Design Wall in Purple

More little bits of purple have been stitched together for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects this week!

You can see that I'm going to end up with two more purple Tiny Rails blocks, one in lavendar, and one in the darker purples.  The one on the bottom is last year's purple block, and is a combination of darks and lights.  I need to do an inventory of those blocks and see what's left to make.  I think I'm getting close to my goal of 30!

This week's Tiny Tuesday block - Card Trick - thanks, Angela!

And I finished up the purple color gradient block.  Here are all the blocks I've made.

This needs an orange block and a turquoise block.  Wonder if I can pull those colors together in a good range from dark to light?!  I'll be giving that a try soon!

Hope you've been having fun with your purple scraps this week!  See more purple goodness over at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #152

Welcome and thanks for visiting my weekly post of things I've liked!  So many different ones have caught my eye this week.

This, found on Facebook the other day -

Who knew?!  :)

The bushtits have been visiting our suet feeder this week.  We love seeing them and hearing the cheerful sounds they make!

They definitely hang out in groups!

Colorful cherry tomatoes from my wild and crazy plant - 

used to make some tasty salsa!

Fresh everything - tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, and cilantro.

Yummy!

A new embroidery piece I'm working on - not from my Gail Pan book - but a cute one I saw on someone else's blog.  "When life gives you scraps, make quilts!"

Go HERE to "The Painted Quilt" to find this free download on her sidebar.

This blog is no longer active, but the quilter has generously left her patterns up for us.

And speaking of embroidery - this is a really good book!

Have you heard of it?  It is historical fiction, so based on a real historical event - the women who did all of the applique and embroidery on Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown in 1947.  Not much is really known about these women except that they worked for the man who actually designed the gown, but the author has done a great job of telling what could be their story!  

A peaceful spot along the trail from a hike we did last week - 

And "Cheers!" from me to you!  We enjoyed a picnic at our favorite winery in Estes Park after our hike. 

Have a great Thursday!  Don't forget to check out the other positive Thursday posts at Not Afraid of Color!

To-Do Tuesday #6

Good morning, friends!  Hope your week is getting off to a good start!  I'm working on my To-Do list for the week so that I can share it at Roseanne's Tuesday link-up at Home Sewn by Us.

Last week I wanted to :

1.  Work on one of my WiPs - Floral Sawtooth Stars - and I did!  Although I spent more time *thinking* about working on it than actual stitching time, lol!

One of the alternate blocks I had made was bothering me... too many dark blues in that big four patch!

So, I took it apart, cut up the big blue pieces, and remade it.  Here are all 20 blocks up on my design wall, as of Sunday afternoon.  The remade block is the second from the left in the bottom row.

Without driving myself too crazy, I tried to spread out the dark blues and the bright pinks, and I think I can be happy now with this layout.

2.  Of course, I worked with my purple scraps, and finished up the Tiny Tuesday blocks - more about that HERE.

3/4.  I finished a couple of small embroidery pieces during my evening slow stitching.  These are destined to become pincushions and will be gifts for friends!

5.  I made those phone calls, and got some appointments taken care of!  When I called for the mammogram, the person said, "How about Thursday at 10?"  Okay, so that's over with.  Unfortunately I got the dreaded phone call to come back for a second mammogram and an ultra sound - darn it!  That will be happening tomorrow.  

Definitely on the To-Do List :  Try to think positive thoughts!  

Also for this week - 

1.  Make some more progress on my Sawtooth Star quilt - sew the blocks into rows at least!

2.  More with purple - finishing up a few of those blocks that are in progress, and the Tiny Tuesday when Angela posts it.

3.  I'm combining my to-dos for slow-stitching into one item.  It probably doesn't even need to be on the list because I really do stitch every evening, but one thing  I do need to  do this week is make myself up a kit to take on an upcoming trip!

This is my travel project bag.

4.  Get ready for the trip - finish up the planning and pack!  Whoo hoo!

Looking forward to a little of this in my future!

Have a great week, everyone!

Playing in the Solid Scraps

Say hello to my drawer of solid fabrics...

It's pretty full, with everything from yardage to pretty small pieces.

I haven't used much from this drawer  in awhile.

But then, I saw that Lori of Humble Quilts is having a quilt along called Almost Amish.  Solids are called for - certainly I have enough of the right colors in my drawer to sew along?  And we're making a small piece - about 21" square, if I remember right.

Lori's color recommendation are brown, black, maroon, green, blue, and a light or white.

Here's what seems like it will work from my drawer - 

Black, ivory, light blue, a darker (greenish) blue, a plum/maroon, and a khaki for the brown.

Step 1 was posted on Friday, HERE, so I sewed up some four patches.

They are the maroon and ivory together, and brown and light blue.

Should be interesting!

Fun to play with these scraps and turn them into something!  Sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Bits and Pieces of Purple

Sometimes progress in my sewing room is measured in bits and pieces, and this week was like that!

You can see, there's lots of purple pulled out to stitch up!

After finishing last week's Storm at Sea, it didn't take long to be ready for a lantern block.

Along the way, I worked with 2.5 inch squares, 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles, and crumb pieces that don't fit into any particular category.

Some of those pieces are very dark purple!

All caught up on September's Tiny Tuesday blocks.  Yay!

I'll leave you with these pretty purple wildflowers that we spied on a hike this week.

Happy ScrapHappy Saturday!

Visit Soscrappy for lots more purple inspiration!

I Like Thursday #151

Good morning, friends, and Happy Thursday!  Thanks for visiting as I join in the weekly get together over at Not Afraid of Color!

This cherry tomato plant (bush? tree?) is cracking me up!

It never produced any tomatoes all summer, but all of a sudden it is going crazy!  

I love these little tomatoes, but am not sure what I will do with so many of them.

I love rain!  So refreshing!

We haven't had any measurable precipitation since the beginning of July in our part of the state, but this past week, it has rained a couple different times.  One storm even woke us up in the middle of the night!

I love my husband!  Last Saturday was the CU - Nebraska game.  Mike was born and grew up in Nebraska, so on this one day of the year, he has to root against the University of Colorado.  He always wears his Nebraska ball cap that day.

Our son, Andy, who grew up here in Colorado, but went to college in Nebraska and lives there now, always roots for the University of Colorado.  Andy was the happy one last Saturday!

I like this book that I checked out of the library the other day.

The subtitle is what caught my attention - 

"English Paper Piecing beyond the Hexagon."

I'd like to try some different shapes for this kind of hand stitching.

And I like how my Tiny Storm at Sea  block turned out.  At least I can say it's not too bad!  It was paper pieced and has some bulky spots where the blocks come together so does not lay flat.  But I'm keeping it!

Hope you're having a great week!  I have to go get a mammogram today.  Not my favorite thing, but good to get it out of the way.  See you soon!

To - Do Tuesday #5

I've been enjoying writing a To-Do Tuesday post each week for the last month or so, and joining in with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us at her Tuesday link-up.  Now it's becoming a weekly habit, like my other posts are!

How'd I do on last week's To-Do list?  Let's see!

1.  Finish the Little Baskets quilt.  ✔ Done!  More in my Sunday post about this project HERE.

2.  Work with my purple scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. ✔  Not necessarily done - purple goes all month - but definitely worked on.

My Tiny Tuesday Storm at Sea in progress - 

3/4.  Hand stitching projects - always in progress!  I'm continuing to work on embroidery pieces from my Gail Pan book, and also finished another hand-pieced blue and white block.

5.  Get ready to host my book club.  ✔  Yes!  House cleaned, cookies baked for a treat, book read.

Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorites!  

It's always nice to have an excuse to bake!

So, what's on for this week?

1.  I'd like to make some progress on one of my longer term WiPs.  I finished up the alternate blocks that go with these Floral Sawtooth Stars back in July.  It's time to get the quilt top together!

2.  Working with the purple scraps - always.  I need to finish up that Storm at Sea block, plus the new one for this week when it comes out.  There are other things to sew in purple as well!

3/4. Hand -stitching projects are always on the list as I work on them every evening.  I have pieces cut for another blue and white block, plus more embroidery designs traced.

5.  Around the house - I have some phone calls to make.  September is my birthday month, and this year, it's the birthday that qualifies me for Medicare.  That means I have to connect with some new doctors, and (oh yes) schedule that mammogram appointment. :)  I'll get right on that!  

Linking up with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us for To - Do Tuesday!