Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

I Like Thursday #317

It's been cold and snowy here this week - winter isn't giving us a break!  I looked out the window Monday morning and saw this lone little bunny just hanging out at the corner of our yard down by the sidewalk.  I think he was trying to eat some grass from under the snow.


Inspired by Judy at Busy Hands are Happy Hands, I had Mike take a picture of me with my first book for 2023 and shared it at Bookjourney.net for her "First Book of the Year" post.  It's pretty fun to see all the book photos, and amazingly this blogger adds a link to info about every book at the end of the post!  Click the link above to see the post. ⬆️

I am reading this book as my first book of the year and it's good!

Mike is really good at figuring out solutions to every day problems, and I like this one.  Does this happen to you?  The shampoo (hand lotion, body wash, etc, etc.) gets low in the bottle and the pump won't bring any up.  We now put that bottle away in the cupboard and start a new one.  After the second bottle goes down a bit, we cut the top off of the first bottle and pour whatever's left into the second bottle, and don't end up wasting it!

Two things we've learned from trial and error:
Lotion is pretty thick and doesn't flow very well, so you can microwave it to warm it up.
Then it flows much better.
But don't microwave bodywash - it just foams up! 😉


Do you like to take classes to learn new creative skills?  I haven't taken very many actual classes, but I definitely take advantage of the internet to learn new things.  I think you can google just about anything to find out how to do it, and find a YouTube video to help.
This week I decided to buy a large hoop for hand quilting, but wanted some pointers on it.  I found this video from the Fat Quarter Shop about big stitch hand quilting using a hoop and it was quite helpful!


Here I am, all set up to take my first stitches in the hoop.  I'll let you know how it goes!


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








14 comments:

Susie H said...

Laurie is WONDERFUL on sharing her techniques for hand-quilting. I gave a talk on big-stitch quilting to my quilt group and she was so kind to let me use some of her photos. Mike & I must be related -- I do the same thing because, as I tell my husband who thinks I'm nuts -- I paid good money for ALL of the product not just 95%. I like the tip on loosening the lotion in the microwave. I just usually set the old bottle on top of the newer and come back in a couple of hours. Great microwave tip!

Linda said...

I like that photo Mike took of you with the book. Thanks for the microwave tip. I have my husband cut off most of the container on my pump lotions and put that part into a plastic baggie, then I use the remainder of the lotion from there. Your method with microwaving will be much better!

Jeanna said...

Love your snow picture, even though you are probably ready for a break from it. I've seen that book on booktok but don't know much about it...yet. Your hubby is so smart, I would have NEVER thought to microwave the lotion to get it to flow. Have a great week.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I usually cut the lotion bottle open and then scoop all the contents into an empty face lotion jar - I save couple and because I scatter them about the house I know they are hand lotion not face lotion - there is usually enough to fill one jar and sometimes almost two - I hadn't thought to microwave the lotion for a couple seconds to make it thinner.
Nice to see you reading I always love getting reviews on books. And I love you quilt in the hoop

Vicki in MN said...

Interesting that you bring up the shampoo/lotion bottle comment. I am currently low on both shampoo and conditioner and hand lotion! I had DH cut the lotion bottle in half and I scoop out lotion from 1/2 of it and transfer to the other half and put it in a zip baggy so it doesn't dry out!

piecefulwendy said...

Fun to see your photo with the book, Diann! I'll have to check out that site, since I'm always looking for a new read. I got two new books (new authors to me) from my son for Christmas, and so far the first one is pretty good. Clever idea on the low bottles. I will be curious to hear about your hand quilting. I used to do that, but never had a decent hoop. Google answers just about anything, it seems!

Angela said...

I try to lotions and potions that are not in pump bottles. I really dislike them. Sometimes it just isn't an option though so thanks for the good tip!

grammajudyb said...

Hooray, for joining First Book! You will find Book Journey posts very interesting! I’m adding that book to my Goodreads list!
Yea, for the hint about heating lotion! I hate wasting anything. I’ve even cut the cap end off lotion that is in a squeeze tube and scraped it out with a popsicle stick or plastic disposable knife into an empty small jar container. “Shades of my mother”. My friend calls it “scarcity syndrome”! The same reason I can’t throw away scraps! ! :) :)

I’ll be interested to hear how the hand quilting in the hoop goes.

LA Paylor said...

I started quilt making by hand quilting, on a big hoop. Loved how it worked for me to rest the edge on a sofa armrest. I do think it's a good idea to take it out of the hoop each night. Love that book group idea and smart solution to the pump bottle issues.
LeeAnna

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Diann! I had to giggle about you two learning not to microwave body wash. I hope that wasn't a big mess! Good luck with your hand stitching! That looks like a pretty quilt to work on. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

MissPat said...

Thank Mike for the hack about getting lotion out of bottles. It's also really annoying when the pump stops working before the bottle is any where close to being empty. My first book of 2023 was actually my last book of 2022. I finished it on Jan 1. Do you find that the hoop makes it easier to hand quilt?
Pat

Sandra Walker said...

Hmm, I should watch that YouTube - I'm about a third of the way through big stitching a quilt in the hoop. Great pic of you with another book I will be adding to my library Want to Read list!

PaintedThread said...

I never thought of microwaving the hand cream. I've been known to cut off the end of the toothpaste tube to get the last bit out of the top. One of these years I'll try hand quilting. :-)

Cheryl said...

Thanks very much - I had never thought to look up "big stitch hand quilting", this is just what I needed!