May I say
That I like May?
I wish every day
Was a May kind of day-
With growing grass
And buzzing bees,
With blowing breezes
And flowering trees. - Helen H. Moore
 |
| Lizzie Kate's Flip It Bits- May |
A berry beautiful Monday to you! Welcome, y'all. Are you ready for an awesome day? I sure am. We are expecting more rain this week including today, but that certainly will not put a damper on my day. I love rain!
I have been pulling out some of my strawberry decor. Little House Needleworks "Strawberries" looks so cute hanging from my hoosier. It is finished on a Dollar Tree unfinished plaque that I painted with chalkboard paint.
 |
When Mr. Pinker and I camped in Texas, we stopped at the sweetest antique store where I purchased 2 vintage aprons. This is the newest one.
 |
| For just $5, I had to snatch this sweet apron up. |
So this brings me to the May Heart doodle. Of course , I had to draw a berry patch since my family operated a berry farm for nigh 18 years or so.
Lots of berries are ripe for the picking. Would you like one? I believe these are the Sweet Charlie variety. Oh, they are so yummy especially if they happen to produce a 2nd flush of berries.
Did you notice that one of the blooms has a dark spot in the middle . Well it was hit by frost and will not produce a berry. But of course you do not have to stitch the dark X in the middle of that bloom.
On nights that frost was expected dad would stay awake all night monitoring the temperature. When it dropped to a certain point, the irrigation system was turned on and ice was placed on the berries to protect them from the frost, but every now and then some of the outer berry blooms would get nipped.
Five blocks are completed. I have been mulling over the idea of creating some bonus blocks and perhaps make my quilt bigger. We shall see.
I am color tinting my blocks using a combination of Crayola crayons and colored pencils. The color is heat set with an iron. If you do this , be sure to cover with embroidery with a light towel to prevent any wax getting on your iron.
🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵
If you are interested in stitching this piece, just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends.
🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵
 |
My doodles are hand drawn and are never perfect.
If you have missed any of the other heart doodles, I do invite you to visit the previous posts by clicking the colored links. ❤
I finished the embroidery and quilting of the Spring Checklist that I shared earlier this year. All of the quilting was completed while camping in Texas. I have to say that was a good trip in respect to getting a lot of little projects completed. I will be showing you more of them as I whittle away at adding binding to them.
Anywhoo , Spring Checklist was embroidered on coffee dyed fabric. I then embroidered it using the backstitch with DMC 898. I simply quilted around the embroidery and along the seams. It will receive its binding today. Then perhaps I will pull my pen and paper out and work on a Summer Checklist.
Alrighty, I am off to enjoy the rain, some puddles and perhaps a rainbow! I hope your day is filled with sunshine and perhaps a slice of strawberry cheesecake. Oh yum!!!!
As always...
Happy quilting and stitching, ya'll
Melisa
"When life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles. " - Winnie the Pooh.
Hugs and Stitches and Warm Spring Wishes !!!🤗❤🧵
 |
| A rose heart for my sis. |
Y'all come back now, ya hear !
That is so interesting about your family's strawberry farm and how your Dad monitored the frost nights. No wonder you like to stich strawberries! I never knew that about the dark spot in the blossom. That is such a cute little embroidery pattern.
ReplyDeleteHappy Monday , Linda . I hope your week is off to a lovely start. The family farm was a labor of love. I do believe that is why I love strawberries even more than before. There is nothing like home grown. Thank you for the sweet Monday visit. Hugs.
DeleteGood Morning Melisa! Love your new heart. Strawberries are my fave! I also love thrifting and today we're hitting a couple here in AL. Not with dh tho - he's not a fan unless he needs something. ;-) Going with dd and fam. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteOooh , Donna I hope you find all kinds of thrifty treasures that can travel along with you while you are on the road. I am sure you will have a fabulous time with your DD and family. Enjoy your day and thank you for the sweet visit. Hugs.
DeleteAnother beautiful heart block. Did you have to help pick those berries as a young kid?
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much, Vicki. Well as a kid we grew tobacco and yes I had to help harvest it. It was not until 2004 that he began growing berries and yep I picked berries , planted berries and helped mom at the Strawberry Shed where the berries were sold. Last years was the 1st year without the berries. It is just not the same without my sister . Thank you for dropping by for a visit and Happy Monday. Hugs
DeleteSuch a pretty heart block. My mother grew strawberries when we were kids, the strawberry shortcake she made was always a favorite.
ReplyDeleteStrawberry shortcake sounds heavenly. I have not had a piece in awhile . Did your mom make it with biscuits or with the dessert cups? I love it both ways. I hope you are enjoying your day, Kate and thank you for dropping by. Hugs.
DeleteYour strawberry heart is sweet as can be, Melisa! How fun to learn that you grew up on a strawberry farm. Since I just finished April's heart, I'm ready to stitch one for May!
ReplyDeleteAaah thank you so much, Diann. Normally , we would be going strong selling strawberries this time of the year. It has been an adjustment to not have the berry farm in operation. The fields have now been converted back to pasture. I can not wait to see your May block. Your blocks are looking so pretty; it just warms my heart. Have a beautiful day and happy quilting. Hugs.
DeleteYour May heart is darling, Melisa. While I don't eat strawberries, I enjoy seeing your displays and projects with them. Have a marvelous week!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun little block to stitch in fact I embroidered 2 of them. Lol. I am not sure if I will make one into a pillow or not. Thank you so much, Robin for the sweet visit and kind words. I hope you are having a lovely afternoon. We had rain earlier so I am not sure if it is headed your way or not. Hugs.
DeleteI enjoyed your tour of your strawberry stitching, Melisa! No wonder you have so many strawberry items in your home with your family's past ownership of a strawberry farm! What fun that must have been (along with a lot of hard work, I imagine!). Your newest tinted quilt block design is adorable. Enjoy your Monday! ♥
ReplyDeleteLol I just had to add more strawberries to my collection. I started collecting strawberries when dad began growing the berries . We used to have over 200 blueberries as well, but they have been removed for pasture. A farm is always changing. Lol. Thank you for the sweet Monday visit, Carol. Happy stitching . Hugs.
DeleteOhh--Strawberries--this piece reminds me of my Granny and that every spring we would walk up the hill behind our house and sit and pick 'wild' strawberries--which weren't very big--so it took alot to make jam--but we made a couple batches of jam with them every year--and Granny always carried a little stool with her to sit on while she picked her share!!!
ReplyDeletehugs, di
Aaah that is such a sweet memory, Di. I can imagine your delight strolling up the hill to pick the wild berries. Did you eat more than what went to the basket? Lol. I have been
Deleteguilty of doing that. Your granny must have had a good patch of them . It warms my heart that this brings back such a fond memory. I hope you enjoy stitching it. Have a blessed day and thank you Di for the sweet visit and for stitching along with me. Hugs.
The Strawberries heart is another perfect addition for the series, I love it!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Aaah thank you very kindly, Diana. It is one of my favorite berries so I had to include it in the series as well. It has been a joy to create and share these humble doodles. I hope your day is a lovely one and thank you again for the sweet Monday visit. Hugs.
DeleteStrawberries take so much work to produce! You are so right when you wrote home grown is the best. The flavor sure can't be beat! Your doddle this month is super sweet!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Terry. I think there is more work in the strawberries than we put into the tobacco. But they sure were delicious. Thank you so much. Hugs and Blessings.
DeleteTHose heart blocks are just darling, Melisa. I love the story about your family's berry farm, too.
ReplyDeleteAah thank you so much, Jeanna. The strawberry farm was near and dear to our heart. Hugs and Blessings.
DeleteThese monthly hearts are just so lovely! Thank you. May is off to a great start! The sweet little applique' posy at the end is adorable! Have we seen the quilt? I am off to take a B'Day lunch to my GF today so I better get with it. Have a wonderful day, Melisa!
ReplyDeleteOoh I hope you had a great lunch today, Ginny. Birthday lunches are the best! I will have to show the little posy quilt . I think I have shared it before; I'm not for sure. It is a Piece of Cake design and was a fun one to work on . Hugs and Blessings.
DeleteI'm hooked now on these sweet little stitchery's...Did you use colored DMC for each one then just colored that area with crayon or colored pencil? I'm enjoying your blog and get excited when the email lets me know the next one is up!
ReplyDeleteOh I can not tell you how much that means to me, Tifanee. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I colored mine first. I used a white crayon on colored in circles where I wanted to color first and then I colored with the crayons. Then to darken and layer colors I used the colored pencils and lightly heat set everything with an iron on low . I also cover the stitching so no wax gets on the iron. Sometimes I use a paper towel or an old piece of cotton. I then chose the floss colors I wanted to use. After I stitched them, if I wanted to add more color then I go back with the pencils or crayons and add more to the design. I am having a ball working on them. I was thinking of a new one today. I am so touched that you are enjoying them too. Thank you again . You made my day!
Delete