I Like Thursday #443

Good morning and happy Thursday!   LeeAnna's question of the week is about summer activities - would we rather dig in the garden or relax in the hammock with a good book?

And my answer is - both!  I garden on a very small scale - I enjoy trying to grow flowers and a few vegetables.  Just enough to add some color to the yard and to get some veggies to eat up right away.  It's always exciting when things grow!

First harvest!

I found this petunia in my flower garden the other day.  It came from the same batch as the red and white ones in the blue pot that I shared in my Sunday post, but it looks so different!

And, of course, I'm always reading!  A good summer day has a little of everything - some gardening, some reading, and some sewing.  (We won't mention that there are also usually chores that need to be done, lol!)  Here's a favorite recent finish.

We don't have a hammock here, but I do have a favorite comfy chair!  This is also where I do all my hand stitching in the evenings.

Another fun find at my LQS.  Cool fabric for hot days!

Hope you're having a great week - and staying cool!

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

Midweek Update

The July heart mini quilt I was working on last week is (finally!) fully finished and hanging on the entryway chest with other July items.  I should probably start working on the August mini so that I don't get behind like I did this last month!

After finishing that up and getting started on my purple projects for July in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I was able to focus on getting the quilting done on Glowing Hearts.  And it is done!

I really like the blue-green batik I used for the backing, and the trimmings from the extra backing fabric that I cut off after quilting were sitting on my cutting table, so I decided they could turn into the binding.

So on Monday the binding was made and on Tuesday it was sewn onto the quilt, which means this will become an evening hand-stitching project for the next few nights to finish sewing the binding down.

And that means I can get back to sewing up these purple squares into some more RSC blocks for July!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

Happy July!

 

I stitched up this sweet little stamp design 

from Melisa at PinkernPunkin this week.

Summertime U.S.A.

I love the watermelon, and the tiny flag, and the stars!

This was fun!

And, not quite finished, but close, is the July heart mini quilt for the entryway chest.  Last year, about this time, Melisa posted two hearts, and I stitched both of them.

For finishing (and to display) this month, I chose the red and white flowers in the watering can because they remind me of my own flowers and watering can!

There's one more step to finish up before I can hang this up, and

that is to quilt around the heart in the center, so that will be today's slow stitching.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Getting started with purple...

I shared my pitiful pile of purples in my Wednesday post.

It was enough to get four quarter star blocks out of, plus a few 3.5 inch squares for the 16 patch stars.

So, then I went shopping at my LQS, and stocked up with some purple fat quarters.  Maybe that is cheating, but it is also fun to add to the fabric stash!

Then it was simple to sew up four more purple blocks.  

Plus it will be a lot easier to find the right variety of squares for the 16 patch stars.  More on that in next Saturday's post.  But meanwhile, I had to look at all the blocks with the purple ones added in.  The purples are in each corner now.

60 blocks!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

 

I Like Thursday #442

Happy (almost) 4th of July!  The gals at my mom's house never disappoint with their cute decorations.

There have been a bunch of baby bunnies in our yard the last couple weeks.  They are so cute!  (Even if they are naughty!) 

I said I would report back on my reusable zip-lock bags, so here we are after having them for a week!

I like them!  The zipper part is well-made and stays tight.

Food stays fresh, too.

The "downside" is you do have to wash them.  But a little warm, soapy water, and then rinse and let drip dry does the trick!  I hang them on a wine bottle.  

Cheers!  🍷 😜

I got an unexpected package in the mail yesterday, from Libby at Life on the Hill.  She's keeping me in penguins.  Look, they have boots - love it!  Thank you, Libby!

LeeAnna's question of the week is about picnics.  I always love a picnic!  When we travel, we take a cooler with picnic food and look for places we can have our lunch.  Lunch with a view is always a favorite!

And then there's a picnic at a winery.  Also a favorite!

In fact, we haven't had a picnic lunch in a few weeks - time to take care of that!

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

Midweek Update

Lots of things on my list this week...

Quilting on Glowing Hearts is going well.  I have about 2/3 of it completed - just need to finish the upper right and lower left corners.

Before I get back to that, though, there are some other things I want to work on - especially since it's the first of July!  It's time to finish up my monthly mini for the quilt stand.  Here's the one I'm going to display for July - it needs some simple quilting and binding.

Also for the new month - the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color is purple.  I dug out what purple I could find in my scraps and stash, and it's pretty pitiful.  But I'll start by seeing how many block parts I can cut from what I have here.

Speaking of purple (because some of these have purple in them!) - I got the orange peel project sandwiched and spray basted so that I could start hand quilting it.   I'm quilting closely around the outside edge of each orange peel, and then inside each one 1/4 inch from the edge.  

I got started and quilted around a few peels

Monday evening.

Plenty to work on this week!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday 

  

                         

A finish and a new start...

I promised myself I would finish one of my slow stitching projects this week, so it was just a matter of deciding which one!  I ended up choosing the blue and white project because the quilting was pretty close to being done.

Binding it didn't take long either, so now it is all finished!

Flower Basket in Blue and White

I'm not sure what I'll do with this one yet.  It would probably make a nice dresser topper for my mom, and she loves blue, so I may take it to her this week.

Meanwhile, the new start is PinkernPunkin's Summertime USA Stamp.  It's perfect for this first week of July coming up, and will be fun to stitch these next few days.

Yum - watermelon!

The perfect summer treat.

I've just gotten as far as the outer border, but have pulled the floss colors that I'll need to stitch it all up.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Life's a Beach

Table Scraps for June - 

When I saw that our theme for a June project was "Life's a Beach," I thought - oh, if only it was!  I love going to the beach, walking along the sand, listening to the waves, picking up treasures from the ocean.

But how to translate that into fabric?   Using up a few Scraps is always a fun challenge - I have plenty of those!

First I needed the sand - add in some footprints and shells, too.

Add some water - I always have to get my toes in!

And really my favorite part - watching the sunset over the water - here's where June's orange comes in.

It all came together in this little piece - just 12 x 6.

Since it didn't seem like this project needed a frame around it, I decided to try a faced binding.  I've only done that once before so had to hunt down a tutorial.  I used this one from Victoria Gertenbach.

There's some more orange, under the sea!

Now I just need to find a little spot to hang this!

Sharing at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday 

and at The Joyful Quilter for the June Table Scraps Challenge.

SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday. 

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

And at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

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.