I Like Thursday #147 - Busy Week!

It's a busy week at my house with company here and all, but I didn't want to miss out on sharing a few things for I Like Thursday!

I *love* this new sculpture at our Visitor's Center!  It's big!

It goes along with this lovely poem I found the other day.

I am grateful!

I finished the fifth embroidered basket Tuesday night.  This might be my favorite one!

It's ready for the red border and then for sewing the little top together.

And you know how much I am entertained by the wildlife in my suburban yard.  This squirrel was funny the other day!

Enjoying an apple.

But then...

"What are you looking at, lady?"

Hope you're having a great week, and finding lots of things to LOVE, like our sculpture says!   I'm joining in with the other I Like Thursday bloggers at Not Afraid of Color.

To-Do Tuesday: Joining In!

When I saw that my friend, Roseanne, from Home Sewn by Us, was going to start hosting the To-Do Tuesday link-up, I thought I would join in.  It seems I always have things I want to accomplish for the week in my head, but rarely do I actually write them down!  That does result in forgetting important stuff at times!

So... this week I'm sharing a list of to-dos, and we'll see how it goes!

1.  Keep working on my embroidered baskets project.  Just one basket left to finish and then I can sew these blocks together!

2.  Keep up with the Tiny Tuesday blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Libby at Life on the Hill shared one for us last Saturday, so I stitched it up on Sunday.

Thanks, Libby!  This is a sweet little block - it still needs its sashing added.

I'll be watching to see if there is a new block shared for this week.

3.  Since my mom is visiting this week, I won't have much time at the sewing machine, but it's nice to have some hand stitching ready for when we are sitting together.  I traced a new piece from my Gail Pan book to work on.

The pattern calls for a variegated red/brown embroidery floss, which I don't have, so on the list is to go find some!

4.  I also want to cut some pieces to stitch up another couple of blocks for my blue and white project.  Since these are hand-pieced, they are also easy to work on when visiting or watching TV.

5.  Last, but probably most important, is to keep up with household needs and groceries while Mom is here, since other friends and extended family members will be in and out.  Must not forget the ingredients for a peach pie!

Have a great week, everyone!

Sharing at To-Do Tuesday at Home Sewn by Us.

August Blooms Finished!

This week I had a chance to finish my August Blooms tabletopper, which I made while participating in the Scrap Dance Minuet mystery QAL, a design from Carole at From My Carolina Home.

I had purchased Carole's August Blogger Bundle last year from Bernie's shop, Needle and Foot Fabrics and saved it to use for "something special!" (You know how we all do that!)

It's always fun to take bits and pieces like these...

and turn them into a piece like this - 

And to also use some leftover chunks for the backing!

I chose a quilting design called "Echoing In"  out of Jacquie Gering's Walk book for walking foot quilting designs, and I think it was perfect for this piece.

I took a picture early in the morning, hoping that you can see the design.

I used the yellow cross-hatch fabric for the binding.

August Blooms in the garden - 

and on the table - 

I admit there are some scraps of these pretty fabrics left, even after using some to make another little table topper (see last week's post), but I'll enjoy having them show up in other projects!

Linking up to Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Determined...

or at least trying hard...

 to make some progress on my Scrappy Sprouts quilt this month!

Throughout 2018, I made a rainbow of sprouts blocks.

February 2019 was yellow month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I came up with an idea to make Dresden sunflowers to go above the sprouts.  I've been hand piecing these, and they still need their centers.

Sashing and borders in Kona Grass Green were added to the sprouts section in March.

Since then I've been asking myself how I want the upper part of this quilt to look - the sky section.

Plain blue?  (This is actually a Grunge variegated blue that makes me think of the sky.)

Or a pieced background for the sunflowers with some added birds and butterflies?

Nothing I've tried seems quite right yet.

This is how the project looks on my design wall right now.

The sunflowers would be appliqued onto the pieced background.

It feels like the contrast between the sprouts and the sky background is too stark.  Maybe it needs some curvy hills in the foreground before the sky comes in.  Should  they be different shades of green?  I'm feeling sort of stuck!  

Sometimes it's hard to get your vision to match what you know how to do!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working this week over at Soscrappy on ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #146 - early morning and other things

Happy Thursday, friends!  Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting my I Like Thursday post, and don't forget to check out the other posts in our weekly blog hop hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

I was up early Monday morning,  and enjoyed my first sip out on our back porch where it was nice and cool.

It was lovely to watch the sky lighten and the world wake up!

Most every morning there are bunnies in the yard.  This little guy was having some breakfast!

In other likes this week - Colorado peaches are here, and so yummy!

My mom is coming for her August visit next week, 

so that means there is a peach pie in my future!  :)

I enjoyed a little fabric shopping this week, and found just the right thing for my basket embroidery project.

Here's a peek at my plan - 

There will be 5 baskets and 4 alternate blocks, plus a border to make a small wall-hanging.  Just a little more embroidery needed to finish up the basket blocks.

Sharing these at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

And finally, this sign greeted us at our Starbucks yesterday - 

That's us!   I like a business where the people greet you by name when you come in and are always friendly and welcoming!

That's it for this post - thanks, again, for visiting!

August Blooms

I have a small flower garden in my front yard that is taken over by marigolds this time of year.

It really is very pretty and, as the month goes on, smells better and better!

This week I decided it was time to finish up my Scrap Dance Minuet tabletopper, and I realized that the fabric it's made of really reminds me of my marigold garden in August.

While I was choosing fabric to piece the backing, I noticed that there were several 2.5 inch wide strips leftover from piecing the top, and I decided to make a small topper, just the right size for the little chest that sits in my front entryway.

I pieced together some batting scraps, 

and did a simple "quilt as you go" design using these strips.

Just for fun, I added some decorative stitching on each of the strips!

Here's my little finish, perfect for August!

Meanwhile, the original August Blooms project is spray basted, marked with my Hera marker, and quilting started!

Wow, that orange looks bright!  It really isn't that bright - 

still figuring out the new camera...

More about finishing up August Blooms later on this week!

Sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Before August...

Before August rolled in this week, I decided I'd better clean up from July!  Once everything was stitched up or cleared away, I ended up finishing these blocks for pink month in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Five Tiny Tuesdays

Four string blocks (combined to make a big one at 12.5 x 18.5)

Two 10.5 inch blocks made with 2.5 inch squares -

 a color gradient block and a Tiny Rails block

And a crumb block out of all the other bits and pieces!

🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶

Plus, you can see my collection of Bright Hopes blocks - lots of pink in there, too!  I'm making a few of those every now and then.

Earlier in the week, I rearranged all the Tiny Tuesdays into rainbow rows, inspired by Katie's post last week.

That's fun to look at!

I know I won't want a 5 blocks by 10 rows layout in the end, so I'll have to figure out what I do want to do as these next few of months go by, but I like having 5 blocks in each color.  

By that time in the week, the new color for August had been announced, so I decided to be a rebel, and made this week's block in light blue!  Thanks for the tutorial, Angela!

It kind of reminds me of these flowers out in my garden!

Hope you're having a great beginning to your August!  Check out all the other rainbow stitchers at Soscrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.