WIP Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to WIP Wednesday. First though I would like to say Happy Birthday to my dad. We are having lunch with him and Mom later today and I’m looking forward to seeing my sisters, too.

I’ve always loved this picture of my dad and me, circa 1960 or 61 when he was a student at Virginia Tech or VPI back in those days. When I was at VT, there was a parking lot where these trailers were behind the engineering buildings. Now, there are new buildings where the parking lot was. Progress?

Back to stitching. As I said in my last post, I did a lot of stitching while on vacation. I stitched in the car on the way to and from the beach, which was four days worth, then I stitched a little on the beach in the mornings before it got too hot.

The car travel project was Gathering Honey by Luminous Fiber Arts. It’s stitched on 32 ct Salted Carmel linen hand dyed by Misty. I think this is one of the prettiest colors that Misty dyes. It’s stitched with Belle Soie Teddy Bear. I started working on this when we went camping and finished on the morning we were driving home from Georgia. If you are familiar with this chart, you might notice that the walls of the bee skep are thicker. After I finished the skep and took it out of my hoop I noticed that the circle was not in the center. I found my mistake near the top of the right side where I had started stitching. I moved on to the bird while I pondered what to do next.

To fix it, I would have to take it all out or try to cut parts of it out. Even though I use a small hoop, I use the sewing method, so there would be many stitches to cut out. I decided to add the extra stitches to make it even and I found another mistake near the first one. I knew I was off by two and that’s why you could really tell the skep was off center. I thought it looked okay after adding the extra stitches, then I filled in the left side to match the right. It’s done and no one but me is going to know when I have it displayed. I now have four of the Gathering series finished and will start the Autumn one later in the summer.

My next finish at the beach was Chalk Full Bloom by Hands On Design and Priscilla Blain. I really like the daisies in the jar and like to put fresh daisies in my antique blue Mason jar. For this design, the jar was charted in red, but I wanted mine to be aqua. The ribbon was aqua and I had thought I would use the red, but then I saw someone on Instagram had changed the ribbon to yellow and I shamelessly copied her. I took out the red altogether and love how it looks. I started this one while we were camping and finished it on the last day at the beach.

While at the beach, I worked on Chalk Full Liberty a little, too. I also started this when we went camping. Since we’ve been home, I have finished all the white. The fabric for both Bloom and Liberty is 16 ct Chalkboard Aida. When I finish Liberty, I will fully finish them both.

Once I finished Gathering Honey, I started Red, She Said in the car on the last travel day. On that day, I got the letters over to F finished and the left side stripes. It’s stitched on 32 ct. Lt Mocha, which made it easy to work on in the car. I’m using the called for Colour and Cotton floss that I got as a kit with the chart from Colorado Cross Stitcher.

Once we were home, I got back into my morning stitch routine, working on Land That I Love by Teresa Kogut. I had just a little bit of the flag done when I showed this last. I finished it, then moved over to the next part of the border. I have decided that there is no way I’m going to finish it this summer, so I think I will continue to stitch it until July 4th, then switch to another morning stitch.

If you read my last post, I told you I was going to finish quilting my nephew’s quilt. Well, those plans changed. After swimming on Saturday morning, my right shoulder was bothering me a little, but I decided to quilt anyway. I got halfway through the quilt, but by that afternoon, my shoulder really hurt and I could barely lift it over my head. I’ve had this happen before and after 40 plus years of swimming, I’m sure my shoulder muscles are not pristine. It’s much better now, but I did skip a swim day, too.

Instead of sewing or quilting, I took two days to put my flosses back from several finished projects and kit up a few new cross stitch projects.

I’m going to stitch Patriotic Rose again for us. If you recall, I stitched this for my brother-in-law in March. I liked the frame I used and I found another barn wood frame at the same place, but in a 4″ x 6″ size. They were out of the 5″ x 7″. I stitched his on 32 ct, so to accommodate the frame size, I’ll be stitching this one on 36 ct, using 1 thread over 2 stitches. I’m going to use the same thread colors but will use Fiber on a Whim’s Milk and Honey. Sheri of Colorado Cross Stitcher is again going to host summer camp. For June, the task is stitch a holiday piece. I’m going to start this in June and go to camp. To find out all the details, you can view Sheri’s Flosstube.

I’ve also kitted up Seasons of the Heart – Summer by The Blue Flower. I have the charts from the 2021 issues of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitching. I’m going to be using 40 ct Lt Mocha with the called for DMCs.

To make it confusing, I also kitted up Seasons of the Heart – Summer by Brenda Gervais. I will be using 40 ct Vintage Country Mocha and I have substituted some of the floss. I’ll share what the changes are as I get started.

I think that’s it. If you’ve stuck with me this long, thank you. I hope you have a great rest of your week and start of your weekend.

A Quilt Update and a Little Travel

Hello Everyone! I’m finally home for a little while after what seems like a month of travel. We arrived home a few days ago from Pensacola Beach and had a thoroughly relaxing time with our kids. My daughter who lives in Pensacola ended up spending the nights with us at the beach, too. It was great to spend so much time with both of them. Before I get to some pretty beach pictures, I want to share a little quilting and sewing with you.

I made this bag for my daughter before we left for her crochet projects. My friend gave me this wonderful fabric for Christmas and my daughter really liked the owls. It’s called Forest Fable by Ester Fallon Lau from FIGO Fabrics. I’ve cut a few pieces to make a project bag for myself, too. I used and modified Sweet Jane’s “Mini Drawstring Bag” pattern to make the bag.

On our way to the beach, we stopped and had dinner with my daughter at her apartment. She gave me my Mother’s Day present, this adorable vignette of crocheted mushrooms. She’s a very crafty person and likes to try new things. Her newest hobby is crochet and she didn’t just start with a washcloth, she got right into making 3-D items. These are so cute, I almost want to crochet again.

We got home Thursday afternoon and were beat. It was a two day drive with a stop each way in Georgia where we stayed with my son as we picked him up and and dropped him off. But by Friday afternoon, I was ready to get back into the sewing room. I started quilting my nephew’s quilt with elongated free motion curves across the width of the quilt. I should be finished quilting it in a few days, then onto the binding. He’s graduating this week, so he should get it sometime the following week.

After dinner at my daughter’s on the first night, we checked into our rental and thought we would take a little walk on the beach.

It was pretty in this direction, but behind us…

…needless to say the walk didn’t last long. It started to rain as we got back to the condo, but we sat on the balcony and watched the southern edge of a large thunderstorm go by.

We had beautiful sunrises all five mornings we were there. We spent the first three days on the beach, swimming a little and the kids did a little snorkeling.

My daughter, the Marine Biologist, found these sand dollars and brought them in to show us. Being the good steward of marine life that she is, she swam back out to where she got them and let them go so they wouldn’t wash up on shore.

Were you able to see the total eclipse of the red moon on Sunday night? We would have seen it, but we went to bed before it was total. Also, it was cloudy and we could just catch glimpses of it on and off.

The next night however was clear and the moon was bright. The sky was dark behind the moon, but I was taking pictures on my phone and this was the darkest I could get the sky. The reflection on the water was beautiful!

On our last night, we were out getting ice cream and caught the sunset. Because Pensacola Beach is on the Gulf, the sun sets behind the beach in the summer and parallel with the beach in the winter. We’re overlooking the sound and Gulf Breeze on the far side of it.

We had planned on seeing the Blue Angles practice on Tuesday and went to Fort Pickens – Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is at the end of the island. That end of the island is right across from the Pensacola Naval Air Station and you have a great view of the practice from there. Unfortunately, practice was cancelled and there were many disappointed people, including us. Instead, we walked out on the beach pier and spent the afternoon on the balcony and getting ready for the trip home the next day.

We totally enjoyed our time, the water was clear and the temperatures were perfect, in the low 80’s. I did get a lot of stitching done and finished two of my travel projects. I’ll have those for you on Wednesday. I hope you have a great beginning to your week and thanks for stopping by.

WIP Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Hello Everyone! Today I’m catching up and sharing both my cross stitch and quilting progress over the past few weeks. Because we were out of town, there was more stitching than quilting, but I did manage to spend most of Saturday and Sunday in the sewing room.

First up I have blocks 5 and 6 for the Moda Blockheads 4 completed.

MBH4 6

I decided to make the 9″ block for block 6 and use a larger print on the outside units. That fabric will be hard to use in the smaller blocks. I also switched the direction of the outer half square triangles. I saw a few other’s do this and I liked the movement it gave the block.

MBH4 5

Block 5 is a 4 1/2″ block and is a simple Churn Dash. All fabrics are from various collections of Bonnie and Camille. Once I have a few more blocks finished, I may start to put them together in the layout that I designed.

Over the past couple of weeks, I finished two cross stitch projects and started three more.

I’m so happy with Winter Rose Manor by With Thy Needle and Thread. I changed the house color to CCW Rose Petal and the reds to CCW Manor Red (darker) and GA Pomegranate and the white to DMC Blanc. The fabric is 36 ct Sparrow by Luminous Fiber Arts (and is close to the true color in this picture). It’s stitched 1 over 2. I love it and will frame it soon.

Once Winter Rose was finished, I concentrated on Let’s Talk Spring by Hands On Design when we got home from camping. It’s stitched on 32 ct Charcoal Lugana with all the called for floss. I will finish it the same way as my previous Let’s Talk pieces, but I probably won’t get to it until I’ve stitched Let’s Talk Summer.

While we were away, I started three new pieces. I worked on each of them for about a day and a half while we were camping.

This is the start of Gathering Honey by Luminous Fiber Arts. I bought the kit that included the Sparrow fabric, floss and trim. The Sparrow fabric was much darker than the fabric that’s in Winter Rose so I went with Salted Carmel, also dyed by Misty. The border was easy to work on while I was in the truck, so I worked on it during our travel time.

Bloom Chalk Full

Liberty Chalk Full

While we were at the camp site, I started Bloom Chalk Full and Liberty Chalk Full, both by Hands On Design and Priscilla Blain. I’ve had both charts since they were released a few years ago and have stitched the small. I thought it was finally time to stitch the jars. They are both stitched on 16 ct Chalkboard Aida. I am going to change the jar color in Bloom to a teal and will let you know which one I use. I have several in mind. I’ve worked on Bloom a little more since we got home and will finish that one first.

Since I finished Winter Rose, I pulled out Land That I Love by Teresa Kogut and will be stitching this in the mornings. I really am enjoying this one. I’ve stitched the flowers and the start of the flag since I started it a few days ago. If you notice, under the scissors is a little stain. I think it came from my brand new steam iron. Fortunately, whatever it was, I was able to wash it out. The fabric is 40 ct Zweigert Alabaster (which may be Winter Moon now). Even stitching this most mornings, I don’t think I’ll finish by the 4th of July, but I will continue with it until it’s finished.

We are going to Florida to spend some time on the beach and visit my daughter. We’re driving and will pick up our son in Georgia. I’m looking forward to some warmer weather and it looks like it will be perfect beach temperatures. I plan on taking the three pieces I started while camping and work on those while we’re gone. I hope I’ll have at least one finished by the time we get home because I have a couple of new pieces I want to start soon.

Thanks for stopping by today and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

Machicomoca SP and Apple Blossom Parades

Hello Everyone! Well I’m finally back after two very busy weeks. We had a great time camping, then came home and spent two days enjoying the Winchester Apple Blossom Festival activities, mostly the parades.

Our trip started by picking up the camper and taking it to my parents in Fredericksburg for a good cleanup. As my husband cleaned the outside, I went through all the inside cabinets to remove items we didn’t use and give them a good cleaning too. On Sunday, we left for Machicomoco SP near Yorktown. It’s located across the York River in Hayes, VA.

The park itself has been opened for less than two years and is located between two large creeks. The campground has only been open for nine months. It had really nice facilities, but very little shade in some of the camping spots. There are some newly planted trees around, but not close enough to the camp sites. It will be a very hot place in the summer.

We had one of the few shaded sites, but only in the morning. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon, it was close to 90. Very warm to be setting up. The campsites were paved and each had a gravel living space with with a fire ring and picnic table. It got cool enough on the last night to finally have a fire.

Late on Sunday afternoon, the campground host came by to chat and told us about the park and things to do. He suggested that we go to the car top (kayaks/canoes) boat launch and watch the sunset. We decided to walk and saw a beautiful sunset that night. I’m glad we went that night, because the others during the week were not nearly as pretty. There was a nice dock at the boat launch area and a roller system to launch the kayaks. I wish there was a system like that on our lake, you would never have to get wet, especially when it’s cool.

The first full day we spent exploring Gloucester and Gloucester Pointe. Here, we’re at the Gloucester Pointe Beach Park right across the water from Yorktown.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, a horn sounded and the bridge started to open. I don’t think I’ve seen one open in two sections like this one.

We watched as a USN missile cruiser took it’s time coming up river to go through (under?) the bridge. I told my husband that it was nice to still be able to enjoy the simple things in life such as watch a bridge open and a ship go by. However, if I was crossing the bridge at the time and stuck in traffic I wouldn’t be happy. It took at least 20 minutes for the ship to get under the bridge. We left before the bridge closed, so it was probably another 10 minutes before the bridge opened. We found a place to eat lunch outside at a marina and had an enjoyable afternoon watching the boats.

My father-in-law, who lives in Williamsburg, came over and had lunch with us the next day at our campsite. It was nice to see him for a few hours. That night we had a few storms but nothing terrible.

The next day was cooler and clearer. The rain had washed away some of the pollen and haze. We took a walk around the entire park and stopped at the main part of the park. There is a nice picnic pavilion with bathrooms, a display with a history of the area (the Quonset Hut), and a new outdoor classroom area that was still in progress of being built. The house, built in the early 1800’s is being restored and will eventually be a place to stay at the park. There is also a dock in this area to walk on. Nearby, still in the park, is a place to launch large motorboats. If you were a water person or fisher person, this park would be a great place to spend some time.

That afternoon we crossed the bridge and had lunch in Yorktown, then did a quick drive through the Yorktown battlefield, which is where Cornwallis surrendered during the Revolutionary War. We didn’t have time to do the tour justice, so we hope to do it again when we are in Williamsburg. We had a great time and the park was beautiful, very different from our normal mountain trips. I’m looking forward to our next camping trip already.

We got home on Thursday, then on Friday, started two days of Apple Blossom Festivities.

On Friday, we met my brother-in-law downtown and had lunch from a food truck, then walked around and saw all the pretty decorations. The Firefighters Parade started late that afternoon. The town had two rows of chairs set up on the parade route that you could buy, but since we were hanging with the in-laws (they know everyone), we had nice yards to watch the parades from.

The Firefighters Parade has been a long standing tradition and there was a mix of old and new trucks. They also came from as far away as Boca Raton, FL. My husband has always talked about this parade and is his favorite and I can see why. I think it was my favorite, too. There were marching bands and convertibles with famous and not so famous people in them. It was a good, fun parade!

The next day was the Feature Parade. More marching bands, more famous people and floats. There were also Shriners in their little cars and motorcycle cop demonstrations. The few parades that I’ve been to in the last 30 years only had a few floats and the marching bands. It was quite fun. For this parade, we were able to watch it from a house right on the corner of the final turn and across from the bandstand.

It was a fun week, but by Sunday, we were very tired and just took the day off. On Monday, we started another busy week. I had regular things to do like laundry and buy groceries, but I also had a haircut appointment and wanted to buy a Dwarf Japanese Maple. I spent a good part of Tuesday searching for one. I made some stops on the way to get my haircut without success. I finally called a nursery on the other side of town that said they had them. I bought it and Wednesday was spent cleaning, then gardening. Besides planting the tree, I took out four Barberry bushes. In their place, I plan on planting some perennials.

I’ve spent a good part of this week looking for a place to stay for our planned Acadia National Park trip in September. It has taken up all my sewing time. I’ve narrowed some places down and hope to finalize that task today so it can be done. I did manage to baste my nephew’s quilt, but that’s been it. I would like to sew some this weekend.

I’ll be back soon with a quilting and cross stitch update. I do have a cross stitch finish and a few new starts. I would like to catch up on the Moda Blockhead blocks, too. I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

WIP Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome back to works in progress Wednesday. Today I have my cross stitch projects to share, plus a little sewing and plans.

I have another finish this week, Seasons of the Heart – Spring, by The Blue Flower. I used the chart from the 2021 Spring addition of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher, but Jeannine has released it as an individual chart this year. It’s stitched on 40 ct Brown Sugar from Fiber on a Whim, 1 over 2, using all the called for DMC’s except Ecru. I substituted DMC 3865 for it. I spent most of my evening stitching time working on this last week so I could get it finished.

I now have Spring and Winter finished so I’ll go ahead and fully finish them into small pin pillows. I have to decide on the fabric to use for Summer, then I’ll be ready to start stitching that one.

Once I finished Seasons – Spring, I spent the rest of the evening working on Let’s Talk Spring by Hands On Design. I finished the word Umbrella and started the next word below that which will be bulbs. I finished the string I was working with, then it was time for bed. I’ll be concentrating on this one for the next few days because I would like to get it finished soon.

I’m still working on Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais every morning except Saturday and Sunday. It’s progressing. I thought I would have it finished by the middle of April, but that’s come and gone. I now want it finished by the end of April. I will work on it at night if I need that time to finish it. I’m ready to move on to my next large project. We’re going camping soon and that will be a good time to fill in the snow.

I spent Sunday afternoon making the next Moda Blockheads 4 block #4. Because it was a simple block, I went ahead and made the 4 1/2″ finished size.

I went to the local quilt shop and Hobby Lobby to look for flannel backing fabric for my nephews quilt. The LQS didn’t have any flannel and I didn’t like what Hobby Lobby had. Now I’ll have to do some online shopping to find what I want. But while I was at the LQS, I saw this pretty line of fabric by Gail Pan. It’s Backyard Happenings from Henry Glass fabrics. I thought it would make cute project bags.

I also picked up a little of this one from Timeless Treasures to make a few bags. Look for the bags sometime after the middle of May.

If you live in or near the Appalachian Mountains, you may have gotten a weather surprise on Monday like we did.

We went from a beautiful warm spring day on Saturday,

to this on Monday. It was pretty and is all gone now, but the last snow fall I remember in Virginia in April was at Virginia Tech in the late 70’s. By the weekend, it’s going to be in the 80’s. Spring temperatures have been all over the place this year.

Did you have a chance to see the full moon rise last week? We watched it every night. As I was heading to bed on Saturday night, I had to step out onto the deck and take a few pictures. The moon was so bright it was shining on the lake.

This will probably be my last post for a couple of weeks. We are going camping soon and when we get back, the Apple Blossom Festival will be going on and we plan on attending parades on Friday night and Saturday. I’ve spent some time planning a few new cross stitch projects and will start those over the next few weeks while I’m gone.

I hope you will have a pleasant few weeks and as always, thanks so much for stopping by.

A Quick Quilty Update

Hello Everyone! Today I have just a quick quilting update, but I wanted to share my Moda Blockheads 4 block and my nephew’s quilt this weekend.

I finished the Ambience quilt top that I’m making for my nephew’s graduation! After showing it last week with the blocks laid out in two directions, the consensus was that it would look better with the blocks sewed horizontally. I totally agree and like how it turned out. I did have to add a few fabrics from my stash to add an additional block. I had three blocks left to sew, so the new fabrics were spread out into those three blocks, then dispersed throughout the quilt.

The pattern is by Brigitte Heitland, (ZenChic) which is exclusive to the Sew Sampler Box from Fat Quarter Shop. I used the Jr. Jelly Roll that came in the box, Celestial and an older Jr. Jelly Roll, Modern Backgrounds More Paper, both by Zen Chic for Moda. The background fabric is Time Treasures, Mix Basic. I want to use flannel on the back and will visit my LQS this week to see what they have. If they don’t have what I want, I’ll have to order it. It shouldn’t take two long to quilt it because I plan on wavy lines.

Before I started sewing the quilt top together, I made the third block in the Moda Blockheads 4 SAL.

I decided to challenge myself and make the 4 1/2″ finished block. There’s 44 pieces in this tiny little block and I think it looks pretty good overall. Block 4 has been released and has a lot fewer pieces. I’m going to make that into a 4 1/2″ block, too. The fabrics are from older lines of Bonnie and Camille. The center is a Day Sail fabric, one of my favorite lines, but I only have a few pieces of it left.

That’s it for today. I’m posting early so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend with my son. He and my husband have fished every day he’s been here, but we’re going out to enjoy a pretty afternoon and then spend Easter together. I hope you have a happy Easter (if you celebrate) and are able to spend time with family or friends.

Thanks for stopping by!

WIP Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome to Works in Progress Wednesday. As I’m writing this, I have the door open and the birds are singing! I wish I could say spring is here to stay, but we are supposed to get a little cool down next week. I still haven’t gotten use to the later spring. In Georgia, pollen season would almost be over and most days would be in the 70’s nearing 80. We are just getting into pollen season here. Maybe by next year, I won’t think spring is coming late.

This week I’ve made good progress on my WIPs. I also received some new market releases that I ordered from various places.

Red, She Said by Hands On Design

Block Party, 4th, by Hands On Design

The first two are by Hands on Design and I just loved the little motifs on Red, She Said, part of the “A Banner Year” series. I have not stitched any of her banners, but I couldn’t resist this chart. The kit came with the Colour and Cotton hand dyed floss. I have never stitched with these, but have heard they are really nice. I’ll let you know. The second one is the 4th Block Party. This is my third chart of these and I haven’t stitched one yet. I think this will be my first. I also got the kit which came with the pins from Just Another Button Company. Love that eagle!

If you haven’t heard, Fire Poppies in South Carolina is going out of business. I saw the email about 5:30 in the morning and jumped on to order a few things. I had several pieces of fabric and floss, plus this Jeannette Douglas pattern in my cart and before I could check out one of the fabrics was gone. Anyway, I love all three designs in Quaker Star Delight. Those tiny buttons on the rectangle pillow came with the chart and I might stitch that one first, although I like the little bird pin keep, too. These spring purchases will keep me busy for a while. These charts are like fabric, though, when the next new line gets released, you just want to get it all.

For my stitching this week. I finished the house!

Although, that’s not actually true. There is a line of backstitching that goes between the side and front of the house in Winter Rose Manor by With Thy Needle and Thread. Most people are adding a double cross stitch in the same floss to distinguish the two so that’s probably what I will do. But I’m happy it’s finished. You can see on the lower right side of the house, I’ve just started to fill in the white, which will go across the entire bottom.

I was also able to add more trees this week. I wish I could get a good picture. It is so much prettier in person. That color of fabric just does not photograph well.

I also pulled out Let’s Talk Spring by Hands On Design and got quite a bit of stitching done on it this week. I would like to go ahead and finish it sometime this spring.

I also spent a day stitching Seasons of the Heart by The Blueflower. I have finished the left half except for the border. I will also finish this one soon and then want to fully finish it into a small pillow.

I’ve worked on Birds and Berries on several Sunday’s since I last shared it with you. I finished the berries in the branches and this past Sunday, I finished the poinsettia. There is still a lot of backstitching left to do in the branches. I think I will finish the container, then do the backstitching in this section.

Since I’ve been busy with my quilting, I haven’t sat down and planned stitching for the spring quarter. I hope to have time to do that this week. Thanks for you comments on my nephew’s quilt and I am changing the layout. It will require more cutting so I need to do that to see if I have enough of the background fabric. I may have to make a trip to the quilt shop!

That’s it for today. I plan to be back this weekend, but if for some reason I’m not, I hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Autumn Star Blocks Finished!

Hello Everyone! I hope your weekend is going well. I’m enjoying a stay at home and sew weekend. I was out most of the day on Friday and my son will be here on Wednesday, so I’m not sure what I’ll do next weekend. I piled my Christmas and Winter quilts on the bed he will be using, so I need to put those away and straighten up the room before he gets here, too. The weather is supposed to be warm by the end of the week, so we should be able to get out a do a few things (in between his and my husband’s fishing).

I’ve reached a milestone in the Autumn Star quilt, all the blocks are complete! I’ve been working on them on and off since August of 2018, although I did not work on them at all in 2021 and only made three in 2020. So I made 9 this year. It is good to have them done!

It’s always nice to see a stack of blocks. This is not all of them…

… I still have 9 on my small design wall. I’ve enjoyed looking at them since I put them up. I am not going to let the blocks linger. After I finish my nephew’s quilt, I will put the top together. I have all the fabric for the borders.

Speaking of my nephew’s quilt, I only have a few more blocks to make. This is how I planned to lay out the blocks, but imagine the outside rows having one more block being attached at the bottom, for a 3,2,3,2,3 layout.

However, when I looked at the blocks sideways, I think I might like them laid out like this. I have cut the big blocks of background fabric for the ends of the “2” rows and I think I would have enough to add more of those blocks for this layout. I would have to make one more block for it to be long enough in this direction. I’ll play around in EQ8 and see what I think before cutting more fabric. What do you think, blocks going lengthwise or sideways?

Today, I plan to make or at least start Moda Blockheads 4, block 3. Also, our quilt group met on Friday and we had a demo on foundation paper piecing and were issued a challenge to paper piece some small tulip blocks. I think they will fit the need for my spring mini quilt. Stay tuned for that progress.

I hope you have a great start to your week and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Moda Blockheads 4

Hello Everyone! I have decided to take the plunge and participate in the Moda Blockheads 4 sew along. If you aren’t familiar with the Blockheads sew along, a new block is released weekly by various Moda fabric designers. Blockheads 4 is a shortened version, just 28 weeks instead of the 48 – 56 weeks in previous years.

I participated in the first Moda Blockheads starting in March, 2017. Above is my finished quilt on a guest bed. It’s not quite large enough for the bed, but that’s okay. I enjoy looking at it as I walk down that hall. The blocks are all 6″ blocks designed by the original set of 6 designers. You can read about my quilt in this post and see more detailed pictures. Blockheads 2 and 3 included more designers but there were multiple sizes of blocks and that style of quilt wasn’t for me.

Moda Blockheads 4 does include two sizes of blocks, 9″ and 4 1/2″. I thought about making just the 4 1/2″ block, but have designed a layout to use both sizes. I hope it works. I want a wall hanging size quilt, not another large one.

I had several fabric options to choose from. I have a large selection of Sherri and Chelsie fabrics, but I just used those recently in my Quilty Stars quilt. I also have Fig Tree fabrics and Corey Yoder fabrics to pull from and they blend nicely together with the Sherri and Chelsi fabrics. But I decided to use my stash of Bonnie and Camille fabrics. I haven’t played with those in a while so I thought that would be fun. I plan to use the navy, aqua, red, pinks and green fabrics.

I have made the first two blocks and like the way they turned out. Block 3 has been released and is very similar to my Autumn Star blocks. I haven’t decided whether to make it in the 9″ or 4 1/2″ size. My plan is to make 9 – 9″ and 18 – 4 1/2″ blocks. The idea is to use the 9″ size in the more complicated blocks or those with more pieces.

If you want to join in, you can find all the information here. The instructions are well written and each designer will usually give tips on their blocks each week.

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

WIP Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Can you believe it’s April? I am ready for spring and warmer weather. We met friends from Georgia at a winery near the Bull Run Battlefield in Manassas on Friday and it was a cool and very windy day. We had a great afternoon with them and it was nice to catch up in person. Saturday was a much nicer day so my husband and I went out for lunch and took a little drive because it was too pretty to stay inside all afternoon. Because I was busy on Saturday and I only had a few more blocks of my nephew’s quilt finished, I didn’t think I needed to do a quilt post on Sunday. I have started a new quilting project and I’ll share it later in the week.

For my stitching this week, I only worked on couple of things.

I finished the border on Winter Rose Manor and started filling in the bottom of the house. I also added another little tree on the bottom and started the fence when I got tired of working on the house. The whole bottom between the fence and the border is going to be filled in with white. That will also take some time to do!

I did have a finish this week! Gathering Clover by Misty at Luminous Fiber Arts. I was getting close to a finish, that’s why I continued to work on it instead of a few other things. It’s stitched on 32 ct Lugana in Sparrow hand dyed by Misty. I used about one and a half skeins of Cosmos 8024. Since I had cut out the darker green while stitching the bottom bird and watering can, I used those pieces in the top bird.

I’ve finished three of the “Gathering” series and have two more to go. I have the charts, fabrics and floss for the other two. I still haven’t decided exactly how I’m going to finish these, but I’m leaning towards framing them.

I’m going to leave you today with a couple of pictures of a double rainbow we had last week. Unfortunately my pictures don’t do it justice, but it looked like it was going straight into the lake on one end and behind the hill on the other side. I thought we could finally find the pot of gold if we looked!

Have a good week everyone and I’ll be back soon with my new quilt project. Thanks for stopping by!