Cross Stitch Finishes – January and February 2026

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Today I have three cross stitch pieces to share that I finished in the last month. None are fully finished because they need to be framed.

The first finish is P Buckley Moss’s “The Skater”. The last time I showed it to you, I just finished the backstitch in the house. It took another week or so to backstitch all the tree branches and the skater. I started this in February 2025 and finished it in January. The cover shows it framed with an oval mat, but I’m not sure I want to frame it that way. It will fit into an 8″ x 10″ frame, but some of the branches on the side will be cut off. A little bit of the branches were cut off in the oval, but not as much as a regular frame would be. I will probably have to order a custom frame for it or I may decide to frame it like the cover.

The Skater is stitched on 36 ct Antique White linen by Zweigart, 2 over 2. There are some blended threads in this chart as it seems like in most older charts.

My second finish is also a long term project. This is Heart and Home Patchwork, a combination of five different charts. It’s from Blackbird Designs “A Heart Remembers” book. In the book, it was stitched on five different pieces of linen, but I stitched mine on one piece of 40 ct Affogato by Fiber on a Whim, 1 over 2. It’s approximately 17.5″ w x 5″ h. I started it in April 2025 and finished it on January 31, 2026.

I did make several floss changes. The strawberries and flowers were supposed to be GA Mulberry and GA Gingersnap like the letters are, but they were too brown. I changed them to be Weeks Baked Apple and Weeks Cinnabon. I also changed the bright teal color of GA Peacock to CCW Rain Shower for the blues. The color of the fabric is somewhere between these two pictures. I plan to frame this and hang it across from my sewing table.

My last cross stitch finish is Blackbird Design’s American Eagle from the book “Land of Liberty”. I started this in the middle of January and finished it last week. It’s also stitched on Affogato, but 36 ct, 1 over 2. I used most of the called for floss except changed the white to DMC 3865 and the green to Weeks Oscar. Also, I added the year in the top left corner (1 over 1), there was no date on the chart. This is the first patriotic stitch finished to celebrate America’s 250. I will continue to stitch some smalls to celebrate the anniversary through July. Unfortunately, this will not fit into a 5″ x 7″ frame, so I’ll have to order one for it, too.

I’ve decided to add in one more small finish into this post…

It’s Block 1 of The Raven by Blackbird Designs. I reduced the block size by half so instead of a 20″ block, mine is 10″. I’m using a combination of Fig Tree and Wild Orchid fabric by Blackbird Designs for most of the applique pieces. The background is from the New Dawn collection by Margie Hockman for Marcus Fabrics. I went back and forth on which applique method to use, but in the end, I’m doing needle turn. It’s been years since I’ve needle turned and I definitely improved as I went along. I’m using Invisafil 100 wt thread by Wonderfil in Off White and Brown/Gray to stitch with. This past week, I got block 2 ready to go.

We’ve been a deep freeze like half of the country and still have most of our snow from two weeks ago on the ground. I’m trying to take advantage of the cold to get some good sewing time in. I hope that you are also able to enjoy some stitching and sewing time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Brenda

Posted in applique, Blackbird Designs, Cross-Stitch, Uncategorized, Winter stitching | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Tilda Christmas Bed Runner Finish

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back! Are you in the path of the snow and ice storm? We are and have about 10″ of snow on the ground, but as I’m writing this post, it has become a mix of snow and sleet so not accumulating like it was. I was looking forward to about 15 or 18 inches of snow. We may still get a few more inches of accumulation before it’s done, I just hope we won’t get much of the freezing rain.

This is how it looked at 8:00 in the morning. We have private roads so the community pays for snow removal; they started at 3:00 AM! Good service, but it was loud and they came back through about every half hour. We will have a very cold week coming up. Brrrrrr!

Last fall, I got on the band wagon and purchased a bundle of red and a bundle of green fat quarters from the Merry Little Christmas fabric by Tilda. I started thinking about how to use it, and came up with the idea for a bed runner. I have the one for Fall and I used the same double star block, but wanted to find an alternate block. After looking through several books, I found the Christmas Star block from Joanna Figueroa’s “Christmas Figs” book. It was the same size block, so it didn’t need any adjustments. I didn’t use all the fat quarters in the bundle and added a darker red Moda Grunge. The background is really pretty and went well with the Tilda Fabric. It’s called Wild Flowers – Flower Field by Smithsonian Institute for Marcus Fabrics. The backing is another Smithsonian Institute fabric called Sage Floral Silhouettes Botanical Journal, a very pretty light green.

Here are some closer looks at the fabric and the free motion quilting. I used Glide 40 wt poly thread for the quilting and Quilter’s Dream 80/20 for the batting.

You can see the pretty backing fabric here and some more details of the quilting.

Now, I’m quilting the Holly Jolly Trails quilt finished in November 2024. I never posted a finish of my quilt! This is close, I added a 3″ cream border all around. I’ve done about half the quilting now, some walking foot and some free motion.

This week, my plan is to select fabrics for this quilt, The Lincoln Museum Quilt by Barbara Brackman. You can read about it here. My daughter saw this somewhere and sent me a picture. She said she wanted to make this quilt in similar colors. I told her I would quilt along with her. The book is out of print and very expensive on the secondary market. I’ve revised the quilt into smaller blocks and plan on using my collection of Fig Tree fabrics, hoping for a vintage vibe instead of civil war.

A few weeks ago, I Facetimed with my daughter and we went through my fabrics. This is what she selected. I sent them to her and she has bought a few more to go with them. This will at least get her started. We’re planning on making a few blocks a month and making it a year long project. If you want to join in, send me an email and I’ll send you the revised block size measurements and cutting info. I’m hoping to use up some of my older Fig Tree fabrics.

That’s it for me today. I hope that if you’re getting snow, you’re enjoying it and hope that you don’t lose power if you get ice. For all others, have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Posted in Christmas Sewing, FMQ, Lincoln Quilt, Pfaff Performance Icon Free Motion Quilting, Quilts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Cross Stitch WIPs and Finishes

Posted on January 16, 2026 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Have you been in the organizing and planning mood? I have been doing both with cross stitch and quilting. Earlier this week I decided it was time to put my flosses back where they belong. I had about 10 rings of floss that I had thrown into a basket after finishing a project. A few went back to last summer. The overdyed flosses weren’t too bad, but I probably had over 50 DMCs to put back. I kitted a new project yesterday and it was so much easier to find the floss then going through all those rings.

Today, I have two finishes, two new starts and a new project bag to share. Let’s start with the finishes.

I finished Christmas Tree Farm from the December 2008 issue of “Just Cross Stitch” magazine. It’s stitched on 28 ct Antique Blue Jobalan, 2 over 2. The fabric is more blue than what is showing here, and it’s just my type of scene, a snowy night in the mountains. There are beads and some DMC Light Effects in it. I was also able to pick up the moon and star Treasures at Liberty Hill Needleworks when I was in Williamsburg. I finished it after Christmas, but I did see if it would fit into a 5″ x 7″ frame and it just barely will. If I have to move the moon down and cover a row of those tiny little stars, that will be okay.

I also started and finished “The Pleasure of the Fleeting Year, # 6 in the Loose Feathers Series for the Birds” by Blackbird Designs. It’s stitched on 36 ct Hazelwood by Fiber on a Whim, 1 over 2. I changed the white to DMC 3865 and changed out the blues for the called for DMCs. I also changed the feathers on the peacock. The squares were in the same color as the brown in the body and after looking at pictures of peacocks, I wanted them to be more blue. I think this will fit into a 6″ x 6″ frame so I may be able to use one that I already have, if not those are easy to find.

On Christmas day, I started “Seasons Greetings” by Shakespeare’s Peddler. Right now, this is an exclusive for The Silver Needle shop in Tulsa, OK. I ordered it and got it in time to take to Williamsburg so I could get fabric and floss. After Christmas, I made a new bag for it.

I used the Bosal 2 1/2″ grid fusible interfacing and a mini charm pack to make the front panel. After placing the fabric on the fusible, it sewed up so quickly. This YouTube video from Shabby Fabrics had some good tips for using the grid. The mini charms are Berry and Pine by Lella Boutique. I found an older piece of green in my stash that matched it for the top and back.

I worked on it between Christmas and New Year’s and got a good start. My plan is to work on it for about three days a month around the 25th. I’m stitching on 36 ct Mellowstone by Atomic Ranch using the called for flosses.

I also started American Eagle by Blackbird Designs. It’s from the book “Sweet Land of Liberty”. This is one days progress. I’m stitching it on 36 ct. Affogato by Fiber on a Whim, 1 over 2. I’m using the called for colors if I have them, then using the DMC if I don’t. I am switching the house color to 3866 and will be changing the darker red, but have two choices pulled. Once I finish the windows, I will decide which red I’m going to use.

My plan is to try to keep a patriotic piece going for our 250th Anniversary. There is one more project in this book that I would like to stitch, and I’m sure there will be more patriotic stitches coming out as the year goes along.

That’s it for my stitching today. Next week I’ll have some new quilting plans to share. I hope you all have a great weekend ahead. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Posted in Blackbird Designs, Christmas Cross Stitch, Cross Stitch Finishes, Cross-Stitch, Patriotic Cross Stitch, Project Bags, Winter stitching | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy 2026 and a Quilt Finish

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back! I hope you all had a good holiday season. We missed having our daughter here, but she is recovering well from her ankle surgery and has gone back to work this week. We had some fun outings with our son, and my husband and I had a good time in Williamsburg, VA the week before Christmas. I’ll share some pictures at the end.

January 2026 is also the 10th Anniversary of my blog. I don’t know if I ever expected to still be writing it after 10 years, but here I am. I use to post three or four times a week. Now, I’ve been trying to post once a week, but other things seem to crop up. I’m busier now than back then when my husband was still working and my son and daughter were in college. I enjoy keeping track of the projects that I do and the blog has helped with that, but it’s also allowed me to grow as a quilter and crafter as I have participated in online events with others, especially in the early days.

Since this is a get organized time of year, I’m going to share links to my quilt studio tours instead of my first post (which you can find under January 2016 on the sidebar). Above is a picture of my sewing studio all nice and clean at the beginning of 2025 with my new sewing machine. Below are the three posts where I show the details of the rooms.

My Quilting Nook shows my sewing room in our house in Georgia.

The Basement Sewing Studio Reveal shows the same room after we had redone basement. It was completed in January 2020, and we moved in September of 2020, but I really enjoyed sewing in that fresh new space.

The Sewing Studio Tour in the Virginia House is where I spend most of my days now. It hasn’t changed much except I have an antique small dining table and pie safe from my in-laws in the room now.

Now onto the quilt finish!

This is my son’s Green Bay Packers quilt based on the pattern Cottage Twirl by Miriam Ronne of Stitched Obsessed on YouTube. Although she was hosting a sew along, I did not sew with her at the time. I also changed the colors and size of the blocks to get the chain appearance in my quilt. Here is a link to her free Cottage Twirl pattern.

The quilt measures 80″ w x 89″h, so not a small quilt. I collected some “Packers” green fat quarters and used gold and white with gray grunge for the chain blocks and background. The batting is Hobbs Tuscany Collection Silk Blend. He wanted something that wouldn’t be too warm for spring and fall.

I quilted a cross hatch design everywhere except in the friendship star blocks and did a diagonal design in the border using a straight stitch and IDT (integrated dual feed technology) on my machine. For the stars, I switched to free motion quilting and quilted continuous curves.

We all love the backing on this quilt. The fabrics are Basecamp by Sweetwater for Moda. This is an older line and I wish I had more of it. We found it in a shop in Elkton, WV and I bought all they had of the NP fabric.

My son is very happy with his quilt and used it while he was here. He was able to put it in his backpack to take home with him on the airplane. He sent me this picture when he got home of two of the quilts I’ve made him. The other one represents his college colors and has flannel on the back, definitely warmer than the new one.

During the in between time (Christmas to New Year’s), I’ve been sewing, stitching and doing some planning and organizing. I’ll show you what I’ve been up to next time.

We spent two nights in Williamsburg the week before Christmas visiting with my father-in-law and touring around some. I also was able to get to Liberty Hill Needleworks and spent about an hour there. It’s so nice to see things in person instead of online.

Williamsburg during Christmas is so pretty. Above is the Williamsburg Inn.

We stayed at the Williamsburg Lodge and had tickets to Colonial Williamsburg. It’s been a long time since we’ve gone in some of the buildings. One thing I always enjoy looking at are all the natural wreaths. I only wish I was talented enough to recreate even the simplest of them.

I hope you all are having a good start to the new year and have some upcoming exciting quilting and crafting plans. I have a few I’ll be sharing along the way. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Posted in Quilts, Travel, Uncategorized, Walking Foot Quilting | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Quilting and Stitching Update

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. It’s been a while since my last post, but life has been busy and I’ve been working on a special gift that I wanted to make sure I finished by yesterday. We are going to Williamsburg to visit my father-in-law and are taking a couple of days to tour around Williamsburg. It is so pretty there this time of year.

Let’s start with some stitching.

I had put away P. Buckley Moss’s The Skater for the summer and fall, but took her back out in early November. I have finished all the stitching and started the backstitching, which is a lot.

I have to say, stitching the mortar in the house was quite the chore. Once I got into a rhythm with it, I did better. It still took almost a week to finish it. I have put it aside again while I’m working on a new project.

Late in November, I wanted to start something Christmasy and I’ve had this chart saved forever. It’s Christmas Tree Farm from the December 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. I’ve had the fabric, 28 ct Antique Blue Jobelan and the DMC Light Effects for years. Even though this is a small stitch, it’s not easy. I’ve progressed a little more on the large Christmas tree and I need to pay close attention to the stitch placements. At one point, I had either the star or the moon, but I think I used it on something else. You can’t tell from the picture, but there are also red and gold beads in the tree. Fortunately, I do have those. I’ll continue to stitch it until it’s finished.

Another Stitchy/Quilty project I started mid fall is The Raven by Blackbird Designs. I’m doing needle turn hand applique and I’ve gotten better as I’ve gone along. I didn’t iron it because I used the Frixon Markers to trace the design on the background fabric. I also reduced the size by half. I’m using a mixture of Fig Tree, the Wild Orchids fabric by Blackbird Designs and a few Primitive Gathering fabrics. The background fabric is from the New Dawn collection by Margie Hockman for Marcus Fabrics. Stitching on this and doing a little knitting has cut into my cross stitch time, but it’s been nice to work on something different.

I’ve been doing a lot of quilting in the past few weeks.

Over Thanksgiving, I started a new bed runner for our bed out of the Tilda Christmas fabric. The double star block was in a Harvest Moon pattern by Fig Tree several years ago. I used the same block in my fall bed runner. The second block is from the book, “Christmas Figs” called the Christmas Star block. I haven’t worked on this since Thanksgiving, but now that my present is finished, I can get back to it. I know I won’t finish it for Christmas, but the nice thing about these fabrics is that they don’t scream Christmas.

Finally, I’m giving you a sneak peek at the present.

It’s a quilt for my son, so that’s why I couldn’t work on it over Thanksgiving since he was here. I started sewing this as soon as I finished quilting Cinnamon Splendor. I’ll have two good quilt holders after Christmas so I hope to get some good pictures of it outside. I’ll give you all the details in my next post, which I hope will be before the new year.

This is my cross stitch ornament tree in my sewing room. I’m wishing you all a Happy Holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!

Brenda

Posted in applique, Blackbird Designs, Christmas Cross Stitch, Christmas Sewing, Cross-Stitch, Fall Quilting, Quilts | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cinnamon Splendor BOM Finish!

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Today I’m so happy to show you my Cinnamon Splendor BOM finish!

It is such a pretty quilt designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. I received a package of block instructions and fabric every month starting in August 2022. The Block of the Month is a misnomer, there were several blocks every month to make. I started making the blocks in January 2023 and finished the top in February of 2025. I started quilting it in September and just finished it last week in November of 2025. There is a lot of piecing and quilting in this quilt. When I finally got to months 10, 11, and 12, there were so many filler blocks and pieces yet to make.

Most of the fabrics are from Joanna’s collections, especially Cinnamon and Cream, but there are some other Moda designers thrown in. I used Aurifil 50 wt thread to piece with, then used Glide 40 wt poly in matching colors to quilt with. Some of my quilting inspiration came from Joanna’s quilt that was custom quilted and a few others that I could find that had been custom quilted. I quilted my own ideas as well.

To keep the quilting cohesive, I quilted some of the same motifs in the same type of units. For example, I quilted all the individual flying geese the same way. I also quilted blocks with a square in the center with a flower motif, either straight or on point.

You can see a little of the border quilting above. I didn’t want to quilt feathers all the way around the border, so I quilted feathers in the top left and bottom right corners, then quilted a few echoed wavy lines in the rest of the border. I got that idea from watching one of Angela Walters quilting videos.

I’ve been enjoying viewing the quilt in my studio, but soon it will be time to change it out for the holidays.

In other quilty news,

We had a quilt group member lead us through making the “Mom and Me Apron” by Atkinson Designs last Friday. I made two from Lori Holt’s Cookbook fabric that I’ve had for several years just for this purpose. There are three sizes in the pattern, toddler, child and adult. They would be cute to make for you and your kids or grandkids to be used when you do holiday baking together.

I’ve already started a few new projects, one being the applique quilt The Raven by Blackbird Designs. I’ll share the first block when I finish it. If I don’t get back before Thanksgiving next week, I wish all my US friends a happy holiday with friends and family. My son will be here, so we’ll enjoy spending some time with him. Thanks for stopping by!

Brenda

Posted in Cinnamon Splendor Mystery BOM, Fall Quilting, FMQ, Pfaff Performance Icon, Pfaff Performance Icon Free Motion Quilting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Knit Finishes and a Special Quilt

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. I have finally been home for more than a week at a time since the middle of September and have gotten a few things finished and some new things started. Today, I’m going to share two of my knitting projects that I recently finished. But first, I have a special quilt to show you.

My daughter has finished her first quilt! Needless to saw, I’m a very proud Mom! She bought the white fabric, which are fabric napkins, at a thrift store in Pensacola. She told me she wanted to make a quilt and asked me to help her with the measurements. She had already designed the placement of the fabrics by the time she talked to me. She bought the dark blue print, the border and backing fabric from her local quilt shop. She used premade binding and took it to her local library where she was able to have it quilted for free. She said this would probably be the only quilt she makes and I said “I doubt it!”

Recently, she made a rag table runner out of Halloween fabrics and is now making a Christmas tree skirt. She also made a Sawtooth Star block. She bought the new pink book, “The Quilting Book”- by DK and is using it as her guide to start making basic quilt units. I hope she enjoys her quilting journey as much as I have.

Since we have been traveling so much, I have found it’s much easier to work on a knitting project in the car. I finished my Vermont socks a few weeks ago, but have yet to wear them. They certainly are green! The pattern is so old, that I couldn’t find it online anymore. The yarn is a hand dyed super wash fingering weight wool. I used US 2 double point needles to make them.

My next project is the Fading Memories Cowl 2025 by Anne Budd. I had a mini skein set that I picked up at last year’s Berryville Fiber Festival. They are hand dyed fingering weight yarn by Jems Luxe Fibers.

The pattern was easy enough and kept my interest. Now that the cold is here. I’ll be able to wear it soon. I bought some more sock yarn at the Outer Banks and have started to make another pair of socks. I also bought some yarn when we were in Blacksburg a few weeks ago. They are hand dyed with Hokie (Virginia Tech) colors. I’ll have those ready for our annual in person game next year.

By the way, we had a great weekend in Roanoke and Blacksburg (even if VT lost) and I’ll share pictures in another post. That’s it for today, have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Brenda

Posted in Emily's Quilts, Knits, Quilts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fall 2025 Douthat SP Camping Trip

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone! We have been on the road again and this time to Douthat SP near Clifton Forge, VA in the Highlands area of the state. It was cool, but we finally had a beautiful week of weather. The leaves were starting to change, the air was clear and crisp and we had a great time.

Once we arrived on the first day, we got the Escape 23 set up and enjoyed a beverage before taking a walk around the campground. We arrived on a Monday, and the campground was almost full. It’s the perfect time of year so even during the week, the campgrounds are full, mostly with retired people like us.

We knew Tuesday was going to be the warmest day, so we took advantage of it and did a little site seeing in the area and then took a long bike ride. Our day trip took us into Covington, VA.

Our first stop was to Falling Springs Falls. It’s one of the pretties falls I’ve seen in a while. It’s sitting at the top of the mountain so we had a pretty and winding drive just getting to it.

The view from the overlook was pretty, too. These are the Allegheny Mountains looking towards West Virginia.

Our next stop was the Humpback Bridge that is believed to be the oldest bridge of it’s design remaining in the US. It’s a single span bridge which is four feet higher in the center than at the ends.

Our next stop was the bike rental place on the Jackson River Scenic Trail. Our plan was to rent the bike, then bike to a restaurant about 8 miles up the trail. Well… when we got there, the sign on the outfitters said it was closed. Now, I looked it up on the weekend before we left, and both places were supposed to be open. However, the owner pulled in just as we were turning to leave and asked if he could help us. Fortunately for us, he offered to rent us bikes even though he was closed. He told us to leave them in the rack if he wasn’t there when we got back. He also told us our lunch place was closed but told us about a gas station, grill, deli, grocery, tanning place all in one to stop at about two miles away, just off the trail.

The outfitter suggested the hamburgers so that’s what we got. I have to say, it was one of the best basic grilled burger I’ve had in a long time.

The Jackson River Scenic Trail is a Rails to Trails trail mostly along the Jackson River. The trail also took us through some fields and rural areas of the valley. It was a flat trail, so the riding was easy.

There was a swinging bridge along the way that we had to check out. Not my husband’s favorite thing to do, but the views from the center were worth walking out there for.

We rode a total of 20 miles, going 10 miles of the total 16 one way. With the stop for lunch it took a little less than four hours. While the riding was not hard, we were getting a little tired of the bike seats about half way back. Neither of us were really sore, although when we hiked the next day, I could feel it in my knees going down some steps that were on the trail.

It was a long day, but we enjoyed a nice grilled chicken and fried potatoes meal by the fire. We had a brief shower that evening as a cold front moved in with lots of wind. The wind woke us both up it was so loud.

The next day was again beautiful, but windy and almost 15 degrees cooler. We still decided to go hike around Douthat Lake. Instead of hiking over the mountain from the campground to the lake, we kept it shorter by driving to the camp store and starting from there. It still ended up being about three miles, but we thought that was plenty after the 20 mile bike ride.

Late that afternoon, my sister and her husband drove up to see us. They live near Roanoke so it was nice that we got together and visit. We spent an hour in the campground, then went to dinner in Clifton Forge at Jack Mason’s Tavern and Brewery. The food was really good and so was their beer.

When we got up the next morning, it was still cold and windy. We were going to stay a fourth night, but the temperatures were supposed to drop below freezing by the next morning. We had already had temperatures in the low 30’s overnight so I could tell my husband was worried about water lines freezing. We decided to go ahead and go home. Before we left, we winterized the camper, so this was our last trip of the season.

We left on another beauty of a day! Douthat has become one of our favorite state parks in Virginia. The camp sites are nicely spaced and there is lots of hiking trails, plus the lake. The leaves had changed even more by the time we left. I will have to say as we got into the Shenandoah Valley, the leaves were not nearly as pretty. It’s been very dry and alot of the leaves are turning brown and falling on the ground. It has gotten prettier behind our house this past week though.

I hope you enjoyed just a glimpse into the Highlands of Virginia. It is a beautiful part of the state if you ever get a chance to visit. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Brenda

Posted in Camping, Day Trips, Escape Travel Trailer, Mountain Trips, Travel, Virginia State Parks, Water Falls | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Quick Check-in and Crafty Update

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone and welcome back. Since my last post, I’ve been to Atlanta and we are getting ready to head out again soon. It was a beautiful weekend in the North Georgia area and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit with our son and our good friends. The only drawback was the Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech football game. We went to the game with our friends and it was a beautiful day for it, however, VT lost again, but they did have some good plays. We will be going to another one of their games in a few weeks. Whether they win or lose, it’s always fun to go to Blacksburg for a game.

When we’ve been home, I’ve spent most of my sewing time quilting the Cinnamon Splendor BOM from Fig Tree. Yesterday I finished quilting with all the color threads and will be moving back to the cream backgrounds. There is still plenty to quilt but I’m hoping to finish it sometime the first week of November.

I also finished two cross stitch pieces last week. Above is Waiting for the Harvest by Blackbird Designs. It’s from the book the Winds of Autumn. I used DMC 4130 Variegated floss for the pumpkins and Weeks Onyx for the birds. I changed it by leaving out the initials on the end and adding an extra bird to each end. It’s stitched on 36 Cream and Sugar by Fiber on a Whim, 1 over 2.

The second finish is Autumn’s Swan by With Thy Needle and Thread. I changed the called for white to DMC 3865 and CCW Pebble to CCW Harvest Pumkin. It’s stitched on 40 ct Lt Mocha, 1 over 2. I’ll be finishing both of these as small pillows.

While I was in Georgia, I was able to shop at two of my favorite quilt shops. I picked up some new fabric for the “Raven” applique quilt by Blackbird Designs. I didn’t find the background fabric I was looking for, but I did find a suitable one at one my local quilt shop here. When we get home next week, I’ll be starting to pull fabrics and getting the pieces ready for applique.

It will probably be two weeks before I check in again, until then, I hope you are out and about enjoying some beautiful weather. Thanks for stopping by!

Brenda

Posted in Blackbird Designs, Cinnamon Splendor Mystery BOM, Cross Stitch Finishes, Cross-Stitch, Fall Cross Stitch, Fall Quilting, FMQ, Quilts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cross Stitch Update

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Brenda

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve done a cross stitch update, so I’ll be sharing what I’ve been working on recently and a fully finished object that I stitched last year. I will warn you that I didn’t iron my projects this time because one of them I couldn’t, then I was just too lazy to go downstairs to iron the others.

My FFO is Autumn Glow from Just Cross Stitch Magazine, October 2023. Originally, I thought I would frame it, but after looking at it again and trying to think of where I would put the framed piece, I thought a soft finish might be better. I’m pleased with my decision and enjoy being able to view it in the Ackfeld Stand. It’s stitched on 28 ct Water Lily Jobelan, 2 over 2. There is a lot of stitching, blending of threads and backstitch in these types of designs, but they are so pretty when they are finished.

Here’s a more detailed look at the stitching.

This project is the reason I didn’t iron. It’s from Hands On Design and Summer House Stitch Works book “Between Friends A Fall Sampling. These will be made into little pumpkins as shown in the picture. I needed to mark the cut line on the fabric so I could place the stitching in the right place. Once I iron, the marks will disappear. None of my pictures turned out well when I took them, but hopefully you’ll see them finished by the end of the month. The fabric is 32 ct Soft Pumpkin by Luminous Fiber Arts. I’ve had it for several years and was happy to finally use it. I’ve ordered some wool felt for the leaves, too.

My next WIP is from the same book and is called Gourd-geous Ribbon (just a little pillow talk). I believe Cathy at HOD designed both of these stitches. You need two of the ribbons to make the finish like Cathy did so I’ve been making both at the same time. The edges are finished with a Nun Stitch, so that will be a first for me. I should have it finished in the next few days, then can pick out some pretty fabrics from my fall stash for the little pillows.

My last WIP to share today is Autumn Swan by With Thy Needle and Thread. I’ve stitched the Summer Swan (although it’s not FFO’d yet) and after stitching that one, I didn’t think I would stitch another because there is alot of stitching in the swan. I do like this one though and I’m about half way finished. There is also a Christmas Swan I would like to stitch, but I need to get the chart. I’m stitching it on 40 ct Lt Mocha, 1 over 2 with the called for floss. I think I’m going to leave the word off on the bottom.

I finally got out my Cinnamon Splendor BOM quilt and have started quilting that. I should have it finished soon, but we do have two trips this month. I also hope to finish these fall cross stitch pieces so I can display them this year.

I hope you are all well and enjoying some pleasant fall weather. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Brenda

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