crazy'boutquilts

My grandmother was a stickler for always having your hands busy, so I learned to crochet from my paternal gran and hand embroider from my maternal gran. I am sure I gave them both headaches being the only lefty in the family! LOL

Today I want to talk with you about hand stitching. Being left handed, I used to say I was 'allergic' to hand stitching. :-) Then I discovered cross stitching! Oh my! I have been cross stitching for years and love it! But, an opportunity arose to be a pattern tester for Chickadee Stitchery . I applied, not really knowing what I was doing but very curious about 'floss drops' and other ways to store my floss as I am stitching.

Jessica not only chose me to test for her, but sent a wonderful array of patterns, floss, bobbins and things to test and give feedback.

She sent these 2 adorable ornaments!

I had such fun stitching them and giving the polar bear life. :-)

And she sent an embroidery. I am still stitching, but I love it!

Isn't it adorable?

It sure brings back memories of stitching with my Gran. When I first started with Gran, I had my hoop propped on my thigh as I stitched-- can you guess what I did? Yes! I stitched my project to my pants! I was so bummed when Gran had to cut out all my stitches! Maybe that was why I decided I was allergic? :-)

Now, I so look forward to settling into my chair at night with my projects and just enjoying the process.

Thanks for stopping by!

I was so surprised to find comments on my last post! And so happy to know that someone is still out there!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Thursday, September 11, 2025

A Year!!

The saying 'time flies when you are having fun' certainly applies to my last year!

Where have I been? Well, here there and everywhere!

My job takes me different locations in western WA and my hubby takes me on camping trips!

And I even found a little time to fly to AZ to meet my newest grandson. You met Miss Rosie in my last post~ she had her 1 year birthday already! Time does fly!

I have been sewing and quilting, bag making and machine embroidering.

This is the quilt I designed and taught as a BOM this year. I just unveiled the finish this week. We sped through the steps a little faster than a true BOM because everyone wanted to be done before the autumn to winter rush. I just need to get it quilted. Its a big one at 95" square.

I have been contributing blog posts to the Designs By JuJu Blog.

This is one of my most recent posts... a Stadium Bag.

You can read that HERE

Earlier this year, I machine embroidered this quilt for a blog post (at Designs By JuJu) and then gifted it to my new grandson.

I am still bag making too. Sorry those pix are somewhere...?

Maybe next post. ;-)

So tell me, do you still read blogs?

Is anyone out there?

I hope to be back sooner than last time!

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!

Friday, August 30, 2024

Time Flies!

Oh my goodness! I cannot believe it is the end of August!

Where have I been?

Everywhere!

But recently welcoming this cutie has been the highlight of our summer.

Meet my newest granddaughter~ Rosie.

I've been traveling, sewing, quilting, machine embroidering and pattern testing... and anything else I could squeeze in!

My most recent tests are the Dogwood Pouches-

and Compass Carpet Bag-

from Sew Sweetness.

They are part of a new 4 pattern series called The League of Extraordinary Bagmakers, vol 1

(which means there will be more! :-) )

Today I worked on a little machine embroidery, and if my project works out, I will be back to show you soon!

Keep stitchin'!

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Where Have I Been?!

...or more importantly~ how can it be April?!! :-o

Well, I took a small break, that turned into a big blog break! I have been to two retreats, and hither and yon! :-)

The first retreat, I worked mostly on machine embroidery projects and I didn't take pix! Sorry. :-/

The 2nd retreat was this past weekend, and I promised my friends I would take pix as I unpacked. I did not factor in that the weather might have other ideas! It is far too windy today to get good quilt top pix~ I did try. ;-)

So I took bag pix. I taught this bag to a group of 16 wonderful ladies.

And of those who decided to sew it while at retreat~ they all finished and left with gorgeous bags. :-) The pattern is called Carmelita Bags & Wallet and is by Cool Cat Creations. It comes in three sizes and I made the large.

The wallet pattern is included in the pattern. It opens to a zipped coin place, a pocket for bills, and lots of credit card pockets. :-)

I have made her Audrey Madeline bag in the past and thought I would really like that outside zipper pocket in this bag. So I added it to the next two. I have not made wallets for the bags yet, but I really like the idea of my wallet matching my bag. :-)

I think I am going to have to make a bag insert so I can easily slip my stuff from one bag to the other. :-) LOL I don't carry a lot in my purses, just the bare essentials and my pocket calendar. I keep a zippered pouch in the car with things that may or may not be needed when I am out as that helps to keep my purse much lighter. :-o

What have you been sewing/quilting? Leave me a comment and I will stop by your blog soon. Now I need to get back to unpacking. :-o

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

New Year and New....

Happy New Year!! :-)

Yeah, it is January 9th and I am behind already. LOL

But not really. I just took time off for family, I wanted to enjoy December, bake, decorate and relax. And I did. It was wonderful! Now I am ready to dive into 2024!

I had the most unexpected Christmas surprise~ I am still pinching myself!

I won a sewing machine on IG!!!!!!!! :-o

I still can't believe it! But this pretty box arrived last week~

And this little beauty was inside!!!!!

It is the Janome 100th anniversary edition. It is all mechanical, has 22 stitches and weighs a mere 14 pounds!

As soon as I finish my 'chores' today, I am going to get sewing!

I cannot wait to put her through some exercises. :-)

How has your year started? Are you sewing? Do you make sewing goals?

I don't make resolutions, but I have a few goals, we can talk about those next time. :-)

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!!