The Stitch Up

End of Summer Round Up

I know that Labor Day is not the official end of Summer and realistically it stays warm enough around here to feel like Summer for another month or more.  But Labor Day always feels like the end of Summer.  Probably because growing up we usually started school the next day which really put the nail in the coffin of Summer as a kid.  So while not officially the end of Summer, Labor Day feels like a good time for a little look back on our goings on this Summer.

I kicked off Summer with a Summer Solstice celebration at my yoga studio.  We did 108 sun salutations outdoors.  There was a DJ and the whole thing was so much fun!

Also, our garden went nuts this Summer!  We have had tons of yummy tomatoes, fresh herbs and tasty peppers.  

We also saw Dolly Parton at an outdoor concert.  She was so amazing!  I would insert a picture from the concert but my pics all came out terrible so here is an adorable pic of Dolly with a kitten instead:

The biggest event of our Summer was my brothers wedding.  It was at a beautiful lodge in Washington and we  had a great time.  

It was like a vacation and a wonderful family event all tied up together.

I am currently making a little gift for the happy couple which I hope to ship out this week.  I'll post some pics once I have it all done along with an update on my other current projects.  While the end of Summer is always sad, I love Fall here and can't wait to work up some knitting and crochet patterns with my yarn stash.

Happy Labor Day all!

 

 

Back Yard Revamp

We have a really lovely back yard but it's got a big slope.  We've been playing with ideas of what to do with it.  We'd made our own raised garden bead and had some pretty good luck with raising veggies, but we were ready for more.

(Our previous set up)

We decided to get some expert help so we called the local nursery for a landscaping estimate.  Our landscape designer came up with a great design and about a month later we had four raised stone garden beds.

We planted a garden right away.  Since we got started a little late in the summer we bought some veggies and herbs that had already sprouted a bit.  We are keeping the vegetable garden to just two beds this year.  I planted a bee garden and some strawberries in the other two beds.  I think next year we will probably go with vegetables in all four beds.

The blackberry and blueberry bushes I planted last year are doing great.  The blackberry bush already has a lot of fruit that just needs to ripen.  I am ready to make some pies and jam!  I'm not sure if the blueberry bush will have fruit this year or not.  I read that blueberry bushes only get fruit every other year, so we'll see.

It's always exciting to see a big project completed.  We spend a lot of time outside in the spring and summer and are already enjoying our new backyard additions.

 

Late Summer WIP Update

Hi All!  Just thought I'd give an update on my previous WIPS and the new stuff I'm working on now.  First, a little embroidery:

I managed to finish this tea towel in time to check a few months off the calendar!  I love this pattern and I like the way the colors came together on it.  It's going to get framed, along with some other tea towels, in my craft room.

This next project, I did not blog about at all while I was making it because it was a gift and you just never know!  I made a baby quilt for some friends.  I had bought this fabric a while back, just because I thought it was adorable and knew that I would find something to make with it.  I actually used a bit when I made this project bag for myself.  It worked perfectly for a baby quilt.  I found a couple of organic cottons to mix with it at Joanns and a nice soft baby flannel for the back side so that the new little bundle would have a soft side to just cuddle.  I liked how bright and happy these colors are:

The new baby's name is Adelaide, hence the "A" I embroidered to personalize it a bit.  I love making baby quilts.  You get to use the cutest fabrics and the project always comes together pretty quickly.  I almost always use a play on this basic pattern.  It works great for a baby shower gift if you want to have everyone fill out a fabric square with best wishes for the new mom and baby and then sew them up together.  

Another project I started and finished before it hit the blog was this sampler:

 

This is a pattern that I designed and I plan to share in my next post.  I'm thinking to do a bit more detail in the orange flowers but haven't really decided yet.

The projects that are now "Works In Progress" are this cowboy boot embroidery pattern that I am planning to use for a bigger "Cowgirl Quilt" down the road:

I also have a fairly worn out sweater that I thought would be good to try a little crewel embroidery.  I've wanted to work on embellishing a sweater for a while and what better time than as we head into Fall?  I have a bunch of inspirational ideas saved on my Pinterest page here.  My favorites are this, this and this.  These are the colors I have to make a plan with - we'll see how inspiration strikes:

My last planned project is a snuggly cowl that will hopefully be done in time for the first Fall chill:

This is from the Crochet Boutique book which has a ton of great projects and I think that hot pink yarn is going to be really cute as a cowl.

I guess I have plenty to do!  It's always a little hard to change gears each season but we are soaking up the last of the Summer weather before we get ready to move into Fall.  

I hope everyone has a lovely Labor Day weekend!

Hot In The City

It has been H-O-T here in the mid-atlantic.  We also enjoyed three days of power outage as a result of the storms so I was somewhat happy to see the back end of June.  Despite that I did have some nice days and got out and about despite the heat.  I used a short day of work a couple weeks ago to take the long way back to the metro and play tourist in Georgetown.  

The view from Key Bridge is always pretty and you actually get a little breeze on hot days.

I stumbled on a new and AWESOME addition to the Georgetown food scene:  Pie Sisters.  This place does cupcake size pies that are delicious.  Really - a pie that you can shove into your face in one bite is a genius invention.

Because of that pie discovery and a few other summer time splurges I've also been doing a little more walking.  We have a lovely forest near our house and with the fireflies out at dusk, it makes exercise a tiny bit magical.

We've done some gardening, some grilling and relaxing on the deck.  The cat has taken relaxing to the extreme and goes straight to coma.

I think she's the only one who loves this weather.  She could doze out there for hours.

I've got a bunch of WIPs (Works In Progress) happening right now, so I'm going to try and categorize them in my next post and hope that will give me a little extra motivation to wrap them all up.

Happy Summer!

Summer Daze

We have been having a pretty fun summer so far.  Even the "Heat Dome" is not keeping us down.  

We've done some grilling.

Lots of relaxing in the back yard and enjoying the warm evenings.

Some free concerts at the park - the best so far was Sierra Hull.  In the trees, under the stars - it was a great way to see a show.

Long drives out in Virginia horse country.  This old barn looked so pretty during a summer storm.

A little shopping in some of the cute little antique stores.

There has been time for some sewing despite all the outdoor activity.  I finished this pair of pillowcases.  We have this duvet cover in red from Pottery barn and I thought they'd go nicely together:

It's a stamped pattern and intended to be done in beige but I like how the red came out.

I also finished my "travel project":

The long flight to Germany this summer gave me plenty of time to work on it. 

I used a split stitch to fill in the pheasant and I like the texture.  

I'm doing a bit more crafting although we are trying to enjoy as much of the summer weather as possible before Fall comes.  Even with the Heat Dome, Summer goes by too fast!