Design Wall Monday: The State of My Quilt Nation

It already feels like August is starting to wind down.  At this point my husband and I are starting to look towards our plans for September and October.  We are scheduled to visit my MIL in NC from mid to the end of September and the first week of October we're headed up to Maine for our third trip to Acadia National Park.  We're hoping to catch the Fall vistas this time and visit the Schoodic Penninsula for the first time.  

As such I am also reviewing the plans I had for the summer and trying to map out my ongoing quilting plans for the Fall.  Which projects will be interrupted by those Fall trips and which can come along on them?  What deadlines do I have to meet after the trips and can I set them up to work on between now and then or do I need to completely reorganize them to be worked on later?  As of this week here is what I have going on or want to work on:

Leader and Enders Get the Jobs Done!

As I worked on projects over the sumer I've been leader-endering two projects.  In the case of the first -- my "Alsaka BOM" -- many times it has been the primary project.  In my recap of things I worked on in July, this is what had been up on my design wall at one point that month:

I had noted that I had finished making the last of the blocks for the center of that quilt.  So this month I have been sewing the rows of blocks together.  For that process "Alaska" became the leader/ender for another project which will be discussed later.  The good news is that I finished sewing together the seven rows of blocks.

Next up will be sewing the rows together to complete the center of the top.  As I had noted back in JuIy, I have plans to expand the size of the top by adding an additional pieced outer border of blocks.  So there will be more block making (that may be the primary or the leader/ender of other projects) as this month continues and we roll into September.

The other leader/ender work that I'm thrilled to say is done is for this project:

This is the "Magic Cube" pattern that was originally published in McCall's Quilting Nov/Dec 2020 and that I downloaded as an individual pattern during one of Quilting Daily's pattern sales.  The reason I started making this one was this:

Back in 2024 I fell in love with Bonnie Hunter's (of whom I am a big fan) "Shoo Fly Shoo" free pattern which had been her leader/ender project for 2019.  She made two quilts of mostly all Shoo Fly blocks.  I had planned to just leisurely collect appropriately sized scraps and sew up the blocks until I had enough -- or got tired of making them, LOL! 

Well, the minute I later saw the "Magic Cube" design,  I had to pivot!  First because the Shoo Fly blocks in the outer border of it were the same size as Bonnie's blocks but meant I had to make a whole lot less of them.  Second, the large center star and one of the borders are pieced with strings.  I've been really wanting to make more string designs at the least to start winnowing down my "string collection":

Just by chance, that strip hanging out of the bag was from the border fabric of my recently finished "Rainbow Log Cabin" quilt.

I'm hoping this can be the follow up to the "Scrap Vortex" string top I also made in 2024 (and is unfortunately still awaiting quilting) so was thrilled this gave me two opportunities to make something that will use up some more of them.  Finally, it's a "kitchen sink" scrappy quilt so any scrap is welcome.  What's not to love?!?

So I immediately took the six Bonnie blocks I had made up to that point and moved them to a project bin for this.  Although it has taken me much longer than planned, I'm pleased to say that I've now finished up -- as leader-enders -- the 40 blocks I need for that border!

My plans earlier this year had been for these to have been pieced months ago and for this to have already been a finished top by now in the hopes of taking it with me to longarm at my MILs in September.  However, I'm grateful for the progress that has been made and am still encouraged to continue on.  Next up a whole lotta string piecing!!

A New Gift Project

My BFF from high school and I are still in touch and both hit milestone birthdays this year.  When we spoke back in December she mentioned she would love a quilt.  I have only made her two things prior: a jewelry roll pouch (the second one in this post) and a mug rug when she had to help homeschool her grandson during the pandemic.  Both were made up in purple fabrics, her favorite color.  I had been musing in recent years that I didn't often purchase purple fabric so began picking up a piece here and there with the intention of finding an inspiration for a project "some day".  Needless to say when she mentioned a quilt, that day arrived!

So with what little I already had in stash and two good Keepsake Quilting Year-end and New Year's clearance sales, I picked up a bunch of new purples.  I had bundled together three sets of fabrics with ideas for three possible projects.  The first (and expected to be the quickest to get done) was to make one of my now favorite "9 Fat Quarter Disappearing Nine Patch" quilts (and if you'd like to see the ones I've made click here).  However the layout of the prints I had bundled together for that didn't spark me.  

Okay second choice was this pattern I had picked up at some point because it also could be made with Fat Quarters:

When I sorted through the bundle of the variety of prints I had pulled for it, I was intrigued.  Eventually this became the primary project for those other two leader-ender projects and those bundled fabrics became this:

I've since moved some of the squares in it around a bit more.

I had planned to use the border fabric in the center of the quilt but a re-read of the pattern showed that I'd need some yardage to make this design lap size and I really liked that fabric for it.  So I pulled it out of the layout, replaced it with other things and then had to search around for more of it to have enough for the borders.  Luckily, the only source I found it at also had it on sale.  It was meant to be!  

Of course, the next issue is, "okay how will I quilt this?"  One thing I did think was that I really wanted to quilt it in purple thread but I didn't have any cotton threads that color.  I consulted an Aurifil color card and considered what I felt would work.  However the nearest quilt store to me doesn't carry Aurifil so I would have to order it.  I was not thrilled about ordering thread on the speculation that a particular color "might" work so might also mean having to make additional orders to find just the right one.  

Looking through my thread stash again, I did find two threads that seemed like they would work:  a medium-dark gray Aurifil (#2605) and a polyester Glide thread in Lavender.  Okay, I need a test!

I pieced together this test sandwich and the good news was that both threads worked!  The grey not only works on the top but also works on the purple wide back fabric I had also purchased during the clearance sale and was glad to have on hand when it came time to set this up for finishing.  However,  I was also surprised how well the Glide thread worked too.  As long as I kept the quilting simple, it provided just enough color and a little sparkle to the whole thing.  

The original idea was to stitch straight lines but I admit that when I sketched that out, it added too many additional visually linear elements to a top that already presented with a lot of lines from the piecing.  So I will be opting for ruler quilted wavy lines using the same ruler I used to quilt my "Roaring Waves" quilt last year.  Now this will be easy to stitch and the waves will add a little more texture and visual variety to the whole thing.  Good!  Now to go through my batting stash for this!

Project Plans From Now to October

For years I've set up projects for Halloween sewing but then never get around to geting them made up in time for the holiday.  Taking a cue from the practice of doing "Christmas in July" (which I should note, I still have projects from last year that I need to finish up for this year, LOL),  I figured if I want to get some done, maybe I should start now and see what I can accomplish by the time the ghosts and ghouls are on the prowl for candy!  To that end I have two:

This is "Whoo Is It?",  a banner project started all the way back in 2014 from the Fons & Porter's "Quilting Celebrations" Fall issue that year.  It had been cut and laid out since then and now needs a good pressing and finishing.  What I've learned in the years since is to roll up applique projects like this on an empty paper towel roll or pool noodle to avoid the kind of folds and wrinkles I'm going to have to deal with now.  I'm hoping to work on it and maybe get it at least to a completed top by the end of this month.  

And speaking of Halloween and my previously discussed favorite Fat Quarter design there's this:

The Annie's Attic company ran another of their infamous pre-cut bundle sales and I should have known better than to go look!  But look I did and saw a cute bundle of five Halloween prints for under $10 and couldn't resist!  I've added some fabrics from my Halloween stash (and actually one from the "Whoo" stash bag) and so far have shifted the fabrics around and worked up two layouts.  However, I am still not sure I like the way they work so have already ordered a few more prints that I think might punch it up better.  

This is a really quick design to make up so would really bolster my enthusiasm for working early on Halloween projects if I can settle on a layout.  Fingers crossed that I can do that and also get this to at least a top or even better finished and quilted by month's end.  I already have an idea for the quilting that I learned in the recent Free-Motion Quilting Summit so I'll see what happens!

And so ends the details of all the traffic on my design wall in recent days.  With all of this putting things on and taking them off, I probably need to do a little clean up of the batting on it now!

My MIL gifted me a couple of these little Temu tools a while back and surprisingly they do work! 

Finished Or Not Friday: RWB Edition

 I'm back to join everyone at Quilty Girl Alycia's for "Finished Or Not Friday" with a quick follow-up to last week's post.

A Frivols Finish!

In July I had picked up one of the old MODA Frivols kits.  I got the #2 tin with fabrics by designers Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson and featuring their "Polka-Dots & Paisley" fabric line.  

If you want to know how the whole "Frivols" thing started, check out this MODA Schoolhouse video from 2015 here.

In honor of the current "patriotic season",  I've finished it!

Front

Back with label area

The fabrics in the tin were enough to make the whole top for this small wallhanging the designers named "Faithful".  I lucked up on someone selling just the fabric set from this same tin so used some of those to make the backing and the binding.  The label square came with the full kit.  To help bring the backing to size, I added a Paisley and a Polka Dot print from a more recent M&S line called "Union Square".  It is quilted with a simple all-over meander pattern.

This little quilt is just the right size to swap out with the "Americana Lone Star" I have hanging up now and I can enjoy this one from now through Labor Day.  

I eventually hope to follow in the footsteps of the bloggers at "Occasional Piece & Quilt" and "One Stitch at a Time" and continue the process of making up the other Frivols tins I have.  I also remember seeing a post somewhere on the MODA blog showing how to make a padded lining for the empty tin to turn it into a decorative storage box.

In Other Red, White & Blue News....

I had plans to work on two cross stitch projects as part of celebrating the country's 250th birthday.  I had finished stitching one and posted it for July 4th and now it's "fully finished"! 

This is the "Peace" design from Susan Ache's "Summer Memories" book that features quilt and cross stitch projects.   I love that I was able to use some scraps leftover from making a QOV top a few months back to finish up this little pillow.

However, the second project is still very much a "WISP": a Work In Slow Progress:

Digital pattern purchased on Etsy.

I was surprised to find this one a bit of a struggle for me as I had thought I've done enough projects on Evenweave to be more comfortable working with it.  Well, I'll keep plugging away and eventually it'll get done!

As always I look forward to seeing what others have in progress or completed this week for "Finished Or Not Friday" at Quilty Girl Alycia's!

Finished or Not Friday: A July Recap of Sorts

With August starting,  I'm checking in with everyone over at Quilty Girl Alycia's for this week's Finished or Not Friday link-up!

The past few months of Summer have been very scattered for me.  I have worked on many projects but most not within the project timeframes or deadlines I'd planned.  The extreme heat we had often left me too drained to stick to my plans.  Added to that was numerous community garden days and my DH on vacation for a week which pushed my already scattered attention to the wind so my project plans got even more interrupted than could have been anticipated!  

And yet, when it comes to quilting the projects must prevail!  So here's a few things I've managed to either get done -- or not!

A 3 Yard Quilt-A-Thon!

First a big finish: a three yard quilt for a future raffle:  Fabric Cafe's "Checkmate" pattern with a gardening theme!

Front

Back with label area.

The "Checkmate" design was featured as their June "Quilt of the Month".  Inspired by a kit in their video,  I made my own and finished the top in June but didn't finish the quilting until late July.  

The motif on the Checkerboard squares was done using the Silly Moon Quilting Co.'s "Picket Fence" ruler.

When my quilting focus was so scattered, I found that for all of May, June and early July,  I was consumed by watching new and old Fabric Cafe videos.  Watching their videos is always so inspiring especially since their designs always seem like they will be so simple to "fabric fund", cut out and piece. 

Of course all of that quilty inspiration (or should I say enabling) resulted in a bit of a "Fabric Cafe 3 Yard Quilt-A-Thon" with some purchases and project prep!  In late June, over the course of three days, I managed to cut out three more 3YQ kits!

One for St. Patrick's Day

One for Mardi Gras

A flannel kid quilt, possibly for donation

I've longed to make quilts for the two holidays because they often fall within the same week or sometimes even days of each other.  My plan is to quilt them "back to back" so I can just flip over to the side needed when each begins and then only have to store one quilt but can honor two holidays!  

While the fabrics for the St. Patrick's quilt are new, the two other kits have been in my stash for years so it's good to finally get them headed toward being made up.  

Catching up on my "Alaska BOM"

I had started making Edyta Sitar's "Alaska" design back in June of 2025.  I used a Red, Pink, White/Cream and Blue colorway that I saw posted on Edyta's blog back in 2019.  I had managed to stay pretty much on track making the blocks -- that is until this summer, LOL!  I was supposed to make the last of the blocks I needed for the center back in May and when I didn't get it done that month or in June, I was determined to get them done in July.  I finally did although that didn't happen until the last week of the month.

 These were eight mirror image blocks so now this is the completed layout of the center of that quilt:

Of course now I need to sew all of those blocks together!  Unfortunately,  I am still not finished with the block making as I plan to make an addtional pieced outer border of blocks following another version of the design I'd seen on Edyta's blog when she was asked how to make the original design bigger.

Alaska with an extended border

So the BOM block making will continue probably well into September.

Other Red, Cream and Blue Quilting

"Alaska" was also one of the projects that was on my list of things to work on during this "patriotic season" from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  And while I have other projects from past periods that were supposed to also fill that production time, instead something NEW came up in the quilt project crosshairs!  Do you remember when MODA offered "Frivols" tins back in 2016?

What it included

This is the second one in the series of twelve offered that year.  It features fabrics by Minick & Simpson from their "Polka-Dots & Paisleys" line.  I have picked up a few of the different Frivols tins over the years on the secondary market and when this one came up at a great price I had to snap it up!  I did have good reasons though:  I'm a big fan of those designers having made my Brrr! quilt back in 2013 from one of their lines and in this kit the fabrics are in the "patriotic colors" of the current season.  

Then there is the fact that looking around, most of the offers for this tin were selling at premium prices way above what they originally retailed for so finding one below the retail price was a score.  The biggest reason was that often the projects in these tins required purchasing additional background fabric in order to be made but this is one of the ones where the fabrics in it covered everything except the backing and binding.  Needless to say I couldn't resist making it up!

Top and backing and a label was part of the kit!

Further proof that this was "meant to be" was that when I went looking to see if I might still find fabric from the line for the backing and binding, I found something even better!  Someone on eBay was selling just the fabrics from this same tin and also at a decent price!!  How lucky was that?!?  Even so I still needed to fill out the back a bit and had seen two prints from a more recent line of theirs called "Union Square" and picked them up too.  The two prints were of -- wait for it -- Paisleys and Polka Dots, LOL!  

I had hoped to have been able to have this quilted before I had to post but just finished these up last night so this is in the category of "Finished But Not (Fully) Finished" as we cross stitchers say.

Edited To Add:  You can now see it "fully finished" here!

The other good news is that back in 2022, I had signed up for Minick &  Simpson's “Blue Pear”  Block of the Month.  The blocks in it were colored with Blue and Lime Green fabrics on neutral backgrounds.  Later that year after seeing Pat Sloan's “Hometown Charm” quilt colored in Red, Cream, Blue with Lime Green accents, I decided to source and add M&S Red fabrics to the BOM kit stash with the idea of now making it up to look similar in coloring to Pat's quilt.  

Plan:  Color this to look similar to this

So with the extra kit fabrics, I also have some extra Red and Red on Cream fabric squares to add to that project stash.

Once Again, Something to "Show"

Another project that was supposed to have gotten done earlier this summer but didn't happen until July was that I finally made up the bowl cozies commemorating the "House of the Dragon" TV series.

Dragon Scales and Flying Dragons prints

Flying Dragons and what I call the "Harrenhall" prints

I have a good friend who also loves the show and had a birthday in June so my plan had been to have had these ready for her to choose one then.  Didn't happen but luckily we both had to attend a community meeting this past week so I was able to let her do that then.  I gave her the option of taking one or both and she chose the "dragon scales" one.  Fortunately I have enough of these fabrics left to make another one.  

What was supposed to also get done during this time but didn't was to quilt the dragon quilt top I made back in 2022.  The show's current season began airing back on June 21 and there is now only two more episodes to go.  I'm hoping that now that I finally got the "Checkmate" quilt done,  I might be able to focus on getting the dragon quilt quilted so I can have it ready for when the next (and last) season of the show airs two years from now. 

Not Much Either For "Christmas In July"

The last thing I had planned to work on in July was to finally quilt the two tops I finished back in 2024.

Needless to say that didn't get done!  However, I have a real simple plan for the top quilt in the picture ("Christmas Trip Around the World") so might still try and get that done as an August project.  I'm due to visit my MIL and her longarm in September so am thinkng I might take the bottom "Letters To Santa" one with me on the trip and try to finish that one there.  There are two other CIJ projects that still need piecing.  I may try to make the easier of the two this month but the other more involved one will have to wait until October or November to get back to.

I did however do one little thing for CIJ:  in July the Quilting Books, Patterns and Notions website had a clearance sale and I picked up this:

The ornament on the right was the one I really wanted but was already "out of stock" when I was on the site.  However,  I also liked the one on the left so got it.  I liked that it was Red and White so would go with my Red and White Christmas decorating.  

I had liked the other one for the black plaid behind it which would go with the Red/Black/Green/White/Gold decorating scheme I plan to do this year (that is, if I finish those CIJ projects!).  When it arrived,  I realized I had just the thing in stash to make BOTH desires work!

I just sewed two fabric circles slightly larger than the ornament together,  stiffened them with interfacing and taped them to the back of the ornament I had purchased.  So I can use it this year and remove the backing circle when I want it to just be a Red and White ornament.  Problem solved!  

So that's a taste of what a scattered summer quilt mind looks like!  Hopefully your Summer has been a little more organized and you were able to complete some projects.  I guess I'll find out when I head back over to Alycia's and read what everyone else has posted for "Finished or Not Friday" this week!

Happy Fourth of July!

Cross Stitch design by Susan Ache from her "Summer Memories" book.

And a happy 250th birthday to the United States of America!  May we unify to work towards all the promises that inspired its founding.

Finished Or Not Friday: Did You Ever Quilt a Rainbow....

Okay, the post title happened because when I started writing this post, this popped in my head:

Joining in once again over at Quilty Girl (and new Grandma) Alycia's for this week's "Finished or Not Friday" linkup!  

I present my finally finished "Rainbow Scrappy Log Cabin":

Front

Back

I say finally because this was one of the six (!) projects I started back in 2021 when I decided to finally dive into Angela's (of the So Scrappy blog) Rainbow Scrap Quilt Challenge.  This pattern is the one that comes with Accuquilt's Log Cabin die although they call it the "Scrappy Star Log Cabin". 

I wonder if that's because Pam Heller,  Accuquilt's Cutting Expert always cites this die as a good one to use to cut up your scraps. 

After learning about and following the RSC, I immediately envisioned using the pattern for the challenge since that would absolve me from having to choose a colorway for the quilt.  Use all the colors in the rainbow and you don't have to pick a specific color direction!

Funny thing was that of all the projects I started that year, I wound up only picking and die cutting the fabrics for this during the challenge since I realized that I wanted to have all of the fabrics gathered and complementary before starting to piece the blocks.   

I eventually changed to using a different green fabric than the one cut here.

As a result the actual block sewing didn't start until 2022.  However as usual with a lot of projects on my plate, I only made maybe three blocks that year and then this got lost in the project shuffle.

It got revived again in 2023 when the American Quilters Society teamed up with Accuquilt and held a quilt along for this pattern. 

I got the top done but then the next usual question/issue was how to quilt it and so it sat again.  In 2024 Angela Walters held another of her free motion quilting challenges called "How Do I Quilt It?"  that covered stitch patterns for Snowball, Chevron, Log Cabin and Curved blocks and Applique borders.  That year I also had a Snowball block quilt that I was looking for inspiration for the quilting.  I did get that one done but unlike another time when I got two quilts finished because of one of Angela's challenges, this time I wasn't sure any of her approaches for quilting Log Cabin blocks worked for this one.   So once again it sat! 

Then this year the guild I belong to long distance with my mother-in-law announced that their challenge project for this year would be making a log cabin quilt!  Perfect!  Ever since owning the die I've longed to make a lot of Log Cabin quilts so pulled out all the ideas that I had for them.  However, in the end since this one was already pieced and ready to go and only needed to be quilted, it became the one to get done!  Another push was having a deadline since finished quilts were to be presented at the guild's June meeting. 

My expectation was to get it quilted by the end of May so I could mail it down to North Carolina in plenty of time.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans:  it still took me until last week to decide on what wound up being a very simple quilting plan:  evenly spaced straight lines across some of the major directions that the piecing followed.  

Even then such simple quilting, done free-motion with a ruler, took me a little longer than I expected.  Then I decided after the quilting was done to add a flange accent to the binding I had planned to do using the outer border fabric. I was able to once again use up some of the leftover Log Cabin strips that I had and sewed them together to form the accent strip to create the effect.

It's a subtle touch next to the busy border fabric but I like it!  Even better, a flange binding is my favorite kind of binding: completely applied by machine!  

I finished it up on Sunday and mailed it out on Monday.  Unfortunately I'm still on pins and needles as it was estimated to arrive to her by yesterday.  It was in NC by that time but as of today is still listed as having been transferred to the postal distribution center in the next big town.  I really hope it gets to her by tonight otherwise after all of this effort, it might still not be part of the guild presentation tomorrow!

Well at least I can say I've checked off another UFO on my master to-do list --- even if it's not the one I was supposed to be working on this month LOL!  This month the number that was pulled on this year's UFO Challenge List (I'm following The Quilted Forest's picks on YouTube) was #1 which on my list is my "Scrap Vortex" quilt. 

That's another one that's only waiting to be quilted but has stumped me up until now.  Mostly because I have some vague yet also specific ideas on what I'd like to do on it but haven't quite worked out how to make that happen.  Hopefully this finish will inspire me to get that one done too.  Not to mention I still have to finish the quilting on March's UFO pick, still layer and quilt April's and cut out the "Newfo" picked from the list for May.  Never a dull moment in my quilt world!

And it's also never a dull moment in the worlds of the quilters that gather at Alycia's each week for "Finished Or Not Friday"!  So head on over there to see what everyone has worked on this past week whether it was finished or not!

To Do Tuesday: Trying To Get Back on Track for June

Ooh, it's been a while since I connected with everyone for Carol's weekly "To Do Tuesday" over at Quilt Schmilt!  The end of April and all of May were busy and only got busier as each week progressed!  It was hard to make time to get to my stitching spots --- whether the couch for some hand work or at my sewing machine.  As a result I feel like I've neglected some of my favorite family members --- my craft projects!!

Some of the life events that got in the way of crafting during this time:  There's been a slate of community association meetings and a related conference to attend.  The community garden season started so there was spring planting,  hosting the 5th grade of the local middle school for their annual Spring visit and attending a virtual eco-gardening course I signed up for.  

Part of our plot in mid-May

Since my last post we've also been on two camping trips with my DH's co-workers: one early season one to test out some new equipment we had purchased and the other our 3rd (for us) annual Memorial Day Weekend trip.  That weekend was also my birthday weekend when I hit a milestone one: the big 6-5!

Just part of our group and a rainy weekend saved by canopies and tarps! 

  

On the crafting front, in late April after finishing the second of two Quilt of Valor tops for the guild that I belong to long distance, it was my plan to then work on quilting a Log Cabin project to submit for their June challenge or to try to work on or finish two LC projects-in-process for the same purpose.  

However that got pushed aside mostly because there have been an over abundance of new quilt project idea "squirrels" that completely overtook my attention and wallet!  I also signed up for both the Quilted Life Summit and the Machine Quilting Summit again this year.  Good thing I opted for the VIP extended access membership for both since I have yet to be able to sit down to watch the sessions!   All of these beautiful distractions and "what ifs" knocked my focus totally off.  While enjoyable and exciting they were all horrible for my productivity!!

All of the same has also been true for my cross stitch productivity as well!  Back in April I couldn't resist embarking on a new Spring themed CS freebie by Jardin Prive.  My hope was to stitch it up quick, finish it using Helen D's "floss wrapped hoop" technique and then also "fully finish" the Lizzie Kate Spring-themed design I stitched up two years ago.  The plan was to put both out on display for Spring before April ended.  

Nope, didn't happen!  This was where the "Peace 'N Love" stitch was as the life events and squirrels got in the way of stitching on it reguarly enough to get it done.  However I'm glad to say that I got in enough time during the Memorial Day camping trip and while doing laundry when we returned to finish it up!  

So now I still need to "fully finish" it as planned.  Unfortunately,  I'll need to get a bigger hoop than the one I originally planned to use to do that since I'd like more space surrounding the stitching in the finish.  

However with June now underway,  I want to focus on "patriotic season stitching and decorating".  In past years I followed the Fat Quarter Shop when they did their "Red, White & June" stitch alongs but I don't see any mention of that on their site this year.  That's probably because they are doing the Celebrating 250 Years of America Quilt Along that started back in February and runs until the same month next year. 

I already had my projects lined up for "RWJ" stitching for both cross stitch and quilting.   For the former there were soooo many great cross stitch patterns being offered to honor the country's big occasion when I looked them up at the start of the year:   

Click the picture to enlarge and excuse the few non-cross stitch images here....

I did finally settle on purchasing just one pattern to try to make:  

I liked this one because it is done in the tiered cake stand format.  It will be similar to the London themed one I made last year from Erin Elizabeth's series of patterns.

I had picked out this Susan Ache design three years ago when she released her "Summer Memories" book:

I had hoped to start both in May for "Cross Stitch Maynia" but I've already shared how May went off the rails for me.  In addtion to those two cross stitch projects,  I can also continue in the patriotic colors theme by getting back to work on my Laundry Basket Quilts "Alaska" BOM project that stalled due to all the other things that came up last month:  

I only got to three and a half of the next eight blocks I needed to get done. 

Additionally there's the possibility of (finally) FFO-ing my Primrose Cottage "United We Stand" WIP and to finish up my "Seeds of Glory" quilted pillowcover since I want to try the same edge finishing technique on both.

The good news is that despite all of those plans, goals and dreams, my actual "To Do" list this week will be super short:   

1. I need to finish quilting my "Rainbow Log Cabin" project to be presented at the June guild meeting in NC the Saturday after next!  

This is my one and only priority right now even though I hope to also still do some cross stitching in the evenings as well.  

Needless to say there's never a dull moment even if it's not always doing the crafty things I love.  So I am glad to jump back in by linking up with everyone for  "To Do Tuesday" at Carol's Quilt Schmilt blog and look forward to seeing what everyone else will be working on this week! 

P.S.  If you are a Tula Pink fan, you've got to check out reports (article here and video here) of her career retrospective that was displayed at the recent H + H industry show.  Very fun, colorful and inspiring!!