Happy Autumn!! ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ September 24, 2018

Autumn days are here at last!  This time of year is my favorite and I look forward to it all year! I love stitching and making for the upcoming holidays....so right now Autumn/Halloween making is on the agenda.  Last week while watching a tutorial for home decorating I came across this awesome YouTuber who has lots of tutorials for wreath making.  The first video I watched was for a Dollar Tree Witch Hat and the tutorial was so easy to follow that I popped down to my local Dollar Tree to see if they still had the supplies I needed....they did!  Well most of them, I had to get different ribbon than what she showed in the video and mine turned out a smidge different...but I love it!

All told I think my Witch Hat cost about 10 dollars to make. So not too bad, especially when I find that store wreaths can be a pretty penny. If your interested in making one for yourself, it's not too late!  You can find the tutorial for the Witch Hat, as well as lots of other cute wreaths, on Country Charm by Tracy YouTube Channel.  

This past week I started working on a new cross stitch pattern called Hello Fall by Plum Street Samplers.....

I would have been a little farther along, but I kept messing up!  Either my stitches were counted wrong or I'd for some reason use the wrong color and only discover it when I'd completely outlined what I was working on...it's been a little frustrating!  But, I'm now at the halfway point and will forge ahead until I complete it.  Hopefully I will have this FFO'd by the end of this week and sitting on my fireplace.  I changed a lot of the colors to Gentle Arts Sampler Threads to match my seasonal decor better....I think it's turning out pretty awesome!  I'm stitching it on 36 count Vintage Country Mocha Edinburgh Linen.

This past week I also completed another of my Autumn Love Quilt blocks!  This one is called Bucket Block.  I'm still a couple of weeks behind, but I currently have the Scarecrow Block glue basted and ready for stitching...just have to find the time!  I haven't started making any of the pieced blocks yet, so I think I should find some time to work on those soon.

Over the weekend I began working on decorating my house for Halloween, it's mostly done except for the front porch...I plan on getting to that this afternoon.  My kiddo wanted to help me gather pumpkins and cornstalks.  He loves helping me get the house ready for the season and I like that someday he will enjoy showing his children the joy in each holiday.  Maybe I'll do a Halloween Home Tour this week for the blog!  Stay tuned!!

Well that wraps it up for me this week!  I have a load of Homemade Scrappy Pumpkins to photograph for my Etsy Shop as well as some more Grime Guards.  You can check out my Etsy Shop by clicking on the link in my sidebar as well as seeing what I'm up to on Instagram and Facebook...all the links are listed!  Be sure to follow my blog so you don't miss a post!

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the stitchy world!

Have a great week!

Olivia

xx 

  

Happy Monday! ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ September 17th, 2018

I know I'm crazy late with my Weekly Update...the past week was a busy one!  I had these two projects that were so close to being finished that I dedicated my free time this weekend to them.  I think you'll like them both!  Last week I did a little bit of everything...quilting, stitching, adding items to my shop and sewing.  This first thing I finished was my second Autumn Love block!

Didn't it turn out so cute?!  I know that the sew along is a few weeks ahead of me, but I figured to go at my own pace instead of going gangbusters on it.  Especially since I don't have all the fabrics and still need to figure out how I want the finished quilt to look.  I've been lucky so far, in that some of my stash matches the fat quarter bundle of Autumn Love.

I also decided to quilt one of my own quilts this past week that has been waiting to be quilting since last year.  I went with a free motioned curly-que kind of motif that allows the pumpkins to stand out and not the quilting.  All it needs now is binding and it'll be ready for Autumn!  The quilt pattern is the Pumpkin Seeds Quilt by The Pattern Basket.

Last night I finished Halloween Rules by Lizzie Kate!!  It was so much fun to stitch up and I'm excited to have it FFO'd for Halloween this year!  I stitched it with all DMC Threads on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha Lugana.

I guess that about wraps it up for me!  I think my next update might be Sunday/Monday...so make sure you pop back to see what I've been stitching on!  Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today and don't forget to subscribe, so you don't miss a post!!  You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook...all the links are in the sidebar!

Have a great stitchy week friends!
Olivia
xx

Running Late! ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ September 9th, 2018

Howdy Stitchy Peeps!

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that you are stitching up a storm!  Here in the PNW we are enjoying warm late summer days and cool nights!  I love that you can finally go about your day and not sweat a gallon and an half as you do it.  Everyday now you can smell and feel Autumn's embrace as the season begins to change...so love it!  The trees are starting to change just a bit, not too much, but just enough that you know those bright spots of colors are coming and soon the landscape will be painted in glorious color! 

This past week I did a little Quilting!!  I know it's been forever since I worked on anything quilty related, but I finally found my Quilting Bug.  A few weeks back the #autumnlovesewalong began and although I had most of the needed fabrics/shapes, I just couldn't get up the gumption to start.  Yesterday that all changed and I was able to get it done!  I think the coming Autumn might have something to do with it!

 It's not too late to join the SAL if your interested....You can find all the details on Lori Holt's blog Bee In My Bonnet.

I still have some catching up to do,  I think they are going to be started block 4 on Monday...so I better get stitching!

I made more progress on my Halloween Rules this past week!  I'm really enjoying this stitch so much and can't wait to have it up this year!  The hubby still thinks I should put it into a frame when it's finished and he might be right as I'm not sure they make sticky board to fit the size it will be when it's done.  I've started looking around for one, so hopefully I can find a good coupon when the time comes.

I finally FFO'd Spooked by Lizzie Kate that I finished stitching last September-ish.  I think it turned out pretty well!  I mounted it to a piece of wood that I picked up at Michael's a few weeks back and hot glued some Autumn flowers and leaves I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  I used a couple of pieces of sticky board to mount my stitched piece onto and some black gingham to go behind it.  I also went ahead and hung it up in my family room, because it didn't make sense to put it away only to bring it back out in a few weeks.  I took inspiration from the talented Priscilla, her stitchy finishes are so amazing!!

Well I guess that about wraps it up for me this week!  Hopefully next week I can get back on my usual Friday blog schedule.  Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to subscribe to my blog, so you don't miss a post!

Happy Stitching Friends!

Olivia xx

You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook to see what I'm working on...links are in the sidebar!

 

Happy September ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ September 1st, 2018

Happy September and Labor Day Weekend! 

For me it's the unofficial start to Autumn and farewell to Summer.  I think mother nature is ready for the seasonal change too, because a few days ago I caught that first faint wisp of Autumn in the morning breeze.  Then these past few days, as I've zipped about school shopping, I noticed some of the trees starting to change color.  To say I'm excited for Autumn to arrive is an understatement!  

I did finish a few fun little projects...no quilting ones....but I do have the background fabric needed for a little something Spooky, and I really hope to have some time to start cutting it out or perhaps even to sew up a block...so maybe next week, once the kiddos are back in school, I'll have some time to spend with my sewing machine!  I dearly miss my sewing machine.

Now for what I did finish...This past week I worked on a couple of new needle minders for the shop!

I think they all turned out pretty cute!  One of them is already sold, but I do have plans to make a few more this next week.  They will be added to my Etsy Shop hopefully tomorrow, but first I need to add a bit of sparkle to the witches hat. 

I also made some more progress on Halloween Rules by Lizzie Kate..

I think it is looking so Spooktastic!! I'm really hoping to finish this soon!  I think I only have five rules left after I finish the skeleton...so excited to have this up for Halloween!  The hubby thinks I should frame this one, so I'll look around for possible frames for it however if I don't find one, then I'll look around for other finishing ideas.  It's so cute though...I just love it! 

Yesterday I popped into town to meet with a couple of quilty clients to return their finished quilts to them and while I was at Hobby Lobby, I got some Autumn Inspiration!  Now I try not to overspend on craft items...the family has to eat and there are those pesky bills that have to be paid...and while at Hobby Lobby I browsed through their fabulous display of Autumn decorations, so many wondrous items!  The very first thing I needed to find was a wreath for my front door, and Hobby Lobby had many to choose from...but they were pricey!  The kind of steep price that when looking at one particular wreath I was like 'Seriously...$59 bucks?" Yikes!  I have to admit that I was pretty bummed at the prices and when looking at this one particular wreath I said 'I could totally make this' to myself...so I looked around for a wreath form..found a grape vine one for $4.99....then grabbed a small bundle of leaves for $6, flowers for $2 and a cute sign for $4.20(all were 40% off!).  Then while a loaf of homemade French Bread was rising, I made my first ever wreath!

I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I immediately hung it up on my front door, so now it will greet our guests when they come visiting!  I'll leave this up until after Thanksgiving and who knows...now that I've caught the wreath making bug, a Christmas wreath is calling my name!  In case you were wondering how much the wreath ended up costing me....it was under $20 to make!  

Well that wraps it up for me this week!  I hope you have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend...that you get lots and lots of stitching time in!  Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world, I sew appreciate it!

Happy Stitching!!

Olivia

xx