End of Year Wishes

 

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My wish is that 2023 has been a good year for you and yours,

that even the rough patches have been smoothed with many helping hands.

My wish is that this festive season has been filled with joy and love and happiness.

My wish is that all of your family and friends are well.

My wish is for your 2024 will be happy, healthy, productive and prosperous.

May there be peace. 

~ See You Next Year ~ 

I Like Thursday # 175 ~ Cassian ~ Thankful Thursday

 Good Thursday!

I am Cassian and I am thankful for me furrever home.

I have been living here in my forever home for a year now

 and had my annual check-up at the vet last night 

where I received my three year shot for rabies and distemper, 

so I am feeling a bit sore and sleepy today. 

This is what I looked like last November just before my humans let me in to stay.

I was not even a year old and all on my own on the streets and it was getting cold.

I was named for some handsome scruffy anti-hero, thief-in-the-night character

 in a TV show that my new mommy was watching.  

Something about my being able to "just walk in like you belong" 

and make myself at home and take all the good stuff. 

I think sometimes Mommy cat-napped me

 but she says she told me I was home forever when I walked in.

I am not sure I understood the part about never going out again.

Mommy says Marva is the first Star Wars character 

she can actually identify with,

or something like that.

I am pretty loveable when I curl up with mommy on the quilts.

I can even get close to Maestro, these days.

I know she likes me.

I have made some headway with this gorgeous feline,

who has been resisting my snuggles.

Mommy says she wants to boss me, but I am the boss of me.

I will win in the end.

I have made much better progress snuggling with this cute ginger blondie,

who is a great wrestler, by the way. 

When I think I've pinned her to the floor, she does this twist and jump move

 and she is gone in a flash of her tail.

So enchanting.

 I know she likes me. 

We both love the warm spots and the good things in life.

Nutmeg is a fierce guards at this door.

When she first saw me, she tried to scare me off 

by howling and throwing herself at the door.  

Mommy says I only made it in the door because I made friends with her first.

Maybe mommy does not really know she was secretly 

trying to break down the door so I could get in.  

Heh-heh-heh.

This is as close as I can get to spicy Katniss, the fluffy tailed one.

Mommy says she was once feral like me so we have a lot in common.

Even at 13 years old, she is free-wheeling and fiesty and fabulous.

I know I can get her to like me.

Who could resist me?

I guess I will stay. 

The food is good and plentiful 

and the quilts are comfy.

The girl cats are fun and entertaining.

Having a home is better than lost in space.

Mommy says I have to show her stitching progress now.

Maestro has the cave bed and Katniss wants it.

Not happening. 

Katniss shall have to settle for the other cat bed.

So this is the stitch stuff.

More pumpkins.

I like pumpkin pie, with whipped cream.

Mommy should give me pie. 

Please visit Mommy's  friends  @

I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 

and have a Happy Thursday! 

I Like Thursday # 174 ~ End of Autumn

 

The last rose of the summer of 2023

The leaves are falling quickly now.

There are a few on my big red rose in the driveway 

and one on my coral one tucked in a sheltered place,

 but this little pink rose is by itself, 

high on a branch waving goodbye to the sky. 

Goodbye, summer.

Goodbye, Autumn.

The cold is here to stay for winter.

The kitties and I are snug and warm in our little house

and we are stitching on our 

Be Thankful Cross Stitch ~ Started Here.

We decided to play with the thread colors in our stash 

and have added orange to the pumpkins.

Maestro is supervising.

We are quite happy with our progress

and hope to have this one finished for Thanksgiving.

I hope that all your November stitches are happy ones.

Please visit my friends  @

I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 

and have a Happy Thursday! 

I Like Thursday # 173 ~ I Like Cross Stitching

November Stitches

 The kitties and I are hatching a new cross stitch plan for November.

Katniss is helping me choose.

The fabric is some I purchased on a sale at my local quilt shop awhile ago.

This "Be Thankful" cross stitch has been on my to-do list for a long while. 

Several years ago I bought this as a kit that included Aurifil Floss and 

Vintage Cloth 10 count Aida in Burlap.

The pattern is still available in the link below. 

Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks @ FQS

I think I want to add orange and aqua pumpkins to match the colors in my fabric

 so I have dug through my floss stash to find more floss threads. 

Cassian is watching from this cozy basket on top of the bookshelf

and has given his approval.

Time to Stitch! 

Think I will call it, "Stitch-Vember!" 

Please visit my friends  @

I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 

and have a Happy Thursday! 

Stitch-Tober 2023 Done Before the Witching Hour!

 

My Stitch-Tober 2023 Cross Stitch is Done!

I completed this yesterday.

I really enjoyed this slow and quiet stitching journey.

This was originally started in 2020

 and I updated the original plan with new patterns this year. 

Pattern Information ~ Click Here

This is my unconventional but personal favorite way to finish my cross stitch.

I have previously posted a tutorial for my method

 on a my Quilty Love cross stitch finish.

Artist Canvas Finish Process ~ Click Here

Thanks to all of you who have followed along with the kitties and I

 for all our stitch and sew efforts.

My mystery Halloween quilt is still in pieces and will be tucked away 

as I fold and put my Halloween quilts away in my closet for next year. 

We have enjoyed this process so much that I am am planning 

to make a fall cross stitch for the month of November. 

More soon!

Happy Stitches to You!

 

I Like Thursday #172 ~Stitching with the Kitties

A good day for more Stitching

 ... with the kitties, of course! 

Fall has arrived in my scrapatch and it has been alternately

 gray and windy and then sunny and bright.

Fall always makes me want to sit and stitch  

while sipping a warm cup of latte.

Three of my kitties, Nutmeg and Maestro and Cassian,

 like their own dish of foamy milk.

Yes, the kitty is on the table.

Yes, I wash the table afterwards.

The kitties also have beds on my cutting table when I sit there to stitch.

I like their company.

Katniss is snuggled down in that fluffy clamshell kitty bed.

Nutmeg is on the furry blanket in the corner.

Maestro, as usual, takes a more "paws on" approach to helping me.

Cassian, who has not yet taken an active approach to helping my stitching and sewing efforts, is nearby in a comfy chair where he was taking a nap.

Cassian says, "You go stitch; let me snooze."

The kitties and I are making slow and steady progress on my

My Stitch-Tober 2023 Project ~ Started Here

For more Stichtober past and present ideas check out this

FQS Flosstube Stitch-tober 2023

Time to stitch!

Even on sunny days with the house lights on, 

I still need my 

Halo Go Rechargeable Table Lamp

which I bought at Fat Quarter Shop many years ago. 

My newest invaluable stitching tool find is are these high magnification

Stitchy Readers from Riley Blake @ FQS

I have the 5.0 magnification.

There are other helpful notions for those of us who need help to see and stitch:

Click Here for more Stitchy Readers and Craft Lights @ FQS

Hope you find what works for you if you need helpful tools these days!.

May you have a happy day of sewing and stitching today! 

Please join my friends  @

I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 

and have a Happy Thursday! 

Free Pattern Friday ~ Designer Sharon Holland & Art Gallery Fabrics

 

These lovely fat quarters are from 

This Art Gallery Fabric collection may be purchased via this affiliate link:

Juniper Fabric Collection @ Fat Quarter Shop

and at many online and quilt shops near you.

This is from one of my favorite designers,

Juniper Collection @ Sharon Holland's Blog

Sharon has many wonderful free patterns on her website:

Freebies @ Sharon Holland ~ Click Here

There is also a fun free pattern download for this 

Juniper Windmills Free PDF @ Art Gallery Fabrics

Whenever a new collection comes out I like to visit the link below where

I always find a treasure trove of free patterns:

Free Pattern Page @ Art Gallery Fabrics

While I was there I found this cute free Halloween pattern ... 

Captp!Ria Free Pattern @ Art Gallery Fabrics

My quilty kitties and I love cat quilt patterns! 

Have you found any fun free patterns this week?

If so, please share!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Free Pattern Friday ~ Sweater Weather QAL ~ Limited Time Free Release

 

Sweater Weather has arrived in my quilty corner of the world.

I saw this very cute and cozy looking quilt along this week and just have to share.

This pattern is available for free for a limited time during the quilt along at

Sign Up Here for Sweater Weather Pattern

This pattern is a limited time free email subscription.

Once you sign up, you will also have access to their QAL main page. 

When you sign up now, you will receive emails 

for the block patterns that have already been released 

and then will receive future weekly blocks. 

Be Forewarned!

Free Now ~ Gone Later ~ 

The Sweater Weather Sampler Quilt Block Patterns 

will be available for download until November 3rd, 2023.

~~~~

I am saving the quilt block patterns as I have to many projects in the works.

I love this design and hope to be sewing it soon.

I have been sitting and cross stitching this week 

as I have accepted the challenge to complete

a project in October.

As I am a slow stitcher, I am giving myself a head start 

so that I actually finish on time.

 Today is another cool, rainy, gray day and I am enjoying the colorful threads.

What are you working on?

Is it a fun free project?

If so, please share! 

This linky party is for free patterns only. Please share a favorite free pattern or tutorial of your own or one that you have found online.  Please link all photos and patterns and tutorials directly to the original pattern designer. If you are sharing a pattern that is not your own, please give credit where credit is due. All copyrights are reserved by the original designers. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Spooky Sew Progress

 

My first four blocks for my

Spooky Mystery ~ Started Here 

I have not really chosen any one stack of fabrics.

As I cut and sew, I am picking from all in my stash as my quilty muse speaks.

It likely means my finished quilt may be very different from

the sample for the pattern.

There are two more weeks of blocks now available on their website:

Fort Worth Fabric Studio ~ Stay Spooky Mystery 2023

I am stitching on my cross stitch and sewing more blocks.

More photos soon.

What are you working on this week?

Stay Spooky and Sew Fun!