Is Three Enough?

This month we are focused on pastels for our Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'm a little thin with pastel colors but I did manage to scrape together three Grandma's Jewels. I'm doing this using the English Paper Pieced method.

Three Pastel Grandma's Jewels for June

Pastel Orange

Pale Yellow

Mint

This week has been a busy one. Mom turned 93 on Thursday, June 18th. At Physical Therapy on Wednesday, they surprised Mom with a birthday banner, a couple balloons, cake, and a bottle of wine! Mom was delighted with the thoughtfulness and surprise of it all.

Mom's Birthday Cake & Wine

I made "Party Cookies" for Mom with the intent to pass them out to the neighbors. Unfortunately we are in a younger neighborhood with everyone working so only one plate got passed out and then we've been too busy to distribute any more. We will try to do more this weekend. After all, it's not everyday that someone turns 93 so it's definitely worth the effort.

Mom's Birthday Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Party Sprinkles!

On Thursday we took her to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse where we met with Fred's sister Betty. We had good conversation with our dinner and didn't get home until after 9:00. Unfortunately we missed several "birthday calls" from the family.

Fridays are always busy for Mom because it's her standing appointment day for getting her hair done. This time I also got a trim so we were gone a little longer than normal. When we got home she got one big phone call from my brother's house -- two of his kids with spouses were there for Father's Day Weekend! So much to catch up on with all of them!!

In the meantime we're getting our deck replaced. The old deck was giving me some safety concerns.

Looking Down Where the Railing
is Pulling Away from the Deck Floor

Showing How Far the Railing
has Pulled Away

Rotting Wood Under the Stairs

The old deck has been demolished and the framing for the new has been completed.

Old Deck All Gone
Shed in Background will be Removed Too

Deck Demolition

Framing Completed

Deck Frame From the Ground Level

Completion is expected by next weekend. So looking forward to enjoying the new deck!

That about wraps up the old and the new around here. Please feel free to join the other RSC bloggers HERE to see what scrap-happiness they've gotten up to lately!

A Finish, A UFO, and A Continuation

This week as I waited at Mom's podiatrist appointment, hair appointment, and PT appointments, I managed to sew a bit on Grandma's Jewels. I'm using pastels since that is the color(s) Angela chose for us in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for June. 

Jewels in the Works

One Pastel Jewel Completed

While Mom was at one of her PT appointments, I ran to my library to pick up a book they were holding for me. While there, I chatted with the librarian about the puzzle handouts they had at the counter. She explained that they were available for free. Since I noticed there were quite a few Word Search puzzles in the mix, I picked them up for Mom thinking they may be a welcomed distraction from her TV viewing.

Mom Hard at Work on a Word Search

We had some "big doin's" in the neighborhood this week. The neighbor had a tree taken out of their backyard since it was hanging over their pool and Florida room. It was fun to watch the machinery go up & over their 2-story house to do the job!

I finished this cross-stitch piece this week. All that had been left to do was complete my initials and date. Can you find them?

I belong to The Applique Society (TAS) local and national chapters. The local chapter has challenged us to finish up a few of our UFOs. You may remember I recently finished a Christmas table runner.

Finished!

Now to choose another project that needs to be finished. I decided to work on Eye of the Beholder by Margaret Willingham. She was a Zoom class instructor through the national chapter. I took the class in Oct 2022. I think I should get this one done.

The Pattern

Where I Currently Am

Her technique was different from anything I'd done previously -- sort of -- kind of a cross between back-basting and Hawaiian applique. I'm loving working on it again so I think I'll be making steady progress. I ran into a couple of problems in 2022 which I've mentally worked out. Hopefully my thought-process will be successful!

 

Our old deck and back shed are scheduled for demolition this week and a new deck installed. I'll be sticking around the  house as much as possible to watch the process. I hope to get a lot of sewing accomplished this week!

Please drop by SoScrappy to check in on my blogging friends' scrap progress. Thank you, Angela, for keeping us on track with our scrappy quilts!

RSC June Pastels and I Like Thurs Prompt

Let's start this post with an I Like Thursday prompt, shall we? LeeAnn asked ...

    "What would be your favorite insect and why? think about the good or pretty insects out there not just annoying ones... did you ever capture lightning bugs in a jar as a kid?"

Not being able to narrow it down to only one favorite, my answer would be dragonflies, butterflies, and bees with dragonflies narrowly being my favorite. I love the way they glide around and how shiny their wings look when the sun shines down on them. I wonder how the others are responding. I encourage you to check out their responses. It's always interesting to read their prompt replies and also to see what books, movies, garden flowers, and foods they're enjoying. Look right HERE.

Let me nail down the Rainbow Scrap Challenge next. Angela chose PASTELS for our June "color". She explained that using them would put a little sparkle in our scrappy quilts. Okay! I'm game. Yesterday being Friday and Mom's Hairdo Day, I took a pile of scraps that I thought would work. Here are three Grandma's Jewels that I managed to get prepped while there.

I think these will work, although the pink/orange "background fabric might not be a good choice. We'll just have to think about that. What do you think? Will it work?

So back to an I Like Thurs post. I am so bad at being a consistent responder but I like playing the game so I'll participate when I can. I've been enjoying the Ruth Galloway series of books by Elly Griffiths. Right now I'm finishing up The House at Sea's End which is the third in the series. Ruth Galloway is a forensic anthropologist so there's some sort of mystery to be solved. Right up my alley!

GoodReads synopsis

Thursday was a busy day around here. Being as it was the 1st Thursday of the month meant that we were off to the Troy Senior Center Luncheon. It was fantastic! We were served bratwurst, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and a cookie with bite-sized chocolates. Too bad our table was called last and my sauerkraut serving was a tad skimpy for me -- even though Fred didn't even ask for some! Lol!

Afterward eating, the Waterloo German Band entertained us and entertain they did! We learned a little history on the Swiss/Austrian cow bells as well as the huge Alpine horn. The woman on the accordion played so well and the chosen songs had us all singing along with the band. So much fun and man! did it tire Mom out! Hahaha!

Waterloo German Band

Learning about the Cow Bells
He Played a Couple Songs Using Them

Teaching Us about the Alpine Horn
aka Alphorn

Alphorn Song
Takes a LOT of Wind!

What a great week we had! And I didn't even mention how much fun we've had watching Roland Garros this week either! The smiles around here never end, do they? Here's to another great week ahead and I'm wishing the same for all of you too.

Don't forget to check in with the other scrappy quilters at SoScrappy!

Finishing RSC Pink and So On ...

It's been a while (again) since my last post. Many things have gone in that have kept me away from the blog. My fingers have remained pretty busy though.

As April ended, Angela announced that May's Rainbow Scrap color would be orange. I quickly dug out my orange scraps, my English paper pieces, and my EPP caddy. I knew it would be just the thing to take on our upcoming trip to Wilmington NC. The last of my brother's kids was getting married on May 2.

So, working in the car along the way, working more in the hotel in between wedding events, and then working along the way home from my brother's house in Lexington NC, I cut, glued, and stitched. I ended up getting almost all of the Grandmother's Jewels completed by the time we got home and then I did finish them up.

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One week later .... Now where was I? Ah, Grandmother's Orange Jewels!

My Favorite Jewel

Five Orange Jewels

I also finished up the jewels for Pink Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quite a Stack of Jewels

As I began earlier in this post, we went to Wilmington NC for my niece's wedding. We had a wonderful trip and I saw "long-lost" cousins, I enjoyed quiet one-on-one breakfasts with my daughter, and I loved spending time with friends & family.

We finally met face-to-face Mom's great-granddaughter Everleigh, my niece's daughter. She was born the end of November and is at the great age of 5 months -- aware of her surroundings, you don't have to be too careful holding her, full of life and personality!

Since we were here for a wedding, let's see a few pictures from the wedding weekend.

The Bride Preparing with
Her Twin Sister

Mom Seeing Her Granddaughter
Before the Ceremony

Exchange of Vows

My Brother's Three Girls!
His 2 Daughters and His 1st Grandbaby (Everleigh)

The Bride & Groom
Let's Party!!!

My Beautiful Cousin and Her Debonair Husband
Came in From New York

My Handsome Cousin and His Lovely Wife
Came in From Connecticut

So many old memories shared and new ones made. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to reconnect. Mom was beside herself!

After the wedding weekend, my son & his family joined us for an extra couple of days at my brother's house in Lexington NC. We had so much fun there too. We loved feeding the chickens!

Three of the Five Young Ones

Mom Feeding a Leghorn

Jacob, my Grandson, Feeding Chickens
Notice the Dog Keeping Watch!

Chicken Frenzy!

Both Grandsons Enjoying the Chickens

The Quilt Fred & I Slept Under
My Sister-in-Law's Great-Grandmother's Quilt

Close-Up of One of the Blocks
Hand-Pieced and Hand-Quilted

John & Karen recently bought a couple of jet skis to go with their house on High Rock Lake. My son & daughter-in-law learned how to run them and off they went!

Jared

Amanda

What about the boys? Want to go for a ride too?

Jared & Brody

Amanda & Jacob

When we got home, I managed to have a UFO finished just in time for the monthly TAS (The Applique Society) meeting. Meet Daphne, a table runner made in a class by Katrina Hadjimichael from Austrailia!

I think that pretty much catches us up on where I've been, things I've sewn, and happy to be home again. Our trip was full of memories to last a life-time!

If you've stayed with me this long, please join Angela at SoScrappy to see what others have shared with their orange scraps. I'm sure they've been more productive than me!