I Like Thursday #475

Some local quilty friends and I went on a little field trip on Monday.  Where do you suppose we went with a load like this?

No, not a retreat.

We went to Greeley, a city that is about 30 miles to the east of our city, Loveland, Colorado.  We went to visit these ladies - 

They are a group of about 50 quilters who make donation quilts from donated supplies.

The gal who showed us around said they make about 300 quilts a year for about 5 different charities.

This group is connected to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Greeley, and have the second floor of the church's school building for their space.  Here's their beautifully organized storeroom full of donated fabric.

And next door we saw the big room full of quilters working away at sewing machines, design walls, a long arm, and a hand quilting frame.

We left all of our unwanted fabric and quilting supplies in good hands, I think!  And I feel good to have cleaned out a section of my closet, too.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about our least favorite food as a child, and do we eat it now as adults?  Mine was lima beans!  Yuck!  And I don't think I have ever bought them or served them to my family since being out on my own.  My parents sure loved them, though.  Maybe that's an Iowa/Midwestern thing?  That's where they grew up.  

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I like many kinds of beans - green beans, wax beans, pinto beans, black beans, but there's something about the texture of lima beans that does not appeal, and never has!  😬

What about you?  Have you got a least favorite food from when you were growing up?  Share in the comments!

I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

 

Midweek Update

I got another envelope of happy mail this past week - this time from Melva.  She had chosen my name for a fat quarter prize from the Little House Sew-along.  Thank you, Melva!

I don't think my photo shows the color quite right, but in real life it is a pretty turquoise that I think I can use in my Little House blocks.   The next block will be at Melva Loves Scraps tomorrow (Thursday - 3/19) - looking forward to it!

Meanwhile I've been working on getting my Stay at Home Round Robin quilt finished up for the parade coming up next Wednesday.  I pieced a backing out of three of the leftover fat quarters from the bundle.

                                                        Here it is a little closer in.

The next job was quilting - 

And this afternoon's job will be getting the binding on!  Not long until a finish now!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

Spring Colors

Earlier this week, I discovered the grape hyacinths blooming in my garden!  Trees are coming out early this year, too - Colorado has had a very mild winter.

I still need to do the Spring garden clean-up!

So I've been stitching in Spring colors this week, too.  

This pretty purple is DMC 209 - dark lavender.  The Blessings stitch is a start on the "Spring Blessings" free design for March.  You can get it if you sign up for their newsletter.

A few more stitches have been added to the Spring embroidery design from Gail Pan, too.  Lots more to do on this one!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Moving along with red...

This week I got out my bin of the smallest pieces of red and started sorting them to see what would work for this month's scrappy placemat.  The next step is to sew pairs and trios and then start puzzling them together into a 12 x 16 slab.

A friend gave me quite a big pile of her unwanted leftover reds last fall, and they were good for making another Jacob's Ladder block.  It takes some bigger pieces than what I keep in the above bin.

I had made one last December in brighter reds, so this time I used some darker pieces. 

It's always fun to add more to the block collection!  The lone brown block at the top was the first block I made, sometime last fall.  It needs a friend, but that can wait until we sew the dark neutrals this year.

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #474

It snowed here!  Not much accumulation, but lots of good moisture.  Even my husband, who hates snow, was happy to see this!

A snow day made us feel like baking, and snickerdoodles were the choice of recipe.  They turned out to be yummy!

I got some happy mail last week - thank you, LeeAnna!  I had told her I loved the cute books/reading prints that she used in one of her Project Quilting projects, and she sent me some pieces.  ❤️❤️❤️   I have an idea for how to use these, but need to think it through a bit before starting.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about fashion - if we could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?  And this one had me just about stumped!  You might call me "fashion-challenged."  I don't follow the trends - just wear what's comfortable.  So I came up with one that I'm glad has NOT come back - shoulder pads in everything!  This came from a Pinterest board titled "1980s Shoulder Pads - the Epitome of Power Dressing!"

Remember Joan Collins of Dynasty fame?

She even wrote a memoir called Behind the Shoulder Pads!

And piggy-backing on last week's topic - something that I'm glad came back into fashion is curly hair!  This is Susie Wargin, a well-known TV and radio personality for probably 30 years here in Colorado.  She is known for her curly hairstyle, and I have always admired it.  It has probably changed and become a little looser in the years since I when I first noticed her, but it is still so pretty!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

Often, when I am interested in a new project, my first question is - can I make it from my stash?  I don't always know if what I am envisioning will actually work.   So finally, three blocks into the Little House Sampler sew-along, hosted by Melva Loves Scraps,  I think I know what I am doing with this project!

I started it with a jelly roll I had won last fall - and it has lots of pumpkins, leaves, and bright oranges in it.  Block 3 is called Harvest Basket, and it was perfect for nailing down that my colors for this quilt are orange, turquoise, browns, and creamy neutrals.  

I love basket blocks! 

Focusing on those four colors helps me pick out the strips for the log cabin surrounds.  I've been trying to keep these blocks from being too busy, so adding in some solids and low volume neutrals should help that. 

Here is block 3!

I'm liking how this is coming along!  There are nine blocks total, and Melva is releasing them every week or two, which is a nice pace for me.

Getting closer to a finish is this year's Stay at Home Round Robin.  I have the pieced border finished and strips cut for a final solid border.  Hope to get that sewn on later this week, and then a backing figured out so I can get going on the quilting.  The final quilt parade starts two weeks from today!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss and at 

Melva Loves Scraps for the Little House Sampler Block 3 link-up.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday 

 

Lucky!

Mr. Lucky the Leprechaun is finished and ready to watch over us for St. Patrick's Day!  He looks a little mischievous, doesn't he?  Melisa's design didn’t have you stitching a mouth for him, but I decided he needed a little smile.  

I set him on the little chest of drawers with all the other March decorations.

A friend and I share the lightbox that I use for tracing embroidery designs.  She called and said she needed it this week, so that gave me just the push I needed to get the Gail Pan "Spring" embroidery prepped and ready to stitch.

I'm using DMC 954 for this - Nile Green.

It looks pretty spring-like to me!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.