Snow?

No!  In fact it was nice enough one day this week for us to get out and play golf.  That's a little strange for January, but we're taking advantage of it while we can.

But there have been some snowflakes stitched this week, and little Mr. Frosty is finished.  I like his bright red cardinal companions, too!

I have a hard time getting the white floss to show up, even on this oatmeal colored cloth, so I outlined Frosty in a pale blue, and also stitched the snowflakes in that blue.

Frosty isn't fully finished just yet, but he's still enjoying hanging out with his snowman friends.

Some stitching was done on the winter embroidery piece that I've shared the last couple weeks, but before I get back to that I need to do some hand quilting on this finished quilt.  I made this one back in about 2020 or so, when I was doing a lot of hand-piecing, so the whole thing is hand stitched, and it has been hanging on the wall in our bedroom since then.  We took it down to do some work in there the other day, and I realized that I missed quilting the right corner half of the farthest right star.  So, there's a little make-up quilting work to do!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching!

Patchwork Hearts Progress

 I have been determined to spend a little more time on the finish of Patchwork Hearts this year, and this was the week to do that.  These blocks were made in 2024.

Last year, I got them sewn into rows and started quilting them, one row at a time.  I'm up to the third row, and right in the middle of the quilt where the multi-colored heart is.

Lots of favorite scraps here!

The last two rows needed to be layered with batting and backing, so I spent some time doing that this week, and now they're ready to be quilted, too!  Early on, I decided to finish this as a quilt-as-you-go project, and still have to make the final decision about how to  connect the rows.  At some point last year, I decided a narrow neutral border between each row is going to work the best.  I still have to find that neutral fabric.

I may be slow as molasses on this one, but it's still progress!

A close-up of the dark blue heart since it's blue month in the RSC.  I always enjoy looking at what scraps I was using back when I sewed these blocks.

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 #466

Good morning!

We're having an elk invasion here.  These two guys have been seen all over the place!

Because it was our anniversary last week, a friend sent us this sweet card.  It was definitely perfect for us because we are in no way "perfect!"

I really enjoyed this book recently.  It's written entirely in letters from the main character to many people.  I was amazed at how you can tell a story that way!

Image Source

LeeAnna's question of the week is "have we ever lived anywhere else?"  I grew up in Rochester, New York.  My dad worked for Kodak - everyone's dad worked for Kodak! - and Rochester is their corporate headquarters.  We actually lived in Greece, a suburb of Rochester, which is right along Lake Ontario.  This is the house that my parents built in 1956, when I was two, and I lived there until I graduated from high school.  This is a current screen grab of the house from Google Maps - doesn't it look like a nice place?

When I graduated from high school, Kodak was building their Colorado plant and my dad transferred out here.  I went to college, met Mike, and here we have been for the last 50-some years!  Nowadays I don't want to live anywhere else!

Blogging friends, have you ever gotten a nasty comment on a blog post, and what did you do about it?  I get spam comments sometimes and I just delete those, but this was specific to something I shared on an I Like Thursday post from a couple weeks ago and it was very nasty.  And I Like Thursday posts are, by definition, happy and upbeat!  Why would someone leave a nasty comment?  It was not a regular reader or anyone I know - just turned up out of the blue.  Although I was so tempted to reply, I did just delete it and not engage with the nastiness, but I wonder if any of you have experienced this.  It certainly gives you a bad feeling!  Not a feeling I care for much.

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

 

Midweek Update

It's just about time for the 2026 Stay at Home Round Robin to start, and I've been getting ready for it.  During the SAHRR for the last three years, I've used embroidered blocks as my center block and created a seasonal wall-hanging to display at different times of the year.  So far I've made winter, spring, and summer.

Welcome Winter

Bunny in the Garden 

When Life Gives You Lemons

So, of course, this year I need to make a fall-themed wall-hanging to complete the series.  Last fall I specifically stitched this block with the 2026 SAHRR in mind.  I've been thinking about fabrics to pair with it, and pulled out a bunch of Batik fat quarters that I won in the prize drawing from last year's QAL.  Now I'm getting excited to get started!

Meanwhile, I've continued to work with my blue scraps to piece together a light blue placemat sized piece.  The light blues that I pulled out of the bin had some triangles in them, so that became a theme in this one.

And now it has progressed to two crumb slabs that are wide enough and when sewn together will be the perfect size for a scrappy placemat!

I had a couple bigger pieces of the seagull print, 

and I love them so much I just decided to leave them a bit bigger.

My next step will be to quilt these two placements and work on finishing them up before the end of the month!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Quilting Gail for the SAHRR center block link-up.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Blue all week...

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month for January is blue, and I have definitely been sewing with blue this week...

but I've also been stitching in blue this week - on two projects!  The snowman has seen some progress, including a cup of hot cocoa and some flowers.  Do you think those are meant to be snowdrops?   I've never seen them in real life, but the pictures look like this design.

And then I started something new.  This is Melisa at PinkernPunkin's Frosty Stamp.  I started with the blue, but the rest of it needs red, white, and black.  Can you tell I've been inspired by the prospect of snow around here?  We did get a little bit on Thursday, but nothing that accumulated.

The table by my stitching chair is all set up with plenty to work on today for Slow Sunday Stitching!

Linking up at Kathy's Quilts.

A January House

My second Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for 2026 is a house quilt.  I'm calling it "A Year in the Neighborhood" and I'll be making houses that go with the month/season/time of year.  The January house has snowflakes!  These houses are paper-pieced, and the pattern was purchased from Twiggy and Opal's Etsy shop, here.  She calls this block "Heart of the Home."

I happened to have a small piece of dark blue with snowflakes on it - perfect for the January Rainbiw Scrap Challenge color of the month!

I couldn't decide what that bottom rectangle piece ⬆️ should be.  Is it the "yard" or still part of the house (like some bricks under the windows)?  I looked back at Jayne's examples and I think she changed the pattern a bit because I don't see that rectangle on the current pattern.

So I decided it would represent the yard, and for January there's some snow there!

What else should the neighborhood have?  I definitely need trees in my neighborhood.  I have made several different kinds of tree blocks over the years, but this time I was inspired by our trip up in the mountains earlier this week, and there we saw snow-covered mountains and pine trees.  

So I played around with a pine tree made of flying geese, blue sky with snowflakes, and snow on the ground.

A fun start!  

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 #465

It has been a good week to see some interesting wildlife around here.  Last Saturday we went for a walk at the local trail area, and saw the bald eagles again.  I'm thinking these must be a breeding pair, but I don't know where their nest is.  This is the third month we've seen them in this same tree.

Then we drove to another open space area west of town and came across the elk herd that spends most winters in this area.  There were probably a couple hundred of them!  Mike got a really good photo of this big guy.

Earlier this week, we decided to take a quick trip up in the mountains for a little getaway.  We both really enjoyed the drive and the scenery.

We spent a night up there in one of our favorite hotels, enjoyed a nice dinner, and spent a little money in the slot machines at the casinos.  We won a little and lost a little, but just had fun getting a lot of steps and playing!  And there was this lovely view of the mountain town from our window.

And why did we do this?  We're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this week!   

January 9, 1976

Doesn't time fly? 

LeeAnna's question of the week is "Do we sing in the shower?"  And my answer to that is - no, not in the shower, but I do like to sing along with the radio in the car - especially during 6 weeks or so that one of the local stations is playing Christmas music in November and December, and the rest of the year with the oldies stations that we listen to.  And how about with movies that have music in them like "Mamma Mia" or "Yesterday"?  Have you seen that one?  It's all Beatles music - so fun!

Happy Thursday!

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