Completely Done Year, A Finish, Stitchy Purchase, Free Patterns

I declare every Sunday Pyjama Day here at the Wooden House. It is also my very slow stitching day (cross stitching) and also photo day, time to go through more of my bank of photographs and delete or save. I'm finding the older the photos, the greater my willingness to axe them. 

Speaking of cross stitching, my stitchy purchase last month was a pattern called The Jack Rabbit from Cottage Garden Samplings. That link will take you to their A Year in the Woods series, a group of 12 designs featuring mostly woodland creatures.  And if Rabbit goes well, I will definitely want to stitch the fox.  Since I encounter lots of rabbits (and foxes are around too) here on the trails... I thought it would be fun to be stitching a memento and a change from the sampler style I'm currently stitching as well. It's all about those ears with this one!

                    

 I'm happy to say that Courthouse Steps Quilt is a finish, at long last.   It is a little more square than I wanted but it is single bed size or a very ample lap quilt. This will be a gift next Christmas.  Machine foundation paper pieced and very enjoyably hand quilted. It was my OMG for February and my Acer has been acting up which is my reason for not posting in time. 

Down in the sewing room, when I've warmed it up enough to manage, I've good news. I've finally worked out how to stitch my Summer Wildflowers   embroideries into a sampler. I unstitched all the fabrics I had them in ( a night's work that) and chose a completely different palette. One with soft colours and tiny prints. Many of you recommended this approach so thank you very much!

 

This way the embroidered bits can really shine.  I can see that now; why I didn't see it before is a mystery. So I've been measuring and cutting- keeping it all very simple. I like how it's working out so far. I'm putting each one into its own pretty "frame".  I'm going to set this as my Elm Street Quilts OMG for March and hopefully that will keep me on track. TO DO this week will be getting these blocks all framed. Then I will enter into discussions with myself on how to quilt it. 

 You can download all the free patterns for this stitchalong and others here at Shelley's blog, The Life of Hazel Ilene. Thank you Shelley!

I do enjoy being up close with the fabrics. Perhaps it is really all about the fabrics for me. I love looking at the motifs and the feel of the material in my hands.  It is enjoyable then to ply a needle stitching through it. You too?

I also love getting another UFO to the finish line! 2022 is a completely done year for me, in more ways than one. 

Thank you all for sharing your memories of Woolworth's Shopping and the Lunch Counter in response to my last post.  For the record, I remember having Coke Floats and fries at the Corner Brook, Newfoundland Woolworth's as a very special treat, usually on Report Card day. 

Hope you are finding enjoyment in the stitching journey this week too!

Linking with The Texas Quilt Gal, Quilt Fabrication, My Quilt Infatuation, Life in the Scrapatch, Powered By Quilting and The Inquiring Quilter.