December Recap

I forgot to take photos of the 9 patch potholders.

I had a busy month of making for Christmas. First Saturday's Fiber Review at the Fiberology lab I was able to show off my candy block potholder and mug rug, as well as a square Christmas potholder I had made. I had a pack of mini charms that was from a Christmas collection a few years ago. I don't even remember how I got the pack now, but I decided it was the best time to use them up. I made a 9 patch block for the front and a pocket for the back. By the end of the month, I had made 15 potholders total with the candy blocks and the Christmas 9 patches. I gave them out to family, friends, and co-workers for Christmas. I also gave away two table toppers I had made and a small quilt. Tis the season for giving and I enjoyed sharing my hard work.

I also worked a bit on a snowflake cross stitch along from Stitchonomy. I admit I haven't' finished that one, but I did have fun while I could work on it. I also still have the pattern to work on later. Cross stitching is one of my hobby's I don't do very often.

Another project I started working on was a block in a block quilt. It's not got a name yet. I've run out of my background fabric, so I'm waiting to get some more before I take a photo. It's got a bright turquoise solid fabric I got from Joann's as my background. Last time I went on black Friday the fabric line it came from was on sale, but they didn't have any of that color left. Once I finish it, I plan on writing a pattern for it. I think it came out beautifully, but I may be biased since I created it.

Speaking of Black Friday, I mostly hit fabric stores. I got some solids on sale at Joann's and my local quilt shop had a progressive sale going on. I picked up a panel and two accent fabrics from the same line. I also stopped at Ulta and picked up a few beauty steals. Most of those went into Christmas presents for the family. I only kept the blush and the mascara from the picture to the right.

Overall the month was fun and busy. I got to spend lots of quality time with the family and give several of them handcrafted goodies.

I'm going to break from my tea routine for this post and bring out the Spirits. My cousin was in town and we toured some distilleries in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. I picked up some flavored moonshine and a spiced Christmas wine. I had the wine on Christmas day with my cousin and her family. The moonshine came from two distilleries. From Ole Smokey in the Island area of Pigeon Forge, I picked up a Chocolate Chili moonshine. It was part of the last batch, so they didn't have any open for tasting anymore. From Tennessee Legend Distillery I got a Fiery Mango Margarita Moonshine. It's a nice spicy-sweet blend that is worth drinking as shots. The wine was from Mountain Valley Winery. It's a limited edition Winterfest red. The winery is part of a wine trail, that I suggest visiting if you get a chance. When you visit all the wineries, you get a free glass.

October projects done

So I'm eternally writing about what I did last month or something like that because sometimes my ADHD interferes with getting everything documented. I know I get a few views but I do treat this blog as more of a timeline for the starting and finishing of projects.

October wasn't my busiest month but I did have a lot to do. My cousin always throws a Halloween party and I always enjoy making something Halloween inspired. I decorated my office with my Halloween Bunting I made last year and a small pumpkin table topper/wall hanging.

I also started two cross-stitch along's. The first one by Cunning Cross Stitch is a Harry Potter Themed project that they call a stitch your own adventure. I figured this would be a good hand stitch project to do since they give us almost two months between pattern releases. The second was a shorter more pattern of the day stitch along by Stitchonomy based on the Drawlloween prompts for October. Both stitch along's are on facebook and I found the prompts and Stitchonomy's daily patterns on Instagram. She does sell the pattern as a whole in her pattern club on patreon. I do encourage you to check her out because her work is fantastic. I started that one about mid-October so I have the most of it done. Just some decorations outside my frame to finish and cleaning. She also has a winter stitch along coming up you can sign up for.

The other big project I did was a Halloween Wallhanging. I used my ruler I got at the beginning of the month for the witch hats. I didn't have a pattern for any of it. A lot of it was guessing and when that didn't work just add more fabric around it. I did get the ghost pattern online for free. In the end, I got tired of piecing and started the cross stitch projects. I reminded myself none of this had to be complicated and cut out extra squares of the Halloween fabric to fill in the spots. Most of the fabric is from Joann's and I tried to use some stash fabrics. A few are from my Row by Row winnings this year.

Speaking of winnings I wanted to show you what I got. I took some photos of the fat quarters laid out. I love the colors and variety I am itching to do more with them.

Tea for today is actually from me and my brother hanging out last month. We had stopped at the grocery store and got drinks before starting out and he got a Mango Snapple which he wholeheartedly endorses, and I got a green tea. I love matcha and this is the first unsweetened tea I ever got myself use to drinking. I don't drink my tea unsweetened often. Usually, I do add artificial sweeteners. This one is nostalgic for me to drink. It reminds me of the first time I had sushi.

Million Hexies first project

First Swag N Seek Find

So I found something to use the hexies I've been making. I don't think this will be the only thing I do with them but it is a good start. I love going to Dragoncon on labor day weekend. It is one of my favorites conventions. In the last several years a group has gotten together and does what is dubbed Swag n Seek. It's basically making or giving small swag items away for free. The most common is to randomly hide it in the various con areas for people to find. They also do meetups during the convention to swap items.

2018 Swag Haul

Last year was my first year hearing about this and I came away with some of the best con swag ever from this. I didn't know about it ahead of time so I didn't get a chance to make anything for it but my friend who runs one of the dealer's booths is fast at making jewelry and had me run around as her swag fairy.

Swag N Seek logo

This year I'm getting prepared. I decided to do somethingI'm good at. Sew! I'm using the hexies for coasters. I'm trying to use up my scraps and I have several fandom fabrics that would work wonders with this project. I have about 9 coasters together so far and have about 7 more planned out. The best part of doing this is since the hexies are being EPP'd I can do this while I'm out with my friends. We regularly meet twice a week and I always loose sewing time. This is a good hand project that lets me keep my hands busy during our nights out.

One of my local quilt shops does a regular sit N stitch several times a week. One of those is after work on Tues so sometimes I go there. I'm enjoying the slow pace and I feel like at this point I will have something fun to share at the con this year.

Quiltcon or bust

So I've only been to a handful of quilt shows and it has been way too long since I've been to one. The last show I got to attend was AQS Chattanooga in 2016. It had been a birthday trip for me and I remember it very fondly. In the past few years I would put a reminder on my phone for local shows in hopes I would get the time to go. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity.

This year Quiltcon is in Nashville, which is a short 3 hour drive for me. Mom and I decided to make it a day trip. We're leaving early Saturday morning and I hope to get there before lunch.

I have been  stalking the Quiltcon tag on Instagram in my excitement to go. I also decided to join the Modern Quilt Guild in advance of the con. Of course I'm just getting a one day ticket but I have seen enough to get me excited.

I did make a little ID pouch to carry at the con. I've made bags before but I found a pattern for an ID wallet and kinda improvised to make this small bag. There's a lot of errors but it came out pretty good for going off without an actual pattern. Some of the ideas come from previous bag patterns I've seen and I had some of the hardware I already needed. I did not have the metal piece to make the handle adjustable so I improvised. If it gets annoying I can buy what I need later.


This is the first time I have made something with a clear ID window. I already had the vinyl for another project I never got to so I was happy to put it to use. The fabric was a recent purchase from Mountain Creek Quilt Shop in Greenback. I don't get there that often but it's nice that they remember me when I do come. It is from Fair Isle Friends by Anita Jeram. I got the little white fabric from the salesman sample bin of some Japanese fabrics. Over all it's cute and works for a first try. No one else will see it close enough to see my mistakes.

Tea today is my ever loved Starbucks green tea. I got an iced latte on the way home from Mountain Creek. I usually get the frappe but I wanted something a little different