Tag Archives: Flowers

Summer is Here!

Happy Summertime my friends! It doesn’t quite feel like summer yet, but our calendar says it is. We still continue to have lots of sunless and rainy days. Now that summer has begun I hope the weather improves. Today looks promising, finger crossed…

Tuesday was a perfect day to be outside–no wind, no rain, some sun (not too bright), and warm temps. Since posting pictures of color inspiration for my yellow Little Darling sweater dress I have been struggling to find genuine desire to actually do the work. The weather on Tuesday was exactly what I needed; it was a pleasure to work outside. I didn’t finish the dress, but it’s almost there.

06-18-19 wip 4332

An organic farm near us sets up their stand on Friday afternoons. Last Friday they had put together these peony bouquets mixed with lupines and a white allium. The peonies smelled wonderful! The entire bouquet lasted a week, and is still giving us a bit of magic–the smaller peony buds have started to open.

peony bouquet 4326

Yesterday my husband and I visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens… yes, again. I wanted to see the roses in their first bloom… and they were blooming like crazy. There were roses, roses everywhere–all varieties and all colors.

2019 rose garden 4380

2019 rose garden 4416

The English Walled Garden was as peaceful and beautiful as always.

2019 english garden 4365

The fountains, which had not been going the last time we visited, were now serenading us and adding to the sights and sounds here.

2019 english garden 4354

2019 english garden 4373

This hydrangea was growing around the tree you can see in the photo above. I thought it was interesting.

2019 english garden 4376

After walking through a few of the gardens we had lunch in the cafe. I ordered an Ancient Grains Bowl; garbanzo beans, quinoa, cranberries, broccoli, farro (I think), fresh spinach, and poppyseed dressing made up this yummy bowl.

2019 lunch 4417

Well, the day still looks promising here in northern Illinois. That’ll mean two days in a row of relatively sunny weather–must be a new record for 2019!

I hope the sun is shining where you are. Enjoy your day! Thank you for stopping by.

❤

Mother’s Day Bouquets for You from Us

5 Replies

Hello, my friends. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in the U.S. It is a day for pampering our moms and those who care for us. Even if you don’t celebrate this day take a moment to receive some flower bouquets from my sweet girls. They’ll pamper you just because…

Patience (from Tonner/Wilde Imagination) has picked a little bouquet of bright pink and ivory blossoms. She’s tied them all together with an even brighter pink ribbon. Patience is wearing an ensemble from 2017 called “Happiness in Pink”. Her hot pink mohair cardigan is knit with my Classic Cardigan for Patience. (The pattern can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.)

happiness is pink 341

Patsy has picked a bouquet of pure white long stemmed blossoms for you. She’s tied the stems together with streamers of warm pink ribbon. How sweet she is! Patsy is wearing an ensemble from 2017 titled “Blossom for my Love-ly”. Her mohair cardigan has also been knit with my Patsy knitting pattern. More information about the Light Cardigan for Patsy can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.

blossoms for my love-ly 999

My Little Darling, Lucy, (#3 sculpt painted by Helen Skinner) has picked a pink rose with ivory blossoms and tied them all together with a lilac ribbon for you. Lucy is wearing a summery sweater dress from 2016. The ensemble is titled “My Favorite Roses” , more photos and info. can be found by clicking the title. Unfortunately, I don’t have a pattern for this one. The sweater dress pattern I have for these girls uses a slightly heavier weight yarn.

my favorite roses 012

Next, is my Little Darling, Gina who is the #1sculpt and painted by Geri Uribe. Gina has found spring daisies and arranged them in a cute sprinkling can for you. Gina tied a warm pink bow around the blossoms. “Daisy Chain” is from 2016; more photos and information can be found here. Her mohair cardigan is knit with my Light Cardigan pattern using the short sleeves and long version instructions. This pattern has 3 sleeve lengths and 3 body length versions (all can be mixed and matched for 9 total possibilities). The pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.

daisy chain 640

Gracie (Kaye Wiggs MSD sized BJD) has really gone all out! She’s put together a basket of mauve roses, pink blossoms, and a little teddy bear holding a “made with love” charm. Tied on the handle is a pink bow. Gracie’s ensemble is from 2017 and titled “A Springtime Garden Stroll”. Her cardigan was knit with my pattern for her. More information on the pattern can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.

a springtime garden stroll 846

Lucy is my Little Darling (#1 sculpt) painted by Nelly Valentino. She has picked a full bouquet of ivory and peachy pink blossoms for you. Tied around the stems is a bow with beaded ends. Her ensemble is from 2017 and titled “Princess in Peach”. Her cardigan pattern hasn’t been published as shown. I think I may have used the Lace Cardigan pattern using only the lace panel for the sleeves and made it one repeat shorter, but I cannot remember for sure. Also, the Aunt Lydia’s #10 bamboo thread (discontinued by Red Heart) knits up as wide as fingering, but with a different row gauge, so you get a shorter sweater. I’m not sure if I re-spaced the buttonholes for a shorter sweater.

princess in peach 768

Here is Penny (Linda Macario BJD). Penny has picked a tiny bouquet of ivory blossoms, tied them together with pink satin ribbon, and added a pink heart because she loves you. Penny wears a sweater dress ensemble from 2016. It is titled “Pastels in the Garden”. This is another style I haven’t published, but I love sweater dresses on Penny. BTW, I do have one pattern for Penny, Polly, and Patty. It is a Classic Cardigan and can be found using the link and purchased on Ravelry.

pastels in the garden 091

Last, by not least, is Millie (11″ Kaye Wiggs BJD). Millie has picked a lush bouquet of light pink and ivory blossoms. She’s tied the stems together with a bit of beautiful lace and pink ribbon just for you. Millie wears an ensemble from 2016 titled “Cutie in the Garden”. For more photos and information about her ensemble click the link.

cutie in the garden 420

I hope you all are enjoying the weekend. For those moms who celebrate Mother’s Day–Happy Mother’s Day to you! ❤

Hello again!

19 Replies

Firstly, thank you all for your encouraging thoughts, prayers, and words. I am truly touched by your thoughtfulness! It means so much to me, really it does. With every comment I’d read I could feel more and more love and hope filling my heart. ❤ Thank you!

So hello to you all! Summer break is coming to a close and I am trying to hang onto these last days, but they refuse to slow down for me. Time just seems to speed by faster and faster the more I am aware of its passing. Do you find this to be true, also?

I haven’t been doing much sewing this summer, but my sewing room has been very busy. My daughter got the sewing bug shortly after summer break started and has been in there morning, noon, and night! Did you know there’s a whole new world of indie pattern makers out there who teach how to sew with their patterns? There are also numerous tutorials on You Tube. It’s now cool to make your own clothes. I love it!

All I’ve been working on are these dozen dresses for my 2018 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. I am doing these batch style—all the pockets, back seams, binding all the armholes at once, etc. I have only to hem the bottoms, sew the top casings and insert the ties, then these dozen are complete.

P1440025

So far, this is my completed “store” of dresses. I think I need more closet room and more hangers…

P1440020

My daughter started a weaving project the other day which enabled me to get into my sewing room and work more on the dresses! 🙂

P1440003

Although I haven’t been sewing, I’ve been knitting quite a bit. In addition to socks and cowls for us, I’ve knit a couple of toys for the shoeboxes. Bonbon by Susan Claudino turned out super cute. I knit her out of Knitpicks Stroll Tweed Sock Yarn in Oyster Heather. The little rag doll was made from Knitted Babes by Claire Garland. The Knitted Babes are supposed to be much larger, but I used a finer weight yarn (Knit Picks Palette).

P1440018

Both of these little toys took too many hours to make (IMO) and were quite fiddly, lots of little bits—don’t think I’ll be knitting anymore toys for awhile. I’ve been looking for some easy toy patterns to charity sew though. I like “easy” and “quick”—any ideas?

Other news—our northern Illinois summer started out with lots and lots of rain. Past years of planting reseeded and produced some tiny flowers for me to find. Violas in the grass and the tiniest forget-me-nots.

P1430942 P1430952

For Mother’s Day my husband and daughter bought and planted hanging baskets and planters. They did a great job picking out flowers in all shades from warm red to pink to violet. I never tire of pinks which smell like carnations from the florist.

P1430971

The summer started out wet, but then we went without rain for weeks. The grass got crispy and crunchy and very thirsty. The other morning, however, the weather changed. After a super loud thunderstorming kind of night, we woke to a rainy day .

P1430995

Today it is sunny once again, thank goodness. I don’t know about you but after a couple of cloudy days I’ve had enough of them. So now, for me, it is time for a walk and to enjoy this beautiful morning out-of-doors. I snapped this photo of bee hives weeks ago on one of my walks. Aren’t the colors fun?