I Like Thursday #404

Good morning!  I really enjoy being the first one up most mornings, and starting the day quietly with my coffee, and sometimes a treat.  I made some muffins this week using a basic muffin recipe and adding some shredded zucchini and chocolate chips.  They were good, but pretty dense.  I'm wondering now if they needed more liquid because of the zucchini.  Baker friends, what do you think?

The sunflowers are getting prettier and prettier as more blooms open!

I'm so proud of my pumpkin harvest this year - I got four of them, lol!  They're small, but I might be able to get some pumpkin out of them to bake with.  I'll try that later in the month.

I just finished this book, and really enjoyed it.  Apparently it is Elin Hilderbrand's last book set on Nantucket which makes me kind of sad - I've enjoyed reading them.  I bet I haven't read them all, though - I'll have to go back and look for ones I've missed.

LeeAnna recommended this series last week, and since we have Acorn TV again, we decided to try it.  It's really good, and has one of our favorite actors as the main character - Sanjeev Baskar.   He has been in other shows that we really like, including "Unforgotten" on PBS, and played the young singer's dad in "Yesterday."

Thanks for the recommendation, LeeAnna!

LeeAnna's question of the week is about how we help ourselves maintain a level mood.  That is an interesting question, and one I had to think about for awhile.  I'm not a moody person, and am generally pretty positive and optimistic about life.  But I am also a person who likes routine, and when my routine gets messed up, I definitely start to feel off-kilter and that affects my outlook.  So... what helps?

• Escaping into a good book. (See above!)
• Fabric fondling.  Or an hour in my sewing room, if possible.

• A walk, either with Mike or a friend.  Exercise combined with someone to talk to makes a huge difference in my mood.

What helps you when you get off-kilter?  I'll be interested to know!  Have a great Thursday!  Joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.

Pieces of My Life - Chimney and Cornerstone

I just finished up the next block for Melva's Pieces of My Life QAL, and here it is!  I've enjoyed making each block so far, and it was the same for this one.  Choosing scraps, figuring out their placement, sewing, pressing, and doing it again until finished - my favorite things to do!

When Mike and I first met, he had just gotten out of the Navy a few months before, and he worked at Kodak in Windsor, Colorado, and lived in an apartment near his work.  I was in college at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, so eventually he moved there, so we could be in the same city before we got married.  After we were married, in January of 1976, I moved into this cute little place where he had moved in the months prior.

This is a screen shot from Google Maps.  We lived in the left side of the little duplex, and the owner's elderly mom lived in the other side.  We took the rent money over to her every month - I think it was $200!  We had one bedroom, one bath, a tiny kitchen, and a living room.  It seemed old back then - and that was almost 49 years ago!

Mike continued to work at Kodak - in fact he worked there his whole career - and I finished my last semester at CSU.  We only owned one car, so I rode my bike or walked to school.  (Although, Mike will be quick to tell you that I did drive the car to campus a few times and ended up with some parking tickets... I couldn't get my diploma after graduation until I paid them off!  Oops!)

Once I graduated, we moved to Loveland - just down the road about 10 miles.  That was where my family lived, and we still live here today, although my siblings are spread out around the country now.

This week I also got around to sandwiching the second section of the quilt top with its batting and backing, and started on the quilting, too.  

Lots more to do!

Sharing at Sew and Tell Monday at Melva Loves Scraps.

And at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

Slow stitching this week...

I love sunflowers!  

Along the road

And growing in my garden, too - 

So, I'm sure it's no surprise to you that I enjoy stitching sunflower designs, too.  This week, I finished up the August Year of Hearts block from Melisa at PinkernPunkin Quilting.  

Sunny Sunflowers

Since it's September 1st today (and how is that possible?!) it's time to work on the monthly Woven Wreaths design from Kathy Schmitz.  Looks like we'll be stitching up some oak leaves and acorns!

This afternoon I'll watch Kathy's video with tips for stitching,

and then I'll spend some slow stitching time working on it.

Linking with Kathy and the slow stitches at Kathy's Quilts!

 

Table Scraps for August

My small finishes for August were inspired by this chunk of fabric - 

Pretty fall leaves in orange, birds, and acorns!

and some orphan blocks - 

I saw these on someone's blog in the last few years and had to make a few,

but lost interest.  It's a lot of little pieces in a small block!

While you might be thinking that I combined the above items into one project, I actually ended up with two.   The August color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is orange, so it wasn't too hard to include that, but the additional challenge from Joy was to include baskets and that I struggled with.  Basket blocks?  An embroidered basket?  I couldn't come up with something that inspired me!  Until I thought about making something three dimensional.  

Then I remembered this tutorial from Freemotion By the River, and turned my fall leaf print into a fabric basket!

I've been using a plastic left over dish for a thread and trash bin on my sewing table, but this will be a lot prettier!

I used the six scrappy blocks to make a table topper.  I enjoy making small quilted pieces for around our house - they get a lot of use and are washed and dried a lot.  It never hurts to have a new one!  

There is really every color of the rainbow in this one - so maybe you can see some orange here and there!  

The backing is cut out of the little penguin print that Nann sent me.  They do have adorable orange beaks and feet!

Sharing at the August Table Scraps link-up at the Joyful Quilter 

and at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

ScrapHappy Saturday at SoScrappy

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

 

I Like Thursday #403

I like getting out of town now and then, and it had been a few months since we had the opportunity to go somewhere.  After we got our new car, my brother asked if we'd like to meet in Palisade, Colorado, for a weekend, and we said "Sure!"  It was a beautiful and scenic drive, too.

Starting up into the mountains just west of Denver -

At the top of Vail Pass - 10,000+ feet of elevation!

Not my photo, although we did drive right past this sign!

Mountain views - 

And then, really different scenery over on the Western Slope - lots of buttes, mesas, and cliffs.

Lots of peaches and grapes are grown over there.

And there are wineries!

This was a Malbec Rose - look at that pretty color!

And time spent with extended family is always a good thing!

I think they were having fun, too!

Hope you're having a great week! 

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

Midweek Update

Since we were away from home for four days over the last week, not much sewing has been happening.  But I did get to spend some quality time with these special people!

My brother, Steve, and my sister, Susan, and me!

So this week's Midweek post is more of a To Do list of projects that need some attention.  It's the end of August, and that's usually when I'm finishing up some small projects that fit in the Table Scraps category.  There are actually two of those this month - one needs some buttons sewn on and one needs the quilting finished up and some binding.

More about these later in the week.

And Melva posted the next block for Pieces of My Life, so it's time to work on that, too.  This one is called Chimney and Cornerstones.  This afternoon (Tuesday), I got all the parts cut out for this block, and even started the sewing.  It's not going to take long to finish up.

I need to get back to the quilting part of the second section of this quilt, too, so that's on the list for the week as well.  This section is sewn together, but the sandwiching and quilting still need to be done.  

There's plenty to work on, so you know what I'll be doing!  Sharing at Quiltfabrication for Midweek Makers.

 

Slow stitching the rainbow...

It has been one of those weeks with not a lot of time for the sewing machine, but I could sit down at the end of the day for some hand stitching, so I did.  That helped me get four big blocks of hollow nine patches sewn together.

Just a few more long seams and the top will be together!

I'm planning to hand quilt this, so there's plenty more stitching to do.

This weekend we are in Palisade, Colorado, for a family get together, so I brought along the sunflower embroidery just in case there's some time for a few stitches.  Hard to know if I'll even touch it, but I always like bringing something along, just in case!

I might even be stitching a little bit with this view, out the back door of our room!

Sharing at all my favorite weekend parties:

ScrapHappy Saturday 

Oh Scrap

Slow Sunday Stitching