And Happy Father’s Day to all you dads…. I don’t generally get much email from men who are dad’s that read my blog … but I have a dad and my kids had a dad ….

This week I only have a few photos but handwork has been the name of the game this week!

And now look where I was on Tuesday!!!!

So now last night before heading to bed I snapped this shot!

Besides making progress on the colorful flowers and such… I made progress on the background too… sew much so … I may reposition it this week in my frame!!!! YAY!!!!

My other project was to fashion a wool coat I had been given into pin cushions… Here is my 1st one in the making….

I should finish and be ready to stuff the pin cushion to share with you all next week end… it will be going up for sale though 😉 Just a fun way to use my embroidery and sewing skills and create something to offset my spending! HAHAHA

Linking this handwork to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is up too… so much kind of needle and handwork is shared 🙂

Here are some 1/2 yard cuts I got at a GREAT price from the Fat Quarter Shop after finding the top one on Etsy but didn’t buy it when I saw it then they sold out… not finding it anywhere else I asked the seller about the credentials of this fabric and went online to my computer search engine and found it at a better price at FQS! YAY!!!!

My honey hasn’t been lazy while I have been so busy either! He vacuumed ever nook and cranny of our cabin when we had a spider issue (little ones and not poisonous)… then sprayed inside and outside while I kept Molly close… she wanted to her her Daddy! lol He also finished the exterior doors on our back porch!!!!!

My honey also noticed something moving in our back / side yard … this was the best I could get the pic… but it is a doe … a very large doe at that!!! She ate from our neighbors plants … now she didn’t find much our side/ back yard so she went back to our neighbor’s cabin and then left he said… meanwhile I was napping…. bummer to missing seeing her in person.

I hope you have a blessed Sunday! I have a pre op test for my lung function on Friday… keep me in your thoughts that it goes well please! Meanwhile… you have an awesome week ahead too 🥰

Since taking the whole cloth out of the frame to view progress… I have had barely a day go by that I haven’t worked on it this week … lol!

Here it is back into the pvc frame… I could put it in my big Hinterberg frame but this is easier to manage and move about too! I had to reimagine that flower as all the blue lines over the years had disappeared but otherwise I just needed to darken some up for stitching.

In just a few days I had all these lines added in and completed down to the extended diamonds where I add the circle buttons in colors.

Then I started adding color….

And this is where I am TODAY!!!

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I changed my nail polish this week too… Back to my honey’s fave… Glamsterdam by ColorStreet….

But in even more exciting news… I finally hog tied myself to finish that cushion for our front porch rockers!

And to see them both on there together….

Y’all! I am sew happy this is a done checkmark in my book… ready for company or us or neighbors who like to drop by! YAY!!!!

Linking all this handwork *yes there is plenty of hand work in those cushions too* to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew HERE <<<< Come see what all everyone is linking up!

Look how beautiful our begonia is blooming and looking …. I am enjoying this plant way more than expected!!!!

And here is our cabin from the gravel road out front…

And easier to make it out once we pulled in the driveway and caught this shot…

I love our little cabin in the woods…. and I love our screened in porch too! That is where we spend lots of time. Rick has been working on the double doors that lead out to the back porch as the cabin is almost 20 years old and it is time for maintenance that hasn’t been done as the house settled so he took the doors off cleaned them meticulously and rehung them (they never even used a shim to set them prior) properly! Then he painted the outside of the doors our trim color….

This week he will work on the screen doors and get them back on with black hardware and also hang them more properly too…. once painted the same tan color as the exterior doors are 🙂

See the ramp above he built me so I can access this beautiful back porch and nature so easy now with my knee issues! I love it ❤

Speaking of my knee issues… we both continue to lose weight and are remaining keto and low carb happy. You can see some of that weight loss in my new profile picture I added to this blog today 🙂

I will leave you all with this…. as someone needs to hear this as I did in the past and try to remember today too….

But we did get some rain so we didn’t have to water as much! lol We also have buds on both our rose bushes… we have a mini rose bush and a yellow regular sized rose bush… I am excited each day to see if any have opened 😀

Molly did get her groom on this week too… and though she was tired afterwards … she felt much better! And looked great too! She is a Poo-Shih mixed breed and is full of personality!!!!

The whole cloth quilt has been my focus this week in the end….

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I finished all where I was working and decided since it extended a tad further in that last pic above …. I would could that section too before taking full photos of the quilt in progress….

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For some reason I didn’t take an after shot when I quilted the nickel sized circles I am showing in the far right photo… darn… but you get the idea… it was finished 🙂

Above is the best photo I could get overall of the quilt as I didn’t want to take it outside … it was just too bright…

Below is a better close up of the finished center part…. the top ribbon that is “cut off” is not… it is not quilted yet! lol

Above you can see the backing and the corner of the quilt…. but not how I addressed the bottom of the quilt corners exactly so I took this photo for you all…

And here are a couple photos I snapped of our living room and how my frameS fit in our small cabin living room 😉

My honey has been working on the outbuilding and the back porch this week… it is coming along…

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The shelf on the wall he painted dark grey and totally blends in to the wall now.. we plan to have a outdoor-safe cabinet there in the future but for now >> it works… and the second photo shows the daisy we got this week and the fern we brought from out front to out back… we replaced the fern out front with a beautiful ivory begonia 🙂 I went shopping outdoors with my honey and Molly for the plants! It was fun 😀

Above is where my focus will be on Sunday as I spend time stitching… unless the heat relents… then I may grab my red work and finish that bowl… I think I will add a little daisy to it 😀 Thanks for all the feedback!!!

I am linking all this progress on the whole cloth to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew… see what handy work everyone is up to by following the bold link 😀

Thanks for stopping by and if you leave a comment so I know you stopped I would be most happy too 🥰 Be good to you this week!

Hello and Welcome! As my honey is a veteran I have learned a LOT about this weekend in the USA… and it really isn’t meant for family get togethers as it has become here it seems…. more people flying here this weekend than since the pandemic began…. but as a memorial weekend to remember all those who lost their lives fighting for our freedoms!

This was a busy and stressful week for me… but I am glad to say we made it through!!!

I saw a surgeon in Chattanooga that will be doing my knees in a few months time… once I get some other check offs done through my Primary doctor. He plans to do then 6 to 8 weeks apart so as not to do them together ….

Weight loss has slowed down this week but is still coming off and I have not changed any of my eating ways we have been discovering 😀 Keto is awesome for sure for healthy weight loss when nothing else has worked… there are LOTS of great videos on YouTube explaining ketosis and how you body actually prefers and works better with fat for fuel instead of carbs.

I have picked up my redwork again…. as we have been enjoying the cooler weather this weekend….

So while I stitched here and there on the red work bowl…. I took time to remove my old polish….

And put on some fresh polish after a nice mani to massage all my nails beds 🙂

And I sat down my redwork last night with this much done….

QUESTION FOR Y’ALL!!!!!

Would you add some words to the bowl … such as “Flour” or “Cookies” ??? Something Else??? This will be part of a kitchen wall hanging I am making… Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

I did do some stitching on the wholecloth… but this seems to be the only photo I have and I have more accomplished than this…

When I finish this area photographed I may move right a bit more…. stay tuned for next weeks post to see which way I move it and to see a full photo of what is done on this 😀 I am excited to see it myself!

Meanwhile… our grass in those round spots out front is growing in….

We had lots of hot days early in the week then lots of rain at the end of the week so everything is feeling happy in our yard at the moment…. my honey has worked hard… all those blocks that made those round circles that needed grass seed you ask???

All stacked neatly under the deck for now but once we have good grass we hope to make a fire pit out back with these for autumn 🙂

Above you can see everything is still living that we planted and looking happy too… we love driving into our driveway to see the less cluttered front yard. We are hoping to find a vintage yard implement in the near future to add a bit of whimsy to our front yard center like an old wagon or wheelbarrow we can use as a flower holder of sorts. We will see what we find 🙂

Here is a photo I took of our kitchen…

Thanks for stopping by… I am linking all my handwork shared in this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<< Come see what she made this week and how much binding she stitched down too! IMPRESSIVE!!!!

I hope to get that other cushion altered this week now that that doctor’s appointment is behind me… and focus on finishing that small section of the whole cloth and getting some photos 🙂 Also hope to make progress on the redwork bowl & rolling pin with your 2 cents added for what I should add to the bowl… maybe just some swirls???? We shall see>>> Next weekend 😀 Have a blessed week ahead and remember those that fought for the freedom we currently enjoy in America. Memorial Day 2021!

It has been a busy week around here and I have been enjoying a Sunday to slow it down a bit! I have tons to share so enjoy your visit !

I reworked a tutorial I had done in 2019 this morning… on that little mosaic art quilt I made…

I also made this one which inspired the tutorial….

Were you reading my blog when I did this??? In the transfer from blogger to wordpress the pics got taken off and only blank spots were left… so I dug up the photos reworked the tutorial a bit and I hope you find inspiration to try something new from it!!!

Now on for this week… I put on Tokyo Lights color on my nails for this week… and I am in total LOVE! IT is my new fave!!!!

Feeling pretty I decided to focus on some projects that needed to get done… the chair cover was first….

Perfect fit so I then decided to take on some cushions we found on marketplace for $8 for a pair of IKEA cushions for our rocking chairs on the front porch…

They were 24 x 24 and we needed 20 x 21… I figured I could make them smaller.

It took me a couple days to figure out what I was doing but look at the finish!!!!!

Now I have 1 more to do this week 🙂 And we will have a matching pair of cushions that are super cozy to sit in too! For $8 plus my expertise and time 🙂 SCORE! My bestie and my honey cheered me on as I was a bit overwhelmed by how nicely these cushions were made…. to resew them was a mix of hand stitching and machine stitching too… so this will count toward my slow stitching goals this week! 🙂

Started on this next section of quilting on the edge….

Added the pink inner lining stitches and drew in the buttons and started filling them in …

Although it looks easy to see in the above photo… the pencil markings are light and will wash or brush away as I stitch. I am using a Papermate pencil with their lead for this but it also holds the white, green, and pink leads… as it is the same size….

So quite a bit of progress on this colorful wholecloth quilt 🙂 I am pleased to link this progress of hand sewing with the gang at Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching… as that is where I will be today too … creating with my hands slow but sure!

Our yard is slowly coming into it’s glory…. We water it carefully every day right now as we are not having any rain and not much dew in the mornings either!!!!

My honey has been working vigorously in our front and side yards to clean up things and make it look so welcoming… I will take some more pics this week so you can see the new grass growing in those round spots that were built in planters in the ground… all gone now thank goodness! Leaving a more peaceful and natural looking yard 🙂

My secret project was delivered Friday….

Joann offered to make my granddaughter a unicorn she knits from sparkly soft yarn… it has like tinsel weaved into it…. as a lovey object for my grand…. I sprung on this opportunity and since she has recently remarried I offered to make her something hand done too…. well here is the unicorn I got to send off to sweet little Elliana…

So that was our barter…. she made the unicorn for Ellie and I made the cushion for them 🙂 Their 1st wedding anniversary comes up in August this year 🙂 I think it is awesome that both families approved and came to the wedding during covid to let them enjoy their golden years together with a companion since their earlier companions had passed on. so sweet! ❤

I have slowly been straightening my sewing room….

But I still have a ways to go! lol

Hope you have a happy last week of May and enjoy the long weekend coming next weekend! I have been blogging now for 10 years this weekend…. I hope am bringing you enjoyable content to read and ponder. I certainly love reading blogs during the week and on Sunday’s myself.

I see a surgeon about my knees this coming week so keep me in your thoughts… me and my honey remain keto / low carb eating… I made a spaghetti squash lasagna this week that was quite yummy…. my honey has lost 20 pounds this month … I have lost 15 so far this month too! Cutting out all bread, fruit, and sugar has been amazing for how we both feel and sleep too!

Have a happy week ahead!

https://designoriginalsbykc.com/2019/07/12/tutorial-making-a-mosaic-art-quilt-step-by-step-instructions/

I am having a hard time accepting it is mid May y’all! for us spring is just emerging in the mountains of North Carolina…. and yet for my friends down under it is getting cold!!! We have had a busy week and I am excited to share below with you .. First Up … let me say 🙂

In most of the USA now… just starting this week if you are 2 weeks past your second vaccination you are free to move about without a mask, inside or out, our state has embraced this… you still need a mask if a vendor requests it in their store, on mass transit and a few other exceptions like hospitals and doctors offices… but otherwise… No need and guess what???

Neither my honey or I are ready to shed our masks so readily though so we remain cautiously optomistic… will there be a spike nationally here in 3 or 4 weeks?? That is my concern anyway!

Every day I have felt more energetic and more svelt in my healthy eating priority. After 16 days of eating low carb keto I feel like I am getting the hang of it … we are eating very low carbs both of us are feeling lighter and more energized too so that is excellent…. I have lost about 12 pounds since trying to lose weight compared to my last doctors appointment weight. I generally bounce around but since starting the keto lifestyle… I am finding I have TONS of energy and creativity to enjoy now!

My honey got all the planting and mulching for now done…

I really have enjoyed watching the front yard transform under my honey’s green thumb… slowly everything is waking up and we are guessing based on leaves emerging what each plant may be and what color it may be too! We have taken out all of the plant beds that were blocked around when we bought the house… you may can see them in this photo…

So we have added fresh rich soil and grass seed in abundance to those 4 circles in our yard and raked it all around and moistened it at dusk if there seems to not be dew … we don’t get much dew at this home like we did in Topton. My honey even mowed the front and back yard…. mainly weeds but it got it’s first trim except where we have straw to grow fresh grass…. but life is emerging!!!! I am walking outside daily now and watching it with the assist of a 4 prong cane Rick’s sister gave me just to keep me steady 🙂

I have been quite busy too… the smaller butterfly tatted by my bestie …

Was added as a garnish to the wedding anniversary cushion I made as a treat for a good friend of ours on Facebook. She made me a darling unicorn knitted to gift my grand next weekend…. and I made her a cushion memorializing their recent wedding and her new last name she is embracing 🙂 I will share the cushion pics next week so stay tuned to that as it will mail out Monday!

Last week I shared a couple photos of progress on the Colorful Wholecloth Quilt in my PVC frame. Well I finished that area and moved to the edge of the quilt!!!

These pics …no matter what lighting I use don’t catch the color you see in real life… sorry folks … I am trying for ya! lol

Above is a vintage telephone table… we added the circa 1940’s telephone as a prop and we get lots of conversation about the table and the phone! I am attempting to make a cover for the seat cushion that I can wash easily as this padded cushion is getting dirty from our pup Molly jumping up there when she wants to go out or see what we are doing as this sits in what had been the dining room space of our open concept cabin.

Below you can see the tags my bestie got made… it has been pinned waiting for this piece to get a home since several years back. NOW it will have a purpose… protecting what is underneath while showing off her beautiful hand stitches.

Linking all this fabulous hand stitching to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<< I will definitely be working on my whole cloth today and trying to figure out the best way to add elastic and Velcro to this coverlet with the straps I have added underneath already… come back next week to see what I did 🙂

Mask on or off… take time to make someone smile today… or this week! Make it a daily goal even 😀

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms and thanks for all you do DAILY!!

Because my son recently got married I virtually saw all my kids recently… so if I don’t hear from them today specifically… I won’t be sad … I am a blessed mama of 4 beautiful grown kids who each have their own ideas about life 😀 THIS pic I asked for and got during that event! THIS makes me happy!

This week has been a great week for focus on different things since we have been home! Low carb eating and stitching and adding curb appeal to our front yard! Busy , Busy , Busy!

Since May 1 I have not had a piece of bread, processed foods with hidden bread, potatoes, starchy veggies, muffins.. I did have a high fiber tortilla a couple times in the first few days of this new way of eating we are trying out…. I am hoping to take some weight off before I see the knee specialist end of the month…. if I can I think they will agree to do my knee repairs soon. Last night I made eggplant lasagna from THIS YouTube video … it was delicious with my honey’s spaghetti sauce as the meat sauce 🙂

We are still stumbling along collecting new groceries and herbs and other properties to eat to keep us satisfied with healthy choices. Do you eat keto or low carb? Do you have any tips for us as we admit to and appreciate this way of eating??!! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below… I will be answering each personally & privately!

This week I have been enjoying Moon River glittery grey color on my nails….

I took these beauty shots of our home on Monday…

Then my honey decided it was time to add some pizzazz to the front of our home. So he is installing shrubs … cleaning out the plant beds that held overgrown shrubs he painstakingly removed and discarded….

We plan to pick up some more mulch to add to our variety of shrubs, lilies, hostas, and a yellow rose I wanted for the yard and for mother’s day… it may not do much this year but next year I can have yellow roses anytime! I do miss fresh flowers in the house from our Topton days! lol

While my honey has been working outside I have been keeping things up inside and have been busy busy busy!

Above you can see I have really focused on the Colorful Whole Cloth Quilt I pulled out of the forgotten projects… I have it set up on my PVC frame my honey made me… as it was all pin basted and it is easiest to quilt it now with it 1/3 quilted or more from the center out.

I also picked up hand stitching a new project… it is a secret project at this point though so I will just give you a sneak peek…

Linking all this hand stitching fun to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching group of bloggers HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is stitching all over the world!

As I have been stitching and coming up with keto recipes and learning low carb healthy eating ideas on YouTube … I have also been listening to books on Audible and finding fun songs… HERE is a link to a funny Bruno Mars song called the Lazy Song… makes you wanna dance to the beat.

All of the links in this post should open a new window so you don’t lose your place 🙂

Keep my epileptic seizures in your thoughts… my last one was a couple weeks ago (just a small one but one just the same) followed by increased medication to stop them and I haven’t had one noticed since then… I hope to be back to life as usual soon again….

Thanks for visiting!

We have finally hit springtime in our neck of the woods of North Carolina USA…

Anyone know the name of this plant?? Shrub or bush??? There are 2 here in our yard:)

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However…. our friends to the north in Canada remain in lock down due to Covid and India is suffering terrible numbers of deaths daily too! We must recall world Laughter Day is today and share a a joke or two….

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This week was a crazy one for us… we left out Monday morning for Nashville, Tennessee to help my honey’s sister with some home maintenance and renovations to her home.

We got that barking dog syndrome with every person that came in the hotel we stayed in while he was doing his renovations nearby!!! It was a hoot at times and other times plain annoying.

I want to apologize to all who left me sweet comments last week… I read them from my phone as we packed and can’t respond easily in that format however…. so you may not have gotten a return for your visit… I plan to make up for that today…now that we are home and back on track 🙂

While in Nashville…. we saw Connie and I handed off the quilt I had been working on… and we saw my son that just got married and his wife and handed over some family momentos … Michael will be the keeper of the Clower family memories 🙂 As we downsize… anything from this era he will be the keeper of for our family moving forward… I like this idea too !!!!

But mainly our trip to Nashville was focused on Rick and his sister Ruthie…

But after a good nights sleep it was time to pack it up and head home… here is our first view of mountains back in our sights Friday afternoon….

Seems strange that 4 hour drive can be such a different temperature and humidity levels … but as much as we enjoyed seeing friends and family … we were sooo happy to get home!

Which brings us to World Laughter Day… Make time to belly laugh today … laughter is soooo good for the soul! If you are quarantined or locked down… don’t let it get you down…. focus on learning something new…

We are starting a keto versus low carb eating plan this week… Have you done this type of eating plan before… do you have helpful tips for us or a favorite youtuber??

While I learn more about this type of weight loss eating plan I will be hand quilting on this….

I am linking my slow stitching revival to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Link Up HERE <<<< y’all this project is 6 years in the making already … time to hunker down and put in some stitches… this is a beautiful whole cloth quilt I am stitching in a myriad of colored threads…. more on this next week!

Please take time to share your tips and tricks as requested above regarding our proposed new eating plan … and a joke at Kathy’s if you will… Keep those still struggling with vaccine availability in their countries with outbreaks too in your thoughts and prayers!!!