Catching Up

Hello, Friends!

Porch Flowers

My last post was on March 23^rd (bad blogger!), so I thought it was time to tell you what I’ve been up to.

 

Since then, we’ve bought and moved into a new construction home, been to Florida four times, Ohio one time and attended two cross stitch retreats.

 

Rather than take up your time covering all of that at once, I thought I would share about the move first. I’ll cover the retreats in a separate post.

 

For a recap of how we ended up in North Carolina, read my post here.

 

We didn’t have much luck with purchasing an existing home but we did find a new neighborhood being built on a ridge. There will only be 10 homes in this development and I can handle living on a ridge much better than way up a mountain.

 

What I’ve learned during our house hunt is that the roads can be a bit sketchy and the weather is a little crazy.  Many of the roads are only one lane which means if you and a neighbor are traveling towards each other at the same time, someone will have to back down. (There is no shoulder…no moving to the side)

 

If there is a power outage in the upper elevations, you may not get it back for a while. It brought back memories of hurricanes. And the big reason I prefer a ridge at approximately 3000 feet above sea level over anything higher is reliable internet service.  Since I still work from home, consistent and strong internet is a must. Our utilities are underground and the road is easily managed.

 

The drive leading to the house. I need to take photo of the front.

The back of the house

 
We have met with a landscaper and are on his list for two new paver patios and steps to manage the slope. I may try my hand at plantings…but, we’ll see.

 

Some of our neighbors

 

Turkeys

Tom said "Hey Chuck, the feeder is empty!"

Deer

We brought my mom to stay for a couple of weeks and she made a new friend.  We do not know who this kitty belongs to but he seems friendly and loves to hang out underneath the bird feeder.

Tufted Titmouse drying off on the deck railing after a rain

 

Friendly black snake keeping all the bad ones away (I hope!)

Morning view from the deck

 

In other news, I recently “fully finished” a cross stitch piece.

This is Sweet Land of Liberty by Blackbird Designs. The fabric is 28 count Monaco that I coffee-tea dyed and I used the called-for floss which is mostly Gentle Art and one DMC. I finished stitching the design on February 21, 2021 and promptly placed it a drawer.

 

Here it is with two other designs from the same Blackbird Designs book Sweet Land of Liberty.

 

The pillow on the left is In Full Glory and the framed piece is American Eagle.

 

I’m hoping to finish more items from that drawer now that I have crafting space again.

 

If you made it this far…Thank You!

 

I’ll be back soon with a post about the cross-stitch retreats and an update on my stitching projects.

 

In the meantime, for those in the USA, I hope you have a safe and wonderful Independence Day.

 

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!

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!

 

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!

 

 

Missed FNSI and Progress

Happy Monday!

I fully intended to participate in Wendy’s Friday Night Sew-In on February 17^th 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!