I Like Thursday #441

Happy Thursday, friends!  It's a day to celebrate because I have baby cucumbers!  

When things actually grow around here, 

it often feels like a miracle!

I finished a good book this week.  This one is for our July book club duscussion.  I have to admit that I am usually more of a fiction reader than nonfiction - give me a good murder mystery page turner anytime - but this story is a good one!  Who knew donkeys were such interesting animals?!

We're trying something new here - reusable zip-lock bags made from silicone.  They just arrived the other day, so I'm still get started using them.  I wanted to reduce our use of single use plastic.  I will report back!

LeeAnna's question of the week is about summer activities and sports - do we have a favorite?   If you've been a regular visitor here, you probably already know my answer to that is golf.   In fact, I enjoy (and have played) golf year round!

My friend group here (lots of retired teachers) started a Tuesday morning golf group many years ago, and I look forward to it every week.  We're not very good, but we laugh about it and have a good time.  It's good exercise, too!  

Golf can really be played in any attire - my usual is shorts and a tee shirt, lol! -  but you do need special equipment.  Mike likes to make golf clubs.  Components are ordered from various places and then he puts them together with special tape and glue.  It's kind of like our quilting hobby - not inexpensive, but fun and useful!  This is a putter he made me a few years ago.

Have a great week - hope it includes your favorite summer activity!

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

 

 

Midweek Update

It's all about the Hearts this week!  First the Patchwork Hearts quilt project - 

While I was waiting for my batting order to arrive, I had some time to get row two of Patchwork Hearts ready for quilting and put some stitching into it.

That one will go back in the closet for awhile now that my batting arrived, however, because I'm finally able to get back to work on finishing Glowing Hearts!   The backing was pieced, the batting cut, and all the layers sandwiched together.

I even had some time to get started on the quilting, which will be a simple diagonal grid.  That seems to be the quilting design that I have the most success with.  Might as well stick to what works, right?!  I'm starting with a line of stitching through the center of each block, and then will add in more in between.

The orange peel top has moved to the handwork list as I also prep it for quilting.  First I need to cut out some of the backing and the interfacing that helped make the shapes.  This should make hand quilting it much easier!  

So - progress on everything, and lots more to do!

Linking up with The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

A new crow for the Old Crow Saltbox House...

This week I stitched a stem and some leaves.  

And then I added the crow sitting on top of a leaf!  Next step is a sunflower bloom between the crow and the house.

I haven't shared my blue and white project in awhile, but I have been working on quilting it in between cross-stitch and other projects.  The center is finished.

And I've moved on to one of the side sections.  Each of these side sections has a wider blue piece at either the top or the bottom which needs some extra quilting.  So I did some measuring and marking for a simple design.

I'll be working on one of these for my Slow Sunday Stitching!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts.

 

Progress on Patchwork Hearts

Patchwork Hearts is my 2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge block collection that I am slowly working on finishing.  This week I had some time to get it out and move it forward a little bit more.  I'm quilting one row at a time, and then will connect them with sashing and batting after the quilting is finished.

How about an orange cat, since June is orange month?!

It didn't take too long to sew the blocks into rows this week.

Now row 1 is completely quilted and the next step is to get row 2 ready for that task.

That will be my weekend job!

And a close-up peek at the orange heart, just because!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

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

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #440

No-bunny has been bothering my garden this week, thankfully!  Actually, maybe it's due to generous sprinkling of cayenne pepper around the plants?  Thank you, Vicki, for that advice!

For more welcome wildlife sightings this week, we went down to a natural area that we like to visit near us to see the yellow-headed blackbirds that nest there.  We enjoy this little field trip every year at the end of May/beginning of June.  We take a picnic lunch and walk the trail around the pond.  

These birds make the most distinctive sound.

A beautiful big pelican was also visiting the area!  This is younger son's photo - didn't it turn out neat?

And there was a huge bullfrog.  He was a little suspicious of us, but I promise we didn't bother him.  

LeeAnna's question of the week is about going to sleep away camp.  Have I gone - yes!  I grew up being a Girl Scout and that was one of the fun experiences.  I found one photo of "way back then."  I remember liking the tents we slept in.  They were up on wooden platforms with canvas sides that you could roll up when it was warm.  We slept in our sleeping bags on cots - maybe four or six girls to a tent?

A date stamp on the back says 1964.

That's me in the center with the curly hair.  

I remember enjoying the crafts and cooking activities.  We wove lanyards like these - you can still find YouTube videos that show how to do this.  I googled "camp crafts!"  

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

Midweek Update

Last Wednesday I shared a photo of my Orange Peel QAL project that looks almost exactly like this one except that now the pins are gone, because all of the applique is finished!  Time to figure out how I want to quilt this.

I'm still waiting on the batting delivery so that I can get started quilting Glowing Hearts, so I had time to make a few Scrappy Chain blocks for the current Many Hands, Many Hearts block drive.  This is another block that almost takes longer to choose and cut the pieces for than it does to sew.

I was really careful to cut accurately and when sewing to make sure my seam allowance was good and this block turned out nice and square - 12.5 inches.  I had read on someone's blog that they had some trouble with that, and I didn't want to waste fabric on an unusable block.  

The red one turned out just right, so I made a blue one, too!   These are quick and easy to sew up, so I'm definitely planning to make more.  The block drive goes through August.

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

   

A mini sampler finish...

I finished up the Rose Garden Mini Sampler this week.  There wasn't much left to stitch - I think there were three roses and a green leaf - so it didn't take too long.   Then I turned it into a bowl filler pillow.

Or in my case, a basket filler!  This is my collection of mini samplers - except for the strawberry one which displayed on the entryway chest of drawers right now.  The basket is getting full!

Then I went back to an older project that had been set aside for awhile - the Old Crow Saltbox House.  I need to fill in the windows and then stitch some sunflowers around the outside of the house.

Thank you, Melisa, at PinkernPunkin, for sharing your designs so generously!  

I am enjoying every stitch.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

More with orange...

I focused my scrappy sewing on the orange 16 patch stars this week.  I started out by cutting as many 3.5 inch squares as I could find from all the oranges I had.  There were a few that could only get one or two.  Then I sorted by brighter compared to darker.  

Not perfect, but these will do!

Sewing these up goes really fast once I've made the star points.

Then - you know me - I have to get out all the blocks and see the results for the first half of the year.   I love these!

Along the way, I finished up a tiny orange 16 patch block, and turned it into a Gameboard block.  These are fun, too!  

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

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

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #439

Things are growing at my house!  Flowers - 

And veggies, too - green beans in the back, pumpkins in the left front, and cucumbers to the right.

We are again fighting with the rabbits over the green beans, so the wire fencing is an attempt to keep them out.  This year they don't seem to want to eat the plants, but they want to burrow down in behind them.  I'm hoping I will not go out one morning and find a nest of babies in there!

Wednesday morning - she's back!  No matter what we do, the bunny finds her way in and digs a big "burrow!"

Naughty bunny!

I was a lucky winner in the Orange Peel QAL over at The Crafty Quilter.  She sent me a whole package of goodies!  Of course, I am most excited about the fabric - a mini charm pack of Strawberry and Friends by Kimberly Kight, and a regular size charm pack of Tilda prints - I've never had any Tilda before!  

A pretty quilt pattern designed by Julie, and some fun tools, too.

Applique needles, bobbin holders, and some foundation paper for square in a square blocks.  That might work well with the Tilda charms.

Thank you, Julie!

LeeAnna's question of the week is about swimming.  Did we learn as kids and what was that like?  I did learn to swim as a kid, and have always enjoyed being in water.  I never have been a strong swimmer - no swim team for me - but enjoy being in and around water.  Many neighborhood people where I grew up in Rochester, NY, had backyard pools, so the swim lessons were set up right there.

But the best memory of swimming comes from visiting my grandparents in Iowa City, Iowa, who belonged to the Elks Club where there was a great outdoor pool.  We would visit for two weeks every summer and they would take us to the pool every day.  We could also eat lunch there.  That is the perfect way to entertain grandkids!

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

Midweek Update/Glowing Hearts QAL

Progress on the Spring QALs:

Glowing Hearts is a top!  I went with a sort of asymmetrical plan for the borders, without cornerstones.  It's kind of fun!

I took it outside for a photo, and even though the day was kind of breezy, it shows the colors better.

The backing is purchased, but batting had to be ordered, so it will take a little longer to get this one completely finished.  Thankfully, the quilt parade, which begins Sunday (I think) accepts unfinished tops, too.

Thank you, Sandra, for a lovely design, and fun quilt-along!

Linking up at the Glowing Hearts quilt parade.

I've been working on my orange peel project, too.  13 out of 24 orange peels are appliqued to the background, so that's good progress! 

I'm a pretty slow applique stitcher - I don't want the stitches to show, so I'm trying to be really careful.

Still more to do on each project, but they're both moving along!  

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Two small finishes...

My little entryway chest is decorated for a new month, with strawberry designs.  It's making me want to go on a picnic!

Once we were home from our trip and I had a chance to do some stitching, the berry basket doodle finished up really quickly.

I bordered it with some scraps of red gingham,

 and hand quilted around the outside edges.

The monthly mini for the little stand is finished, too.  I'm not sure the dots were quite the right choice for the binding on this one, but I used what I had!

For today's slow stitching, I think I'll try to finish up the Rose Garden Mini Sampler.  I'm not sure I've made any progress on this one since the last time I shared it, but there's not too much left to do on it.

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday