Pineapples!

Finally I can share with you two dark purple pineapple blocks! I even have another in the works. I'll need to do a recount but I believe I'm only two short now. Progress -- I really like that!

Wow! That top green is really bright!

Another thing I liked this week was news that I received from my niece & goddaughter. She's engaged!

Beautiful Rock(s)!

Here are a couple of extra pictures from last weekend. Kelli works for Wilson Sporting Goods and had an event in the metro-St. Louis area so she was in the area. Jack decided to join her. We caught up with the two of them at Kelli's other grandparents' house for lasagna dinner. I brought Turtle Brownies for dessert and for her birthday which was the previous Thursday.

Turtle Brownie Recipe

Headed Home with Layover in Philadelphia
Philly Cheesesteaks for Breadfast! Hahaha!

We enjoyed the December Senior Luncheon. As promoted, we had fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, salad, roll, and a special cupcake for dessert.

Santa Passed Out Candy Canes Too!

Holiday Cupcakes -- Yum!

We were entertained again with a Christmas song-a-long. Mom really loves that!

Afterwards we had a "snowball fight" and it was so much fun. Where they got those ginormous cotton balls I don't know but everyone got into the spirit for sure!

It seems like I can't do a post without sharing something from a morning walk. The other day I heard this rustling in the bamboo that grows along some of the trail. Look what I spied (wish I'd gotten a better picture)!

After looking through my Illinois Bird Book, I discovered it was a bobwhite! One time, and only once, I watched a trail of baby bobwhites following their parent across the bike trail. Wonder if this one is related??!!

Chuckle for the day: I saw this on Facebook and it pretty much sums up the pre-holiday preparations:

I hope you are having a great week and are looking forward to fun times this weekend. I'll be sharing this post with LeeAnna's group at Not Afraid of Color and also with Angela at SoScrappy.

Later!

I Like Thursday #163

Another week of good things brought to you again by me! Christmas will be here in only a few weeks and we are busy making plans for the in-coming relatives. So looking forward to seeing everyone again. It's been quite a while since I've seen my daughter -- long overdue!

Our prompt this week from LeeAnna is do we get a real tree or an artificial one? We generally put up an artificial tree. I'm accustomed to them due to growing up with a father that was allergic to pine. Isn't that sad??? This year we will put up our artificial tree again. However, I also have a "live" one this year too!

For the last three years, my friend Sharon has come over on the Friday after Thanksgiving to enjoy some pumpkin pie, coffee, and catch-up time. As a thank you, she gave me this sweet little LIVE Christmas greenery. She told me it was a fairy tree. I'll be doing my best to keep it alive. Isn't it sweet???

Our "live" Christmas tree

One wonderful thing that came out of Covid was the transition to Zoom classes. The Applique Society (TAS) has provided some wonderful opportunities to take classes with instructors from all over to include anywhere USA and Australia. I recently took a class with Katrina Hadjimichael, an Australian designer. We were learning her prepared-edge technique with her pattern called Daphne. Here is my completed Part 1 of the class which was on November 3.

Daphne center with inspiration fabric

We had Part 2 of our class this past Sunday, December 1, and I've got a good start on it.

Glued down and needing to be sewn

I really liked this class done in two parts. If you ran into any problems during the interim, you had a second chance to ask the teacher questions!

Recently I finished the book "Sister" by Rosamund Lupton. It was very good! So good that I downloaded another book by her called "Afterwards". I can't say much about the new book as I only just started it last night.

GoodReads Synopsis Here

Do you watch Survivor? I still enjoy watching it after all these seasons! The season finale will be the next two weeks' shows. Then what will I watch? I'm so glad that so many of you have made recommendations for shows to stream. It'll get us through to the new year!

I recently sewed up the Cactus Flower table runner that I started years ago and worked on at a couple of Mascoutah sleep-in-your-own-bed retreats. I'll quilt it sometime over this winter but not until we get past Christmas.

This afternoon we'll be going to the Christmas Luncheon at the Troy Senior Center. We'll have singing and, rumor has it, Mr. & Mrs. Claus will stop by for a quick visit. The menu today is fried chicken, mac & cheese, Carol's famous Salad, and a gourmet cupcake! All that for a low price of $10 -- can't hardly beat that!

We are very cold here but, after all, it IS December. November went out with a bang here -- 70 degrees one day and then 3.5" of snow the next. We've been pretty cold since then except for yesterday we hit 50. Today's walk with Gracie was definitely back to winter again.

My weather app when we got home. Brrrr!

This home's residents will be thoroughly warmed up while singing Christmas songs at the Senior Center today. I hope you have a snuggly, fun day ahead of you too!

Linking up with LeeAnna and all the I Like Thursday folks HERE.

Also sharing my stuff with all the scrappers at SoScrappy HERE.

I Like Thursday #162

And here we are in the middle of November. Thanksgiving will be here before we know and we all know what follows really quickly next this year. Here's a picture of my "toilet-scape". I love decorating my bathroom. My Fall Guy is hanging out in there too! Lol!

We turned cold abruptly here in southern IL and the wind is gusty this morning. On Gracie's walk I saw that the neighbor's tree lost a big section. Maybe they're out of town because surely they would have seen the mess across their driveway.

The tree across the street did OK and was so pretty yesterday with the sunshine behind it. It is one of a few that still has its leaves attached.

I baked Cherry Pie Bars yesterday. The recipe is from one of my sleep-in-your-own-bed retreat buddies. Mom & I plan on enjoying a piece with our coffee this morning.

Recently I took a Zoom class through The Applique Society. It was with an Australian quilter named Katrina Hadjamichael. It was wonderful and I learned a couple of new "tricks" for my applique toolbox! Our project is called Daphne and I've prepared the middle for stitching down now. I went with a Christmas vibe. Katrina's sample is more spring-like but anything would work. I may do a Winter one next! We have part 2 of our class on December 1 to discusss how we will finish this up and for Katrina to answer any questions that we may have after this part 1.

I finished reading "The Measure". I really enjoyed it and think it would definitely make a great book club read. Lots to discuss.

In the meantime I read "Run on Red" by Noelle Ihli. This book was recommended to me by Mom's P/T receptionist. She knows I like thrillers. However, this was not the kind of thriller I enjoy! Lol! It was more of a "Scream" or "Friday the 13th" type of thriller. But I persevered and finished it up. If you're a Freddy Kreuger fan, then you might like to check this one out.

GoodReads synopsis HERE

So what am I reading right now? "Sister" by Rosamund Lupton. Somewhere I got the name of this book but I can't remember where. Anyway, it's pretty good so far and I think this will be more my idea of a thriller.

GoodReads synopsis HERE

Once again I am joining in with my I Like Thursday sisters on LeeAnna's blog. Please feel free to join us for some fun sharing. Have a great week!

My Fall Guy is Finished

My Fall Guy is a pattern I picked up while bouncing along on the All Illinois Shop Hop. I saw it finished at The Village Stitchery in Oblong IL. What a wonderful store. If you ever find yourself east of Effingham, it is well worth the trip to take a country jaunt to Oblong. This shop has everything -- modern fabrics, reproduction prints, Kim Diehl fabrics. Are you a fan of Laundry Basket fabrics? She has some. You say you'd like some flannel or wool? Make the trip!!

Anyway, I saw this scarecrow sample made and knew I wanted to make it. He could hang all Fall, not just during Halloween October. When I saw the pattern, I thought WOW! I'd never in a million years pick it up because the cover is not attractive at all, in my opinion.

The embroidery was completed during Mom's twice weekly October physical therapy visits and Friday hair appointments. I wish I had followed my gut and changed some of the called-for threads for darker ones since I worked it up on this plaid. Oh well! I still love him!

My Fall Guy
(Inside Picture)

Backing & Label
(I embroidered the label)

I love the border fabric. It's a Mary Koval fabric which I recently ordered from Quilted Twins. The binding I found laying around -- I think I got it from a retreat silent auction. It's a scratchy homespun(?) but the color was exactly what I wanted. The backing is a remnant I bought at a dear guild member's yard sale after she passed. So many memories in this one!

He finished up at 31" x 8-1/2" --  he's a tall fella! I took him outside to see if I could get a better picture. What a handsome guy!

Now that this one's finished, I'm working on finishing up Homestead, the SAL with Lori at Humble Quilts.

I'll take a moment now to thank all the veteran's from every branch of service. Your dedication to the freedoms of our country is something every American can and should be proud of. Thank you for your service.

Today I'll also be paying a visit to my dentist. I believe this is the final visit for my dental implant. I lost the tooth last December and I have surely missed it. Lol!

FNwF and Another Look at a Finish

Last night was Friday Night with Friends and we come from all over the world. I love these get-togethers because, while we all do the same, styles are different in different locales.

What did I work on last night? Cross-stitching! My progress has been slow because it so tiny and my eyes are usually too tired to make any progress. However last night I wanted to watch some television with the family and I didn't have anything else put together to work on.

Here's where I started.

After a few hours of TV shows, I made it this far (be sure to look at the right-hand side of the project).

Sheesh! Doesn't look like much does it? Lol!

Just in case you missed my post from yesterday, I want to share with you my Strips & Nachos quilt. I finished it and washed it up on Thursday.

If you'd like to read more about this beauty, you can go HERE.

I'm sharing on Cheryl's FNwF blog HERE and with Angela's SoScrappy blog HERE. Have a great weekend!

Strips & Nachos Finish

I have a finish! That's right, I finished the Strips & Nachos quilt. Here it is ...

I finished sewing the binding on October 30 and threw it in the wash October 31 so I'm calling it an October finish. That was my goal and I made it by the skin of my teeth!

The pattern, Strips & Salsa (yes, I've called Strips & Nachos all this time -- DOH!) is by Gudrun Erla of GEDesigns. I knew right away that I wanted to make this quilt first: because I love her patterns -- they look difficult but she manages to make it easy; and second: my LQS had given her Quilt Club members surprise bags of coordinating 8 FQs and this pattern called for 7 FQs plus fabric for background & binding. Perfect! I was set with fabric. I needed almost 3 yards for background. Remember when I couldn't find the fabric for Red Threads quilt so I bought an extra 3 yards of something that might work? And then I found the missing fabric? I used the original fabric in Red Threads and used up the extra yardage in this quilt. Score!

Here are some close up pictures of my Strips & Nachos quilt.

Pieced Back

View of Front & Back Together

Some of the Quilting

Low Light to See Quilting Better?

The quilt finished at 72" x 56" before washing. It now measures 69" x 54". It's snuggly, colorful, and I love it. I think it worked up into a nice lap quilt.

A couple last beauty shots of Strips & Nachos.

Have a great Friday!

I Like Thurs #161

Happy Halloween! I like to see kids dressed up in costumes. I like the return of Fall. I like the changing colors of the leaves. I like tidying up the garden & yard for Winter. I like pumpkins and apples. I like Autumn!

Fred Carved Our Pumpkin

Jacob Picked Out a Pumpkin at the Farm 

Yes, we almost always have a carved out Jack o'Lantern or two at our house. The kids are carrying out the tradition with the Grands.

In the kitchen this week, I made Beef Barley with Vegetables Soup in the Instant Pot. Delicious except then the weather went all hot around here. Last night we got a cold front pass through so we'll have the leftover soup tomorrow night.

Sightings on our morning walks this week include beautiful sunrises. A little girl was getting dropped off at daycare and pointed to the sky, sharing the sight with her Daddy. Gracie & I appreciated the view up there too!

Pink Contrails!

The trees are looking lovely this time of year.

We even caught a rainbow earlier in the week. Very faint but you can see it!

I'm very happy about my orchid blooming again! Seems like it was quite awhile in between this time but I've got a lot of buds waiting to open too. It's going to be so pretty!

Wishing you all a great week. I hope you liked what I liked this past week! If you want more, go visit LeeAnna's blog HERE!