April Showers Kind of Day

 

I've been away a long time and don't have much to show for it. I finally got the rows of this quilt sewn together but have to get it finished. For goodness sakes its 95% done! I will not be quilting it, my friends Carolyn and Jamie will be asked to perform the magic. The patterns are by Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet and it was a sew along last summer. I love the blocks but was tired of them once they were done. Now I am excited to have it be a quilt.

I also kept up and finished my block of the month, Anna's Baskets by Laundry Basket Quilts. I need to get my back ready to have this one quilted too. I'll show you a better picture when it is completely done!

So I feel like I have fallen off the sewing path......I made this adorable project bag.....

that has this cute little zipper pull charm.......

to hold my cross stitch!

Yes I have wandered back into cross stitch. I did it back in the 1970's and gave it up for quilting. When we were all stuck in the house for what felt like forever, I started watching YouTube videos while I sewed. A lot of people cross over into all different parts of needlework. It is amazing how much different the flosses and the linens are compared to when I was doing it in the '70s. They are gorgeous and hard to resist. I want you to know I held back for a long time!

So I needed some accessories for my new venture!

Like sewing, we use different size needles and need to keep track. These are labeled #24 as you can see in the bottom left corner. I could have written it in pen but why when you can embroider it?

This is a catch all that houses my scissors, needle minder and I use it to keep track of floss that I am using for easy access.

A handy little pocket....

Needle minder and floss.....

 A spot for my scissors.

I have done some charity sewing......

Some fun and easy sewing. I want to have a bunch of fabric strawberries to put in a bowl for decoration. I am making them as I feel like it. Some of these are waiting to have the leaves stitched down. I got this cute shaker sewing box at the Lancaster Quilt Show.

This is made with a vintage fabric that I have very little of and I stuffed it with emery.

Strawberry fabric for a strawberry!

These are much bigger and were from a pattern I got from Fig Tree Quilts. I don't love the leaves but they will do for now.

This pouch is next on my list. Who knows what I will put in it! The directions are not great but I think I can figure it out.

I found this old box that is perfect for next to my sewing machine and holds random things I need from time to time. I think it adds personality to my sewing room. 

It seems like my tastes are changing once again. I think for me the past 2 years made me want homey, cozy things. Don't worry I am not giving up on quilting, just changing lanes a bit.

Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Fabric by Cathe Holden

I am so beyond excited to tell you I am a descendant of William Brewster who came over on the Mayflower from England! I have dabbled in genealogy but was so thrilled when I found this out the other day. It's so timely too! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this is the cherry on top! He is my 11th great grandfather. The link is on my mom's side and most of her family lived in Massachusetts until the 1800's and then moved to the midwest.

I took a quiz and found out I am just like his wife Mary Brewster. This is what it said:

"Mary Brewster showed great courage in following her convictions and braving the hardship of the new world. With her family, she opened their home for separatist meetings in England,leading to danger and difficulties for their family. Around 1607 they fled to Holland to escape religious persecution. She and her husband, William, with their 2 youngest children boarded the Mayflower to brave the life in a new land where they could worship as they chose. Mary was one of only 5 adult women who survived the first winter, and one of only 4 to still be living the following year at the first Thanksgiving”

You can be sure I have already applied to the Mayflower Society How cool to tell my family on Thanksgiving Day! Fun fact, there are 35 million people all over the world that are descendants and only 10 million are in the United States. I am planning a trip to Massachusetts in the future to go to all the places... I will also be searching for the family members that participated in the American Revolution or as I am now finding out it was called the "American War of Independence". There is also a pin involved with the membership to the Daughters of the Revolution that I covet.

I have not done cross stitch in a very long time, like maybe the early 1990's. Imagine my happiness when I found out that there is a sampler dedicated to the 400th Anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower.

It is a very big project and the count of the linen is very small, but I am up for the challenge! A fellow blogger Kyle of Timeless Reflections just happened to post about her also being a descendant of the Mayflower and the sampler that she just finished!

The adorable pin holder was worth it too.

I have been making some Christmas gifts and could not resist this adorable Santa Claus. You can find the pattern at MMM Crafts It is so much fun to make and not too hard. It takes time to let the glue dry. Her techniques and tips are great and makes this a fun project.

Sorry for the blurry picture but the sock is too cute not to show.

I have been obsessed with these little houses. They are so much fun to make and kind of addictive.

They are small 2 1/2" wide and 3 1/4" tall. I'm not sure what they will become but I will continue to make them and see what happens.

They are paper pieced. I made my patterns on EQ8 and love to just sit and sew without any measuring.... you could do it without the paper but I enjoy paper piecing.

I also have an applique project going. They are perfect for Zoom meetings and makes me feel productive. I am just going with whatever I feel like doing with no direction at all. All I can say  is #cuzcovid!

I also made some project bags for my many projects! I love this cheater fabric and how it turned out. Do you want to know what is in the bag?

This.......I have fallen down the rabbit hole of yet another project that takes up lots of time, cross stitch. I got this before the Mayflower Sampler, that will be up next. The way I look at it is stitching is stitching, no matter what you are doing. It makes us feel good and ebbs and flows with the crazy time we live in right now. I am enjoying it right now even the 32 count linen fabric that I can barely see.....Also since the 1990's they have come out with linens and floss that are GORGEOUS!!!! That in itself is enough to make you want to dive in. The hand dyed fibers are so rich and you just want to touch them and sew with them.......

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I know this year has been more crazy than we could have ever imagined. Many people are suffering and going through difficult times. I am thankful for everyone in my life that brings me happiness and joy. I am especially thankful for my sister this year who has shown me that no matter how difficult things can be, hard work and perseverance will get you to the other side and we are never too old to try. Thank you to everyone who stops by my blog and sends me nice comments, I read and enjoy each and every one, thank you!

Kelly

Blue Skies and Sunshine

I finished up my cross stitch pin cushion that is destined as a gift. While it is not my usual taste in colors, I really like it. I ended up stuffing it with saw dust because it was free (in my husband's workshop) and I didn't feel like going to the store to get crushed walnut shells. I have to tell you I love the sawdust! It packs in there so nice and tight. It just gives it a nice body.

This is the back. the directions suggested that you line the cross stitch and the backing fabric with a light weight fusible interfacing. It was a great idea and made it feel very nice. I think it also helped when stitching down the edge by hand.

A baby quilt was quilted today, binding on tonight.

I keep miscellaneous blocks and things in a container. Usually these are blocks that were made as extras or made the wrong size. I also did some leaders and enders.

These were leftover from my half square triangle quilt.

A whole bunch of 4 patches.

Some random triangles that could easily be sewn together.

These came off the baby quilt I finished today.

These could be fun to work with.

The leaders and enders.

My leftover blocks. I hear my design wall calling!

Thank you to everyone who commented on the book, Outlander.  My friend Judie first recommended this to me. I cannot put it down! Time travel is so not my thing, but this is done very well and I can't wait to read all the rest of the books. Now to try and find that balance of reading, sewing and real life....

Kelly

Stitching With Friends

Today was a bee day and I finished this up. Hopefully I will have the finished project to show you tomorrow. This is about as involved as I want to get with cross stitch right now. I am happy with the way it turned out.

Our friend Sara sent us home with faschnauts. Do you know what those are? Hint hint it has to do with Fat Tuesday.

 I wanted to show you the salad I made last night with blood oranges and strawberries in my favorite pottery bowl from my friend Judie. Not only was it colorful but it was tasty too. It made winter seem not so bad, well at least for a short while.

Kelly

Never Ever Say Never...

Once upon a time I used to do cross stitch. It is just as bad as quilting as far as the amount of cute things that there are to make. I did very elaborate time consuming pieces. It was when my children were small and quilting took a back seat. It was easy to pick up and put down and could be done anywhere.
Once I got back into quilting, I put my cross stitch away, I was never doing it again. I couldn't be swayed by all those wonderful patterns that were tucked into the Blackbird Designs quilt books, or at least I thought so....
I am limiting myself to a few projects, I am not going to get sucked in, so I tell myself. I. Do. Not. Need. Another. Hobby. Oh and the projects are small.

I got a start on the Valentine pillowcases for the grandchildren. These are for Maddy who is 6 and has bunk beds. The top one is pink, which is the edge of the pillow, the bottom is purple.

Captain America for Elliot.

The Incredible Hulk for Griffin.
Fallon's is on the machine so I will show it later on this week.

I found this magazine and thought I would give it a peruse. I love magazines, perfect reading material for those night I am too tired to read my book.
Snow for us again the is weekend, this is turning into a very long winter!
Have a good weekend.

Kelly