more often, as this is where I found the great links. This one is called Vintage Needleworks and has punched paper embroidery kits. I had never heard of this but it was apparently popular during the 19th century. What are you still doing here?

Random Garden Pics

Alyssum I added to the container with the miniature rose.
Are these dandelions that I am so lovingly fertilizing? Tell me. I can take it.
Look how big the tomatoes (is there an "e"? Dan Quayle has ruined me forever) and squash are getting.
Blue dayflower that was growing in one small spot last year. I mentioned that I'd like it to go around the inside corner of the house and Tim made it happen. They are finally blooming this year. We couldn't wait to see if they would.

Yucca
Red Clover, I think.
Daisies and Wild pinks that were growing wild in my yard. I like the way they arranged themselves. I transplanted these "weeds" to my garden last year. I blogged about it at Messy Musings