Floss Friday – July Stats, Parrot Progress, An FFO and A New Start

July was a light month for stitching. I stitched 3,301 stitches on two projects.

Every Stitch Tells A Story by Anabella’s Needleart

Parrot by Salty Stitcher Designs

WiP update...this is where I am currently on Parrot.

Hobby Lobby had a 50% off sale on their frames last week. I finally found one that would work for Sense & Sensibility by Sapphire Mountain Handcrafts. This was one of the charts I stitched during a Stitching Book Club SAL. I finished the stitching in March of 2021!

Stitching Book Club was held virtually. We were given reading assignments in the book and a portion of the stitching chart was released every two weeks. Book discussions took place on Instagram and Facebook.

My friend Andrea, mentioned in my last post, is @fancystitcher on Instagram. She and another friend @rebeccaaparkerr are hosting a SAL in honor of the USA's 250^th anniversary in 2026. The idea is to stitch patriotic charts from now until next July. They are using the hashtag #YOPS (year of patriotic stitching).

While we were in Alabama, Andrea, Gary and I started American Sampler by Crocette a gogo’.

I’m stitching mine on 36 count linen from Fabrics by Stephanie in the color Colonial Parchment. I'll use most of the called-for threads with only a couple of substitutions.

There are nine pages in the chart and Andrea suggested we stitch half a page, roughly 70 x 80 stitches, per month. I like working with assignments as I seem to get things done. That is how I finished Witching Hour on time.

My weekend will be spent taking down buntings and other patriotic décor, then giving my sewing machine a good cleaning. The poor thing is clunking along.

Happy to join Alycia Quilts for Finished (or not) Friday)

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you soon!

 

More Halloween Figs Sampler Blocks and Four Patch Fun

Most of the Halloween Figs Sampler blocks are pieced. There are some flying geese and other smaller units to be sewn and added as the top is assembled. I’m still debating as to whether I will make the applique’ blocks or replace them with something else. And, one of the borders is made up of scallops. Oh fun!!

By the way, let me know if you have a favorite applique' method you can recommend, and bonus points if it is beginner friendly!

Three more Simple Star blocks were added this week…

And a Wheel Star block…

I completed one block and part of another one for my leader/ender project, Four Patch Fun.

The pile is growing.

As some of you know, my husband is quite good at finding recipes for me to bake. He suggested this cream cheese pecan pie he saw on Facebook.

It was delicious!

I couldn’t find the source anywhere except FB, so I’ll add it here in case you are interested. The Facebook account is My Sweet Kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 ea. 9-inch pie crust, unbaked

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1-1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Blind bake the pie crust according to package directions. Let cool completely while you make the filling.

In a small bowl, beat the whipping cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, salt and maple syrup until smooth and creamy.

Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined. Gently stir in 1 cup of pecans.

Spread mixture into the cooled pie crust and top with remaining pecans. Chill until firm, for about 2 hours and up to overnight.

I hope you are having a great week!

See you soon,

 

Plaid Farmhouse Quilt and A Recent Trip

Plaid Farmhouse Quilt designed by Stitching with the Housewives and published by It’s Sew Emma.

I shared about it in several previous posts a few years ago. I started the quilt during the summer of 2021 while we were camping. 

The piecing was completed in November of that same year.

My long-armer worked her magic at some point in early 2022. Then, it was tucked away as we moved and traveled, and I got distracted by that “other” hobby 😊

Well, it is bound now. I remember wanting a chicken fence looking design for the quilting. My long-armer didn’t have one in her repertoire so we went with something else.

I took a photo outside in the hopes the quilting may show up a bit better.

This is quilt number three from the binding pile. Only six more to go!

Hubby and I recently made another whirlwind trip to Florida. This time for a medical check-up…all is well.

We most always take the back roads through South Carolina and Georgia when we go to Florida. We can avoid some of the crazy traffic on interstate.  This also provides us an opportunity to stop at one of our favorite farmstands.

They always have a fun game setup as you approach the building.

This time we bought fresh peaches.

Those peaches became a cobbler by me…

And ice cream by my sweetheart…

It’s a good thing that I am power walking 6 miles at the lake, four days a week.

I’m off to do some “cipherin’”, as my papa used to say. I’m going to look at my mid-year cross stitch stats and compare them to where I was in January. If I can get it done in time, I’ll share it in this week’s Floss Friday update.

Linking up with:

Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss

Enjoy your day and I’ll see you soon!

 

Halloween Figs – Month 6 Block

Hello, Friends!

This will be a quick post as I do not have much to share regarding quilting. Since my last post I’ve been spending time outside of work with my mom, exercising and running errands with my hubby.

I’ve also been attaching bindings to quilts but no photos yet. We’ve had some gloomy and rainy days. The sun finally started shining this week.

This is Halloween Figs Quilt Along Month 6 assignment. It is the only pieced block from that month. I am still not planning to do the applique’.

Milky Way Block

It was an easy block to assemble.

That is all I have to share today but I’ll be back on Friday with some finished cross stitch.

Linking up at the following:

Wednesday Wait Loss

Finished (or not) Friday

See you soon,

A Weekend of Binding Quilts

Happy Day, Friends!

We had a rainy Memorial Day weekend. We still did our shopping at the local farmer’s market, and I baked some sour cream cookies. Unfortunately, we were unable to take a hike at the Biltmore. We will try again next weekend.

I was able to finish binding two of nine quilts.  Both quilts have bindings attached to the front by machine and then I hand stitched them to the back.

The photos were taken inside because it is still raining here.

The first finish was my hubby’s “Dad” t-shirt quilt.

58.5" x 72"

My long-armer suggested a simple meander since I added the pocket from one of the special shirts.

I found swirly wide back fabric at a small quilt shop in Maggie Valley.

Quilt #2 is what I call my $5.00 quilt. It was a Saturday Sampler project at the local quilt shop when I lived in Florida. You pay $5.00 the first month to get a block pattern and the fabric to make it. If you returned the finished block at the next meeting, then you received the next block pattern and fabric at no additional cost. I purchased the border fabric separately so technically, it cost a little more than $5.00.

52" x 65"

We selected a floral swirl design. I do not know the proper name of it.

The gray(ish) backing fabric is from my stash.

These two quilts are all I have to share from the weekend…only seven more to go!

I’m joining Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And I'm also joining Alycia at Finish (Or not) Friday!

See you soon,

 

Halloween Figs Month 4 Blocks and Quilts to Bind

Good day, Friends.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day weekend. My children (young adults) called very early and gave me some great laughs to start the day. My husband prepared a lovely dinner for my mother and me.  My mom watches her sugar intake due to diabetes.  The results from her lab tests last week were great, so I made her favorite pie for dessert.

Coconut Cream Pie

She had one small piece and really enjoyed it.

Even though the quilt along has since ended, I’m continuing to work on the Halloween Figs quilt per the monthly instructions.

Here are month four’s blocks…

Nutmeg Star Block

More Simple Star Blocks

I will be getting FIVE quilts back from the long-arm quilter soon, and that means I will have five quilts to bind. Then I remembered that I have four additional quilts that are ready for binding.

Quilt #1 has binding attached to the front and only needs to be sewn to the back. Quilt #2 has the binding strips cut but not sewn. Quilt #3 has the fabric for the binding, but nothing has been cut. The last one doesn’t even have fabric chosen for the binding.

This, my friends, is the epitome of pathetic! My husband’s assessment is that it will take me until the end of the year to get all of these quilts across the finish line. (he may not be wrong!)

I’ve made very little progress on my cross-stitch projects since last Friday. We enjoyed walking around the Biltmore grounds last Saturday and I was reading for this week’s book club meeting. This means there will not be a Friday Floss update this week.

Also, we must take another trip on Friday. I’ll share more about this in next week’s update.

Enjoy the remainder of your week and weekend ahead.

I’m linking up with Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

See you soon.

Flea Market Quilt Progress

I am late in posting today. No real good reason, other than time is just flying!

I’ve been taking my walks at the lake this week. Even though the temps are still cool, I’ve enjoyed seeing the new blooms.

Here is this week’s progress on the Flea Market quilt.

I added the top and bottom churn dash borders, another coping border and then the baskets. The long-arm quilter in Florida has availability for me to drop off some quilts next week. So far, I have three ready to go, one more that needs a backing, and I’d love to add this one to the pile.

Keeping this post on the short side today. I’ll see you on Friday with a cross-stitch update.

I'm joining Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss where there is always a ton of inspiration.

 

Last Post for November...already?

Hi Friends!

Remember these guys?

Well, they’ve decided to put on clothes.

We’ve had some chilly temperatures, even a dusting of snow and are headed into the teens for lows this weekend. I was supposed to run the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning at Lake Junaluska, but we are forecast to have rain and a high in the low 50s (Fahrenheit). It isn’t likely that I’ll be able to handle that kind of weather.

Speaking of Lake J, they are starting to decorate for Christmas.

The Rose Walk

One of the houses overlooking the lake

The House Next Door

The Gazebo

The Chapel

Painted Rocks placed on the wall

More painted rocks

The Bell

I made another buttermilk pie Friday night.

My birthday is tomorrow. It’s a big one…ends in a “0”, so I made my very favorite cake last night. I first shared Miss Lou’s Pound Cake 10 years ago on my blog. I find that hard to believe. If you are interested in learning why this is my favorite cake, visit this post. You’ll also find the recipe there.

This was my first time trying a caramel frosting made from scratch.

I think it would be less ugly and more like Miss Lou’s if I used the regular tube pan and not the fancy Nordic Ware pan. I’ll try that at Christmas.

It was ugly but it tasted soooo good!

I’ve done very little sewing and stitching this week. Instead, I’ve spent my evenings after work deep cleaning the house. I put away all the fall décor and I will begin decorating for Christmas a few days early. I don’t usually start until the day after Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is so late this year. We still won’t go to the tree farm until Friday. That was a compromise with my hubby.

On the sewing front, I have all the units made for the Primrose blocks.

I wanted to have the Flea Market quilt finished by the end of the year, but it isn’t looking like that will happen. It's ok, I am doing what I enjoy. That is the point, right?

I’ll be back next Monday with October and November stitching stats, as well as a holiday recap. I wish you all in the USA the very best and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Hugs!