progress happening slowly but surely

Last time I checked in here we had started the back yard project. Well, life has sort of  gotten in the way a bit and it's on hold for now. I've been in an admitted funk about it because I let myself get super excited and then it kind of stalled out. But! It's still going to eventually happen and I'm feeling better about it. I thought I'd share the stuff that is making progress (mostly for my mom to see) 😀

I've been trying to keep track of what plants I put in so that down the line I'll know if I need to for some reason.  In the back yard I put in two bushes that I bought as bare root plants, lilac and forsythia. They are tiny now but in a few years will hopefully fill in the corner of the back yard I put them in!


This is one of the mauve-ish irises that I planted  last year. I think these were given to me by my realtor? She gave me some irises and peonies that she has thinned out from her yard. I just love the tigery pattern at the inside of the petals!

Yesterday (Saturday) I decided to clean up the front flower bed rose bushes. These were bushes that were here when I bought my house. I have trimmed them back several times which I think has just made them even more unruly! One of the bushes was right close to the front door and more than a few times I've come out the door and almost walked right into a branch! So I had been considering removing it. Which is exactly what happened yesterday!  Below is a pic of the branches one part of the bush I removed.  

And below is what it looked like right after I pulled the rose bush out. I planted all the daffodil and tulip bulbs I had left from last year, and more iris tubers. I put irises all along the back edge and the daffodils in the front. I added the salvia next to the rhubarb, then the next plant is veronica which I had planted last year. At the end is a spirea bush that I put in last year I think. I did buy more plants last night and put them in: lavender, columbine, pink veronica and something that looks like a daisy but I don't remember the name right now.  The porch looks so much more open!  In the future I'd like to put a railing along the back of the bed with a little gate. There are a couple houses in my subdivision that have done that and it's super cute!

Okay, in sewing news - I made a dress that I love and it is super comfy!  My Mom had given me this peach cotton that has little ducks on it.  I knew I'd want some kind of garment out of it.  I made this McCall's pattern M7115 and I made view D.  It was a super easy pattern.  I made it even easier by not putting in button holes. When I was trying it on before doing buttons it went over my head easily so I just sewed the buttons through the two layers of the bodice so it's fixed closed.  I used abalone pearl buttons.

And here's the finished product, with George of course!  She is such a photo ham!  She was in another room at then other end of the house and came running to get in the picture.  

So here in the US  it's a long weekend for Memorial day.  I made myself a list of things I want to get done and so far I'm doing good. This morning (Sunday) I went for a 2 mile hike with a friend. There's a little parking area off the side of the highway after the lake that has some nice trails. We got a bit off the trail at the beginning and did some "off roading" but it was still really pretty! I've got an okay sense of direction so we got back to the main trail eventually and it was smooth sailing after that.

We've had a good amount of rain in the last couple weeks so everything is really green and pretty. Morning are still brisk but it gets close to 70's in the afternoon which is nice! I love this time of year.

Today I am going to cut out another dress from the same pattern as above, except I'm going to modify the front bodice to not have the two pieces. I'm just going to cut it out on the fold. I'm thinking I might like to put in some pockets as well?  

I am almost done with the socks I've been knitting, I only have 14 rows of ribbing then bind off! So I'd like to finish that this weekend too. I also pulled out my cross stitch pattern that I had started forever ago!  Oh! and I am going to start reading a book. After my husband died I lost all concentration reading. But, I feel like I'd like to give it another go. So we'll see if I can stick with it!

I hope you're having a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

Quilts of all sizes

 I have been busy busy over here lately so blogging has sort of fallen by the wayside. But! Never fear, I have been sewing and knitting for sure. A lot of gift making really, so also I had to wait to share until I had given the stuff.

First up is a baby quilt.  I started this back in the Summer for a new baby in Scott's extended family. I know it's hard to see but each middle square is a fussy cut from Guess How Much I Love You prints. The pattern was from the May/June issue of Quilty magazine that I thought would showcase the middle squares well.  The fabric was super cute and fun to work with and everything came together really easily.  I gifted this quilt at Thanksgiving.

Close up of one of the middle squares:

I'm not sure if I've talked about this next project before. If I have, forgive my forgetfulness :) grin! I knitted this little guy from a pattern called "Sven and Solveig Scandinavian" by Cottage Creations. 

 This was a fun knit!  As I was knitting him I really felt like his name was Jurgen instead of Sven. The pattern is super fun, lots of charm and little hints in there about dollmaking - like ways to customize via name, hair color, sweater style. The pattern shows Sven with a white beard but as I was knitting I felt like Jurgen was a younger guy with darker hair and maybe a clean-shaven face.

A friend of mine asked me if I could make a doll quilt and pillow for her daughter for Christmas.  This was a no brainer! Of course I said I could! She sent me a link so I could figure out measurements and such. It's this duktig bed from Ikea.  I did a quick google search and found a blog called One Little Project that has a whole series on bedding accessories for the exact bed! Sweet!  

 Next I picked out fabrics for a little patchwork quilt - this was so FUN! I have so many fun girly prints and I really had free reign to put in what I thought she might like.  So the tutorial that I linked was for more of a blanket, which would have been fine but I really wanted a mini quilt.  I think I used 5 inch squares for the top. I drew straight lines on the top in erasable ink and used my walking foot to do the quilting lines.

This was the first time I used the walking foot attachment with my machine and it was great! Super easy and I'm very pleased with the stitching. If you've ever stitched straight lines without one you know that the fabric can get pushed by the foot and cause puckers and pleats especially where the lines intersect. With the walking foot it doesn't do that.

Here's the final product under the tree for Christmas!  I'm pretty sure that pillow came out way too big!!!! Yikes. I'm not sure what happened there?  oh well. I made a pillow with sheet fabric and then made a reversible pillowcase to coordinate with the quilt. The reverse fabric is the bright pink print in the quilt.

And, since it's Christmas I did make myself a little something. One thing I love, love is Christmas Nutcrackers!!!!  I have a collection of wooden ones and ornaments that I love.  I was in Joann's Friday night when I spotted some nutcracker fabric. Eeeeeeee! I bought some, came home and washed it and Saturday made this lined drawstring bag! Their faces just crack me up (get it, lol)! I also made a needle cozy to match since I'm going to put my Christmas sock project in there. 

So, that's it for me here this week. I hope you all had a nice holiday season! Mine has been very reflective and calm, which has been nice. It's almost a new year! What are your plans?

catch up part 3 inside edition

This post is to catch up on sewing and knitting projects.  First up, this little zipper pouch.  This is one of those projects that I had literally no choice in making. I woke up one morning, was scrolling instagram and saw a little hexie pouch in the "you might like" mish mash of recommended pictures.  I got right up and sewed the pouch right then - it needed to be in my life!  If you want to check out my inspiration it's from What Saysie Makes, and I'm also linking the blog post where she talks about it.  Her blog is beautiful as is her instagram profile.  Anyways, I obviously didn't have the same fabrics she used, but that's totally fine!  I have tons of cute fabrics to choose from!

Next up is this vanilla sock.  I know lots of people have said that they like this sock but I personally do not love the yarn.  Or, rather, the colorway. I tried a new to me pattern for the heel, it's called the OMG heel and you can find that pattern on Ravelry.  I really actually liked the heel, it was very very well written.  It was so clear and did not make any assumptions about heel knitting experience which I really appreciated.  I have knit a few knitting patterns where the designer assumes certain things are "understood" and I was the person who just didn't get it!  Thank God for google.  

I just had to include this sweet puppy picture. I woke up for work one morning and this was my Rocky dog sleeping next to me.  His ears! 

Ok so this next project is completely Kay Jones of the Bakery Bears fault inspiration.  She had talked about it on the podcast, and at first I was like - no, I don't need to knit this guy.  Then! she mentioned it again and talked about her inspiration and how she had seen it on instagram made by Lori so naturally curious I checked it out and I was like oh man I need this pattern!  It's called Sven Scandinavian.  So incredibly cute and detailed!!!  

It's a paper printed pattern so I ordered it from the website, Cottage Creations. Kay mentioned on the podcast that the service was really good and she had gotten a confirmation email after she ordered. I have to just say that she was right! I also got an email but mine was to let me know that the pattern was being reprinted because Carol, the designer, had run out of copies!  I emailed her back and let her know that I was not surprised since I had seen it on the podcast and I know there are a lot of followers both there and Lori's instagram.  

I received the pattern a couple weeks later, which I thought was great considering it had to be reprinted.  I set to knitting my version of Sven right away.

There are name suggestions in the pattern of alternate names. Carol encourages everyone to think of names as you're knitting.  I love that!  I have always felt as I make a doll, whether sewn or knitted, that their personalities develop as they are made. So, my Sven has actually turned out to be Jurgen! Isn't he cute?

Last weekend I had a baby shower to attend. The baby's room theme is cacti.  I knew I wanted to make a quilt as my gift.  I did a little google search, and found this quilt. I bought backing fabric and white on Thursday, prewashed it after work. I decided to do two rows of squares for the body of the cactus.  I pulled all green fabrics from my stash and didn't have any repeats!  I pieced the front after work on Friday and put everything together and quilted on Saturday before the shower!  Yikes! I was a bit late to the shower because I wanted to wash it before giving so it would pre-shrink.  She really liked it so that is a win!

I'll leave you with this picture of my fall mantel.  Mom, if you're reading this - that scarecrow is the one I was telling you about with the sign "no crows" and then I like to put that crow sitting next to him! ha! 

My Georgie girl

This little turkey cat just has to be in the middle of everything!  So this my sweet kitty girl George.  Last weekend I had cut out 6 project bags and was sewing them production line style and she was putting a kink in the works at every turn!  Here you can see her laying right on top of my fabric.

As if that were not intrusive enough, as I was sewing she would put her little face through my sewing machine!  Inspector George!  I would gently push her back which I assume she interpreted as affection because then she really came through the machine seeking attention :) Silly girl

So today is much of the same except today she keeps getting into my chair when I get up to iron something!  Gotta love her 💗💗

sewing update

Okay, fair warning: there are lots of photos in this post! Sorry about it.  I've taken too long of a break and now need a bit of a catch up.  

First, a word about the break. I discovered that my blog was being spammed, which did no harm really.  But it did discourage me.  I thought real people were reading my blog but it was just computer spam and grody porn links.  I guess seeing the number of "readers" go up made me feel like I was connecting with other crafty people. When I found out that wasn't the case it made me feel sour to blogging.

But! I'm not going to let it keep me down.  I know my Mom sometimes reads and maybe a handful of real people....so I'm going to get back to it.

So even though I haven't been blogging I have been very busy crafting!  Yes, yes.  I am not going to share every little thing but here are some favorites.  I have a knitty friend in my bible study who I noticed did not have a proper project bag.  I sewed one up, realized it was too small, and made another bigger. I kept the smaller one as it is perfect for socks!  

Mom: if you can tell in this picture below - the bottom bit of this bag is the fabric I was telling you about.  You can click directly on the picture to make it bigger. It's like a thicker cotton and natural.  I really love the contrast.

I have a window box above my sink in the kitchen that George likes to jump up into.  I made a little kitty mat for her to make it a bit more cozy.  I used some of my very favorite hoarded fabrics. Grin 😊There's little piggies and all fun whimsy.

And there she is in the window box, Miss George herself.

This is my latest zipper pouch make.  The natural/off white is cotton duck so it's really sturdy and nice. Then I just did a strip of a favorite print and crochet cotton trim.  This has gone into my storage box to sell at a later date.

This next project was one of those ones you don't really see coming. But it had to be made!  After I took down all the Christmas decorations the house was a bit bare (not really). Right now is like limbo time for holiday decorating.  There is still snow on the ground so Spring doesn't feel right yet but I'm over Winter..... So!  I'm just putting up colorful stuff that makes me happy.  

Last year I made a similar pattern for a pillow and really love it.  I figured out some larger measurements and voila!

Here it is up on the mantel.  Sorry the lighting is pretty much crap as the sun has gone down.  I know it's hard to see but the main fabric is the most delicate pink and I bound the quilt with black and white stripes. Oh yeah, you can see the pillow on the chair on the right that inspired this quilt.  I have to say it's super easy but the effect is striking (to me).

Welp, I think that's pretty much it for now. Next time I think I'll share more knitted items because I have been up to that as well.  Have a great week!

not getting sick

I'm having that feeling like my body is right on the cusp of getting sick.  Like a tingle in my nose, low energy, a little rasp in the throat.  But, I am not getting sick!  I am telling my immune system it is so strong, there is no virus that can compare!  Oh and lots of  Airborne and water.  So I've been laying low this weekend.  I still got some crafty progress made but not as much as I had planned.

Late this week, maybe Thursday?  I finished my socks!  Yeah :)
So glad to finish these.  I really liked the pattern, which was the Blueberry Waffles pattern, which is free on Ravelry.  The yarn was a Crazy Zauberball, which was really fun to knit with.  Since the yarn was pretty thin I just went with my regular cast on which is 64 stitches.  The pattern calls for 52 stitches on DK weight with 3.75 mm needles.  Sock yarn is quite a bit smaller and I also use US size 1 needles (2.25mm).  It worked out quite nicely, as you can see they fit really well.

 For the last couple of weeks I've really been wanting to be knitting a little animal! But I made myself finish my socks first, I didn't want them languishing.  So last night I cast on what I think will be a little kitten.  I'm using the Mrs. Bakery Bear pattern by Kay Jones and I'll just change the face and ears.  I've done that before, I really like her pattern and it's easy enough to alter.  The yarn is just acrylic, it's very soft and has a bit of a halo.

This morning after knitting a bit I moved into the sewing room.  And so did George.  Here she is taking over the cutting side of my sewing table!  She was quite determined to stay right there.

Eventually she did move and I got some cutting done.  The top row you've seen before but now it's sewn into squares.  The rest of the squares I've been playing with.  On the left, second row, was my first attempt to figure out the  Thimble Blossoms Cheerio pattern. I could tell it was a variation of the "road to Tennessee" classic block but with the little squares and a widened center.  I finally gave in and bought the pattern (!) which usually I'm too cheap to do.  I'm blaming feeling under the weather.  I just didn't have the brain power to keep up the math guessing game!  

I was really really close though on the math!!  Oh well.  So, the circlet with the white center is the official Cheerio pattern.  For me, it's all about those little squares!!!  I just love them.  So, I am debating if that will become a pillow top or maybe a runner with some other fun Fall fabrics?  My first attempt is going to be a Halloween pillow.  It kind of looks like one of those floaty rings on boats!  

Welp, that's about all the happenings here.  Hope the end of your Summer is going well - Labor day next weekend!  For me, that's like the end of Summer....except when I lived in Chico and it would still be like super hot into October.  Fall is right around the corner!  Pumpkin everything here we come :)

so.many.weeds.

I totally meant to post this weekend but ran out of time!  I actually got a lot done on Sunday, much needed house chores.  Saturday night I started weeding - wild night at my house!  My strategy was to have the sprinkler soak a section of yard, move the sprinkler and weed the soaked spot.  For the most part the weeds just came right out that way.

My internal alarm clock has been going off super early lately - like 3 or 4 am.  Yuck.  But, I can sometimes fall back to sleep a little bit.  Sunday morning I was up at like 5:30am.  I decided to take advantage of the coolness of the morning and start weeding.  I set the sprinkler in the back yard and weeded the front flower beds.  Then, I'd go in the back, move the sprinkler and weed back there.  I kept hopscotching back and forth until about 10:30am and I got it alllllll weeded!  Here's Rocky looking over my dead weeds.  This was really only about 1/3 of it, I had three giant trash bags full besides what's on the ground here!  While the yard was still damp I sprinkled 'weed and feed' over it in the hopes of bringing some of the grass back to life.

I have to say that my back and legs were SO sore Sunday and the next few days!  OMG.  Like so sore.  My next yard challenge is going to be pulling the foxtails out of my raised bed, and cleaning rocks out of the flower beds in the back.  Next month I am going to see if I can re-seed the grass.  The weed and feed container said I need to wait 30 days to re-seed.

Saturday morning I made it to farmer's market.  I was looking for cucumbers.  Last year I totally spaced it until the end of the Summer and by that time pickings were few.  I got there about mid morning and there were still lots of cukes!  I bought a few pounds, fresh garlic, jalapenos and dill.  Super fresh, beautiful, fragrant produce!  Perfect for pickles.

Sunday afternoon I set about making some spicy garlic dill pickles.  I know I've said before that canning is so much easier in my new kitchen, but seriously it is SO nice!  I've got lots of counter areas which made it cool to have "stations".  I also love my dishwasher!  I washed the jars while I was cleaning up the cucumbers and cutting the jalapenos and peeling the garlic.  The water started to boil right about when the dishwasher cycle ended which was perfect for processing.  The jars need to be warm so that when you add the jars to the boiling water it's not a shock - there's a chance a jar could break if it's put in cold.  I've never had that happen but it's better to be safe.

It never ceases to impress me how pretty pickles are.  My kitchen smelled so delicious!

After finishing the pickles I wanted to get some sewing done.  I went into the sewing room and who did I find in the closet snuggled with fabric?  George!  How cozy is she?

I decided to make some fabric baskets.  I've been thinking it would be cool to have some to hold random stuff.  I used the measurements from the 1 hour basket tutorial on Craftsy.  I didn't follow the tutorial, just got the measurements from it.  After making this one I wish I had actually read the directions.  Not sure what I was thinking but I left an opening for turning along the top edge instead of the lining!  It would have made my life easier to do it that way - now I'll remember for next time.

I made two at the same time with different facings.  This top one is a super stiff facing.  Not exactly my favorite.  The facing had a "memory" and kept some of the curl from being on the cardboard bolt.  I'm not a fan.  Plus turning it inside out was a super pain.  boo

This second one I used a soft fleecy facing that I use for my project bags.  I was pleasantly surprised that it held up like a basket.  I was afraid it would fold in on itself but it stands up nicely.  Currently I don't have anything in this pink floral one but I'm sure I'll fill it up with something soon!

I plan on making some shorter versions to put on my rolling cart to hold a few things like scissors and such.

a visit from Mom

There is a point in life that I have been blessed to get to.  That point is enjoying your Mother's company.  I think we can all get there at different speeds, different time frames, but once we do it is so sweet.  I have appreciated my Mom's company, her presence, for a long time.  We drive each other batty-mad-crazy sometimes but she is also one of my best friends.  Why do I mention this now?  This past weekend, Mom came to visit.

I was pretty excited for her to get here.  This would be the first time she has seen my new home!!!  So, of course, I had preparations to make.  I had not put up curtains yet in the spare room where she would be sleeping so that was first on the list.  I had the above pictured fabric in my stash for I'd say 15 years.  10 at the bare minimum.  And the funny thing is that Mom gave it to me!  I think she still has some?  

I had been saving it to make one of those quilts that you can fold up into a pillow.  The faux quilt squares seemed just perfect for that.  But, I never got around to it.  And then I wasn't sure that's what I wanted to do with it.  Last week when I was considering what I wanted that room to look like, I remembered this fabric!  and it is perfect!  Privacy achieved but also lets in lots of light.

Friday morning I was just toodling around, waiting to go meet her and bring her to my house.  I finally finished these purple striped socks.  Which, by the way, turns out that I put the heel in too soon so they are too low and a bit tight on the inseam.  Boo!  I could rip them back....but I think I'll see if any friends with smaller feet might like them.

I met Mom under this flag in a teeny little California town.  It was a beautiful day and I was so SO relieved that Mom made it safely!  Oy!

I didn't get any pictures while she was here - we were just doing stuff!  no time for pictures!  It was a lovely visit.  The weather was perfect.  Funny thing about that - for us here is was hot, like 75-80 degrees.  But she came up from Chico which is like 100 degrees during the day in the Summer so she was chilly a lot of the time!  ha!  

So my neighborhood has an annual yard sale where tons of houses in the subdivision have a sale, maybe 40 sales?  We didn't get around to all of them but we did have fun and found some goodies at the ones we did get to.  I scored two wooden chairs!  I needed one for my sewing room and one for the desk in the spare oom.  Then, we got back to my house and threw together some stuff quickly that we wanted to get rid of.  It was great.

I grilled kabobs that afternoon and then we indulged in ice cream from DQ.  It was like the perfect Summer evening.

I had such a good time showing my house to Mom, and she really loved it.  One thing she commented on was that my house is cozier than it appears in pictures.  I do love a cozy home so that was nice to hear :)

I took Monday off work, and I'm glad I did.  I was the biggest lazy bones in the world!  I did cast on a new pair of socks but other than that was super lazy.

beach thoughts

I know I've been quiet for a bit.  There has been so, so much going on.  In life, in my thoughts, in my emotions.  Just too much really.

Last weekend Rocky and I drove over to the coast.  Monday, April 4th was the third angelversary of my Scott's death.  I knew what to expect from the previous 2 years.  This year there is a deeper sadness that I can't exactly explain, nor do I really want to.  Everything boils down to life moving on, away from him, without him.

Maybe I'll elaborate another day when I have the energy.  Really, though, I just miss him so much and he is missing so much.

As usual, the beach is the perfect place for me to be.  The water all the days I was there was the color of Scott's eyes - deep blue.  Depending on the clouds, it could change to grey as well.  For the most part the weather was perfect.  Blue skies, sunny.  But it was really very windy which made it cold.  Here you can see the wind blowing up Rocky's ears.  Oh yeah, don't mind my finger in the shot there. ha

Here's Rocky longing to run down the beach and make friends with the dog by the water.  Oh how he wished me could be "off leash".  But, I'm afraid I may lose him if I let him run free.  Because he would run and run.

Tuesday we just walked on the beach at Crescent City.  Again, super windy but walking it felt fine.

Coming home was actually nice, this new house is so comfortable.  The bathroom is still a work in progress, but otherwise is coming together nicely.

Today I painted the walls in the bathroom.  Some of the wall texture stuff got on the ceiling which needs to be sanded off and then I'll paint the ceiling too.  I really love the way this color turned out - it's really limey and sherbert-y.  Oh, yeah that is my living room lamp in there since the light is not installed yet.

I almost forgot.  Yesterday I actually sewed something in my new sewing room!  Yes.  So a friend of mine asked me to make a mastectomy drain apron for a friend of hers that is having a mastectomy in May.  Of course I said I would make one for her!  I googled it to get some direction.  Turns out they are so easy.  I am going to make a couple so she can choose.