Friday | I’m in the Mood for Making

And I believe that our maple tree has finally hit its wintering stage. In less than a month we’ve gone from a full tree with just a tinge of color to nearly barren, with just a handful of leaves holding on for dear life. I mentioned this week that I’m also turning inward and am reaching for the cozier side of things, and that includes picking up all sorts of needles and stitching away. Let me show you what I’ve been working on.

I’ve kind of kept this a secret, but I finished my Patchwork Swoon! I started stitching this in December of 2020 and finished the piecing at the end of the same month. I started the quilting on it about a year later and totally stalled out. I was free motion quilting, which I have very little practice with, and I completely ran out of interest. So I folded it up, stuck it in my bin of finished quilt tops, and there it sat until last week. And all of a sudden – I just couldn’t get enough of it. Weird, right? But this time my weirdness totally worked in my favor because now I have fully finished quilt, which hasn’t happened since I finished my Scrappy Crossroads in January of 2021. I’ve finished a couple of quilt tops since then, but nothing has been completely quilted.

This thing isn’t going to win any quilting awards and that’s okay. I’ve made countless quilts but this is only my second done with free motion quilting and it was such a challenge for me. I did the patchwork pieces in straight stitch and the larger areas are all quilted in a baptist fan pattern. When I started, I did a search to find the easiest FMQ pattern and watched several YouTube videos on it (all were longarm quilting machines, boo), did some practice passes on scrap fabric, and then just jumped in. I learn everything the hard way, folks. It’s just in my DNA. I made plenty of mistakes but there won’t be any expert quilters in my home anytime soon to judge me and I will enjoy snuggling under this quilt this winter despite all of the wonkiness! And now maybe I want to try out some more FMQ? Maybe with my recently finished Bloom Quilt.

The Patchwork Swoon finishes at 72×72″ and this one is made with Bonnie & Camille fabrics along with some Kona solids (the greys).

I did my swatch for my Junction sweater and hit gauge, so I’m about ready to cast on! Friends, this is going to be such a pretty sweater and I can’t wait to really get going. I love how the background and the contrasting color works together. Those little knit stitches almost look like little hearts on it. Perhaps it’s more realistic for me to plan this as a Valentine’s Day sweater than Christmas? It doesn’t matter because it will be perfect for anything.

I have even been cross stitching a little bit! I started Annie Bayliss at the beginning of the year with the intention of finishing by June to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. I’m glad I didn’t finish it then because I’d much rather have the version that Nicola, the owner of Hands Across the Sea, suggested after the Queen’s death: ER II 1926-2022. I’m even considering taking out the Annie Bayliss text and the decorations and stitching Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 in that spot. But that could be totally beyond my cross stitching abilities!

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I’ve slowed my evening reading this week because I want to watch lots of Halloween-y movies. Every year I say that I want to watch as many seasonal movies as I can fit in, and every year I’m disappointed with my effort. So this week I’ve gathered up my stitching after the kids have gone to bed (I’ve mostly been handsewing the binding to my Patchwork Swoon seen above) and have been watching movies! It’s been such a treat. I can’t typically watch a whole movie in the evening because of how late I get everyone down and how tired I tend to be, but so far I’ve finished Legends of the Fall (I know – not scary, but immensely cozy) and I Know What You Did Last Summer. I tried watching The Blair Witch Project, but that’s too scary for me when I’m alone! Tonight I’m planning to watch a few more episodes of Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which I’ve been watching since it premiered in 2018 but still haven’t finished. I tend to watch just a few episodes around this time of year and it always has me putting on red lipstick. (And warning: it is intensely dark.)

I have no idea what we’ll be doing this weekend but I’m sure it will include wrangling some leaves. I hope your weekend is exactly what you need. I hope to be back on Monday with my One Little Word Update, so wish me luck getting that one finished! Until then – take good care.