A Stroll through the Gardens and The Blue House- A House Freebie

 ♭♮♭"Spread a little sunshine everyday. 

Spread a little sunshine everyday. 

Help someone along life's  way. 

Spread a little sunshine everyday. " ♭♮♭ 

Do you remember this little diddy from the Andy Griffith show? It has been humming in my head as I have been deadheading my marigolds and spreading the  sunny seeds.  

French dwarf marigolds are in bloom. 

Good morning , Sweeties. It is a pretty day in the holler. Would you like to take a stroll in the gardens before it gets too hot? 

 Be forewarned this post is photo heavy. I got snap happy! 📷📸📷

 My tansy is blooming. 

This is the first year I have grown it. Dad cut a big tree down at my sisters'. I helped him move the brush. I then  grabbed a few limbs to prop up my tansy which is reaching for the sky. 

The wild and woolly garden - well it is wild and woolly.  Weeds need to be pulled, Gladiolus are spent and falling and small sweet gums need to be removed, but it still brings me joy even if it is on the wild side.  "Perfectly imperfect, " as Jeri Landers of Hopalong Hollow says. ❤

 It is filled with coreopsis, marigolds, lilies, lirope, purple majesty, cosmos, sedum, hostas, bee balm and newly planted hydrangeas.

 

My wild and woolly garden in the making.

 

This the 2nd year my  Annabelle hydrangea has been in the ground and  the 1st year it has bloomed.  

The Annabelle Hydrangea has finally bloomed. I am delighted! 

Sadly one of my favorite flowers did not come up in  this bed despite my heavy planting of seeds. - My zinnias. Boo Hoo!  😏😀Fortunately, I have a few growing in the upper gardens. 

 Mr. Pinker has been bringing home more rock  from the creek. Perhaps in the future, new garden areas will be framed with the roly poly stones. 

Creek rock line most of the beds. 

In the evenings, I like to sit in one of the patio chairs that I found on the side of the road. I watch the butterflies , bees and hummingbirds. Occasionally, I swat at mosquitoes that seem to pester me just when I want to relax.  I usually have a piece of needlework nearby. 

The Garden is My Home  is in the hoop. I am slowly making progress on it. 

Working on a piece of embroidery. 

Speaking of gardens , I would love to show you my latest house that I meant to share a few weeks ago, but alas I was lost in my own secret garden. 🥀🥀🥀

This little stitch is called The Blue House, and it has a small garden of flowers just beyond its door. 

 

This house was inspired by a house I saw in Alabama as we traveled. 

What a pity, there are not many windows for the residents to view the blooms , but they can make their way outside of his humble blue home and sit among the flowers. That is what I would do.😀

The Blue House was stitched on 14 count  coffee/ tea dyed Aida using -- DMC floss colors which included: 

221, 372, 610, 642, 648, 730,732 , 775, 822, 844, 869, 926,  930, Blanc. 

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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. 

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Did you notice the darling red, white and blue wool  pennies?

My new dough bowl filled with sweet wool pennies. 

 My friend , dear Cheryle surprised me with a sweet package filled with these darling woolies to fill my dough bowl. ❤💙❤💙 ( Be still my heart- patriotic colors!) 

She also sent me some cosmetic wedge sponges to prop up my pillows in my dough bowls. She said she saw that tip of Youtube. Now isn't that clever!   Thank you so much, Cheryle.😘🤗❣

Well, Sweeties it is getting hot as the dickens. I guess we best go inside and enjoy a tall glass of iced sweet tea, put up our feet and do a bit of stitching. What do ya' think? Thank you for joining me today. 

Now let's relax! 😀😁😘 

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"A garden is a friend you can visit anytime  " - Unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy. .  Love and miss you, Amo. 

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻                      🌻🌻🌻🌻

Tomorrow will be a good day for a parade of stitches. If you are in the neighborhood , put on your hat while we march through the sunflower fields. 

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Bees, Jacks and Tiny Stitches

 Happy Tiny Tuesday! 😀 Hello Sweet Peas. How are you doing on this fine summer's day?

 I bet you are wondering what is up with "Tiny Tuesday" . Well a few years ago my sweet friend, Christina on IG ( Hi Christina!) started stitching tiny pieces on a certain day. So that is what I have been doing ever since then. It is part of my stitching rotation.   The rotation for me might be to just spend 15- 30 minutes on a project and then move to my "focus" piece. Of course, I am not a stickler to my rotation often I fly by the seat of my pants. 👖👖

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    Here are some of my rotation themes. Most are ideas from other dear stitchers.

MONDAY-    MERRY MONDAY - Christmas/ winter stitching

TUESDAY-  TINY TUESDAY-  Work on smalls

                    - TOMATO TUESDAY- Sewing related stitches

WEDNESDAY- WITCHY WEDNESDAY- Halloween themed stitches

                     -  WINTER WEDNESDAY- Winter themed stitches

                     - RED WEDNESDAY- Redwork

THURSDAY- THANKFUL THURSDAY- Thanksgiving or sentimental stitches

                      - EMBROIDERY THURSDAY- I work on an embroidery project

FRIDAY-        FALL FRIDAY- Autumn related stitches

                      - FARM FRIDAY- Farm related stitches

SATURDAY- STARS AND STRIPES SATURDAY- patriotic pieces

                      - SAMPLER SATURDAY- samplers

SUNDAY-     SANTA SUNDAY- Christmas / winter stitching

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It is "Bee Stitching" time for me. And... a new stitch is in the works... - The Apiary Garden. I am stitching it on 14 count Rit  charcoal gray dyed  fabric.

 A start on Apiary Garden .

Have you seen the darling  Miss Bee freebie from The Little Stitcher? It is a cutie patootie! I will be working on it today too.

  

The wings are being stitched in Miss Bee from The Little Stitcher. 

And... Have you seen these at Walmart? Mom gifted me this the other day. She knew my love for watermelons , pumpkins and Halloween. I had to laugh. I would have never thought of a watermelon Jack-o-lantern. Would you?  Cute as can be though. 

Speaking of Halloween, I pulled out With Thy Needle and Thread's "Boo To You!" last Wednesday.  I slowly worked on her dress. There are some rough stitches in there- I have to admit sometimes my eyes fail on me. LOL. But I am plugging right along.  This is my Witchy Wednesday stitch. 

Sorry for the blurry photo. 

So tell me. Are you working on a teeny stitch right now? And do you have a rotation or do you fly by the seat of your pants?     

Have a beeautiful day! 

 Now remember to do something that you love. 

Oh, and if you have a chance stop back by tomorrow. I will show you snippets from my garden and there just may be a new house stitch .🏡 ❤

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"It's the little things.  " -

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy.  Love and miss you, Amo.

  

Fabrics are cut for my Around the Garden blocks. I am woefully behind. 🙄

You are my Sunshine!

 Can I give you a big ole' hug? 🤗

Good morning, sweet friends and welcome. Gosh , I am  uplifted by all of the love and words of sweet encouragement to persevere. Thank you from the bottom of my pea pickin' heart for lifting me up when I was  feeling down. 🤗😘 

You are all the best! You are a ray of sunshine! And you are right. I should pick myself up, do what I love and just be me! And that is what I am going to do. Thank you, friends. 🙏🫶

You are my Blooms of Sunshine! 

 So sorry this looks crooked. 😏

Soooo... what did I do this weekend? Well a little messin' and gommin' as my Nanny would say. LOL. 😀

I was watching some videos of several textile artists who were dying fabrics for dresses , dolls and quilts using "pickings from nature". So I moseyed outside and picked a few muscadine leaves and decided to see what would happen if I dyed some 14 count Aida. 

Gathering muscadine leaves for dyeing. 

Out came the big red pot. I added the leaves, a smidge of salt - again I was just messin' and gommin'. 

Adding the muscadine leaves, water, and salt to the big pot. 

The fabric soon went into the pot as well. I brought it to a boil and then turned it down to a simmer . It brewed for quite a while. 

Oh yes, I worked with all of the kitchen stuff on my stove. I was right there with it so no danger. 😀😁

Fabric added to the pot to brew. 

The fabric turned out nice- just a soft antique look to it.  I am not sure what to I will stitch on it yet.  

 Have you ever dyed fabric with "pickins' from nature"? 

Muscadine leaf  dyed aida and  white aida

I fully finished "Tiny Blackbird from Blackbird designs. This was a gift from ,dear Barbara that I started last year. I used scraps of thrifted fabric to finish it. I look forward to using it in a fall display come autumn.  Thank you , Barbara. 🤗

And I pieced more Kitchen Sink aka Paper Chain blocks

Well, Sweeties that was my weekend in a nutshell. 

Again, I must say, you are a blessing in my life. Love ya'! 

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"The best happiness in life is friendship.  "- unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy . I  love and miss you, Amo. 

Rusty crusty  garden farm equipment. 

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet.

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Merry Christmas is my Merry Monday stitch. I will be sharing it soon. 

To Blog or Not To Blog?

 Good afternoon, Sweeties and Happy Friday.

It is rather a mild day here in the holler I have been sitting outside on the swing watching the hummingbirds,  stitching away and thinking.🤔

Come September will be my 6th anniversary on social media. I have met so many wonderful friends through IG and blogging  I want to thank all of you who take time out of your busy day to spend it with me. Your kindness and support has truly been a blessing. 

 Here lately, I have been struggling . Ever so often I will get a comment that bothers me.

 Just the other day a comment was left that was inappropriate based on the topic I was talking about and the emotions tied into the topic. I am sure some of you know what topic I was posting about- a sensitive subject and dear to my heart.  I discussed it with Mr. Pinker . Should I get off social media or stay? We discussed this at some length. But I just don't know. 

I will stew on it for awhile. I know other bloggers have stewed on the same question from time to time. Which ever direction I go, know that I appreciate and love ya' 

Thank you for dropping by. 

Happy stitching and quilting, y'all, 

Melisa

"Life is sweet! "

Hugs and Stitches!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you. 

Scrapping Away

I am doing a lot of scrapping! 

Cutting strips. 

Sewing strips

Reds, Whites and Blues all ready to be pieced.

 It is Scrappy Happy Flag time! Welcome, y'all.

 Now see I told you- I am still not done with patriotic  projects. 😀

Ten more Scrappy Happy Flags added to  my other happy blocks. 

Alycia's " The Ribbon " QOV quilt along begins today. Last week she shared the cutting instructions. Click here   to visit Alycia's introduction to the QAL.  Thank you, Alycia for offering this to us. 🤗

My fabrics are all picked. I am going all the way scrappy. 

2" strips waiting and ready. More cutting still be done. 

Hmmm what else is going on? 🤔Well...

Straight off my finishing table is  Patriotic Mini Sampler

I took some snippets  of fabric and created a little bow to attach to the corner edge. All done and ready for next year. 

Well that is what is going on in the holler on this fine summer's day. 

What are you up to? 

 As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"A thoughtful mind when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag but the nation itself. " - Henry Ward Beecher

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy. I miss you more and more each day. Love and miss you, Amo. 

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Do you believe in signs? The other day when I was cutting fabrics for Alycia's QAL. I came up on some scrap fabrics that I purchased at a yard sale. As I was cutting them into strips . I spotted my sister, Amy's, nickname- "Amo" . I didn't know what "Amo te" meant so I went to Google translate and typed it in. Immediately, it popped up "I love you. " I started crying. Amo often sends me signs. This one was extra special . Do look for signs from your loved ones; you will find them. 

 I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needleworkers to meet. 

Cecilia at My Thrifted Store Addiction for Vintage Charm- Wednesday

Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday  Wait Loss- Wednesday

Denise at For the Love of Geese for Put Your Foot Down- Thursday

Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday- Thursday

Nina at Creations, Quilts, Art , Whatever by Nina for Off the Wall Friday

Alycia's of Alycia's Quilts for Finished of Not Friday

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🌞A Berry Nice Parade- A Look at Past Berry Freebies 2025- Early 2025 berry Freebies. 

🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade. 

🌞Time to Dye-  2024 post on how I tea/ Coffee Dye my fabric. 

🌞Pin Pillow Tutorial - 2023 post on how I finish my pin pillows with chenille trim.