A garden update – Pakistani Mulberry cuttings
Quilting, Scrapbooking, Gardening and whatever else catches my fancy
Monthly Door Banner – October
I started putting together the October Banner during my evening sewing sessions. I don’t generally have a lot of time but I enjoy getting one or two or 5 steps done on this homework item. This was a very interesting set of instructions and not something I remember ever doing in the past.
I usually would do the flowers at the same time but I didn’t this time because I wasn’t sure about the instructions. You have to partially sew one of the sides together and then after the rest of the sides are together then you finish sewing the unfinished side from the first step. It broke my mind. The second time around, I made sure to pin and line each piece up at every step and it came out so much better than the first one.
After the flowers were done, the next several steps were to put the pumpkin together.
And one weekend I was able to finish the rest of the banner.
November – still needs to be cut
Here are the ones that I’ve finished and posted about before:
So I’m almost done!
I still need to do
November
and then time to quilt!
Happy quilting
melanie
Xstitch Update – Rebel Stitchers’ “Disagree”
Update #1
Details:
Fabric: Live & Dye LA “Dusk” Lugana 32 count
Floss: Live & Dye LA “Naughty”
2×2
Happy Stitching!
~Melanie
Gamer Nouveau, an update
Gamer, my main squeeze
I’ve reached the top right corner and that’s the end of the page. The next 3 diagonals are the longest diagonals and then it’s all downhill from there. at least on this page. But now I get to play with the next project on my queue.
Happy Stitching!
~Melanie
Quilt In Progress: 250 Years of Jane Austen – Chawton Block, Finished
I finished all the appliqué on the center block. I am enjoying working on this piece. I won’t be able to start the next block until the next mini retreat so the project will be tucked away. Until then I’ll work on my next homework task.
Keep on quilting!
Melanie
Started: October 2025
Kit purchased from Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley, CA.
Previous posts:
Knitting WIP #3: Mini Cozy Blanket
Okay so now that the Fingerless mitts (WIP #1) is done, I picked up the mini cozy. I’ve been doing a little bit here and there since I went through my knitting project stash and created my 2026 WIP list. But after finishing the one square that I was working on, I realized I didn’t have any more yarn to put into the project. The picture above is where it is at the moment and I stashed it back in my knitting project bin. It took a while for me to locate the bin so when I did, I put a label on it. I pulled my regular cozy blanket to possibly take its place. I can’t make a commitment now but I want to do a square a week and at some point I’ll probably run out of yarn again. Then I can use whatever comes out of that project and use it for the cozy mini. Here’s hoping. But I’m thrilled that even though this WIP is not a finish, I can’t do more with it until I use more of my stash!
One of my things to do when I pull this project back from the bin is to figure out how many grams of yarn does it take to finish a mini square.
Yarn: from stash.
Cheers! Knit on my friends.
Melanie
Finished! Knitting WIP #1: Fingerless Mitts …
- yarn: Voolenvine Yarns (my fave!) Wolke
- colorway – Feyre
80-10-10 MCN
Free Pattern from stashlounge.com “fantastic fingerless mitts”
started 11/11/2025
Finished! 2/6/2026
I’m thrilled to get this off my list. And while getting my project bag cleaned up and things put away, my soldotna up and ready for my next knitting session, I ran across my knitting WIP #4 – a pom pom hat kit I got from Jimmy Beans in Reno many years ago. I think I got it when I visited on a family trip in 2015??? I pulled it out when I went through my bins of projects and documented everything on my knitting WIP list and this became the next project on my needles after Soldotna. I just finished my post where I said 3 knitting projects was too much for my small brain and here I am looking longingly at casting on this project. I persevered. I’ll be working on Soldotna and my cozy mini …
Melanie
MFE SAL 2023, an update
My 2026 cross stitch rotation is to do 1/4th of a page and on this page that means 550 stitches whenever this WIP comes up…
Last post:
Now…
Happy Stitching!
~Melanie
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For those who do not remember… this was the Modern Folk Embroidery (MFE) mystery Stitch a long (SAL) from 2023.
BOM 2025 – William Morris – Update #9
Important info: BOM with my fave LQS, Quilt Emporium, in Woodland Hills, CA. The shop owner, Lisa Hanson designed this mystery quilt with William Morris fabrics and I think it’s super inexpensive for a BOM at $15/month. Even though I decided no more BOMs, I couldn’t help but cave on this one.
Started: 02/2025
Previous posts here, here, here, here, update #4, update #5, update #6, update #7 and the most recent #8.
After finishing the November block I got started on the December block. This one had a few errors in the instructions. Luckily I caught them before any ripping had to be done.
I still need to finish the handwork for the September block and get the hexis done for the October block. September is part of my homework and will get done when it comes up in my queue. I plan to start the October block at our next mini retreat.
Blocks Made
Keep on quilting!
Melanie
2026 Quilt Queue
In 2025, I posted this queue at the end of every 1st month of the quarter. So, 1/31, 4/30, 7/31, and 10/31. It’s a little depressing because I haven’t had much desire to do any actual quilting for the last few years. Being president of the quilt guild took a lot of my time and then my dad passed, and I got divorced. And with all those changes, I decided to move rooms around. My craft room is still piled high with boxes as I’ve not been able to get myself together to organize everything. It’s partially due to the fact that my family room still has piles of things (mainly fabric from other quilters, needlepoint and cross stitch stuff). I’m having trouble going through them and removing those things that I won’t ever play with. Anyway, the only way I can start actually using my craft room is to start actually using it. Regardless of whether it’s ready or not. I have a little corner cleared out where I sew on my main domestic machine. And I recently unearthed my Q20 so I can start quilting again.
I still have the finished door banners to add to this list.
The quilt queue:
Jan Krentz – Broken Diamond Star – flimsy 4/2021
Scrappy Stars Around the Corner – finished top! 8/7/2021
Kimberly Einmo’s mystery quilt from Craftsy circa 2014-
Wendy Mathson’s Storm at Sea / Snail’s Trail – flimsy 12/5/2022
Happy quilting my friends!
Melanie