Quilt Blocks & Cross Stitch to Share

Hello!  :)

Do you remember when I made this block . . .

It was for the month of March of the monthly quilt block swap I participate in at Mary Jane's Farm. I just realized that I never shared the blocks I received from my swap partners.

The first one was from Lorrie . . .

Isn't it gorgeous! I absolutely love it! She did a great job! Thanks Lorrie!  :)

The second block for March was from Barbara . . .

Kind of reminds me of mine.  ;)  Thanks Barbara! You did a wonderful job!  :)

Here's the block I made for my two partners for April . . .

A stair step block with an embroidery in the center. It's a free embroidery pattern I found online from Red Brolly. Here's a closer view of it . . . 

I fell in love with it the moment I first saw it! Isn't it adorable?!!!  :)

Here is the first block I received from Joan . . .

I've seen this Easter fabric before! It's sooooo cute! I love all the bright colors! It totally reminds me of Spring! Great job Joan! Thanks so much!  :)

The second block was made by Rebecca . . .

I love the bunny fabric! I've never seen it before. It's adorable! I also love the bright springy colors in this one as well! Thanks so much Rebecca! You did a wonderful job as usual!  :)

I'm hoping to sit down this weekend and work on my two blocks for May. The theme is flowers. I already know what I want to do for this one.  :)

Moving on to another subject . . . One of my favorite bloggers, Karen from Sew Much 2 Luv has been doing a lot of cross stitch lately. You can view some of her recent finishes here and here. They're fabulous!  :)

I've always loved cross stitch! There's nothing I like better than sitting down with an embroidery or cross stitch project and watching tv or a movie. It's so relaxing and rewarding!  :)  I haven't done any cross stitch for quite a while but always missed it. When I saw Karen working on all her projects she really got me wanting to get back into it too! (Bad, bad girl!)  ;)  Then she mentioned that she joined a cross stitch exchange over at Stitched With Love Exchanges. I had to check it out. Of course I loved the idea and signed up too! Now I've got my partner and I'm stitching her gift and gathering goodies to go with it. I won't be able to share any of it with you until after the exchange is completed sometime in June. For now I'll show you some of my favorite finishes from the past. The first three are Christmas ornaments . . .

I've always loved how they turned out!  :)  The next one is a sampler I did for my parents on their wedding anniversary . . .

I included the original date they got married and the date they reaffirmed their vows. I've always loved this piece! Of course it has a lot of pink and aqua so that doesn't hurt.  ;)

The last piece I'll share with you is a Paula Vaughan bouquet. I love her designs!  :)

This piece is unfinished. I just can't decide what I want to do with it. Any ideas?

The past couple of weeks I've been doing some cyber shopping for cross stitch patterns. I guess you can say it's something I've been doing for myself as part of the May for Me Celebration going on at Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting blog.

I definitely deserve them, right???  ;)   They've been arriving this past week. I can't wait to get started on them and share them with you. Don't worry I'll still be quilting as well. I have too many WIP projects and new ones I want to start . . . lol!  ;)

By the way . . . I've decided to hold off on my combo 100th post and 400th follower giveaway until May 21st. I will include it as part of the Giveaway Day blog hop hosted by Sew Mama Sew.

Will you be joining me? I hope so!  :)

Until next time . . .

My First Paper Piecing . . .

Hello!  :)

Hope you are doing well! I happen to have a massive sinus and ear infection . . . yuck! I've actually had them for a couple of weeks. I finally went to the doctor yesterday for some antibiotics. I don't know why it took me so long to get some help. I'd been in lots of pain, haven't been able to concentrate on anything and very tired. Now hopefully I'm on the road to recovery.  :)

I haven't gotten much done lately, as you know. I did manage to get some heart blocks done last week though. I wanted to take pictures and post them but my older kids were visiting this past weekend and I didn't get it done.

Last night I went to take pictures and my SD card was missing from my camera. I went to my computer which is the only other place my SD card ever is and it wasn't there either. I have no idea what happened to it. I looked everywhere and still didn't find it. I went out today and bought a new one. I put it in my camera and it didn't work. An error kept coming up. I got online and did some research to see what the problem was. I found out that my camera was not compatible with the 4GB SDHC card I purchased since it's an older camera. I needed a 2 GB SD card. UUUGGGHHH!!! I really didn't want to go back to the store and get another one. I asked my son what type of card he had in his camera and he happened to have the one I needed so he traded with me. Now I have what I need and he has an upgraded one. Lucky him!  :)

Sorry for the long story. Just one frustration I really didn't need when I'm not feeling well.  :(  I did manage to get the pictures of the blocks taken. YEAH!!!  :)

It was my first attempt at paper piecing. I made 3 blocks. One for me and the other 2 for my two swap partners. Here they are . . .

I'm a little behind on these blocks as it's already March but the sign ups were late. It's part of a 12-month block-of-the-month swap so it's really not too big of a deal. Here's one of the blocks up close . . .

I'm happy with how they turned out!  :)  I was very nervous when I started on them as I hadn't ever tried paper piecing before. I used this tutorial for the heart. It was really great and I had fun!  :)

I'm hoping to sit down and get some cutting done for a couple of projects I want to start on tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have the energy. Wish me luck!  :)

Until next time . . .

Made Some Progress!

Hello!  :)

My friend Karen, from Sew Much 2 Luv has been having an "After Christmas Sew Along" all month. I wanted to participate from the beginning but I just couldn't get my rear in gear. Now that I'm moving along I'm participating this week. Today, Friday, is the last day. Better late than never . . . right?  ;)

I've made some progress on putting the Birdie's quilt top together. I sewed the four rows together with the sashing in between the blocks. I only got a picture of part of the first row though . . .

It's the January and February blocks so it's appropriate, right?!  :)  I'm hoping to get more done on this tomorrow. The only problem is that the hunky dude is off work every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (he works 4/10's). I love this schedule but sometimes it's hard to get sewing done. He seems to want to run errands and spend time with me on his days off . . . crazy, huh? Just kidding! I love it!  :)  I just wish I could fit some sewing time in there too. It's my fault though as I get lazy after we run errands and just want to sit, watch tv and play on the computer. I'm a total computer addict! There I admitted it!  ;)

Remember this pile I showed you the other day . . .

Did you guess what I was making with it? I turned it into this . . .

I'm very happy with how it turned out.  :)  It's for a Block of the Month Swap I've been participating in through Mary Jane's Farmgirl Connection. January's block was to be a snowman. I think I got it right!  :)  Hopefully my two partners aren't reading this. I will be getting their blocks in the mail to them real soon. I also made a couple extra ones for myself. I'm considering using this design for a surprise project later this year. I just have to decide exactly what I want to do. For now I'll keep my idea a secret. I'll let you in on it when I know all the details, okay?!  :)

Hope you have an awesome weekend!  :)

Until next time . . .

Stitch-N-More :)

Hello!

Guess what I finished this week??? I finished the last stitchery (so far anyway) for my Christmas Stitchery Mini Quilt. Here it is . . . 

The very last stitchery will be available this Friday. I can't wait! Maybe I'll get started on piecing the top before it comes out so I can get ahead of the game. We'll have to see if I can get motivated to do it.  :)

Guess what else I did? The latest Birdie Stitches Block of the Month . . .  

The November block was released on November 1st. I sat down to get it started and couldn't stop until I finished it! I added some extras to it too. :)  I had forgotten how much I love this Sophie fabric and these birdies! I really enjoyed working on it and can't wait until the last block comes out on December 1st. Wonder if there will be a Christmas tree? I bet there will be one!  :)

Today I received a couple of surprises in the mail . . . 

The first was a Thanksgiving quilt block from Toni in Pennsylvania. This is part of a 12-month quilt block swap over at Mary Jane's Farm. Here's the block . . . 

Isn't it wonderful! She did an awesome job appliqueing it! Thanks so much Toni! I love it!  :)  Toni also sent me three other items she made . . . a towel, a washcloth and a card! I'm a lucky girl!  :)

It was like an early Christmas here as I also received this in the mail . . . 

A fall apron made for me by Raine in Wisconsin. Through another swap at Mary Jane's Farm. Isn't it lovely?! She really did a nice job with it! Thanks Raine!  :)  She also sent me some apple fabric and a Thanksgiving towel. How sweet! Love it all!  :)

Be sure to come back here tomorrow. As tomorrow is the day . . . It's the day I reveal my Ghastlie projects! I have given you a couple of hints in the past. Remember this . . . 

and this . . .

What in the world could they be? Can you venture a guess? Well the wait will be over tomorrow! I will be posting them at 12:01am (eastern time) Friday, November 4th! Shhhhhh . . . don't tell anyone . . . but I'll be giving one of my items away! Be sure to come for a visit tomorrow!  :)

Until next time . . .

I Love Swaps! :)

Hello!

This was an awesome week of surprises galore for me! I received three swap items and one giveaway prize that came with another surprise!

The first item I received was a mug rug from a mug rug swap over at Mary Jane's Farm. Angela from Maryland made it for me. Thank you Angela! I love the colors and fabrics! Plus she did an awesome job on the quilting! Here's the front . . .

and the back . . .

Isn't it cool?!!!

The next item I received was a Halloween quilt block from Barbara in Georgia. This is part of a 12-month quilt block swap over at Mary Jane's Farm. Here's the block . . .

Cool huh?!!! She did such a fabulous job on it! Thank you Barbara!  :)

The next item is a Thanksgiving quilt block from Nettie in Pennsylvania. This is also part of the same 12-month quilt block swap over at Mary Jane's Farm. Here's the Thanksgiving block . . .

I love it! The center kind of looks like a marque, doesn't it?!!! Such warm fall colors! Thank you Nettie!  :)

The last item is a tissue cover that I won from Regena over at The Distracted Domestic. She even included the tissues! I love it Regena! Thank you so much! When I opened the tissue cover there was something else included in the package . . . 

It's a vintage crocheted grape hot pad! She blogged about it here. She received it from her MIL but didn't really care for it. I loved it and told her so. It totally reminds me of my great grandmother. I love collecting vintage things. Can you believe she just sent it to me with the tissue cover I won. She didn't even tell me she was sending it. I was so surprised and happy when I saw it! I absolutely love it! It's soda caps crocheted over and together to form the grape cluster. What do you think? Nay or Yeah??? I can't wait to find the perfect spot for it! Thank you so much Regena for your kindness and generosity! You totally made my day!

It was kind of like Christmas this week! I loved it! I still have another Halloween and Thanksgiving quilt blocks that will be coming my way soon! I can't wait to see them!

Thanks for sharing my treasures with me! Have an awesome weekend!

Until next time . . .
Cherise  :)

A Busy Week PLUS A Giveaway! :)

Hello! How are you doing today? I'm doing pretty good. I'm a little tired though as I've been busy this week. Lots of things going on around here. I love it though. I love staying busy. I also love to relax but there's a time for everything and now is the time to be busy.  :)

Tonight I will be taking part in the . . .

Will you be joining me? If you want to check it out click here. I always enjoy it and love all the talented people who take part. It's fun seeing what everyone is up to!  :)  Do you remember what I worked on during the Friday Night Sew-In last month? I cut out my Halloween and Thanksgiving aprons. Have I sewn them yet? Of course not! That's what I'll be working on tonight. I can't wait to see how they turn out!  :)

Do you remember the Ghastlies Blog Hop I'm participating in? It starts Monday, October 24th and will end Friday, November 4th. There will be lots of fun projects made with this wonderful fabric plus giveaways. Don't miss out! I will post more details in a future post.

Tonight I will be finishing up my blog hop projects. Here's the fabric I'm using...

This week I started working on a new stitching project. It's suppose to be a Christmas Banner but I'm going to be making a couple of wall quilts. There are seven stitcheries all together and I'm making two of each. Here are two Santa's already stitched up...

These are the fun fabrics I'll be using for the wall hangings. I can't wait to see how they will turn out! (Especially because I haven't figured out the design yet . . .)    :)

The second block in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-A-Long was released last Tuesday and I finally got around to making mine. We were able to finish up the block any way we wanted. I love the pinwheel effect that I choose for mine. I really love the way it turned out . . .

I finished up my Halloween Blocks for a Block-of-the-Month swap over at Mary Janes Farm. I made four versions of the block . . . one for me! two for my two swap partners plus an extra one! Here's the one I made for me . . .

The next two are for my swap partners . . .

This was the first time I attempted log cabin blocks. These 12-1/2" blocks are definitely not perfect but I do like the way they turned out. It was definitely a learning process for me. :)

I also finished the Thanksgiving blocks which are the next block in the same series. I also made four of these blocks. The first one is for me! . . . 

And the next two are for my two swap partners . . .

Do you want to see the two extra blocks I made? 

Here's the extra Halloween block . . . 

And the extra Thanksgiving block . . . 

UPDATE:  This giveaway has ended!  :)

Would you like one of these extra blocks for yourself? I am giving them away to two lucky winners! The first winner will get to choose which one they want and the second winner will get the other one. What do you need to do to win one of these blocks?

First chance to win . . . Follow my blog and leave me a comment telling me you are!  :)

Second chance to win . . . Blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment with the link to your post about this giveaway.  :)

The giveaway is open until midnight Tuesday, October 25th. I will choose a winner on Wednesday, October 26th with help of the random number generator, and will post it on my blog. If you are a no-reply blogger please post your email in your comment or you will be disqualified. 

Good Luck! Thanks for sharing in my sewing adventures and for following me!  :)

Until next time...
Cherise  :)