I Like Thursday #338

LeeAnna has declared the month of June to be ice cream month for I Like Thursdays, and I can get on board with that!  The question for this week is - what's your favorite ice cream flavor?  Well, that's an easy one!

I don't get it very often anymore, but when we do go to Baskin Robbins, that is what I order.  Hmmm... it must be time for a little ice cream field trip!  Or buy some and bring it home - then there could be more than one bowl! 

I was googling Jamoca Almond Fudge to find out how long it's been around, and while I didn't get that question answered, I did find this article about BR's co-founder, Irvine Robbins, who died in 2008.  Apparently my favorite flavor was also his!

Over the long weekend, we had a chance to do a little wandering at our favorite local trail areas.  At one, we found lots of yellow-headed blackbirds, a favorite bird of ours to look for this time of year.  Mike got some great photos!

On our other outing, we enjoyed seeing this goose family swimming along!

And a pretty Columbine!

And, this being primarily a quilting blog, I thought you would get a kick out of this one - who knew there was such a thing?!

This was in a native plant area, and there were many of these painted rocks

that helped identify what was growing.

In my actual sewing room, I've been working on House #8 for the Rainbow Neighbourhood and the pieces and parts are ready to sew together.

I'm not sure about that green for the grassy strip yet, but maybe.  

In real life, the batik that I'm using for the house front (around and above the door) 

is much more purple than it looks in this photo.

I'm ready to sew this up today!

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

  

 

Hands2Help Final Check-in

I have two quilts that I'm sending along to two different charities for the H2H quilt drive this year.   These are both baby/toddler size, so I'm sending one to the Little Lambs of Utah, for kids going into foster care, and one to the Cool Kids Campaign in North Carolina, for kids fighting cancer.

Both are washed and labeled and ready to go as soon the large bubble mailing envelopes I need to send them in arrive from Amazon.  I've looked all over town and can't find any in the regular stores, so Amazon to the rescue!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

To-Do Tuesday #182

Good morning, and happy To-Do Tuesday!  Hope you enjoyed the long weekend.  There were lots of graduation parties around here - we were even invited to one!  It was nice to get caught up with some extended family that we hadn't seen in awhile.  But did we take any pictures?  No...

I do have pictures of things I've been working on this week to share, though.  House #7 for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL is done!  This might be my new favorite!

The Bird House!

Here are all seven - they're really starting to look like something!

Two houses to go!

I made some progress on my project for the June blog hop to launch Kelly Young's new book.  Layers are spray basted and quilting has started.

June 21st is reveal day!

And two small projects were finished - May Table Scraps and Robin Lane.

So, what will I be working on this week?

• House #8 - the quilt block section is started, and pieces and parts for the rest of the house need to be cut and sewn.

• Keep working on my project for the June 21st blog hop.
• Get started on June blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge - working with more blues.

Joining in with Carol and friends at Quilt Schmilt for To-Do Tuesday!

A finish and a new start!

Earlier this week I finished up the "Robin Lane" design that I'd been working on recently.  Last week I shared the green border I picked for it and the pink backing.  This week, I did some simple quilting, and finished it off with a pale pink binding.  

Now it's hanging on the side of my fridge 

where I enjoy displaying little seasonal pieces.

I couldn't go very long without prepping another embroidery design to work on, and since there's been a lot of planting and watering going on at our house the last couple of weeks, I found the perfect one!

This is "For Every Season," another Kathy Schmitz design - find it HERE on her website.

I'm going to enjoy lots of slow stitching on this one!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

 

ABC Table Scraps for May

 Hello!

My Table Scraps project for May celebrates a Favorite Feathered Friend, the Western Tanager.  They're such beautiful birds and we were lucky to have a male and female visit our feeders for a couple of days recently.  He reminded me of this orphan block I had in the cupboard, again leftover from the 2020 Color Challenge, hosted by Patterns by Jen.

I'm also incorporating the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month - orange,

and the letters F and L as prompted by Joy over at the Joyful Quilter!

It was pretty easy to make a placemat out of this block by adding some blue strips to each side so it measures 12.5 x 16.5.  Quilted with the serpentine stitch and bound in the same blue, and voila!

Small projects like this are good for using up Leftover pieces of batting and backing, like the Sprinkles wide back I've been using on bigger quilts this year.

I enjoy having a fun placemat for my breakfast each morning.  They make great gifts, too!

Sending you off with one more shot of that Western Tanager.  They've flown off up into the mountains and further west for the summer - only graced our yard for a couple days during their migration.

Thanks for visiting!

Sharing at ABC Table Scraps link-up for May at The Joyful Quilter,

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #337

Happy Thursday, friends!  How's your week going?  I'm joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.  

We drove out through Eastern Colorado to where our son lives in western Kansas last Saturday and encountered this crazy fog/Canadian wildfire smoke combination that made visibility pretty bad.  Not something to like, but definitely made the day interesting!

(Do you like that crack in the windshield?:)  

Fortunately, the fog did lift after we got up out of the river valley a ways. 

I needed something to stitch on earlier this week, and haven't had a chance to trace a new embroidery design so I pulled out some Aida cloth and stitched up another of the sweet Spring Stamps from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I liked this one with the bird and the watering can because that's what I've been doing this week - planting and watering!

This week I've been reading the book that my book club chose for our June discussion.  It's about a woman named Elizabeth Packard who lived in Illinois in the 1800s, and was committed to an insane asylum for several years by her husband because she dared to have her own thoughts, ideas, and beliefs!  It's quite a story.  I suspect my group will have lots to talk about with this book!

Goodreads

LeeAnna's question of the week is if we could go on vacation anywhere right now, where would it be?  Well, I've been itching to get out of town lately to... somewhere, anywhere!!! ... but because of family things going on, we just haven't been able to make any plans.  

You might know, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, that I love to go anywhere that is by the ocean.  In recent years, our favorite destination has been the Oregon Coast.  So beautiful and scenic there!

We actually have a trip planned to go back there in September, 

and I am sooo looking forward to it!

Other favorite destinations include coastal cities in California like San Diego and Monterey.  I'd like to visit the Central Coast, too, like the Morro Bay area.

But the place I'd really like to go and have never been to is Hawaii!  Still dreaming of that one!

Map Source

Where would you like to travel to?

To-Do Tuesday #181

Good morning, friends!  It's Tuesday again, and I'm sharing my progress from last week, and my to-do list for the week to come.  Big thanks to Carol at Quilt Schmilt for hosting the To-Do Tuesday link-up!

This week I made sure to get my Hands2Help quilts washed and ready to send off.  I love a freshly washed and dried quilt, don't you?!

House #6 for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL is completed.  To keep up with the schedule I should have completed #7 as well, but I'm not there yet.  Good thing it's not a race!

I did also finish up the orange split 9 patch blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  See my Saturday post here.

On this week's list:

• Finish house #7 and get started on #8 for my Rainbow Neighbourhood.  #7 will be done in reds, and celebrate birdwatching!

• Keep working on my project for the blog hop in June.  No progress on that one last week, but hopefully I can get more done this week.
• There are a couple of small quilted items that I want to finish up this week - my May Table Scraps project and an embroidery piece.
• That's probably enough for this week's list!

Have a great week!

The robin and the schoolhouse...

I had fun finishing up the Schoolhouse Sampler this week, after focusing on the ABCs at first.  The letters are done in DMC 4066, Amazon Moss, my new favorite variegated floss.  I added other colors for the flower buds, schoolhouse, and moon and stars.

Meanwhile, Robin Lane got a border and a small piece of a pink bird print for the backing.   My plan for today's slow stitching is to get the layers together with a little machine quilting, and then hand-stitch the binding!

Linking up with all the slow stitchers at Kathy's Quilts today!

Is it orange?

This week I wanted to work on some Split 9 Patch blocks in orange, but I wasn't sure I had enough variety of orange scraps for them.  Hunting around in my stash, I found this Halloween stripe and wondered if it read orange enough to be usable.

Figuring that I really had nothing to lose - this is a scrappy quilt after all - I decided to use a few pieces of the stripe in a couple of Split 9s.  Here's how they turned out!

The great thing about these blocks is how they look all together as a group.  I think this will work!

My other accomplishment is house #6 for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL.  This is the Rainy Day house!  I found just enough of the fun raindrop print and *made it work* for the sky (sometimes it does rain sideways here!) and some cats to look out the door and windows (it was raining cats, and possibly dogs, lol)!  

Although this block is mainly turquoise and teal, 

there are a few little bits of orange here and there!

It's been a good sewing week here!  Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #336

Good morning, friends!  Hope your week is going well!  We enjoyed a backyard visit from one of our favorite birds over the weekend - a western tanager.  He hung around our feeders for quite on both Saturday and Sunday.  Such a beautiful bird!

That reminded me of this orangey/yellow orphan block I have, so I pulled it out and it will become something for this month's Table Scraps project.  I'm still thinking about what to do with it. 

This is leftover from the 2020 Color Challenge over at PBJ Quilts, and I remember each monthly block was inspired by birds that year, but I don't remember if this one was a western tanager or something different.

We finally got to one of my favorite times of the year - when we can plant!  I started with my flower pots.  I'm going with all white petunias in the pots this year.  They don't look like much yet, but I'll share again in a month!

Veggies will be next!

Earlier this week, I finished this book, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  It was really good, and a fascinating story because the main characters are all involved in computer gaming - becoming game designers in their college years and starting their own company.  Of course, that is a topic I know almost nothing about, except through my own sons, who would be similar in age to the characters in the book. 

Have you ever had a close encounter with a celebrity?  When I thought about this question, two memories came up.  Once in the Denver Airport, Mike and I (this was before kids, so a long time ago) were waiting at our gate and a large group of very tall men walked by.  I pointed them out to Mike like "look at those guys !" and he laughed and said they were the Denver Nuggets basketball team!  He, of course, could name them all, but I was clueless.

Another time, we had gone to a Spring Training baseball game in Arizona, and specifically wanted to see the California Angels because our son was a fan of the pitcher Jim Abbott at the time.  The Angels were owned by Gene Autry, and he came walking along near where we were sitting.  Again, Mike recognized him, not me! (He grew up in a country music loving family, so that helped.)

But my true claim to fame is this:

Since we did our DNA tests a few years ago, and signed up with a website called Family Search, we get these kinds of email notifications once in awhile.  This would be through my dad's mother's side of the family, and if I click on the link in the email, I can follow the ancestors back and see how we are related.  

I thought that was kind of neat!

Joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.

To-Do Tuesday #180

180 To-Do Tuesday posts adds up to lots of things getting done over the years!  Thanks to all the hosts during that time, and especially to Carol at Quilt Schmilt who is hosting this fun link-up now.  There's nothing like quilty inspiration and encouragement from like-minded friends!

Looking back at last week's post shows mixed results on my list.

• Wash and dry the H2H quilts and finish the label on one. ❌️ Not done.  Somehow I just walked on by those two quilts all week, and didn't touch them!  That will stay on the list for this week.
• Finish house #5 for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL. ✅️  Done!  This one was fun!

• Sew more orange blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  ✅️  Done.  See my zipper blocks here.
• Make my mom a new Spring mug rug for Mother's Day.  ✅️. Also done and shown in the linked post above.

On this week's list then:

• I didn't get very far on house #6, so it's still in progress.  I'll keep that on the list for this week.

Quilt block ready, other pieces and parts chosen.

Once the pieces are cut, these blocks sew together pretty quickly!

• More with orange for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge - work on the Split 9 Patch blocks.

• I'm working on a pieced backing for Kelly Young's new book launch blog hop which is coming out in June.  Most of the piecing is done, but I need to make the backing just a bit wider, so will work on that this week, too.

• And wash those H2H quilts!  

Have a great week, everyone!

Slow stitching for Sunday...

I last shared my progress on Robin Lane about two weeks ago, and I had a lot of leaves and flowers to embroider, and wasn't really looking forward to them!  But I persevered (wink!) and it is now completely finished.  It turns out they weren't as tedious to stitch up as I thought they would be and I love the finished look of Robin Lane!

Time to figure out a patchwork finish for this robin!

Meanwhile, I had to trace something new to work on, and I chose the May 2023 One Stitch at a Time Club design - "Schoolhouse Sampler."

From the website:

And my work so far:

This one is challenging me with some new stitches - 

cable chain, feather stitch,  and herringbone stitch were all unfamiliar to me.

Fortunately, I found a resource that has given me good directions and pictures to follow.  The feather stitch took a little bit to get the hang of, but if you look at the C and O in the photo above, I think I've got it!

Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials 

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

More with orange...

After finishing my orange house for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL earlier this week, I thought the button print would be fun in a zipper block.

That lead to two more zipper blocks for May's color of the month.

So far there are 15 of these fun blocks for the year!

One small scrappy finish for the week is a new mug rug for my mom for Mother's Day.  This was a leftover block from a Rainbow Neighbourhood house that turned out to be too big.  It works great as a mug rug, though, and Mom really enjoys these little pieces!

This measures 7.5 x 8.5 inches.

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!