My Summer In Pictures…Part II

It’s Saturday and I’m out doing errands today and catching up. Here are some more pics of my 2012 summer activities and below that a list of labels—see if you can match them up!

Birthday No. 2; lunch with Mom, mealy worms for less at WM; seaside garden tour 2012;  herbs and transplants; repainting 80’s patio furniture; a plant sale treasures; summer fabric inspiration; farmer’s market, Lowell Quilt Festival, frozen margaritas to go; summer reads, television at the gas pump;  funny patio lights; pick’n strawberries; pretty mosses; “Ernie of the Serengeti” :)

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I love punch needle embroidery but…

Back in the mid-‘80s it was called “Rush’n Punch”.  Do you remember?   Boye Needle manufactured the special needle/ tool and sold kits and books. They also heavily advertised it on television which was rather unusual.  Remember those were the days BEFORE infomercials.

The way Rush’n Punch was done is that the design was transferred onto the back of the fabric and worked from the back.  By plunging the needle up and down you created little loops of thread on the front. 

I can only remember making one item and that was a Santa Claus face that I appliqued onto my daughter’s Christmas stocking. I punched the beard and facial hair with white embroidery floss and used fabric paints for the rest of the features. The stocking was my attempt to make my youngest daughter see that Santa was really a very sweet, kindly little old man who loved children and not the fat creepy guy at the mall.  Eventually she outgrew her fear but I have no pictures of her with Santa before the age of 8!  I still have the stocking but it hasn’t fared well.   I packed it away in the attic one year with a beautiful snow globe for protection—you can guess what happened over the winter in a frigid attic.

So when I  was at Mancuso World Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago and saw several vendors selling patterns, needles and kits for punch needle embroidery.  I sort of got bitten by the bug, again.  BTW,  it’s now called “punch needle embroidery” all references to the Russians have been dropped.

I wasn’t planning on buying a kit, especially since it didn’t relate to any of my other unfinished projects but DANG, I saw this adorable little snowman pillow designed by Brenda Gervais and even though I walked away and tried very hard to not make a circle and come back past that vendor’s booth, I did and I bought the kit too. 

The nice vendor, who took my money,  tried to give me some pointers but I felt like if I’d done it with the Boye needle 30+ years ago, I should be an expert, right?   NOT.   It took me a couple of hours just to get the first stitch in because I wasn’t holding the needle correctly.  Once I got that fixed, then it was quite a bit of time to get consistent stitches and  some of that is because of the weaver’s cloth which is more loosely woven than the cotton muslin I used on my first project.  I did find some great videos on YouTube that were really helpful.

Boye (pun intended) punch needle costs a lot more than the old “rush’n punch” did in 1986!  Geez, the needle is now $18.00 (I think I paid $2.99 for the Boye needle), the pattern and pre-marked fabric cost $13.95, I needed to buy an embroidery hoop but I got one at Jo-Ann’s for $2.99 and the thread was $3.45 per ball.

I can’t wait to get this pillow done.  It’s not large—most of the punch needle embroidery designs are under 12 inches so they’re very portable.  I take mine to work and spend some of my lunch hour working on it and I like to sit on the porch in the afternoon and stitch.  I hope to have it done by October.  I’m trying to keep up with Bonnie Hunter’s hour a day of hand stitching.  I hope this counts.

Well T.G.I.F. Everyone….Tomorrow I’m sleeping in till 8:00 am and then the Garden Club is hosting a mushroom walk with a mushroom specialist.  I’m hoping to be able to share some of that with you as well. 

Gail

My Summer in Pictures–Part I

I thought I’d share some projects that I did and some places that I went to this summer, in pictures without a lot of writing to describe them.  I think you’ll get the idea of how my summer went. 

As the saying goes—“A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Enjoy!

 

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Don’t believe the rumors….

The Fairy Gardener is not dead or in hiding, though blog land probably thinks so by now.  No I’m really alive and well and living here in New Hampshire.  I just get distracted easily by long days and warm weather and going to the beach, napping on the porch, attending quilt shows, meeting friends after work and fun outings with daughters and grandson, on top of that throw in 4th of July and  a couple of birthdays. 

Unfortunately, like a garden, a blog needs to be tended to regularly or it ends up neglected and stops being a garden and it becomes harder to come back to it.  Then fear creeps into your mind that you won’t have anything worthwhile to write about and no one will want to read what you post  so why not just stay away and make excuses and that’s sort of where I was.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September seems like a good a time to return and give it another go.  Before the modern calendar, September was considered as the beginning of the year, in some cultures it still is.  Those of the Jewish faith celebrate Yom Kippur, a private day of atonement to put things right with God and the world so that real life can be renewed with a clean slate and purpose.   A new season, has begun and it’s time to turn over a new leaf.

So what have you been doing on your summer vacation?

 

 

Blogger…”intercepted”

I thought my absence was a temporary self-imposed hiatus because I was overwhelmed emotionally and needed time to deal with the after affects of the house break in, that was shortly followed by Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas, New Years, and a son-in-law and two daughters’ birthdays and then the repairs that had to be made—three doors and two storm doors replaced.  Week days were filled with working 9 hours a day and weekends were filled with a lot of driving and entertaining.  There wasn’t a lot of decorating or quilting being done around here either and I’m ashamed to say that my houseplants suffered the neglect of a bad parent.

Every week that went by it became harder to think about what I would blog about.  Self-doubt started to creep into my mind and I worried that I just wasn’t creative enough or good enough  to write entertaining and informative posts that you would want to read.   I guess I had a bad case of writer’s block. 

The dust has settled finally.  The repairs have been made, the insurance company has settled the claim, family celebrations are mostly over for the year.  

These last couple of months, I’ve learned that trying to be superwoman is futile when there’s no other superheroes around to help out. I’m ready and able to let go of the dream of being Martha Stewart’s best buddy and confident but I will miss all those late night phone calls when she asks for MY advice.

E-Yard Sale Weekend !

The best thing about this yard sale is that you can go from yard sale to yard sale without leaving the house.

I’m linking up with Bonnie Hunter’s Yard Sale over at Quiltville, here.  This is my first “E” yard sale so I only have a few things ready to post—but you can bet future yard sales will have a lot more, lol.

If anything appeals to you, email me.  I’ll do my best to describe each item, but If you have questions do the same.   Also first come; first serve!   All of Bonnie’s rules apply here too.

 

Shipping is not included for any item.

 

Item #1 is this small quilt kit which was gifted to me from another quilter’s UFO collection and I never had the time to finish it.   The pattern, fabric, plastic templates and even thread are included. 

Most of the fan blocks (7 out of 8) are already done for you.  Fabrics are from the 1980’s—mauve, blue’s navys, seafoam green and muslin.  (see pictures).  Quilt will finish at "16” x 20 3/4”.  It would make a cute doll quilt and there’s even a pillow pattern included.   Even the quilting design is included in the pattern.  Finished block size is approximately 4 inches. 

Price is $7.00 plus shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Item #2 is fabric and pattern to make a Microwave Potato Baker.  This was also gifted to me and I know I’ll never make it.  I was also gifted a finished bag so that’s probably why, LOL.

There is about 1/2 yard of “potatoes” fabric, and about the same of muslin plus the warm and natural for the batting.   Asking $5.00 for all

Item #3  is Eleanor Burns “Egg Money Quilts”  This is a brand new book, never used and comes with all of the templates still attached in the back.  Asking $15.00 for the book, which is less than I paid for it on sale at Jo-Ann’s with a coupon.

BTW – you can contact me by email—just go to the “ABOUT ME” page (on the right of this blog) and you’ll see a link to my email (on the left).

Garden Chores This Week–2/1/12

• This is a good week to give your houseplants a visual check-up.   If leaves appear dusty you can wipe them off with a damp paper towel or put them in the sink for a tepid shower.  You should be holding back on fertilizer for all foliage houseplants which need an artificial period of dormancy to simulate the conditions of their natural habitat.
• African Violets:  Why not pick up an African Violet or two this week to brighten up the indoors.  They show up in stores everywhere this time of year  from supermarkets to the big box stores (Violets are the flower of the month for February).  Unlike many other flowering houseplants, African violets will bloom year-round.  They like morning light from an east -facing window or filtered light from a west-facing window with sheer curtains.  They also want to be  watered from the bottom with tepid not icy water.  Leaves that get wet will spot.  Use a weak dose of liquid fertilizer specifically sold for them added to the saucer of water.
• Azaleas:  Did you receive a blooming azalea for the holidays?  Most of the potted azaleas sold in stores and florist shops are not hardy outdoors, but they make lovely houseplants for us northerners because they prefer cooler house temps in winter (65 day and 55 at night) and they’ll re-bloom next year if you can give them about 4 hours of indirect sunlight a day.
  It’s normal for old leaves to drop off, but if new ones drop, it means they need water or light.  They like a weekly shower in the kitchen sink which will discourage spider mites and a summer vacation out of doors in a shady spot.  Fertilize twice with acid fertilizer in April and again in July and repot with a good potting soil before bringing them back indoors.
• Compost:  You can buy composters for under your sink and put those veggie peels and fruit peels to good use.  I’ve seen them at Crate and Barrel and every garden catalogue, I’ve received. Or check out this website Just make sure you don’t compost any meat or cooked foods. 
• Websites:  Check out the internet to find gardening clubs, post questions and even swap seeds.  Now’s the time to think about joining a garden club while you’re sitting inside pondering spring.  You’ll meet wonderful people with like interests, get to volunteer for projects that enrich your community and learn as you do.  You can find a local club by contacting your state chapter of the Federation of Garden Clubs.