Some Progress and a Finish! ~ October 30, 2018

Happy Halloween Stitchy Peeps! 

I can't believe how quickly October flew by!!  Here in the PNW we have been enjoying Autumn weather and today the valley is blanketed in a thick fog layer...but I don't mind a bit!  I wish Fall would last a little longer than it does. The landscape looks so pretty with all the trees changing colors and I'm not looking forward to months of bare trees, with gloomy skies.

Here in my little corner of the world, I've been busy working on various projects and I had a little stitchy finish! 

This one was a little freebie by Lizzie Kate called Moon Over Blackbird...It was such a fun little stitch and very refreshing to finish something quickly!  If you've been following my blog for a bit, you'll have seen me working on Oct 31st and my struggles to finish it before Halloween.  I worked on this for about three nights all told, but you could easily finish it in a day if you wanted to....it's a very relaxing and fun little stitch.  I stitched my piece on 32 count Raw Natural Linen with all DMC threads.  With the chart you have two options of finishing the bottom with acorns or flowers and I decided to stitch the line of acorns across the bottom.  I used sticky board to mount my finished piece to and used a piece of coordinating homespun to back it with.  It fits perfectly in my clipboard stand, which you can still purchase at Michaels.  So cute!  Love how it turned out!!

If you would like to stitch Moon Over Blackbird, you can find the link here to Lizzie Kate's blog and the chart.

So where there's a finish....

There's a new start!  This one is Plum Street Samplers, Cinnamon Stars!  The perfect fall stitching project!!  I'm so hoping to have this done in November and definitely before Thanksgiving. I'm stitching it on my favorite 32 count Vintage Country Mocha with a mixture of Gentle Art Sampler Threads and DMC. 

This past week I also made two more Monster Trick Or Treat Bags for my two adorable nephews...

I asked Elijah what color he wanted his monster and he told me his favorite color is red!  I named this one Bob!

The yellow monster is Liam's and is nearly as tall as he is!  But I figure he can grow into him....I named Liam's monster Harold!

Both boys loved their monsters! 

I've continued to make more progress on my Autumn Love quilt.  I just have the squirrels, acorns and pumpkins to stitch down.  I haven't started this week's block yet or worked on the pieced blocks, but I will begin making those after I finish working on a clients quilt.  My goal is to have the top finished before December.  I don't know that I'll meet that goal...but I'm going to try my best!

Well I guess that's a wrap for my stitching....

I wish you a very Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by!
Olivia

A Very Late Stitchy Update ~ October 21, 2018

Hello Peeps!

It's been a few weeks since my last update and since then, I've been doing lots of Stitchy Things...if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen that I finally finished my Oct 31 stitch by With Thy Needle and Thread!

I made one slight change though...I decided to leave off the bottom portion which was full coverage grass and the wording 'Oct 31st'.  There were a couple of reasons why, the first was because I was becoming increasingly burnt out on this project and didn't want it to become a forever WIP...the second reason was that I discovered if I left off the grass, she would fit in an 8x10 frame.  I used a variety of floss on this project ranging from Gentle Arts, Classic Colorworks and DMC.  The stitched piece is actually two rows bigger than it should have been...all-in-all it was a hot mess project with lots of it Frogged and restitched.  I stitched her on 32ct Vintage Country Mocha Linen that I picked up from 123Stitch.com.  I am very happy to have it finished!  Happier still that it didn't become a forever WIP!

I've also been working away on my Autumn Love blocks...I'm still behind a week, but I'll get there..

I have 3 1/2 blocks to hand stitch, but all except the house block are either finished or needing hand stitching...

Last Saturday was my quilting groups annual Quilty Halloween Party!  It was a lot of fun!  My nephews even joined us for the party! Our challenge this year was to create a Trick-Or-Treat bag...it could be any type of bag, so long as it was a bag of some sort.

I decided for my bag to make my sweet niece a Trick-Or-Treat bag and this is what I came up with..

I named her Madge!  Didn't she turn out adorable!  I still need to get this sent down to Vegas and plan to have it in the mail on Monday!  The pattern was a freebie tutorial by A Crafty Fox called Trick or Treat Bag Pattern.  I added a little gingham bow to Madge for a cute finish! 

I also finished a couple of Christmas Table Runners for the shop!

Two Wintery/Christmas Tree runners...

and a narrow Christmassy runner with golds and reds!

I hope they will find new homes this Christmas and brighten up someone's table!

Well that about wraps it up for me...I hope it won't be two weeks before I have an update!  My stitchy plans are to continue working on Autumn Love and my cross stitch plans are to transition to Thanksgiving! 

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!  Please follow/subscribe so you don't miss a post...all the links are in the sidebar! 

Happy Stitching!
Olivia

BOO! ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ October 8th, 2018

Howdy Peeps!  I hope you've had a great stitchy week and have worked on all the things.  This week has been more of a work-in-progress week for me and that's okay!  I think those weeks just happen every now and again. 

  I continued my progress on Oct. 31st by With Thy Needle and Thread...

I would have been a little farther along but I miss counted a row and my witch had a funky hip...so I spent part of Friday ripping out my stitches.  But over the weekend.....I was finally able to make it up to Portland to meet some of the PNW Stitchers at Acorns and Threads!! My first time at a needlework shop and it was amazing!!  I got to meet Pretty Southern, Stitchywitch 42 and Bendy Stitchy of Flosstube fame...it was such fun!!  Everyone was so wonderful and it was just the best time hanging out with fellow cross stitchers.  I really hope to go back again to another meet up!  On top of all of that it was so fantastic to see all the beautiful threads and charts that I've only ever seen online...it was a cross stitchers paradise!

I also worked some more on my Autumn Love applique quilt blocks!  They still need to be hand sewn and some embroidery added...but at least they are glue basted down.  I hopefully will get a little time to finish working on these...I'd really like to have them finished by my next blog post, but I'm not sure that will be possible...maybe two of them.  There are two new ones to also work on and I really need to start thinking about making the pieced blocks...the end of the sew along looms and is coming up really fast!

Well that's really all I've got this week...it definitely was a WIP kinda week!  Fingers crossed for some finishes next blog post!

In the meantime...I hope you have a very happy stitchy week and thank you so much for stopping by!

Olivia

P.S. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss a post...the links for everything are in the sidebar.

2018 Halloween Home Tour

With everyone showing cute photos of their Spooktacular Homes all decorated for the season, I thought it might be kinda fun to show you mine!  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I really enjoy making quilty/stitchy things for my home.  A few spooky things I collect are witches and of course...pumpkins!  I've been collecting my Halloween decor for about 18 years, I started when my oldest was a baby.  I should also tell you that my decor isn't on the grand and elaborate scale, when compared to some awesome Halloween Home Tours on the internet...mine is small potatoes.  But that's okay, every piece has a great memory attached to it and that's pretty awesome to me!

 The quilt in the background is Hocus Pocus Ville by Crabapple Hill and was the first Halloween hand embroidery project I worked on.  It's one of my absolute favorite quilts!

I love to collect witches!  I think they are all so sweet...even the less attractive ones:)  This cutie I couldn't resist last year when visiting Bauman Farms,  I had exactly enough cash on me to buy her at the time!

This year I made more of an effort to add some seasonal flowers and leaves to my decor.  I think it's helped brighten everything up and they can all be used in November for Thanksgiving!

One of my newest decorations is a 3 tiered tray!  I've wanted one for about a year now and on a recent trip to Hobby Lobby this one came home with me!  It was on sale for 50% off and only cost me $20 dollars!  I'm looking forward to decorating it for each season and holiday!

 I've only recently started having and decorating a Halloween Tree.  I think this is the 3rd year?  So my tree doesn't have a whole lot of ornaments yet.  When lit, the tree is such a cozy little addition to the room...love it.

If you read my last blog post, then you'll recognize this decoration!

 This one was a fun little stitch from last years Primitive Hare stitching club(don't remember what the club was called), the chart was called....Eat at your own risk.

My holiday tray all decked out in Autumn fun!

This one is also a Crabapple Hill design...don't remember the name.  It's not the best photo of it, the afternoon sun was bouncing off the car parked out front.

Some of my Halloween quilts!

Can't forget my front porch! 

My home stays a Halloween work in progress up until October 31st.  I've got a couple of quilts that will be added this year just as soon as I sew on the binding and quilt the other one.  I also have a couple of table runners to quilt, a few more pumpkins to make and some (hopefully) finished cross stitch pieces.  There is always something to make/do!

I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside my Spooky Home!  Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss a post!

Happy October!
Olivia
xx

Happy October!! ~ Weekly Stitchy Update ~ October 1st, 2018

I've always felt like October was the kick-off of the Holiday Season!  The next three months are full of merriment, joy, good food and happy new memories.  I love it!  It also doesn't hurt that the days are getting cooler, the trees are changing and the house glows inside with sparkly festivity for Halloween!  Did I mention I love it?!  

This past week I spent a little time working on various projects, one of them is the Scarecrow Block for my Autumn Love Quilt.  I think he turned out pretty darn cute!  He's very labor intensive...all told I worked on him for about 3 days.  Not 24/7...but close! LOL!!  I do love how he turned out and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the completed quilt.  I'm still two weeks behind the sew along,  so hopefully tonight I can begin pulling the fabrics to complete the week 6 blocks...at least I think it's week 6.  

I had a fun finish this past week!!

I completed Hello Fall by Plum Street Samplers!  The only change I made was...I decided not to stitch the wording, I felt like it would fit a little better in the space across the front of my wooden box.  I mounted it on two pieces of sticky board, attached washers and popped it onto the magnets already on the box.  Then I arranged Autumn leaves and flowers in the box!  I used a combination of Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Classic Colorworks and DMC. 

I also added a bunch of Scrappy Pumpkins into my Etsy Shop!

They were all made from pieces of unwanted quilt blocks!  I wanted something a little different from the regular pumpkin colors you see and tried for a shabby chic look.  I love them all and even managed to keep a bunch for myself for Thanksgiving decorating. 

I also had a new start!!

This weekend I started stitching on Oct 31st by With Thy Needle and Thread.  I know this one will take me a little while to finish...it's got a lot of fill in stitching!  I just hope to have it finished before Halloween.  The pattern is so cute and I love the Victorian look of the witch.

That's all I got for this past week!  I hope you've been able to get lots of stitching in and are sewing everything that makes you happy!  Make sure you subscribe, so you don't miss a thing...all the links are in the sidebar!

Stay Spooktastic Peeps!
Olivia