I enjoy cross stitching. I remember doing kits (like dimensions) with my Mom way back when when most cross stitch kits and patterns were kinda ugly. Aida came only in white or beige and your only option was to just stitch it up and hang on the wall. Now people are making project bags, cute decorative pieces, and tiered tray pieces or even a dough bowl filled with little stitched pillows. To be honest I do not remember actually finishing anything back then or maybe I just blocked it out. But cross-stitch has come a long way since then. The patterns are really cute with something for every season or occasion in many different sizes. Aida comes in beautiful colors and most are hand dyed to get the beautiful shades. The options are endless.

I rarely buy kits anymore instead I get patterns and my own floss and fabric. I am still a fan of DMC which is classic and very reasonable in cost. But now there is hand dyed floss which comes in beautiful rich tones. Now there are so many vendors who sell on Etsy that sell their custom colors. The choices are endless. I bought some that are Halloween and Autumn tones.

I am not sure what I will make with these floss colors but I am thinking a simple shaker design that will bring out the colors of the floss.

The Halloween ones have fun names like Werewolf, Sweater Weather and Moonlight. I thought this simple pattern would look good in one of these flossesj

The autumn colors are just luscious, so rich in golds, browns and oranges.

With names like Embers, Autumn Harvest and Golden Rule I can pictures leaves and pumpkins. Maybe I can do this pattern.

Or maybe some fall leaves 🍁

Or maybe I will hold onto them until the perfect pattern comes along.

Thank you for checking out my blog.

I finally finished the Halloween Mystery Quilt from Primrose Cottages. At least the top was pieced together. I still need to send it off to the quilter and then do the binding. Speaking of binding. I need to finish the quilt from last year (which was sent to the quilter ) but I still need to sew on the binding. Sewing on a binding is my least favorite part of doing a quilt, so I tend to procrastinate.

I really like the fabric which is called Spellbound by Sweetfire Road. It is a nice collection of oranges and blacks

The kit had a charm pack so there was some leftover charm squares. I think I will make a few coasters to use them up. There maybe a enough to make a nice gift to a deserving friend.

Thank you checking out my blog.

I finished finished the Fat Quarter Shop Halloween Mystery Stitch Along. I am definitely behind the curve so I struggle to keep up with other stitchers. I can only stitch after work and on the weekends and time does not always permit. But I do enjoy this stitch alongs and applaud all who participate.

That moon took quite a while to stitch but was enjoyable because I could stitch without counting. There are a few mistakes (I won’t point them out) but overall I am pleased. I need to find a backing I like or a frame.

Now onto the Christmas Mystery Stitch Along!

#hauntedhalloweensal

I joined the sew sampler a few months ago. They give a monthly BOM pattern that started in April. I will get patterns for 12 months. This year the quilt is called Pressed Flowers.

I missed out buying the kit from FQS but that is just fine. I ended up getting Sunwashed by Corey Yoder

This fabric collection will make the flower blocks more vibrant which I prefer.

The finishing has corner blocks and I do not care for the gingham corners. I am thinking of using Bella solids in the corners that match the prints

I got this image off the Facebook group. Sadly I won’t get the pattern until the end of the year. I still need to get the binding and the backing so I better get it soon before I cannot find the fabric anymore.

Block one completed. And I love it. I think this will be a beautiful quilt.

#PressedFlowersQuiltAlong

Yes I am doing another block of the month. I saw this BOM in the Connecting Threads catalog and thought that I really had to make it. I love the blue and white look of it. Reminds of my friends kitchen. Her mother had blue and white china on the wall and I always admired it.

The fabric line is called Afternoon Tea. It is just so fitting. But I won’t be drinking tea and eating crumpets on this quilt.

It is a 9 month program. I received the first month and I made the 4 blocks below.

This time I starched the fabric first to prevent shrinkage afterwards. These were pretty easy to put together so I am looking forward to next months blocks.

Thanks for looking.

#AmherstBOM

My friend Tamika was expecting her first baby. I decided to make a quilt for the little one

I thought this was a cute idea from Riley Blake.

It came with this cute panel to make a soft book. Excuse the mess on my work area.

I added a custom label using a similar print.

A close up of the cute quilting.

Just add adorable baby.

It is time again for the annual halloween mystery quilt along and stitch along that Fat Quarter Shop hosts. They generously post a new part of the pattern every week in June to make a cute wall quilt and a cute cross stitch design.

I received in the mail the fabric for the quilt. This year they are using Urban Chiks Owl-O-Ween fabrics from Moda.

From what I can tell, it appears to be a castle, haunted of course.

The cross stitch seems to have a pumpkin and a bat.

I thought about using DMC but went for the fancy floss because it looks like the pumpkin is a large enough piece that the variation would look good.

I decided to make a grime guard for my QSnap in the same fabric line. It makes it all the more festive. See you in June.

This year I did not do an autumn bucket list. No pumpkin bread, forgot the Hallmark movies and I did not add my autumn bedding. But I did do a mystery Halloween quilt designed by Primrose Cottage My sister even joined along.

The fabric is called Bad to the Bone by My Mind’s Eye. There was just a few pattern flaws but otherwise came out beautiful and was easy to sew. I sent it off to the quilters so chances are I won’t get it back until after Christmas. I pieced the back because it was not large enough. I think it will come out cute.

I am designing a cute quilt label so when I get it back and add the binding I will give you an update.

Since 4th of July is around the corner I decided to stitch up a few small patriotic pieces. To motivate me I jumped on the Primrose Cottage Stitching challenge.

I have done of a few of their ”kisses” patterns. Not only are they cute, they are fast to stitch.

Now for the million dollar question. How do I plan to finish them? I am thinking the small decorative pillows to put in the dough bowl. But we shall see.

To see other great projects from fellow stitches on the challenge use this hashtag #starspangledstitching

It has been quite a while since I made a full sized quilt. I have this love affair with beautiful fabric. I cannot tolerate anything made with cheap, ugly fabric. Similar to my thoughts on scrapbook paper, life is too short to make ugly things with ugly products. So beautiful fabric it is, and quilting is the game. I decided to do the Ruby Star Society summer 2022 sew-along using the Stay Gold collection from RSS. Beautiful fabric with gold accents. It is a simple quilt only using 5 inch squares but still beautiful.

Starting today we will all start to cut out the fabric. On the hashtag #rsssummersewalong I have seen a nice variety of fabric choices. It will be exciting to see what people choose as their fabrics. I will try to cut it out this week but i am struggling with a major toothache. At least I got an appointment. Hopefully it will be a dim memory soon.

Wish me luck on my quilt a long!