I Did a Whole Counted Cross Stitch and Never Mentioned it Once!

 Over the weekend, I put the finishing back stitches onto a sorta large counted cross stitch project that I'd started back in January.  At which point I took a picture, so I could share here my finished product.  And then, scanning back though this entire year's blog posts, couldn't find a single mention that I was even doing any counted cross stitch once Christmas presents had been made for 2024.

Huh.  

Well, for a good part of the winter and a bit of early spring, I was working on a new cross stitch, by the same designer as the fox and the squirrel I'd done in previous years.  This one is a rabbit, and you can find the pattern here.  I actually got everything but about three colors of the back stitching done by Easter time.  And then my cross stitch got put away in the 'clean the house for Easter company' frenzy, and until ten days ago, I hadn't touched it once.

Typically summer is not a time of much stitching for me, as there is so much to be done outside and other than cooking/eating meals most days I'm not in the house until after dark.  As I get older, my eyes don't so much like cross stitching under artificial light.  So cross stitching has become more of a cold-weather day time thing for me.

However, we had some really hot and extremely humid weather lately, and in the name of not dropping dead from heat stroke, I spent a bit more time indoors than I usually would in July.  And, to be productive without actually doing housework  I pulled out my rabbit cross stitch and decided to put some back stitches into it.  By the third day of working a little here and there on it, I was surprised to find that I was done!

So, here it is!

You know what this means, right?  Now I need to pick a new cross stitch project to start so I have something to stitch on if we continue to have suffocatingly humid days this summer.  🤣  Realistically, it's time to pick a new Santa ornament to stitch as my Mom's Christmas gift this year.  I have several kits in my stash as options.

Sewing and Stitching Update, August 2024

I decided, in late July, that I wanted to get the beading done on my Celtic Santa right away rather than waiting until closer to Christmas time to finish it.  So, on a couple of hot and humid afternoons when I was in the house out of the mid-day sun, I worked at sewing on all the little tiny beads.  Now all I have left to do is trim the perforated paper down to just barely outside the stitching, braid some of the leftover embroidery floss to make a hanger and glue on a piece of felt for the backing.

Also during hot days I spent some time down in the basement sewing area working on the Airplane Quilt.  Once all 42 planes were sewn, I couldn't wait to get them put together into rows and then the rows into a top.

While trying to take a picture indoors, I discovered I really don't have a place to 'hang' a quilt this big for photos, so I made the best of it by draping the top over a set of tall shelves plus a tall 'dresser' that sits next to the shelves.  It looks a little wonky in the picture below, but the rows really are straight, lol.  

I have the skinny white inner border strips cut and ready to sew on (we've had a cool spell lately, so I've been outside a whole lot in the past week).  Then I will need to go through my solid red fabrics used in making some of the airplanes and see if there's one that is big enough to cut the wide outer border strips from.  If not, I might play with making the border scrappy using all the reds rather than just one solid one.

Sewing and Stitching Update, July

My Celtic Santa counted cross stitch has all the cross stitching completed.  Now I am working on the backstitching and plan to do the beading and get it finished in the coming month.  

In June's update, I showed 10 airplanes that I had sewn for the Airplane Quilt.  How many airplane blocks have I made since then?

Eleven!  That brings the total to 21, which is half the number I need to make.  It makes me feel good that I was able to sew that many.  

21 Airplanes

There was a day in late June that I had wanted to spend some time sewing, but ended up spending about 6 hours instructing DD2 in how to do 'clothing' construction.  She had purchased fabric to make Brad an apron for his birthday, and through circumstances ended up waiting until pretty much the last minute to come over and sew it.  As she hadn't sewn anything before other than the log cabin throw quilt she made for the wedding present of friends a few years ago we had to start with washing, drying and ironing the fabric as all fabric for clothing should be preshrunk.  

Then came learning how to read pattern instructions, identify and cut out the correct pattern pieces for the item being made, layout the fabric with the correct side up, pinning down the pattern with the correct side up, cutting around the pattern pieces, transferring marking lines from the pattern to the fabric before removing the pattern pieces. . .  And then the actual sewing. 

Since DD2 had also brought over about 5 loads of laundry to do while here (instead of paying to use the machines at her apartment complex), she spent about 15 minutes of every hour changing the load in the washer, hanging stuff out on the line or putting it in the dryer (depending on how long it would take to line dry).  So the 'sewing class' took way more time than we'd anticipated.

But, she finished her first ever apron in time to gift it to Brad on his birthday, and while I couldn't sew and quilt blocks that day I did manage to sew a total of eleven new airplanes in the last month.  

Faline sent me home from her house a couple of weeks ago with a tulle tu-tu style skirt that she'd ripped the top layer almost completely off of.  Her request?  "Please sew this for me; I need to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween."  The layer in need of reattaching is red with big white polka dots, so it would be rather difficult to be Minnie Mouse without it.  That is on my sewing list for the coming month, as well as seeing how many more airplanes I can get sewn.

Sewing and Stitching Update, June

Do I have sewing and stitching stuff to show you!  

First up, I finished a long-time UFO: a Black, Bright and Batik quilt that began as a block swap in 2013.  Originally I had received 12 blocks in the swap.  I knew, at the time, that I wanted to make a bed-sized quilt out of them.  But then came news of Grandbaby #2 (Toad) being under construction, and my focus went to making a baby quilt for him. 

And time went by, and I found out my brother and his wife were also expecting (actually, at the same time Toad was due), so I quickly added another baby boy quilt to my agenda.  And then more time went by, and some king sized jean quilts were made for the two kids who got married, and then more time went by, and I needed to make a third grandbaby quilt (for Rascal).  And then I totally forgot I had swap blocks stashed away.  (And made some throw sized quilts, and a baby quilt for Grandbaby #4--Faline.)

Along came February 2022, and I uncovered the Black, Bright and Batik blocks.  I decided that those blocks needed to become a quilt and there was no time like the present. So I designed up a twin-size quilt that required 20 blocks and some sashing.  I had 12 blocks, and a nice chunk of black-on-black fabric leftover from a previous project somewhere along the way since 2013. So, diving into my fabric stash (that had grown exponentially since 2013) I came up with blacks, brights, and batiks that I then used to create eight additional blocks.  Got them all sashed, sewn together, bordered with the perfect fabric that matched everything in the blocks, and had a finished top.  I even bought large amount of a cheery lime green and yellow batik and made the backing.  And then I layered it, and rolled it up without basting because guess what; my time was needed for planning and constructing Grandbaby #5's (Buck) quilt.  The Black, Bright, and Batik quilt, that just needing basting, quilting and binding, became a rolled and then folded mass on one end of my cutting table.  Relegated to UFO status again.

For about two years. (Grandbaby #6, Sixlet needed a quilt of his own too.)  And then, in late April, I grabbed the wad that was the BB&B quilt, unrolled it, saw how close it was to being done and decided that this is the year the Black, Bright and Batik quilt gets finished.  So I did. I stopped worrying about making it perfect and just went for done. 

Confession: I didn't take apart the layers, nor did I iron the top and backing, then re-layer.  I just unrolled it as it was, pin basted it, then off to the sewing machine we went. As a result, there's some not-so-perfectly smooth areas on the backing.  I decided not to fret about it.  It's a utilitarian quilt, not a show quilt.  Nobody laying under it is going to notice a few sewn-in wrinkles.

Most of the blocks have echo quilting in some form or another.  A couple are heavily quilted where it accented that block's pattern or fabrics, others are more understated in the quilting. Once it was quilted, there was enough backing leftover that I thought about using that to make the binding but ultimately decided to go with a solid black. To help it pop.  The binding is sewn down with the same variegated rainbow thread that I used to quilt the top (a pale yellow in the bobbin) and boy, that black sets off the stitching.

Binding finished, I took it outside the next morning for beauty shots, then into the washer it went (with several color catchers).  That night, it graced the twin bed that's used for a grandkid when they spend the night here.  And, truth be told, I've slept under it a few times since then on nights that DH was snoring so badly I was tired of getting woken up every 30-60 minutes and I removed myself to a quieter room. It's a nice, cozy quilt. Sleeps well.

fairly true to color photo

 

showing some of the green backing

Once the BB&B quilt was finally crossed off my to-do list, I began working on the Airplane Quilt I'm hoping to give to DS1 by the end of this year.  I need 42 blocks with airplanes on them.  So far, I've made 10: 4 gray, 5 (of 20) blues and 1 (of 18) red.  As there has been time, I've been cutting pieces for a couple of blocks, then sewing those blocks, then cutting pieces for a few more blocks.  Even if I can only squeeze out 15 minutes for sewing, I can throw together one block using pre-cut pieces.  Or, I can grab a fat quarter or piece of scrap fabric, and cut pieces for two blocks.  

In the past week, I've done some cross stitching on my Celtic Santa.  Due to self-imposed restrictions on physical activity (disclosure: I really aggravated my knee and could barely walk, so spent a lot of time on the couch with my leg up being iced, or heated, or just rested) I had a lot more crafting time than I normally would in this season of the year.  Since the sewing machine is down in the basement, and stairs were  restricted to only for getting to the bedroom at night and then back to the main floor in the morning, I couldn't do any sewing. So I cross stitched instead.  Santa is pretty close to halfway through the stitching.

Now that my knee is much happier and (fingers crossed) nearly back to normal, I have a lot of catching up to do in the garden (weeds!!!), but hopefully I can spend some time down in the basement and get some more airplane blocks cut and sewn yet this month.

Sewing and Stitching Update, May

 In April, I finished all the backstitching on my squirrel counted cross-stitch.  Which means it's done!  In terms of stitching that is. In terms of completely made into a framed piece on a wall or as a cover for a pillow, or however I'm going to use it, well, that's going to be a while.  I haven't decided yet how I want to display it.  I'm leaning toward framing this one and the fox I did winter of 22/23, and using them as seasonal decor.  That's an area that is new to me, as typically I don't have much in the way of decorations (You could probably describe my decorating style as Spartan, or Amish).  Most everything has a function, and looking pretty hasn't really been considered a function.

On Monday of this week, I started working on another cross-stitched Santa ornament.  This one is Scotland Santa of the Celtic Santas series by Mill Hill.

Last month, I had mentioned that I was going to begin an Airplane Quilt intended for DS1.  I pulled fabrics from my stash, and other than figuring how many planes of each color I needed to cut out, that's as far as I got.  The pattern calls for 42 planes, I'm going to make 4 matching ones in gray/silver, 19 in various blues and 19 in assorted reds.

Rather than cutting pieces for those airplane blocks, I decided the time had come to finish a long-time UFO.  Mostly because it's been taking up a large chunk of my cutting table for a couple of years and I'm getting tired of working around it.  I don't want to just move it somewhere else temporarily, because for at least a year before I put it on my cutting table it was a top, batting and backing all rolled together in the upstairs bedroom I used to use as a sewing room from 2012 to 2021ish.  Honestly, I think why I just let it sit so long even though I had all the necessary components to finish it, is because it's bigger than a baby quilt, bigger than a throw blanket, and I didn't know how to go about quilting it on my home sewing machine that doesn't have the most spacious throat in the world.  I also didn't want to quilt it with stitch in the ditch, which is pretty much all I'd done successfully until about a yearish ago.

Finally, I just decided to bite the bullet.  It would be how it would be, and if that wasn't the best quilting in the world, so be it.  It was to go on one of the twin beds (in the former sewing room) we have here for the grandkids to sleep on when they spend the night, and they are hardly quilting critics.  I tried my hand at echo quilting and then just did what I wanted in each separate block.  Some blocks have more quilting than others, depending on how I felt the fabrics in those blocks should be accented with stitching.  Most of the quilting was done on my sewing machine, but on the middle of the center block and the final corners I did quilt by hand with a backstitch, using a quilting hoop I'd picked up at Goodwill a few years ago (4 hoops, of varying sizes, in a bundle marked $10!!  That was cheaper than the price of the smallest one brand new!).

This quilt now just needs the binding made and sewn on. It will most definitely be featured in next month's sewing update in beauty shots as a finished quilt.  And then I will start the Airplane Quilt with a whole lot more space on my cutting table!

Sewing and Stitching Update, April

As the days get longer, and the weather gets warmer, I'm outside more and more.  Always outdoor stuff to be done around this little place here.  And I do love being out in the sunshine.

BUT that means I'm not getting much cross stitching or sewing done lately, and from experience I know that more than likely the amount will dwindle even more as summer gets closer.  So, unless we get a string of yucky weather days (and my housework is caught up; it gets a little behind with the longer daylight/nicer weather days too) there probably won't be as much to show/talk about sewing-wise until late fall gets here.

What did I actually get stitched in the last month?  Well, I got a little of the backstitching done on my squirrel.  Mostly around the eye, on the tail and one of the legs.  Only two colors of floss so far; I think there's eight colors used in the backstitching part of the pattern,

I mended Faline's (hand me down) Easter dress by putting new buttons on it.  It was missing three of the four original white ones.  I didn't have any white in that size, but I did have some pink ones that matched the flowers in the dress, so I went ahead and took the fourth button off and replaced all four.  There was also a part of the sashing around the waist that had come loose, so I sewed that back down too.  And forgot to take a picture, of course.

When I gave that to DD1, she mentioned that Honorary Son had a faux leather jacket that the underarm seam had come unstitched and he'd wondered if I could mend that too.  Unstitched seams are an easy fix (way easier than seams where the fabric shreds), so it didn't take long at all for me to stitch that back together.  Rather than unstitching the inner lining to redo the seam from the inside, I just mattress stitched it from the outside. That worked really well.  Unless you look closely, you can't even tell.  I did take a picture of that, I was so pleased with the repair.  It's about a six-inch long section.  Can you tell?

I had hoped to start cutting pieces for a quilt I've been wanting to make for almost a year.  I had the idea last May, and a pattern in mind (which I purchased when Missouri Star had a deal on printed patterns for $1 each), and a whole stash of fabrics that will work as it's done somewhat scrappy instead of with a fabric line.

While no cutting has been done, I did pull fabrics for what I'm going to call the Airplane Quilt. As you can see, there's a red white and blue theme.  It's intended for DS1, who was an airframer during his time in the Marine Corps, and worked on F-18s.  My goal is to have it finished for his birthday this fall, or, if not then, by Christmas.

Sewing and Stitching Update, March

There's been a whole lot of sewing going on lately.  Mainly the quilt for grandbaby #6, whose arrival is imminent.  I finished hand sewing the binding last night.  Because it hasn't been gifted yet, I'm going to wait until the April update to show pictures of the entire quilt. Here's a sneak peek:

The backing is a large piece of flannel that I bought at my favorite vintage/antique mall just over a year ago.  Kind of an ironic story now, as both DD1 and DD2 were with me at the time, and when I saw this fabric in one of the booths for less than $10 and it was very obviously more than 3 yards of fabric (therefore a great price), I grabbed it. Showing them my awesome find, I said "the next grandson I get is going to have this for the backing on his quilt." 

I was thinking that, fingers crossed, it might be DS2 and his wife as they had indicated they'd really like to get a family going.  Or, fingers uncrossed, might be DD2 and Brad if they weren't careful enough (DD2 has long said she is happy being an Aunt with no ambition to ever be a Mom).

Turned out about 8 months later, DD1 said "Surprise! You're getting a new grandchild in 2024! (And BTW, we're surprised too!)"  And then, in December, when she shared the news that she's carrying another boy, well, obviously he was going to be the lucky recipient of this cute tow truck fabric.

The yarn thief snubbing me because I told her she was in the way

 while I was pinning up the quilt for it's photo shoot.

In the last week or so, that baby quilt has taken up all my free time.  There's been no knitting done, and no work on my counted cross stitch.  Prior to that, though, I had been stitching an hour or more each week and have gotten the adorable squirrel just about all stitched.

I have to finish stitching the random snowflakes in the 'air' around him, and then do all the back-stitching. The designer of this pattern uses a lot of back-stitching to add definition and realism.  With the baby quilt finished, I foresee a return to evening cross stitching and maybe a completely back-stitched squirrel to show you next month.

Sewing and Stitching Update, February

 I did quite a bit of counted cross-stitching in the past month.  I guess I started it since the January update, and have the cross stitched portion (not to count the backstitching, etc.) about half done already!

The pattern is one I purchased off of Etsy and is by the same designer as the fox I stitched last winter.  It's a cute little Eurasian red squirrel in a very warm and comfy looking sweater.  I decided not to do mine on quite as dark of cloth as the original and am using a piece of  'natural' colored Aida instead.

In addition to stitching the squirrel, I've been working at least a few hours a week on the baby quilt for grandbaby #6.  It took a week for me to get all the pieces for the star blocks cut.  31 blocks with 17 pieces per block = 527 pieces.

Then I started sewing the star blocks together, beginning with the lowest number of stars needed in a particular fabric combo and working my way up the the highest number.  That took about a week and a half of my designated sewing time.

one of these for the center

two of these

eight of these

eight of these also

(color really off in this photo)

twelve of these

You're probably thinking "how are those blocks ever going to be in the same quilt and go together?"  If the mental picture I have, and the rudimentary drawing in colored pencils that I did before even starting to cut any fabric turn into reality, it's going to work.  Trust me.

It'll be a loud quilt, that's for sure, but hopefully cohesively chaotic rather than just a clashing mess.

first four rows

December Sewing and Stitching Update

 I sewed zero things.  I do, however, have the pattern pieces for a corduroy jumper (a Christmas gift for Faline) pinned to the fabric and ready to cut out.  That is a project I thought would be mostly sewn together by now, but, alas, other things have taken up my time.

Two cross-stitched beaded Santas are finished, though!  One is about to be hung on my own tree, the other will be gifted to my Mom who collects Santa stuff.

Sewing and Stitching Update, November

 Since the last sewing and stitching update, I have sewn nothing.  Not one thing.  I had thought I would, but it didn't end up working out that way.  My time has been spent on other, more pressing things.  After all, it's not close enough to Christmas yet to say "I must stay in and sew on this good weather day."  And even on not good weather days there's been other things to fill my time. 

Did I at least get some stitching done?  Yes, a bit.  I finished the back-stitching on the Cardinal Santa I've been cross stitching, and I began doing the beading. Not much beading, because that requires good natural lighting, and, well, on good sunny days I've been not in the house.

We've been making progress on other things, and they'll have their own posts later, but I still kinda feel like I'm not using my time well (because, man, I really want to sew some stuff, and get the beading finished on this Santa!)  Although with firearm deer season coming up (opening day is a week away!) I know I'll be in the woods, not at my sewing machine, until November is over.

Sewing and Stitching, October Update

The sewing and stitching report for October has lots of things to talk about.

I made some more bear clothes:

• a skirt and shirt for K3's bear, 
• sweatpants for Toad's, and 
• pants for Rascal's bear. 

None of which I have pictures to share.  

Also in the no-picture category was some special request sewing for Faline; she had been playing in her intended Halloween costume and accidentally torn it.  I was really surprised to get a phone call from very worried sounding two-year-old asking me if I could "please fix my Mirabel dress, Ahma."  It was a really simple fix, as the fabric had just pulled apart at the bodice/skirt seam.  While I was at it, I reinforced the entire seam, not just the torn part, as well as the side seams.  When I returned it to her, I got a big hug and many thanks.  Apparently I have saved Halloween, LOL.

I spent some time sewing a few quilt blocks for an internet forum quilt I am participating in. Those, I did take pictures of.

9-patch

churn dash

9 patch variation

tick tack toe

(quilterscache.com pattern)

There has also been a bit of counted cross stitching going on.  (It's nice that it's dark by 8 p.m. this time of year; I have more time for relaxing and crafting rather than working outside until nearly bed time).

The Candy Cane Santa that I finished stitching earlier this year, I pulled out and have been working off and on at getting the beading sewn on.  While waiting for my grape juice to process in the canner this past weekend I was able to get the last of the beading done.  Now it just needs to be trimmed, and have a felt backing and a hanging string glued on. Maybe in November, maybe not until December.  That can wait until I have my other Santa stitched and ready for the same final steps.

My Cardinal Santa, the other cross stitch one I've been working on occasionally, is suddenly very much closer to completion.  I spent a 9+ hour day babysitting Buck last week, and over the course of two long naps that he took, I stitched up a storm!  Once the cross stitching and back-stitching are done, I'll go right to the beading on this one.  Depending on when that is, I'll decided if I have enough time to do any more cross-stitch Santas to give as Christmas presents this year or not.  

September Stitching Update

Overall, there was extremely little sewing going on at this little place here in the past month.  Right after the August post, I found the missing page of directions and finished putting together Faline's dress.  

I happened to be babysitting her and Buck the next afternoon while DD1 was in a meeting at school, so I gave it to her just before they left for home.  Faline loved it.  In fact, as you can see from the photo below, she insisted on putting it on right then and wearing it for the remainder of the day.

It fits her really well, and even has enough room in the bodice (the part I feared might be too tight) to put a shirt under and wear even as the weather cools this Fall.  Faline will be starting preschool this month, so it works out really well as something comfy but nice to wear to school.

I cut out pieces for some more Gift of Life bear clothes for K3, Toad and Rascal's bears.  So far I have only finished a yellow sweatshirt for Toad's.  He was here the next day and saw it, so it went home with him before I got a chance to get a picture.  A good hour at the sewing machine and I'll have lots more bear clothes done.

What really got a lot of my 'free' time recently is the folk art rooster counted cross stich that I've been working on since July.  This was a really nice piece for picking up and putting down as time allowed; typically I would work on one certain piece--a vine, a small flower, one color of the rooster--and then set it down when I ran out of time that day.  It was easy to keep track of where I was in the chart that way, and gave quite a sense of accomplishment even if I only had half an hour to devote to stitching.

All the stitching is completed.  Now I need to come up with a circular frame to finish it with.  I could use an embroidery hoop, but I'm not quite sure that's the exact look I want to frame it with.

Early in August, I kitted up a new Santa cross stitch ornament.  I needed something that would travel easier than the rooster piece (less likely to get dirty) as we headed up north for a weekend of canoeing/kayaking and going to the Bump & Run derby at the county fair where DH grew up.  I worked on this new Santa actually very little on that trip.

Last week, DS1 had sinus surgery, and had asked me to be his transportation to and from the hospital.  Since it was an outpatient procedure and we weren't sure exactly how long we'd be there I brought along the Santa and stitched on that while waiting in the surgical lounge.  

I got a ton done; previous to that day only the red parts of the hat were stitched.  Everything else was stitched during the hours I waited for DS1 to have his surgery and be in the recovery area.  (He came through it fine and so far has had no issues post-op.)

Now that the sun sets much earlier in the evenings, there will be more time for sewing and stitching (and knitting, and reading, and. . . )  I'm itching to start working on some Fall birthday and Christmas present sewing and quilting.

Summer Stitching & Sewing Update

 There hasn't been much sewing.  I cut out the rest of the pieces for the dress I intended to make Faline back in early April (that I totally got waylaid by the death of K2 and didn't touch for months).  It's a summer weight dress and more than likely won't fit her next summer, so I really need to get it sewn up before the weather turns too cool for her to wear it. 

 Unfortunately I got through the sewing of the bodice (and bodice lining), sewed the side seams on the skirt and had intended to sew the two pieces together yesterday (including installing the side zipper) when I discovered that the second page of the instructions is missing!  ARGH!  It's been so long since I started this (like late March) and so much has happened since then, and my sewing area is such a complete mess at the moment, that I don't know where the heck that needed second page is.  (Bash head here).  

It's been a long time since I made a dress with a zipper, so long that doing the side zipper thing isn't clear in my memory.  I'm pretty sure I sew the skirt and bodice together at the waist, starting and ending either side of the zipper opening, and then put in the zipper, but I could be wrong.  I'm sure I can find that info online these days even though the pattern itself is 10 years old or more.

While my sewing area has suffered from lack of regular attention (and tidying!!), I have done quite a bit of cross-stitching in the past month.  A little here and a little there in the middle of a hot afternoon (when I'm hiding inside from the sun) or to relax after dark at night once the outdoor work has been halted and before I get into bed, has really added up quickly.

The more I stitch on it, the more I like this piece.  It's very folk art-ish and reminds me of the decor of my early childhood (1970's).  It's also going to go very well in my chicken kitchen.

See my little fox needle minder in the above picture?  Well, the other day I thought to myself how much I like it, and wouldn't it be nice to have more than one, so I didn't have to steal it off one project (the Santa that is done except for the beadwork) in order to use it on another (this chicken thing).  Which resulted in me taking a quick peek at the needle minders currently offered by the Fat Quarter Shop, where I bought the fox one.  And lo and behold, they had some really cute ones. So I just may have treated myself to not just one additional needle minder, but three.  Although I might give one to K3; she's been showing an interest lately in maybe learning to do counted cross stitch.

A Little Sewing; July Update

 There's been a tiny bit of sewing going on in the past few weeks.  I made one last quilt block, a scrappy/strippy 9-patch using the same purple paisley fabric as the blocks I showed in May and June.

Then, I started working on a project that had been requested by DS1's kids. . . When their mother died in April, they had each been given a small teddy bear by the Gift of Life organization (K2 had been a registered organ donor).  In late May, Toad asked me if I could make his bear some clothes.  K3 quickly chimed in that she'd like some for her bear, and Rascal also said his bear wanted something other to wear than the green Gift of Life t-shirt it had come in.  

So I asked for a bear to volunteer to come stay with me for a little bit.  I needed to measure it and make some prototype patterns.  Then, here and there, as I had a bit of extra time, I began to sew new bear clothes.  K3 even picked out some fabric for the clothes for hers when DD1, DD2 and I took her and Faline with us on our annual overnight pilgrimage to Shipshewana.

striped pajamas 

(made from an old tank top)

color-block style pants

I have lots more bear clothes that need to be made yet; K3 wants a couple two-fabric shirts and Rascal wants a red t-shirt, plus Toad has a whole summer wardrobe in mind. It's just hard to find the time for sewing right now, as when the weather isn't favorable for working outside then I need to be inside catching up on housework!

Here and there I've put a few stitches into the cross stitch Santa that's been in progress since March.  All the stitching and back stitching are finally completed, and I just need to do the beadwork.  That can wait until Fall, especially because I need good natural lighting and the only crafting time I have right now is at the end of the day after dark (10 pm-ish).

Meanwhile, I do need something to stitch that can be easily picked up and put down (so not a sewing machine project). I chose to start another counted cross-stitch, this one of folk art roosters that I bought the pattern off Etsy several years ago.

Sewing in June

I actually did a little sewing in the last week! I took my Thursday, now that I'm not babysitting Faline and Buck for the summer, and I spent probably two hours messing around with fabric!  

I finished, (maybe, because I don't like how bunchy it is and I'm thinking of taking it apart,) a Crows Foot quilt block.  I'd started it in early May, and it's been languishing since. The instructions were basically cutting instructions and a few diagrams of the pieces fit together. With Y seams.  I thought I could do it, as I've done some Y seams successfully in the past.  But this time? I don't know.  I think I should have looked for a tutorial.  Because my quilt block sure isn't pretty. Or flat.

I had much better results with a Spring Tulips block

and a Churn Dash block.

I am mostly done with the cross stitching on the Santa ornament I've been slowly working on this Spring.  Maybe I'll have it all complete (including back-stitching and beading) in July.

My garden is fully planted, so now there's just weeding to do (and watering as needed) until the crops start to come in.  Hopefully that means soon I'll be able to squeeze in more time for crafting.

Or not, as we are about to go full steam on a big project outdoors.  Lots and lots of fence posts to install, and then the fencing to stretch and attach.  And hay is ready for cutting too; as soon as the weather gives us a clear 3-4 day stretch we're next on my custom hay guy's list.