My Cozy Little Hand Stitching Retreat

                

Today I choose: calm over chaos, serenity over stress, peace over perfection,
grace over grit, faith over fear. 

          

Hey there from Nannyland,

I spent this past week piecing a lovely-tho-complicated quilt top using some of my treasured emotional support fat quarters.  My discombobulated brain needs a little rest before I do all the finishing touches and get it ready to bind,  so it's folded neatly on a hanger, languishing in a closet for now.  In the meantime, I took a breather from creating my journals and cards in Nannyland, and created a cozy little retreat where I can do my hand stitching projects.  My list of necessary trappings consisted of good lighting, comfortable chair, place to store projects and a big TV screen with cable. 

I found all of these things in a cozy corner in my roomy master bedroom.  I have loved lounging in my relaxing blue fabric recliner while reading a book or magazine, so it was easy to expand its use to hand sewing.  An Ottlight floor lamp bought at 40% off from Joann Fabrics creates excellent lighting for my projects and a lap desk bought at Barnes and Noble provides a convenient work space. 

 A large screen TV already exists opposite the chair, perfect for watching my favorite YouTube quilting and sewing videos while stitching. 

Colorful sewing boxes are the best for varied projects because they have a large compartment at the bottom and removable trays at the top for smaller supplies...and they look adorable. BTW, that amazing and pristine mid-century cedar chest is a gift I received for Christmas when I was 16 years old. No, you can't buy it!  

I keep my supplies for English paper piecing in a sewing box with small narrow trays at the bottom to store my fabric covered templates.  I have a bobbin box with multiple colored threads stored there also.  On the top layer I keep my smaller supplies such as needles, glue, thread, needle threader, magnets, scissors, etc. 

A pretty hand-made basket holds my yarn, the crochet needles I am using for my project, scissors and a large plastic needle to weave threads. My collection of smaller hooks and less used supplies are in a cute smaller sewing basket. 

I've noticed that Cross stitch has regained its popularity recently, especially among quilters.  I used to love needle point and embroidery and spent many hours doing some elaborate projects like family Christmas stockings, which we still have to this day.  I'm discovering that counted cross stitch is much less complicated and just as satisfying.  I also think it must be beneficial to my aging brain, because there's a lot of math, counting and trying to keep my place on a sometimes very intricate pattern.  Calisthenics  for the brain.    

I've seen some of the most adorable project bags made by my quilty friends and they seem like a very good way to use scraps and learn to navigate sewing a zipper, but for now I'm using some mesh bags I found at Staples and they work great.  I'm storing them in a cherished hand-made basket I bought in Charleston, SC from an amazing hand weaver.   Decorative and useful is my mantra.  

On the opposite side of my master bedroom is an equally tranquil space.  When we moved from our last  home, I very reluctantly had to give my piano away for lack of space in our new home.  As promised, the first thing my husband bought me was a high tech keyboard that feels and sounds amazingly like a piano.  And I have loved that it never goes out of tune.  I have the same Ottlight floor lamp here and a shelf above with room for books and a metronome.   

I love having a choice of cozy retreats in my home where I can choose a different blissful reverie, depending on my mood.  A cozy nest is just what we all need to wrap ourselves in when the stresses of life get a little overwhelming.  I hope you have such a space. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply)

Hooked Again - Crocheted Granny Square Pillow

Never underestimate the importance of having fun. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

When I moved to my new home a couple of years ago, I vowed that I would pick my two favorite artistic pursuits, cardmaking and quilting, and leave the myriad of other things I love behind for lack of time, space and energy.  Goodbye to parchment craft, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, scrapbooking, painting, the whole shebang.  Hello to focusing on the things I love most and spending more time perfecting my skills. I gave away box after box of supplies to elated friends but  I couldn't part with my tools because they were expensive and, well, you never know.  

I was happily living in my Nannyland bubble whenl I noticed some of my favorite fabric and quilt designers were  incorporating their designs into smaller projects in the form of needle point and crochet.  Enter my old friend, the crocheted granny square.   Lori Holt has her own chunky thread (size 2 yarn) in all the colors of her fabrics and has made some absolutely charming projects using the original granny square that has been a crochet staple since forever.  When I actually spied some granny square pillows in Bed, Bath and Beyond last week, I knew I had to pull out my hooks and give crocheting a crafty comeback.  Lori's beautiful afghan was way too ambitious for me but I couldn't resist giving this cute pillow in Lori's YouTube tutorial a go.                                                     .

Just a few Hallmark movies later, I had this fun handmade addition ready to perk up my quilty guestroom.

 I'm obsessed with Lori Holt fabrics so her coordinating yarns were a perfect match to many of my quilts.

 

I followed Lori's instructions and crocheted several granny square rounds in different colors.  I used twelve colors in all, and crocheted them in the same order three times. 

I was happy to use a pillow I already had instead of a regular pillow form.  Amazingly, the red coordinated with all the bright colors in my crochet work. 

The corners should meet in the middle but not overlap too much because the piece needs to fit snugly around the pillow and not sag anywhere. 

I used a single crochet to join the corners together in the back.

And, voila, a fancy bright pillow for my guest room in keeping with the quilty handmade vibes. 

Now, I'm back to knitting wash cloths for Christmas gifts because it's so fun to have something productive to do when I'm watching TV.  Sitting quietly has never been my thing.  I guess I  can allow knitting and crocheting to sneak back into Nannyland as long as it's just in little spurts.  But no giant afghans for me this time.  Just busy little lap projects in front of the TV.  But, alas, my yarn bins are filling up again...drat. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.  

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply)