It has been a busy week of crafting, with a few different projects going on at the same time.
I know there is still a few weeks of winter left, but with spring like weather teasing us at the beginning of the month, it was time to change out the mantle from winter to spring.
The day after I changed this we got a weather warning for a strong Colorado Low moving into the area bringing snow and ice rain.
On February 23 we woke up to a fair bit of snow that had fallen overnight. It was topped with a bit of ice rain. Nice and crunchy.
On the snowy days the birds still visit the feeders. Here are the male and female cardinals.
You can see where the red bellied woodpecker gets its name from … the light red belly seen in the second photo.
Crabapple Hill Studio has a stitch along for February. I didn’t find out about it till nearly the end of the month as I was taking a break from all social media. Thanks to posts from couple of members of the Slow Sunday Stitching I was able to find the pattern, join the Facebook group, and start stitching. Better late than never.
I transferred it to material with my light box after downloading it. I haven’t figured out how to do the colouring on various squares yet, need to check out the videos. Do any of you have advice if you have done this before?
I went back to the Facebook page and jotted notes on the second printed page so that I can work at it at my own pace instead of looking back all the time to find the stitch to do.
I am working on some crochet covered coat hangers and made some little crochet flowers to fancy them up a bit. Edit to add link .. coathanger gifts.
I made some veggie beef soup the week, one I hadn’t made for ages. Check out my other ‘soup’er recipes and find one to cook this week.
The sewing machine was set up as I needed to replace the elastic in my jean skirt. The slow part to that was unpicking the stitching (2 long and 2 short rows), removing the belt loops and getting the old elastic out. The piece of elastic I had to buy was 5 yards long so I’ve got lots left over for another project.
Another sewing repair job was to replace the covers on a couple of rice/heat bags. These are wonderful when heated in the microwave to sooth a sore back. This is the perfect thing to make as gifts.
Each month our library has an adult pick up craft kit. For February it was a clay heart dish. This is a slow project, no stitching involved, from cutting out the clay and letting it dry, to painting layers that need to dry in between. I’m up to the painting now, first the base coat and now a coat of red.
Now this project really is a slow stitching one. It is a group of 4 small pictures, 2 of butterflies and 2 of birds, that I have had for a very long time. Every now and then I get it out and work on it for a bit until a new project entices me away. I did some stitches on it at the beginning of the week on a second picture, but it got put aside once again.
And I finished the last puzzle I had borrowed from the library, a perfect one for the wintery days we keep getting.
It has been a busy week for me, how about you?
I get lots of inspiration from other stitchers at Slow Sunday Stitching and appreciate all the visits and comments from there. Visit them and gather some inspiration for yourself.
Tammy S Asad
Goodness, you have been busy. So many lovely projects. Love how you change up your mantle. I’ve crocheted coat hangers before but never so fancily as yours. Very nice. Sounds like you have a great library. I’ve got many ideas for some salt dough projects I’d like to make. And am working on a blackwork sal and always crocheting. Soup is a good idea to me any time of year — even in the scorching heat of summer. Take care.
Crafty Gardener
Hi Tammy, our library is wonderful, several adult programs to join where you can pick up a bag of goodies and I love their selection of puzzles to borrow. I love soup any time too, and try to cook a small batch each week to enjoy. Have a lovely weekend
Gail
I am also ready for spring. We got that snow/ice pellet/freezing rain mix too at home. Lots of fun projects going on in your world! I should make myself one of those rice bags. Love seeing he birds at your feeders. Happy stitching to you!
Crafty Gardener
Thanks for stopping by Gail. Another storm heading our way Monday night. I so want spring and to be able to walk in the garden. Good thing I have lots of projects to keep me busy. Have a lovely day.
Quilter Kathy
Oh my goodness I love everything that is going on at your house! Puzzles, bird watching, soup making, slow stitching… it’s heavenly! So glad the slow stitchers lead you to the Crabapple stitchalong… it’s a lovely project and I was so tempted to start that one. Maybe you don’t need to add more colour to yours? The stitching looks so pretty on it’s own!!
Crafty Gardener
Hi Kathy, I was thinking the same about the colour blocks. Now that I’ve done a fair bit of stitching on it I think I will leave it for another time. I probably needed to add the colour first. Will experiment on some scrap material in case I want to add it to another project. Have a good weekend.
Kim
Your spring mantel looks lovely. I think winter is teasing you… it’ll be gone soon. Some lovely projects there.Such sweet little embroidered butterflies. Mending jeans ..denim skirts can be a pain. Those belt loops can be such a pill to unpick. The stitching always seems to be fortified with a gazillion stitches.
Crafty Gardener
The un-sewing took ages on the jean skirt, for sure there were lots of stitches. But it worked out in the end and I was able to get to the elasitc, and then it was a quick fix.
CathieJ
I like your latest clock embroidery. The crocheted hanger covers are very pretty. You’ve been busy with a lot of different activities. I have to try some of those soup recipes. I hope Spring arrives as quickly as your pretty mantel.
Crafty Gardener
Thanks for stopping by Cathie. Another storm Monday night so spring is still in my dreams.
Julie G
Hi Linda,you have been busy.I like the mantel display I have not tried colour on fabric yet the effect it gives looks nice. At the moment I am finishing lot’s of unfinished knitting projects.
Crafty Gardener
Hi Julie, I’m going to give the colouring a miss on this project as I’ve stitched so much and I feel it should of been done first. I’ll experiment on some scrap material to see if I want to use it an another project. Happy stitching.
Debbie- Dabble
Linda,
Your stitchery is amazing!! Love it…we are getting some snow tonight and then again on Friday….Finally because we have hardly had any Winter here in NEPA…Thanks so much for dropping by!! I don’t do Ancestry but I was able to do my own Ancestry tree going back 3-4 generations which is good enough for me…
Hugs,
Debbie