Crazy Quilt Cross Stitch

I have been doing more cross stitching than quilting lately.  I do have a few finishes, but I'll post them later when I get better photos.  For now, I'm starting on a new monthly project that caught my attention                                 

It's a pattern by Carolyn Manning called "A Little Crazy".  It was a monthly stitch-along back in 2018.  I'm planning on trying to do one block a month as my own monthly challenge.   

I have accumulated a nice little stash of DMC floss over the past year, and I thought for sure I would have most of the colors already on hand.

But...when I sat down and looked at the pattern, I realized that I only had 7 of the 32 floss colors that the pattern calls for.  What a wonderful excuse to head to my local craft store and pick out new colors!  I can't be the only one who loves to stand in front of the DMC display and imagine all the possibilities!

And, I had a "20% off all regular price" coupon to boot!  

I hope to get the first block done before January ends, but we'll see.  I'm currently working on "Flea Market Flowers" by Lori Holt.  I'm about halfway done, but sometimes it's fun to switch gears for a little bit.

Tiny Nine Patch Update

Back in January, I started making Tiny Nine Patch blocks as part of a challenge issued on Instagram.  The details are in this blog post..  

I went cruising along, making my 10 blocks a week and posting them on Instagram, all along trying to figure out my ultimate goal for this quilt.  I decided that I wanted to make a rectangular quilt that would fit over the back of my recliner chair.  I came up with a preliminary design using Electric Quilt software.

This particular layout requires 122 nine patch blocks, so by week 13 I had all the blocks I needed with a few extras for good measure.

I have chosen a tone on tone beige print for my background fabric:

And I have a box of extra squares that I cut along the way to use in the border.

For the time being, I am taking a break from any more machine sewing because we are moving and I have had to pack up my sewing room.  The Tiny Nine Patch project will probably be the first in line to start working on  in the new space.

For now, it's been small projects like cross stitch that have been keeping me busy.  Wish me luck on the move.  It's been an eye opening experience to realize just how much "sewing stuff" I have accumulated over the years.