I Like Thursday #374

After enjoying warmer temperatures and even a couple rounds of golf last week, the wintry weather came back over the weekend.  We had an odd day of rain, sleet, and snow which combined overnight into a frozen landscape.  I guess I do have to remember that it's still winter!

It was good couple of days for reading a page-turner of a thriller, which is exactly what I did.  I thought this was a good story, although there are some difficult parts.  It did make me think - what would it be like if a family I thought I knew pretty well just disappeared?

We also just recently got a subscription to Apple TV + and the first thing we watched was "Ted Lasso," and loved it.  You do have to decide to ignore the use of the F word and pay attention to the story - which we did and got really attached to the characters and storylines.

Next we tried an episode of "Lessons in Chemistry" which is based on a book which I loved, and it seems pretty good so far, too.

Aren't these owls cute?  I'm putting together one more set of the cases for Carole's Safelight program at From My Carolina Home.  I thought the owls and dot fabric were a fun combination!

I'm finishing these up and will get them in the mail 

at the beginning of next week.

LeeAnna's question of the week is would we prefer chocolate or flowers for Valentine's Day?  And my answer is... both!  Although I will most likely get neither, lol!  We don't give each other a lot of gifts, but opt for planning fun outings together instead.  I have to share, though, that Mike does make sure I am pretty well stocked up with chocolate.  My favorite is this inexpensive dark chocolate bar from Walmart -

Yum!

Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Midweek Update

The best thing about Mondays at this time of the year is that it's time for another prompt for the Stay at Home Round Robin!  This week's host, Emily at the Darling Dogwood, posted on Monday that our next border should be made with triangles.   That always gets me thinking, and excited to get going on my plan.

I first did a little shopping at my LQS and brought home a few more reds, yellows, and background white prints.  Here you can see where I left off last week, too.

The center block I started with has a glass of lemonade that I embroidered with silver metallic floss.  It's really hard to catch in a photograph, but I decided that I want to add more sparkly metallic fabric into this piece.  This red dot has silvery sparkles in it, so I next added a narrow border all the way around to contain all that lemon yellow from the previous border!

This now measures 18.5 x 18.5.

Then it was time to think about the triangles.  One of the new reds I bought has a gold design in it, so I decided to use that with this yellow on white background print for the next border and ended up making 12 red and white HSTs.

Those HSTs can make all kinds of different border designs, and I haven't decided exactly what I'll do with them yet.  

Maybe this...?

I don't think I'll sew these together as a border yet until next week's border idea comes out.  I might combine two or even three border ideas for this next round.

Sharing at The Darling Dogwood SAHRR Round 3 link-up and at

Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Sunday Slow Stitching

Now that it's February, and time to put out some Valentine's decorations, I decided to finish up some small projects that have been hanging around for awhile - since sometime in 2023.  I don't think I even ever shared these on the blog when I was working on them, just stitched them up and never took any in-progress photos!

The first one is this little heart embroidery.  I can't even remember where I got the design from - does anyone recognize it?    Lots of French Knots in those flower centers!  I finished this in a 4 inch wooden hoop.

Also, probably around February last year, I stitched up the Red Heart Mini Sampler, designed by Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I just finished it into a small pillow this week.

I thought these hearts were perfect for the backside.  They're going in all my projects this month!

And here they are on the tiny chest of drawers in our entryway.  I kept a few of the winter things, since it is still winter!  

For today's slow stitching, I'll be working on the February design in Kathy Schmitz's Woven Wreaths project.  I had a chance to watch the video and get started on it on Friday.  The main circle and inner heart designs are stitched, as well as one leaf and one heart.

Happy Stitching today!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Red for February!

Don't you think red is the perfect color for February sewing?  I even found a red with hearts on it that I have used in several projects lately.  I actually made a red heart back in December (probably because I was sewing with Christmas reds back then), but this week I did make some 4 patches for the alternate block.

So, here are the red blocks for February for the Scrappy Hearts quilt - 

And all the blocks so far.  I also made the blue heart back in December when I was just playing with the quilt idea.

This week I've also been quilting on Rainbow Bowties.  Not done yet, but moving right along!  I've quilted all the longest sections that criss-cross from the center out to the corners, and now working on finishing out the corner sections.  The bottom left is done.

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

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

Sew and Tell Monday at Melva Loves Scraps

I Like Thursday #373

Happy February!

It's still winter, but we played golf on Tuesday!   It was a beautiful day - 63 for the high - and a great way to spend the afternoon.  Golf is Mike's absolute favorite pastime, so I'm happy that we could get out and play - it helps him like winter better, lol!  

Have you ever bought a "take home and bake" pizza at Walmart?  They are surprisingly good, and such an easy meal.  We brought home a cheese pizza last Friday and added a bunch of our favorite toppings.

I finished the most interesting book this last week.  Goodnight, Irene is our Loveland Loves to Read book for 2024.  It's historical fiction, and based on the author's mother who worked for the American Red Cross Clubmobile service during WWII.  (Read more about it here.) This was something I had never heard of, so enjoyed learning more about it.

My book club group is getting tickets to the Author Talk that is put on by the Loveland Loves to Read sponsors.  I'm looking forward to this event because it's always interesting to hear a writer talk about their book!   Here we are having one of our get togethers, and we even were able to include one member who has moved to another state.

LeeAnna's question of the week was about friendships.  My book club is the group of friends I enjoy being with the most - we are all retired teachers who have a lot in common and enjoy each other's company.   We support each other in so many ways - in tough times and in fun ones.  I'm very blessed to have these women in my life!

Hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for visiting on I Like Thursday hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Midweek Update

Round Two of the Stay at Home Round Robin is being hosted by Anja over at Anja Quilts, and her prompt was to use two colors to make any block or border design.  So I've been playing with more sunny yellow this week!

I started with some strip sets - 

which were trimmed into 2.5 inch squares - 

which were sewn into these - 

And with the addition of some corner HSTs, became this!

After those final longer seams, the second border of my SAHRR is complete.

Now it is 16.5 inches square, and, yes, my block is square, 

not wonky like the photo makes it look!

And it's definitely fun and lemony!

Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers and at

Anja Quilts for the SAHRR Round 2 link-up.

 

Slow Sunday Stitching

It didn't take too long to stitch up this little heart - Block #1 in "A Year of Hearts" - from PinkernPunkin Quilting.  I really enjoyed this, and look forward to February's heart!

In between embroidery stitches, I've also been quilting the Rainbow Bowties.  It's moving right along, but plenty more to do!   This will be my slow stitching today - linking up with Kathy and the Sunday Stitchers.

The first of February coming up means it will be time to stitch another design on the Kathy Schmitz Woven Wreaths project.  Looking forward to that, too!