Stitching on a Boat, a Plane and and Train

My husband and I just got home on Monday from Scotland and England where we were on vacation for three weeks. We traveled by plane, train, car, bike, canoe, sailboat, barge and taxi on our trip and I was able to do some stitching on the plane, the train and the barge.  Here are some pictures of my train stitching...

Sometimes, the view out the window was distracting so it was a bit hard to stay on task!

During our trip, we took a one week barge cruise on the Caledonian Canal, from Inverness to Fort William.  The week was filled with hiking, biking, sailing, canoeing and wonderful views of the Great Glen.  There was a little time for stitching along the way.

This is our boat, the Ros Crana, in one of the locks on the canal.

There was a stowaway on board!

I also did some stitching on the plane on the way home.

You can see on the map that we were just south of Iceland when I took this next picture.

We had a wonderful trip!

I will be linking up with Kathy and the slow Sunday stitching gang.

Miami is Done and Frank is still plodding along...

Frank is slowly having more stitches added as we go places in the car.  I can't stitch as late into the evenings now as the sun is going down earlier.  

I look forward to more car stitching soon!  I like how each side of this window is not an exact mirror image of the other side. 

My daughter sent me a picture of her finished Miami cityscape this week.  Doesn't it look like a fun place to visit?  She has been there, but I haven't. 

My husband and I went for a walk on the pier in Port Stanley last week as the sun was setting.   It was a lovely night for a stroll!

I will be linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday stitching crew on the weekend.

Coming Home Progress Report

My husband and I went to visit our daughter for the long weekend so on our way there and back, I stitched in the car.  I brought along the house borders for "Coming Home" and got all the doors and windows and clouds appliquéd.  There was a lot of traffic in spots so I had more sewing time in the car than I usually get on our way to where my daughter lives. 

I just bought the material for the window and door on this house a couple of weeks ago specifically for this project. It reminds me of balls of wool...

I fussy cut the little hearts in the windows for this house.

I added all four borders and the suns and moons this week.   I will be adding the kites, birds and stars soon.  

I'm really loving this BOM so far and look forward to starting the next border-- trees and more houses.

I will be linking up with Kathy and the other slow Sunday stitchers this weekend.

Lap Quilt Finish

I made this lap quilt using Bonnie Hunter's free pattern, Scrappy Mountain Majesties, and a pile of fat quarters purchased specifically for this quilt.   This quilt is a gift for someone special who does not read my blog.

It was quilted by Cathy at Eagle's Wings Quilts.

The backing is from the same fabric line...

As is my usual practice, I did the hand stitching in the car last weekend.  

We visited Finn and my daughter last weekend. We took Finn to get his haircut as he was starting to look a bit shaggy. We went for lots of walks and spent an evening at the dog park where he ran around and wore himself out.

Here is what he looked like before the haircut.

I will be linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers on Sunday morning.   Have a great weekend!

Windows and Doors

I spent some more time appliquéing this week on my Coming Home quilt borders.  The top cloud is done... and I am still working on the bottom border in this picture. Sometimes, I am ready a bit early for work in the morning, and so I do a bit of stitching before I have to leave for work.  Every little bit counts!

This house is done now...

And I am still working on this one:

After I finish the door above, I will be working on the cloud above it.  There will be birds, kites, and stars added too, but not until I get the doors and windows on the houses and the clouds finished.

Frank Lloyd Wright "Waterlilies" had a few more stitches added in the last couple of weeks too.   I am alternating between cross stitching and outlining.

There will be more stitches added this weekend.

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow stitchers on Sunday morning.   Have a great long weekend!

Pop-Up Picnic

Earlier this week, I finished off the appliqué for the second sun corner block for my Coming Home BOM.  The points got easier as I went along! This morning, I prepped the clouds as well as doors and windows for the houses. 

This afternoon, the London Modern Guild hosted a Pop-Up Picnic at the Marsh Store in Coldstream.  A dozen of up brought our lawn chairs, our snacks, and our hand work projects for an afternoon of relaxing in the shade of a large tree as we stitched and knitted the afternoon away. Of course, there was an opportunity for some stash enhancement at the store as well...

I brought along two rows of houses but only managed to stitch on one of them...the other three are all prepped and ready to stitch when I have the time this week.  First, I did the doors and windows on two of the houses.

I started working on the cloud in this border as well but had to pack up to go home before I finished it.

There are still kites, birds and stars to add to the borders as well.  I'm still a month and a half behind where I should be but it is not a race so I will get it done when I get it done.

There were lots of people at the store this afternoon for the July Shop Hop.  Several came over to see what everyone was making.

There was sock knitting...

counted cross stitch...

Binding...

Embroidery...

Appliqué...

And English Paper Piecing.

It was a fun afternoon and I hope we can do this again!

I will be linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning.

Framed!

A few weeks ago, I took 4 of my completed counted cross stitch pictures in to be framed.  This week, I had a call that three were done.  The frame for the last one is still on order as I did not make the final selection until later for that one.  The first picture is a Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window called "Tree of Life".  The original window is in the Darwin Martin House, in Buffalo, NY.  My husband and I did a tour of that house in 2013 and I bought the kit to make this picture in their gift shop.  This will hang in our living room. 

The Fountain Art Glass window was a pattern I bought online.  The original window is in the Susan Lawrence Dana House in Springfield, IL.  I have seen this house from the outside but it was not open for tours the day we were in Springfield...we will need to take a trip there someday to take the tour.  I will be hanging this one in the living room as well.

I bought the kit to make this snow people picture many years ago and started it but then it got put away...waiting to be found again when I was cleaning up one day.  I finished it, finally, and it is framed and ready to hang on the wall next winter.  The snowflakes in the sky are little white seed beads.

 I made a little progress on my current Frank Lloyd Wright cross stitch project in the car last weekend.  There will be more stitches added this weekend sometime.

Miami is coming along too.  My daughter collects Starbucks mugs from various places she has visited and this morning, she was drinking her coffee from her Miami mug.  It makes a great prop in the picture of her Miami cityscape cross stitch!

Finn likes to keep an eye on her at all times!

 I also did some appliqué on my Coming Home BOM this week.  There sure are a lot of points on those suns!

My daughter thought the picture below made the sun look sad... LOL!

The second sun is still in progress.

I have also been working on some secret projects this week.  I will be able to show them after they are gifted. There has been lots of activity in the sewing room this week.

It is stinking hot here this week and so last night I made a cold supper, which included this beet and goat cheese salad.  Yum!

I will be linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers tomorrow morning.