Long Winter Nights = Great Progress

 As always...I'm surprised when I look through my iPhone photos when working on a blog post and realize...I got a lot done in the past month!

This is from Hands on Design, "Stand Up for Santa." This was a venture into working with different fabric and flosses. I used a 10-count Tula fabric in the color, sand. Most of the floss was #5 DMC Pearl Cotton. The beard has a Rainbow Gallery fiber in the color Whisper. I took an online class to see how the designer finished her Santa as a stand up. I picked up some new techniques in the class which is always a good thing. 

I think I actually finished the stitching in January but forgot to take a picture of it until going through my box of finished...but waiting to get fully finished...stitched pieces.

I finished stitching the last two Santa Gathering pieces.

Santa 11, 28ct Country Blue Linen

Santa 12, 28ct Cashel Linen in Clay

I finished all the pieces of the latest release from Merry Stockings' Mantel Series

 

Red Barn...

and the Police Station were finished as stand ups.

The Flower Shop, Car with Presents and the Police Snowman were started and completed as standups.

Once I finished the Mantel Series I picked up an ornament kit I had started in January

These star Santa ornaments are so cute.

They are pretty big...6 1/2-inches.

I had a hard time working with the floss included with the kit. I need to start using DMC floss when I work with Bucilla kits in the future. I switched out the white and red floss to DMC right away but struggled with the other colors. 

These ornaments would make great little decorations on a simple gift to someone...

Maybe on a bottle of wine...

or a box of cookies.

And just a side note here...I am in the process of taking all my Christmas decorations down. I had hoped to get them down by March...oops...too hard for me to say good-bye to them until November.

I am working on some patriotic designs. These will finish at 4-inches.

These are part of a RoundAbout series from the design team, Stitching with the Housewives.

Nice to have a few quickies to stitch up now and then.

Next is not a finish but a purchase with hopes for future finishes. 

I am obsessed with cute buttons from Just Another Button Company. They have a quarterly button club I was compelled to join. They come in an adorable tin and with a suggested patten.

Previous tins have come in handy for some of my cross stitch finishes.

 

Just for fun...I am sharing a photo of my granddaughters at our local library. We were coloring when I looked at a quilt on the wall and realized it was made by a great friend of mine that I do most of my retreats with...how fun!

Still no new critter photos. 

We almost hit a moose driving home one night...thankful for good winter tires and that my husband was driving! He always stays so calm...me...not so much.

I'm sharing a photo of a precious moment. All our kids and grandkids had been over for dinner. I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and walked into the living room to sit and stitch. I saw my Bucilla draftdodger snowman posed in a stand up position like he was looking out the window. 

Unbeknownst to me, one of the grands had set him up before they left. Melt my heart.

My Quilts and a Few From Quilt Con

I finished a quilt! The first of 2026. 

I had a very simple quilting design and my first day quilting was great. The next day my machine didn't want to stitch from bottom to top without skipping stitches. That launched me into lots of starting and stopping for a couple of days until I finally worked it out...which is all still a mystery to me. 

This is a very simple pattern by Villa Rosa, "2M." It takes 13 fat quarters. It is pretty big, 80 x 80-inches. My husband wants this quilt to take on his summer job in remote western Alaska. The fabrics are a line from Free Spirit a few years ago by Tim Holtz.

I had a quilt retreat the first week of February. I decided to start a kit I had patiently waiting in my stash...everything was cut out and ready to stitch. I got all of the blocks made during the 3-day retreat. The setting pieces were added a day here or there throughout the rest of the month. I finished the outer borders this morning.

This quilt is, "Heartfelt," a design from the Fat Quarter Shop that is free with a request to give a donation to the Make a Wish foundation. The finished size is 76 1/2 x 84 1/2-inches.

I made a trip to Atlanta to visit a very good friend. I timed my trip so I could jaunt up to Raleigh for the Quilt Con Modern Quilt Show. I have mixed feelings about my experience with this quilt show. There were many wonderful and inspirational quilts. There were also many political quilts and they all went in one direction. Some had the F-word...I felt like I was being screamed at when I looked at those quilts. I suppose that was the intent of the artists but I just found them very offensive.

I was expecting quilts that celebrated our 250th anniversary. There was not one quilt that seemed to appreciated anything about our country. Nor did I see anything at the vendor booths that was geared to our country's anniversary. 

I did talk with some lovely quilters and one of them said I should check out quilts in a separate ball room. It was a wonderful exhibit and I'm glad I didn't miss it. The quilts were a community outreach for quilt guilds or groups around the world with a few criteria. First was a medallion style and second they had to use one of two prescribed palettes. I'll just share a few that were from places I have been to so could easily relate to their designs.

New York Splendor by the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild.

Portland to Coast by the Portland Modern Quilt Guild

In With the Rain by the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild.

I absolutely loved this one...it is spot on for all of Seattle's iconic features. 

Tech Garden by the Silicon Valley Modern Quilt Guild.

One of my favorites from the main show was, We Come in Piece. Three quilters each made a monster and then they cut them into three sections and mixed them up. The colors are so fun and it looks like a great project to do with friends.

I will share my handwork projects in another post. 

The first week of March I have another 3-day quilt retreat. I plan to work on a patriotic quilt I designed around a panel. Very excited to start that quilt.

First Quilt Top Finish of the Year

Borders were all that was left to finish on the second version of the Alaska Shop Hop 2010 quilt design. An Alaskan quilt designer, Marie Noah, released her setting design sometime during the shop hop and I loved it...and the original design. So...I decided to make both.

The finished size is 64 x 64-inches

By far...the most tedious part was top-stitching around all the fusible applique edges. It took me many years. I started the top stitching when we lived in Paris, 2012- 2015. Then the project sat in a box until 2025.

My three favorite blocks...bears of course... 

and a moose cow with her twin calves.

I started a new hand embroidery quilt, a blue work snowman series from Pinker n Punkin Quilting and Stitching. There are many free designs for embroidery and cross stitch on this blog. It is wonderful! 

I'm using a DMC variegated floss.

There are five designs in this series.  I reduced them to finish at 5-inches.

We did a trip to Las Vegas and hand stitching these little blocks was a good way to pass the time on my flights.

My other handwork projects got a lot of attention this month. I finished four more Santa ornaments. 

This series is, "The Santa Gathering," from HeartStrings, a design from 1999.

Santa Seven, 28 ct. Cashel, Antique Ivory

Santa 8, 28 ct. Linen, Water Lily

Santa 9, 28 ct. Cashel, Light Sand

Santa 10, 28 ct. Linen, China Pearl

I started a new felt project from Merry Stockings, additions to their Mantel Series.

I finished the barn and police station.

Despite lots of snow and cold temperatures...plans for the summer gardening season are always on my mind. After a bit of nudging, my husband bought me a motorized garden cart. I'm so excited! We put it together pretty quickly. I ordered it from Home Depot...no shipping charges and I got my military discount....sweet!

I have a quilt retreat the first week of February. 

I'm soooo looking forward to spending time with my friends. 

Closing Up 2025

Just a quick wrap up on December projects.

I finished the second stocking for my friend's newest family member, a son-in-law, Brae.

Fly Fishing Santa, a Bucilla stocking kit from 2024, so still pretty easy to find online.

This a pretty simple kit...not a lot of elaborate embroidery work.

The name hides behind the fish dandling from the stocking hangar.

I had a great aqua snow flake print in my stash that was perfect for the lining.

The most challenging section was the face but pretty simple.

Santa has a fish on his line. I love a little 3D effect.

Brae's name...a nice short one to stitch!

I had a little procedure that kept me taking it easy the last 12 days of December. Nothing serious...just an ongoing issue that hopefully will be resolved in the new year! So I've spent most of my time sitting on the couch cross stitching.

I focused on an ornament series I started this year, Santa Gathering from Heartstrings, designed by Pat Thode. These designs were released in 1999....a vintage set I bought on eBay a very long time ago. I have finished three more to add to the three I finished earlier.

Santa Gathering Number 4

Stitched on the the called for fabric, 28 count Blue Ridge Linen 

Santa Gathering Number 5

Stitched on the called for fabric, 28 count Antique Tan

and Santa Gathering Number 6

Stitched in the called for fabric, 28 count Bonnie Blue

All stitched with DMC floss.

We had a great Christmas. 

I did feel pretty good for our celebration with our family on Christmas Eve but was ready for everyone to leave after a couple of hours. Thank goodness the kids needed to get home and get to bed so Santa could come to their house!

I only managed a few photos but thought it was great the two, three-year-old's were totally up for a selfie with Gigi.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season. I have so many plans for 2026...I can't wait!