At night, when there is a chill in the air. I enjoy a good cup of tea. Especially if I am under a warm blanket and have a good book, or watching a great show. I wanted some new tea options that were more in line with the season. Fortunately there are a lot of options out there.

Bigelow has a great teabag collection to capture the flavors of Autumn and Winter. I just received this tea collection in the mail yesterday so I will be have a warm cup of tea tonight. When it is all said and done, I will let you know my favorite flavor.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

I will admit I am a slow reader. My Mom could sit down with a book and read it cover to cover. I am one of those people who only read one chapter and then take a break. So I decided to read short novellas that will not only be quick, but check off those Good Reads Reading Challenge goals. Hee hee

Amazon did not disappoint by bringing a set of scary novellas in October to read with my Kindle. There six books by different authors called the The Creature Feature.

This is Book One written by Joe Hill called The Pram. The synopsis of this book is as follows:

A husband’s obsessive desire for a child leads to an unexpected manifestation of his yearning in a nightmarish short story about fatherhood dreams by New York Timesbestselling author Joe Hill.

Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old baby stroller to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. So do the sweet coos of a baby Willy knows can’t be real. Can it? In this twisted thicket, wishes come true—with a price.

I hope to enjoy this read as I check off “read a scary book” on my Halloween Bucket List.

Thanks for reading my blog.

I have been struggling to come up with an Autumn bucket list this year. I usually like to add a few new things to the list to mix it up, but I struggled. I have a few new items on the list and some of my favorites from year to year. I reserve the right to add new ones along the way, and maybe drop a few off the list. It is October 1st so I need to commit. I also decided to do a separate Halloween list for reasons I cannot fathom.

• Autumn themed homemade soup
• 4 autumn themed dinners
• Read an autumn book
• Hang Autumn garden flags
• Put in Autumn scent wallflowers
• Hang Autumn kitchen towels
• Read autumn poem
• Watch All the Hallmark autumn movies
• Bake pumpkin bread
• Make new Spotify Autumn song list
• Burn fall scented candle or do simmer pot
• Cross stitch autumn theme project
• Make autumn donuts
• Make Autumn Chex mix
• Get new autumn teas
• Change backgrounds on phone and iPad 
• Hot apple cider
• Buy autumn themed fancy floss
• Take pictures of trees turning colors
• Drink fall themed coffee (pods from Aldi)
• Hang autumn fairy lights to create the mood
• Autumn bedding and blankets

I am not sure why I added a second list just for Halloween, but we will just go for it this year.

• Decorate porch for Halloween
• Hang Halloween Garden Flags
• Get Halloween pajamas and slippers
• Read scary book
• Watch new (to me) scary movie
• Watch old (repeat) scary movie
• Get out Halloween mugs
• Watch the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
• Cross stitch Halloween themed item
• Change backgrounds on phone and iPad
• Make Spotify Halloween playlist
• Finish piecing Halloween Mystery Quilt
• Buy Halloween themed fancy floss

Check back to see what I have accomplished!

Thanks for peeking at 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.

Well I think I have purchased every single Lenox Holiday China piece out there as it is getting harder and harder to find a piece to add to my collection. But alas I did find a few pieces

This cutie is a smaller plate that is perhaps 8 inches that has some depth. Perfect for a few pieces of candy or smaller food bites such as olives and pickles for the table.

This is an adorable candy dish. Remove the top for some small treats. I am afraid I might break the lid so I must be very careful. A little under 6 inches it is big enough to hold plenty of treats.

This is the 2nd year getting the annual snowman. I really liked the one from last year and actually had no idea these existed. I guess since I am running out of options on collecting the Holiday pieces for my dining room I will probably focus on the figurines.

Merry Christmas to all collectors out there and may your collection grow yearly.

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.