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Thursday, March 23, 2023

Stitches of All Sorts

Hi, Friends!

 

I’m here with an update on my cross stitch and sewing over the last week.


As I mentioned previously, I am working my way through old cross stitch UFOs. The most recent finish is Sew She Did by Lori Holt.


From my previous update…


Here is the finished stitching…


That sewing machine was no joke. There were a lot of stitches!


I’m saving the stitched finishes in a drawer for now. I’ll decide how to fully finish them later.


I made progress on
A Patriotic Christmas Eve by Twin Peak Primitives. I’m stitching this with a friend. We’ve broken the chart into sections. March’s assignment is to stitch the rocking horse, the words and start Santa.


Here it is when I last shared progress...

Here is where I am now…


I also made a little progress on Red Bird Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread.

Last photo I shared…

Where I am now…


From the sewing machine…


I made four Primrose blocks for Lori Holt’s Flea Market Quilt

These are the brown ones which will be in the corners of one of the borders. 


The remaining 36 blocks will all be different and made from these fabrics. All 40 blocks will measure 5 1/2" square.


And lastly, here is the block for week 20 of Sewcialites 2. This is Fascinate by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.


We will be in Florida next week for appointments. I’m hoping to continue to make progress on cross stitch projects while I’m there.


Wishing you a very happy weekend ahead.


See you soon!


Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Déjà vu

I had another productive week at the sewing machine last week.

 

First, was last Monday’s block for Lori Holt’s Scrappiness Is Happiness quilt along.


Week #19 Checkerboard Star Block, measures 10 ½” x 10 ½”

 

I really like how the center 9-patch pops and I love love love the blue and yellow fabrics together.

 

Next was a déjà vu moment…

 

This is last Friday’s Sewcialites 2 block. Week #19 Invigorate designed by Joanna Figueroa.



Practically the same block as Lori’s except the center is just a square instead of a 9-patch and it measures 9 ½” x 9 ½”.

 

And last but not least, is this week’s block for Scrappiness Is Happiness.


Week #20 Grandma’s Donut Block, measures 6 ½” x 6 ½”

 

I also started the Primrose blocks for the Flea Market Quilt and did quite a bit of cross stitch.  I’ll share those next time.

 

What I can’t share are the little projects for upcoming events that are taking up some of my time…those will come eventually.  I just don't want you to think that I only sew a couple of quilt blocks every few days 😊

 

Hope everyone is having a great week.

 

See you soon!

 

Monday, March 6, 2023

Progress on Stitching and Quilting

Hi, Friends.

 

Here we are in March already. I have so many things I want to accomplish this month. I am off to a good start on some things but not so good on other things.

 

I had a few distractions last week and didn’t stitch quite as much as I had hoped, but I did make progress on my oldest WIP which is Sew She Did by Lori Holt and Its Sew Emma.



This is where I left off last week…


This is where I am this week…


I also put together Block 18 of the Sewcialites 2 quilt along.  This block is Spellbound by Robin Pickens.

 

And finally, I finished the last three basket blocks for Lori Holt’s Flea Market Quilt.


Basket #10…


Basket #11…

 

Basket #12…

 

Next are a gazillion (slight exaggeration) primrose blocks. I think those will be good leader / ender units while working on other things.  All of the cutting is complete, and the lines are drawn on all 640 corner squares.

 

I am working on a couple of secret projects for two upcoming cross stitch retreats. My plan for this week is to finish those and continue with the Scrappiness is Happiness and Sewcialites 2 quilt alongs.

 

What about you? Do you have specific plans for the week or are you just going with the flow?

 

Either way, I hope the week ahead is a great one for you!

 

 

Monday, February 27, 2023

Missed FNSI and Progress


Happy Monday!


I fully intended to participate in Wendy’s Friday Night Sew-In on February 17th but something came up, something good. I’ll share more on that later.

 

I did make good progress on my cross stitch and sewing projects, though.

 

Here is where I am currently on Red Bird Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread.  You can see where I left off here.


 

Since I finished my oldest cross stitch WIP Irony, I picked up the next oldest which is Sew She Did by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet.  



I forgot to take a beginning photo but here is where I am now…

 

I am current on Sewcialites 2

 

Block #16 Christmas Star designed by Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts

 

And #17 Simplicity designed by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique



I am also current on the Scrappiness is Happiness quilt-along. 

 

Week 17’s block is Blossom


Today’s block, week 18, is Large Checkerboard block.



Fat Quarter Shop had a giveaway on Instagram a few weeks ago. You just needed to post your most current Scrappiness is Happiness block and tag them. Well, I played and won. I received three Lori Holt binders, her office bundle and a signed copy of the Scrappiness is Happiness book.  The photo isn’t great



Today’s plan is to finish a big project for work and see what I've missed in blogland.

 

Hope you have a great week!

 

 

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Quilt Blocks and Cross Stitch

Happy Hump Day!

Today I’m sharing my crafty progress for the last 10 days. It has been fairly even between quilting and cross stitch.

 

First, these are the Scrappiness Is Happiness blocks for weeks 15 and 16.


Twinkle Twinkle Scrappy Star – unfinished size is 8 ½” x 8 ½”


Apple Block – unfinished size is 11 ½” x 11 ½”

 

Since I was on a roll with Lori Holt blocks, I thought I would throw in a couple more baskets for the Flea Market quilt.  I was able to finish only one because….


Errr, so I unsewed…

And then sewed again…

Much better.  This is basket #9 of 12.

 

Then I moved onto Sewcialites 2, week #15, the Brighten Block designed by Minki Kim.


Next, A Patriotic Christmas Eve.


This cross stitch is designed by Twin Peak Primitives. I first showed this piece here and mentioned that I am stitching it with a friend.  We are stitching a specific section each month. February’s section was the Christmas tree and its planter.

 

And last week I told you am working my way through older projects and had picked up my oldest WIP.  I’m happy to report it is a finish….not fully finished but the stitching is complete.

Pattern Name: Irony
Designer: Hands on Design
Fabric: 14 count Aida, Whitewashed Board by Fabric Flair
Stitch Count: 63w x 91h
Finished Size: 4.5” x 6.5”
Floss: My own conversion, using Aurifloss
Start date: 6/11/19 End date: 2/9/23 (no shame in my cross stitch game!)
Current status is “FO” (Finished Object)

 

Thank you for your visit. I hope my next update will be equally as productive, if not better. I have a couple of secret projects in the works which I can't share for a while.

 

Hope the remainder of the week is enjoyable for you.

 

 

 

Sunday, February 5, 2023

FNwF, Slow Sunday Stitching, Sew Along Updates and Cross Stitch

Hello, Friends!

Here we are in February. It seems to me that the days are flying by.


Here is a quick update on this past week’s sewing and stitching.

 

I completed Lori Holt’s Scrappiness Is Happiness block #14 which is named Spare Squares Block.  It was super easy and all of the pieces were leftover bits from previous blocks, hence the name.


I then finished the Sewcialites 2 Block #14 named Enchant. This was another easy block, which was a nice break after last week’s challenge. It was designed by April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns.


As a reminder, I am stitching the 9” blocks using Cinnamon & Cream fabrics by Fig Tree & Co.

 

I took an inventory of my cross stitch projects and a status of each…maybe I’ll share those numbers with you soon, but let’s just say it was very humbling! I’ve put a little plan in place to try to finish up all the cross stitch projects I’ve started.  My idea is to have one focus piece which gets the majority of my stitching time and then a WIP/UFO which I will stitch on about one hour each day.



I took the opportunity to work on my oldest WIP Friday night when Cheryll hosted Friday Night with Friends.  I spent the evening Zoom stitching with friends and working on Irony by Hands on Design.


I forgot to take a before photo but I can tell you that I had only stitched from the top down to the words ‘opposite of.’


Then Sunday I Zoom stitched with another group and made some really good progress on my focus piece which is the Red Bird Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread. 

This was my Slow Sunday Stitching piece so I’m linking up with
Kathy’s Quilts.


It sure feels good to have a plan in place for all of my crafting. I feel I am more productive when I set goals and plan my time.

 

Did you have any time to be creative this weekend? Tell me what you got up to.

 

Have a great week!

 

 

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Sewcialites 2 Week 13 and Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Sunday evening everyone.  I hope you’ve had an enjoyable weekend.

I’m popping in to share Week 13's Sewcialites 2 block.  Innovate Block was designed by Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Design.  I saw posts all day on Thursday in the Sewcialites Lounge Facebook page and I admit, they had me a bit concerned and intimidated.

 

Friday night rolled around, and it was time for me to put my block together.  I took my time, measured each step and the block turned out to be the best one yet for me.


 

I had hoped to sew more Gene’s Flying Stars blocks on Saturday but house cleaning and food shopping took a lot longer than I anticipated.  These are on my list for next week, for sure.

 

Kathy’s Quilts hosts a Slow Sunday Stitching linky party and I decided to join today.

 

I completed quite a few stitches in this cross stitch piece while watching football and participating in a Zoom stitching group at the same time.


 

Photo before I started…




Photo of where I stopped…


 

This is Red Bird Sampler by With Thy Needle.  I’m stitching it on 36 count linen, Patriot’s Brew by R&R Reproductions.

 

How was your weekend? What did you create? Tell me all the things.