Saturday, October 31, 2020

Yellow Comes to an End

Tomorrow is November and that means the "end" of yellow for us RSCers. I don't know about you, but it's OK with me because Christmas is looming and there is secret sewing to be done. It also means it's time to start thinking about finishing those RSC quilts before January comes rolling around again and we start NEW rainbow scrap quilts!

I finished up my yellow Awesome Land blocks! Here are all  nine of them!


I can't wait to start thinking about finishing this one up. I need to start cutting gazillion 2-1/2" black squares and a mess of neutral strips! I also need to play catch-up with the Heartfire hexies!

Did you follow along with Carole of From My Carolina Home during her Autumn Jubilee? Once again she had some beautiful projects for Fall including a bed quilt, wool pillow, a Fall bag, and more ideas to get into the season. I'd like to make a go at the quilt. I think it would be so nice to put on my mom's bed during this time of year. She spends every weekend with us and it would be perfect! Click on the Autumn Jubilee button on the right and then use Carole's filter for Autumn Jubilee on her right-hand side bar. You can get all the AJ posts offered for free until November 15th, or Thanksgiving, or soon!

Speaking of free, I started a sweet little Christmas wool project offered from Heart to Hand's Facebook page. Not sure if it's still available or not but you might want to poke around. It's a cute, little mini coming in at only 20" x 25" with twelve 4" blocks. My first 2 are done.

       

My friend Katie will be starting hers too. She has three blocks prepped and ready for when she finishes a larger project. Once done with it, she'll start the embroidery on those three and then probably pass me by ... but it's not a race! Hahaha! I have Rudolph prepped and will be working on him next, probably during a Zoom meeting later this morning.

I also have applique block #29 started for Afternoon Delight. I really need to be getting a handle on this one. I figure I'll be working on it in 2021 as I don't think I'll be making The Quilt Show's BOM next year. It's not really  my thing. I'll share more details when I can so you can join & follow along if you like the quilt. From the hints I've seen, it looks pretty challenging and busy!

As always, thank you, Angela, for keeping the RSC parties going all year long. You can see what everyone shared this week at SoScrappy.

Beautiful gingko tree in my neighborhood.
Perfect picture for ending Yellow Month!

Have a Happy Halloween, check out the beautiful Harvest Blue Moon in the sky tonight, and have a great start to November!

Thursday, October 29, 2020

I Like Thursday #12

Here we are at Thursday again and time for some of our likes this week. Front & center for me:

I like pretty much any and all handwork. My needlepoint project is finished. I hope this little coin purse lasts me ten years like the previous one I made. I really like the turtle on it too!


Besides needlepoint, I also like knitting. Here are my latest socks, Jeck by Regina Satta. It was offered as a free pattern on Ravelry. These are my second pair of Jecks. They knit up so easily & quickly!



The yarn I used was Socks That Rock Lightweight by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. It's a wonderful blend of washable wool, nylon, and cashmere. So soft, so squishy! If you'd like to look into this yarn, I ordered it from The Loopy Ewe. This store used to be in St. Louis but moved to Boulder CO several years ago. I still love their yarn and their service is fabulous!

I like my Zoom get-togethers. Last Saturday morning my UFO Challenge at my local quilt shop met. I forgot to get a picture. OOPS! My Tiny Tuesday quilt was due. I'd love to show you a finished picture but I can't do that either. You see, I didn't get it done. If I had that two weeks back from vacation I'm sure it would have been completed. Of course, I wouldn't take those weeks back!! It was such a breath of fresh air to see family again. I like fresh air too! Lol!

My "like" for book reading would be an unexpected surprise. I was in the middle of reading "Walk the Wire" by Baldacci when it was snagged back by my library -- my Borrow Time was up. I quickly put it back on my Hold List and needed a quick read to fill in the time. I ended up borrowing a Reese Witherspoon Book Club book called "Such a Fun Age" since it is only 249 pages.


I thought it was going to be a silly type of book, just a fun fluff but it's hooked me and I'll definitely read it to the end. Click the picture to read what it's about. Goodreads.com does a much better job at that than I ever could. In the meantime, "Walk the Wire" became available already so it's loaded up on my Nook to finish up when I get done with this one.

As for TV viewing, I have been liking "The Weakest Link" again. I don't know what season this is but I hadn't watched it for several years. So glad I found it again. Over the past several weeks I've also enjoyed the Major League Baseball World Series. Hope my St. Louis Cardinals do better next year!

I hope you've had a few "Likes" this past week as well. Nothing feels better than looking on the bright side! I'm linking up with LeeAnn at Not Afraid of Color to share my likes with the others. Feel free to drop by too and see what the others have shared!

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Still Not Much Progress ...

Again I have a lame post for RSC. Having just returned from a two-week vacation, trying to get back to normal has been my focus. The laundry is caught up, there was some food shopping, and I got back in the routine of my morning walk (and Gracie loves it!). Then there were appointments to be met: Gracie went to the groomer and smells so good and no longer tap-tap-taps on the hard floors; Fred had a tele-appointment with his PCM who said he needs to find an endocrinologist, which is on top of his kidney surgeon telling him he needs to find a nephrologist; and I made an appointment to get my hair cut. Hot diggity! I've been managing my bangs  myself during the pandemic but I hadn't had a haircut since before it. Ta-Da!


I did get one sock into the blocking phase -- and remember, it has a bit of yellow in the yarn.


Here's a picture of the blocked sock and the unblocked sock. Blocking makes such a beautiful difference! The pattern becomes so much more defined.


I did want to show you that I actually did a little work on Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found 9 yellows and cut out the pieces required for the Awesome Land blocks. Then I realized that I had run out of  the black & white HSTs! That will need to be done now before I can continue.

Other than that, I've really been trying to keep my nose to the grindstone with Tiny Tuesday quilting. I'm getting there! Hope to have a finish by next week!

I'll be linking up with So Scrappy HERE. Next on my list is seeing what the others have been doing and catching up there with my cyber friends! Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 22, 2020

I Like Thursday #11

Good morning to you on this gorgeous I Like Thursday morning. Thank you for participating and/or reading the I Like Thursday blog posts. We can all use a little pick-me-up around mid-week!

I like my Nook e-reader. I can download books from my library for 3+ weeks at a time. I'm a slow reader and, as long as I keep my Nook off the wi-fi, I can continue reading my book long after the expiration date ... unless my Nook either updates or loses all battery power. This happened recently to me while I was in the middle of reading "Walk the Wire" by David Baldacci. I immediately put my name on the wait list for it again (2 week wait) and checked out a Reese Witherspoon Book-of-the-Month book called "Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid. I figured this might be a short, interesting read while I wait for "Walk the Wire". Well, after only 6 days "Walk the Wire" became available with only 3 days to download or it disappears again. In the meantime I'm into "Such a Fun Age". Yikes! And now I've received notification that a hard back I put on hold at the library is available! OMG! When it rains it pours. If you'd like to know about "Walk the Wire" or "Such a Fun Age", click the title. It'll take you to an explanation by Goodreads.com. I'm enjoying both of these books and I'll let you know about #3 book when I get to it!

I like visiting family. Since Fred is doing so much better, we decided to take a trip to visit family. We enjoyed my brother & his family.

Star in a Star quilt on our hotel bed.
Love taking a bit of home while on the road!

My friend Barbara from when I worked in Maryland.
Enjoyed catching up with her for a lunch!

Our Gang!

Brody trying on his Halloween costume

My daughter Sarah & me
with fireballs in our cheeks!

My mother fiddling with Brody's pants

While traveling I enjoy knitting socks. They are small enough to fit in my lap and I can usually make a good start on the way out and get close to finishing on the way home. Here is my start.


I got them almost done to the toe shaping. I'll share a picture when I'm completely done.

I also enjoyed a little photo shoot of the little Halloween quilt that I made for my daughter. She has 2 kitties so I thought she might enjoy the wall hanging for the holidays.



The pattern is from Sherri Falls of This 'n' That. It finished at about 20" square and you can find the pattern HERE. You'll have to scroll down a little to find it.

I enjoyed a little shopping in Greensboro NC. I visited two quilt stores and a needlepoint/knit shop. I was in search of the store where I purchased a coin purse needlepoint kit 10 years ago. You can see my receipt from Nov 5, 2010 and also how the top edge of my old purse is getting frayed.


Unfortunately, this location had moved but I found a nearby store that had these kits. After 10 years, the price had only gone up $3!!! I'm still working on this but will soon have a new coin purse.

I also like coming home. Besides all the junk mail and bills in my mail, I got these! I really like these magazines!


This kit was also waiting for me. I ordered it through Timeless Traditions. I like Norma's patterns and her kits include her really nice fabric choices. I had just mentioned to my mother that I have Halloween wall hangings and Christmas ones, but nothing to hold me over between the holidays. I saw this pattern on Facebook and ordered it up!


One last thing I like: getting my hair cut. I haven't had my hair cut since before the COVID with the exception of me trimming my bangs. It's time! So that's where I'm off to now. Have a wonderful day!!

Saturday, October 17, 2020

RSC Yellow?

Hi, Friends! I know I've been a little out of touch lately but that is because we've been on the road. We don't have a large family so we thought we'd travel to see them. It's been a year or more since we've seen most and that is just way too long.

If you caught my I Like Thursday post, you saw pictures of my brother & his family. We then traveled on to see our children & only grandchild. If you didn't catch the post, you can see it HERE. Here are a few more current pictures.


   


As you can see, Grandpa loves Brody!

So let's get on with the task at hand, shall we? Us Rainbow Scrappers have been concentrating on the color YELLOW this month. Obviously I haven't gotten much done as I've been on the road but I did manage a couple of things post-worthy.

I'll admit it isn't a sunny yellow but it is a yellow-green! Afternoon Delight block #28.

I started another pair of socks to keep me occupied while traveling in the car. I chose this pattern because it's quick and mindless -- only one round of pattern followed by a knit row. The FREE pattern is called Jeck and you can find it on Ravelry HERE. Check it out -- do you see those bits of yellow for RSC???!!!? Hahaha!

Other than that, not a lot going on in my crafting world. I'm loving time with family.

Something I also loved while being away is I could still enjoy my guild's meeting the other night. I would have never guessed that I would be able to sit in on a guild meeting while 800+ miles away. I was even able to enjoy a guest speaker! Now I have to admit that I am a little sad that we will be traveling again today because I am missing two Zoom meetings this mornings -- one with my Twisted Sisters sewing group and the other with my TAS (The Applique Society) group. Oh well, maybe I'll be able to catch a "re-broadcast" later! Lol!

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, make time for family & friends and also yourself!


Linking up later  with other RSC quilters HERE!

Thursday, October 15, 2020

I Like Thursdays #10

 I like my brother and his family.

Back Row: My brother, the college-aged twins, a twins' boyfriend
Front Row: Mom, me, my SIL

Kelli working hard

I also like seeing friends from the past. Met up with Barbara, who is now living in SC, for lunch.

I like a happy hubby on High Rock Lake!

I enjoyed the antics of Garfield, my brother's neighbor's cat.
Do you see him there at the top?

On his way down. There would be no birdies for him.

I enjoyed seeing where my brother plans on building a home.

We've certainly enjoyed our visit with Brody.
He's getting so big. Only 16 months old!

Trying on his Halloween costume

Coming home after shopping

Playing with Grandpa

I enjoy being with my daughter too! We went to the local farm store. What a beautiful Fall day!
Mom & Sarah

I gave Sarah my "secret sewing" project. This is a pattern by Sherri Falls of This & That. It's approximately 25" square.
Happy Halloween!
And a couple of close-ups of the blocks.

Kitty block

Star block. I LOVE the black background fabric with the paisley!

Quilting on the kitty block 
Quilting on the star block

Back of the quilt

Having a great trip and hoping you find some happiness wherever you are doing whatever pleases you.

Linking up with Not Afraid of Color where you can land on other spots of happiness.