Taking a Break

Life has a way of getting overwhelming at times.  Nothing huge, but just the growing list of demands, including some decisions that need to be made, projects that need completed, and the general busy-ness of life.  Combine that with August, which is shaping up to be a very busy month with my oldest son's wedding and then a trip to Kansas City, MO for the CQI retreat, in addition to the usual work and life commitments!  To put it simply, I need to find a way to create some space in my life right now and so I am going to take a break from my online life for a time!

Blogging is one of the joys of my life though, so I will be back!  Between now and mid-September however, I will be blogging infrequently if at all.  I do so appreciate all your kind thoughts and wishes and look forward to blogging with a renewed spirit and hopefully much to share in September!   

Blessings and Peace to all! 

May Block for CQJP 2015

I had hoped to be caught up with my CQJP 2015 blocks by now, but it's going a bit slower than I would like!  This is my block for May!  

Each block starts off a little differently, some with the main motif, others with a seam.  This one started with the curved stems with pink and yellow flowers.  There wasn't much pink fabric on this block, so I knew I needed to pull it through the rest of the block in order to help it blend with the other blocks.  To the right, I stitched a variation of one of my favorite feather stitch patterns.  In-between the two, I used a vintage seam pattern using a chevron stitch and straight stitch in a variegated thread.  I love the way it turned out and can tell that this will be a favorite!  

At the bottom of the block, I stitch a fly-stitch seam with lazy daisies added to create leaves and them some beaded flowers.  Above it, I did a layered chevron stitch with some SRE embroidered flowers.

Buttonhole stitch is one that I don't use very often, but I've found so many variations that I am determined to play with it a bit more.  It layers so beautifully with other stitches such as this herringbone/cretin stitch combo.  I also used cretin stitch to hold this block's bit of rick-rack in place and used more lazy daisies for leaves and a variety of beads as flowers. 

I've really come to love medallion type motifs.  They lend themselves to so many possibilities! In the upper right corner I added a half medallion, once again trying to bring some of that pink through to the rest of the block.  Below it, I used another favorite seam motif.  The green turned out to be too dominating and I was able to lighten it up a bit to bring it into harmony with the rest of the block by adding the lighter green beads.  

The seam behind the main motif needed some embellishment as well, so I added a subtle feather stitch variation known as the MaidenHair stitch.  It provided just the right element of interest.  

Along the top of the block I added a vining stitch with lazy daisies - and once again, a bit more of that bright pink! The combination stitch below is one that I found from Sharon Boggin's blog.  It took me a while to figure it out, but it is layered with herringbone, chevron, straight stitches and has added fly stitches, lazy daisies and bouillon stitches.  

For the central motif, I wanted to add some more of the little Mokuba ribbon flowers and also some leaves.  I just love using this ribbon!  To finish it off, I added a needle-woven sunflower type flower.  It's a little simpler motif than some of the others that I have done, but it still balances well with the rest of the blocks!  

Happy Independence Day!

As I was working in the yard this evening, I was treated to an impromptu parade coming down the street!  One of the local high schools is just a couple blocks away and the band was practicing for tomorrow's Fourth of July Parade!  What fun to see all these kids out having a great time celebrating! 

The music was great and I loved that so many of the kids had dressed up in patriotic garb! 

The Greeley Fourth of July Parade is a big one and goes on for a couple of hours with bands, floats and usually a fair amount of military flights down the parade route.  People stake out their spots on the parade route a couple weeks in advance in order to get the best spots!  I loved that I had this wonderful preview right from my own yard!  

The garden is blooming gloriously!  I was able to pick this lovely bouquet for one of my DIL's last week!  

This is what the back yard looked like when I moved in back in 2012.

And this is what it looks like today!  I'm so very happy with all the landscaping and house work that we were able to accomplish last summer!  What a difference it makes! 

I did a bit of rearranging of the patio furniture today and set up a nice sitting area where the table used to sit.  I think I'll use it much more with this set up! 

The roses continue to bloom beautifully!  I've got a few new plants to tuck amongst the roses - mainly some bee balm and some pink lupine.  A couple weeks ago, I planted two flats of white Wave petunias and they are already blooming and growing wonderfully! 

The pink Boscobel rose at the end of the bed is such an amazing rose!  It blooms non-stop and with such wild abandon!  Next year, I hope to add another of these to the opposite end of the patio.

Isn't it just glorious?!  And such a lovely sweet scent! 

The fountain is also back up and running for the summer.  The fountain will help to keep the mosquitos at bay and it adds such a lovely soft backdrop of sound to the patio!  Now that the rains have slowed down, the mosquitos aren't as bad and I was able to sit on the patio for a couple of hours this evening!  The perfect end to a lovely day playing in the garden!