Resolved to Join the Blog Hopping Fun in 2019

To show your wings,

Read Here For How To Join This Blog Hop

I am making my quilty resolutions and plans for 2019.

I want to minimize and downsize in the new year,

as life keeps me busy sometimes

and gets me down if I take on too much.

So I am keeping only my favorite and happiest things.

The fun, low-stress blog hops are part of 

my quilty happy place.

I love the creative sharing of ideas in these hops!

So I will be blog hopping in 2019.

Hope to see you joining in the fun.

The more the merrier!

Sittin' and Stitchin' with the Kitten

Nutmeg and I are all cozy and warm by the tree this cold winter night.

I am making good progress.

The outer border is complete!

This has been aided in part with the purchase of a wooden frame and universal stand

 from

Frank A. Edmunds Co.

I can sit in a comfy chair with my daylight craft light 

focused on my work ... 

... and set the stand so I get get close enough to see

what I am stitching.

Loving this early Christmas present to me.

My hubby,  who understands the need for the right tools,

helped me with the stand.

Happy Christmas Stitching! 

Xmas XStitch

My progress on my 

Vintage Christmas Sampler Cross Stitch

I am using 

Aurifloss 2021 Natural White for the borders

and a blue Aida 11 count that I had in my craft closet. 

My sewing room cutting room table is gift wrapping central

and my sewing machine is covered for the duration.

Also, our Katniss had to go to the vets and she is convalescing there

to keep her quiet and away from the other rambunctious kitties. 

I am loving this peaceful hand project ... <3 

It is beginning to look ...

... a lot like Christmas!

I have been busy getting ready!

May you and yours have a very

Merry Christmas!

May all your holidays be happy and healthy!

And if you have watched

The Christmas Chronicles

movie on Netflix.

This is what was missing from the skyline montage at the end of the movie,

that was not filmed in the fictitious children's (and my) hometown.

Sorry to say No Kurt Russell singing and dancing here.

Now wouldn't that Christmas tree smokestack

with the sleigh going in for a landing 

 have been a great

addition to the movie?

Merry Christmas from the real Lowell, Massachusetts.

Ho, Ho, Ho! 

Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt

Here , at last, is my 
Bewitching Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt

Featured on

The Jolly Jabber


This quilt was made with their newest free

shortcut quilt along pattern.

Free PDF Pattern from FQS Here

To make your own version of this quilt
download the pattern on their post today,
watch their video tutorial,
and check out all the quilts in today's quiltalong.

You may also purchase this

Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt Kit

@

Fat Quarter Shop

I wanted to make a Halloween version of this quilt so
I chose to use these fabrics

Bewitching Layer Cake

Grunge Vanilla Stars

Bella Solid Parchment

and

Bewitching Pumpkin Halloween Lattice for the binding

I cut the 10" squares into two 5" by 10" jolly bar rectangles
and then followed the cutting instructions for the Jolly Bar Meringue quilt blocks
and I used the Creative Grids 9.5 Perfect Rectangles Ruler.

For more info on how I cut and sewed read
My Half Rectangle Triangles Post Here

It has been a late and rainy and gray early fall here,
but the sun has finally come out again.

For my version of the quilt I had fun playing with the basic
For my quilt I played with the 8.5" unfinished meringue blocks
to create the pinwheel effect.

For all the info on how I made this pinwheel variation 
of the Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt 
Click Here
or scroll down to my next post. 

Here is a basic meringue block.

The pieced  back of my quilt featured the basic Meringue Blocks ...

 ... framed with a gray tonal from my stash.

The quilting is a free form spider web with my heavy duty walking foot.

Bound by my Two Fabric Flanged Machine Binding

I love the way the blocks look like they are twisting and turning in the Autumn breeze.

This was a really fun pattern
and I hope to sew it again soon with different fabrics.

Since this quilt was delayed until now,
I have been playing with the layout I made and created
some Christmasy variations:

Christmas Meringue Swirls

and

Christmas Meringue Pinwheels

Email me if you need more info on making these variations.

Thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop
for another fabulous quiltalong!

Note: I am an blogging affiliate of the FQS and I receive a small percentage

of the total sale for purchases made via the share-a-sale links on my blog.

Thanks to all who shop these links and help my quilting and blogging efforts. 

My Bewitching Breeze Quilt

At last I am able to show you this quilt!

This is my Halloween version of the

Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt @ Fat Quarter Shop

To make this quilt I played with the basic meringue blocks,
twisting and turning and choosing colors to make this ...

... giant pinwheel layout ... 

Quilt size 49" by 49" 

Yardage Requirements for this version of the quilt:
1/2 yard gray
5/8 yard orange
3/8 yard white
1 and 1/4 yard beige
3/4 yard fabric(s) for binding  

For my Halloween quilt I used

1 Bewitching Layer Cake
1 Bella Solid Parchment Junior Layer Cake
1/4 yard Vanilla Stars Grunge fabric
3/4 yard each  Halloween Lattice and of binding fabrics 

The Blocks:

Center Block ~ Make 1 block

Corner Blocks ~ Make 4 Blocks

Side Blocks ~ Make 4 Blocks

To make Meringue Block units, follow sewing instructions here

Piecing Half-Rectangle Units

Back of block

Press all seams open on 8.5" units.

Nest seams when making larger blocks.

Mt little quilty kitties and I followed our own choice 
for color and placement of blocks.

Our finished quilt top.

Katniss helped select the quilting thread.

Nutmeg and I quilted a large spider web.

Maestro helped press the quilt.

My quilty kitties and I hope you enjoy making this quilt as much as we did.

In the spirit of the current season,

here is a variation of this quilt in red, green and white, 
white a single print background: 

May ALL your holidays be quilty and bright!  

Too Cute ~ Must Stitch!

Yes, this is a new project ... a new start. 

This 

Vintage Christmas Cross Stitch

is just too cute to say no.

I told myself I could not get the Christmas one if I did not finish the fall one.

This is my progress on my Farm Girl Fall.

I had a lot of fun stitching this, the first time I have cross stitched in over 40 years.

I even stitched in the airport and in flight.

I can only stitch for a few minutes before I must give my eyes a rest.

This may not look like much of an accomplishment,

but I am very happy with it.

But then I caught a Texas Sized Cold from my Grand-darling and brought it home with me 

and I pulled the blankets over my head and went to bed for days.

I only went out to see my doctor.

I am finally on the mend and ready to stitch and sew again.

But I am not feeling fall anymore.

I am ready for a fun, festive, snowy Vintage Christmas

here in my cold New England quilty corner.

So I ordered the Christmas pattern, floss and some 

Aida cloth ... and I am ready to stitch!

Here are my choices for aida cloth, in various size counts ... 

(Left to right)

Blue 11, Gray 11, Silver Dusted 14 (bought this one in Texas) 

and the recommended Oatmeal 10 and White 10

As usual, I am having a hard time deciding between the choices. 

I am leaning toward the Silver Dusted 14,

it is a natural off white with silver threads

and even my 

White 2021 Aurifloss

looks crisp on it.

In a close second place is the Blue Aida 10 cloth.

What would you choose?

Opinions Welcome!

Fat Eight Fruitcake Quiltalong

At last I can show you this quilt!
This quiltalong has been delayed due to kit fabric shipments
but it is well worth the wait.

Here is my

Blueberry Fat 8th Fruitcake 

quilt top blowing in one of the last breezes of summer!

This quilt is featured today here on

The Jolly Jabber

The next day the wind turned much colder and the temperature dropped.

Now it is winter,

Looking at this quilt makes me warmer and brings back the bright days of summer.

I have been calling this bright and colorful quilt my

"Last Quilt of Summer for 2018"

and it appears to be a good choice of name.

It was also a good choice of fabrics! 

Making my Fat Eighth Fruitcake Quilt

with these lovely 

Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis

Fat Eighth Bundles  

was a breeze! 

The first Fat 8th bundle was in

This Sew Sampler Box

which was in one of my first boxes 

when I subscribed last year.

I love receiving these surprise boxes,

especially the fabric and pattern,

even when I do not have time to sew it right away.

When I was invited to sew this new shortcut quilt,

my mind went right to an image of this colorful Fat 8th Bundle.

I needed more Fat 8ths and  ... 

Blueberry Park Fat 8th Bundle

I was sew happy when I saw that there were bundles still available

and they were on sale!   Win=Win! 

Add some 

Blueberry Park White Plus

yardage for background and I was ready to sew! 

Here is the free pattern ...

Free PDF Pattern Here

 Click on the link to see the kit is beautiful traditional fabrics ...

FQS Fat Eight Fruitcake Quilt Kit

and

Backing Kit

Fat Quarter Shop


I really enjoyed sewing this pattern.

The pattern was a breeze to make with chain piecing, 

which is my favorite piecing technique,

and the thirty blocks went together very quickly. 

There was very little waste with this quilt,

just a couple of extra fat eights.

This is the first quilt where I have pressed all the seams open

on the blocks and rows.

I am liking the nice flat quilt top this made.

Although matching the seams was a little more challenging,

I will press more seams open in the future. 

The pattern looked fabulous in these fabrics!

My quilting inspiration was the "strand" design in the fabric prints,
so I did straight line stitching with my heavy duty walking foot.

My quilty kitty has been very helpful with this process.
Maestro is starting to think every quilt is hers.

For my backing fabric I chose this sunny

Blueberry Park Sunkissed Daisy Yardage
which is also on sale! 

I hope you are enjoying this look back to 
the last blooms of summer.

May you will soon be sewing your own version of
this fun Fat 8th Fruitcake Quilt! 

Hope to see you quilting along!

* Note: I am an blogging affiliate of the FQS and I receive a small percentage

of the total sale for purchases made via the share-a-sale links on my blog.

Thanks to all who shop these links and help my quilting and blogging efforts.