I Like Thursday #477

We did something on Saturday that was a first for us, and that I am so glad we did.  We participated in the No Kings protest in our town. 

Mike and I have been unhappy and frustrated with the current president and his administration since the day he was inaugurated.  The chaos and cruelty that has been unleashed by these people is beyond my comprehension.

However, I am thankful to live in a country where we have the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, and to VOTE!  

We even made signs.  Mike wins the award for the one who was most asked to have his picture taken with his sign!  There were also many veterans there which was very heartening for him.  I think he spoke to every one of them.

And finally - my favorite signs of the day.

If you're still here, and read my whole post - thank you!  I know this is not my typical topic, and that some of you, my friends and readers, have a different point of view from me.  But isn't that - the freedom to espress our opinions - really what makes America great?!  ❤️💙❤️💙

Have a wonderful Thursday!  I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

In between finishing up some March projects and starting things for April, I had a few days to work on an idea I had for the two sweet fabric pieces that LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color sent me early in March.  They are both prints with people (and a dragon!) reading!  I commented on a project of hers that used this cute fabric, so she sent me some.  Thanks, LeeAnna!

I decided that I wanted to make a new tote bag out of these, so I first had to bring the focus prints up to a good size for that.  I have quite a bit of this blue green batik, so I started by framing them in that - one for the front of the bag, one for the back. 

I added some coordinating bright green to each side of that and connected both sides with a brown piece in between.  (That will be the bottom of the bag.  It's good to have it be a dark color so that dirt doesn't show!) Then this panel is quilted to a piece of batting.

I squared up the big panel to a 16 x 24 inch rectangle.  Then sewed up the sides and boxed the corners.  At this point the tote measures about 10" deep x 14" wide and 4 inches across the bottom.  I like this size for hauling around all my personal stuff throughout the day.

Next the tote needs a lining with pockets, straps, and a magnetic closure.  That won't take too long.  But first I'm going to play with my pink scraps, which is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for April!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Time for the bunnies...

Last year, about this time, I stitched up this design from Melisa at PinkernPunkin called Spring Banner.  This last week, I finally fully finished it!

So then it was time to get out some more bunnies, and eggs, and the April heart for the little quilt display.

Meanwhile I've been stitching up some flowers on Spring Blessings.  

More to stitch on that top right flower, 

and that will be my Slow Sunday stitching!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts.

One more red project for March

I finished a scrappy red placemat this week, continuing with my goal of making one in each color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

Small red bits from my scrap bin were sewn into larger squares and then rectangles until I had enough to fill a 12.5 x 16.5 slab.

When deciding what to use for a backing, I came across a yard of this cute polka dot that seemed perfect!

I liked it so much that I decided to use it for the binding, too.  These placemats make a fun and satisfying finish each month!

Here's the Rainbow, so far!

Wondering now what color we'll be adding in April!

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 #476

View out my back window on Wednesday morning - 

Spring has sprung in my neck of the woods!

We estimate that it's at least three weeks earlier than normal for us.

This tree usually blooms about mid April.

I forgot to share this photo last week.  Here's my mom on St. Patrick's Day.  They had made these cute little wooden leprechauns with each resident's photo in theirs.  When Mom saw hers she said, "That's me!"  💚

We went to see this movie on Friday - so good!  At last a science fiction movie with an alien that isn't scary, lol!  Now I want to read the book.

Which reminds me...

And LeeAnna's question of the week is about our favorite breakfast cereal as a kid.  My parents bought Chex, and my favorite one was Wheat Chex.  And guess what?  I still eat a bowl every morning!  They're whole grain and crunchy, and really good with any fruit added on top.

How about a Colorado peach?  

Or when peaches aren't in season, 

I use whatever berries are in the store.

Yum!

Hope you're having a great week!

                              I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

 

Stay at Home Round Robin Finish!

Recipe for a fun project:

Choose one center block plus some coordinating fabric. 

Add in various blocks and borders.

Wrap it in a final solid border.

Quilt as desired.

Enjoy the finish!

This is my 6th Stay at Home Round Robin quilt project!  The most recent four, starting in 2022, have been made as a series with seasonal embroideries.  This year I completed the series!

Welcome Winter ------------ Bunny in the Garden

Make Lemonade ------------ Celebrate Fall

Bunny in the Garden is definitely my all time favorite, 

but Celebrate Fall comes in as a close second.  

I enjoyed every bit of the SAHRR project this year!

Thank you so much to the hosts for your fun prompts and all the encouraging comments!

• Gail @Quilting Gail
• Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
• Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
• Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• Anja @ Anja Quilts

Linking up my finished project at the 2026 Quilt Parade at Kathleen McMusing

and at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Little House Sew-along Block 4

Just popping in with a quick post to share my next block for the Little House Sew-along, hosted by Melva at Melva Loves Scraps.  This is the Shoofly block.  I decided to make this one with the turquoise plaid fabric that Melva sent me as a prize for a previous block.  I like how it turned out!

Next step was to add the surrounding log cabin strips - I'm getting more efficient with this now that I've sewn four of them!

And here are the four.

Thank you, Melva, for a fun sew-along!

Sharing at the block 4 link-up.

Spring?

 Actually I think we skipped right into summer...

And maybe we just skipped winter altogether!

But I'm still stitching Spring themes and colors.

After I finish the binding on my Fall-themed Stay at Home Round Robin project!  I'll be sharing the finish of this project in my Wednesday post.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

And at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

Tiny 4 patches and crumb blocks...

I've mostly been focused on finishing my Stay at Home Round Robin quilt this week, but I did take a couple hours of sewing time just to play in the red scraps.  Some crumb blocks are developing into this month's scrappy placemat.

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And red and white strip sets turned into tiny four patches!  It has been awhile since I looked at the Gameboard blocks, but the last time I did, I think I decided I need 30 blocks total, so at least three in each color of the month.  It turns out that I had only made one in red so far.

So these 2.5 inch red four patches 

will turn into the center 4.5 inch 16 patches.

And then I finished one more red Gameboard block, to give me a total of sixteen now. More than halfway!

I can definitely use more of those colors in the bottom row, so a few more little 16 patches are waiting for their turn to be made into more Gameboard blocks!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

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

I Like Thursday #475

Some local quilty friends and I went on a little field trip on Monday.  Where do you suppose we went with a load like this?

No, not a retreat.

We went to Greeley, a city that is about 30 miles to the east of our city, Loveland, Colorado.  We went to visit these ladies - 

They are a group of about 50 quilters who make donation quilts from donated supplies.

The gal who showed us around said they make about 300 quilts a year for about 5 different charities.

This group is connected to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Greeley, and have the second floor of the church's school building for their space.  Here's their beautifully organized storeroom full of donated fabric.

And next door we saw the big room full of quilters working away at sewing machines, design walls, a long arm, and a hand quilting frame.

We left all of our unwanted fabric and quilting supplies in good hands, I think!  And I feel good to have cleaned out a section of my closet, too.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about our least favorite food as a child, and do we eat it now as adults?  Mine was lima beans!  Yuck!  And I don't think I have ever bought them or served them to my family since being out on my own.  My parents sure loved them, though.  Maybe that's an Iowa/Midwestern thing?  That's where they grew up.  

Image Source

I like many kinds of beans - green beans, wax beans, pinto beans, black beans, but there's something about the texture of lima beans that does not appeal, and never has!  😬

What about you?  Have you got a least favorite food from when you were growing up?  Share in the comments!

I'm joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

 

Midweek Update

I got another envelope of happy mail this past week - this time from Melva.  She had chosen my name for a fat quarter prize from the Little House Sew-along.  Thank you, Melva!

I don't think my photo shows the color quite right, but in real life it is a pretty turquoise that I think I can use in my Little House blocks.   The next block will be at Melva Loves Scraps tomorrow (Thursday - 3/19) - looking forward to it!

Meanwhile I've been working on getting my Stay at Home Round Robin quilt finished up for the parade coming up next Wednesday.  I pieced a backing out of three of the leftover fat quarters from the bundle.

                                                        Here it is a little closer in.

The next job was quilting - 

Wednesday afternoon's job was making the binding and getting it sewn on.  Not long until a finish now!

Friday update:  hand-finishing the binding is happening.  I think I'll make it to the finished parade by next Wednesday!  

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Spring Colors

Earlier this week, I discovered the grape hyacinths blooming in my garden!  Trees are coming out early this year, too - Colorado has had a very mild winter.

I still need to do the Spring garden clean-up!

So I've been stitching in Spring colors this week, too.  

This pretty purple is DMC 209 - dark lavender.  The Blessings stitch is a start on the "Spring Blessings" free design for March.  You can get it if you sign up for their newsletter.

A few more stitches have been added to the Spring embroidery design from Gail Pan, too.  Lots more to do on this one!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Moving along with red...

This week I got out my bin of the smallest pieces of red and started sorting them to see what would work for this month's scrappy placemat.  The next step is to sew pairs and trios and then start puzzling them together into a 12 x 16 slab.

A friend gave me quite a big pile of her unwanted leftover reds last fall, and they were good for making another Jacob's Ladder block.  It takes some bigger pieces than what I keep in the above bin.

I had made one last December in brighter reds, so this time I used some darker pieces. 

It's always fun to add more to the block collection!  The lone brown block at the top was the first block I made, sometime last fall.  It needs a friend, but that can wait until we sew the dark neutrals this year.

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.