and is, of course, another finish for DUCJFC2016. Then, lastly for the Americana SAL, I have now finished five states for "America, Land that We Love" which is the American Sampler by Jean Farish which I am currently stitching for the SAL blog. The blocks for each state are quite small - on 29 by 29 stitches - so I am counting each one as a Smalls SAL finish.
So, in all I have had a very successful Smalls SAL month, I think (it helps being semi-retired - so much more time for stitching and planning for projects - lol!)
Remember, if you want to check out what everyone else has been up to for the Smalls SAL, please click on the link.
"Oh dear, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date"
Yes, another late post for Gifted Gorgeousness (although better than March, as I never made it last month!). If you click on the link, the lovely Jo will fill you in as to what GG is all about.
I have three GG items this month.
1. These lovely counting pins which the most Vibrant and Vivacious Vickie made just for me as a RAK. Aren't they darling?
Thank you so much, Vickie, they have been in constant use since their arrival. They were accompanied by this very sweet "V" card.
2. As I was blog prowling several weeks ago, I saw a very sweet Noddy design on Marvellous Margaret's blog. She kindly has gifted me the design.
Thank you so much, too, Margaret, I have some young friends who are expecting their first child later this year, so I think that Noddy is going to make an appearance very soon.
Update: Penny from Larkspur Lane has made me realise that not all of my readers may know who Noddy is!
Growing up in Australia in the 1960s, life was still very "English" and all middle class children read Enid Blyton stories avidly: Noddy, The Faraway Tree and the Famous Five to name but a few.
As I was doing this internet search, I discovered that there is even an Enid Blyton Society.
Now, I have to address the elephant in the room re poor Enid, as while she was beloved by generations of oblivious children, educators, other authors and the BBC slammed her books as being racist, xenophobic and simplistic - you can read all about it here. I am not denying that this is so - I can see that now as an adult - but I must admit as a child I never saw it and I have grown up to become a very fair and tolerant adult. So go figure!
Who else read Enid Blyton whilst young and what do you think?
3. The Sensational Serendipitous Jo, knowing my fetish for everything Tudor, several months ago gifted me with this great Henry Viii design. It is now finished - yay! Happy Dance around the house.
Now I just need to find a sweet square frame for him.
Thank you, Jo, for feeding my Tudor passion.
Well, that is my GG for this month.
If you want to see what the other GGers got up to, please click here.
As promised in my last blog post, The Tale of the Three Hatboxes, , I did keep stitching on the next motif on the Danish bell pull found in the bottom Hatbox for IHSW.
So, here it is, one more motif finished....
Just to clarify, IHSW is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend and is hosted by the lovely Joyce - you can read all about it here and link up here. This is a weekend where stitchers from all around the world try to stitch like mad, all together so to speak.
Always a fun weekend.
Well, that is all for me for today - I am nursing myself today, just getting over a shocking cold, so taking it easy.
This week for Friday Frolics and FNSI, I thought that I should investigate my three hatboxes - I knew that I had some crafty projects in them but what they actually were, was anyone's guess!
These hatboxes sit as a stack at the top of the spiral staircase which leads to my bedroom. I think that I have had them somewhere between 25 and 30 years - in the mid-80s these were all the rage as decorating items.
Of course, where they sit means that I pass them by several times a day but do I ever look in them? No, not really, not until yesterday, that is.
So, do you want to see what I found?
I am sure that you do, as it was a treasure trove of UFOs - to my great shame (and delight, too).
So, the top Hatbox....
contained Flying Geese quilt blocks...
Oh, my goodness - looks at these gorgeous flying geese blocks for a quilt I was making many moons ago - there are quite a few of them, I actually think I have made all of the blocks - I just need to sew the sashing, put it all together and then I would have a quilt top!
Okay, another project for my semi-retirment.
The Middle Hatbox.....
Hmm! Some patchwork fabbie but what is hiding underneath it? Oh no, another half completed quilt top!
Oh, my goodness, I can see lots of patchwork and quilting happening for me in the near future!
Bottom Hatbox......
This is the largest hatbox and had the biggest amount of bounty UFOs.
Oooh, Goodie, the patterns for the two quilts above - phew!
But below these patterns is a wealth of UFOs!
(unfortunately some of them seem to have their patterns missing - probably carefully stored hiding someplace special)
(pattern)
(no pattern)
(no pattern)
(pattern)
(no pattern)
(no pattern and I have absolutely no idea what this could be!)
(no pattern)
This is all finished - just needs to be made into a pillow.
Here it is all ironed - it is so pretty - why on earth did I not finish it at the time?
But the piece de resistance is this unfinished bell pull, which shows significant places in Denmark (now, the coincidence if this is that only the other day I recorded a movie on Foxtel to watch later, "A Royal affair", which was about the Danish royal family in the 1770s - so naturally I stitched on the bell pull whilst watching the film yesterday).
... so some progress has been made ...
I will keep stitching on it tomorrow as well and report back after IHSW.
So, that is my Tale of the Three Hatboxes or The Shame of Kaye but whichever title, lots of Friday Frolics projects for me to work on in the upcoming weeks.
... kitty cats in my home.... what more could you ask for?
I recently replanted my pot garden near my front porch and imagine my delight when the new blooms started attracting butterflies - so pretty. It was hard to catch one on camera but I did manage it.
I am particularly happy with this hanging basket. It is not a new planting, but when we went away to Taiwan for a month, my lovely neighbour was feeding the cats and watering the pots but she forgot about this one. So, I came back to a dead-looking stick plant. However, I have been nursing it back to health (ie watering it) and now I am about to be rewarded with lots of lovely double blooms of pink and purple! (Why, I am so happy is that I do not have a green thumb but a black one - most of my plants take one look at me and keel over dead - lol!)
.... and of course, my kitty cats give me great pleasure and companionship. I love the way that they ALWAYS find the best places to curl up (or stretch out) for a nap!
Furio is so clever, it was a rather cool day, so he is not only sleeping near the central heating vent (hence the clothes airing) but has found a patch of sunshine as well!
My cat Furio and my new cat socks, watching TV.
Furio loves to find a basket to curl up in, preferable one that is raised up a bit.
... and not to forget Milo (he is much more skittish than Furio so it is harder to get a photo of him)
Stealing my sewing chair!
Milo with his cat cushion - he loves this cushion and sleeps on it in all sorts of strange poses.
Well, that is all for me today, dear friends, off to randomly choose my Friday Frolics/FNSI stitching piece.
