A Chickin Lickin Watermelon Hutch Tour and a Trifle

Good morning, ya'll. It's that time - time for another episode of Country Clutter . 😄 The other night I decided to change out my hutch decor from patriotic to a summer theme. I then realized that I  failed to show you my patriotic farm hutch . It was overly packed to say the least. Lots of stitching and ceramic farm animals.  

Last year after the fourth, I redecorated my hutch in the farm and cow theme. I am still in  love with  last year's Summer Farm Hutch . 

2021 Summer Hutch 

 I was about to herd the cattle and corral them on the hutch when I got distracted by some clucking hens. And that is when it hit me  This year's theme would be watermelon and chickens.   

We will start off with the top shelf. 

I kept the white plates some of which I stacked. The old cow planter was a Big Lots find probably from the early 2000's. On top of the watermelon bowl is Summer Pasture which I shared last year. It is based on my Nanny's farm.  I finished it on a Dollar Tree tray. The slice of watermelon is made of fabric and was a thrifty find. 

Next to the watermelon is Summer on the Farm.  Nanny had the most wonderful red barn that served as a hay barn as well as a tobacco barn. Oh the stories I can tell about that old barn but digress.  In the watermelon sugar bowl is a wooden chicken. 

Sliding on down to the 2nd shelf. 

In the corner, is a gourd that I painted years ago  to look like a watermelon. I glued watermelon seeds around the birdhouse opening.  The stitch next to it is Summer Farmhouse. 

 The little slice of watermelon is from a piece of wood that I found as dad was sawing down a tree. I painted it years ago. 

 Lookie at my newest addition to my flock. The yellow hen salt and pepper shaker was a NC find on a previous camping trip. 

The ceramic chicken bank was a Big Lots find years ago. Isn't it the cutest with a quilt on it's back? 

Amy gave me the vintage salt and pepper shakers. They are always on my hutch.  

Hen Party is a Little House Needleworks stitch that I completed a few years ago. 

In the little milk can gifted to me by dear Sue is  my Red , White and Ewe Trifle which I shared earlier this year.  

Gotta have a John Deere tractor in my hutch vignette. This little one was gifted to me by dear, Gwen. Sshhh! Don't tell Mr. Pinker or the grandbabies that I have this John Deere tractor. They will certainly try to sneak it away. 😁🚜 ( I will have to share my 2nd hutch which is decorated in all John Deere sometime) 

Now we are strutting on down to the bottom shelf where you will find more watermelons and chickens. 

 

In the corner is my vintage juicer, with Lori Holt's tractor stitch in it. Though you can barely see  it , Country Cottage Needlework's  Farm Fresh is in the corner. The ceramic red truck is a candle that I bought at the Dollar General at Christmas time. I put a watermelon in it's bed which hides the candle. 

It has been a few years since I have pulled out my watermelon cookie jar. Isn't it darling? It is sitting on a large wooden watermelon platter.  Below it is my Life is Better on the Farm. 

 

On the vintage scales, I added a doily and some thrifted bowl and a wooden watermelon. Below it is my teeny chicken quilt. 

Well that's the scoop in the coop, my friends. Before you leave, I would love to share a little trifle with you. This is a teeny stitch where I used up a wee scrap of 14 count aida. It is a Chicken & Watermelon Trifle- just a token.

 If you are interested choose your favorite colors and stitch this baby up. It would be a great ornament or scissor fob. I used DMC 498, 898, 310, blanc, 3345, 783, and 840. 

Click here for the trifle. 

 Click here to visit my tutorial on finishing a trifle. 

 Thank you for stopping by for a visit . Now are you ready for a big slice of watermelon?  As always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, ya'll

Melisa

Life is like a watermelon, you know you are going to get some seeds. Just spit them out and take another bite. 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. Love and miss you. 

I forgot to add my Watermelon Stamp to my hutch. 

Summer Stamp - A Summer Freebie

Hey ya'll. Happy happy Monday! This is just a short and sweet post today . Ya'll  I have dragged my heels on this stitch. Or should I say that I just about plain  forgot  about it? Lol😂🤷.  

It is the Summer stamp.

 I had good intentions to get this little stitch designed and stitched long before now, but better later than never.  

Bees and Sunflowers is the theme of this late summer stitch. I do believe I need to design some other summer stamps though for early summer .  What do you think? 

                        

If you are interested, I invite you to check out the links to the jpgs below. 

Click here for the instruction jpg.

Click here for the  charts. 

If you missed the other seasonal stamps. I provided the links below. If you click the Spring Stamp link you will find a stamp parade of other stamps as well. 

Spring Stamp

Winter Stamp

Autumn Stamp

I said I was going to keep it short and sweet so I better run before I start gabbing away. Ya'll have a beautiful day  and as always...

Happy stitching and quilting, ya'll, 

Melisa

Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen!!!

Hugs and Stitches!!!🤗🧵❤

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

Rambling About Sunday

Well hello there, honey pies. Come on in and grab a glass of iced tea.

  How has your week been?  Have you been buzzing about being a busy bee or just relaxing and enjoying the summer days? I have done a bit of both . 

On Monday, Mr. Pinker and I visited the Mennonite community. My heart leapt when I saw the sheep grazing in the field. You know me and my love for sheep. 

  I was hoping the Quilt Shop would be open , but soon found it was closed on Mondays . Oh , bummer. I will have to remember that. 

I canned 22 pints of squash and zucchini. These will be so yummy in casseroles come winter time. 

 I finished this darling freebie called  Bee Brave by Gail Pan Designs. 

      

On Wednesday, Mr. Pinker and I took the grandbabies camping at the lake. They enjoyed the water. 

Can you tell the little one is a character? lol

And the oldest really enjoyed kayaking. 

As we were at the river, we saw an all out brawl between an eagle, a blue heron and an osprey.  ( I wish I could have gotten a photo of all 3) 

The eagle was the aggressor . It dove down upon the blue heron trying to take its fish. 

Who won? The blue heron. It kept its fish and flew off. 

With the blue heron out of the picture, the eagle then continued the fight with the osprey. 

The osprey soon moved on and the eagle dove and captured a fish. It was all so interesting. 

So today's slow stitch project is continuing on the Rainbow Sherbet quilt. By the end of the week, I will have 3 rows of blocks completed. 

Have you already started making your plans for the week? I do not have too much on the agenda. 

What's the Plans for the Week?  Well....

🌞 1. Work on my Summer Days quilt blocks.

🌞 2. Quilt on the Rainbow Sherbet Quilt

🌞 3. FFO some cross stitch projects waiting in the wings. 

Whatever your plans are, I hope that your week is filled with blessings and lots of joy. Thank you for the sweet visit and as always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, ya'll

Melisa

If happiness is the goal- and it should be- then adventures should be a priority. 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. Love and miss you. 

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. 

     Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Kate at Life in Pieces for  Stitching Stuff ( Sunday) 

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Beth at Love Laugh Quilt  for Monday Making

Judy at Small Quilts Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal for To Do List Tuesday - Tuesday

Wordless Wednesday Miller Homestead

 Good morning, ya'll . When Mr. Pinker and I visited Roan Mountain State Park ,we visited the Miller Homestead. We were not able to tour the inside of the house but enjoyed strolling around the outside. These are few snapshots for a not so wordless Wednesday post😁🤐. Hope you enjoy. 

        

Have a blessed day and as always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, ya'll

Melisa

Going back to a simpler life is not a step backwards 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. Love and miss you. 

A Basket of Honeysuckle - A Bee Freebie

And a Beeautiful day to you , my dear friends. Good morning.  What's the Buzz for the day? Well  I thought I would give you a bee update. Last year, Mr. Pinker caught a hive a of  bees . We babied those darlings for several months but one month they just  disappeared. So not to be discouraged Mr. Pinker put out another trap and boy did we get a great hive. A few weeks ago the bees started bearding or cooling themselves. They seem to be doing well and are staying busy and productive. They are enjoying the clover right now. Down the hill is Amy's garden which they can visit as well.

The honeysuckle has bloomed and the flowers are no longer here to enjoy.  They were nice while they lasted. 

                 

The oldest grandbaby loved to pull the stem from the flowers and suck the nectar. Did you do that as a child? I did. I also loved making honeysuckle wreaths.  

                        

Inspired by the honeysuckle growing down our hillside and the new swarm of bees, my  mind started swirling and soon my needle was on fire with a new basket stitch. 

This is called A Basket of Honeysuckles.

                         

 I stitched mine on 14 count brown Rit dyed aida. I used 7 DMC colors for this piece which included 730 , 830, 3371, blanc,  780, 781, and 844. 

                            

This is a larger piece but it stitched up fairly quickly. It measures 123 x 88 which on 14 count aida brings it to about 8 3/4" x 6 1/4". 

 I framed mine in a thrifted  8 x 10 frame with 2 layers of batting underneath.  

The darling bee skep sitting on the honeysuckle wreath was sent to me by dear Pat . Her sister made it . Isn't it darling? 

 Because this is a larger piece and I am never sure how the jpg's come out on your end, I have created several jpgs with 2 different sizes of the chart. I am sorry that I can not create these in one download ( Remember I am plumb tech dumb. I'm lucky to get this far. Lol 😂😀) 

 Many of you know , but I always like to leave this little disclaimer.  

I stitch my little designs for fun and to decorate my home. I feel very blessed by this community and love sharing my little charts, but I am not a professional designer. And I do not have professional software. Thank you for understanding that I  have to put each page on separate links because of the devices I use. I apologize for that.  These are images of the chart  or JPG s and not downloads.   I am always grateful for your kind encouragement , your visits, and for stitching my little designs. 

Click here for the Instruction Page. 

OOOPS!!!! I made a MISTAKE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! I do apologize. I mislabeled  DMC 730 as G it should be / as seen on the chart. 

Click here for the single page Colored Chart. It is the small chart. 

Click here for the single page BLACK/ WHITE Chart. 

Click here for  page 1 of the larger Colored Chart

 Click here for page 2 of the larger Colored Chart. 

Click here for  page 1 of the larger  BLACK/ WHITE Chart  

 

Click here for page 2 of the larger  BLACK/ WHITE Chart. 

I am slowly putting away my patriotic decor and the bee decor is coming out. I am thrilled to add this one to my collection. 

Hive Sweet Hive 

Well that is what is going on in my little hive . What about you? Are you working on a summertime project today? Whatever you are up to today, I hope you have a wonderful time doing it.  Thank you, so much for the sweet visit , my friends. I truly appreciate each and every one of you . Have a BEETASTIC day and as always...

  

Happy quilting and stitching, ya'll

Melisa

Stop and smell the honeysuckle! 

Hugs and Stitches!!! 🤗❤🧵

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