I Like Thursday #478

Happy Thursday, friends!  Have you been watching the Big Bear (California) bald eagles' nest this year?  Jackie and Shadow, the mating pair of bald eagles who live there, have two little eaglet babies now who hatched just a week ago or so.  We're fascinated with them!  It's literally a breath of fresh air to watch how nature follows its yearly path, in spite of us humans.

This is a screenshot from their YouTube channel.

The other cool thing we have been following for the last week is the flight of the Orion spacecraft around the moon and back.   The liftoff, the moon flyby, the 40 minutes of radio silence until they came around on the other side of the moon - fascinating!  We're looking forward to seeing the splashdown off the coast of California tomorrow evening.

NASA site

Something we connected with this event was that the last astronauts who went to the moon were on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.  Mike was in the Navy at the time, and the ship he was on, the USS Ticonteroga, was the ship that was sent to pick up the Apollo space capsule and the astronauts.  Mike was a helicopter crewman, but he was not in the helicopter shown in the photo.  He was back there on the ship - he tells me he was the "flight deck trouble shooter" that day - apparently meaning he had to make sure all the helicopters were ready to fly when needed.

Closer to home, younger son has been experimenting with a sour dough starter, and made his first loaf of bread the other day.  It was delicious!

LeeAnna's question of the week is about the season of spring.  I love spring!   We have had a mild, dry winter, so it has been very brown here, but spring has brought the green back.  The lilacs are blooming, too, and they smell so good.  We were just smelling them on our afternoon walk today.  Lilacs really mean spring to me!

Joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

Two finishes to share this week!  One is the tote bag I was working on last week.  The lining was made with pockets for the phone and the little miscellaneous stuff that always floats around in your purse.  (Chapstick, anyone?!)

Several years ago, when I started making these quilted tote bags,

I bought a set of magnetic snap closures and 

I just keep reusing them each time I make a new one.

And the finished bag from the front!  I also reused the gray straps from my previous bag.  They're still good and that saved me the time of making some from fabric.

The other finish is the newest block for Melva's Little House sew-along.  This one has a rail fence block at the center.   I laid this one out with the hope that the pinwheel at the center would be the focus.   Do you see it?

So - here are all five of these that we've made so far.  Only four more to go!

Linking up with The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss. 

And at Melva Loves Scraps for the block 5 link-up.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday 

Happy Easter!

 from the Easter... Gnome?  

This cute guy is from my mom's house.  

One of the gals who decorates there loves gnomes, 

and she puts them out for every season!

Or Happy Easter from the carrot power bunny...

Still one of my favorite finishes from 2025! 

This week I've been stitching away on Spring Blessings which is perfect for Easter.  And almost finished, too!  Just some fluffy sheep and bees to add, which I will do today.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Under Review

If you live with someone who is a sports fan, it's likely that you know about the instant replays the referees will do if there's a challenge to a play or call.  Well, I had to do that this week with a quilt block!  

I decided to start the pink month of April with the Jacob's Ladder blocks and it didn't take long to make the first one.

I've made enough of these blocks now to know that they work best if the two prints I choose are similar in value.  Plus they need to have a good contrast with the ecru background I'm using.  But sometimes I go off the deep end and decide to try something even though I *suspect* it might not work quite right.  That happened this week because I found this beautiful butterfly print.

Isn't that pretty?!  And the selvage is neat, too.

But this - ???

Under review...

Oh no - just way too lopsided, colorwise.

So I found a different, tone on tone pink and made some new parts.  Here they are, laid on top of the butterfly pieces.

Yes, that's going to be better.

So, I ripped apart the butterfly block, made some new sections with the better fabric, and ended up with a much better block.  

So now there are nine blocks!

I've got another idea for the butterfly print!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

And at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #477

We did something on Saturday that was a first for us, and that I am so glad we did.  We participated in the No Kings protest in our town. 

Mike and I have been unhappy and frustrated with the current president and his administration since the day he was inaugurated.  The chaos and cruelty that has been unleashed by these people is beyond my comprehension.

However, I am thankful to live in a country where we have the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, and to VOTE!  

We even made signs.  Mike wins the award for the one who was most asked to have his picture taken with his sign!  There were also many veterans there which was very heartening for him.  I think he spoke to every one of them.

And finally - my favorite signs of the day.

If you're still here, and read my whole post - thank you!  I know this is not my typical topic, and that some of you, my friends and readers, have a different point of view from me.  But isn't that - the freedom to espress our opinions - really what makes America great?!  ❤️💙❤️💙

Have a wonderful Thursday!  I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

In between finishing up some March projects and starting things for April, I had a few days to work on an idea I had for the two sweet fabric pieces that LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color sent me early in March.  They are both prints with people (and a dragon!) reading!  I commented on a project of hers that used this cute fabric, so she sent me some.  Thanks, LeeAnna!

I decided that I wanted to make a new tote bag out of these, so I first had to bring the focus prints up to a good size for that.  I have quite a bit of this blue green batik, so I started by framing them in that - one for the front of the bag, one for the back. 

I added some coordinating bright green to each side of that and connected both sides with a brown piece in between.  (That will be the bottom of the bag.  It's good to have it be a dark color so that dirt doesn't show!) Then this panel is quilted to a piece of batting.

I squared up the big panel to a 16 x 24 inch rectangle.  Then sewed up the sides and boxed the corners.  At this point the tote measures about 10" deep x 14" wide and 4 inches across the bottom.  I like this size for hauling around all my personal stuff throughout the day.

Next the tote needs a lining with pockets, straps, and a magnetic closure.  That won't take too long.  But first I'm going to play with my pink scraps, which is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for April!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Time for the bunnies...

Last year, about this time, I stitched up this design from Melisa at PinkernPunkin called Spring Banner.  This last week, I finally fully finished it!

So then it was time to get out some more bunnies, and eggs, and the April heart for the little quilt display.

Meanwhile I've been stitching up some flowers on Spring Blessings.  

More to stitch on that top right flower, 

and that will be my Slow Sunday stitching!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts.