Cross Stitch Summer & Winter Shops

Starting mid-2023 - Spruce Craft Co presented Little Summer Shops and then followed it up with Little Winter Shops.  Of course I was tempted.  Both were a Block of the Month project and I think mostly I stayed up to date.

I finished them both and put them together in January this year.  So I thought it was time to get  them onto the blog...

Now there is Little Christmas Shops.....so, yep, I had to sign up for that!!!

More Beach Houses

Natalie Bird has produced a stitchery panel - "Sunkissed Sojourn".  It features beach scenes - and the bottom stitchery was 3 Beach Houses....well, of course I HAD to have it....and I re-discovered it recently.

Not sure if I will use the other designs...but the Beach Houses were quick!

DMCs used:
30, 32, 304, 704, 725, 797, 799, 891, 893, 894, 3847, 3851.

 
"

Be My Neighbour - July

I am working on this quilt with the fabulous Fiona - and she is always finished before me . . .but this time I was first cab off the rank.   No, it's not a race...it just suited me to work on this project and get Blocks 11 & 12 done.   (12/16 blocks done = 75%)

Block 11 was 6 separate small houses - so I selected some fabrics that represented things I like.  (Trees, Pansies, Sydney, Sewing Machine, Beach Houses and Family.)

Edited to add - Janet O said they are like windows to my soul.

  

 I will link up with Fiona - when she finally gets to these blocks...LOL.....just kidding Fiona!

RSC 2025 June - Orange

The colour for June was Orange.  There weren't too many "scraps" in the container, but after a bit of cutting to make scraps, I managed to get enough to make 25 Orange Colourwash blocks, which I made on retreat last week.

and 4 placemats.

Ready for RSC - July . . .what will it be???

Oh!!!   I just checked - Purple!!!    my favourite.

Chookshed Challenge #5 - Mini House

Bestie Maureen gifted this to me in 2022 as part of an Advent Swap we did.
So, I thought it was time to get it done - it didn't really take long once I started.

And ready for Christmas!

Glad to have Chookshed Challenge #5 project done & dusted - thanks Deanna for keeping us on track!

Sunday Stitchers - UFO Challenge - #7 - Progress on Willowbrook

My #7 Challenge for Sunday Stitchers was "progress" on my Willowbrook top....

I started it back in September 2019 - here
I worked on it on and off over a period of time - By April 2020 - here - I had them finished.
Then in November 2020 - here - I started putting them together
No idea when I had finished that job.

So, I needed to add the borders and had decided I would applique the hexie edges by hand.  Before that I needed to turn under the 1/4" as these had been hand pieced...not EPP method.
I ironed under the 1/4" and tacked them.  Then I cut 6.5" wide strips and pinned the edges

It didn't take as long as I had thought so have finished the top.

Here are a couple of the stitcheries....gotta love the cows.

I know how I want it quilted....just need to work up the enthusiasm....might be a SS Challenge project for 2026.

SS Glenrose Retreat

I have just returned from a chilly retreat at Glenrose Cottages in Warwick.  Overnight temperatures were quite low (1 - 6 celsius or so) - and it was nice to have an electric blanket to warm the bed!

A bit of a recap on what the others did...

Alison was working on a quilt for her caravan - It will be made up of squares with caravans and surfboards and coordinating filler blocks.   I love these colours.

Sue made 4 of these coverlets for the hospital where she works.   A simple but effective pattern.

       

Lynda made a table runner, a shopping tote and a clam bag.

                                   

Sandi made 42 strippy squares for a DV quilt and a very cute doll.

            

Helen sewed the binding on a Double Wedding Ring Quilt for a granddaughter who is getting married in early July, partially made a doll (it is not fully birthed yet), and took up a dress for a daughter to wear to the wedding....

          

Chris made 4 placemats, several QLD & NSW "flags" to attach to dog collars, a few peg bags

    

Chris also worked on some plane blocks.  One had a bit of an oopsie - the tail section was not quite right...
Chris was a newbie to this retreat...and you know that means some sort of initiation must happen.  Chris also goes to bed early...that is a mistake!!!!!....a BIG mistake!!!!!

"We" (no single person to blame) decided to arrange the planes flying across the sky (design wall) and ending with a crash landing...

   

She took it all in good fun!

And me???

I made up 25 Orange Colourwash blocks

a baby quilt
(so hard to see the border against the design wall)

a panel for a DV quilt, 

Blocks 9 and 10 for Be My Neighbour.

I had taken them all to retreat, thinking I might join them into rows.  I didn't end up doing that, but I took advantage of the design wall to see how they look together.

I also made some crumb block sections that can be finished off later.

and sewed quite a number of 2.5" squares into pairs.

We had a lot of fun, solved a lot of the world's problems, and will return next year to repeat it all again.

Floral Fun - June

Section 2 Completed

Chookshed Challenge #8 - Progress on Chapel Street

In 2023 (I think), Chooky tempted me to join her making Chapel Street.
Over time and particularly in November at our retreat at Glenrose, Chooky and I cut some fabrics that we were sharing.

I have worked on it here and there since then, cutting the black pieces and joining to the odd shape. I have not blogged about it at all.

I decided to add this project to my Chookshed Challenge List - as "Progress on Chapel Street", knowing it was unlikely that I would finish a top within the month.  Just as well as this month we took a bit of a trip away from home and no Chapel Street sewing happened for a week.

After a bit of a chat with Chooky, I decided to arrange the pieces in a colourwash fashion.  She is also taking the same approach - go here for a look.

I started by separating the blocks into colours...counting them and making up a graph of how it could work....(gotta love a spreadsheet...LOL)

Always good to have a plan...right??  Remembering it is a plan and plans can change . . .

Then I sorted the yellows into pairs and laid them out, then the reds...and so on...

Then started sewing the rows.
I was quite pleased I got to this stage by late Saturday afternoon...As my eldest daughter is in town, I couldn't sew into the night...

It is now too big for my Design Wall (??)   so two pictures will have to do...

The top section

and the lower bit....missing the top 6 rows.

As you can see I am a bit short of blocks...I knew I would need a few extra and had planned around that ....but as I matched pairs I found a few duplicate fabrics that I didn't want to include...mmm...I will need to find some more green I think...but as the Design Wall is sliding doors to a wardrobe where my fabric lives....I can't look yet!.  I guess I will need to continue on in June and then add borders.

So, not a finish - but I met the goal of "Progress on Chapel Street"

Thanks Deana for pushing us along.

RSC 2025 May - Green

Green is a much easier colour!!!

I found plenty of strips and some wadding - already about 13" wide and it had a green fabric with it - must have been an offcut of a quilt...so I cut that into 4 x 19" long pieces and sewed the strips.  I still have green strips - but a lot less.

While I was sorting the strips,
I was also able to organise the green pieces for the colourwash blocks.

During the "sorting" stage...I found some blue squares and was able to whip up another placemat.  I know it's not green but it can stay in this post.