A Quilty Update -- Sewcialites 3, Four Patch Fun and More

Happy Monday, Dear Friends!

Our trip to Charlotte on Saturday was a success. It was a 2-1/2 hour trip each way to IKEA. It rained most of the way there, but it wasn't terrible. No rain on the return, so it was a little quicker. We stopped for dinner on the way home. There is a new Mexican restaurant close to the house. They are going to do well. The food was delicious, salads were fresh and great service. We got there at the right time because a line was forming when we left.

We got home and assembled the bookcases. I spent the remainder of the evening putting stuff away. Of course, I'll change everything a gazillion (is that even a word?) times.

Today's quilty update starts with the latest block for Fat Quarter Shop's  Sewcialites 3 QAL. Block number 20 is the Gazebo Block designed by Doug Leko.
                                                 
So thankful for another quick and easy one. There are only 5 more blocks to go.
                                                
Bonnie Hunter's leader / ender project for July, 2025 - June, 2026 was Four Patch Fun. I've been sewing along but not always sharing progress. She just announced the next leader / ender project starting this month but I'm going to continue with Four Patch Fun.  Here is where I am so far...

Mine are simple two-color blocks in two different colorways.

I have 15 of these blocks with 7 more pre-cut.

                                    

                                              

I have 12 of these blocks with 11 more pre-cut.
                                                

                                                
I do not have a plan for finishing yet. These will likely be two separate quilts since the blocks measure 8 1/2" square.

I mentioned last week that I am joining Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Tree Farm QAL. This is a mystery quilt which means we do not know what the end result will be. I purchased the quilt kit that features the Poinsettia and Pear fabric by Sherri & Chelsi.

They include everything you need to complete the quilt, including a layer cake, background, backing and binding.
                                            

                                            
FQS told us to be careful when cutting into the layer cake as we will use those fabrics in future releases. They do not provide instructions on how to cut the layer cake. I've decided to collect the patterns as they are released and do the sewing at the end. I wouldn't want to make a mistake and have to purchase additional fabric.

But not to worry, I'll have plenty of other quilty fun when the next two quilt-along kits arrive this week. I'll share those next Monday.

With all the sewing and a trip to Charlotte, I've missed reading your  weekend blog posts. So, I'm off to grab a cup of tea and catch up.

I'll be back on Friday, July 17th with a cross-stitch update. Have a wonderful week and I'll see you soon.

Floss Friday -- Cross-Stitch Progress and A New Start

Happy Floss Friday, Friends!

The weekend is here and I couldn't be more for it. My head has been spinning all week with things I want to do in my craft room and both inside and outside the house. I really don't know what has gotten into me. So, as usual, I started a list. I do that when I need to get my thoughts organized, and in hopes of keeping myself from going off on a tangent. Does this ever happen to you?

Before getting into what's ahead, I'll show you what I've gotten up to with cross stitch this week.

I made progress on American Sampler by Crocette a Gogo. This is where I was when you saw it last.
                                
This is where I am now.
                                
I added more trees and worked the border around the upper right corner.

In last Friday's post, I mentioned I have three new starts planned for July. This is the first one...
                                          
Peace on Earth by Shakespeare's Peddler. I have a small start.

The true color of the fabric is not showing here and you really can't see the white stitches. Maybe I'll get better photos as I go along. And why is linen so hard to photograph?!? I'm stitching this on 36 count linen from Fabrics by Stephanie, in the color Friendship Greene. As I've mentioned before, Stephanie's linen is my favorite and I've used Friendship Greene in a few other other projects.

I have one other small start which I will share with you later.

Hubby and I are going to Ikea in Charlotte on Saturday. I am going to get some shelving units for the craft room / office. We are starting to work through the list I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  There will also be some sewing so, please come back on Monday, July 13th for a quilting update.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you soon!

Fat Quarters by the Dozen and A New QAL

Hello and Happy Monday, dear friends!

I hope everyone in the USA enjoyed the July 4th celebration of our country's 250th birthday.  We grilled hotdogs and hamburgers and I made potato salad. Hubby made some delicious baked beans. There was a side of fresh avocado with balsamic viniagrette and olive oil. We enjoyed hubby's homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert. Mom was here and we played board games before enjoying the fireworks display from Lake Junaluska.
                                                

Not a great photo from our upper deck but timing is everything!

The plan for the long weekend was to get some house cleaning done and sew the last two blocks for Fat Quarter Shop's quilt-along Fat Quarters by the Dozen (FQBTD).

Cleaning was accomplished, but I mostly enjoyed spending time with family. Sunday was spent in the sewing room.  FQBTD releases 11 & 12 were completed.

Release 11 constisted of two blocks.  One Left Majestic Block 

And one Right Majestic Block

Release 12 is the Sunbeam Block
                                            
                                            
Fat Quarter Shop will release finishing instructions on July 15th. This will be interesting because there are some elements in what can only be a sashing, but we haven't received indstructions on how to make those yet.

My next quilt along is Jolly Tree Farm sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. 

Each Monday during July they release instructions for a section of a small holiday quilt. I purchased the kit which includes everything except the pattern and batting to finish the quilt. You can download each release for the pattern from the FQS website for free. Today is release 2 but since I only received the kit last week, I am starting a bit behind. Apparently, the fabric was delayed from the supplier and the kits were held up a bit.

I'll be back on Friday, July 10th with a cross stitch update.

See you soon,

Floss Friday -- May and June Cross-Stitch Stats

Happy Friday, Friends!

As I was preparing my June stats update I realized that I had not posted May's. So here they are...

Stitch count for May is 4,423 on five different projects.

My Works In Progress (WIPs) during May were Summer Stamp Sampler
                                               
Salute to Abigail
                                               
I had one Finished Object (FO), but not fully finished, Patriotic Pears                                     
There were two new Starts with Happy Day

And Red Letter Sampler

June's stitch count is 5,168 on three different projects.

My WIP for June was American Sampler
                                 
I had one FO with Salute to Abigail

I had one Fully Finished Object (FFO) with Summer Stamp Sampler
                                            
There was one Start And Finish (SAF) with Stitch with Me
                                            
That's a wrap for the last two months. So far, I have three new starts planned for July. These will be stitch alongs with friends and the Fat Quarter Shop. I'll also continue to work on American Sampler. Melisa at Pinker n Punkin' Quilting & Stitching is stitching patriotic all year, and that is my plan as well. 

Speaking of patriotic, I hope all of my USA neighbors have a safe and fun Independence Day celebrating our country's 250th birthday!

I'll be back Monday, July 6th with a quilty update.

See you soon,

Sewcialites 3 Blocks

A friend inquired about Sewcialites 3, block 16. She was concerned that I had skipped a block. While investigating further, I realized that my June 8^th update did not post as scheduled. And since I was on vacation, I wasn’t tracking it.  So today I am sharing block numbers 16 and 19.

Block #16 is Florabelle Block by Heather Briggs of My Sew Quilty Life.

I didn’t have pre-printed foundation paper to create the square-in-a-square segments, so I went online and found a free template offered by Meadow Mist Designs.  I pulled out a pack of Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper and printed off just what I needed.

Block #19 is Pinwheel Dash Block by Bev McCullough of Flamingo Toes.

I have the stripes going in the same direction…but some of them are waving!

We ran our errands and got all our food shopping done over the weekend. Mom came over for dinner Friday and Sunday nights. I did the cooking on Sunday and made stuffed yellow bell peppers and a dessert we only have during the summer...blackberry and blueberry cobbler.

Hubby made his usual homemade whipped cream to accompany vanilla bean ice cream on top of the cobbler. 

I will see you on Friday, July 3^rd when I'll be back with a cross-stitch update.

See you soon,

Floss Friday -- A Finish, A WIP and Retreat Gifts

Happy Friday, Friends!

So excited to share my finish of Melisa’s Pinker N Punkin’ Quilting and Stitching Summer Stamp Sampler.

The last two stamps were stitched this past week.

In the Apiary and Canning Season

I already had the frame and knew I wanted to use it for this sampler. It is a little tighter than I usually like but anything else would be too big. I am trying to do my own framing when I can and avoid custom work.

Chart: Summer Stamp Sampler by Melisa at Pinker N Punkin’ Quilting and Stitching

Fabric: 28 count lugana (evenweave) by Zweigart in the color Mushroom

Floss: The called-for DMC threads

Stitch count: 107 x 132

Started: 4/9/26, Finished: 6/23/26

Thank you, Melisa, for generously sharing your designs with us. I enjoyed this stitch along very much!!

Once that was finished, I picked up American Sampler by Crocette a GoGo.

This is where I left off…

This is where I am as of Thursday evening…

I finished the house and started on the right side border.

The goal was to stitch ½ a page each month beginning last August and to have a finish by July 4^th. Clearly, that is not going to happen. I am going to keep it going until the stitching is complete.

I mentioned that while we were on the cruise I participated in a cross-stitch retreat hosted by Elayne of Anabella’s and the featured designer was Priscilla from Stitching with the Housewives. That post is here  in case you missed it.

I made gifts for Elayne (host), as well as for Priscilla and Chelsea.

Quilted bags with their initials machine embroidered on them. I attached zipper pulls/scissor fobs to them and then filled the bags with small gifts.

I also put together small gifts for my tablemates.

They received the same fob, a machine embroidered tissue cover, a waxer, small scissors, flavored Chapstick and a skein of Classic Colorworks floss in the color Priscilla’s Peppermint. (Yes, Classic Colorworks custom dyed floss for Stitching with the Housewives.)

All the other attendees received a fob. There were 40 attendees in total.

The gifts I received were plentiful. Candy and small stitching tools were very popular.

One of the first things I do when I return from a retreat is sort the gifts.  The candy goes in a jar on the Hoosier. I have a box of small bins that will hold stitching tools, stickers and other miscellaneous items.

Our host gave the attendees a bag filled with patterns, fabric, floss and other miscellaneous items. 

Included in the bag were raffle tickets to be used on the last day.  There were several gifts lined up on a table, and we could put our tickets inside the container in front of the gift we wanted. I forgot to take a photo of the gift table.

I only wanted one thing and that was a project bag made from Lori Holt tea towels….and I won it!

Inside the bag was a smaller notions bag, an ORT container for leftover thread pieces and a small yellow box. The yellow box held all sorts of items from a drink mix, hand sanitizer, sticky notes….lots of yellow.

Since fully finishing the Summer Stamp Sampler, I am inspired to finish more items from the under-the-bed-box of cross-stitch. So, a trip to Hobby Lobby is on the agenda for Saturday. The closest HL to me is in Asheville. Hubby will accompany me and we will do our big shopping day at Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Sam’s. It doesn’t happen frequently, but when it does, my wallet gets sad!

Also on the agenda this weekend is sewing more blocks for Sewcialites 3, Four Patch Fun and Fat Quarters by the Dozen.  I’ll be back on Monday, June 29^th to share those.

I hope you have a great weekend!! See you soon.