Flea Market Quilt Update

Flea Market Quilt by Lori Holt is still a work in progress for me. I had completed 8 of the 24 churn dash blocks when I last posted about this project here.

All 24 churn dash blocks are complete…

 
I’ve also finished 8 of the 12 basket blocks…

 

This was a quilt kit I purchased from Fat Quarter Shop.  They are so generous with the fabric in their quilt kits that I had enough left over for another quilt-along. I will share more about that one next week.

 

We drove Mom back to Florida on January 1^st and we’ve been here since.  We’ll return to North Carolina on Sunday. I brought along a couple of cross stitch projects to work on in the evenings. I’ll post about that progress this Friday.

In case you missed my last post about our move, you can read about it here.

 

Hope you are having a great first week of 2023.

 

Happy New Year and 2022’s Big Move

Happy New Year!

I hope you have fond memories from 2022 and may you create even better ones in 2023.

 

My year was full of travel, new experiences, lots of crafting and a move.  I have a lot to tell you about my 2022 but we are going to take this in bits.

 

Today I’d like to share about our move.

From...

To...

During one of our camping adventures in July 2021, we visited an adorable small town in the mountains of western North Carolina.  Waynesville quickly became a place we would consider moving to one day.  As it turns out, we have friends that have had a vacation home in nearby Maggie Valley for 20+ years…we didn’t know.

 

Fast forward to June 2022… we spent four days with a realtor looking at land as well as existing homes.  Unfortunately, we weren’t interested in anything at the time.  We decided to rent a place to make sure Waynesville is where we want to be and to make the property search a bit easier.  So, in July we moved into an adorable condo located right downtown. It came furnished so all our belongings are in two large storage units in Florida ☹

 

We still needed a small U-Haul for things we can’t live without…2/3 of the trailer consisted of sewing machines and other craft items.

 

We’ve learned a lot about mountain living…it is certainly different than anything I’ve ever experienced. It isn’t bad, just different. Waynesville has a small-town vibe but there are a lot of things to do.  We’ve enjoyed drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway, visited Great Smoke Mountain National Park, eaten at some amazing restaurants, became annual passholders to the Biltmore Estate and so much more.  Asheville is only a 30-minute drive away so we’ve taken advantage of some of what it has to offer as well.

Biltmore - Christmas 2022

We almost purchased a home in October but sadly, the due diligence process revealed some things we just weren’t willing to take on at this stage in our lives. The home search continues. Build? Buy existing? Wish us luck.

 

My mom and children still reside in Florida, and it isn’t likely they will ever move, so we’ve made several trips back for various reasons. They did join us in North Carolina for Christmas though. The temperatures were quite frigid, but we kept the fireplace going and everyone had a great time.

Christmas Eve - 6:00 am

Christmas Eve - 7:30 am

 

I’ll share more about our new little town in future posts. And I can’t wait to show you all the stitching and sewing I’ve been doing.

 

In the meantime, have a happy and blessed 2023!

FNwF and Blackbird Designs Weekend

Hi, friends.  Hope you had a nice weekend and was able to be creative in some way.

 

First, I must apologize to Cheryll at Gone Stitchin’ because, in my last post, I mistakenly referred to her Friday night event as Friday Night Sew In, when it is actually Friday Night with Friends! (My previous post has been corrected as well)

 

So…here is what I accomplished last Friday evening.

Eight of the twenty-four churn dash blocks for the Flea Market quilt by Lori Holt.  These finish at 4 1/2" and came out perfectly, compared to the 6 1/2" block I shared last time. 

Then yesterday I started a new cross stitch project.

 

American Eagle by Blackbird Designs.

A group of cross stitcher's have designated the first weekend of each month as Blackbird Designs Weekend. March 6th will be when I pick this up again.

 

I’m stitching this on 32 count linen and using the called-for floss.

My project bag holding all of the supplies together is a gift I received from Ronny and Gary of GaRon Tottenbags and GaRon Stitchery.  GaRon Stitchery is an online cross stitch store.  These guys are wonderful to work with as they typically can find anything I’m looking for, if it isn’t already in their shop, and they ship FAST.

 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week ahead!

Halloween Figs - Month 2 and FNwF

Happy Friday, Friends!

It’s been a little busy this week, mostly with work, but I’ve also had a little fun sewing and baking.

 

I posted here about the Halloween Figs Quilt by Fig Tree and Co.

 

This was a BOM hosted with the Fat Quarter Shop.  I collected the monthly pattern and kit but did not sew along with them.  I am sewing it now, on my own schedule 😊

These are Month 2 blocks…

 

Flying Geese Cross Block

12 1/2" x 12 1/2" (unfinished)

Crown Star Block
6 1/2" x 6 1/2" (unfinished)

I’m so grateful that Fat Quarter Shop provides plenty of extra fabric in their kits because I had to make this block twice!  Why, oh why, do the small blocks give me such a fit?!?

I’m also grateful for Cheryll at Gone Stitchin’ for continuing to host Friday Night with Friends (FNwF) the first Friday of each month.  I have everything prepped and ready for some quality time with my Janome tonight.

 

Here is a sneak peak…

My sweetie had an excellent annual physical on Thursday. I made homemade orange-cranberry scones to celebrate.

I’ve saved a few for my Friday night sewing snack 😊  Do you have a favorite snack while you are sewing or stitching?

 

Check back here, and at Cherylls, to see what we all got up to Friday.

 

And I hope you all have a nice weekend.

 

 

Flea Market Quilt

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope your 2022 is off to a great start.

 

We had the kids home for the holidays and even some time afterward. I then spent a couple of weekends putting away the decorations and cleaning, you know, the usual chores that need to be done.

 

I enjoyed three days at a cross stitch retreat last weekend – more about that later.

 

Today I am sharing Flea Market Quilt by Lori Holt.  This is a quilt-along hosted by Lori and the Fat Quarter Shop.  The quilt features Lori’s Flea Market, Cross Stitch and Bee Basic Backgrounds fabrics. It will be my first “medallion” style quilt.

Block 1 – Flea Market Star Block, it measures 18 1/2" x 18 1/2"

It was hard cutting into this luscious stack of fabric…but I did it 😊

 

Who doesn’t love cute selvage?

 

Next month are churn dash blocks.  Wait! Next month is just next week! Well, I guess I squeaked this one in.

 

If you are on Instagram, you can follow #FleaMarketQuiltAlong and see the progress posted by others.  It is interesting to see the different fabrics used as some people are pulling from their stash.

 

Have a great week 😊

Starting All the Things

 

The past couple of weeks have been busy with holiday prep, which I am sure is no different than what you have been doing.

 

I did have a few starts because…well, I just can’t seem to refrain from adding more to my already full crafting schedule. I just want to do it all!

This is Claus Christmas by Stitching with the Housewives.  I’ve made a little more progress on it since I took the photo.

This is Christmas Morning at Santa’s Kitchen by Twin Peak Primitives.  It is the second chart in their “Santa’s Home” series.  The first is A Patriotic Christmas Eve which I hope to stitch as well.

I started Halloween Quilt Sampler with my friend EJ from the Sunshine Stitchers Flosstube on YouTube. This chart is by Rosewood Manor. It contains a TON of backstitching.  My plan is to stitch this on the 13^th and 31^st of each month (in the months that have 31 days, obviously).

One of my goals for 2022 is to make more quilts.  Since my fabric stash is still in storage, kits will be the easiest way for me to accomplish this goal.  

I had joined the Fat Quarter Shop’s Halloween Figs block of the month.  I collected the monthly shipments in a box and decided this will be one of the kits I’ll work with over the course of next year.

I pulled it out last Friday intending to just pet the fabric and read the pattern.  I couldn’t resist and had to make the blocks for month 1.

One other kit was delivered over the weekend which I’ll share once the backing fabric arrives.

 

I’m working this week so the holiday baking will get done in the evenings.  Maybe I’ll have some photos to share when I pop back in to wish you a Merry Christmas 😊

 

Have a great week!

Thanksgiving Recap and A Finish

Hi friends!  I hope all of you in the USA had a nice Thanksgiving last week.  And for those who aren’t in the USA, or do not celebrate, I hope you had a nice week as well.

 

We had both of our kids home for the first time in 10 years to celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday which was on the 26^th.  I’m ashamed to say that I did not take any photos ☹ But trust me when I tell you we enjoyed all of our favorite holiday foods as well as some quality family time.

 

I want to share one of my birthday gifts.

It’s a hand-turned bee skep scissor holder.  The pecan wood is so pretty and the workmanship is amazing.

My husband ordered it from Pete and Kathy Firth who are @carolinacrosssticher on Instagram.  They typically post Pete’s finished pieces on Sunday’s.

 

I finished the December Calendar Crates pattern from Stitching with the Housewives and fully finished it for the piece that hangs in my mom’s foyer.

I took advantage of a Cyber Monday sale at GaRon Stitchery and ordered three berry patterns.  They came today…you can’t beat those guys for quick shipping!

 

They are all Erica Michaels designs.

 

I found batting so I hope to finish the JOY banner / table runner that I made for Mom. And I’ll continue to stitch Christmas charts.

 

What are your plans for the weekend?  Hope you have a nice one.