Floss Friday – Cross Stitch Progress

Happy Friday, Friends!

It’s been two weeks since I’ve shown any cross-stitch progress. That is because I only stitched on one piece last week. It is still a good one.

Melissa’s Pinker n Punkin’ Quilting and Stitching Summer Stamp Sampler.

Last week’s stamp was Sunflower Strut.

Who doesn’t love crows strutting around a sunflower?

This week’s stamp is Summer Quilt. I think it is perfect for the center block of the sampler.

If you visit Melissa’s blog here, the link will take you to this week’s post about the stitch along. In this post, she has included links to all previous Summer Stamp releases.

Last Sunday was Zoom Stitch Day with friends. I could not decide what to stitch on. I needed a little break from all the patriotic WIPs so…I started something new, of course.

Red Letter Sampler by Threadwork Primitives

The colors are not quite as dark as they appear in the photo, but they are not as muted as the model on the chart cover.

Fabric = 36 count linen, Rhyolite from Weeks Dye Works

Floss = the called-for, stitching 2 strands over 2 linen threads

My recent schedule hasn’t given me a lot of time to be creative. However, I am keeping current with Melissa’s stitch-along, as well as Fat Quarter Shop’s quilt-alongs.  I’ll be back on Monday to share two more quilt blocks.

Enjoy the weekend ahead and I’ll see you soon.

 

Sewcialites 3 – Block 13 and A Fix

We are halfway through Fat Quarter Shop's Sewcialites 3 quilt-along. Block 13 is Back Porch Block by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co.

Cute block which is exactly what I expect from Joanna. I love her designs and her fabrics.

In this post I shared block number 6, Window Seat designed by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic. At the time I made it, I had sewn the bottom row incorrectly.

I’ve since corrected the block but never shared it.

I didn’t post a floss update last Friday because I didn’t have much to show. I’m hoping to improve upon that this week. We are getting ready for next month’s vacation, so my crafting time is limited.

Have a great week and I’ll see you soon!

 

Quilt-Along Progress

Happy Monday, Friends!

The weekend was absolutely wonderful. We had beautiful weather and spent a lot of time both days with my mom. My husband took us to a very nice restaurant for lunch on Saturday. We did a bit of shopping afterwards. Then he made a delicious dinner for us on Sunday. I didn’t take photos because we were too busy enjoying our time together.

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well.

I have three quilt-along blocks to share with you today.

The first is for Fat Quarters by the Dozen. Release number 8 is the Gardenia block.

I would love a king-sized quilt made like the cover photo. But…the quarter-square triangles in the middle challenged me and the block was very time consuming. Maybe I’ll consider it one day.

I’m using fabrics from several Lori Holt collections for the FQBTD quilt-along.

The next two blocks are for Sewcialites 3.

Block 11 is “Snuggle Patch Block” designed by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.

Block 12 is “Shoo Fly Block” designed by Sharon Holland.

I’m using a fat-eighth bundle of the Lyda Rose collection by Bunny Hill Designs for the Sewcialites 3 quilt-along. Kimberly Jolly from the Fat Quarter Shop is doing the same, so I am copying her fabric placement.

I’ve completed several more Four Patch Fun blocks as well. I need to start thinking about a layout for them.

I’ll be back on Friday with a cross-stitch update.  Hope you have a great week and I’ll see you soon.

 

Floss Friday -- Cross Stitch Progress

Happy Friday, Friends! 

This week’s cross stitch progress involves two projects.

The first is the May Day start I mentioned in this post last week. Happy Day by Plum Street Samplers…

I’m stitching this on 36 count linen by Fiber on a Whim, in the color Silver Fox. I’m using two strands of floss over two linen threads. Typically, I use only one strand of floss on 36 and 40 count linens. Some linen fabrics are too tight to handle two strands of floss but Fiber on a Whim is a bit looser. I love the coverage.

The second project I worked on is Pinker n Punkin’s Summer Stamp Sampler. Melisa released stamp number 3 on Tuesday. This is stitched on 28 count lugana (evenweave) by Zweigart, in the color Mushroom. I'm using the called-for DMC floss. Two strands of floss over two threads of fabric.

This is Summer Treat.  Thank you, Melisa, for such a fun stitch along.

Last Saturday was the plant sale at the lake.  I got there early, before the advertised opening, and there were already a lot of customers. I purchased a few small geraniums and a hanging basket.  I also got a T-shirt and a small sign. I’ll share photos of my haul in a future post.  It wasn’t much but it did support the lake.

The local middle and high schools were also having plant sales that day, but we were issued a freeze warning for Saturday night and Sunday morning. I didn’t want to buy a bunch of plants and have them sit in the garage for a week or so. I don’t have much time during the week for gardening.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms.

I’ll see you soon!

 

Floss Friday -- April Stats and Cross Stitch Update

Happy Friday and May Day, Friends. Are you dancing around the maypole today?

Here we are at the beginning of May already. This year is passing by quickly. I still need to put away Easter décor and get out the “May” pieces.

Before looking ahead, let’s see what I accomplished in April.  I had two starts and finishes…

Patriotic Pears Blue

Patriotic Pears Red

I had two new starts…

Summer Stamp by Melisa at Pinker n Punkin’ Quilting and Stitching

This week’s stamp is Summer Harvest. Melisa added straight lines to the carrot to give it more definition and also french knots to the strawberry to act as seeds. I may still include those at some point.

Patriotic Pears Red, White and Blue (pathetic start)

I touched one WIP…

Salute to Abigail

All of those projects totaled 3,643 stitches in April.

Cross Stitch plans for May:

• Finish stitching the last Patriotic Pear and fully finishing all three.
• Finish stitching Salute to Abigail.
• Continue stitching along with Melisa at Pinker n Punkin’ on the Summer Stamp. This has turned into my Tuesday evening stitching.
• Get back to stitching American Sampler by Crocette a gogo.
• Start Happy Day by Plum Street Samplers.

Happy Day will be stitched on 36 count linen by Fiber on a Whim in the color Silver Fox and using the called-for floss. I am stitching this with Christi of Java Girl Stitches on YouTube and Instagram.

Here are some nature photos from this week…

Mama, Daddy and babies resting in the shade at the lake.

Cardinal waiting for his turn at the feeder.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak on the feeder. He wouldn’t turn around so I could photograph his vibrant red chest.

My rhododendrons are in full bloom.

Fat Quarter Shop releases another Sewcialites 3 block, as well as a Fat Quarters by the Dozen block today. Hopefully, I will get those sewn this weekend and share them on Monday. The lake is having their annual plant sale on Saturday morning and I plan to attend. That may lead me down a gardening path…we shall see.

Enjoy the weekend ahead and I’ll see you soon.

 

 

Quilt Along Progress and Hiking

Fat Quarter Shop released Sewcialites 3, block #10 last Friday. Little Berry Block is designed by Pat Sloan.

The fabric I am using is the Lyda Rose collection by Bunny Hill Designs, and it doesn’t have any greens it. I copied Kimberly’s (Fat Quarter Shop) selection of fabrics so my strawberry stem is brown.

We didn’t see any wild strawberries on Sunday, but hubby and I took a couple of hikes with a local group. The first trek was off the Blue Ridge Parkway (MM431) to the summit of Richland Balsam Mountain.

We reached a 6, 410 foot above sea level elevation and had some amazing views.  I think you can see Table Rock and a few other “famous” peaks. I need to pay better attention next time.

After that loop, we proceeded further up the parkway to MM417 so that we could hike down to Skinny Dip Falls.  We passed a tree name “Dragon Tree.”

Skinny Dip Falls used to flow from way up in the mountain, but Hurricane Helene caused so much damage that it is now a series of just small falls.  It was still very serene and enjoyable.

At this elevation, spring is just beginning.

Rhododendrum

Red Trillium

We had lunch on the rocks before the day ended.

These hikes were considered intermediate treks, and they were fine. We look forward to joining this group again on future hikes at different locations.

I hope you had a lovely weekend and I wish you a wonderful week ahead.  See you soon.

Floss Friday -- Cross Stitch Progress

Salute to Abigail has been calling my name but I haven’t given her any attention since my last update.  Instead, I started stitching Patriotic Pears by Annie Beez Folk Art.

I finished the blue one…

Started the red one…

These are a quick stitch and I hope to finish the third one in a couple of days. Then I will attempt to fully finish them into pears myself, rather than sending them to a finisher. I watched a very good tutorial by Nichol Spohr on YouTube. Nichol does a fabulous job with her tutorials, and I feel this is very doable. I'm stitching Patriotic Pears on 32 count linen by Lapin Loops. I'm not sure of the fabric's color names, I'll have to ask Gary at GaRon Stitchery because he put the fabric pack together.  

I am also joining Melisa’s - Pinker n Punkin’ Quilting & Stitching – Summer Stamp Stitch Along.  You can read more about the stitch along on Melisa’s blog.

First the border was released… no progress photo 

Then the header was released… no progress photo... I started and just kept going!

And this week, she gave us “And the Garden Grows” Stamp 1

She will release one stamp per week, with the final reveal scheduled for June 27^th.

I am stitching mine on 28 count Mushroom Lugana by Zweigart, using Melisa’s suggested DMC floss colors. Stitch count is 107 x 132 and when finished, the piece will fit inside an 8 x 10 frame. I already have one picked out.

Melisa is very generous with her talents and offers her designs free of charge to all of us. Thank you, Sweet Melisa!!!

Are you stitching along with us? What has been keeping you busy in your crafty endeavors lately?

See you soon,