Four of the five quilt tops I am constructing are made with tree blocks. Plus I made a table runner with three trees from the scraps. This last one “Arboreal” is going together quickly. The blocks are large, the really big trees are 24″ tall, but I like how the fabric designs really show off. I was a little hesitant to use the white mistletoe print for the background, but I think it works well. These blocks are made with the stitch and flip method, and once I got everything cut, assembly line sewing was enacted. I am hoping to get this top together today. Also today, I want to get a few more rows done on the Courtyard Lattice quilt. Unfortunately there is some house cleaning that needs to be done, and then tomorrow there is meal prep for Thursdays feast.

My work on the Krista Moser Quilt-a-long has stalled, I got everything cut and many of the poinsettia petals done. However, I need the big diamond shaper ruler. I have the small and the mini, but my 60 degree triangle ruler isn’t big enough for the cuts I need to make. I had a coupon for Keepsake Quilting, so I applied it to the purchase of yet another Creative Grids ruler. It looks like it’s shipped on the 21st, so probably next week. I really want to finish this quilt as a gift, going to cut it close.

I really thought that I was going to finish the Fairy house last night. I finished outlining the tip of the roof Sunday, and figured I would cruise through the fill areas. When I sat down and looked there were still a bunch of vines and leaves that needed to be stitched. I concentrated on them instead, so maybe I’ll get it done this evening. I am thinking of taking a bit of a slow-down break from cross stitching this month. I have not been looking forward to the next house, the Haunted house, and this Fairy mushroom is taking a long while. I want to get my knitting projects finished too. Those Christmas hats won’t knit themselves.

I bought a yard of pink camouflage minky for a commissioned baby quilt last week. It is up in the mailbox, I would like a break from the red and green. I am thinking of a simple pinwheel and squares quilt, matching the pinks and brown/black of the minky. I also got some pink ombre yardage that looked like it matched these shades, I may have to wait a few weeks to get to it.

The first clue for the Bonnie Hunter annual mystery quilt (Old Town) was released last Friday. I’m not sure if I am going to participate, there is a lot going on this month. I am saving the clues though.

Be Kind.

This past week has been productive. I am steadily working on the tree blocks for the third commissioned quilt, Laundry Basket Quilts ‘Holiday Forest’. I am making it larger than the pattern, I need 56 blocks instead of twenty. The blocks finish at 7″ x 12″ , eight across and seven down, for a 60″ x 88″ top. I worked out an assembly line rhythm for cutting and assembly. I try to make six blocks at a time, this gives me enough variety to mix up the fabrics and colors.

I finished the quilting on the Forest Den quilt last night. I had a close call with the top thread, I ran out of it with two rows to stitch. I was using a spool of King Tut, that had been around here for a while. I had a brief moment of panic, but I found a partially used cone in my thread drawer, phew. The quilting on this quilt used up about 600 yards, four and a half bobbins too. While the last rows were stitching out, I reorganized my thread drawers. Previously I had only two, now after a bit of cleaning out and purging some non-thread stuff, I have three.

In cross stitch news, I am nearing the finish of the Fairy house, with the completion of the purple flower. I have mentally put this project on the back burner for the next month, as hat knitting has commenced. I wanted to make this Sea Urchin hat from Tracy Doxey since last year. I had printed it out and had some yarns picked out for it, but made something else. I am beginning to think that I may only make one of these, as it does not go very quickly. I am also thinking of splitting the hat onto two circular needles, as the one is a bit too short. Although the short cable is easier to manipulate than a magic loop, it seems to make my hands cramp up a bit.

I got my fabric kit for the Crimson Christmas quilt-a-long. The third video is this Tuesday, so I am going to try to catch up later today. Of course, some people are already done, and posting their finished work on the FB page for it. It’s not a big quilt, 52″x56″, I want to give it as a gift before the holiday. I have made a few of Krista Mosers quilts, and I am enjoying the videos she is producing for this quilt. She explains her methods well, and how to get better results with the cutting and sewing of the pieces. All 60 degree diamonds, some bias involved. That, plus very well written patterns makes for a fun project.

Other rabbit holes, or in our case, ground squirrel holes, I participated in the Wasatch annual sale yesterday. The sale is 60% off plus I get an additional 25% off for being a master club member. I have been a member there (mostly) on and off for about six years. I gleefully added a bunch of designs to my cart from my wish list and from a brief search through the thousands of designs. Then I had to cross reference them with the ones I already own. Sometimes a design that is offered singly is part of a club pack, and usually the site will tell you it is already in your account when you try to buy it. I found quite a few of my “new” designs were already mine, and some I didn’t know I had. This further adds to need for me to catalogue my designs into some workable form. I bought a bunch of Christmas themed pantos and a few quilt block themed ones as well. In particular, a set for the Sew Kind of Wonderful quilt pattern called Mini-Rings. It’s a double wedding ring style quilt using their curved rulers. I also saw a new pattern on their site, that is coming out early next year, called Park Place. I would like to make it too. The Moondance Revival quilt I made earlier this year sold in a few weeks. These quilts are fun to make and great for using up scraps, I’m linking them here, so I don’t forget.

Be Kind.

Early Christmas to the sewing room, I have started in earnest on the five Quilts with a Christmas theme. I finished the first, Courtyard Lattice yesterday. I had finished it Wednesday, but I realized I had sewn on one of the outer borders upside down. Thankfully before it was on the frame this time. I spent a little time fixing it, then continued on with the construction of the blocks for Seasonal Patchwork. I am making it a lot larger than the pattern calls for, 44″ x 52″, my version will be almost queen sized. The tree blocks in this quilt are a bit difficult to make as described in the pattern. I tried one and it was too wonky, I had to resew it four times to get the outer triangles to lay right so the block would be 5 ½” square. Creative grids rulers to the rescue. The Two Peaks in One ruler is perfect for cutting this size. The twin tree block is a bit more pointy though, and I am trying out the 45 Degree Diamond along with the two peaks one for these. I have a few more to cut and make for a total of 64 skinny trees. The stars are next, the pattern calls for folded corners, I have a dislike of that method. There will be some creative math involved this those too. It’s an 8 inch finished size block with four flying geese around a square in a square in the center.

Knitting projects have been progressing too, I am inching towards the half way point on the baby bear sweater/romper. The stitch holders are for the sleeves, and I am working on the main trunk part. There are only a few increases in each RS row, I have learned a new to me type of increase called a KLL and a KRL, much neater and they don’t leave a hole below. I printed out the instructions for them from Coco Knits, for reference. For some reason, I can’t seem to remember which is which. It’s because the KLL is made under the right needle and the KRL is made under the left needle. There is also a new to me thing called a shadow wrap, a different way of doing a short row. I think I am done with those for this project, as they are for neck line shaping. I am hoping to get this done before my trip in early December to meet the recipient :). Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the yarns I ordered for the four five Christmas hats I want to knit. Amazon has so spoiled me, as much as I hate to admit it. Remember the days when 4 to 6 weeks was the average time to get something delivered through the mail that you ordered through a catalog or over the phone? I still love to get hand written letters and cards too, sigh.

I did get the Forest den quilt on the frame, and chose an Oak leaf and Acorn panto for it. It is not as dense as the one I used for a few other projects, but still 25 minutes a row. Once this one is finished, I start the Courtyard Lattice one, I need to piece a backing for it first. My TODO list is growing. I did fix the errant diamond on the green peacock quilt top and pieced a backing for the Glow peacock quilt, those are in the TBQ pile too.

Finally, the Fairy House has been languishing, as knitting is taking over evening stitch time. I have made a little progress since last post. This week I think I averaged about 100 stitches a night. The next house, the Log Cabin, was released, along with a bonus house, The Tudor. Strangely, I am not too excited about the extra bonus, it won’t fit on my projects Aida cloth, and I think the past ten months of stitching on this exclusively, has worn down my enthusiasm a bit. I was watching a Flosstube with Lori Holt and she was showing her finished version of Lillies of the Field. I really miss working on that piece, but I know if I pull it out and work on it, the houses will go into the land of UFO’s.

Be Kind.

Fall has arrived in the Bay Area of California. My two trees that show color are doing so, and I have amassed a collection of squash-es to last the winter. We are looking at a 50% chance of rain tomorrow, the first in a very long while. I finally finished the cardigan last night. So fiddly, not just the seaming together, but the button holes, then sewing on the buttons and weaving in the ends, I was ready to be finished. These little booties are quick enough to knit up though. Garter stitch and a bit of picot on the edge, the second one is going a bit faster. I just hope I have enough blue yarn left over. I found this cute onesie pattern from Coco Knits, called Baby Bear, I’m going to dig through the yarn stash to see if I have anything soft enough in the right weight. I like Coco knits patterns because they are usually one piece and very little seaming. They design clever shaping with decreases and increases, plus make it all understandable with videos and concise details.

I did a quick turn around quilt Monday, a local lady contacted me to see if I could finish her baby quilt for her by the weekend. I was able to do so, as I had just finished the Spot on quilt and it was off the frame. This little quilt was 35″ square, two and a half rows of quilting and it was done. I got it back to her yesterday, it’d be great to do more like that, but everything has to line up. When I finished the Spot on quilt I had enough left over backing to quilt this banner panel that I got on sale. The trees, hearts and stars are supposed to be double sided stuffed ornaments, but I am going to hang them in-between the letter flags. I want to try to cut them with pinking shears around the edges. I might have a rotary pinking blade, I have to look through my collection.

I started on making the HST’s for the first Winterly quilt top. Then realized I made them with the wrong background color, 128 of them. I think I will be able to use them in one of the other quilts. In the meantime I feel a little stalled on this project. I ordered a few yards of the dark (called for) background fabrics. Once it gets here, I will make up the two blocks, and see if they still work using the lighter background. I may just have to change 64 of them, I used my Accuquilt die to cut them, so it’ll be easy to recut the pieces quickly. I got my new dies in the mail yesterday, I will be using the 1 ½” strip die for this project too. I have never been comfortable cutting narrow strips from yardage. The ruler just doesn’t have enough grip on the fabric and they eventually get wonky. The plus to using the die is being able to cut five at a time.

Cross stitch time has been sporadic, lately it is every other day, but I am making progress. At 18 days in, I’m about 30% done. The roof tiles require much counting and I don’t like concentrating that much some nights.

Be Kind.

Just like that I am busy. I feel like I have been coasting along this fall, then yesterday I received the fabric for the five custom quilts I contracted for. I feel like I should have a few more holiday quilts ready for the shop. Then I am realizing that I need to finish a few baby things, as the arrival grows ever closer. Plus I want to make a few knitted hats for giving. Then I am thinking that Christmas gifting will be a bit earlier this year, as I am traveling in December. Okay, calm down, breathe, and make a list on the white board.

I am happy to report that the Chill Cabins quilt sold within an hour of me posting it to the shop. Phew! fastest sale ever, and to a previous customer to boot. The other Halloween quilt, a Mad Masquerade/Alice theme is in two carts, but the season is quickly drawing to an end. I would really (wishfully) like to see it shipped out of here by the end of the week.

I finished the quilting on the customer quilt, shipping that one back today. I used aurifil variegated 50 weight on the top and solid 50 weight in the bobbin. Such nice thread to quilt with, very little lint, and the only breakage was when I ran out of bobbin. I liked the combo so much I am using it to quilt this top I made earlier this year. I can’t remember the name of the pattern, I think is from Connecting threads. Spot On is the name, it went together fairly quickly, then languished in the TBQ pile, for lack of a backing. I went with a pepper shot cotton in oyster, the bobbin thread is medium blue, so the circular panto quilting shows up nicely.

I am steadily working on the Fairy house, got the door done and working on the purple gills of the mushroom. The roof is next, lots of tiles and counting. I am also sewing up and finishing the baby sweater, yesterday I got a sleeve sewn on and the button band done. Might attempt the button hole band today, it requires full concentration. I realized that the buttons I got for it are too big, for some reason I got it in my head that they were 7/8″, but that’s too big. I ordered some ½” sized that should work, hope they get here soon. I made a little headway on the Tilda Quilt appliqué, and as I was sewing, I wondered why I hadn’t done any work on it since June ?!? I am leaving it out and accessible, even just one or two flowers a day would help get it done.

I caved to an Accuquilt sale this week too, a blogger who I read, posted about their annual 40% off sale -ends 10/23. So I bought three dies, a multi sized circle cutter, an 1 ½” strip cutter and a signature circles die. That last one cuts sort of a drunkards path block with four arcs to it, it makes for a meandering curvy line when the blocks are joined or two layer circles. I like the little notches that it cuts to help line up the pieces. Note to self: use Accquilt Cutter more often.

Be Kind.