Fun and Fancy Free---Finished!!

I did it!! I finished a cross stitch in 2020. I have made a bunch of quilts, but I swear I have also been dilligently stitching. I have a number of large, multi-part projects in progress. I promise. But I am super excited to finish this one.
Ta Da:

I might make it into a needle roll. Or I might do something else with it. It might sit in my finishes box for an indeterminate period of time. Who knows.

I started working on the Branble & the Rose a bit yesterday. That is 1/4 done and missing my attention. I should get a photo of it. But not right now as it is late :-). I do need to work on the calendar project and of course the art deco alphabet. But it is sunny out and the water is calling me.

Hopefully soon there will be more finishes to follow.

Fun and Fancy Free Update

Just a little update on the Fun and Fancy Free project. I, oddly, have had some time to myself so I try to stitch. And this is what has come of it...
Apr 29:

May 2:

May 6:

I'm pretty excited about the progress on this project. I started it last year during the first week of June, then life stuff happened. I finally got back to it in early April. But it is really taking off now. The bottom border is complete for the full length of the project.

Word is that the weather this weekend is to be less than stellar, so maybe I can whomp through a good portion of the rest. Although, I have a few quilt related tasks to square away. Oh no...I get to do stuff that makes me really really happy this weekend. How will I ever cope?? :-D

Quarantine is a Good Excuse to Craft

Well, word is we are all supposed to be home, but I am an essential worker so there has been little change in my schedule. However, my home time is my own time now...I'm not getting calls at random times from people who need my immediate attention for an important matter. SO....time to get some stitching and quilting done!

I finished a couple more quilts.

For my Aunt Kathy, a quilt to commemorate my dad:

There is a white applique patch on the quilt to represent the hole he left in our lives.

Then I finished a quilt for my friend Margie:

The backing on this one is amazing, but it isn't back from my longarm quilting person yet.

And I did a little quilt top that will be for my bay window:

I am really happy with how this came out. I just played with some left over fabric and BOOM it popped out.

And another quilt which I need to get to the longarm for assembly:

I think that is enough quilting for a little bit however. Other than just a couple of little bits to finish, I think I will give it a month or so.

I also have been stitching a some...

This one is Fun and Fancy Free by Summer House Stitche Workes. I am hoping to finish this up by the end of the month. I also have been working on my perpetual calendar in bits. I don't have photos currently, but have finished all of January and most of February. And...am a good way into my letter "G" for Black and White. And of course there was the series of purchases that I probably didn't need to make from Satsuma Street. I really love the bright colors this designer uses! I can't wait to get one of these done, along with all of the other charts I have laying about!

Enjoy the spring weather :-).

Quilts and Crosses

It has been a busy couple of months finishing up my first semseter of nurse practitioner school, taking care of the winter house prep, and working on my crafts. I have had a lot of great things going on. Sometimes it is hard to see through the stress, but being able to write something like this reminds me that there is a lot of enjoyment between the difficult moments.

This week I finished my first large quilt which I put together from beginning to end. I learned so much while I was doing it. Now I'm looking forward to the next one!!

This picture doesn't include the binding, but that is done. It is black. I am looking forward to snuggling underneath it with a bood book over the holidays.

I also got back my Snail Trail quilt. This one went out to a long arm quilter for finishing because I am still trying to figure out free motion quilting and I wasn't ready to mess the one that goes on my bed up that much!

I am so excited about how it came out. It is really special going to bed every night under a quilt I made.

I did start the new quilt. This is the fabric selection I am using:

It is Boundless Rhapsody Prints Awaken. I have cut all the pieces, but will hold off on posting that so the final layout is more of a surprise.

I started the next letter for the Black & White project. The letter... "G". There isn't much to it, but here it is:

I also was able to get a bunch done on the Fun and Fancy Free project by Summer House Stitche Workes during the stitching day this past weekend. We had about 14 people show up. My friend Mindy arranged it and Gail helped put it together. First the group pic:

And of course, people brought delightful food:

And this is where the project is at currently:

It was so wonderful getting together with my stitching friends, meeting a few new people, sharing tiips and just enjoying the sunshine through the windows. We met at a new crafting space called Make and More which is just getting started...what a great idea this place is!! The owner bought an old church and had it renovated to allow crafting groups a place to gather and do the things that make us so happy. Brilliant!

So now the day is coming to an end. Time to study for my last exam while stitching. Yes!

A Finish and More Framing

Yesterday I completed another letter in my art deco alphabet series. I started rthsi booger in June. But much has happened since then. I was thrilled to put in the last stitch...

Ta da....the letter "H". I am officially half-way done with the letters. I have "G" set up for the next bit, but decided to work some on my Fun and Fancy Free project...

I am lucky that I can stitch while I listen to my pathophysiology lectures. So relaxing :-).

I also picked up the last of the framing the other day. I love this project. Mom got it for me a long while back when she was at one of the national parks in the US Southwest. What a great find!

I can't believe I found a frame so perfect for it.

I feel so good about being able to enjoy so many more of the projects I completed. Some even found their way to friend's homes for their enjoyment. Time to get back to stitching!

So Many Framed Projects!!!

This past weekend I stopped by my shop to pick up 15 of 16 projects I dropped for framing. I stitched a bit too. Overall I give the weekend an A+ just for that. And here they are...

Boy does that feel good!! The projects were completed over about 10 years. It was amazing to get them all at the same time.

It Slipped My Mind

As usual, there is so much going on that I lose track of things. I completed a project and then forgot that I had done so...gasp! Back in August, a month ago now, I finished Trouvez l'Intrus. It was a fun project! The title translates to "find the intruder" or in the US vernacular "which of these things is not like the other." I was surprised at how quickly it worked up.

I finally remembered because I decided to visit A Stitcher's Garden to say hi and drop off some projects for framing...15 projects! For some reason I decided to bring the entire box of completed projects with me. There are still over 20 hanging out in the box waiting for something to happen. I hope the framing person, Jackie, doesn't hate me. Oddly, another person came in just after Jan, the owner, had finished writing up all of my framing orders to have another 4 or more done. It must be the full moon.

I'm still plugging along on the letter H. I didn't get a progress photo this week however. I have been so busy because I decided to go back to school for my Family Nurse Practitioner degree. It is the super part time program and I'm happily doing only 2 classes at a time because the union I belong to only pays for about that many credits per year. It is an acceptable course load and allows me to still get in a hike or two on the weekend and some stitching! I am glad for that.