Friends and Flowers - Fini

She's a cutie, alright!

She gave me some heartache and trouble wrestling her into her final form, but she's worth it.

This 12" x 12" pillow took me a full three months to complete. I'm out of practice. Sigh

Yet I'm pleased with the outcome.

Luscious

I took a longer route through the neighborhood on my cloudy morning walk and received this lovely surprise.

When I got in close, the roses smelled divine. 

Decisions, Decisions

I'm like the old woman who lives in a shoe.

I had so many children crafts, I didn't know what to do.

All the surfaces in my Studio were cluttered up with partially done projects. So I decided to create a little order today. Layer by layer, project by project, I cleared my work surfaces. I put each project in a pile on my bed. Now I can tackle them one at a time.

These are thrifting finds I bought last week. Some are gifts for my granddaughters. Some is geocache swag. I've washed the fabrics. Now everything needs to be put away. 

This box is a card-making kit. I want to make a bunch and send them out to "my ladies" to let them know they've been on my mind.

Here are a couple pen-pal letters started for my Idaho grandkids.

I've done some measuring, so will cut these boxes to size, line them, and work on my "fat quarter project" wherein I sort my fabric, fold each identically, and organize them in boxes that will fit their shelf. This way, finding an appropriate fabric will be much easier than the current toppling stacks. This project is one of my 25 Goals in 2025.

And, of course, I still need to finish my cross-stitch pillow. I haven't worked out all the math yet.

So ... tomorrow? I tackle the first project tomorrow? 

One small problem: where do I sleep tonight?

First of Its Kind

 I planted morning glories from seed this Spring. The first bloom has arrived.

Our hope is to have the entire back fence covered in these blooms.

#manysmalldreams

Pillow Progress

I washed and dried the stitchery. Then I picked the fabric for the pillow cover -- a petit yellow and white gingham.

I found a suitable zipper in my stash. It's got be be at lease 35 years old. I enjoy finding ways to use old supplies. Though the zipper is only 7" and will be used on a 12" pillow cover, I should be able to make it work. 

I made a 12" x 12" pillow insert from an old sheet and some polyester fiberfill.

Now comes the math part ... turning a rectangular stitchery into a square pillow.

Say, look! I have crystals hanging in my Studio window. Today they gave me a rainbow!

Happy Pride Month, y'all.

Summer of Stars

Summer decorations are going up. I decided to make some new ornaments for our LED entryway tree. Among my stash, I found a dozen white stars. That was my jumping off point.

I need 20 ornaments for the tree, so I made eight more white stars from cardstock. They're a slightly smaller size for variety.

I used foil star stickers for a pop of color. Half the stars have a blue star sticker, half have a red star sticker. All the star have a gold foil star sticker on the back.

As I put them together, I was afraid they might be slightly too large for the tree. But no! Just right!

The entryway is nearly ready for Flag Day and Independence Day now.

The local temperature is telling me Summer is well on the way. As I type, it's 85°. The sun will set at 9:53 pm. Feels like Summer to me!

The Next Wave

I've been a little frazzled for the last six weeks. I can always tell something's up with me when I start missing consecutive days of blog posts. I enjoy keeping this running record of my life, and I tend to let my photos and writing slide when my brain is slightly rough around the edges.

However, I have been exceptionally good about getting outside for my neighborhood walks. Today, I was out quite early ... before the kids were on their way to school, before there was traffic. So I took a little extra time to appreciate the quiet and pay attention to the second wave of flowers that are in bloom. Here are a few:

Flowering flowers. Flowering bushes. Flowering weeds. Each has its own beauty.