To-Do Tuesday #172

I'm joining in again this week with the To-Do Tuesday link-up, hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt.  It's been a good week for getting some things done - especially getting my chandelier quilt layered and spray-basted so I could begin quilting it.

I've also been keeping up with making the border blocks for the Stay at Home Round Robin project - last week's were square in a square blocks.

I even got a chance to just play a little with some scraps from my solids drawer, as inspired by Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life.  These are from the Dreamlines 2023 Art Project at Serendipity Studio.  If you sign up for her newsletter, it comes with a monthly prompt.  Since I haven't played with any kind of improv sewing in a long time, I thought this would be fun to try!

What this will turn into is anybody guess!

My goal is just to play and do something different

during my sewing time.

So what's going on this week?

• Quilting on the chandelier quilt is actually finished  It just needs trimming and binding, so that's No. 1 on the list!
• The final border idea for the SAHRR is pinwheel blocks.  I've gotten a start on them, with the HSTs, but lots more to make.

Once the pinwheels are made, it will be decision-making time.

The final quilt parade for all the Stay at Home Round Robin projects

 is coming up on March 13th!

• There are still HSTs to make for the Scrap Dance Quadrille QAL at From My Carolina Home, and I'll play some more with the Dreamlines prompts.  A new one should come out on Wednesday!
• March will bring a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge - what will it be? As soon as I figure that out, there will be blocks to make for a couple of projects.

Lots to do!

Hand-piecing Projects

In my slow stitching time this week, I've been working on some hand-piecing.  Back in December, I stitched a 3.5 inch bowtie block a day.  They were all different colors, mostly whatever scraps I had out on my cutting table, and I ended the month with 31 of them!

At the beginning of this year, I started sorting them by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month - blues for January and then pink for February.  I ended up with eight blues and now need just one more pink to make it eight for this month.

Those pieces look red in this photo, but they are really a dark pink - 

in the magenta range, I think.

I'll be stitching this one up today.

I've also continued to quilt last year's hand-pieced Dancing Pluses.  All the blocks in the center have some quilting in them, and now I'm working on the blocks around the outside.  

This will be my slow stitching for today-

 joining in with all the stitchers at Kathy's Quilts!

And since these are scrappy projects - linking up with Oh Scrap

at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

ABC Table Scraps for February

This month's Table Scraps project was inspired by a little Valentine mini at Temecula Quilt Company and some orphan blocks I found.  Here's what my orphan blocks looked like:

A four patch with one light corner when turned on point makes a V, 

which easily translates into a heart shape.

In pink, I had two that looked like this:

Yes, penguins on pink!

With some setting triangles cut from my stash of Tula Pink Fairy Dust, I ended up with this little mini, measuring about 10 x 14. 

But that's not all - I had another orphan block to use up, too.

Another penguin - this time in a log cabin block.

You might remember this photo from a few weeks ago - I was working on bringing the log cabin piece up to the right size so that I could use it for the backing of the hearts!

Here's how the log cabin side looks after finishing.

Reversible!

This month's Table Scraps mini quilt has landed on a bedside table, which it is perfect for.

Thanks, as always, to the Joyful Quilter for these fun challenges!

If, like me, you enjoy sewing up little quilted items for around the house,

then this is the place for you!

Check out more Table Scraps here at the February link-up.

Also sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

 

I Like Thursday #324

 Wednesday's view out the front window.  

I guess it's still winter here.  sigh...

We did manage to get to my final post-op exam at the eye doctor this morning.  The roads weren't great, but my wonderful husband got me there, and also to Costco to order new glasses, and then home again.   That's something I love about him - he figures out how to get things done.  

How to find an iced tea in downtown Boston?

Did you know Dunkin Donuts has good iced tea?

There's one on just about every corner in Boston!

Today will be a good day to wrap up in a quilt and read.  I don't mind that!  I've gotten into an obsession with a book series.  Does that happen to you?  As soon as I finish one book, I want to read the next.  These are from the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. 

 

Ruth is a forensic archeologist in England, and ends up working with the police to help identify bones when there's been a murder.  The books have interesting historical and archeological info in them, along with the fictional story.  Plus I've gotten very attached to the characters, which is why I want to read the next book right away!  

We were searching for a new TV series to watch in the evenings, and I found this one on BritBox.  So far we're enjoying it.  

Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme help solve the mysteries while 

also running a gardening and landscape business.

I got right to work on this week's border prompt for the Stay at Home Round Robin - square in a square blocks.  I found a very helpful tutorial with a sizing chart at Quilting JetGirl and made the 3 inch finished blocks.  They turned out just right!

I'm still holding off on sewing any of these together into actual borders.  Maybe they will all make one border?  It's been kind of fun just arranging the blocks after they're sewn each week, and mulling over the possibilities!

Hope you're having a great week, without too much snow!

Joining in with I Like Thursday,  hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

  

To-Do Tuesday #171

This view of my design wall shows what I have and have not been working on this week!  

• Stay at Home Round Robin ✅️ Yes, I made four sets of flying geese.
• Pink blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February. ✅️  Shown above  are zipper blocks and bowties.  I finished my Table Scraps Challenge project, too - more on that at the end of the week.
• I did not get the chandelier quilt sandwiched for quilting, unfortunately. ❌️ Unexpected things took me away from my sewing room over the weekend, and I just didn't get to it.  That will stay on my list for the coming week!

I should have time this week to get going on basting and quilting the chandelier quilt.  Also I'm continuing to work on the Stay at Home Round Robin.  This week's prompt is from The Darling Dogwood, for square in a square blocks.  I started working on them this afternoon (Monday).

And made a few crumb blocks, too!

I've started making HSTs for the Scrap Dance Quadrille Mystery QAL over at From My Carolina Home.   This is the first step of the mystery, and I need to make quite a few more, so will keep this on the list for awhile.

What are you working on this week?

Linking up with Quilt Schmilt for To-Do Tuesday!

Playing with Pink

I've had a very enjoyable week just playing with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks I'm making for 2023.  I've ended up with four pink Split 9 Patch blocks.

They're really pretty mixed with the blue blocks from January!

I had already made a few pink zipper blocks last week, so decided to catch up with some blue ones this week.

Isn't this one the perfect combination to mix January with February?  

A light blue with pink hearts and a pink Grunge for the accent.

Sharing over at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

And speaking of blue - I've also made a few flying geese to add to my Stay at Home Round Robin project.    This post by Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl, shared by Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts, was so helpful!  I like the No Waste method for making flying geese, but really liked Yvonne's chart to figure out the sizes of pieces that I needed.

I'm sticking with my plan of just making the blocks that are called for each week, and will figure out the actual borders a little later down the road.

There are lots of fun Stay at Home Round Robin projects to take a look at 

over at Anja Quilts!  

I Like Thursday #323

Happy Thursday, friends!  When I was working, we used to celebrate that it was Friday Eve - only one more day of the work week left.   I don't have to work any more, but I still like Thursdays!

One reason to like Thursdays is that is when my quilt group meets!  Last Thursday during our get together, we learned how to make Folded Star ornaments.  It was challenging, but fun - thank goodness for friends who had it figured out ahead of time!

Here's mine!

This week I also finished up this sweet cross-stitch design from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I think I'd like to frame it, but need some advice.  Should it be behind glass?  Or maybe an open frame with some batting behind it to give it texture and a little poof?  Any suggestions are welcome!

Red Heart Mini Sampler

Our Valentine's Day was pretty low key, but we did take my mom out for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  That was yummy and enjoyable!   Here is my Valentine guy, out doing one of his (or you could say our) favorite things - wandering along an ocean beach with camera in hand ready to take a photo.  This was taken last fall on the Oregon coast.

LeeAnna's question of the week for us is how did you know your spouse was The One?  And my first thought was - we met 49 years ago, so I don't remember!  🤣  But here we are, all these years later - still laughing together and enjoying and supporting each other - so he must be the one!  

Plus, he doesn't mind when I buy Girl Scout cookies, lol!

True love!  💕💕💕

Joining in with I Like Thursday,  hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

To-Do Tuesday #170

Good morning, and Happy Valentine's Day!  💖  it's been about a month since I wrote a To-To Tuesday post, and I'm ready to be back!

My last to-do list in January was purposely light as I knew I had things coming up that might get in the way of my sewing time.  Fortunately it has turned out that I have been able to sew!

I finished the Frosty the Snowman quilt, and it is hanging on this wall in my sewing room!

Previously in this spot, I've had a fall-themed wall-hanging (for a couple years!), so it's looking like I'll need a spring/summer-themed to rotate in eventually!

I also embroidered this Kathy Schmitz design, "Cozy Up."  I'm thinking of bordering it with either the darker brown dots or the lighter brown with tiny flowers.

This week, I'm planning to...

• Get my chandelier quilt sandwiched for quilting.
• Work with some more pink scraps for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  

• Continue on with my Stay at Home Round Robin project.  This week's new border prompt is to make flying geese blocks. 

These sound doable!  Have a great week!  Joining in with To-Do Tuesday with Carol at Quilt Schmilt.

Some slow stitching for Sunday...

I quilted the last Frosty on Friday night!

And here they are, all trimmed and ready for binding.  

I machine stitched the binding to the front yesterday, and today's slow stitching will be to hand stitch the binding for a finish!

The Frosties have been about a year-long project, starting with embroidering the 12 different blocks that were designed by Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  More info about them can be found HERE.  Scroll to the end of the post for links to all the blocks.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

 

This week in the sewing room

The chandelier blocks are a finished flimsy!  Whoop, whoop!

36 x 45

Unfortunately, there had to be a little drama before all was said and done.  I was just about to sew the last long seams when I discovered this:

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

Just what I didn't want to do - unsew several seams to get to that red block and turn it the correct direction.  But I did, and everything is all better!

Next job is to get this one layered and ready for quilting which shouldn't be hard because it's baby sized.  This will be a donation for Hands2Help, to one of the organizations that prefers smaller quilts.

I also wanted to at least make a few hourglass blocks for my Stay at Home Round Robin project, which is this week's border prompt over at ChrisKnits.  

Just a few so far.

Tiny skiers paired with snowflakes - perfect!

I may just keep going with this idea of surrounding my center with the weekly block/border ideas, like this.  This is a work in progress!

Sharing at ChrisKnits for the SAHRR Week 3 link-up,

SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #322

Valentine Greetings to you!  Living in Loveland, Colorado, it is all about hearts and Valentine's Day, especially in the month of February.  We are the "Sweetheart City!"

Not my photo, borrowed from a friend, but we drive by this spot quite frequently!

Hearts are all over town, some seasonal, some permanent, like the one above.  We have a "Miss Loveland Valentine" contest every year, official Valentine cards you can purchase to send, and even a specialty beer and coffee for the season.  All kinds of fun!

Inside our house, it's a little lower key on Valentine's Day, but I do enjoy putting out my heart quilts and other crafts.  Last year was the first time in a long time that I tried some cross-stitch and finished this little design from Melisa of PinkernPunkin Quilting.

This year, I've been stitching this sweet design, also shared by Melisa, her Red Heart Mini Sampler.  I loved the look of the alphabet and hearts all in red.

I don't think I'll have this finished for Valentine's Day, 

but it's been fun to stitch on anyway!

Speaking of sweets, maybe I'll make us a special treat - like these cookies from Dessert for Two?  They look yummy! 

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day?  Share them in your comment.  And thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday,  hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!