Whippy Wednesday

Hello Friends.

Here are my WIP's for this month.

Day 10

I almost finished the bottom left side

of the angels body and banner.

Maybe the next day I can finish this angel.

Day 11

Could not finish the angel. UGH

Still have this tiny little part at the bottom right.

I tried though.

As dad would have said:

Close but no cigars.

Day 12

Finished the angel finally.

Stitched all of the leaves and flowers 

to the right of the rose. 

Finished the upper border and almost

 finished the right corner motif.

Purchased a new needle minder.

Just fitting for this piece.

Will look forward to getting her finished.

Then I can begin finishing the rest

of the flowers and other bird.

Day 13

I started the bird and added the berries

above him.

Also worked my way down on the right border.

The bird is taking a bit.

So many color changes,

but am loving this sampler.

Next up.

Blueskin

Am hoping I can get this one done

before I get tired of patriotic stitching...

getting close.

George's buttons on his coat were

suppose to be this green color.

I changed to Heirloom Gold

by Gentle Art.

Next change I did was his pants.

They were suppose to be gray.

Looking at all of the images online,

I decided to go with Caramel Corn.

Again by Gentle Art.

Next change was Blueskin himself.

The called for was Parchment (cream)

Blueskin was a gray Arabian.

Anyone who knows horses,

grays will turn white as they get older...

but in the Winter will have that undertone

gray come through.

So I decided to do my Blueskin in

White Lightning by Weeks Dye Works.

His mane in Pelican Gray.

Finally his tail in Weeks Dye Works

 Galvanized and Pelican Gray. 

Am happy with my changes.

Next is my monthly progress on

Sarah Casey Unwin.

I finished the motifs on the right.

Stitched more down on the border.

Then started stitching another border row.

Then went up and did these motifs,

Finally started the words. 

Although a biggie...

am enjoying stitching on this piece too.

Finally Patriotic Pinwheel Parade

Stitched more bunnies.

Plus another one. 

Am almost to the finish line...

Did not get completed for this July 4th though.

Hopefully will be done for next year.

That flag is MASSIVE...still not complete.

In other news,

no cross stitch this week as I am focusing

on stitching up things for Halloween 

at the store.

On August 1st we are celebrating 

our 15 year anniversary.

We will be doing storewide sales throughout

that first weekend.

Had to take my car in for brakes yesterday.

Bad news.

I was driving on a wing and a prayer.

God surely was watching over me.

All brakes including rotors were shot.

Now I have all new brakes.

Thank God also that I don't try and stop

 on a dime when driving.

I always leave space in car in front of me.

Today am going to the closest fabric store

near me which is 45 minutes away.

Bob is going with me.

I need some fabric...just a wee bit.

We will do lunch afterwards somewhere in town.

Lauren asked me how many days til retirement.

212 days....

Mid Week Blessings To All!

Janice

 

Being Patriotic

 This is my favorite room this year

for my patriotic decor.

I so love just sitting in here and taking

it all in.

I hope you enjoy the pics.

In other news,

the other night around 12:30am

Tundra wanted to go outside.

When Bob put him on the leash and

went outside in the backyard

he heard the weirdest scream.

Tundra was spooked too.

He quickly did his business and wanted inside.

Once inside Bob started hearing the screaming

in our front yard.

Tundra kept barking.

It woke me up.

Bob came in the bedroom and I said 

"What is Tundra barking at?"

He said open the window.

It is screaming in the back now.

So I opened the window.

I thought it was bigfoot or a cryptic

of some kind.

It truly sounded like something out 

of a horror movie.

When I got up for work,

I googled what animal would scream at night.

It came up with a You Tube video.

A video of a red fox screaming.

I played it...Tundra started barking again.

It was the sound I had heard.

When I got home from work, I again played

it for Bob.

He said yep that was it.

It seems that a fox will scream if it is

in distress, telling another fox this is his territory,

or looking for a mate.

  Since it is not mating season, 

that leaves 2 of the three reasons.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday.

He would have been 96 if he was still alive.

I called my mom to see if she was alright.

She was.

I still miss my dad all these years.

I am on vacation next week.

Plan I crafting up some Halloween 

to sell for the store.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Patriotic Blessings To All!

Janice

Friday Finish Again

This time on a Tuesday.

Hope I don't confuse you all.

Here are my latest finishes.

Voila

Viola Martini is completed.

This was a pattern I changed to

add in my great-grandmothers names

to pay homage to them.

If you remember, I started this idea

of stitching my heritage wall back in 2022.

Mom and I travelled to all of the cemeteries

so I could record the dates of my relatives

back to my great- great grandparents. 

So far I have completed 

both my great-grandfathers & great-grandmothers.

My grandmothers.

Bob and I.

My mom and dad's wedding tribute.

My maternal grandparents with their parents.

I have many more planned but currently

working on two birds and an angel.

 I will add in all of the initials of my relatives

for this one.

Bringing these together with thread and needle,

to me is like an artist putting paint to canvas.

I only work on my samplers on Sundays...

so it will be years before these are all finished.

Then again, once I am retired, 

I may be able to add more days to devote to these.

Then I finished this.

Strawberry House.

My big beautiful blue house is complete.

Decided to use the same strawberry fabric

for the back of this pillow.

Although I did not put a strip 

of fabric over my slit like I normally do.

I was so excited to get it finished...

that I opted not to.

You will see this again in one

of my patriotic displays.

In other news,

please pray for those affected by 

the horrible devasting flood in Texas.

I cannot even fathom having that much

rain come down in such a short time.

My heart aches for those who lost their lives.

Texas Strong Blessings To All!

Janice 

Friday Finish

We interrupt this post with a breaking

news alert.

Friday Finish has been postponed.

Since it is July 4th,

it was more fitting to have a patriotic post.

Today I will feature my July CupboardScape.  

 

Today's CupboardScape is a little

something for the quilter's out there. 

Bring on the RED WHITE and BLUE.

This display features a few of my 

red, white and blue quilts.

Perfect for a patriotic display.

Hope you like it.

Simple but aesthetic.

In other news,

Remember the Halloween house?

Here it is decked out for July 4th.

That huge American flag wraps

around a portion of the house.

Just amazing in person.

Hope everyone enjoys their

 July 4th weekend.

Have fun and be safe.

July 4th Blessings To All!

Maker's Monday

 Hello friends.

Hope everyone is enjoying their

Summer now.

So a few weeks ago.

I was trying to re-organize

our guest bedroom.

There is a pile of bins and boxes

that were left there by myself

after trying to go through some bins

in the garage that were put in there

from moving everything out of our attic.

Like I said, was trying to organize it all.

Well in one bin, look what I found.

I had hooked this about 10 years ago...

to the best of my ability remembering.

Never finished it though....

so as I say now..it was left to marinate

all these years. LOL

I'm just glad the mice did not get it

in the garage.

Since it was almost coming up to 

Patriotic display season for me...

I decided this needed to be finished.

I hooked one more row for the border.

Chose this blue wool.

Voila

Finally a finished piece.

I have it currently sitting on the table

in our keeping room which has our big tv on it.

It fit perfectly there and when I pass by,

can now see it in all its glory.

In other news,

the birthday party was fun.

They had an Edwardian chair 

to be the birthday boy's throne.

He was dressed in a purple robe and crown.

Each of the attendees stood next to

him and they took our pictures.

The food and desserts were good.

We sat with neighbors and got caught

up with news....gossip.

His 3 boys played guitars and his

one DIL sang a song they wrote just for him.

It was titled "When your 104".

It was a fun song for a 1oo year old.

It will be a short work week for me.

YAY

No plans for July 4th.

Bob will work the store...so we will just

BBQ afterwards.

Pre July 4th Blessings To All!

Janice

 

Can It Be Five Years Already

 

This was our Samoyed Tundra when he first came home.

Mikayla thought he looked like a Polar Bear.

That little furball turns 5 today.

His first car ride...and it was a long one.

I picked him up 15 minutes West of where

my mom lives.

I knew a family who bred these dogs.

They no longer do.

He was so little back then.

A real stubborn boy at times.

He was given the nickname back then

the "White Tornado"

Him meeting Ace the first time.

Tundra is at the bottom left in the shade.

His first trip to the gift shop.

Him telling me off with his head peeking out

from underneath the couch.

His first Christmas with us.

His friend Pebbles would visit him

almost every weekend at the gift shop.

Now he hardly sees her.

Pebbles is also a Samoyed.

Him at one year old.

At two he liked to show off.

Being three he thought he was king of the hill.

He would lay like that waiting for either

myself or Bob to get home.

(he no longer does this) 

Filling out at 4 years old.

Not a care in the world outside with Peepers.

I would let them both outside in the Summer

afternoons for a bit almost every day.

Now at almost five you will find him always 

somewhere near us.

This day he was watching me stitch and dozing off.

I tried to take a pic of him sleeping,

but he always opened his eyes just 

as I clicked the button on my phone.

He always kept hearing me even though

I could not hear anything. UGH Oh well.

Tundra, you have been such a joy in our lives.

He goes to the vet for a checkup in a few weeks.

Happy Birthday to you and many many more.

In other news,

you may have heard about the helicopter

crash here in Michigan.

It happened 8 miles from us at a 

restaurant called Cabana Blue.

This restaurant is on a very small island.

You have to drive over a bridge that crosses

  the canal which surrounds 

the island on three sides.

The last side is Lake St Clair.

The only thing on this island is the restaurant.

The drive to the parking lot, restaurant itself,

and a huge party tent for outside dining.

There is no helipad.

Boats come in off the lake and dock all around 

the one side, and boaters wade in to sit outside.

Sunday afternoon when this accident occurred,

I am sure there were many boats out there.

Not to mention the tent was right there where

this helicopter turned over.

There was a pile of gravel on the North side

where it was trying to land.

I think the pilot thought he could land there.

My assumption is he tried and failed

as I think the gravel was loose.

I drove by the restaurant yesterday and did

notice a digger was there now leveling 

off the pile of gravel.

The helicopter was removed.

Bob and I have gone to this restaurant.

It was more of a younger crowd to us.

Younger patrons and very noisy.

We have not been there since.

Saturday we are heading to my

neighbors 100th birthday party.

This young man still drives, paints,

walks and flies his own airplane

(with another pilot on board)

May he live another 100.

Happy Birthday to Paul.

That's my cue to get to work.

Thursday Blessings to All!

Janice