counted cross stitch

Getting Ready for a Quilting Retreat from The Cozy Quilter

I am getting ready to go to the fall retreat for the Oxford Quilters Guild this weekend. I have a big bin full of projects--two just need binding, one is a pile of blocks that need to be made into a quilt top, some are Christmas gifts (secrets!), three new quilts to put together--pieces are cut already in preparation and also my last two placemats for Meals on Wheels. I will not have time to get bored! I finished the second secret project this past week and will not be able to show any pictures of it until it has ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 days, 3 hours ago. under counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , hiking , slow sunday stitching , table runners

Moving Right Along from The Cozy Quilter

This has been a productive week in the sewing department! I finished quilting the potato chip quilt I made for the local hospice. I used the cut offs from the backing to make the binding, remembering after I had machine stitched it to the front of the quilt that it needed to be machine stitched down, not hand stitched as I usually do. Oops! This is because the quilts for the hospice will be washed and dried by machine often and the binding will stay on better if machine stitched. I did not want to un-sew all of the binding ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 1 week, 2 days ago. under comfort quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , hospice quilts , placemats , slow sunday stitching , vacations , walking foot quilting

Getting Back to Normal from The Cozy Quilter

I have been reacquainting myself with my sewing machine over the past few days. I decided to get going on quilting the potato chip quilt top I made for our new hospice (opening in the Spring of 2025). First I quilted two lines in the sashing to get everything stabilized and ready for quilting the blocks. I also added a row of stitching around the entire quilt the width of the walking foot into the beige border and then a 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the border to keep it flat. I hummed and hawed over ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 2 weeks, 2 days ago. under comfort quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , hospice quilts , placemats , slow sunday stitching , vacations , walking foot

Home from Vacation from The Cozy Quilter

My husband and I just got home from three weeks in the US southwest. We flew to Tucson, AZ, rented a car, visited National Parks and other sites in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, and then took the Amtrak Southwest Chief (train) from Albuquerque, NM to Chicago. The next train, the Pere Marquette, took us from Chicago to Grand Rapids, where we picked up our car and drove home. I will share pictures of the highlights of our trip over the next few weeks--I have not had time to go through all of my pictures (over 4000!) yet. We ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 3 weeks, 2 days ago. under counted cross stitch , finn , slow sunday stitching , southwestern us trip

Pin Basting and More Placemats from The Cozy Quilter

I added the binding to the placemats I made last week for Meals on Wheels. Now, I have six completed placemats and I hope to make 12 for this project of the Oxford Quilter's Guild.

This week, I started four more placemats and I have fabric pulled for a couple more. I need to piece some more batting scraps to quilt the rest of them and pick out binding fabrics. Sorry, no picture of the 4th one.

I finished off the last few stitches in the blue quadrant this week and started on the border of the green section ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under charity quilts , counted cross stitch , finn , gardens , hiking , hospice quilts , placemats , slow sunday stitching

Placemats for Meals on Wheels from The Cozy Quilter

Once again, the Oxford Quilt Guild is making placemats for Meals on Wheels recipients for distribution at Christmas. They are due at our December meeting but I decided to get going on mine right away and get them done! I dug into my fabric stash to see what I had--so many possibilities! We are to make one side Wintery and the other side to be used for the rest of the year. So far, I have put together and quilted six placemats--the binding will go on this week.

I found a few orphan blocks that I can use to make ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under binding , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , hiking , placemats , slow sunday stitching , tesselate textiles

I Won Bobbin Chicken! from The Cozy Quilter

I played bobbin chicken this week while sewing the binding on one of my quilts, and I won. Only a few inches of thread left on the bobbin when I finished sewing! This quilt is completely done now as I now have the binding hand sewn to the back of the quilt.

The fox square is done (oops--just noticed the eyes are not stitched yet!) and I have started the rectangular section above. I did lots of stitching of the light blue border this week too.

I called my daughter tonight to ask for some pictures of her crochet progress ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 2 months ago. under binding , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , slow sunday stitching

A Fox, Fried Eggs and Secret Projects from The Cozy Quilter

I have had a very productive week in the sewing department. Unfortunately, I can't show you two of the projects because they are gifts and must be kept secret for a while yet. Suffice to say that I have used up some older stash fabrics this week as well as a few newer fat quarters purchased specifically for the quilt. In time, I will show both projects here.

I have managed to add some stitches to my winter cross stitch every day this week. The fox section is well on its way to being done. Those stitches that look ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 2 months, 1 week ago. under counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , gardens , slow sunday stitching

Barn Quilt Class from The Cozy Quilter

Today, Christine and I attended a Barn Quilt Block class in Palmyra, Ontario at the Crazy 8 Barn. I have wanted to make a Barn Quilt for our backyard for ages. There were two blocks available to choose from and we each chose a different one. The class started at 9am and we left for home around 5pm so it was an all day project.

There were lots of paint colours to choose from and we all did some mixing as well to get just the right colours for our blocks.

Here I am, hard at work, taping off the ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under barn quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , slow sunday stitching

A Week at the Cottage from The Cozy Quilter

Our family, including our daughter and Finn, spent this past week at a cottage near Algonquin Park. We had a relaxing week which included lots of reading on the dock, crafting, watching the olympics, a puzzle and going for walks. On the way to pick up Finn and our daughter, I spent several hours untangling a skein of wool that I bought last year in Newfoundland for the scarf I have been knitting. I'm not sure how it got so tangled up, but it is now a ball of wool, ready to add to the scarf.

I added lots ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 2 months, 3 weeks ago. under counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , knitting , puzzles , slow sunday stitching , vacations

Blocks for RSC from The Cozy Quilter

This seemingly messy pile of fabric is actually the makings of a baby quilt! I took this picture when I had all the parts cut out and piled by my sewing machine, ready to sew. In the pile, are 12 of the 6.5" square crumb blocks in different colours for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge from last year. I have four sets of these blocks and decided to use each set in a different setting to make four baby quilts. The one I made previously was made up of star blocks.

This time I am making churn dash blocks. I ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 3 months ago. under baby quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , rainbow scrap challenge

Baby Quilt Done! from The Cozy Quilter

A few months ago, I dug into my flannel scraps and made a flannel vortex baby quilt top in an effort to tame the flannel scrap bin. I ended up with a quilt top and a still full to overflowing flannel scrap bin. Sigh... This week, I finished off the quilting using this nifty attachment to keep my curved lines equidistant from each other as I sewed. It worked really well! I found some red Kona to use for the binding and now this quilt is in my baby quilt storage area, ready to give away when a baby comes ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 3 months, 1 week ago. under baby quilts , counted cross stitch , finn , flannel , gardens , hiking , scrap vortex

A Busy Week from The Cozy Quilter

Ta Da! My Put a Ring On It is done! I took this class during QuiltCon Together in February 2021 with Latifah Saffir, using her clammy rulers. I had the top done reasonable quickly but could not decide how I wanted to quilt it. This quilt kept telling me to hand quilt it, which I ignored until this Spring. By then, it was screaming to be hand quilted so I got to work. I used 28 wt Aurifil thread in green for the big stitch quilting. I'm really happy with this project! I will be hanging it on the ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under baby quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , gardens , hand quilting , potato chip blocks , put a ring on it , scrap vortex , slow sunday stitching , wall hangings

On a Roll! from The Cozy Quilter

For some reason, I was really in the mood to sew this week. It was too hot or rainy outside so I spent my time in my sewing room, playing with fabric. I finished hand quilting my Put a Ring On It wall hanging, trimmed it and added the binding by machine. I will work on hand stitching the binding tomorrow. I can't believe how much I enjoyed hand quilting this project...maybe I will have to do some more hand quilting again soon.

I also finished the cross stitching on my Lupins project and I have started the ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under comfort quilts , counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , flowers , gardens , hand quilting , hospice quilts , potato chip blocks , put a ring on it , slow sunday stitching

A Fun Week from The Cozy Quilter

This was a busy week, packed with fun activities and a short getaway with my husband to Niagara on the Lake. On Canada Day, we hosted a BBQ and played Bocce in our backyard before going to see the fireworks in the evening. Dessert featured ice cream, strawberries and butter tarts (a delicious Canadian invention). I spent some time on my secret project and managed to finish all of the units for the quilt top. They are on my design wall and I hope to sew them together this coming week. Sorry, no pictures for now. I did some hand ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 months ago. under counted cross stitch , finn , gardens , hand quilting , hiking , put a ring on it , slow sunday stitching

Hand Stitching and a Secret Project from The Cozy Quilter

Another busy week! I continue to do some hand quilting on my Put a Ring on It quilt most days. I have developed a callus on my left pointer finger... the mark of a hand quilter. I think I am a little over half finished with hand quilting this wall hanging.

I cut all the pieces for a secret project this week. It seems to take me longer to pick the fabrics than it does to actually sew the quilt. I seem to hum and haw over my choices for days on end, adding and subtracting fabrics, taking pictures, thinking ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 months, 1 week ago. under counted cross stitch , finn , flowers , gardens , hand quilting , hiking , put a ring on it , slow sunday stitching

An Excellent Week from The Cozy Quilter

I have had an excellent week, filled with fun activities and lots of stitching time so there is lots to blog about today. As you know, I like to cross stitch in the car. This week, I finished off the light purple lupin on the right side of my cross stitch project and now I am working on the lighter green coloured leaves at the bottom. There are also a few more pink stitches to add, but I will soon be doing the outlining stitches.

A friend has a new granddaughter and, of course, I made baby E a quilt ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 months, 1 week ago. under baby quilts , counted cross stitch , finn , gardens , hand quilting , miniature quilts , put a ring on it , puzzles , sew together bag , slow sunday stitching

New Cats Just Listed! from Kitty and Me Designs

I just listed my 2 newest Colorful Cats!

Willow - Shades of light green and little vines gives this gorgeous geometric cat design the look of a Willow Tree in Summer. Kreinik braids add a touch of sparkle.

Fur Elise - this design was inspired by Beethoven's solo piano piece. This romantic geometric cat design is worked in shades of aqua and tan with tiny pink roses. Kreinik metallics add a touch of sparkle.

Both patterns are now available in my store as professionally printed pattern leaflets and as instant digital PDF downloads. Kitty And Me Designs Etsy store.

added by Unknown 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under colorful cats , counted cross stitch

A Little of This and a Little of That from The Cozy Quilter

I seem to have a bit of a green theme in this week's post... My hand quilting is coming along slowly, as most hand quilting projects do. I added some stitches a few days this week and decided on a diamond shape in the four patch sections.

These shapes will each get this pattern--there are five of these to do and one is done. I used a bread and butter plate to mark the curves.

The lupins did not get much attention this week. There is one more light purple one to add on the right (I have just ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , gardens , hand quilting , put a ring on it , sew together bag , slow sunday stitching

A Quilty Week from The Cozy Quilter

Last week, I told you about the quilt that wanted to be quilted by hand, not by machine. After acquiring the thread I wanted to use (Aurifil 28 wt) last weekend, I started the quilting this week. I'm doing big stitch quilting, so far in the peel shapes and the arcs in the middle of the quilt. I have figured out a quilting design for the middle of the quilt but have not started that part yet. This is a slow stitching project, after all.

I visited our daughter and Finn last weekend. I did lots of cross stitching ...

added by The Cozy Quilter 4 months, 4 weeks ago. under counted cross stitch , crochet , finn , gardens , hand quilting , hiking , quilt show , slow sunday stitching

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