I Like Thursday #373

Happy February!

It's still winter, but we played golf on Tuesday!   It was a beautiful day - 63 for the high - and a great way to spend the afternoon.  Golf is Mike's absolute favorite pastime, so I'm happy that we could get out and play - it helps him like winter better, lol!  

Have you ever bought a "take home and bake" pizza at Walmart?  They are surprisingly good, and such an easy meal.  We brought home a cheese pizza last Friday and added a bunch of our favorite toppings.

I finished the most interesting book this last week.  Goodnight, Irene is our Loveland Loves to Read book for 2024.  It's historical fiction, and based on the author's mother who worked for the American Red Cross Clubmobile service during WWII.  (Read more about it here.) This was something I had never heard of, so enjoyed learning more about it.

My book club group is getting tickets to the Author Talk that is put on by the Loveland Loves to Read sponsors.  I'm looking forward to this event because it's always interesting to hear a writer talk about their book!   Here we are having one of our get togethers, and we even were able to include one member who has moved to another state.

LeeAnna's question of the week was about friendships.  My book club is the group of friends I enjoy being with the most - we are all retired teachers who have a lot in common and enjoy each other's company.   We support each other in so many ways - in tough times and in fun ones.  I'm very blessed to have these women in my life!

Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Midweek Update

Round Two of the Stay at Home Round Robin is being hosted by Anja over at Anja Quilts, and her prompt was to use two colors to make any block or border design.  So I've been playing with more sunny yellow this week!

I started with some strip sets - 

which were trimmed into 2.5 inch squares - 

which were sewn into these - 

And with the addition of some corner HSTs, became this!

After those final longer seams, the second border of my SAHRR is complete.

Now it is 16.5 inches square, and, yes, my block is square, 

not wonky like the photo makes it look!

And it's definitely fun and lemony!

Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers and at

Anja Quilts for the SAHRR Round 2 link-up.

 

Slow Sunday Stitching

It didn't take too long to stitch up this little heart - Block #1 in "A Year of Hearts" - from PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I really enjoyed this, and look forward to February's heart!

In between embroidery stitches, I've also been quilting the Rainbow Bowties.  It's moving right along, but plenty more to do!   This will be my slow stitching today - linking up with Kathy and the Sunday Stitchers.

The first of February coming up means it will be time to stitch another design on the Kathy Schmitz Woven Wreaths project.  Looking forward to that, too!

Continuing on with Table Scraps in 2024

It's always hard to believe when we get to the end of a month, especially January, which feels like such a long month after the fun of the holidays.  I enjoy the end of the month, though, because that's when it's time to finish up and share my Table Scraps project.

I'm going to continue to participate in the Table Scraps Challenge hosted by The Joyful Quilter this year because I love playing around with a few scraps and making a little something or other.  I usually use the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, and try to incorporate the theme that Joy gives us.  This month it's Green and Snowflakes.  An interesting combination!

Here's where I started.  I've got the green part down, but no snowflakes... yet.

Those scraps evolved into this - the cream squares were scraps from the Little Penguin Scrap Bin that had interfacing fused onto the back.  Probably trimmings from an embroidery project.

So, how about some "snowflakes" embroidered in the cream squares?

And here's my little finish - 

About 15 x 8.5

Some red with snowflakes for the back - 

This fits on top of the desk in our family room.

So, the Little Penguins are off to a scrappy start for 2024!

Linking up to The Joyful Quilter for January's Table Scraps Challenge.

TGIFF at Melva Loves Scraps 

Also SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.

I Like Thursday #372

Good morning!  It's that time of year for beautiful sunrises that are in the perfect spot for a photo out our front window.  

We've had some visits from favorite birds this last week.  A flock of cedar waxwings were flitting in out of the tree, going back and forth between our yard and the neighbor's pine tree across the street.

They seemed to like the seed pods that are left on the tree,

and they also enjoyed drinking the snow melt out of the gutters on the house!

After the frigid cold of the previous week, it has really warmed up here the last few days and Tuesday we went for a walk at the natural area.   And we found two bald eagles hanging out in the trees there!  Such an amazing sight.

I finished a fun book this week, The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise.  Louise is an 80-something year old lady who is recovering from a broken hip and her kids think she needs someone to live with her and help her out.  Tanner is a 20-something girl who had to drop out of college because of a sports injury, and she goes to live with Louise.  It turns out that Louise is a wanted criminal from something in her youth, and they have to go on the run!  It's a good story!

I started a new embroidery project this week.  It's from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting, where I find lots of fun freebies to stitch on.  She's calling this "A Year of Hearts."  January's block is "A Winter's Night," so I did as much as I could in variegated blue - for cold and snowy - and now have started adding some other color to make interesting!

Our question of the week is - do you enjoy playing games and cards at your house?  And, yes, we do!  Mike and I, and our boys, too, have always played lots of board games and card games.  Cribbage is a favorite because you can play that with two, three, or four.  At Thanksgiving, we were digging around the game cabinet, and found this game that we had never played before.  We figured it out, played several rounds of it over that weekend, and it became a new favorite!

Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Getting started on the SAHRR

The first border prompt for this year's Stay at Home Round Robin was out on Monday, and you can find the post here at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life.  Wendy called for signature blocks, which are quick and easy to make.   The hardest part is deciding which color and fabric to use!

Since my goal is to make a summer-y wall-hanging, and my colors are reds, whites, and yellows, how about this one?  A bright yellow batik with butterflies and dragonflies on it - what's more summer-y than that?

I started simply, making just four of them out of 2.5 inch yellow squares and 1.5 inch corner squares.

I didn't use much of the yellow in these little blocks, 

but I have lots more of it so I'm sure it will show up again!

I felt like the original embroidery block needed a contrasting border before I went too much further, so I used some red and white and gingham, and the signature blocks became the cornerstones!

This first border makes my block 12.5 inches square.

Linking up at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life and at

Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Slow stitching this week...

This week I finished up the Winter Stamp and Winter Tree Sampler, both designed by Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.   I added them to the little snowman display by the front door and I think it's done for the season!

And then for the rest of the week, I've been hand quilting the Rainbow Bowties.  It's such a pleasant pastime, stitching along.  I'll continue working on this until it's a finish!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

A little more with green...

I had decided to carry over one of my 2023 Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects into the New Year, and that is the zipper blocks.  I ended the year with 30 blocks, and want at least 12 more.  This week I made two more green blocks - one is a combination of light and dark.  The other is an odd "sort of green" batik - one of those fat quarters that you're not sure where you got it!  It has swirls of blue and brown in it also, so I found a scrap of blue solid for the alternate color.

⬆️ That really is a very dark green,

but photographs as black!

It's been awhile since I laid these all out for a photo.  Twelve more blocks will make this one column wider and one row longer.

After making those two blocks, I ended up with some extra sewing time, so I decided to make some Safelight case sets for Carole's donation drive.  You can find out more about this at her link here, From My Carolina Home.  These go to women who are served by a domestic violence shelter.  Two fat quarters and some batting scraps (and a little bit of velcro!) make a cosmetics case, a sunglasses case, and a little pocket tissue holder.  They're fun to make!

I've got two more fat quarters ready to make another set, 

and then will send these off to Carole!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

 

I Like Thursday #371

It has been a cold and snowy week here in Northern Colorado - much like the rest of the country.  I don't know if it was a record low temperature or not, but we hit -16 on Tuesday morning!  We finally got back above freezing today, and Mike and I took advantage of the milder temperature to go for a walk around the neighborhood.  The fresh air and sunshine felt really good!

The birds have been active in the yard, though.  We enjoy seeing the juncos when they come for a visit.

The other day I was cleaning up around my sewing machine and realized I had a lot of junk tools laying around that were looking really messy.   I decided that a fabric basket would be a helpful and much better looking way of storing all these things, so I decided to make one.  After hunting around for a tutorial I realized that I could repurpose a small 12 inch square quilted mat that I haven't been using just by boxing in the corners.

That was quick and easy, and looks a lot nicer!  My sewing machine sits on a desk and I have a Sew Steady table that fits around the machine and provides a large flat surface to sew on.  The new fabric basket slides right under the clear table to get all those tools out of the way.

Quick and easy!

LeeAnna's question of the week for us is: What was an event that had a big impact on you this year and how did you handle it?

You might know how I'm going to answer that one because I've shared about it quite a lot on the blog, and that is moving my mom back here to Colorado in 2021 and becoming responsible for managing her care.  There have been lots of ups and down in the last couple years with this - the biggest one of which was that in March of 2023 she fell and broke her hip.  My mom was 91 1/2 at the time, and I truly thought that either this was a death sentence for her or that she'd never walk again.  Thank goodness for the amazing surgeon who convinced me that she was going to survive this, and the wonderful therapists at the rehab center who made sure Mom did walk again!

March 4, 2023 - day of surgery

Mom also had Covid when this happened!

Up and walking at the rehab center - April 1, 2023 - no April Fool here!

Happy 92nd Birthday, Mom! - August 21

How did I handle this?  Like we handle so many things that are thrown at us in life - one step at a time.  You make the phone calls, you talk to the people who know what you need, you get up and go even when you just want hide away from it all.  I'm really thankful for my husband and local friends who supported me through all of this, and for all of you, my blogging friends.  We may never have met in real life, but our conversations and sharing have helped me more than you know!

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

 

2024 Stay at Home Round Robin Begins!

I've participated in the Stay at Home Round Robin for three years now, and just had to join in again this year!  The last two years, I've used an embroidered block as my center block and have been happy with the results.

2022:

2023:

I have purposefully chosen to create small pieces - wall-hanging size - so that I don't get too overwhelmed with the quilt getting bigger and bigger and running out of background fabric.  Since last year's project was winter-themed, I've decided that this year's will be summer-themed, with the goal of eventually having something to hang for each season.

So, here's my center block choice for my 2024 SAHRR.  This is a summery design from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.

I pulled some scraps from my stash to give an idea of the colors I'm going to focus on - reds and yellows.  Chances are I will need to do a little stash enhancement along the way, too - but I don't mind that!

Looking forward to seeing what our first border prompt will be!

Meanwhile, linking up with Quilting Gail for the Center Block week.

Also To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt

And Midweek Makers at Quiltfabrication.

Winter is here!

Winter has finally come back to our neck of the woods. 

We woke up to a couple inches of snow and a low of -13°!

I don't think this little snowman will mind, though.  This is the Winter Stamp from PinkernPunkin.  

A little more stitching is needed to finish up his body, 

and some snowflakes in the air.

Not too much more to do!

I did get the Rainbow Bowties quilt top all sandwiched with batting and backing, and a few stitches already put in.  This is good weather for sitting with a quilt on my lap!

I'll be putting some slow stitches into both of these projects for my 

Slow Sunday Stitching

at Kathy's Quilts.

 

 

Progress with Green

This week I decided to make an alternate block that will go in between the Patchwork Hearts, and I thought of the four patch blocks I've been making out of the Little Penguin Scrap Bin.

I decided on a layout that will create a chain running through the heart design.  Here's the green block.  

I also made a blue block because I had already sewn enough blue four patches.  Here's how they'll go together.  I think this could work!

And, although not scrappy, this definitely fits in with green month... I got the center sewn together and borders on the Rainbow Bowties!

Today's job is to get the batting and backing cut 

and everything ready to sandwich together for quilting.  

This will be a good weekend for doing some hand quilting - 

today's high temperature is supposed to be 5 degrees!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Also at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell