I really made it happen last week– I had about six days with no interruptions– Mr. SFO headed out to San Diego for the week. I could have accompanied him, but, been there done that, I’d rather sew! Let’s jump right in, because there’s a lot to see.

My SHOP HOP passport was in hand on the way back from dropping him at the airport– tons of shops in the Portland area! Unfortunately, all but one were closed– it was the dreaded SUNDAY! All except Cottonweeds Quilts, located in Freeport, which is a touristy area as the headquarters of L.L. Bean and lots of outlet type shops. It was a gorgeous day to walk around! The shop was great– they had a little bit of everything. I bought a cute little kit and a backing fabric for my advent panel I got in Belfast last week. They gave me a free water bottle which I appreciate– last year, all the shops gave out a goodie to Shop Hoppers, but this year they aren’t. I think it’s quite expensive for shops to host these shop hops, so I hope they do well. I do my part! haha.

Here’s my passport with TWO stamps six weeks in– you better gas up your car to keep up with me! Only eighty shops to go.

Back at home, the newest quilting project took precedence, of course. I mean, why even apologize anymore when I cut up a new project and barely start it? This is Fat Quarter Shop’s “Spooky Box” for 2025– who could resist that cute kitty? Apparently, not many, because it sold out. You can probably get one on the Sew Sampler Swap Facebook page from some dog loving person or whatnot, if you’re patient! As of last week, it had just arrived in the mail…

Ta-da– I made all of the pumpkins, so I’m almost finished already!

I’m not sure if I can put enough hours in to have it done by Halloween, but I’m very motivated to have it done in the next month or so. I chose the pink starry background instead of white– when it came in, it was lighter than I’d hoped, but I’m loving the Jackson Pollock look it’s giving me– one big spooky splatter.

I have more Halloween starts than any other. I do love the fall, so just because a lot of my UFOs have pumpkins, I categorize them in my head as Halloween. These poor triplets have been looking at me for about a year and half– can we get a binding yet?

And this week, the answer was YES! I do have another couple or so small quilts waiting for binding– to have as many finishes as possible this year, I’m going to dive in to them. This binding took no time at all. I’m especially pleased how well my kitty pillow, from years ago, matched!

Then– the POSH PENELOPE class! What a great time I had– I made a couple of friends– even gave my phone number out to people I barely know. One person has just moved up permanently from Massachusetts– she was very familiar with ALL of the hot quilt shops I used to love. I think I’d also like to get to know the teacher better. She gave me some great tips. She’s trying to make a 5 x 5 block quilt out of Posh Penelope, and paid me a nice compliment when she told me my enthusiasm re-energized her. Turns out she has some Sunday Brunch in her stash she wants to add in. I bet if I invited her over to Quiltopia one afternoon, we could work together and I’d get free tips!

I finished three blocks and have another three cut. My own plan is to work through the winter on six blocks a month. I’d love to make the full 6×7 block layout. Gotta love PLANS!

Carefree Highways got a significant boost. All of the star points are done.

I’m now securing my embroidery blocks with invisible thread. I was afraid to do this, but it’s giving them new life as tiny bas reliefs. If you’ve ever wondered how to quilt your embroidery, I go around all the shapes, treating them like tiny appliques. It sounds hard, but with the invisible thread, you’d never see a mistake if you made one. It’s hard to photograph the little bas relief effect, but here’s a picture I took with a flashlight to the side to try to show it. I stopped short of going around every letter– I just went around the edges of the entire word.

So, I secured the quilt blocks 50 times, did the blue areas 50 times, star points 50 times, and now the embroideries 50 times. All that’s left is the red and white stripe blocks, and good news– I only have to do that 49 times! This is what I have planned to quilt with my embroidery machine– I’m keeping it simple– it’s the basic 13 stars in a heavy line– some of my quilting should show up for heaven’s sake. Hooping up this thick, heavy quilt is not so simple– I’ll see how it goes. If it isn’t going to work, I’m very quickly abandoning ship, re-loading on the longarm, and just adding some simple waves.

That leaves just the borders– I have no idea how much time will be left before the November 6th deadline, but I will just do piano keys if that’s all I have time for. I’m really happy with the way it’s coming out, but at the same time, I’m ready to finish.

The October Tiny Sampler of the Month released– so Eerie! This BOM is a bit of a sleeper, I’ll admit, but they are super cute and fast to do. You don’t have to buy the display board, and you can pick machine embroidery or hand stitch. I’m trying to make up a little pillow project to show more ways of using them. Take a look!

Once I finish the set of twelve, I’ll bundle them at a discount, so hopefully more people will discover it then.

Finally, the Holly Horse is completely finished, right down to the tiny metallic accents in the berries. I know some of you thought I was finished after the name was added, but there was another strip of holly above that. Maybe I could be a “finisher” instead of a “starter,” if I had more weeks to myself like this! I’m quite proud of it. ❤

I’m going to make a label for the inside that says, “Made with lots of love from Grandma Duffy, 2025.” I just want this little girl to be reminded how much she is loved at Christmastime, every year. ❤

Next up, I may put a few stitches in my Sandy Orton Summer Sampler. Once this boring yellow background is done, it unlocks lot of new areas– cherries, the beach, camp, all things summer, you name it.

I do still want to finish my “appalling cross stitch” this year– remember that?– which is very close to being done as well. Two more blocks and a bit of fancy sashing to go.

And then of course, there’s my Hardanger House from the 90s, also getting close…

or my Forever Project, which just needs a couple of blocks and two borders…

So ends another week in the life of a crazy quilter! Are you keeping up?

xox
Carol