I Like Thur #159

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you've managed to find some happiness this past week. All you have to do is look around and I bet you find something to like. I'll share what I've sound this past week with you.

I've been reading Chris Whitaker's "All the Colors of the Dark" and have been enjoying it. It's beautifully written and reminds me of the style in "Where the Crawdads Sing". Of course the subject is entirely different but both are use colorful language.

The storyline in this book is interesting but I do find that it drags a bit at times. Maybe the prose is just a little too rich for me? I'm definitely curious to see how this one is going to end so I'll keep reading.

On the culinary front, I saved this recipe from a 2022 calendar and finally got around to making it. Truly a comfort dish!

I also saw a container of blueberries that seemed to be hanging out a little too long in the fridge so I made a lemon blueberry cake. So yummy and Mom really loved it!

You can find Carole's recipe on her From My Carolina Home blog right HERE. It's easy and delicious!

What has kept me very happy lately? I've been quilting up a top most recenly. I love free-motion quilting!! Here's a peek ....

Have you noticed lately how dark it stays in the morning? Gracie and I have been leaving a little later on our walks because it's just so dang dark still at 6:45. The other morning as the sun was starting to light up the sky, I noticed this beautiful X in the sky. I hope it brightens your day too!

Have a great Thursday, everyone! You can find more "interesting" things at LeeAnna's Not Afraid Of Color blog where we all share things to like.

Light Browns

Lori from Humble Quilts started a SAL a couple of weeks ago called Homestead which she is basing on an antique quilt. Of course I was late for the party because of all my recent company followed by a trip to NC for my niece's wedding. Luckily, she shared what fabrics/colors we might want to use before we left so I had a fabric pull ready to go when I got home.

Check out those RSC lights & browns!

When I got home, I checked out the first clue in the SAL and changed my mind on a few of my original fabrics. First up was pairs of 9-patches with a red center.

I quickly moved on to the second & third clues. I got the top assembled last night. It could use another good press.

I love it!!! I'm patiently awaiting the finishing and quilting suggestions she promised to share soon. I would have never put that green with the pink with the light brown, wavy print but I think it works.

Here's another picture of the top with the diamonds going the other way. What do you think?

I think it looks different turned even though it's the exact same top. Funny about perceptions, huh?

If you would like to read more about this SAL or join in, here's the link to get you started.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be working on something else until I get the last clue to Homestead!

Linking with Angela at SoScrappy.

I Like Thursday #158

Happy Thursday once again and I've got a few "Likes" to share with you this week. I finished "The Little Liar" by Mitch Albom. What a fantastic book and I definitely recommend it if you can stomach the basis of the book. It held my interest all the way to the end.

Last Thursday, Mom & I headed to the library to return books finished while on vacation and to pick up new ones. I had placed a hold on "All the Colors of the Dark" by Chris Whitaker. It was recommended by my friend Vickie. I can say that it started off running! I'm only about 100 pages in with 500 to go but it's good so far.

GoodReads synopsis HERE

While we had visitors and then were on vacation, Survivor kicked off a new season. I'm finally caught up and I'm so happy that I had something to watch on TV. This week starts all the other shows, I believe.

This has been a busy, quilty week for me. On Monday was Quilt Club at my LQS and for once I won an attendance prize. Since I was the first name drawn I got first picks of 4 sweet sewing kits. I chose the pretty green & yellow lemon patterned one with the green gingham interior.

The scissors & pins were included!

Tuesday evening was my guild meeting. We had a LQS visit to give us a Christmas preview. It was so much fun and loaded with ideas and things to purchase. I was particularly happy to see that they had the Stripology Quickies book by Gundrun Erla (aka GEDesigns). I already had the book but they showed a couple of quilts that they had made up (and probably kitted) from the book.

Today is Rosemary's Tips & Techniques which is always a good group meeting. I'll report on that next week if anything interesting comes up from that.

Yesterday we picked out tub, shower, fixtures, and more for a master bathroom renovation. That was fun! I'm not really looking forward to the process but I am looking forward to the result.

LeeAnna asked us if we'd ever been on a hayride and did we like it. I have to say I've not been on a hayride and I don't think I'd like it. I understand that hay is very pokey and I wouldn't like that. Lol!

I hope you have a good week. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way!

Linking up with other I Like Thurs bloggers HERE. Go ahead and check out their blogs too!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Turned into FNwF

This is my first RSC post in quite a while. We had a lot of company the middle two weeks of September followed by our week-long trip at the end of September. Not much time to read or post blogs. Hopefully things will be settling down for a bit again.

While on the All-Illinois Shop Hop I picked up a scarecrow pattern to embroider. It is called My Fall Guy. I'm not going to show you a picture of the pattern because it is not a good picture. Why do pattern designers typically have the worst pictures on the covers of their patterns???? Anyway, I saw it done at a quilt shop and decided it would be a good project for on the road. Plus it's pretty dark so fits in with the RSC scheme of things.

He's a Long Fellow

Last night I worked on the leaves and the Xs at the bottom.

I started the Xs at the top also.

I managed this while watching the season opener to Survivor. Besides falling behind on my sewing, I'm also behind on the new shows for 2024! Lol!

I hope you have a great weekend. We have lovely weather here which I hope to enjoy myself!

Linking up with Angela at SoScrappy.

I Like Thurs #157

Hello to you all. We got home late afternoon yesterday. Laundry will be started by the time this posts. I hope you've all had a good week last week and, those of you in Hurricane Helene's wake, I wish you all the restoration of electricity, clean water, food, shelter, debris clearance, and contact with loved ones. While we were in fact in North Carolina, we were not close to the catastrophe. The wedding was in Wilmington. We drove through some awful rain and wind on our way there last Thursday but Hubby got us to the event's hotel safely. However, one of the hotels we stayed in had some displaced folks staying there too and also several "helpers" in uniform (National Guard?) staying also. So there you have it: I liked that there were survivors at the hotel getting clean water, food, & shelter. I liked that there was coordinated help at the hotel getting a good meal before heading out to work and then a clean bed to rest their weary bodies.

Warning: Very Picture Heavy

We did enjoy a beautiful outdoor wedding. During the outdoor rehearsal on Friday morning, the sky cleared up a bit so rehearsal was on. However, during the rehearsal, the wind picked up all of a sudden and Spanish moss went flying as well as some tree branches. One small branch whipped around and hit the bride's grandfather in the head. It broke the skin and he went down on one knee but, thankfully, he was alright. 

Jared & Brody managed to get in some pool time before the 4:30 wedding.

On the day of the wedding, the sun shone on us in spite of all the humidity.

My 91-years-young Mother
Nephew John III, the Escort

Grandparents on Bride's Mother's Side

Let me interject here that both grandmothers were Flower Grandmothers and the grandfather was the Ring-Bearing Grandfather. He's also the one that got corked in the head at rehearsal!

Maid of Honor on the Right
Also the Bride's Twin Sister

My Brother Escorting the Bride
Down the Aisle

A View of the Back of the Bridal Gown
So Pretty!!!

Exchanging Vows

A Few of the Bridesmaids Looking On
Maid of Honor on the Right

Mr & Mrs At Last!

Bride & Groom with
Mother & Father of the Bride

The next day we headed to see my brother's new home in Lexington NC. We stayed two nights and that is where I saw the hurricane survivors and the helping hands.

The reception was fun and gave us all time to relax and enjoy each other's company.

My Lovely Sister-in-Law
aka Mother of the Bride

MOM!!!
Grandmother of the Bride on Her Father's Side

Look Who Else Made It!
My Handsome Son & Beautiful Daughter-in-Law

Brody!!! And Jacob Behind Him

Delicious Wedding Cake

Even More Delicious Dessert Table

The Three Mrs. Wagners
Mom in the Middle Married John Sr
Karen on the Right Married John Jr
Katharine on the Left Married John III

Quilt I Brought for the Hotel Stays

View From Our Room
(Childress Vineyards)

Up Close View of the Grapes
Yay! Wine Time Soon!

Haas Surveying His New Home on the Front Porch

As you can imagine, there are countless LIKES from our family trip to the wedding. There were still a few other LIKES that I want to mention, as well.

I finished "The Lost" by Claire McGowan. It was pretty good and I may circle back one day and get the next in the series. In the meantime, "The Little Liar" by Mitch Albom became available. I downloaded it before we left and I'm almost finished with it. I will say that it is a powerful book and I highly recommend it. There are some rough spots to get through but that is due to the subject matter.

GoodReads Synopsis HERE

Did I show you the recent puzzle I finished up right before leaving? I liked doing this one, all about Route 66 which runs right through my area.

I thought this set of traffic lights was hysterical looking. They looked like bug eyes to me. I also liked the Carolina Blue sky!

I think that brings me up to date with you with the exception of LeeAnna's prompt: Do you like a cornfield maze? Have you ever done one? If so, where?

I like the idea of the corn mazes but I've never done one. We have some local ones and maybe this will be the year for me! Lol!

I hope you have a great Thursday and start to your weekend. I'm linking up with LeeAnna and the others right HERE.

Catch Up

I can't hardly believe that September is almost over. This September 28th marks my son's 43rd birthday and also marks my niece's wedding. That is where we will be celebrating both events. One quietly and the other with shared family joy. Pictures will follow soon.

Today I'd love to share with you, dear readers, a finished UFO from a very long time ago. As I mentioned last week, my friend gave me a kit for 6 placemats using a panel. The store that kitted it up gave further instructions to make them a little larger. After I finished all of the tops, I got stumped on the finishing directions and there they sat for years & years.

I decided to sit down and get this project done. I want to use the placemats THIS YEAR! Turns out, they were not that difficult to complete and then all that was left was some quick quilting. However, my son's family arrived for his MIL's Celebration of Life as she passed suddenly. That left little time to get the house back to non-kidproof and the sewing machine out in the open again. But I managed!

Candy Canes

Ornaments

Partridge

Present

Poinsettia

And there you have it! All six placemats with silverware pockets!

I'll catch up with everyone once things settle down a bit again. Wonder what October will bring!!??!! Any guesses on Angela's RSC color?

Update: I never got/took the chance to complete this post while away. Here's the incomplete edition with new posts to catch up later this week, I hope.

RSC Dark and I Like Thursday #156

Things have been hopping around here lately. Last week my friend visited and this past week my son and his family arrived. Grammy & Grampa forgot how busy a house with two boys (ages 5 and 2-1/2) running around can be. It's all been fun but left me lacking time to post on my blog or even to sew!

In between visits I started to finish a UFO from many, many years ago. My friend had given me a kit making six Christmas placemats. When it came to the finishing,  I didn't understand the directions and sat it aside ... until now. This is the year to git 'er done!

Amazing how after giving the project years to marinate turned into a pretty simple frame around each mat. I just didn't get it and was afraid to start cutting the fabric. So here is one of the six. They just need the final quilting in the middle and that ought to take about 60 minutes.

The red on the right-hand side
is a silverware/napkin pocket

I hope to have all six 100% completed before we leave next week for my niece's wedding in North Carolina.

As for I Like Thursday -- you guessed it! Grandkids!!!

Jacob Found Grammy's Post-Its

Brody is Almost as Tall as GG!

Get Your Feet on Right, Jacob

Fun Times

Fist Bump with Grampa for Gummies

Cheers to Grammy & Jacob

Cheers to Grammy & Brody!

That's life in the fast lane and we wouldn't have it any other way! I hope you have some excitement brewing in your lives as well. Have a good weekend!

I Like Thursday: Linking with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Linking with Angela at SoScrappy