Star of Wonder Week Four

     Here's a quick update with tips for those of you who are stitching along with the FREE Fat Quarter Shop Star of Wonder cross stitch and quilt patterns. My cross stitch is totally up to date!

    This week, our job was to stitch the dark green leaves-- it's easily done, with each leaf stitched in one session. I'm slow, so they took an hour each. Unfortunately, this part of the design is split between two pages, unless your eyes are good enough for the smaller chart. (Many thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for providing both. xox) My advice is to print out two of the large pages and tape them together. They are symmetrical and all four are the same. The stem is two stitches thick, so be mindful of where the over lap is.

     That being said, as I rotated the piece around, I forgot my little x's would have a different stitch on top for two of them-- I usually go bottom left to upper right on the last stitch because I always have to be different. So when I rotated for the left and right leaves, I forgot to do it the other way. If you don't know what I'm talking about-- don't worry about it! The color is dark, each leaf is consistent within itself and no one is ever going to see my "mistake." I've definitely been more accepting of "mistakes" as I get older in life-- if you are driving yourself crazy with Jack and not enjoying yourself anymore, it's time to re-evaluate your entire life and maybe have a talk with yourself! LOL.

    And now my Star of Wonder quilt-- FAIL! I did not get my four star blocks done this week. Good news, if you are a week behind, like me, at this point-- THIS WEEK'S installment is four super easy borders, so expect me to have everything before next Tuesday. 

    Why I didn't get it done? This:

     I really wanted to finish the June Sew Sampler before July comes in-- that's this afternoon, hee-hee. I frequently am hoping my delivery date is longer than USPS lets on with these boxes, while everyone else is complaining their delivery is slow! I completed the last eighteen Sew Sampler boxes in a row, but I think I need a break. Other things are piling up. So I re-evaluated my entire life and had a talk with myself! I do watch spoilers on YouTube-- and I've decided to shelf the July box for now, and use the next month to finish "Star of Wonder," "Moonbeams," "Pressed Flowers," and I still have a Summer Memories waiting quilt that just needs assembly. The teal box can wait. 

    As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this summer in Maine is giving me serious SUMMER CAMP vibes-- I said to Mr. SFO just last night, I haven't enjoyed a summer this much since I was a kid! So if I finish both the cross stitch and the quilt by Labor Day, I'm rewarding myself with this as a "merit badge!" 

     It's the Star of Wonder pin minder.

     I was thinking how it would be motivating and fun to treat myself to these little things from the various Fat Quarter Shop stitch-a-longs as I finish. Spooky and Sweet and Moonbeams also had needle minders. I'm starting to have quite a little collection-- some are key fobs, so I have to think of a way to display them better. 

    So that's my story-- summer is jam packed for me, but at least it does not seem to be flying! I am helping my sister move from Florida to Maine (yay!) the first week of August, so I may be out-of-pocket for ten days or so. If you know of any quilt shops that are ten minutes off I-95, let me know-- as long as they also have a bathroom! 

Keep on with the stitch-y summer, my dear friends,
and I will keep in touch as best I can!

xox

Carol

Treasures from the Attic

      It's been an action-packed summer-- but on the plus side, we're still in July so it doesn't seem to be flying away. There's been a ton of unpacking and sorting into my new studio, and I promised I would open some of the boxes with you. So here's a big reveal of just one day!

     These are my special fancy Michael's boxes, not the plain brown Home Depot boxes that I have so many of left to unpack. Since the fancy boxes also have the advantage of being light, they were among the first I brought down the rickety fold-up ladder stairs to my attic.

    Only one was labelled, but I have more good news! I did remember all of these projects I unearthed, so my memory is still holding up. One day, I imagine I will take them out and not remember when or how I did any of it. That happened to me with a sweater I knitted once!

     First up, Fig Tree Pears is a finish. Those little squares are 1/2" finished, but I did an ace's job of assembling this. Such a pretty pattern and fabrics-- the fabric was "Chantilly." I made this for a friend who lived on Pear Street. They have long since moved, so I feel it's appropriate to now keep it! I even have the background fabric purchase from the same line; I think I was just too afraid to longarm it initially. Now I'm older and wiser and more ballsy-- I'm not afraid to ruin anything on my beautiful longarm. So expect a finish soon.

   Next up-- the Dessert Quilt! Moda came out with this four or five years ago. I have a friend who is making it with 30s fabric-- perfect-- but I purchased the kit that had "color cuts," made of a mix of different designer fabric. I thought Color Cuts were going to be a new offering from Moda, but it didn't last. I made one block and then put it away for five years. This is high on my list to get done now. They had me at "dessert."

     This is more random. I became a big fan of Carrie Nelson's "Schnibbles" patterns a few years back and purchased some on Etsy-- I believe they are out of print. They are designed for charm packs and this was one of my favorites. So there were no charm packs included in this box, just the white background.  I'm not sure what the plan was, but this would look good in anything, don't you agree? Since I live in the boonies now, the State Fair theme is precious to me-- look for a State Fair themed design in August, hint, hint! In August, people always send me pictures of their San Francisco Stitch Co. project that have won prizes across the U.S. Trust me when I say-- this is even better than winning a prize myself. xox

          Carrie Nelson of "Miss Rosie's Quilt Co." has since vanished which makes me incredibly sad. Does anyone know where she is? COME BACK!

   Then I had a box of cross stitch projects from the 1990s. Do you remember any of these? I used to shop from Herrschner's and also a catalog that came in called "The Stitchery." There was not a tenth of the selection you have today. I checked and both of these companies are now online. They are just like old friends. In terms of actually making these projects, it's not likely to happen any time soon-- that "Spring" kit in the lower right corner is a year commitment!

     Here's  some dregs from the bottom of that cross stitch box. I designed and stitched that lady based on a cameo that's in my family. I think it was my grandma's, but it very much reminds me of my mom. I think I should frame it. I also got sidetracked into beads at this point in my life. I foolishly gave away all my beads at one point. (Sigh.)

  

   This is first on my list in terms of wanting to finish! It's the Lori Holt Farm Girl book. This was a stitch-a-long with the Fat Quarter Shop in 2015. They had "Farm Girl Fridays," and you were supposed to make two blocks a week. I'm a Lori Holt fan, but what really makes this precious is that my daughter made half of the blocks with me. It was a pivotal time for our family, too-- we finished up home schooling, and she went on for a year at a community college, just to see if her school skills were up to par. (She rocked it.) A year later, she was off to the big city, New York, with a ton of college credits already earned at a much cheaper rate! (She also rocked that.) This was high on my list to secretly finish for her wedding, but I couldn't put my hands on it, so we went with Laundry Basket's "Alaska" quilt instead. Wouldn't take much to finish it now, and I'd love to add some special family blocks like ice skates and our two kitties.

          This is an old Sew Sampler Box subscription-- "Bubblegum Kisses." I even bought the finishing kit. The next month that I get something I'm not as fond of, I'm going to make this instead.

        And it's Mr. SFO's Boy Scout quilt! As I have often stated, Mr. SFO is and Eagle Scout and very proud and fond of that part of his life. He even keeps in touch with his former scout master who is now 90 and living in Arizona. Once, we had an older neighbor who also made "Eagle,"-- it's a big deal, and he had all of his badges and patches beautifully framed in the living room. This really caught Mr. SFO's eye--I decided to make him a quilt instead-- maybe I would secure the patches and badges to it. I even embroidered in large type the Scout Pledge-- it's fabulous. This is also a highly personal quilt and it was a complete surprise I was planning for hime until he walked upstairs while I was taking this picture. LOL.

     Do you remember when Boy and Girl Scout fabric was out a few years ago? That's when I got my start.

      Then it's my Lovely Letters quilt! We had a free stitch-a-long with this awhile back. They are now for sale on the website. After completing them, I sewed them all into a wall piece.

     Unfortunately, I raised the bar on myself again, and started creating little borders-- it was about 40 or more that needed to be done. I planned to do one every other day. I figured out it would only take a couple of months. So that is now 72 months ago. I look at all these things, still believing I can finish them. xox

    Here's few odds and ends I found along the way. I can't wait to hang up my old friend, the sewing machine clock! Wait? Why's a pair of needle nose pliers on the face? I don't remember that...

     Oh! That's where my needle nose pliers went! Haha! There was nothing organized about this move, when push came as it did, to shove that summer.

      And this:

    Which I turned into this!

    As I am unpacking, I am also sorting and organizing-- it's something I would never have done to this degree if I had stayed in place. If you have to move-- this is one of the benefits.

  I'm also adding everything I unpack to my master list of projects. It is growing considerably, and I am only about a quarter of the way through the attic treasures. A lot of what's left up there may be books, I hope.

         If I calculate one month per small project and three months for every large quilt, this represents eight years of my life! The good news is-- I'm planning on living at least 20 more years! Knock on wood. But it's kind of motivating to think about how many of these honestly deserve that time. I highlighted a few in blue that I want to work on NOW. I may end up selling off some that don't hold my interest anymore. The importance of NOT ADDING TO THAT LIST is really upfront and center. I posted the list in front of my beautiful new closet, now fuller than I can believe, as a reminder of how much I already have.

     So this summer has been one of the happiest times of my life! The lack of readership on the blog this summer is proof-- haha-- clickbait headings like I'M NEVER SEWING AGAIN, or I JUST BROKE MY HAND always get the most views. When you think about it, internet friends are the opposite of real world friends-- always there for you in the bad times, but they leave you when the sun is shining. A special thank you to all my readers who are here beside me when all is right with the world!

There's still sew much happiness to share this summer-- farm life, our "Kingfield Days" festivities, the Maine Quilt Show at the end of this week, and I have a road trip all the way from Florida to Maine coming up in August. The summer fun has just begun-- stay tuned!

xox

Carol

Star of Wonder-- all up to date!

      I'm so proud to say I AM KEEPING UP with Fat Quarter Shop's quilt AND cross stitch FREE patterns-- here's my Cross Stitch:

   Each week I'm giving a tip-- these light green leaves are not symmetrical-- so if that bothers your OCD, just fill in two missing stitches, one in the tip part of the leaf, and one in the first set of lobes, and stitch them all that way. (If you don't know what I'm talking about ignore me-- and congratulations, you don't have OCD.) I'm not sure if it bothers me-- the star arrangement wasn't symmetrical, either, so I'm stitching as is. There's always the opportunity to go back later and add the stitches. 

     This cross stitch is SEW easy to keep up with-- I got one leaf done in an hour and did them over four days. It's the perfect stitch for summer, and I will have a gorgeous Christmas present ready for someone at the end of the year.

     Here's my Release 2 of the quilt blocks-- this week's installment was even easier to get done than the cross stitch-- four log cabin-ish blocks. So what tip is there even to give? I know-- just sit down and DO IT if you haven't started this quilt yet. Then, you can make up Release One's star at the end. 

    Rumor has it these are corner blocks-- I'm not sure of the arrangement, though. I SEW hope there is a flying goose border around the outside-- the cross stitch makes it look like there is, but the quilt is already departing from the cross stitch design, if you notice.

     Thank you so much to the Fat Quarter Shop for providing these free patterns for some summer fun!

Here is the link to the FREE patterns on their website:
Star of Wonder FREE Patterns

    And one last thing-- I told you how it's like summer camp, here on the lake in Maine-- if I finish both stitches on schedule, I am treating myself to this gorgeous pin minder-- consider it a "merit badge" I earned in the Craft Cabin! Aren't I ridiculous?-- but I only went to summer camp once, and came home with no badges. 

It's never too late-- for anything.

xox

Carol

Fat Quarter Shop Star of Wonder!

      Many thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop for inviting me to this WONDER-ful stitch-a-long and linking to my blog! They had me at "STAR." I do have a bit of a side effect that I wasn't warned of-- the carol "WE THREE KINGS" is stuck in my head!

     I'll get right to it--each week I will show my progress and offer a tip or two. For those of you who are visiting for the first time and want to know more, read on, and I will introduce myself, tell all about how I discovered FQS years ago, and how I am still an uber-fan.

    So here's my cross stitch through Release 2--

    And here's my advice: Do not assume those little stars are placed symmetrically or are the same color in each corner. I made a big goof by printing out one corner-- that's what you get for trying to save paper. But thankfully I studied the photo before I got too far. One mistake leads to another-- so that's why when I start a new area, I always count from TWO different places just to make sure.

     And here's my quilt block:

     And a quilt block tip: For those of us who have been stitching with Kimberly for years, there's a tendency to not read instructions. She, herself, admits to this! So my cutting of the reds was messed up-- you are supposed to cut four E's from each color of red, and eight F's from each. I cut 8 E's from one color and sixteen F's from the other-- WRONG! I did briefly wonder why it said in parentheses, (8 total), but charged ahead anyway. I can see on the Kimberly's Stitch Squad Facebook group some finished blocks from people who thought the same thing and just went ahead and made the block--but I am not telling them-- and the block still looks great! 

    A final tip: it never pays to be the first to stitch anything-- be a week behind, and LEARN from everyone else's mistakes! 

     Here is the link to the stitch-a-long FREE patterns on the Fat Quarter Shop website:

Star of Wonder FREE Patterns

www.sanfranciscostitchco.com

   So now for the introduction-- I am Carol Duffy, the owner of San Francisco Stitch Co., a machine embroidery website. I started sewing my own clothes as a girl, thanks to a lifelong love of crafts and my very patient mother. I made my first quilt for my wedding-- at that time, we lived in New Jersey and at a visit to the Kutztown Fair there was a huge barn with all the Amish quilts for sale-- I was just hooked.

     Once my kids were out of the toddler stage, I started quilting more, and since the tension on my old Kenmore machine was getting unmanageable, I really wanted a Bernina sewing machine. This was a big purchase for us at the time, but my ever supportive husband allowed me to bid on one on eBay. It was a 180E. In a life changing moment, he said, "What is the "E" for?" To which I replied, "I don't know, it just comes with it." I won the auction...

... and it turned out the "E" was for "Embroidery Module." From that point on, I learned how to use it, tired of available embroidery designs, bought digitizing software, learned to digitize my own, sold them on eBay, and fast forward 20 years later when I now have my own embroidery empire with customers worldwide.

    As you can guess, running an international embroidery website takes a lot of fabric! In the early 2000's, I saw a Fat Quarter Shop ad in a quilting magazine for a beautiful set of Valentine Fat Quarters. I had never seen such a thing-- in the early days, there were no "collections" of fabrics that I knew of, just running from store to store to find things that matched. I instantly ordered them (some are still in my stash!) and I absolutely loved the Fat Quarter Shop website, with beautiful things falling effortlessly into your cart, great customer service, and an amazing selection. 

     I didn't jump on the Sew Sampler box subscription from the get go-- I have received about 80 of the 100 boxes. Just in the last year and half, I finally made an effort to use the fabric each month. I don't always make the given project. You may have seen my posts on the Sew Sampler Members Only Facebook page. Here are my 2023 finishes-- twelve monthly boxes, the four limited editions, and I did work on the BOM Pressed Flowers as well:

And here is 2024 so far-- 

     My group on Facebook is "2024 Sew the Samplers Challenge." I'd love to have you join and see your progress as well! If you are a Sew Sampler Box addict, this blog is always full of humor and love as they come in, one by one.

     Currently, I just about have my 130 diamonds made for Peach Preserves, and the Cupid Box and Liberty boxes are waiting their turn. Will I get 16 finishes this year? We shall see.

    Thanks for joining me-- bookmark or subscribe for the next few weeks and you won't have to wonder if I ever finished my Star of Wonder. Heck, maybe we'll become friends and even finish together.

xox

Carol

     

Happy Fourth!

    Summer is in full swing and it has been like camp here the past week! Various family members have made the trek up and enjoyed the amenities for a few days each. We have the lake, an archery range, fireworks, grill outs, and, of course, the Craft Cabin!

     Two birthdays were celebrated and the requisite Maine Lobster made an appearance.

      I christened myself “Camp Director,” and took my job to provide the sleeping accommodations and camp food very seriously. Then after setting the stage, I just enjoyed stepping back and watching the play unfold. The principal actors are now my adult kids. I’m very happy to just play a supporting role-- it allowed the time to sneak up to the Craft Cabin for a few minutes here and there!

    After vowing not to buy anything ever again, I realized I am "forced" to buy things to finish up the UFO list... it’s funny how that works, isn’t it? These items showed up in my mailbox while the festivities rolled on.

     This is the finishing kit for the “Peach Preserves” project in the June Sew Sampler box along with a serious amount of yardage of Fig Tree fabric for a backing. Fig Tree fabrics are gorgeous-- it was totally irksome to get this 1-1/2” wide honeybun for the pattern which is then cut up into even smaller pieces and doesn’t showcase the prints at all.

   

  It sounds like I’m complaining, but I’m really loving this project. The box included this diamond ruler which is a shape I don’t use frequently and it’s been a nice change. I really had to scant my 1/4” seam to get the right width, but now that I have that figured out, it’s been fun to produce these pieces-- we need 130 of them! All of the troublemaking pinked edges are trimmed off. Now that the company is gone, I’m hoping to advance this project quickly.

    

   I also bought some fabric to make my Liberty box quilt. The finishing kit quickly sold out, but Fat Quarter Shop had other recommended fabrics to use. I’m not a big fan of panels, so this quilt is just getting the Marden’s special $6.99/yd backing, whenever I get down there again. I mean to look up if this would be big enough to donate to Quilts of Valor-- mostly I'm interested to practice free motion quilting on it with my newly reset longarm-- it's not a "keeper" in my eyes.

  

     And finally, it stinks, but I was also forced to buy another Lori Holt stitch cards set to qualify for free shipping. hehe.

     And wait! There’s even more happy mail! Three of my quilts came back from the long armer. Haberdashery and Dulce got the “Grandmas Roses’ pattern--

To give you some encouragement, I almost didn't make "Dulce"-- it came out in December when I was totally burnt out, I'm not fond of pink, and the pattern just wasn't grabbing me. I had already made 11 of the Sew Sampler boxes in 2023, so one day, I just thought, "Let's close it out!" Let me tell you, ALL quilts look so much better finished and in hand than they do in the pictures...just do it!

   And this-- I LOVE-- my chatterbox got diamonds-- this quilt is just perfection. My favorite finish of 2024 so far.

     So there’s quite a bit of hand binding to get done. I'm envisioning lots of rocking chair time on the porch this month.

     There’s also two new starts-- because, WHY NOT?

     I have missed out on the past couple years of Fat Quarter Shop’s FREE Halloween and Christmas projects because of our move. My last one was “Bats and Boos” which I loved-- this is the one that sadly was ripped off my longarm in the course of moving, but which I have now unearthed, like a mummy from its tomb, and is ready to go right back on! I loved making this thing, just with my own stash.

     This year, Fat Quarter Shop is doing the free stitch-a-longs early-- we obviously all need time we can get to finish them, and the lazy days of summer are perfect. So July is "Christmas in July," so I’m going to try to keep up with “The Star of Wonder” cross stitch and quilt this month-- they had me at ‘STAR'! Release One came out on Monday.

    The cross stitch seems very easy to keep up with-- I already finished my border. Oh, there are few things as satisfying as when you round that last side of a border and it matches up with where you started! I can’t help but thinking at this time of year this cross stitch would also work in red, white, and blue.

     Today, I cut first Star of Wonder quilt block and hope to make it over the next few nights-- it is a beauty. Be sure to follow along with me in July and see how it progresses-- it it completely free, and you can use your own stash to make it.

    Here are the links for the first part of the cross stitch and quilt patterns.

Star of Wonder Cross Stitch

Star of Wonder Quilt

    So that’s about it for the last ten days-- all the campers have now headed for home to nurse their mosquito bites and sunburns and for their own respective Fourth of July’s. I’m really looking forward to getting back to setting up my sewing space and settling in for a nice relaxing summer. Mr. SFO wants to see fireworks tonight and so do I-- as long as I can see them from the front porch!

Come back next week, and see what happens!

xox

Carol

Never. Buy. Anything. Ever. Again.

   It’s been a sobering week of “unpacking.” Well, I wish I was unpacking, but honestly all I have done is bring things upstairs that were all over the downstairs. Yup, I wish I was wearing my Fitbit that tracked stairs this past week. My back tells me it's over 1,000,000 flights.

    My 600sf of shelving is already bursting at the seams, and I haven’t even touched the attic yet.

     As I moved things upstairs, I created a list of in progress quilts-- great way to do it right? It is truly astonishing the mass of unfinished work I have collected. This is not even anything that's coming down from the attic. This is the closest I have come to canceling my Sew Sampler Subscription-- I do not need a new monthly stitch-- I could already give myself a monthly quilt to make for the next thirty years! Basically, I can never buy anything again.

     On the plus side, my bedrooms are now cleared out. To finally make them mine, I really want to change the paint color and then put up some quilts. (finally) All the furniture in the house is also getting moved into its final (I hope) position. For once, I have a before and after for you!

     There is so much to do here at the moment-- we also got a second hive and picked up our bees. They just give you 10,000 of them, and one queen, in a plastic box to drive them home in your car! Look how many there are on those frames. I hope we are going to get some honey this year, but if you are considering doing this, it's worth it just for your flowers and vegetable garden-- ours are super charged with pollinators. Oh-- that’s me on the right, looking like the Michelin Man. They make a bit of a mockery of me in my suit, but I haven't gotten stung yet!

     The garden is also starting to take off-- both veggies and weeds. We are now getting some produce-- the most delicious strawberries I have ever had, broccoli rabe, and the snap peas are really starting to come. I try to “shop” the garden before I buy anything at this point. We also took out the kayaks one night-- after the hot days, the lake is irresistible.

    It’s also the High Holidays of Cake and Ice Cream-- most everyone in our family was born in the last week of June or first week of July. Each one gets a special cake. The DD is first up-- she picked a recipe with all ingredients you have to ask for in the store. There were at least 20 steps, with Sifted Ingredients, Wet Ingredients, Creamed Ingredients, and Whipped Ingredients. She is actually the master baker in the house, but I really wanted to do it for her. I did end up asking for help, which was gladly given. 

     We have company coming to celebrate the SILs 30th. Shhhh.... It’s a surprise. So, it’s a good thing all the cleaning and organizing is happening. I think all that stuff in the attic is going to be waiting. Now that I have two bedrooms freed up, I'd love a big house party!

     On the sewing front, well, it is amazing anything is getting done at all! Fourth of July bowl fillers are out. Now, look for it-- but I am going to start a free village stitch-a-long soon. You need to either read this blog or join my email to get it-- I’m not going to advertise it widely. It’s just for you-- my biggest fans! Hope to have it before the 4th.

     The Sew Sampler Box for May is coming along-- June’s has mailed. I'd love to have one done before the other arrives. I wasn’t a huge fan of this fabric or the pattern, "Clover and Dot," but I tried a jelly roll pattern, "Quadrangle." I’m at the point where the blocks are together and it’s that exciting moment for quilters when you get a first look at how your finish is going to look. And the verdict is:

MEH! 

     I picked the bright teal and orange grunge sashings to try to brighten the thing up, but it’s not contrasty enough-- maybe I should have gone with a dark blue sashing. There is this pat saying in art school-- you need to have the whitest whites and the darkest darks in every drawing. I disagree-- I mean, if you were drawing the Golden Gate Bridge rising out of the fog, there might be some white, but you'd never see black in that painting. Try things. The minute a rule comes up, break it. I learned from this quilt.

     As of this morning's writing, it does have more of the teal and orange between each block, and I'm liking it better.  It has tons of blue in it-- this awesome family we met here is expecting their first grandchild in August-- it’s a boy, so I’m thinking I’ll gift it. They are longtime homesteaders and are so ready to help with all their years of wisdom and experience. I’d also like to just get the longarm going with some simple quilting myself next month; this quilt would be a perfect start.

    I complained about 3 out 5 Sew Sampler Boxes this year being jelly rolls-- there is no advantage to using a pre-cut, if you are constantly trimming up zagged edges.  Out of frustration, this time I bit the bullet and trimmed everything down to 4-1/4” instead of 4-1/2”. It took guts-- there are no 4-1/4” rulers-- but I did it. Occasionally, you get these free patterned "washi" tapes in subscription boxes, which I have never used. This time, I marked up a little corner on the ruler to line up my cut and made no mistakes!

    The June box arrives Tuesday-- hoping to have my "Quadrangle" finish by then. Oh-- and I told you I complained about getting so many jelly rolls-- I looked at a spoiler for the new box and my punishment is now to get a “honeybun”-- 1-1/2” strips with ziggy edges. Dear God-- do I just trim the to 1-1/4" before even starting?  It’s too bad because the fabric is Fig Tree "Jelly and Jam" which is beautifully detailed with large prints that don't deserve to be cut into 1-1/2” strips. The pattern is sort of cool though. I may just do it.

     

     I swiped this from the "Crystal Heart" You Tube Channel. Crystal must live right next to the Fat Quarter Shop warehouse-- she always gets it first! I love watching her unboxing each month. She is so genuine with her opinions, and has two adorable daughters who make an appearance from time to time.

     The Valentine Quaker is a finish! If you remember, I was just about to run out of the Shrimp colored floss-- I solved this by using just two strands for a couple of the last motifs. No one will ever notice. I even had enough to sign my name. So happy I didn’t have to spend 25 cents for a new hank of floss-- it’s not so much the money-- I would have had a lot left over looking like it wanted to be used in another project of some sort!

    I've really started to enjoy the summer. It's my favorite season, even though there's more to do each day than I can even touch. There's something about just dropping into bed at night, sore, and falling into a deep sleep right away. Hope this finds you exhausted and happy as well!

xox

Carol