I Like Thursday #391

Everything's growing really nicely in my garden and pots right now, which is something I like very much.  The tomatoes have blossoms, the cucumbers and jalapeño have baby ones already forming, and the green beans... 

Somebody made a salad out of these!  Probably a rabbit - and they have come back multiple times, too.  We kept trying to put things in their way, but it never deterred them.

So we went and bought a deer and rabbit repellent to spray on.  Fingers crossed that it works.  I did plant more bean seeds, hoping that the pesky varmint stays away from the new sprouts!

I just finished reading the latest book in a series that I've enjoyed the last several years.  The series began as a collaboration between two of my favorite authors.  Unfortunately, Mary Higgins Clark passed away in 2020, but Alafair Burke has continued the series in the same style.  

I've enjoyed stitching quite a few of PinkernPunkin's mini samplers, so of course, I had to make the mini strawberry sampler.  Isn't that strawberry fun with its star quilt block in the center?!

There's one more strawberry to stitch and some blossoms.

I have several little cross-stitched pieces to fully finish - 

hoping to get to that this weekend!

LeeAnna's question of the week is:  Tell about how you felt about the last day of school and what you looked forward to doing in the summer. 

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the last day of school!  I loved school,  and always wanted to be a teacher, so I wasn't necessarily that excited about the end of the school year.  Even when school was out, my sisters and I played "school," and I was always the teacher!  I did look forward to more time to read, and of course there was lots of time to play outside.

Playing on the jungle gym!  Did you have one of those?

Every summer we would go visit the grandparents in Iowa - my dad's parents lived in Iowa City and my mom's lived in Cedar Rapids.  The best part about that trip was going to the pool.  My dad's parents belonged to a club with a pool, so they took us every day.  

And then there's being a teacher and getting to the last day of school.  I would be tired and ready for a break, but also sad to be saying goodbye to my students.  A friend shared this on Facebook and it is really true:

Hope you're having a great week!

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

Midweek Update

I've stayed the course this week and quilting is finished on my Luminous Layers project!  I wish the quilting was a little more visible in this photo because I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Throughout the quilting process, my goal was to emphasize the star shapes and that has worked out well.

There was enough left of the dark pink I used for those medium stars to make the binding, so that was taken care of Tuesday morning.

Woo hoo!

And, as of Tuesday evening, binding is ready for the final hand-stitching step!

I'm excited to be on track for the quilt parade 

over at mmmquilts which starts (I believe) this Saturday!

Now that my sewing machine is available again for some other projects, it's time to work on the next block in Melva's QAL - Pieces of My Life.  It's a beautiful heart block and I'm excited to sew it up!  Since my blue scraps are out for June in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I'm going to be making it out of both dark and light blue strips.

Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers. 

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

 

 

Slow Stitching for a Sunday

I was hoping I might be hand sewing the binding down on this quilt today, but I'm still quilting it.

I actually just have the light green sections left to quilt - top and left side - so it's not too much.  It's still possible I could get to the binding this afternoon! 

Meanwhile, I did stitch up the June section for Woven Wreaths.  It went pretty quickly last Sunday.  Isn't that a sweet little bee?

When that was finished, I traced the June heart from "A Year of Hearts" at PinkernPunkin Quilting and have been working on it the last few evenings.  I love the purple coneflowers - I should plant some of those in my garden!  Some cute little bees on this one, too.

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Getting started on blue...

I love seagulls!  I know they are scavengers and leave messes, but I find them very entertaining.   This is a favorite photo from one of our trips to the Oregon Coast, taken at Nye Beach by Newport.

So when I found this seagull print in my stash, I knew I had to include it in some blue blocks this month!  Aren't they cute with their hats and boots?!  Like old fishermen! 

It's in the light blue patchwork heart:

And one of the four patches for the alternate chain block, too.

I had already made a dark blue heart block, so now there are seven!

This week I'll finish up the four patch block!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #390

June has come in like it's full on summer already - nice and warm!  I do love summer, so I'm not complaining.  My petunias are happy about this nice warm weather, too!

I had not made homemade macaroni and cheese in years, so decided to try that for dinner the other night.  I used a really easy, basic recipe, found here, and it turned out to be very good!

Quite a bit of my sewing time in the last week has been devoted to finishing up my Luminous Layers quilt (See yesterday's post), but sometimes you need a break from that, so I decided to play with these little flag blocks that Melisa shared.  I was also inspired by Julierose's version.  They are sweet and simple to make, and use scraps - my favorite way to sew.  I'm thinking I'll make enough for a tablerunner - so maybe three more.  Then a decision about will work for sashing and borders.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about how we like to spend our free time.  Do we feel the need to be constantly busy, getting things done, or do we rest to recharge?  I have to admit that I am pretty much an introvert and like to be home and not too busy.  I enjoy some group activities with my good friends here, like my book club and meeting friends for a walk.  

But if there are too many activities in a day or a week, I get kind of out of whack.  I crave "down time!"  This is why I enjoy blogging so much - I can interact with you all in my own way and from home!  No need to join a group!   I spend a lot of my down time reading and just finished a book I could not put down.

This is a historical fiction story about a woman 

who lived in Maine in the 1700s and was a midwife.  

I found the story fascinating!

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

 

Midweek Update

I spent most of Sunday afternoon prepping Luminous Layers for quilting.  Trimming stray threads off the back of the quilt top,  pressing the top and backing, cutting the batting, and then spray basting the layers together - you get the picture!

The backing fabric came from Missouri Star Quilt Co - they were having a sale on 2 yard cuts, so I ordered enough for two quilt backs.  I thought this blue floral would be a good backing for Luminous Layers.

Figuring out how to quilt is always the toughest decision!  I really wanted to keep the star design as the main feature, so ended up deciding to kind of outline the stars from the middle small star radiating out.

The small yellow stars feel like they will be the hardest to reach for quilting, so I haven't done any stitching in them yet.  Still figuring that part out!

So far, making good progress!

Linking up with Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

June Stitching

Happy June 1st!  It's time to get out the Woven Wreaths project and stitch the June design.  

I've been spending lots of time with my watering can the last couple weeks, as I got the garden and pots planted.  These are the dianthus that over-wintered in their pots and surprised me by sprouting again back in late April/early May.  They're pretty happy now!

This project will be halfway finished after I stitch the little watering can and its flowers.  In her video, Kathy said they were meant to represent Queen Anne's Lace, which I have always loved seeing growing wild.

I'll be slowly stitching on this today, and linking up at Kathy's Quilts!