In the pink!

It's always fun at the beginning of a new month, to go on a scavenger hunt for scraps and stash in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color - for May, it is pink!

After returning from our trip to Washington, DC, I finally had a chance to dig into some pink.

I also decided to look at some of my WiP boxes to see what I needed to make for those projects.  There, I discovered that I had already made a pink Tiny Rails block, and also one in yellow, which I don't think I shared last month.

Here are the pink bowties I made when it was pink month in 2017.  

Since I need at least 10 bowties in each color, I'll be making more pink ones as the month goes on.  Here are a couple new ones - 

And my main focus for pink this week - my Squared Away blocks for the 2018 RSC Sampler quilt.  I really enjoyed making these, and they went together so easily!

Aren't these looking pretty together?

Thanks, Mari and Angela, for planning this year's sampler and sharing all the info for making the monthly blocks! 

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #81 - Washington, DC!

Happy "I Like Thursday," friends!

We've spent much of the last week on a trip to Washington, DC.  It was an amazing experience for us, and there was much to like.  We've traveled to DC before, but never with this group -

These are some of the members of Mike's Helicopter Squadron from their time in the Navy in the late 60s to early 70s.  They met when they were 19-20 year olds, and have become our very dear, life-long friends.  It was particularly special to be at the Vietnam War Memorial - the Wall - with these men who are Vietnam veterans.  Not too many dry eyes in the group that morning.

We liked riding the Metrorail train all over the place!

Although we got turned around a time or two, we always found where we were going.  Everyone you meet is so helpful if you have questions!

We had a lot of fun on the Hop On - Hop Off busses! 

The evening Twilight tour was especially neat.  We had a great tour guide, Henry, who was extremely passionate and knowledgeable about all the monuments, memorials, and famous people.

We liked the WWII Memorial with its beautiful fountains.

We visited several of the Smithsonian museums, and I enjoyed the 3-D Imax movies at the Air and Space Museum!

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was high on my list to visit, and I am so glad we did.  It's not a place where you take pictures, but the information displayed there is profoundly moving.

We also visited the Newseum - it is a privately run museum, not part of the Smithsonian - but very worth the money we paid.  It celebrates journalism and the First Amendment.

We were amazed by the Food Trucks at the National Mall, and enjoyed having a picnic lunch there.

Can you tell it was packed with people?  I wonder if there is any time of year when DC isn't a busy, busy place!

I'll leave you with this beautiful view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol behind it, taken on our Twilight Tour.

Hope you're having a great week!  Be sure to visit the other I Like Thursday posts over at Not Afraid of Color!

Sawtooth Stars in Pink

I knew early on that I wouldn't have much sewing time this week, so I decided to spend the little time I did have stitching up a couple more Floral Sawtooth Stars.  Part of my plan for this project is to make the stars in different sizes and then find a fun way to combine them into a quilt.

Amy, at Diary of a Quilter has a great tutorial and very helpful size chart HERE that I've been using for this project.

This week I started with a 9.5 inch star, and added a border around it to bring the whole block to 12.5  inches.

I always start with the center floral fabric, and then choose the corner square and flying geese fabric to go with the center.  Lucky me, I chose some pink this time, which turns out to be the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for May!

Just for fun I decided to make a little 4.5 inch star, too.

These two are kind of fun together!

And here are all of my 12.5 inch blocks so far.

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday 

and Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

I Like Thursday #80 - a new hike

I've posted before that DH and I enjoy hiking, especially the popular "urban" hikes in our area that are part of city and county open spaces.  We found a new spot in Boulder the other day that I wanted to share with you for my likes this week.

This is Colorado at the end of April - hints of green wherever you look.  The trees are starting to leaf out - sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't!

This hike goes around a little lake, right up to the foothills, and in between some residential neighborhoods with funky Boulder houses.

One of these was for sale, for only $775,000!  Yikes!

We saw several hang gliders soaring along the ridge as we walked.

Evidently this is a popular spot for that activity!

Beautiful views and blue, blue sky - this is what I love about Colorado!

The way back to the car took us through a neighborhood, and I had to share this fun mailbox!

LeeAnna, you need one of these!

Happy Thursday, friends!  Hope you're having a great week!  Hope you will join us at Not Afraid of Color for all the I Like Thursday posts.

In a green mood...

The other day, after pulling out all the lighter, blue-greens I could find and cutting 5 inch squares for my Mellow idea, I was left with these -

I'd been reading Sunday Morning Quilts by AmandaJean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison, and their quilt "Leaves and Vine" really stuck in my head.  A pieced green background (sort of a green Scrap Vortex!) with a vine winding through and colorful leaves which were appliqued onto the background.  

I wanted to make it!  So I started to piece my greens together... from darkest to lightest - 

And ended up with this!  It measures about 17 x 18.

A dark brown batik made the perfect vine, and leaves cut from scraps to celebrate all the colors of the spring blooms in our yard right now were added with raw edge applique.

I quilted lots of branches in on either side of the vine, and if you look closely over there on the left, you might see that I even added a few quilted leaves!

Our beautiful Spring Snow Crabapple tree is happily in bloom right now - 

so that seemed like the perfect spot for one more photo!

I haven't decided where to hang this inside yet, but I know I'm going to enjoy it!

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

A DrEAMi and some RSC Tidbits

A week ago or so, I learned that a friend needed some extra love, so I did what I love to do the most and pulled out my scraps to make a little quilty hug for her!

I love text fabric, and this was perfect for what I wanted to tell my friend.  Plus, an added bonus - it fit right in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors of yellow and gold for the month of April!

Sharing this at Sandra's DrEAMi linky over at mmmquilts.  

There was just enough of the text fabric left to make a bowtie block, too, so that was sewn up.

While I had the yellow scraps out this month, I cut 2.5 inch squares and pieces for  HSTs so that I could make a second Scrappy Sprout block in different yellows from the first one.

Finally, I added one more Sawtooth Star to my slowly growing collection!  This one has some yellow in its pretty floral center.

And one last thing -  earlier this year, I had said that one of my RSC goals this year was to make scrappy placemats for our dining room table,  and when I decided on my project for Kelly's Stash Statement blog hop, I knew it would be perfect to help me achieve that goal!  Click HERE if you want to read my post about making these.

I've enjoyed this month of yellow, and hope you have, too!  Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #79 -

Happy "I Like Thursday," friends!

Meet Jake, the helper dog -

Isn't he a good looking guy?  And such a sweetie, too!  Jake doesn't live at our house, he lives down the street, but he likes to come visit us when we're out in the yard.  (I'm not sure why his people don't miss him, but they don't seem to...)  When he was visiting us the other day, I told him he could help me pick up sticks, so he did!  But of course, he really just wanted to play with them!

Also seen out in our yard -

A red-breasted nuthatch, checking out the birdhouses!

I would love it if someone made a nest in one of our birdhouses, but we can't tell yet.

I loved this poem that a friend sent to me recently:

A Song

The birders I encountered

in books and in the world
shared little except this simple secret:
if you listen to birds,
every day will have a song in it.

~ Kyo McLear

My friend found it on this blog - A First Sip.   This blogger posts a daily poem or quote with a photo that's meant to offer some beginning of the day inspiration, and I've been enjoying it since I discovered it, too.

I like this little bouquet of flowers that I got to dress up my dining room table for my Stash Statement bloghop post.

I love bouquets of flowers, but don't have them very often, until I have garden flowers that are ready to cut and put in a vase.

I like "rearranging!"  I used to rearrange my furniture on a regular basis, but I think we've lived here long enough that we've found the best arrangements that work for us.  Instead, I enjoy rearranging what's on the walls!

So, in our dining room/family room, here's what the wall has looked like for a long time - 

The big wall-hanging is the very first project I ever blogged about, way back in 2013!  I participated in the And Sew On block of the month, put on by Kristy of Quiet Play.  All of the blocks are paper-pieced, and some very intricate!  

Why I pinned it up on the dining room wall, I can't tell you, except that I was really proud of this project and wanted everyone to see it!  (And that's how I decorate, lol!)

But this week, I took all of that down, and hung up my latest finish, String Star.

There's still room for more on that wall, and maybe the little penguins mini needs to go back up - I just haven't decided yet!

And one more like to share this week - we've been enjoying "Sherlock" on Netflix recently.

British detective shows are my favorites, and these are a lot of fun!  I will even admit to having a bit of a crush on Benedict Cumberbatch...

Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting, and don't miss the other I Like Thursday bloggers you can find linked up at LeeAnna's place, Not Afraid of Color!