The Peace of Wild Things

That's the title of one of my favourite poems.  I recite it as well as I can, in my head, when I need to remind myself that there are peaceful places in the world.  Because of a recording of the poet reading it in his own voice, courtesy of On Being Studios, I can hear Wendell Berry's voice in my head as I recite.

Photo: a trio of daisies in vases, on a bench near my back door.

This morning, the day after a dictator-wannabe joined another dictator-wannabe in bringing the world to the brink of wide-spread war by bombing a nation run by an actual dictatorial regime, I needed that peace -- and so I headed outside to my garden.

Mug of hot, black coffee in hand, I did a "Garden Tour", pausing to compliment my fledgling wildflower buds and newbie cherry trees on their progress; doing the same with the 'bouquets' of fresh leaf lettuce, the sturdy green bush beans, the baby zuchini and the cherry tomato "shrub" in my raised beds.  I picked up some more fallen willow branches, deadheaded some dandelion seed-heads, propped up some heavy-headed peonies, and took the pruners to clip the dead heads on the irises and most of the lupines (one only needs so many lupines!)

The peace of the 'wild things' in my garden -- the bees buzzing in my raspberry patch, the mosquitoes trying to plague me without success, the birds chirping around the branches of the trees all 'round, and my elder cat rolling on the driveway in the sunshine, showing off her beautiful belly while scratching her back -- that did the trick.  I am at least a bit more peaceful now.  For the moment.

* I often wish I were a less complex person, someone capable of being oblivious to the Outside World, to the challenges of pain, illness, natural disaster, poverty and oppression that beset so many.  Alas, that's just not me.  My kids get tired of it, as I expect so do many of you, Gentle Readers.  But there it is.  I spend a great deal of time praying to be able to do only what I can to change what I can, and to ignore that over which I have no power.  So far...well, let's just say I'm thankful for garden tours.

I'm also thankful for all things fabric, fibre and floss -- and so it's time to share what I've been doing with those materials for the past month or so. 😊

*Tote in photo found at the Fibre Goddess booth at the Prairie Fibre Festival, Olds, Albert edition, June 14, 2025.  I couldn't resist it!

First, an update on the projects-in-progress from my last post.  

In knitting, I managed to finish the second "Garden Fence" sock, to complete the pair by month-end:

Love the colour and the fit!

On June 1 I cast on another pair of socks, hoping to have them finished this month but I've chosen a fine fingering-weight yarn, so that's not going to happen.  No matter; I'm enjoying this knit and they'll be finished when they're finished.

Pattern: "Andrew's Shepherd's Socks"
Designer: Debbie Zawinski
Source: her book, In the Footsteps of Sheep
Yarn: Jamieson's of Shetland 2-ply
Shetland Spindrift
in the colour #102 -  "Shaela"

Having finished a hat, I've cast on another for the give-away box.  This one is a new-to-me pattern, the Bosquet Hat, which I'll make without the pom-pom (I'm not fond of those):

Pattern linked above.
Designer: Audrey Borrego
Yarn: Peruvian Sierra (worsted)
from elann.com (discontinued)
in the colour #1525 - Wine

It's a darker red-brown than the photo shows, and it has a bit of a halo, given it's composition (alpaca and camel), but the stitch definition is quite nice.  There's lots of texture in this pattern, which means that while it's fairly easy to memorize, it's a bit slow going.

And work continues on the cardigan for the baby expected to arrive in October. I've finished the raglan shaping (it's top-down) and split for the sleeves, but alas, no photo to show you.  Maybe next month!

What about quilting?

With the comfort quilt given to the local house-fire victims, and with my son happily in receipt of his Big Birthday Quilt (Bonnie Hunter's "Old Town" 2024 mystery pattern), I turned my thoughts to the Celtic Knot Quilt.

In my last post, the top was finished.  Since then, the backing fabric was purchased, sliced and respliced to create the right size of square top, and yesterday (June 21) the lot was taken up to Quilting From the Heart in Camrose. There I met with my daughter and the ever-helpful clerk who remeasured both, took notes, helped us select thread and a long-arm edge-to-edge pattern -- and that was that.  I expect it back by the end of July, so I can wrestle it to the ground (er -- the sewing table) and bind it.  

The darned thing -- if I didn't already say so -- measured at 116" square (that's approx 3 metres square) so the backing had to be at least 4" wider all 'round, for a whopping 124" square!!  Blessedly, the service includes trimming off that excess once it's quilted, and I expect I'll use that fabric for binding.

With that all done, on cooler, wetter days (we've had a few this month), I've returned to doing up comfort quilts, working on the Disappearing Four Patch project, all from stash.  I now have 30 blocks, each about 8 1/2" square, and have 12 more to go.

Having used up the lovely chocolate brown cotton I started with for this project, I've turned to some poly-cotton from stash.  The colour is perfect but it's a lighter fabric and tends to stretch a bit, so I may find I'll have to square all the blocks up to 8".  No matter; this is another "Keep It Out of the Landfill" project, so I'll simply make it work!

And then there's the 2025 Block of the Month (BOM) from Sheri at A Quilting Life -- I finally did the one for June:

And here's how the first six look together:

There are only 12 -- eventually finishing at 18" each in the quilt. I've struggled with the "proper" placement of the lights and darks (as pointed out by one of the AQL Facebook group members) but have no intention of undoing and re-doing any of them!  I'm working with what I have, and have run out of neutrals from the Thimbleberries line I've been using up, so am now adapting from the rest of my stash.  I've numbered these blocks so that when the time comes, I can sew them together in the order I've chosen...but of course, when I assemble the remaining 6 and see the end-of-year setting pattern, I reserve the right to change my mind! LOL!

In my 'land of cross-stitch' I continue to have bouts of 'startitis', but I justify this by the fact I've actually fully finished a few things!

I dug out two Hands On Design pieces, finished one, started and finished the other, and then fully finished them both!  Yes, they're small, and they were great fun to do.

Here they are, close up:

And

I bought the patterns from Traditional Stitches in Calgary, Alberta here in Canada, and the frames on a two-fer (!) from Michael's in Red Deer, Alberta -- about an hour's drive from my place.  The frames included glass but I left that off because otherwise, the pieces wouldn't have fit!

NOTE: the wee piece of round art between the two stitches is an encaustic painting entitled "Safe Haven II", by artist Donna Hanson of Camrose, Alberta, Canada.  I bought it from her at the Art in the Garden event last summer.  It's coming 'round again on July 12, and yes; I've bought my ticket!

Some months ago, a friend gave me a piece she'd started -- it was a kit -- and didn't want to finish, so I said I'd finish it for her.  Most of it was done, but the 'confetti' stitching of grass and flowers at the bottom needed finishing.  A couple of weeks ago, I got it finished and took it to her -- she was delighted!

Title: "Country Cottage"
Fabric - Aida, probably 18-count
DMC floss and frame included
Design Size: 6" W x 4" L

I didn't notice that I'd forgotten the back stitching -- until it was all framed.  Blessedly, my friend said she'd never have known if I hadn't told her! 😉

I assuaged my bit of 'startitis' by digging out a set of four little kits I'd bought 'way back in 2005 or 2006, from Traditional Stitches in Calgary: "My Garden Stitching Club" (c) 2005 from Elizabeth's Designs.  I chose to start the "Songbird Cottage" piece, and am about 1/2-way along.  

Fabric: 32-count Light Mocha Belfast
Linen (Zweigart)
Threads: DMC and Weeks Dye Works
Stitch Count: 97 x 61

I'm even enjoying the specialty stitches!

NOTE: Elizabeth states on her website that she's retired from designing but her business is still active.  You can still get some of her pieces through American sources.

That said, I still have my "Disagree" and "Ruskin's Penguins" to work on, and my Sunday stitch, "Proverbs 31".  I've done nothing on those first two since my last post, but on the last, I'm slowly working on the text, which requires 1 strand of floss being stitched over 1 linen thread.  Again, apologies for the lack of photo. Stay tuned!

Cross-stitch plans in July include working more on those three, and returning to a Canadian sampler, "Emeline Hotchkiss - Lacolle, 1846".  Although reproduced by an American designer, Emeline grew up in southwest Quebec, very close to the border with NY State, and in the same area as I grew up, so she has a special place in my heart.  July 1 is Canada Day, marking 158 years as a nation, so it's only fitting I return to stitching her then!

And yes, there's more!

Deanne Fitzpatrick Studios challenges those of us who hook rugs to a 10-minute-a-day challenge in the summer, and I've joined it.  I've also worked through her "Playful, Joyful Rug-hooking" course, and having fun with my new (April) Cheticamp frame.

My first piece on the frame -- my own design, using the '3-line landscape' technique from the Studio -- finished at 20" W x 8" L.  I call it "Jewels in the Water":

Once it's off the frame I plan to mount it on a shallow stretched canvas, and perhaps have it framed.

For the "Challenge" I rolled that piece under, and drew two 8" squares on my burlap.  I've been doing a monochromatic abstract on the first square.

I started like this:

It progressed to this:

And by Friday evening, it looked like this -- nearly finished!

The challenge is fun, and yet another way to keep the noise of the world at bay.

Last but not least, I've been doing a bit of spinning, which I especially like to do outside:

I finished spinning singles from a merino batt (Nomad Fibres) that I bought over a year ago at the Rose City Fibre Festival, and then plied it into 2-ply yarn:

Given that I'm a 'periodic' spinner, it's a bit thick-thin, but will likely knit up into a decent hat.

I had some of the merino singles left after I plied a very full bobbin, so I finished it up by plying it with remnant singles on two other bobbins.  One was left-over Falklands spun last summer, but I have no idea what the other one was!  They made two mini skeins that will likely get put into my scrappy mitred square blanket -- an ongoing project!

Merino and Falkland mini 2-ply

Merino and ??? mini
two-ply

I've moved on now -- as part of the Summer Spin-in from Two Ewes Fiber Adventures (podcast and Ravelry group) -- returning to the remainder of the Falkland braid I'd split up last year.  I had two sections left: one yellow-to-peach and one shades of grey.  I've started with the former, and will end up with a fairly small amount, so will figure out later what to ply it with:

Of course, this time of year also calls for fibre festivals -- and I went to the Rose City FF in Camrose in May, and more recently, the Prairie FF (Olds, Alberta Edition) on June 14.

At Rose City, I bought 3 skeins of Corriedale from a local spinner -- "Handspun by Kristi" (Kristi Lacey from Camrose) -- who has rescued a clip from an American shepherd (in Colorado, I believe) who is retiring:

Natural dark grey 

Natural beige

Natural creamy white

I'm going to turn the dark grey into a pair of gloves for my son for Xmas (his request) but have no plans yet for the other two skeins. 

At the Prairie FF in Olds, I bought some other hand-dyed, locally produced yarn from "All Wound Up" of Castor, Alberta:

Left: "Smoke n Sky" DK
Right: "Aqua Seas" sport/boucle

These blues will be perfect for hooking into skies!

And I bought another skein with hooked landscape potential from SLAM Fiber Co. (all the way from Lethbridge area in southern Alberta):

Brown-grey, thick-thin
merino-alpaca blend
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"

Well!  This has been a looooonnnng catch-up post.  Thank you for hanging in there, if you have.  I was simply following Nina-Marie's exhortation this week: to share and talk about one's work!  Here's the link to her Off the Wall Friday post, where others are talking about their work too.

I hope and pray for all of you, Gentle Readers, that you be safe, know love, experience joy, and find peace in the work of your hands...until we meet again.

A bientot!

A Month of Making

There's a lot of 'making' going on! 😁

Yes; I'm still here, and I'm still making -- but in the past month I've been challenged by the need to a) make sure I care for my body -- especially my arms and hands, which this winter were  plagued by aches and pains; and b) make time for sharing what I've made and am still making.

In terms of the former, I found that a major culprit re: my hands -- especially my dominant right hand -- was with computer work.  I dug out a wireless keyboard and set it up so that I didn't strain my hands reaching up to type on my laptop's keyboard, and I got myself a new mouse pad with a wrist support.  That's been a game changer!

I've also been making time for stretches, especially for my arms, shoulders and hands.  Doing that, and pacing myself with respect to arm/hand challenging yard work (digging flower beds, lugging bags of topsoil, mowing the grass), has made a big difference!

Moreover, I've been pacing myself with certain activities that aggravate my hands, which means my knitting is being done in sprints rather than marathon sessions.

As a result, I've finished another LOSY (Left Over Sock Yarn) hat for the give-away box, and have managed to finish one of the pair of Garden Fence Socks I wanted to complete this month.

Pattern: Garden Fence Socks
Designer: Nancy Wheeler
Yarn: Tanis Fibre Arts
Blue Label Fingering
Colour-way: Teal

I won the pattern in the Sox-a-long 2025 challenge for March -- and I'm really enjoying it, even if I can only do 8 rounds (two pattern repeats) at a time.

Friends of mine are about to become grandparents for the first time, so yesterday I cast on the "Little Coffee Bean Cardigan" designed by Elizabeth Smith.  I'm knitting it in a single colour -- more teal! -- using Berroco Pure Merino from my stash, and I'm going to put only one button on it, at the neck.

Yes, I have more knitting WIPs on my needles than I care to admit, but the sock and the cardi are my focus projects for now.

Speaking of focus, about 3 weeks ago, a mobile home a few blocks down from me went up in flames -- likely due to an undetected smouldering grass fire that found a great source of fuel and BANG! exploded.  The three dear folks living there, and their dog and one of their two cats, made it out -- with the clothes on their back, and their vehicles (parked at distance from the blaze) but nothing else.

It's a mess, but the community has stepped up to help with temporary shelter, and gifts of thrift-shop clothing etc.

And I had a quilt top ready, so I quilted it up and passed it on to the neighbour who knew the family and would get it to them.  It measures about 54" x 62", so is a comforting throw-sized piece that I could quilt myself:

Pattern: Easy Breezy
Designer: Bonnie Hunter
from her Leader/Ender projects

This is the second one of these I've made; the blocks are small so it takes some time to gather enough for a decent throw, but once they're together, they create a cheerful, colourful, scrappy quilt!

My other quilting focus has been on finishing the "Old Town" quilt (another Bonnie Hunter design -- the 2024/2025 mystery project) for my son, and yes, I got it bound and mailed off to him earlier this month.  He's delighted to have a new quilt and told me he loves the colours and patterns of this one:

Here's a close-up of the quilting, which was done by the good folks at Quilting from the Heart in Camrose, Alberta:

Speaking of QFTH, yesterday I took the Celtic Knot quilt top up there so I could pick out backing fabric and talk to them about quilting it.  I'd roughly measured it at 112" square but in their larger space, they re-measured it at 116" square!  

Here's what the top looks like, spread out on my lawn in 'flimsy' form:

And yes, they'll quilt it -- they can get batting that's more than wide enough!  So...I bought 4.75 metres of 108"-wide backing, and they helped me split it into pieces so I can make it wide enough.  Once I've done that, my daughter and I will meet up there to pick the over-all quilting pattern (no need for custom work on this one) and thread colour(s).  Stay tuned for the results!

What about stitching focus?

That's a bit tougher to pin down.  I've tried to be disciplined; really I have! 😉 But it's a challenge when I see so many wonderful projects going on floss-tubes!

Here's the update from my last post:

• I've finished the stitching of the Flanders Fields Biscornu from Heartstring Samplery -- but haven't taken a photo! Sigh...
• I finished "Chubby Ewe" from Jeannette Douglas Designs:
  
  
  
  
  

• I started and finished the May bouquet (Block of the Month) from Thea Dueck at The Victoria Sampler:

• I finished -- and fully finished! -- "Hope" from Modern Folk Embroidery:

• As "Hope" was my "Sunday Stitch", I've started a new one: "Proverbs 31" from Plum Street Samplers:

• And I've made progress on two other pieces -- one might refer to them as "les pieces de resistance" in light of the current state of the world:
• First, "Disagree" from Rebel Stitcher, which I'm doing on 40-count Vellum from Picture This Plus, using one strand of 12-wt Sulky variegated thread, over 2 strands of floss. I've actually done a great deal more on this, but the photo below is the last one I took:

• Second, I've also made more progress on "Ruskin's Penguins" from Modern Folk Embroidery.  Again, I've done more on the top of that border, but haven't an updated photo.  It's pretty dense stitching, 1 strand over 2 fabric threads on a 40-count 'Traditional' fabric from Roxy Floss Co's Fabric Club (Sept. 2024 installment) and Roxy Floss in "Gomez" (black) and "Betty White" (white, of course! 😉):

But that's not all!  The greatest blessing of this past week is that I finally put burlap on my new Cheticamp frame and began to hook a new piece!  I'm working through Deanne Fitzpatrick's "Playful, Joyful Rug Hooking" course, which has whetted my enthusiasm.  

I began by drafting a '3-line landscape', and hooking the foreground:

Then I filled in that foreground:

My original thought was to put in either a gravel road or a field of canola...but then I thought, what about water?

I liked it, so I kept going!

The working title is "Jewels in the Water".  I'm thinking I'll move into the background with low, rocky foothills below the sky...but I'm letting it 'percolate' for a bit.  Stay tuned! 😁

As I mentioned at the top, the yard and garden have also had a great deal of 'focus' in this last month.  To whit, 

• I've planted my 2 raised beds: a cherry tomato and 2 hills of zucchini in one; and green beans, leaf lettuce, basil and dill in the other.
• I put out my bedding plants in pots -- my over-wintered geraniums with my favourite lobelia; and my brown pot of bacopa with impatiens; and
• I've added some sedum and pinks to my perennial beds.
• My wildflowers are coming along, though the grass and dandelions hide several of them from view.  I don't mow the "Meadow" until June, so I've had to put stakes in to mark the spots where daisies, hollyhock, violas, wild geraniums and Alberta roses are sprouting -- I don't want to mow them down when the time comes!
• And I've added some marigold seed and poppy seed to a couple of bare areas, which I fortified with fresh topsoil and mulch.

With all those dandelions, I've made one batch of jam, and have picked another collander-full of blossoms for a second...

But the most lovely thing on sunny afternoons now is to sit outside with a book or some stitching, listening to the ornamental fruit trees as they hum with bees...

And with that image for you to savour, Gentle Readers, I'll bid you farewell for now.  As usual, I'll link this post to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she highlights the "3 Laws of Art", with which I heartily agree.  Make.  Make again.  Just keep making -- however you do it, create beauty every day.  It brings light to life!

A bientot!

Quilt-wrestling and Other Things...

As some folks say, "It's been a hot minute".  April's been a month of mixed blessings, so I've not often felt willing or able to post.

The first part of the month was delightful!  I met up with my kids in Edmonton and we enjoyed dinner together at my daughter's home and then went to the Edmonton Symphony to see the orchestra with guests -- the Jim Witter Band -- who were performing the tunes of Simon and Garfunkel -- and a few others. Amazing! Wonderful! THREE (count 'em) -- THREE encores.  It was total bliss.

After that...I moved on to putting up my booth at the local Art Show & Sale -- in Lacombe, Alberta, held this year on April 11 and 12.  It was a well-attended show, but from my experience and that of others..well... the economic situation meant there was a great deal of appreciation but not much in the way of significant sales. 

I'm thankful I sold enough to cover the booth fees and a bit more...and that I got a chance to share my new work.  I sold a couple of small hooked pieces, and that was good -- plus an older 'matted mini' piece and one of the very last Scotland pieces, created in 2018.

There was also a lot of attention paid to the work from my Art in the Park (Parks Canada and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre) that had been travelling in B.C. in 2023-2024.  My 'history' piece was particularly intriguing to folks, though not generally the type of piece one would hang in one's living room!

Entitled "Rails & Ruins", it was inspired by the ruins of what I believe was the first CP Rail hotel in the Canadian Rockies, by the paths where the railroad ran, the remaining old stone trestles -- and the music of Gordon Lightfoot -- specifically his Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

All that said, the show took a toll on my body.

I've been dealing with shoulder strain since January (though it is getting better) and after the show, and all the lifting-and-toting I also found myself with lower back pain that doesn't want to completely go away (though it too is getting there.)  And then there seems to be creeping in some repetitive stress that cuts short my knitting time.  I can still knit, especially with finer yarn, but my hands feel it if I try to do so for too long.

Sigh.

I'm seeing my doc on Tuesday (Apr 29) so will see what I thinks I need to do.  Meanwhile, heat packs, cold packs, linament, a glove for my right hand, and the occasional analgesic-with-muscle relaxant seem to fill the bill.

I have to pace myself, so have been doing so with yard work, as well as with other things.

Since I last posted, though, I've managed to cast on and finish the first of a pair of 6-ply socks, and start its partner:

Pattern: Wide Rib DK Weight Socks
Designer: Erica Saint
Yarn: main colour: ONline Supersocke
Arizona Color - Colour-way #1967
Contrast: elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca

I'm also working on a new sweater -- the Bustleton Tee -- which I'm making in an assortment of fingering yarns from stash.  I'm not striping it as indicated in the pattern; rather, I'm knitting "stripes" however I want, based on the yarn available.  It's an easy knit (now that I'm past the short rows at the back of the neck) so if it plays well with my hands, I'll have a lovely little top at the end of it, and I'll have used up stash!

And yes, I've been quilt wrestling.  A couple (or three) years ago, my daughter asked me to make a quilt for close friends of hers who'll be celebrating 20 years of marriage in September this year.  We found a pattern, we (she) bought the fabric...and it sat for a bit.  I've been working on it here and there for a while.

Last fall I finished the blocks -- 4 in one combination and 5 in another.  Yes; it was intended to be a 9-block quilt, plus borders, to fit a queen-sized bed.  BUT while the friends who were to receive the quilt had been pondering a KING-sized bed for some time so (please Mum) could you make it King-sized?  That took it from 9 blocks (22" each -- finished in the quilt) to 16.  

Yes, "Please, Mum" could do that.  And the fabric vendor accommodated the request for extra fabric.

So... as of this afternoon, all 16 blocks are together, with sashing and the first (inner) borders: 

Ta-DA!

Like I said -- it's HUGE -- and there are 2 more borders to go! One narrow one at 1" finished, and the outermost, wider (7" finished).  Adding each border involves wrestling the top under my domestic machine.  I'm glad I have a piece that I can add to the sewing table to hold some of the weight.  And yes; I'm back-stitching the tops and bottoms of the seams as well as in between if needed.  The weight is something else!

Meanwhile, today I pick up the "Old Town" (Bonnie Hunter's 2024 Mystery design) quilt I pieced, from Quilting from the Heart in Camrose, where I took it for long-arm quilting.  I've shopped there often but this is the first time I've used their quilting service.  The price was right and the service was friendly and prompt, so I'll be "wrestling" with it soon, trimming and binding it in time for my son's early June birthday.

Given the care I have to take of my body, yard work is being done very gradually this year.  I'm fortunate that windy and sometimes rainy weather (more rain, please! We have a drought!) have kept my from being tempted to over-do it.  It's rather hard to rake leaves and pick up broken branches (willow) in that weather.

Thus the piecing of that quilt top, and a bit of knitting, and quite a bit of cross-stitch.  

These days, I want to stitch EVERYTHING!

Since my last post, I've made progress on the Flanders Field Biscornu from Heartstring Samplery.  As you can see below, the top is finished (left side of photo) and I'm moving right along on the 'flip side' (on the right):

Again, I'm using 36-count "Grey" from Weeks Dye Works and the called-for WDW flosses, one strand of floss over two fabric threads.

I also did up the pretty April bouquet that Thea Dueck (The Victoria Sampler) created for her 2025 'Block of the Month'.  This month? Sweet peas!

I'm doing this on a single piece of fabric -- 28-count pearl grey, 2 over 2 with stash threads, three across, so here's what it looks like so far:

January through April

And I've made more progress on my "Sunday Stitch" -- "Hope" from Jacob at Modern Folk Embroidery:

We could all use some extra hope these days, right?  

And some humour!  Given that the US President has imposed tariffs on the penguins living on the Heard and MacDonald Islands, there have been a variety of memes being posted poking fun at the absurdity of it.  These brought to my mind another of Jacob's designs -- "Ruskin's Penguins".  I couldn't resist!  I dug out some 40-count fabric (Roxy Floss Co) and thread (also Roxy Floss Co) from my stash and bought the pattern!

To date, I've made just a tiny start.  That border is really something!

So those are the four pieces I've been focusing on this past month.  As May approaches, others are calling to me -- "'S' is for Stitcher" (The Victoria Sampler), "Ann Perrin 1841" (Jeannette Douglas Designs), "My Day Complete" (Black Bird Designs)...and more.  Thea will have a May bouquet out, and Sheri of A Quilting Life will have one too (see my April block at right)...

And then there's rug-hooking, which I want to return to, as my Cheticamp frame arrived earlier this month.  It's set up, and I've cut a piece of burlap for it, but that's as far as I've gone.  I've got one of Deanne's courses waiting for me, so perhaps that will bring back my motivation to go forward!.

I'm very much about stitching as the mood strikes me, so time will tell which ones I work on between now and my next post.

And so, Gentle Readers, I'll leave you with a wish that you be safe, creative, and able to find both hope and humour in your days.  Maybe drop over to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday to see what she and other crafty friends have been up to.  Don't we all have ideas simply lying around, waiting to be brought to life...

Until next time, a bientot!