Project Quilting 9.4 : Mellow Yellow

I am a big fan of the color yellow, so when I saw that this week's challenge for Project Quilting was all about the color yellow, I knew it would be fun to work on!

Right away I thought of my favorite flower, the daffodil, and started looking for a paper-pieced daffodil pattern to use for my project.

I found a pattern made by Piece by Number in Craftsy's free patterns, and got right to work!

I hadn't done any paper-piecing in a long time, so that in itself was a bit of a challenge!  It wasn't hard to get it all figured out, though, and I love how my daffodil turned out!

I decided to make this piece just the right size to sit on the little chest of drawers by our front door because it's time to add a springtime table topper to the living room decor!

That meant adding some borders and sashing to the daffodil block, so that it would measure about 10 x 18 inches.  Somehow a little pinwheel and some polks dots snuck their way in, too!

I quilted this little piece using a curvy grid, and love the texture it gives!

The backing and binding are from this fun multi-colored dot.  

And, if this little project looks familiar to you, this might be why - 

I seem to be stuck on yellow and blue these days!  (Sun, blue sky, green grass, daffodils - I'm determined that spring is on its way to Loveland, Colorado!)

Sharing at Persimmon Dreams for the Project Quilting link up,

at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap,

and mmmquilts for Sandra's monthly DrEAMi link up!

Finishing up with Purple

I have really enjoyed sewing with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February - purple - and have a few blocks to share from my sewing this week.

I finished up a 10 inch mini fence rail block in purple -

These blocks are sewn slowly together through the month whenever I have a few bits cut at 1.5 x 2.5, and have grown into a colorful group of 8 so far.

I also made two Scrappy Sprouts blocks in different shades of purple.

These join my light blue sprouts, and give a hint of a fun future quilt!

I have to admit that purple is not my favorite color, so I don't have a lot of purple scraps,  but every year I enjoy the RSC purple month anyway!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #70 - still February...

Is it really still February?  How can the shortest month of the year sometimes feel like the longest?  It's definitely NOT my favorite month, but I can still find a few things to like about it...

I like Valentine cards, especially this one Mike gave me last week.

I love you more than anything...

He makes me laugh!  And I do like to laugh!

I like Girl Scout cookies, which are around this time of year, especially the Thin Mints.

Yummy!

I like all my pairs of wool socks, which I have worn a lot this month.

Can you read the brand name?  "Darn Tough!"  I guess they'd better be darn tough if I'm going to wear them as much as I have lately...

February is definitely a good reading time of year, and you know I like to read!  Here is my current book - 

I realized that I really know very little about the Kennedy family, so this book is fascinating to me.  Rosemary was the oldest daughter, born in 1918, and her traumatic birth caused her to have developmental delays that affected her all her life.  She lived a completely different life from the rest of her siblings.  It's been very interesting to read!  (Note: I just finished this book and should warn you that there are some very hard to read medical details about what happens during a lobotomy, which is something that was done to Rosemary Kennedy when she was in her early 20s.  So sad.)

I also like having a book "savings account!"  These are waiting for me on my bedside table.

It's another challenge week for Project Quilting, and I have liked participating in that this year so far.  This week's challenge is called "Mellow Yellow."  Here's a hint about my project - 

I do like paper-piecing, and I haven't done any in quite awhile.  It took a little "remembering" about how to orient each piece of fabric before I got in the rhythm of it, but my block actually went together pretty quickly.  Now to figure out how to finish out the project!

Yes, it's still February, but I hope you are finding ways to like each day as it comes.  I like joining in with the I Like Thursday group at Not Afraid of Color!

A Finished Quilt Top and a Distraction

Yesterday I spent some time finishing up the quilt top I've been working on recently - from the Yellow Brick Road pattern - which is going to be a birthday present for my oldest son.

It measures about 58 x 75 - one of the bigger projects I've worked on recently!  This coming week the goal is to stock up on batting, find a backing fabric, and get this one basted for quilting.  

One of the reasons it took me all week to getting around to adding those borders (a pretty simple task) is that I was distracted by this cute little mug rug made by my friend, Vicki, who blogs at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting.  It was one of those little projects that I saw and knew immediately that I had to make it!  Thanks, Vicki!

Here is my version - 

A peek at the back - isn't that pretty?!  I'm sure this fabric will find its way into a few more scrappy projects this year!

A fun little Valentine's Day distraction - and completely worth it!

Hope you've had a productive week!  I'm sharing over at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  

A Use for Some Orphan Blocks

These blocks were made in February, but not this year - way back in February of 2016!

That was my first year participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and our colors that month were brown with pink accents, or maybe it was the other way around - anyway, I was experimenting with four patches, and made these eight 8 inch blocks.

Even though I liked them at the time (and made tons of other blocks in all the colors throughout that year), I never could figure out a way to put them all together into a quilt design that I liked.  So, they have been in my orphan block pile ever since.

But when I read Bernie's post about her Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids charity event, I thought I might be able to sew up a doll quilt for A Doll Like Me using these blocks.

And here's what I came up with -

Needing a center square for nine blocks to make an approximately 24 inch square quilt, I appliqued a pink, polka dot heart in there to add a little sweetness!

Some Kona Crimson seemed like the perfect match for the binding, and pulled all the blocks together.

A label - 

And posing with a doll my mom made for me many, many years ago - she is Jo from Little Women!

I hope Amy at A Doll Like Me will have the perfect doll for this quilt!

Linking up with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday - even though it's not purple, this is still an RSC project!

I Like Thursday #69

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!  Hope you are having a sweet day!

Colorado weather has been a bit, shall we say "bi-polar?" lately!  Cloudy, foggy, snowy, and really cold last weekend, changing to sunny and in the 50s yesterday and today.  I have to admit that is something I like about Colorado winters!

15 degrees - brrrr! - for the high on Saturday was perfect for an ice carving competition in our downtown.  So we went just to see what was going on.

It was pretty interesting to watch!  But, yes, COLD!

This serpent was one of our favorites.

If you went down at night, the ice sculptures were lit up, but by that point I was home in my chair snuggled up with a quilt and some knitting.

I am an on-again, off-again knitter, so this simple scarf has been in the works for several years.  Now I am determined to knit on it until the skein of yarn is gone! Did you see the news about the Finnish coach who knits at the top of the ski run while his athletes are competing?  I loved that!

I've also liked working on a little doll quilt for  Bernie at Needle and Foot's Share the Love, Quilting for Kids doll quilt drive.  The doll quilts are for an organization called "A Doll Like Me."  Read more about this sweet charity  in Bernie's post at the link above.

This is just bit of my project - more about it in my Rainbow Scrap Challenge post at the end of the week.  I've really enjoyed turning some orphan blocks into a useable and loveable little quilt!

Hope you're having a great week!  Please join us at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color, for many more I Like Thursday posts.

Purple Progress

While working on my Project Quilting 9.3 challenge this week, a little bit of purple sewing has also been going on in my sewing studio.  I made two Wishing Ring blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Squared Away sampler.  These finish at 7.5 inches.

The block on the left is made with only one purple fabric, and the other has three different purples in it.  My background fabric is going to be Kona White, since I seem to have a bunch of it leftover from my Scrap Jar Stars quilt, which I finished up last year.

These blocks will join the Red Cross blocks made in light blues from January!

For more information about February's blocks for the RSC Squared Away sampler, check out this post at The Academic Quilter.  Also Angela at SoScrappy has a really helpful chart, found here, that I've been referring to for cutting the pieces I need for the block sizes I'm making. 

I decided to print out this tracking chart, created by Stephanie, that Angela shared last week.  It just might be helpful!

I probably won't be working on any Sawtooth Stars blocks this month since I'm making those from a specific fat quarter bundle, and it doesn't include purple, but otherwise everything is progressing as it should!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

Project Quilting Challenge 9.3 - Brave and Bold

I've never thought of myself as brave or bold, but I have always admired people who are.  So when I saw this week's challenge for Project Quilting, I thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.  He certainly was a brave and bold soul who worked to make our world better.

A favorite picture book that I used to read to my students around this time of year is titled Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport.

After rereading it the other day, I wondered if I could piece some of Martin's words into a quilt.

As brave and bold as I am NOT, this would be a good challenge for me since I have only experimented with piecing letters a tiny bit.

I pulled out a yard of a pretty blue Grunge (it's number 422, but I never could figure out a name for it) and a fat quarter of Kona Sunflower that I had stashed away for another possibility, and decided they were perfect for my idea.

To piece the letters, I cut strips of both the blue and yellow that were 1.25 inches wide and 2.5 inches wide.  Using these strips and the stitch and flip corner method, I was able to make each letter pretty simply.  That upper right corner needed something, so I added the sun - or maybe it is a sunflower!  :)

And so - Dream!

It measures about 9 x 25.

I am also inspired by the words of John Lennon - 

What do I dream of?  Oh many things - mostly that the world would be a kinder and gentler place.

Or maybe I'm just dreaming of Spring coming here to Loveland, Colorado!

Thanks, Kim and Trish, for this challenge that consumed me this week!

Sharing at Persimmon Dreams for the Project Quilting link-up,

at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday, and

at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap on Sunday.

See you there!

I Like Thursday #68 - Sights, Sounds, and Something Tasty

This was the scene at our house the other day -

I like power tools!  Lol!

I really like this photo that Mike took on Monday, just a short drive from where we live.

A friend had posted on Facebook that she saw these bald eagles on her way to work that morning, so after a message to her to find out where they were, we were off to see them.  Didn't he catch a great shot of the one eagle landing on the branch?!  And the amazing blue sky!  We also realized that the one sitting on the lower branch was "talking" to the one that was landing.  That's the first time I've heard what eagles sound like.

I liked finishing up my heart mini on Sunday afternoon.  It's fun having something festive on my little chest!

A new challenge for Project Quilting was posted on Sunday, so I got right to work.  The theme is called "Bold and Brave" -  "Your project should be about bravery: Try a new technique! Honor someone's courage! Conquer your own fears!"

Here's just a hint of what I've been working on - what could it be?! :)  I've really liked participating in this event.  I think there will be about six challenges altogether.

I liked this new chili recipe that my mom shared with me.  I made it over the weekend.

I did make a couple of changes to it - I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, and also added some water to it since I like my chili more like soup.  

And this week I am reading - 

Did you know Tom Hanks is a writer?  It turns out he is, and (I think!) a good one, and I've really enjoyed his first book! It is a book of short stories, and the one thing the stories have in common is every one of them has something about a typewriter.  So, the title, "Uncommon Type."  

Hope you're having a great week!  I'm joining in with all of the I Like Thursday bloggers at Not Afraid of Color - thanks, as always, to LeeAnna for hosting!

Progress and a Squirrel

This week I've made good progress on my oldest son's Yellow Brick Road quilt - blocks sewn into rows and 4 out of 7 rows sewn together.

I love the rich colors of the Grunge fabric I chose for this quilt!  Older son's birthday is in April, so that's my goal for getting this quilt finished up.

Meanwhile, the squirrels (who are endlessly entertaining out in our yard!), have also been keeping me distracted in my sewing room!

In my Thursday post, I mentioned playing with some hearts after seeing Janice's sweet "I Heart You" mini, designed by Alison at Cluck, Cluck Sew.  I decided to use some pieces out of a layer cake of Hello Darling by Bonnie and Camille.  Although I originally had other plans for this layer cake, I decided it had been closed up in a drawer for way too long, and deserved to come out and be used for something!

After making the four hearts that were needed, I got the top put together.  I love the way the hearts overlap each other!

I used some leftover bits from the hearts and a few other pieces from the layer cake to piece a backing.  I really like the strawberry print, but it doesn't show up much in the smallest heart on the front, so at least you can see it on the back!

I'm hoping to finish up the quilting this afternoon, and plan to have the binding ready for a little Slow Sunday Stitching during the Super Bowl! 

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday!  I'll be sharing over at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!