2 Quilts Done!

At the end of 2022, I put the finishing touches on two quilts!  I had sent both of these off for long arm quilting in April and they were returned quickly.  When they came back, I was sick and it was a long road to partial recovery.  Anyways...the first one is the very first quilt top I pieced which was October 2008.  That doesn't matter now since it's done.  Right?!  I remember going to the quilt shop to pick out fabric for my first class and being so overwhelmed that I asked one of the clerks to just pick out something/anything!

The second one is the Fat Quarter shop 2020 designer mystery.  I finished the piecing of this in 2022 just before I sent these out for quilting.  I really enjoyed piecing this one.  FQS's directions for cutting and piecing are always so so good and there is room in the fabric they give you for cutting mistakes.  I've been in BOM's that if you make one small cutting error or other error then you are out of fabric to fix it. 

I hope you're having a great week and that all your stitches are happy ones!
 

Happy 2023!

 Hello blogland!  It's been eon's since I've posted but I'm still here!  Happy new year!  How did you celebrate?

I celebrated by starting 12 projects between 10am and midnight on New Years Eve!  It's part of the #nye12x12 on Instagram.  The "rules" are technically that you're supposed to start or work on WIPs one per hour between noon and midnight.  We decided to build some time in for meals, etc and started at 10am instead.

Let's be honest, what I was able to accomplish in one hour on each of 12 new starts isn't a lot.  So I won't post a photo of each of them.  I will post instead my list of starts from my planner that I used to plan out (with erasable ink) what I was going to start.   

About half of them are smalls.  I'll post photos when I get more progress made.  The main purpose of this post was to say HELLO! and jump back into blogging.  

I hope you have had a wonderful day1 of the new year and that all your stitches have been happy ones!

Progress!

I started a new quilt recently.  LaRosaraie by French General is the quilt and I have one block made.  It's a beast and I need to make 29 more!  I'm using La Rose Rouge fabrics from French General.  I'm sewing along with friends Susan and Jen.  It will be slow going for me for sure!

I've made some progress on Rachel Howells by The Scarlet House.  I'm using the called for Picture this Plus linen and the called for NPI Silks.  It is a delight to stitch. I thought the border might be a lot to get through but it is surprisingly very enjoyable!

I'm also coming along on Elizabeth Eyles by The Scarlett Letter.  This is a SAL that started on 1/1/22 in honor of Laura's Big Birthday (her 60th).  The SAL is on Instagram but you can find Laura's old blog HERE.  If you're on Instagram, her user id there is Maude and Mozart as well.  This is also a fun stitch though the cherubs in the border are time consuming.  Have you seen a cherub border anywhere else?!

My son is getting married!  The big day is one month away tomorrow!   We are all excited and I hope I don't sweat too much at the outside ceremony and reception.   May will be a busy month for us.
                                        

That's all for now!  May all your stitches be happy ones!

A Bit of Quilting

In the past couple of months, I've done just a bit of quilting.  I'm trying to finish up my Fat Quarter Shop 2020 Designer Mystery Quilt.  I have an older block of the month from them and I'm glad they are generous with their monthly fabric packs as cutting mistakes don't derail everything and that BOM has long out of print fabric.

I was able to get the center priced on the 2020 BOM.  

I also got the pieced setting triangle completed too!

I had to be very careful to label these blocks that go on the outside.

I've actually have all of these pieces pieced together but had to put it away for furniture delivery.  My design board isn't up in the new house yet and I was using a bed that was replaced instead.  I have some borders left to do and a few other things and then I'll be ready to send it off for quilting.

I've been stitching too but I'll save that for a separate post!  I hope all of your stitches are happy ones!

Most of 2021 Finishes

During the last year I've been absent from blogging, I have been stitching!  Let me show you some/most of what I've been up to.  In no particular order....

I finished Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings.

I finished A Sampler Grows by The Scarlet House.  I need to FFO this one.

I finished Ann Morison by HATS with several "design elements".

I started the MMM Crafts 12 Days of Christmas Felt Ornament series.  I'm stitching this with friends via zoom.

I also found my very first cross stitch when readying my parents house to sell.  

I finished Red Deer Sampler by GiGi R.

I stitched 3 Prairie Schooler Santas but could only find photos of 2.  FFOing is in progress.

I attended a KimberBell Machine Embroidery class and finished all 3 projects.  These are my first machine embroidery projects.

I finally finished Ann Dale by Shakespeare's Peddler!

Then two weekends ago I attended another Kimberbell class and finished these 3 projects.  I had forgotten most of what I learned months and months before but it came back to me quickly! The ornaments still need a hanger and a backing.

This is an embroidered and watercolor pencil card.

Other than what I mentioned above that is missing, there is one other small project that I'll post about separately when I get it FFO'd.  I'm not sure if I' ready to finish it quite yet though.  

Wishing you the happiest holiday season and a safe New Year!

 

One Year Gone

It has been a tough year during the year plus I've been gone.  A year ago this past Saturday, we lost my mom.  The night after we buried her, my dad went to sleep and never woke up.  I'm the oldest of their 3 children and have been busy taking care of their estate and grieving.  Trying to find a new normal without them.  This photo was taken on their 50th anniversary.  They were married for 61 years.  The boys are my children and the girls are my brothers.

Early this year, I received a note and a chart from Carol of Stitching Dreams.  You see, she lost her mother too in 2020.  A friend, Ginger, had sent her this chart to stitch in memory of her mother.  Ginger had also lost her mother and had stitched this chart in memory of her mother.  And now it was my turn.  You can read Carol's post HERE about this project.  Carol's also posted so eloquently about her first birthday without her mom, and in reading her post I felt a kinship with Carol in terms of finding comfort in knowing mom was whole again.  My mom lived with dementia for 11 years before her death.  It is a terrible disease.

Here is where this story gets a little embarrassing.  Carol sent this to me in MARCH.  Typically when someone gifts you something, you start stitching it right away.  At the time, however, I just could not do it.  It represented a lot of things I just wasn't ready to deal with.  We were also building a home and preparing to move.  I say that as an excuse but we all know, I could have stitched this quickly.  I just was not able.

I actually started this and got it mostly completed before we moved.  It was done except for one of my mothers initials.  This is the first home I have ever lived in that I will not have any memories of my parents.  They've always helped us move, paint, decorate, figure things out, make improvements etc.  I would have talked to my mom about the floor plan and furniture placement and decor.  Greg would have talked to my dad about things he saw during construction, how to take care of newly sodded grass, and all that kind of things.  

They are missed in many ways.

Saturday was the 20th anniversary of my mothers passing.  I took out this project and pulled out the one initial of moms that I had stitched.  It was too ghosty and I wanted her initial to STAND OUT.  So I stitched her initials, put my needle away and the project is waiting to be FFO'd.  In a weird way, Saturday was the right time to finish this little pillow.  I felt like mom was with me and we were chatting while I stitched.  So in an odd way, I do have a memory of mom here in this house.

I have already chosen another stitcher to pass this chart to who has also lost her mom.  I hope this helps her through her own grief journey, it her own time, as it has me.  Carol, I humbly thank you so much.  xoxo

Sampler September Wrap Up

I had every intention of posting every week for Sampler September.  That obviously did not happen!  I did end up rotating through all of the WIPs I intended to except for one and that one I'm going to destash.  Can't force love!  

I ended up having two finishes for the month.  The first one is the second in the series Springtime Pleasures by Barbara Jackson.  This little egg is TINY and is almost entirely specialty stitches.  The year is supposed to go down at the bottom but I wasn't feeling it so I may leave it blank if I don't figure out something later.  It was a fun stitch!

Springtime Pleasures by Barbara Jackson

Class offered through The Shining Needle Society

I also finished up Martha Pudsey by The Scarlett House last night.  Great way to end the month!  She was a fun stitch due to the funky colors and the border was loads of fun.  I've heard some people say the border reminds them of a string of Christmas lights.  Another fun stitch!

Martha Pudsey by The Scarlet House

40 count Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue

Called for NPI silks

I'm not sure how it got to be October but we are enjoying a great fall day today in Florida.  The sun is shining and it's only supposed to be 82 today.  I'm truly enjoying it!

Until next time, I hope all your stitches are happy ones!

Sampler September Week 1

I'm doing my own version of Sampler September this year.  I believe it was started a few years ago on IG but thought I'd post about it here too.  I'm defining this for me as a sampler of my WIPs.  I've pulled 20ish WIPs and hope to give each of them a day's worth of stitching.  Most are samplers, but not all and there are several teaching pieces included.  I may not make significant progress, in fact I won't, but I do hope that it will reignite the spark for the project.  

I'm only showing after photos as adding before photos would make this too photo heavy I think.

Up first was When Thou Art Rich by HATS.  I was at a spot - an entire row of queen stitches on a linen that was a similar color to the thread - where I was mentally blocked on this one.  I picked it up and something just clicked! I finished the row of queen stitches (which was only about 25% done) and started the satin stitch row below.  I'll definitely be coming back to this one soon.

Hannah Hammond by Gigi R was up next.  I was definitely not enjoying this last time I put this one away. I can't say that I love her now but we are in a better place.   Not a bad outcome.

This is a teaching piece by Jane Timmers of Fancy Work called Liberty Little Sewing Box.  This is for a class this fall.  There will be smalls and a box from LeHays that will be finished.  Super cute.

Mary Barres came out.  Hard to see but I completed the ghost alphabet and started that bottom motif.  She's a big girl and will therefore be a long term project.

Tocatta 1 by the Drawn Thread has not been touched in YEARS.  Why?  I have no idea!  It's so close to being completed except for the hem stitching which I've never done before.  This was, I believe, the very first SAL project of my stitching guild.

I started block 10 of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  The black box outline was already stitched, I do that before I put it away.  Everything else was stitched on its day of stitching which was a weekend day.  Closing in on the home stretch on this one too.

I'd call week 1 a success!  If I focused, I could realistically finish 3 of these before year end.  Will that happen?  Probably not.  That's ok though!  

I hope you're having a great week and that all your stitches are happy ones!

Why Do I Do This?

I'm not sure why I put off a task I do not like that doesn't take any real amount of time.  Isn't it better to just get it done?  I have trouble remembering that.  Case in point, this scarf has been finished and blocked and sitting in my sewing room only needing the ends woven in.  It has taken FOREVER.  Today I got it done and it's now in my dresser waiting for cooler weather that is still several months away.

This scarf is the Chevron Scarf byJoelle Hoverson.  Super easy to knit and the 4 row repeat is really just a few stitch combos to remember.  It's long and thinner than I'd typically knit so I will probably wear it like it's shown in the photo below.  Doubled up.  In Florida, that's often all I need in winter - something to keep my neck warm.

Chevron Scarf by Joelle Hoverson

Claudia Handpainted Yarns Fingering

Tropicana and Caribbean colorways

US 4 needle (I'm a tight knitter and should have used a 5)

I feel good having that done!  What do you put off doing that you always think that it wasn't really that bad to just get it done?

I hope all your stitches are happy ones!

 

Ornaments!

In the last week or so, I've had a chance to fully finish a couple of ornaments.  These were all stitched this. year and pinned to my quilting design wall to remind me to do the finishing. Typically, I make my own cording and sew it on.  This time I tried chenille and glued it on. Time will tell if that was a smart move or not but for now, I'm happy that they're fully finished!

Woodland Wish by Blue Ribbon Designs

Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue

Called for Threads and possibly the called for linen in 40 count

Little Red Barn by Little House Needleworks

Called for Threads

Called for Fabric in 36 Count

Be Merry by Chessie and Me

Called for threads

Called for fabric 36 count

Here are all of them together!  I'm happy to know that my stitching tree will have new ornaments for this year.  Last year was a dud!  

 Happy stitches!

More Sewing

I recently purchased an external hard drive for my Mac laptop.  I have an old laptop that went dark and I have about 5000 photos that are probably lost.  In those photos are some of my parents who are in their 80s and very ill.  I am now periodically backing up my photos.  The hard drive came without a case and I felt it needed to be protected.  I found some old, old, old French General fabric and sewed up a small zippered pouch for protection.  I used batting.  There is enough room for other things if needed.  It's not perfect, but it will do.

I also put together this block for my long languishing Long Time Gone Quilt by Jen Kingwell.  I started this as a BOM though Amitie Textiles in Australia many years ago.  Jen's style is outside my comfort zone especially when it comes to fabric selection.  I'm going with it as the BOM included all the fabrics etc.  I might as well use what I have and it's never a bad idea to try something outside your comfort zone in quilting.  I will say that her designs can really easily use whatever ugly fabric you might have.  They seem to work!

Wishing you a great week!  May all your stitches be happy ones!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

I have a quilting finish to share with you from a couple of months ago!  This is my Yankee Doodle Dandy quilt.  It was an easy and fun pattern.  Just what I needed for not sewing much recently.  I got a quilt kit from the designer as well which made things very fast as the kit came cut in 5" strips so I only had to subcut.  

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Maker Valley

I also joined the Fat Quarter Shop 2020 Mystery BOM (sold out) and I got my first block early this month.  I started to work on it right away and my first block is finished.

I've been really enjoying flowers from Trader Joes.  Most recently, I picked up peonies and they were gorgeous.  I've never had peonies in our home before but I think we will definitely be celebrating peony season each year from now on.   Fresh flowers have been bringing me joy!  What is bringing you joy during these crazy times?

I hope all your stitches are happy ones!