Thursday, August 30, 2018

Cross stitch, Flowers, and my Pumpkin Moon!

Hi there cloud friends.  I thought I would get in one post before August is gone.  Here in the NW we have had the hottest, driest, smokiest summer ever!! That being said, I am ready for Fall !! At times our air was more polluted than China.  We have had forest fires to the north, east, and south so there was no avoiding the smoke. Our worst conditions came from the fires in British Columbia. There were several days when we were told to stay indoors as much as possible.  Thank goodness we put in AC three years ago.  However, my garden has done well and I have spent many hours watering!!  If you just like to see stitching then just look at my first few photos.  After that, I will take you on a tour of my dahlias!

 This is called First Winds of Autumn.  It is a Blackbird design.  It was part of the Ladies Prim Society.  The colors on my photo are drab.  The real piece is full of lovely vibrant Fall colors.  It was designed to be a strawberry.  As you all know, finishing is not really my thing so a strawberry was out of the question.  I had to add to the bottom border so that it will fit into an antique frame that I have. It was a wonderful piece to stitch!

 This is my current project.  I was not able to get a good picture.  All I have left is the house.  I am changing the color of the house as a white one will not show up very well on my linen.  I am thinking of a sage green. That will look good with the pretty Autumn colors.

  Here are the dahlias!








 This lily just had to be here.  The flowers were larger than my DH's hands!  And it smelled heavenly!. 

OK, this is what smoke does to the moon!  I am calling it my pumpkin moon in honor of the coming of my favorite season, FALL!! I hope all of you have a great weekend and thanks so much for joining me today!

22 comments:

  1. First Winds of Autumn is lovely. Your dahlias are gorgeous!! I miss mine. What a PUMPKIN moon. :)

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  2. Barb, the First Winds of Autumn is gorgeous. This is one of my favorite. I look forward to it one day coming out to the public for sale. I can't wait to see how you frame it. I think it will be a real beauty framed.

    And those dahlias are so lovely. Another friend with a green thumb. Love the colors and the size.

    That sure is a "pumpkin moon"!
    RJ@stitchigfriendsforever

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  3. Love the Blackbird piece! and your dahlias are GORGEOUS!! Mine are just starting to bloom as I got them in late but they are making me happy. Hope the smoke clears soon. It has been a long hot summer. Take care - hugs!

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  4. Your stitching is wonderful.
    Lovely flower photos.
    Manuela

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  5. Your stitching is lovely, the hot weather brings out the best blooms in dahlias and yours are stunning.

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  6. The BB piece is gorgeous, love the colors.
    Thanks for sharing the pics of your Dahlias, they remind me of my Grandma.
    Hope the smoke subsides soon.
    LOVE, love that Pumpkin Moon!!
    Have a great weekend!
    Marilyn

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  7. Lovely stitching, I haven't seen that one before.
    WOW your Dahlias are spectacular!! Mine have been very poor, only one or two blooms on each,
    you will have to let me into your secret :-)

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  8. Barb, Your summer is the extreme opposite of mine, rain, rain and more rain and the added heat, well, I'm looking forward to my favorite season too! Your First Winds of Autumn is gorgeous!!! It came out beautiful and I think framing it will show it off better than a strawberry. I love it!! YOur new stitch will be another lovely Fall addition.
    Your dahlias are stunning!!! I'm going to gardens tomorrow to photograph dahlias, I think they are such gorgeous flowers and yours are spectacular! Your Pumpkin moon photo is beautiful. Have a great weekend, Mary

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  9. Oh pretty flowers! Nice idea to add that border of your finished piece. We were catching smoke from the Cali fires and turning things orange too. A bad year for wildfires. So glad to see a new post from you!

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  10. Oooh I love everything!! The wonderful blooms and beautiful stitching :)

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  11. Beautiful finish, and those colors! While I'm not anxious for fall there is no denying the colors are just gorgeous! I've been contemplating Penny August. Sage green sounds like it would make a lovely change. Your dahlias are spectacular and look at the size of the one compared to your hand! I think you have a green thumb hiding in that picture. : )

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  12. Your dahlias are amazing! I've never had much luck growing them.

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  13. Love the Blackbird piece. Looking forward to seeing your progress on Penny Autumn and the sage green house. Beautiful dahlias. Have a good weekend.

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  14. I'm so sad to read about all of your smokey air, Barb! That must be quite a change from the fresh air you are known for out there. It certainly did cause the moon to look amazing, though!

    Love your finish and I think a green house will look wonderful for your pretty fall WIP. And those dahlias--wow! They look so perfect. The few times we've tried to grow them, they are always very sad looking. I do think it is our poor clay soil here (at least that's what I'm blaming it on!!).

    Hope you have a relaxing week ahead and I do hope your air quality improves soon!

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  15. Beautiful stitching! Your Dahlias are so big and grand, wow! Even the daisies in the background are so many and beautiful:) the kind which I have seen only in good plant nurseries. How often do you fertilize and water? I know it depends on climate and soil as well. But even after all that air pollution, your gardening is a great success. I am a bit jealous now :D

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  16. I hope all the fires have stopped burning now Barb. How sad. Glad to see your garden is still blooming.
    Your stitching is so pretty!

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  17. Love the pic of your Blood Moon, Barb - I hope that the werewolves weren't out roaming around your neck of the woods - lol! Lovely, lovely stitching and your dahlias - wow!

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  18. First Winds is wonderful - and SO you! My, but you've grown some truly lovely dahlias - I hope you are treating yourself with lots of bouquets.

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  19. The First Winds of Autumn looks great, very still fall looking.
    Your flowers are gorgeous, I love the variety of colours!

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  20. You have finished such a wonderful piece, Barb. I love the autumn colours in First Winds of Autumn very much, browns and oranges are such great combination.
    Looking forward to seeing Penny Autumn finished. A sage green house would look gorgeous on it.
    We also had the driest and hottest summer since many years here, too. Fortunately up here in the mountains it wasn't as hot as in many other parts of my country. I'm so glad that summer is over and that we have the first days of a cool autumn.
    Your dahlias look wonderful. But I'm sure you had water them a lot.
    I hope that the wildfires will be over soon in the surroundings of your region.

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