To-Do Tuesday #123

Good morning!   I'm joining in with Linda and friends at Texas Quilt Gal for the To-Do Tuesday link-up, sharing what I've been working on and my new list for this coming week. 

On last week's list: 

• Write up a post about my January Table Scraps project.  ✔  You can see that in my Saturday post.  I also made a new set of cloth napkins in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month (red) and they have already been put to good use!

• I finished up the second border on my Stay at Home Round Robin project ✔ (diamonds) and today I started on the next one (stars).  More info here.  

I decided my next border would be made of friendship stars, but so far have just made one.  I'm not sure the contrast is strong enough here, but want to stick with (mostly) this line of fabric.  I may need to add some coordinating solids.

• I've been working on the additional borders for Crumb Hearts.  ✔ For this I'm using strips of the Tula Pink Fairy Dust that I had previously cut when I was trying a different border.

I'll continue working on these borders for the coming week!

This peek at my design wall will show you what else is on my list:

- hand-pieced plus blocks in aqua (the RSC color for February)

- Bloom blocks with aqua baskets - pieces made but not sewn together

- Masala Box blocks: I finally found a background fabric 

I like for these blocks, so I've made one in red, 

and have pieces cut for a second one.

- and the star border on SAHRR

Lots to keep me busy this week!

 

Sew Love - a little finish

 Sew Love was Kathy Schmitz's November 2021 design for the One Stitch at a Time club.  I had just barely started it last weekend, and now it is finished!

I had just enough of the yellow flowers and bees to make a small border.

The green honeycomb print was perfect for the binding.

The backing is this happy floral leftover from "Follow the Garden Path."

Sew Love is hanging in my sewing room on the wall of minis.  I might be running out of room!

Sew Love was definitely a Drop Everything and Make It project,

so linking up with Sandra at mmmquilts at her January DrEAMi post!

Now that this one is finished, I'm back to stitching on Frosty #9 - Snowball Hunt.

He will be my slow stitching this evening while we're watching

tonight's episode of "All Creatures Great and Small!"

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Table Scraps for January

 My first Table Scraps finish for 2022 was a truly scrap happy endeavour, inspired by the backing scraps leftover from the Frosty wall-hanging I finished earlier in the month.

Snowmen with red scarves and cardinals -

perfect!

I cut up as many 4.5 inch squares as I could and made 4 patches from red (leftover from Positivity) and blue (out of the solids drawer) scraps to make alternate blocks.

Some serpentine quilting following the seams, and another scrap of blue (this time in navy) from my solids drawer, and I now have a new mat for the small table that sits between our comfy chairs in the sitting area off our dining room.

This is placemat sized - 12.5 x 16.5

I've had a fat quarter of this funny snowman print on the shelf forever, and it turned out to be perfect for the backing.

It didn't take long to put this new mat to use!

Snowman mug just waiting for some coffee!

Also this week, I made one new set of cloth napkins for us, using the red apple print and a fun text print for the opposite side.  I've been making these since 2014, using this tutorial, and have made lots of them since then.  They make great gifts!

Useful and also fun on the table!

Sharing at Joyful Quilter's January Table Scraps link-up, 

SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, and at

Quilting  is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #271 and SAHRR Update

 I really like the Stay at Home Round Robin project, and want to thank all the quilters who sponsor it for the fun and inspiration!  (More info about it here)  It makes Monday mornings exciting, because that's the day the new prompt for the next border is out.  This week it is diamonds.  After reading a few of the blog posts about how diamond blocks can be made, I gave it a try!

These were made using Wendy's technique.  Wanting to keep mine small, I started with two inch squares and added colorful corners, then sewed all four corners together.  They're not too bad!  I think I got better with these as I went along.  

These measure 3.5 inches square, but I trimmed them to 3 inches before sewing them into the quilt.  I used them as cornerstones and added strips of a dark red in this pretty floral fabric line to complete the round.

Linking this up to The Darling Dogwood.

It is Thursday and so also time for my weekly "I Like Thursday" post that is shared over at Not Afraid of Color.

This week I enjoyed playing "Musical Bingo" over where my mom lives.  It's a typical bingo game except with song titles instead of letters and numbers.  The gal who runs the game plays a song excerpt and everyone gets to guess the title.  Of course, it's fun to sing along, too!

I did some baking this week!  I don't bake very often anymore, but this week a loaf of some kind of quick bread sounded good.  I had been saving blueberries that were softer than I like on my cereal, so this seemed like a good way to use them up.  This recipe for Blueberry Bread turned out really good!

We decided to join Amazon Prime this year, and one of the perks is more streaming TV shows to watch in the evenings.  I noticed that we could watch "Grantchester" from the beginning of the first season, so we've been doing that and enjoying it this week.   Just like reading a book series from the beginning, I like watching a TV series from the beginning!

Image Source

Have a happy Thursday!

To-Do Tuesday #122

Good morning!   I'm joining in with Linda and friends at Texas Quilt Gal for the To-Do Tuesday link-up, sharing what I've been working on and my new list for this coming week.  

I'm feeling like I got a lot done in the sewing room this past week!  I did play in the red scraps and got some Bloom blocks started for a new project this year.  In these blocks, the basket section will always be the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, which is red for January.   One more to finish up!

I also finished up the January Table Scraps project!  Here's a peek at the back, from when I was getting ready to sew the binding.

Those funny little shapes stumped me when I first found this fat quarter!

Milk bottles?  Bowling pins?  Penguins?  But no, they are actually snowmen.

Click to zoom in if you want a better view!

I even got to something that was on the "maybe" list, and that is top and bottom borders on the crumb hearts quilt.  Happy to have accomplished this one!

Right now this measures 48.5 inches square.

My plan is to add additional borders to the top and 

bottom to get it to 48.5 x about 60.

So on this week's list:

• Photograph and write up the posts for this weekend's Table Scraps link-up.
• Make two new cloth napkins, in red, according to my January plans.
• Work on the next border for the SAHRR project - diamonds are called for this week's border - see HERE for more info!
• Add additional top and bottom borders to the Crumb Hearts quilt.

Have a great week, everyone!

Slow stitching on a Sunday...

I've been looking around for some more white stars on a white background to use for the last four Frosty designs from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting, and I found some on Friday!  So yesterday I got busy tracing Block #9, "Snowball Hunt."

Meanwhile, I needed something to stitch until I found the right fabric, so I traced a Kathy Schmitz design from last year's "One Stitch at a Time" club called Sew Love.  I spent the last couple evenings stitching the yellow spool of thread.

The heart shaped vines and leaves will be in a mellow green,

and the berries (French knots) will be in a dark pink.

Pretty and seasonal, for Valentine's Day!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Playing with red...

I've been enjoying lots of scrap play with red this week, and it started with a new pattern!  This is Cynthia Bruns' Scrap Mixology Module #4, Bloom.  I've been wanting to make these blocks forever, and thought they would be a fun Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  Each month I'll be making the basket bases in the color of the month, and the flower sections in whatever bits I've got that I can get a 3 inch square out of (for the HSTs).

This week I've worked on the pieces and parts for three blocks.  They finish at  8 inches.   I love the layout shown above, but inside the pattern there are a bunch of other layout ideas that will be fun to play with, too.

I also made a couple more chandelier blocks in red (they are the two middle blocks on the left), and am starting to think about how this quilt should be laid out.  It needs more blocks, but the number depends on what I want to do with them!

Two more plus blocks in red were hand-pieced, and I also decided to add a 2.5 x 6.5 inch strip of background fabric to either the top or bottom of each block so that they will be offset from each other in the quilt layout.

And one final new project - something I just wanted to play with!  After seeing Susie's Rainbow String X quilt in a recent post, I decided to make some of those blocks.  This is a free Bonnie Hunter pattern.

String pieced 10.5 x 4.5 rectangles with corners cut to make 90° angles:

I'm going with a red, blue, and gold color scheme for these.

And then side triangles will be added to make an 8.5 inch block.  Four of them together make a 14.5 inch X.

I'm going to use these as my leader/enders this year.

Lots of fun playing with the scraps!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #270

 Good morning!  Thanks for visiting on "I Like Thursday" hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color. 

Pretty morning sky at our house recently.   A lot of that snow has now melted, but I wouldn't mind if more of it was gone.  The crusty icy stuff that makes it hard to cross the street when you're out for a walk is hanging around a long time.

I've been reading a lot lately, and seem to be on a theme of library/bookshop related stories.  Last week it was The Midnight Library for my book club.  Then I read The Bookshop of Yesterdays, which I really enjoyed.

It's about a woman whose uncle died and left her the bookshop he owned in LA.

Of course there are some family secrets to be uncovered and life decisions to be made!

And now I'm on The Lost and Found Bookshop, by Susan Wiggs.  No photo, but it's a good one, too - I always enjoy her books.

I enjoyed hand sewing the binding on my Easy Breezy quilt the other night.  You can see a full photo of the finish in my Tuesday post.  

I've stitched up eight Frosties now, and they've been fun!  Unfortunately I ran out of the white stars-on-white background fabric I've been using for these guys, so I need to find some more (because there are 4 more to stitch).  It doesn't need to be the same one, but I'm hoping to get the same tone of white.  Not all w-o-w fabrics are created the same!

Until I do find some more of that w-o-w, I'll have figure something different for my embroidery time.

Hope you're having a good week!  Be sure to check out all the other positive posts at Not Afraid of Color.

A Finish for H2H

Recycling a January post about the second of three quilts I've made this year for Hands2Help.   

Over the weekend, I finished up Easy Breezy!  The last stitches were put in the binding while watching "All Creatures Great and Small" on PBS.  An enjoyable Sunday evening!

 

36.5 x 36.5

And a peek at the back:

As suggested by Bonnie at Institches with Bonnie, I'm going to send this one to Cool Kids Campaign for a child with a cancer diagnosis.  Check Bonnie's blog for more info about this organization.

Linking up with The Academic Quilter for the H2H Progress Party.

Slow Stitching in Red

 Earlier in the month I decided that one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects was going to be hand-pieced plus blocks with black and white prints for the backgrounds.  This week I stitched two more, for a total of 4 for the month.

I guess I have to decide how many of these I want to make each month!  It doesn't take long to stitch up two per week.  So, if I make 8 each month, that will give me 80 by the end of October.  That will make another 48 x 60 throw, which is the size of Trip Around the Rainbow, my 2021 hand-pieced project.  

In between plus blocks, I've been working on Frosty #8 from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  Frosty and his little bird friend are trying not to be "Blown Away!" (That's the block name!)

Hang on to your hat, Frosty!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching!

Making Progress

Although my sewing time has been kind of limited this week, I've been determined to stay focused on finishing my Easy Breezy quilt, and I'm getting close!

Finish sewing the quilt top together...done!

Piece a backing... done!

Get the layers spray basted... done!

The main backing fabric looks orange in this photo, but it is actually a yellow with tiny orange dots all over it.  (The picture of the whole backing up above is closer to the real color.) Apparently I had a scrap of it that was also used for the center block of the quilt!

When I brighten up the photos for Blogger it changes the tone of some fabrics -

does anyone else have that happen?

A full bobbin, a new needle, and I was ready to quilt!

As of Friday afternoon, the quilting was about 3/4 completed, and the binding has been made. 

Binding will be the same Kona Alegria I used for the cornerstones 

and is also on the back. 

Happy quilting from the Little Penguins!

Sharing this scrappy project at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

 

I Like Thursday #269

Happy Thursday to you, and Happy #46 to us!  In some previous life I was 21 years old... a few years have passed since then, lol!

Our actual anniversary is January 9th.

Back then it was 1-9-76, so easy to remember!

We celebrated by actually going out for dinner at one of our favorite downtown restaurants, Henry's Pub.  Cheers!

Speaking of previous lives, my book club read and discussed (by Zoom again due to the crazy Covid numbers around here) this fascinating book.  The premise of the story is that there are all kinds of alternate lives you could be leading depending on the choices you might have made at any given time.  (Like where you went to college or what profession you pursued or who you chose to date or marry.)  And each of those lives comes with possible happiness and sadness.  It's a fiction story with the main character learning about her possible alternate lives in the Midnight Library.

I've been having fun piecing a backing for the little scrappy quilt I'm working on right now.  If you want to see the top, check out my Tuesday post.  I used a few leftover blocks from the top, plus some yardage I had and a few other bits to make it big enough.  It's practically going to be a two-sided quilt! 

This cracked me up the other day!

This was my house - I always read the Wheat Chex box.

Still eat Wheat Chex every morning for breakfast, too!

Thanks for visiting on "I Like Thursday!"  Be sure to check out all the positive posts at Not Afraid of Color.