Slow Sunday Stitching

The bunnies say, "Happy Easter to you!"  Instead of Easter eggs, they're hunting for hearts,  and there's a basketfull.

Ms. Bunny is all decked out in her Easter finery!

After I finished up this bunny design, I needed a new slow stitching project so I started Beatrice Bunny from PinkernPunkin Quilting.  You can see that I've just barely started with a few stitches on Beatrice's turquoise dress.  She's what I'll be working on today for my Slow Sunday Stitching!

Have a wonderful day!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts.

Scrap Happy March

And the Table Scraps Challenge...

March has been purple month for the RSC, and I started with these purples on my table.

While working on my regularly scheduled blocks (patchwork hearts and zipper blocks), I also made a crumb slab that measures about 8 x 12.  Since the Table Scraps Challenge for March includes using purple and having birds be a part of the project, I decided to add some penguins on purple to my crumb block. 

I think those cats might be after them, though!

With a lining piece, some batting, and a purple zipper, it was pretty easy to turn this slab into a simple pouch!  

After sewing up, this ended up about 5.5 x 7.

Perfect for containing all the little things that fall to the bottom of my tote bag.

I was also able to finish up a table mat started with 2.5 inch squares earlier this week.  It was a fun little project - there are purples in it and even some birds - owls!  Do you see them?

I used a piece from a favorite fat quarter for the backing, and a gray dot leftover from the penguin tote bag for the binding..

And we're already using this on the table between our comfy chairs.  It will get spilled on and collect crumbs, but it's all good because it's made with scraps!

Sharing at:

 Joyful Quilter for the March Table Scraps Challenge link-up.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Soscrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

 

I Like Thursday #381

Snow on Sunday into Monday...

but the grape hyacinths are determined!

They were snowed on, but still there after it melted.

I really like Kristin Hannah's books, but they are not easy reads.  I always learn from them, though, and that is definitely the case with The Women.  It's about the women nurses who served in Vietnam and what life was like for them after they came home.  Recommended if you like historical fiction, and can handle hard storylines.

Goodreads

On a softer note 😊 I finished the March heart I was embroidering, and love the look of it!  Here are the three hearts so far this year.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about what baby animal we would like to have as a pet.   I googled miniature sheep, and came up with these little guys - called Shetliot sheep.  They're known for their incredible multicolored fiber!  Also small, and good as pets.  You can read more about them here.

So cute!  And soft, too, I bet!

Happy Thursday! 

Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday 

hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Midweek Update

Having nothing important on my sewing To Do list this week, I decided to play with the 2.5 inch squares from my Little Penguin Scrap Bin.  I started making four patches out of them last fall, and have used some of those in other projects already.

I realized right away that I have mostly run out of pairs of matching squares, so this time I pulled out anything that was gray, and anything in the purple/pink/orange-ish colors and some aquas.

I ended up with this piece, 12.5 x 16.5, using up 48 squares.  

A piece of a fat quarter for backing, and a scrap of batting, and it was ready to quilt.

It won't be long until I have a finished placemat sized tabletopper which will be fun to use!

Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

 

Spring Stitching

This week I finished up the Spring Stamp from Melisa so that I now have one for each season!

And since it is Easter next week, it seemed like just the right time to start working on a bunny design.  This is Bunny Love from Kathy Schmitz.  It was a February 2022 pattern from her One Stitch at a Time Club that I never got to.  

Last year about this same time I stitched up "Watch My Garden Grow," and it looks like these two could be sister designs, so I'm going to stitch this year's bunnies in the same floss - DMC 4066 - Amazon Moss.

Can you guess what color the hearts are going to be?

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

 

A little more with purple...

This week I finished up the alternate nine patch chain block in purple to go with the patchwork heart.  I had made the nine patches earlier in the month as leader/enders, so it was pretty quick to cut the background pieces and sew the whole thing together.

These are starting to look like something fun!  

Then with a little extra time in the sewing room, and just wanting to play with scraps a bit, I decided to sew a few string blocks.  I found a few in various colors that showed up in a box of crumb scraps, so I'm adding to that collection. 

I made a purple and an off-white, just because that's what I happened to have out.  No plans for these - I'm just making them now and then when I've got string scraps to use up.

Linking up with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

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

 

I Like Thursday #380

 Good Morning!  Happy Spring!  Last Thursday we got about 8 inches of heavy, wet snow.  Mostly melted now, but still a little bit left.  This was how things looked on my Sunday afternoon walk.

Lots of water running down the street.  

That will green things up!

In spite of that snow, buds are coming out on the trees.  I spied these lilac buds on my walk, too.

Snowy days are good for reading!  Do you follow Nann at With Strings Attached?  Besides being an amazing quilter, she is also a retired librarian, and I count on her for great book recommendations.  Here is one of Nann's recommendations for me that I just finished and loved!  I enjoyed the two women who were the main characters and the unexpected connection they made with a younger woman in the story.  Plus, it made me want to visit Maine!

Here is the Goodreads blurb about it.

We made a yummy and easy dinner the other night - calzones made with Pillsbury pizza dough.  I didn't get a good photo, so I'm sharing the photo from their website, plus the link.

Recipe here.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about what kinds of wild creatures we might see around town this time of year.  At our house it's always birds that we're looking for.  There have been lots of finches, chickadees, and flickers who are year-round residents.  We're also seeing the downy woodpeckers and nuthatches again.  What I'm looking forward to seeing are the goldfinches.  It's always a treat when they visit our feeders in their bright yellow Spring feathers!  This photo is from April last year.  

Hope you're having a great week!

Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday 

hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Stay at Home Round Robin 2024 - my finish!

It has been another fun few months of sewing along with the Stay at Home Round Robin group, lead by Gail of Quilting Gail!  Thanks to Gail and the other hosts for lots of ideas and inspiration throughout the weeks of the QAL.  

This is my fourth year participating, and the third year in a row starting with an embroidered block as my center.  Since my 2023 SAHRR was made in all cool blue and white,  I decided to do something completely different this year and use warm reds and yellows, with a white for the background, as my color choices.

Week by week, incorporating the different border prompts, I slowly came up with this design.

This week, I sandwiched the layers, did the quilting, and finished everything up!

I decided to quilt in a diamond design, starting with one long, curving line going diagonally from both the top left and right corners, and then echoing that about every 1.5 inches.  I love the texture and look this gives to the finished piece.  (Also it goes edge to edge and doesn't require any marking, so it's fast and easy!)

The backing is the last of the Tumbling Blocks wide back that I've used on several recent quilts.  It seemed like it went pretty well with the front!

I'd say this is a bright, summer-y looking finish - just what I was planning for!

Thanks again, ladies, for a very fun quilt along!

Sharing at QuiltingGail for the SAHRR 2024 Quilt Parade,

and at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.

quilt-along always challenges me in a variety of ways, and this year has been no different.   

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

I'm not Irish, but I do love green!   Today seems like a good day to stitch with green, so I'll be adding leaves to the tree on my March heart design from PinkernPunkin.

I've also been working on another PinkernPunkin design called "Shamrock Blessings."  It's really appropriate for today!  After the letters are stitched, there is one more shamrock and then the word Blessings.  I changed up the shape a little bit because of the size of my piece of fabric.  It will be more square, and may not have the same border.  But it will definitely be stitched in green!  ☘️☘️☘️

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Bits and pieces of purple...

In between starting a new project - the Pieces of My Heart QAL at Melva Loves Scraps - and working on finishing up my Stay at Home Round Robin (quilt parade starts soon!) I did sew with some purple scraps this week!

Two purple Hollow 9 blocks were hand-pieced to go along with the two red ones from February.  I still need to stitch some green ones, too.  This is definitely going to be a long term project!

I also made a couple more zipper blocks in purple to add to the collection I have.  

Just for fun, I laid all 36 blocks out on my living room floor with the purple blocks in the middle.  It's a fun, colorful group!

These blocks finish at 6x9, so right now this would be about 36 x 54.  

I'm planning to add six more blocks in the next months,

for a 7 x 6 layout, so then the quilt would be 42 x 54 .  

Since these blocks are rectangular, 

there have to be more across than down for a good size!

What have you been working on this week?

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #379 - Flowers

 Here is my flower garden in March!  It's still needing the Spring clean-up, but things are starting to grow - like tulips and grape hyacinths. 

And this is what my flower garden looks like by about mid-summer or so, or at least what I *hope* it will look like!  Every year is different in our yard, and we actually need to dig up and re-do this little garden area.

LeeAnna's question of the week is what is our favorite flower.  For me, it depends what time of year you're asking.  In the Spring it is daffodils, which I've seen are already blooming in some of your gardens.  Not here yet, though.  This is a photo from April of 2021.   

Since then I haven't had any daffodils bloom - they just seem to have disappeared!

I need to plant more bulbs this fall.

If you ask me later in the year, it is sunflowers.  We usually try to plant a few seeds every year, and sometimes we actually get them to grow!

When it's not growing season for flowers around here, I always enjoy stitching some, and right now I'm working on the March heart in Melisa's Year of Hearts SAL.  Of course, it features daffodils, so I had to stitch them first!

Hope you're having a great week!

Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday 

hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

 

 

Midweek Update - a new start!

When Melva of Melva Loves Scraps announced her new QAL - Pieces of My Life - I was intrigued by the idea of sewing the story of my life into a quilt!  Since I will be turning 70 this year, it feels like the right year to take on a project like this.  And this week we're getting started!  Check out all the details at the link above if you're curious about it, too.

I am the oldest of four - three girls and a boy - and was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1954, when my dad was in the Navy.  When I was about two, my parents moved to Rochester, New York, where we lived until I graduated from high school.  My parents both grew up in Iowa, where their parents were also born and lived their whole lives.

This photo is of my mom and me when I was two years old.  Can you see my very curly hair?  

Our first block is called "Bow," and there is an adorable photo of Melva on her post here of her beautiful blonde hair all fixed up with a bow!  My hair didn't work with bows, and it was always kept short when I was little so that it would be mostly under control.  My sister was the one who got pigtails and bows with her long straight hair.  I was always jealous! 

I got started on the bow block by making and trimming a bunch of HSTs.  My plan for this quilt is to use the cream Grunge as my background fabric, the floral as my focus fabric, and various colors chosen from the floral to coordinate with it.  For this block it's a light blue batik.

It didn't take long to stitch up this first block, the Bow!

A little more work is involved - not on the block, but on writing the journal that Melva is providing to document the history of our families and our lives.  I'll get on that this week!

Sharing at Melva Loves Scraps - Pieces of My Life link-up for block #1.

And at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Slow stitching for this Sunday...

Over the last year or so, since I started cross-stitching, I've made some of Melisa's little stamp designs that are for each season.

But I haven't made one for Spring yet, and it's about time!  So I hunted around on Melisa's blog, PinkernPunkin Quilting and Stitching, and found the perfect little design.

And here's my start.  I chose different colors for the border and letters, but will stick with more similar colors for the bluebird and wheelbarrow of tulips.

Lots more to do today for my Slow Sunday Stitching

at Kathy's Quilts!