A Baby Quilt and some Cross-Stitch

Hi all and hope you're having a good day! I thought I'd check in this week as I am taking the week off  and being productive! I've had a good month so far - lots of evening stitching time and some good stretches of quilting time on the weekends. 

Let's start with the quilting - one of our friends has a new baby and he arrived a few days early, so I had to get a move on to get his quilt finished - you might remember seeing the top in my retreat report a few weeks ago. I hemmed and hawed a bit on how to quilt it and ultimately decided that it is a baby quilt that should be loved, used, will probably be spit on, might be puked on, so the quilt pattern didn't need to be intricate. With that decision made, I found a nice white Omni thread and quilted a stipple all over. I paired the Omni with So Fine in the bobbin and it was the perfect combo - thread perfectly balanced between top and back and no thread breaks. That made for a quick quilting job one afternoon. I spent a little time last weekend getting the binding selected (I was out of all the fabrics from the top, but found a Moda marble in my stash that I think works well), made, and stitched on. 

The quilt backing is a piece that I have had in my stash for a long time...probably one of the first larger pieces of fabric I bought, and probably off a sale rack. I thought it went great with this quilt and I am so happy to finally use it! I added a corner label and wrote in the baby's name, birthday, and my name (blurred out in this image). A group of friends are delivering Thanksgiving dinner to the family, so when we deliver mashed potatoes, we will also deliver the baby gift. I think this may just be one of my all time favorite quilts - I love the crisp colors, the great pattern (Preppy by Andy at A Bright Corner), and the finished look with quilting. It will be a hard one to give away.

But wait, there's more! I had a few squares from the fat quarters left when I finished the top, so I decided to make a little car quilt too - it is about 15"x18" - my mom made these for my kids when they were little and they loved having their own little quilt in the car - just enough to cover their legs in the car seat on a cool day (and later, perfect for snuggling, chewing on, or tossing about the car!). I used fusible fleece instead of batting and did some simple "x" quilting. 

In between quilting, I've been doing some stitching and some finishing. Let's start with the stitching first - I've finished up my Stitching with the Housewives Trick or Treat - this was my birthday start back in August and the border section went so quickly, I thought I'd have it done well before Halloween. The witch and the pumpkins took longer than expected, and I did get a little burned out so switched out to a few other projects. That had me finishing up the stitching just after the start of this month. I am so pleased with this project and now contemplating how to fully finish it (which probably won't happen anytime soon). It is stitched on 28 ct. Lugana with Classic Colorworks in the called for colors. I might have to go back in and make the witch's nose a darker green as my two green threads and a lot closer than the picture from the chart shows them. It was such a fun stitch, and I've already bought my next Stitching with the Housewives pattern to work on for next fall! 

I also finished up a project that I stitched a few years ago - I specifically remember starting this one on our Great Western Road Trip. It is called Jack-OH-Lantern by Sweetheart tree and I stitched it on a scrap of Aida - 16 count, I think. I tried to take some inspiration from other creative finishes that I've seen and mounted this on a pumpkin from Joann's that I painted myself (!!) - I added some ribbon and flowers and I think I like it! I didn't get it finished in time to display this year, but I did get it finished before putting it away for another year, which is a victory for me! I am pretty happy with the finish and now am energized to keep going with my finishing. I have an eye out everywhere I go these days to look for some different ways to finish my cross-stitch, as there is only so much wall space for framed pieces. 

I have a few more things in progress that I will share at the start of December when I am back for my stash report and stitching & exercise reports. For those in the US, hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and can find lots to be thankful for, even if this year is different than most. I am looking forward to a day of good food, more stitching time than normal, and a zoom call with family from coast to coast who we normally wouldn't see for this holiday. Wishing you all the best!