Floss Friday -- Cross-Stitch Progress

Happy Floss Friday, Friends.

This week has been a good week for cross-stitch.

First, I finished Melisa’s Summer Stamp release for this week.

Home Tweet Home has the cutest little birdhouse and bees buzzing about. They were so much fun to stitch. Visit Melisa at Pinker n Punkin’ Quilting and Stitching to see more stamps she has designed. They are seasonal and so much fun!

Unfortunately, I will be behind when I return from vacation. I’m going to miss the next two releases and will have some catching up to do when I get home.

And…I have a finish!  Salute to Abigail by Blackbird Designs.

I had asked what you all thought about me replacing Abigail’s name with a date. I was encouraged to do so.

The details…

Fabric: 36 count linen by XJudesigns in the color Frappucino

Floss: Valdani cottons in Rich Wine, Withered Blue,  Tealish Blue, and one Aurifloss color #2311. I had a hard time finding a white to work on this fabric.

Stitch Count: 147w x 149h

Stitched Size: 8/17” x 8/28

With any luck, a 10 x 10 frame will work, and I can finish it myself.

Before I move on to looking ahead to the weekend…back to the Blogger issue. Linda, Linda’sRelaxing Lair, kindly sent me the link to the post I referred to on Monday regarding our posts not appearing in reading lists in a timely manner. And Linda, Texas Quilt Gal, was kind enough to leave a comment with detailed instructions on how to add a blog roll to your blogspot page. Go back  here  to read the comment.  Also, Terry, On Going Projects, was kind enough to send an email containing an article with instructions. That article is linked here. Thank you all for your help. I’m going to work on this as soon as I get home and settled from vacation.

Fat Quarter Shop releases Sewcialites 3, block 16 today. I’ll work on that as soon as I see which fabrics Kimberly Jolly uses for her block. Then I will be finishing some gifts for an upcoming retreat. Monday’s post will show those items as well as progress on the Granny Square afghan.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you soon.

 

 

Quilt-Along Progress and Plans

Happy first day of June, my friends! Where does the time go?

Before getting into the quilt update, I want to mention a Blogger issue I’ve been having. Sweet Linda at Linda’s Relaxing Lair wrote a post about it a while ago but I couldn’t find it to link.

Posts do not appear in the Reading List right away. I have missed so many of my friends’ posts because they are either delayed or are not showing up at all in the list. Linda did mention that if you have a blog roll on your page, then that updates immediately. I must figure out how to add that to my blog, when I have time. I’ve noticed I have had a reduction in views, so I suspect my posts are not showing up either.

Now, for what you came here for…

The first block I finished on Friday was Sewcialites 3 block 15.

Split Star Block by Lissa Alexander.  I amazed myself when my directional fabrics came out correctly.

Fat Quarter Shop released the Fat Quarters by the Dozen block early. It should have been posted today but it was available on Friday, so I took the opportunity to get ahead a little bit.

Luminary block is another big one, measuring 15 ½” square.

I believe there are only a couple of block releases left and then we get the finishing instructions.

We leave next Sunday for vacation. We will be away about a week and a half. The plan is to have a cross-stitch update this Friday. Then I’ll have a quilt and crochet update scheduled to post on Monday, June 8^th. So, if I do not show on your reading list, please know those are my plans. I always have good intentions of posting while on vacation but have rarely done so. I'll likely post a few times on Instagram and then write a post recapping our trip when I return.

This is going to be a busy week with trying to finish some tasks for work and packing. I did have a successful weekend in giving the house a deep clean. Don’t ask me about the mounds of laundry!

I hope you have a great week doing all the things you love.

See you soon,

 

Blogger Comments Fixed? Can it be?

My new friend Sheryl who blogs at I Am – Blog published instructions on how to receive comment notifications via email agian.  I’ll admit that I tried this in the past – many months ago - and it didn’t work but I also saw new words in the settings this morning which tells me Google / Blogger has made some changes.  So, even though she learned about this from someone else,  THANK YOU, SHERYL for sharing it with me and all your readers!

Here are the instructions…

Go to your Settings, select Email.

Delete the email(s) listed under “Comment Notification Email” and, this is important, click SAVE SETTINGS

I went a step further and closed my browser, waited a few minutes then opened it again. (because I am crazy like that!

I went back into Settings, selected Email again and added the email address where I want to receive notifications.

Again, click SAVE SETTINGS

I received a Comment Subscription email.  It gave me the option to Subscribe or Decline the invitation to receive comment notifications.  I selected Subscribe and immediately received a confirmation. 

I went to my most recent blog post and added a ‘test’ comment.

Guess what?  It worked!

Please help spread the word.  I heard this didn’t work for some folks but it may be that they didn’t save their settings after each step?  I would be interested in knowing if this does or doesn’t work for you if you are a Blogger client and decide to give this a try.

In other news...I have held on to my sewing mojo and look forward to sharing with you this weekend.

Enjoy the remainder of your week!

Blogger Issues

It seems that I have three separate issues with Blogger.

1)    I schedule posts to publish on a specific date and time, they do not.  I have to log in and physically click the “Publish” button. 

2)  Some followers are not allowed to leave a comment on my post.  They type the comment but it doesn’t publish.  In my research, I came across this problem in a few different places but those bloggers have their blog linked to Google Connect, I do not.

3)  I do not consistently receive my email notifications when followers leave a comment.  Therefore, I am constantly checking my blog to make sure I do not miss anything from those who are actually able to leave a comment. 

I sent my issues to Blogger, along with screen shots of my settings…waiting for a response.

All of this to say, I apologize if you are one of those followers that is not able to leave a comment.  I also apologize if it takes me a little longer to reply to your comment, if you were able to leave one.

Hoping this is corrected sooner rather than later.  Otherwise, I’ll be looking for a different platform.

Bloglovin'

Happy Friday!!!!

Many thanks to Kaaren at The Painted Quilt for the tip that we must 'claim' our blog at Bloglovin' before Google Reader goes away at the end of this month.  Bloglovin' makes it super easy to transfer all of the blogs you follow on Google Reader to them.  Please see Kaaren's post and check out her super Safe Harbor quilt ;)

So now...I proclaim that this blog as MINE ;)  Who else would want a Slammin' Screen Door?  And I truly hope that you keep showing me the love with Bloglovin' ...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Happy Weekend...check back Sunday for my progress report!

...and slam that door a time or two!

Feeling the Love and Graduation Quilts

WOW!  Lots and lots of blog lovin’ has come my way since the first post only 3 days ago!  I am overwhelmed by Karen’s kind words and Candace’s willingness to display my button on her blog.  Due to their generous support I instantly gained many friends.

Everyone has given me a warm welcome into blogland.  I have discovered so many places to visit for inspiration and I’ve learned so much already!  I’ve made new friends from all over the world and even a new one right here where I live.  Suzy from Sunshine and Lollipops and I will be getting together for coffee soon!

I believe I responded to all of your wonderful comments.  For  those that were “no reply” , please know that I appreciate you stopping by and giving me words of encouragement.

Now, down to business…

Let’s just say I’m still on a huge learning curve when comes to taking good photos.  I’m using my DD’s Canon T2i which is pretty dummy proof (that’s what I need) but I realize there just aren’t good ‘display’ options around here for photographing quilts.  That is something I will have to work on.

Since I know so many of you are watching and are willing to hold me accountable for completing my UFOs, I finished a graduation gift J

This is my DD’s special someone and he graduated with her a couple of weeks ago.  I made him a Senior Year memory quilt and I’ll have to say that I am disappointed in the printable fabric I chose.  The package read 100% cotton so I expected it to be softer.  It’s colorfast quality is great! 

Can you recommend a good printable fabric?  I would love to make another one… perhaps one larger than a wall hanging so it will need to be cuddle-worthy J

In 2010, I surprised my DS with his graduation quilt (below).  The pattern is Shoeboxes from Atkinson Designs.

And DD knows that Mom would be fair and do the same for her this year.  Therefore, I allowed her to choose her pattern and fabric.  She chose Butterfly Trails, again from Atkinson Designs.  Their patterns are so easy to follow. 

I have everything cut so it is time to sew!

This pattern calls for only two fabrics!  New one for me…

Since the quilt wasn’t her surprise gift, there was no hurry to finish before graduation.

I know this is crazy…inserting photos AND ‘linking up’ for the first time in the SAME post, but I did!

Linking up to Karen’s Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party…Week 118

 

Thank you again for all of your blog lovin’…now I’m off to catch up with YOU at YOUR place J

Have a great week and keep the screen door slammin’