Rosie in the supervisory kitty hammock
This has been the summer of the slump for me (in fact several months of slump), but Karen's plan of doing "a little each day" struck a chord, so I did some actual sewing yesterday and finished the next block in Joy's Say It With Flowers BOM. This sweetly simple block of the month has required the least amount of thought for me along with a great deal of enjoyment stitching in front of the TV at night, so it is one of the few things I have "kept up" with this summer. Joy has been nursing a broken wrist, so I appreciate her providing these pretty embroideries.
Messy shelves
I pretty much shoved all the fabric back into the cabinet after we moved it. And yes that is a referee shirt. My son-in-law referees high school games, and he asked if I would do a little sewing for him.
Quilts for Baby (Everett's ragged, stuffed dinosaur) and Bunny (Delaney's dilapidated bunny)
The Littles have been here a couple times this summer, and we have never enjoyed them so much. They are 8 and 5 years old, nicely past diapers, bottles, and tantrums, and they are little goofballs. And they love to sew! It is the first thing they ask to do - I am so blessed - and so we made small quilts for Baby and Bunny, their stuffies. Everett can't reach the foot pedal so Grandma bends over to do it for him (and Grandma's back pays for it), but Delaney can do it all. They also love to go into the garden - they easily spot the tomatoes for me but I pick them because . . . "there may be spiders Grandma".
Sour cherry pie
Made this Sour Cherry Pie a few days ago, and it's already gone. Don't let the name fool you - it has plenty of sugar to overcome the tart cherries. In honor of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day today, I made a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, so those will be in the oven soon!
I am linking this post to:
How is your summer going?
Sorry about the hot! What fun you had with the little ones, well not so little really, but those ages are the most fun....you can do anything with them and they are thrilled! Love the projects and that pie looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteoh I am glad I influenced you to sew today. I went and sewed a Mercantile block and kept screwing it up and should have tossed in the towel but no I kept on until I was done and ended up chopping one point off and decided to heck with it and left it and now it will probably bother me but I'm not redoing it. The cherry pie looks wonderful and the kids are so cute with all those tomatoes - mine no longer want to seem to ripen in this heat outside at all and I think tomorrow I might pick them all and bring them in the house and see what happens - I am contemplating green tomato pickle relish (no cucumbers in it). Love those embroidery star blocks and the cat swing
ReplyDeletesounds like you actually made a lot of progress. Maybe that little bit each day will keep adding up and it will all be magically done haha! Stay cool - Its hot here so I can't imagine there!!!
ReplyDeleteI think just about everyone has been going through a sewing slump this summer. That pie looks delicious but it needs a scoop of vanilla ice cream to be perfect. It's wonderful you have two budding quilters in the family, happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteThe Supervisory Kitty Hammock is awesome. My first thought was imagining my big supervisory Rottweiler in one of those things -- he loves to find an elevated position where he can keep an eye on everyone at once, but I doubt that window hammock would hold 107 lbs of furbaby! ;-). Your Say It With Flowers blocks are lovely, those scissors look fabulous, and if that pie tastes half as good as it looks then it's no surprise it disappeared so quickly! I love that you are sewing with your grandkids. I have an idea for Everett not being able to reach the foot pedal. When my son was about his age I used an upside down tupperware storage container as a riser to lift the pedal to where he could reach it. There's a picture of it in this ancient blog post from 11 years ago: https://www.rebeccagracequilting.com/2013/09/more-quilting-with-kiddos-anders-and-51.html. And now I'm thinking WOW where did the time go?! My Anders who couldn't reach the foot pedal is now 6'2" tall and about to turn 21 next week. Enjoy this wonderful age with those kids because they grow up in a blink!
ReplyDeleteA good description for August is "just hot and hotter". Supposedly we get a cool down by the weekend. Fingers crossed for that. So glad to see you've ventured into the sewing room a bit. Some times it takes a little a day to get back to a lot a day. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you put this on Monday Musing. I didn't realize you were still blogging. Glad to hear from you. Yummy cherry pie. And, please send a cookie or a dozen over here! I don't bake unless the temps stay in the 70s. It's just been too hot. I'm glad you've decided to do a little quilting. Perhaps when the temps cool down you'll feel even more motivated. Hope you are stitching a little every day.
ReplyDeleteSometimes even just a little sewing can turn our slump around, especially if it can lead to a quick finish. I like your little flower blocks, and that pie looks scrumptious! I love hearing about your grands loving to sew too:)
ReplyDeleteSo fun to get caught up on what you've been up to! I love the new header on your blog, and the flag quilt,too. Those "Say it With Flowers" blocks are so pretty! Maybe I should be participating in that one. Looks like fun times with your littles - such cute smiles! A few years ago, we had a great niece and nephew visit and they wanted to sew, too. The nephew might have been a smidge older than your little guy, but I sat him on my lap so I could press the foot feed and guide his hands at the same time. Maybe that would work with Everett and save your back!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda! What a nice newsy post. That was very thoughtful of your DH to get you those scissors. And Texas made!! How fab that you are enjoying your littles - gotta watch those spiders, Grandma. I just LOVE your stars with the added embroidery. Very nice!! Your sewing room looks so nice and inspiring, and what a fantastic view you have from that window. I'd gladly send you a bit of our rain - we are 7" over for the year so far. Our grass hasn't even turned brown yet this summer! That's the first time I ever remember that happening. Take care! {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteGoodness, my friend. You have been so busy over the last few weeks. I have to say...the photo of your smiling grandchildren was the highlight.
ReplyDeleteSay it with Flowers is looking great, I love how embroidery holds up so well on a quilt. Those children are gorgeous. And the little quilts so sweet. And what big happy smiles.
ReplyDeleteSuch cute fabrics and colors on your flower BOM, Linda!!! Love your flag quilt--very timely, too! Fun photo of your GKs! Big happy smiles! Great that they love to sew. Their quilts are adorable! Your pie is definitely making me hungry. And your scissors is making me want one!
ReplyDeleteI always love a peek into your sewing space! (I see it back there on the far wall. :) Your tomatoes (beefsteak?) look perfect for tomato-bacon-tomato sandwiches!
ReplyDeleteWe will have to wait for rain a bit longer as it never rains here during the summer months. I hope you get a wonderful thunderstorm soon. I so glad you are staying motivated and doing a little per day. Everything looks happy, wonderful and delicious, Linda! Love the photo of Rosie!
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What a fun post, Linda. I have never seen a kitty hammock before. Rosie looks quite comfy in her "supervisors hammock". LOL. Your quilt room looks fabulous- what a lovely space to relax and enjoy. Say It with Flowers is looking great. I have been printing the flowers off and have embroidered a couple. I do need to get back to it. I love your Scrappy Flag quilt. Thank you so much for stitching along with me. I love how you set the blocks. I am going to keep that in mind if you do not care. Oooh Sour Cherry Pie- how yummy!!! We are pie people too. Have a great evening. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI'm not big into cherries but you had me with the sour! I'd love to be fooled! We had cherry trees in our orchard when I was little and they were sour; and of course my mom didn't want us to have lots of sugar so most of what she made with them leaned toward the sour so now that is my pref. LOL. (always have to be different, don't I?).
ReplyDeleteSo honestly, I think the heat puts a real damper on quilting. It's hard to do much at all! I struggle now because I'm supposed to be getting things made for fall and I know darned well I'll be scrambling here in a month if I don't work faster but ugh, the heat! Thankfully we have a cool rainy weekend ahead (puts a damper on golf but I'm hurt now anyway )
A lovely surprise on that scissors! And hey, my son is all moved in down there so we're thinking we'll make a visit in October. Will it have cooled down much by then? Would love to get in a round of golf but I don't want to melt, either. LOL!
Oh, that is such a wonderful age for the littles! I enjoyed my own kids so much once they could begin learning crafty things (baking, etc) and their personalities really start coming out and you can start having real discussions. Our 3 are a year or so behind that so I expect the next summers should be a lot of fun.
Hooray for time with the grands! I love it that they want to sew with you. Those flower embroideries are looking good. I’m sorry you are in a slump; sometimes a little sewing each day is all we can manage. Thanks for sharing the update on what you’ve been doing lately.
ReplyDeleteWhat sweet little quilts!! And I know how much joy grand babies bring! But we are still in the tantrum stages. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOnce again I failed to see your post when it first appeared, and it's a nice long one too! I always love peeks into others' quilt studios, thanks for sharing that. There's a National Chocolate Chip Day? That is my all time favorite cookie. Your littles look like they are having a wonderful time. I remember summer trips to my grandmother's country home.
ReplyDeleteGood for you to do a little stitching and make some progress! I love sour cherry pie! My mouth watered over your photo!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects
ReplyDeleteI adore those embroidered flowers. And those mini quilts for the lovies are sweet. Maybe that will be the jumpstart for you. The garden produce looks fabulous! I can almost taste one of the maters on a BLT. Yum! BTW, featuring your blocks this week in Sew & Tell.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilts. And I love that scissors.
ReplyDeleteWe had a few cooler days here in Kansas last week....back to triple digits. I don't mind rain except too much at once and it comes in the side of this little house.
ReplyDeleteWell hey Marsha, good to hear from you! Hope you are doing well.
DeleteOne of my friends has a grand-daughter who is disabled after a car accident, but she also likes to sew. They put the speed down to very slow and she manages to stitch it like that, not sure about the foot pedal, she is a lot older. Maybe you can put the pedal up onto a box and make it so much easier. What a delight to share this with the littlies.
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