The NEXT Stitch Along PRE-ORDER

7 Comments / By / June 27, 2022

I’m happy that we’re doing some stitch-alongs this year as it’s helping me get a few extra projects done that I might not have squeezed the time in for.

We’ve done Blessings and Redbird.  Our next stitch along is another Redbird so I think we’ll just call it Redbird #2.

Part of the whole reason we started hosting stitch-alongs was that so many people were asking Judy at Patchwork Times and me about cross-stitching.  You had seen us stitching and had questions as a new stitcher.  We thought if we were working on the same project that you had questions about, it would be easier for us to answer them.  It’s worked out great on our end.  I hope on your end too.

The next project we have in line is Red Bird Sampler by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.  I’ve long been a Brenda Gervais fan.  For those of you who don’t know, before cross-stitching, she did quilt designs.  She’s an Iowa girl and above all of that, she designs some amazing cross-stitch.  Here is the sampler.


As we’ve been stitching along, the projects that have been chosen have been picked for different reasons.  The last one was a chance to introduce silk floss and the joy of not having to change colors.

The one was picked to give a little introduction to samplers.  This is small.  The stitch count is 135 x 117.

If stitched on 14-count Aida or 28-count linen it will be 9 1/2″ x 8 1/4″
If stitched on 16-count Aida or 32-count linen it will be 8 1/2″ x 7 1/4″
If stitched on 36-count linen it will be 7 1/2″ x 6 1/2″
If stitched on 40count linen it will be 6 3/4″ x 6″

This sampler is considered an easier one because of its size and because it doesn’t have a border to match up.  You would get some experience learning to personalize the sampler as you’d need to put in your own initials.

Best of all, you’ll experience the little “high” all cross-stitchers get when completing a single motif.  I just love sitting down a night and being able to stitch a basket of flowers or a bird.  It’s super rewarding and it makes me want to stitch another and another and another!!

It took some finagling but Liz has everything ready for pre-order.  It really takes a lot of work to secure the needed supplies when so many of us are stitching along and I so appreciate all the work Liz and the staff do to make this all happen.

Liz really kicked it up a notch this time around.  She anticipated some of us… …

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Bathroom Remodel Update

23 Comments / By / June 26, 2022

Slow and steady my main floor bathroom is getting closer to a finish.  I’ll take pictures and do an update once it’s completely finished.  This is just an update on progress.

When we remodeled and added to the house, we put this bathroom in.  It’s right inside the garage door and I love where it’s located.  At the time, we didn’t have a real “vision” or an open checkbook to do whatever we wanted so we put in a toilet, found a pedestal sink on a freecycle group, bought a claw foot tub on Marketplace, and put that in.  We had the cabinet and put that in.  It was good enough.  We had other stuff to worry about.

Fast forward two years.  The childcare kids would go in and turn the water on in the claw foot tub.  Not once had we ever used the tub.  We ended up taking the tub out and putting the changing table there.  I was working doing in home childcare and it made so much more sense to have a changing table in the bathroom.  We sold the tub for the price we paid for it.  No harm.

So this was my bathroom…Not much but it served its purpose.


Childcare left our pedestal sink surrounded by step stools so the kids could reach the sink.  UGH.  It was so messy and the stools were scratching up the floors.  Kramer, my husband, had an idea to someday have a vanity built that had a built-in step stool.  That didn’t happen but I liked the idea.

Then Kramer got lung cancer and broke his neck and we suddenly realized we didn’t have a place for him to shower safely.  We all jumped into remodel mode trying to figure out how to quickly get a shower installed.  Unfortunately, Kramer passed away a couple of weeks later and we no longer needed that main floor shower.

For a bit, I did nothing but then as time went on and I figured out that my money situation was manageable, and I decided to slowly start fixing that bathroom.  It was always in the back of my mind, what if my cancer goes bad and it’s me that needs the shower on the main floor of the house.  I wanted to have it in place.

I started out by having a vanity built…I made sure it was custom-made and had that step stool built into it.

I like an antique look but needed some lighting over the vanity so I bought this light and had my vanity maker make a box to mount the light to and bring it away from the wall.


I was pleased with this but I still hadn’t addressed the shower issue.


Last summer I ordered an Onyx shower unit.  It came in the fall and then in January, it was finally my turn on the contractor’s list.  They put my shower in.

Next up, it was time for my cabinet maker to make a cabinet to go next to the shower.  On Saturday he came and installed it.  Everything isn’t complete but we’re getting close.

Here it is… …

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Best Package EVER #2!!

35 Comments / By / June 20, 2022

Do you remember a bit ago I wrote a blog post about “the best package ever”?  Well fast forward a few days…package #2 came.  I don’t know for positive because the packages came anonymously, but I think the same blog reader sent them.

They were addressed the same… both have projects and leftovers that are similar.  Everything about this package reminded me of the other package.  Whoever it is that sent them, please know, that I really appreciate it so much and you’ve sparked a renewed a new excitement in me and I love it!!

Here are the goodies all laid out on the table.

Check out this UFO.  Does anyone know what the pattern might be?  I don’t know if I’d finish it exactly like the original but I might.  I’m super curious to know.


I’ve always wanted to make a house quilt.  This might be as close as I get.  HA!

There were a few scraps in the mix.  I have a project perfect for these.


There were some nine-patch blocks.  I have a stack of nine patches upstairs in my orphan pile.  I’m hoping these might be the same size.  We’ll see.  So fun.  I love nine patches.

There were… …

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What I’m Working On…

23 Comments / By / June 26, 2022

I had a bit of a topsy-turvy week in the sewing room.  The garden is still not to the point that it isn’t taking up a lot of time so sewing time is limited but I am getting to the point that I’m getting a little time in there.

I got the sewing room on Wednesday and decided it didn’t make any difference what I work on, just that I work on something.  I’m at an awkward spot where I don’t have a specific project that I’m working on.  Almost everything that I was committed to is done or close to done.

I decided that the first thing I saw that had any spark of interest was what I was going to do.

At the top of one pile, I found a piece of flannel and a piece of Minky that I planned to make a baby quilt from for Craig and Kalissa’s new baby.    I loaded that on the longarm and did some quick easy machine quilting.


I easily finished that, trimmed the backing and flipped the Minky over to the front side, and sewed it down.  It’s nothing fancy but I’m sure Kalissa will love it.

From there I hemmed a stack of flannel for baby care kit receiving blankets.

Next, I grabbed this panel.  My plan for it was to make a preschool napping quilt for Gannon.

I already made his pillow.  I planned to make it something like Carver’s with the Lori Holt Spelling Bee Book but nothing clicked.

Being nothing clicked at the time, I left it all out on the longarm hoping something will come to me.

I ended up moving on.  I scanned the sewing room to see if there was something else I could quickly knock out.  I found this project.


I didn’t have all of the blocks done.  This project has stalled out since a year ago.  I’ve just not had the desire to get back to it.  But, it’s sat in my sewing room and I never packed it away.

I believe there are six more blocks to sew…but I wanted some machine time.  I decided that being I was going to be sewing them together in order that it was okay that I started sewing them together.

Originally I thought to use this Grunge fabric you see in the photo below.  I cut a few strips and didn’t like it.

I went digging and found the fabric below instead.

I like it much better.  I’m actually excited about it now and really want to finish it.

I want to finish it so much that I finally got busy and cut out the rest of the blocks for the top.  I’m so happy that they are all cut and ready to go for the next time I ended up with some sewing machine time.


It’s so fun to be working on this project as the 4th of July approaches.

Do you remember the strip of sewn together blocks a blog reader sent to me?  This one?


I was pretty sure the maker used this pattern, True Blue.  You can find it in THIS book.


I decided to cut out a couple of test blocks.  I was reminded why I often don’t like making quilts from others’ patterns.  Most people don’t cut out quilts as I do.  They write the cutting instructions to cut all the light-colored fabrics all at once and then cut all the dark at once.  They are cutting from fat quarters.

Not me.  I’m cutting from all sorts of different pieces.  I have some leftover 10 squares in the mix…pieces left from quarter yard cuts…some odd pieces I picked up at the thrift store.  I don’t have a standard size and never go out and buy all new fabric for a quilt.  Also, I’m not a gal who draws a line on the back of the square before I sew it.  I’m an easy angle girl…so, I did a little rewriting so the block cutting directions were friendly to me.


Here I am cutting making the sewing leg of this journey a little easier.

Here I have two blocks cut.  Both will be the same colors.


I went to my sewing room and sewed those two blocks with the hope that they would go together the right way and work with the blocks the blog reader sent me.

They look good…and were quick and easy to sew together.


I tested them with the pieces that were sent to me measuring and making sure they would all work together….and they do.  WHOOT!!  WHOOT!!

So now it’s full steam ahead on getting these cut and sewn.  I think I am going to love this project.

I counted and the blog reader who sent this project is after my own heart.  She made her quilt start bigger than the original just as I planned to.

I got the double wedding ring quilt off the longarm.  That part of it is finished.

I got it trimmed so next up is binding.  Fingers crossed that I can get to that this week.  I sure hope so.  I’m ready to be done with this one…beyond ready to be done with this one.

I don’t have a lot to show for the week but I’m super happy that I got a little fire lit under my bottom to get me going on the Flag quilt and the True Blue quilt.  I’ve needed a little fire to get lit under me…and other good news, I think I have a plan for Gannon’s quilt.

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