Poking Along

Happy December!  This week I've been focused on getting some Christmas projects finished up (more on them tomorrow) and needed to spend some time working on my quilt group's heart project. 

A friend and I met for a couple hours on Thursday to sew all the heart blocks into a table runner for our quilt group friend who needs a little love.  I'm so happy with how it's coming along!  It's fun to sew with a friend - I don't do it often enough.  It is also a bit challenging to sew up other people's blocks that may not be exactly the size we specified.  (Wink!)  But our quilty math worked out and all is good!

I did finish the gray sashing and 2 inch border around my Squared Away project.  I am really happy with the gray!

Then , while hunting around in my stash, I came across just enough of this marbled blue to use for the next border which will be 4.5 inches.

I'm liking this, too!

I probably won't make much more progress on this or my other Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects until later in the month, but I'll enjoy getting back to them as soon as I can!  

Be sure to check out the RSC quilters over at SoScrappy for the ScrapHappy Saturday link-up.

I Like Thursday #110 - There and Back Again

Happy Thursday!  Hope you're having a great week!  I'm joining in with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for the weekly celebration of things we've recently liked and want to share.

I liked our road trip to see our kids for Thanksgiving.  It was such a nice day on Thanksgiving afternoon that we went out and walked around the Veterans Memorial in our son's town.

There were sculptures and historical information and all kinds of bricks which families had purchased to honor their veterans.  We even found some Bottrells who had fought in WWII who were commemorated there.  My husband says they would be his grandpa's cousins.  

I liked this sight from tiny Goodland, Kansas, which is on the far western end of the state.  No, not the Steak and Shake!  

A Tesla plugged into a charging station - the owner was sitting in it and waved at me when I took this picture!  I wonder where they'd come from and were going.

I liked doing a little Small Business Saturday shopping at the quilt shops along our way.

A charm pack of Grunge Paper White, some red yardage for Christmas projects, and a few  fat quarters to add to my stash.

After we got home, I had fun finishing up a tomte house from my #mossandlotustomtesal2018 pattern bundle.

I fussy cut a cat to sit in the doorway.

I have to decide what to do with these fun little blocks.  A wall-hanging, a table-topper?  I'm not sure yet!

I've also enjoyed finishing up another Gail Pan embroidery, which will become a pillow for my mom for Christmas.

These are so fun and satisfying to work on!  Time to trace another one!

Be sure to check out the other I Like Thursday posts at Not Afraid of Color.  It's always fun to see what everyone has been up to!

This week in scraps and stitches...

Because we've been traveling for Thanksgiving this week, time at my sewing machine has been a bit limited.

I had a little time to work on sewing the gray sashing to connect my Squared Away sampler blocks.  I decided not to include any cornerstones in this project, and then remembered why I usually do add them when I had to rip out a whole row of stitching... My vertical sashing strips weren't matching up from row to row!

After Googling it, I came up with an easy tip for helping them to line up -  a kind of "Why didn't I think of that!" moment!

Use a straight edge to make a mark where each vertical seam needs to match up!

And it's working!  Hooray!

Meanwhile, I needed to make a heart block for a group project that my quilt group is making for one of our members who is struggling with some health issues.

I used Cluck, Cluck Sew's tutorial for making heart blocks in multiple sizes.

We're all making 6.5 inch blocks with cream backgrounds and dark red hearts, so we can show our friend some love!  Once I've collected all of the blocks from everyone, they will turn into a table topper for her.  I'm hoping for four more.

I squeezed in one #tinytomte.  And gave all the little ones some French Knot noses!

The rest of my stitching time has been spent on my Gail Pan redwork embroidery.  Progress is happening!  

Hope you've had a lovely week!  I'm linking up with all my favorite weekend parties!

ScrapHappy Saturday

Oh Scrap!

Slow Sunday Stitching 

I Like Thursday #109 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

We are on our annual turkey road trip to visit our kids over the long weekend.  I am planning to enjoy good food, good conversation, lots of games to play, and possibly even a little football or a movie.

But first, I am thankful for good traveling weather!

That's always important when you're driving across the eastern plains of Colorado at this time of year!

You know we are always on the lookout for wild turkeys when we are out and about, and look what we found!

Wow!  We counted at least 20 of them!

Earlier this week, I enjoyed having the chance to give back in a small way.

It was a beautiful day, and King Soopers was BUSY!  I guess that's what happens during Thanksgiving week.  Our red kettle was full when our shift was over at 11:00. People were so generous!

I like having this sweet embroidery to work on in the evenings, and the fact that it is easy to travel with means I might put a few stitches in it while we are with our kids.

Hope you're enjoying your day, whether it is spent in a small group or large!  I'm thankful for all of you, my friends in real life and my quilty blogger friends.  

Joining in with I Like Thursday over at Not Afraid of Color! 

From Turkey to Tomte!

All my quilty blogger friends know this about me - I am easily distracted by fun new projects!  I suppose you could say "Squirrel" is my middle name!

Last week it was a turkey block, this week it is the Moss and Lotus Tomte SAL over on Instagram.  The thing is, I wanted to join in when it was going on last year, and I didn't.  So silly of me!  I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice...

Patterns printed and fabric pulled!

It quickly became apparent that my paper-piecing skills are a bit rusty - especially since the first block I chose began with the teeniest pieces!  So Nes Tomte was started twice...  But he turned out just fine!

And how about some Tiny Tomte?

I am a terribly messy paper piecer...

But it is so fun to see these creations come alive from paper, fabric, and thread!

Peder Tomte has joined the village, along with a lovely pine tree!

There are lots more Tomte to make in my pattern bundle - maybe this afternoon I will sew them up a house!   You can find this Sew Along on Instagram @mossandlotus and there's a bunch of  merry sewing to be seen at #mossandlotustomtesal2018!

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!  I'll be sharing over at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  

Back on Track

A big thank you to everyone who weighed in on what color the sashing should be for my Squared Away Sampler!  The gray Grunge got a lot of votes and as the day went on, it grew on me, too, and so the gray it is!

This gray was part of the Grunge Yellow Brick Road quilt I made for my son last spring, and I didn't really think I had enough leftover to get started on the sashing (plus, what if I went to buy more and I couldn't match it?!) so I spent the better part of this week flitting from one project to another and not getting very far on anything!

I made a few more of these blocks -

Easy Stack, Cut, and Sew Blocks 

from Cluck, Cluck Sew

I worked on some Christmas gifts - 

9 Patch tabletopper

I even sorted out my green scrap bin - 

And started sewing up some crumb blocks!

These will definitely be a part of my 2019 scrap projects - I just have to decide where I'm headed with them.

But as the week went on, I thought, why not pull out the gray Grunge scraps and see what I can get out of them?

Thursday afternoon I finally had the chance to get to my favorite quilt shop that has the best Grunge selection so I could get the yardage I need to finish up the sashing. (And they could look up my purchase history to make sure I was getting the right gray!)

Oh yes!

I'm going to like this!

And now I'm back on track!

The next big decision will be about a border fabric, but I'll think about that another time!  :)

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #108

Hello, friends!  How's your week been?  These weeks fly by fast, don't they?

This week, I liked hosting my book club discussion group.  It means the house gets cleaned, there's a reason to buy some yummy snacks, and we've read a good book to talk about.  I like these seasonal napkins I found at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to use for the treats!

Our book for this month was - 

which we all really liked!

It is kind of a quirky story, set in a neighborhood in England, a bit of a mystery, lots of neighborhood secrets, and two 10 year old girls who set out to solve the mystery.

Tuesday it was Read Aloud Day in my town.  A local organization helps fill any classroom whose teacher wants to participate with a guest reader, and it's something I've done every year since I retired from teaching.  I love reading aloud to kids  - I used to read aloud to my 5th graders every day, and I've missed that since retiring.

One of the books I read was this one, by a favorite children's author, Cynthia Rylant.

I love her word choice, and often used her books to inspire kids in their own writing.

I ran across a Quilt Along this week that I decided to join.  It is the Moss and Lotus Tomte Sew Along over on Instagram.  This is actually the second year it has taken place, and I didn't join last year, but this year I decided to go for it!  You can find out more about it on Instagram @mossandlotus, or on the blog HERE.

Tomte are little gnomes or elves, from Sweden.  The patterns are paper-pieced, and turn out so cute!

I was looking around for a new series to watch on Netflix while I'm sewing, and discovered that the series, "Glee," is available!  

I loved this show and watched it all the way through when it was on originally, so I'll enjoy the chance to see it again.  The music, all the quirky characters and teenage angst, and the teaching life as it's portrayed were all fun for me!

Have a great day!  I'm off to visit with the rest of the I Like Thursday crew, over at Not Afraid of Color!

Turkey Time!

In the category of "I just had to" this week is a fun turkey block that I found HERE on Bee in My Bonnet!

I had an ulterior motive for this squirrel, though, because I wanted to stitch up something small that I could try a faced binding on.  That's a technique I've never tried before, and I love trying new things!

A great tutorial for a faced binding can be found HERE at The Silly BooDilly.  Thanks go to Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life for pointing me in the right direction!  Here's how mine turned out:

A close-up view:

I do like the finish it gives to a quilted piece, and now that I've done it once, it will be easy to use again.

Sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

During my evening stitching time, I've continued to work on some redwork embroidery from Gail Pan's Christmas Patchwork Loves Embroidery.

I'm just loving this kind of stitching - pretty results for someone without a lot of embroidery experience!  There will definitely be some slow stitching in my day today.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Mulling and Dithering

This week I've been thinking some more about what sashing to use for my Squared Away sampler quilt.  I don't know why I can't make a decision!

Every time I see someone else's choice, I like it!  Every single one!  But when I audition some of my own ideas, I just don't know...

Should I just go with Kona White, which is my background color?  With or without cornerstones?

What about Navy blue?

I know this looks black, but it really is a dark blue.

Well, then, what about a light blue?

Or gray?

Help!

Meanwhile, I did finish up the dark green Tiny Rails block I was working on in October.

It makes a great contrast to the light green one I made earlier in the year.

I'm up to 15 of these scrappy blocks now.

I'll definitely keep making them in 2019!

Hope you had a great sewing week!  I'll be joining in with the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilters at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  See you there!