Sunday, October 4, 2015

Fall finishing


I have a few finishes to share.  First up: pickles!  Last weekend it dawned on me that Summer is officially over and I didn't make even one jar of pickles!  Last year I made a ton but I'm down to a couple pickles in the fridge and a jar of sliced pickles that I haven't opened.  So I thought, I guess I could buy pickles, no big deal.  Ugggggggg! but no homemade pickles for an entire year??? nope, it won't do! I found myself at farmer's market Saturday morning picking up any and all suitable cucumbers, which were very sparse.  So!  I have 3 jars that I will use sparingly this year.  

And then.  I'm back to cross stitching.  I got hung up on this frame for Peter Pan because the pattern did not have Tinkerbell in it!  What?  And there was a mermaid in the water next to Peter.  It just didn't feel right to me.  I know that there are mermaids in the story but to me the crocodile stood out more.  I saw a few people on Instagram also added a croc.  But Tink just wasn't as easy to figure out.  I finally just thought I'll add her even if she's tiny since she's a fairy anyways! So that's what I did.  And now I can move on :) I also changed Peter's hair to red and gave him blue eyes and a smirk.
 I'm not sure if I mentioned that I finished the Thunderstorm MKAL shawl?  I did!  And it is blocking right this minute!  I have it folded in half so it will be symmetrical and also so it would fit on the blocking mat.  It's pretty big, this thing!  I tried to stretch it as much as I could to open out the eyelets.
Here's a bit of a close up:
Oh yes!  Last weekend I rearranged my living room!  I'm really digging the set up now.  A small change, really, but a huge difference.  In this corner I used to have a plant stand.  I moved the plant stand into the kitchen and moved this bookshelf in it's place.  Now I have a little book nook corner.  It's so cozy I love it!
And, since I was rearranging I put out my Fall decorations.  I haven't really put up decorations for Fall since before my husband died.  But, the mood hit so I did it and I really like it.   

 Every year at the end of Summer there is a rummage sale that Jan and I always go to.  The second day of the sale, Saturday midday, they have a bag sale.  And we can usually split a bag and stuff a ton in there!!!  This year, this pile of sheets was my score.  I got all this for $2!!!  The bag was $4 and so we each paid half.  I must admit I came out better in the deal but I know Jan doesn't mind.

Now, I know you're wondering how many sheets does one person need?  ha!  So, vintage sheets have many uses.  The plain ones are going to be perfect to cover my couch so that Rocky can live there and shed his little short hairs and I don't lose my sanity :)  The others, I can use as quilt backs.  You get a ton of yardage for next to nothing.  I only buy sheets that don't have stains and are in very good shape.  The first thing I do is wash them all up and they are ready to use!  Also, I have found that they are great for making tote bags, reusable shopping bags, quilts.  That's just what I do.

The first thing I added to my bag was this little linen doily.  It is so sweet.  Not sure if you can tell but it's hand embroidered with little birds next to the flowers.

Oh my goodness!  Sorry for the photo overload!  But, I think I'm pretty caught up now.  Rocky and I are doing some serious chilling out this weekend.  Big plans today include painting my nails, cross stitching and maybe knitting on my socks.  Maybe if I get a wild hair I'll sew something!  I have to day I'm just really loving all the handmade things in my house right now.  It warms my heart.  Hopefully you're having a great, relaxing Fall weekend as well.

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