Crazy About Red, White and Blue

I am working on my bird embroidery but....

I've been inspired....

And because I can't embroider at night (too dark) and I'm missing keeping my hands busy while watching TV.

I keep thinking about these adorable patriotic flag pillows I'm seeing on Pinterest.

Then I remembered when sorting through my bed linens I found a rectangular pillow that would be perfect for a stars and stripes pillow cover.

Next step was gathering together the patriotic colors of yarn. 

 Yep, I have those too. 

 I'm on a roll.

Aren't these the cutest feet! 

 No, they aren't mine. 

 Shucks...

Wouldn't the back of the pillow cover be stunning in a pattern like these petals?

Maybe you will be inspired by one of these free crochet projects.

I think I will be busy tonight. 

 I have no pattern to follow for my pillow cover but...

 I should be able to come up with something that will look halfway decent.  

At least so one can tell it's a flag!

(all photos from Pinterest except the one of my pillow form and yarn)

Have a wonderful 4th of July week!!

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Summer Days Here at Teacup Lane

Our flowers are blooming!

Hubby just left in our truck to run some errands - it's so sunny and pretty out I immediately grabbed my iPhone to take photos of the back yard without the huge black truck parked in the way.

This is a Chestnut Oak tree that has the cutest little acorns. 

 It's getting tall and has wonderful shade now.

See how tall it is!

We moved our old flagstone walkway from the front of our house back here in front of the shed and along the driveway.

Re-using what we had here has worked out well. 

So much better than the dirt and grass.

We're getting some estimates to take our grass out here beside the garage and replace with a gravel flagstone area. 

 Our outside water faucet and hose are kept here and grass just doesn't work. We want to keep the mower guy away from the house sliding too.

We want to replace the small pavers placed here along the deck with a gravel and flagstone walkway and have a stone edging put in around the walkway and around the Serviceberry tree. 

 Then I can plant some flowers under the Serviceberry tree too.

Again we also want to keep the mower guy away from the deck sliding.

That should tiny up this area and let it function better at the same time.

Lots of photos of my zinnias in all their glory.

It's a lovely morning. 

 I'm sitting out on my porch reading up on left handed embroidery so I can start working on my bird embroidery.

I forgot how detailed the directions are for embroidery.  

Luckily I have some new embroidery needles I can use.

Wish me luck!

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Presenting My "Moonlight" Pillow Cover

Last night I finished the green edging and selected three black vintage buttons from my button pot.

This is the black granny rose side with the three vintage black button closure.

And this is the white granny rose side.

This little black and white granny rose travel pillow looks good out on the porch.

What do you think of my pillow's new name "Moonlight"?

Pammy Sue of "Scotty's Place" thinks I should crochet a granny rose throw in black and white. 

 I agree with her it would be stunning but I'm taking a break from crocheting ~ and granny roses ~ to try to finish my bird embroidery I started working on in the 1980s.

This is my friend "Teddy". 

 He lives behind us and likes to come over to visit. 

 He's a rescue dog who was lucky to find a good home and neighborhood to live in.

He's a sweetie. 

He has the cutest black nose.

Now I have to study my embroidery directions because I don't remember how to do anything. And I have to embroider left handed. I can't do that right handed like I can crocheting.

I'll leave you with a cute, but so true, Internet joke.

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One is NOT Enough

I had set aside six granny roses in a shade of green I didn't use for my Rose Garden throw with the intent of using them in another granny rose pillow cover.

Because ONE is NOT ENOUGH!

You never know what will inspire you.

Maybe a cute black and white doggy.

Or a beautiful black stallion running in the white crisp snow.

Then you see it...a black and white throw/rug from Ikea. 

 And you think "I can crochet this!"

And before you know it your fingers have grabbed some yarn because you just have to see what a granny rose would look like in black with a white background.

And then your fingers are busy crocheting a white granny rose with a black background.

Oh, yeah...I like it!

And while we are at it let's join the squares in black yarn.

Looking good.

Keep going ~ don't stop now.

Black rose side...

White rose side...

Happiness today is black and white.

The final touches will be to add a green yarn edging and buttons for the opening.

Thanks for sitting down with me on another granny rose journey. 

 These are so fun to make it's difficult to leave them.

Stay tuned for the final presentation!

{{{non-crochet images are from Pinterest}}}

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I Promised You a "Rose Garden"!

Gosh, I can't believe I finished my "Rose Garden" granny rose throw yesterday. 

 It's a beauty!

When I started crocheting again four years ago (for the third time since the 1980s), I never dreamed I could crochet a throw - let alone a throw as beautiful as this. 

 Many thanks to Astri at Apple Blossoms Dreams for sharing her vintage granny rose pattern!

Stats:

Body: 41 red granny roses and 40 green granny roses with green leaves and white background joined with red yarn (rose pattern here);

40 white roses with green leaves and red background joined with red yarn.

Border: 48 green flowers (pattern #86 here);

Edging: a million stitches of little white flowers (video here).

A total of one hundred and twenty-one granny roses in the body and 48 green flowers in the border and a zillion little white flowers in the edging!

Now you would think after making that many roses I wouldn't forget how to crochet the granny rose. Ha...I tried to make one yesterday and couldn't remember how it started.  I have this urge to make a black rose... 

 But I can still remember how to crochet the little white flower edging because that's the last stitch I worked on.

This throw was fun to make...none of the roses or flowers were difficult and the Caron Simply Soft acrylic yarn is lovey to work with...the cotton yarn (green granny roses) was a little stiffer to crochet but not that bad.

It's a heavy throw measuring about 54 inches by 55/56 inches.

For pattern info etc go to labels at bottom of this post and click on "Rose Garden Throw" to see all previous postings.

Doesn't it look pretty hanging out on our screened in porch?

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