HAPPY "VERY" COLD FEBRUARY??????

 

Now everyone expects this kind of weather --up north--but not here in Florida--

It was only 25 degrees early this morning-- with a feel like temp at only--16--you have got to be kidding me--and I am mid state on the East coast--it's a first for me that is for sure--it is only '40 degrees ' out there right now and our high will be 45--by 5:00pm--then go back down to 30 tonight--tomorrow the high will be maybe 50--so---we are very cold here in the Sunshine state--but then--the sun is shinning today and we have pretty blue  skies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????  I am glad I have 'quilts'!!!

I did have a busy -- stitchy month of January--so am happy about that--

Let's talk about the 'color' blue'--as that was our color of the month for January--

I am working on two projects in each months color--

One is Housebuilding--

I drew out my own design and then figured out the seam allowances-- wanted a good sized window for the fussy cuts each month--but those windows are gonna be a challenge I believe--so good hunting to me!!!  Plan to make at least 2 houses each month of  the color challenge--

And then I had this pattern in my 'collection' of things I wanted to make--and decided this was the time to do them--

Jewel heart --1" jewels in paper piecing--and I use needle and thread--

this is how you sew them together --later---not sure if I want to keep all of one color in one area or not--so for now they will just go into this old wood bowl I have--

So far I have 21 blue ones and if the color of the month is done--then I am working on some neutrals-

 and yes--some of these I do 'fussy' cut too---have started cutting some in greens for this months color of the month--

And talking about houses--

Melisa--@pinkernpunking.blogspot.com 

is designing a new monthly series of counted cross stitch houses--

And this month's house was 'blue'--I scratched my head in wondering how I can display all  these new tiny homes, and this is what I came up with--

I ordered a lighted birch tree to hang them on--that's the reason for the braid loop on top of mine!!  now I am ready for her to give us the February house!! 

Also, in blue it was my 'ufo' project for January-- just happened to be --blue!!!

I did a bit of a curve on the corners of this quilt instead of a 'square' corner and I really like the look!!This quilt is rather large and is one I have designed--even the blocks with the embroidered hearts are my designs!!

and to finish off the blue--month of January--here is the pillows and cross stitching I did to go  with my snowman decorating--

5 out of 6 items here are all new projects in Jan 2026!!!

Some red work was also done in January--  

I made a red and white heart quilt--well--more of a wall hanging size--but actually it will be a table quilt for me--it is on my round table now--need to find something for the backing, and as I will be decorating for Valentines day in the next day or two--I plan to use this as is for now--after Valentines day I will layer it and hand quilt it!!!

And there was some good progress on the Mrs. Claus counted cross stitching--

I kept taking pictures as I went-- as I kept planning on doing a blog post!!!!

And now to show you a new BOM program I am doing--

I just got this first kit a couple days ago and have it nearly finished--this afternoon I just need to stitch the flowers and the buttons--

this is a BOM for Attic Heirlooms and is $17 a month in auto pay if you want to do the whole year--I haven't done anything Country in awhile--plus it is wool on cotton and you get everything but the thread for the $17--but there is thread packets you can order each month--I believe--so who is gonna join me on this BOM?????

And another sweater is finished--

I like the colors on this one--am down to odds and ends of yarn now--need to order some more of the baby yarn--

Well--there you have it--all I can say is--I am so grateful that our AC units also have a Heat setting in them --or I would be coming to stay at your house!!!!!!!!!!

And yesterday I also got 32 tiny designs all traced out for my Embroidery month of February--

Yes--I know there is only 28 days in February--but I am doing this design--

the one on the 'tiny treasures' cover--hers is 16X20--but she used all the embroideries in the book about 69--at this point I plan to do one half that size but will need 32 or so --I just ordered the 1" triangle shapes--but still need to decide on the color of the fabric????

SO WHAT EMBROIDERY PROJECT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO IN FEBRUARY????

AND MAY WE ALL WARM UP THIS NEXT WEEK--EVEN WITH THE HEAT ON--MY HANDS ARE COLD--OH AND MY FEET!!!!!

HUGS, DI

 

NATURE AT IT'S BEST--

 

Did not make it outside again--so went back in --time--to June and July of 2018-

I must of been on a butterfly hunt--cause there is 3 different ones here--

Pretty sure these were done with my big Canon camera--

Maybe next week--I will make it outside--then again--who knows what the weather will be like next week???  Ok--the real reason I did make it outside today--I got busy sewing!!!

HAVE A GOOD WEEK WITH SOME NATURE BREAKS--

HUGS, DI

SENIOR LIFE--FLU TIME

 

It is that time of the year---

and ever since Covid--'that time of the year' can be all 12 months of the year!!!

Here is some of the things I do and keep on hand--

For a good 6 months now--

when I make my green tea in the afternoon--I add one small clove to the tea strainer--it adds a nice 'touch' to my tea and is very very good for you--some people chew on a clove every day--I like mine in my tea--they say you will not get sick if you have a clove a day--soooo!!

I take my vitamins every day--

I have had to take the Vit D3 for the last 30 years--as my body will not absorb it from my food-- and I just recently discovered the Women's 50 muli-vitamin and really like this one (much better than the old one I was taking) and I discovered this liquid form of B-12 and take small dose each day and do feel the difference--

And since the beginning of covid--6 years ago--

I suck on one of these each morning--for my Zinc--

Before I leave my apartment--even to go down for mail--or to pick up a package--

I apply this silver gel around my nose and on my hands--silver kills germs and it last for about 4 hours of protection---and I wear this small air purifier-- this cleans the air around me--I have had to wear one of these devices for the last 26 years--they really work--some of the smells in the stores are so bad that I could not go in them without one on--and they kill germs in air around me too--

and a new thing I do--started about 6 months ago--I add a 'clove'  to my green tea each day--in my cup in the afternoon--it adds a nice bit of flavor--but I have also heard that a clove a day will keep you healthy all the time--most chew the clove-I'd rather put it in the little strainer with my tea!!!!--make sure you order--organic cloves!

I keep these couple of items on hand all the time--

I found this cough syrup the first time I got this terrible flu( have had a cold 3 times in the last 6 years--before that I rarely had a cold or the flu) --I now keep the nighttime one and the daytime on in the cabinet--it really works really well if you have a constant cough--!!!!

And you always need to keep--

Soup--gotta keep soup in the cupboard keep it healthy and spicy--eat lots of spicy things--spices seem to kill the germs within you--  and yogurt for the finishing touch!!!!

So here is hoping none of you need any advice on what to do to not get sick--

 WHAT DO YOU DO TO KEEP FROM GETTING ILL--

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU DO GET ILL????

HOPE EVERYONE IS STAYING WELL AND SEWING UP A 'STORM'!!!!!!!!

HUGS, DI

MY BUSY JANUARY--

 I have had a very busy first 17 days of January--plus the week between Christmas and New Years--so I need a vacation!!!

I still had some cleaning and organizing chores to do at the end of December and then on Jan 2 the tree came down and packed away--for another year--

Then it was time to really get into sewing up some small ufo's and starting some new projects--

The UFO"s were some old and some new Winter type embroideries--

two pf these are newly done at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026--the 2 on the right--Melisa's Winter piece with the jolly snowman, and I am not sure who is the designer on the 'Let it"

the Winter one in the back is from Joy's blog site a couple years ago and has been waiting to be finished, and Magic hat is my own design--so now that these are sewn together it means--

I have to open this bag and begin stuffing these---they are all pillows--

and I am almost done with the hand quilting on the blue heart quilt behind it--just one more border to do!!!

and in the cross stitching--Mrs. Claus

Has come out of 'time out' a couple times--I am so happy to get her face in--and so is she!!!!  But boy does she have 'a lot' of hair on her head--!!!!

These are why she has been in and out of time out--

I believe both of these are Melisa's designs--I have wanted to do the chubby snowman for awhile now--and the little blue house is called a 'tiny house' and Melisa plans to design us a tiny house for each month this year--these both need a bit of stuffing too--and I have some display plans for the tiny houses--so keep a watch on this site!!!!!

I, also spent, alot of afternoons and evening appliqueing these blue hearts--

I am sending these to my friend in NY--Anne for her hospice quilts--and look they are blue--which is this color for the month!!

And I have wanted to do a red and white quilt for a long time--sooo--

I got some more prepped this morning--

And these finally got all their detail embroidery done on them--

Now I need to decide how I want to finish time into a quilt top?????

Plus another blue project--

This is the last sweater from 2 packages of all cotton yarn a friend here in the building found on a give away table and she thought of me--there was 24 skeins total--this little sweater used up all the odds and ends from the skeins--

FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL EMBROIDERY MONTH--

and for about 6 years the owner of Crabapple Hill designed a small wall hanging for us where we did one area each day--but we also knew that she closed her shop  2 years ago--last year I did still work on some of her patterns during the month--but this year--

I am going to do 28-30 of these tiny designs--one each day--

I am using Osnaburg fabric for the stitching--I love this fabric and I started using it back in the mid 70's to make my doll, rabbit, and geese babies with for my craft shows--I was one of the first to use this--at least in my area--soon everybody was using it--I have wanted to make something with it for  a couple years now--(and yes--I bought some a couple years before Joann's closed)--I will be doing the hexagon shapes and probably finish it  off like Kathys--

She always uses Valdani threads--I already had a start on her colors--but--I really needed a couple more--oh my gosh--how did the price go from $3.95 a spool to $6.99 each--ouch ouch ouch--I did do some looking around and did find a company that had it for $6.29 so did go with them--!!!

SO WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING ON STITCHING FOR EMBROIDERY MONTH???????

I READ THAT ALOT OF YOU ARE COLD AND ARE GETTING SNOW--WE ARE COLD HERE--THOUGH NO SNOW--BUT THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA DID GET SOME AND IN THE UPPER COUNTIES IT GOT DOWN TO BELOW 32 THE OTHER NIGHT!!!!  GOTTA KEEP WARM----- QUILTING    --

HUGS, DI

NATURE WEDNESDAY-JAN 14TH

 Oh dear--this Wednesday it was windy and chilly--and I had to go on the bus to Publix for a water run--

So I did take a photo of part of the inside of the bus--as I was lucky today and not many were on the bus--sometimes it is full, and then some--this is just part of the front of the bus --for us  Seniors, and the those with walkers, wheel chairs and electric cart--

While waiting for the bus I did take 3 outside photos --

This huge flowering bush is just on the other side of the driveway--and these flowers are darker than the photo shows--I always stop to admire them--

and I noticed this vine that looks like Fall colors to me--along side the driveway--behind the bushes--

And this tree with alot of spanish moss this year is on the other side of our patio--I noticed some trees down the street are really loaded with moss--we'll see how next Wednesday weather is for a walk in that direction!!

and this bushy plant is all along the sidewalk when we get off the bus to go to the plaza--it has the bushy pink shoots and little white flowers on it at different times of the year!!

DID YOU GET OUT AND ENJOY SOME NATURE THIS PAST WEEK--WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE THIS COMING WEEK???

HUGS, DI